The White Book

by George Shadow

  “Your package, of course,” Kimberley said with all innocence.

  The man opened his right palm and vanished with the gray mist covering the Sun.

  The books protection disappeared and Kimberley sprang up from her position, Aiden’s condition in her mind. “Medic!” she screamed as she raced up to the boy. “Someone’s alive here!”

  The military doctor with the party had already come up. “I’ll bandage the wound,” he said, dropping his first aid kit and going to work. “Don’t worry; I think he’ll be fine.”

  Some of the men had surrounded the group while others removed the dead.

  “What did you give that Kraut, miss?” Johnny asked Kimberley. “Funny how he just disappeared.”

  “You will never believe me if I tell you,” Kimberley said.

  “Guess we’re all eager to know.”

  Kimberley looked at him and frowned. His colleagues nodded in agreement. They were curious to know. Kimberley smiled. “I gave him a tiny gold cross,” she said.

  “I believe you,” Johnny said. “Krauts need Jesus.”

  His colleagues laughed with him.

  Kimberley rolled her eyes and turned back to Aiden and the medic working to save his life.

  “Johnny,” Sergeant Bradley began as he came up. “Take that woman and her companions into custody and confiscate that book. They’re our prisoners now.”

  Chapter 14: The Alsos Mission

  COLONEL Boris Theodore Pash looked up from his papers and studied his cabinet members seated round the large oak shoe-shaped desk in his equally large office. “You’re telling me the Germans have a powerful new secret weapon?” he repeated, trying to appreciate the enormity of that statement.

  “Yes, sir,” Captain Wayne Stanard said. “The sergeant with the team reports invincibility unrivaled by any of our most advanced scientific research projects.”

  “What exactly do you mean, captain?” Colonel Pash asked.

  “They were held up for two hours by only one man, sir,” a Counter Intelligence Corps agent said. “This soldier had…” he looked at papers before him, “only one Luger.”

  Colonel Pash frowned. “Did he have a bulletproof vest on?”

  “Perhaps they have developed a new kind of vest?” Captain Stanard suggested.

  “None that we’re aware of, sir,” the CIC agent replied.

  The colonel sighed. His job was hard enough without this kind of news. Alsos had encountered numerous roadblocks in the past few hours that deserved his unreserved attention, chief amongst them being that the French First Army had captured Stuttgart from the Germans the day before, something that the Americans and British had never envisaged and planned for. “Any news from the French?”

  “General Devers of the Sixth Army Group is threatening to cut off supplies to de Lattre if the French did not relinquish Stuttgart,” Captain Stanard said.

  “We don’t need that now,” Colonel Pash said. “We need to work with the French, even though their present action is threatening what we intend to do at Hechingen.”

  “We could send in a ground force instead, sir,” Major William Allis, a War Department staff, suggested. “A small force like we used in Stuttgart could get in and out without the French knowing about it.”

  “Good,” the colonel agreed. “CIC Agent Joana here reports that Otto Hahn is at his laboratory in Tailfingen, while Werner Heisenberg and Max von Laue are at Heisenberg’s laboratory in Hechingen. We could scrap Operation Effective and use a smaller team.”

  “What about Sergeant Bradley’s report, sir?” a CIC agent asked the colonel, who nodded and looked at the woman sitting quietly all this time on a chair placed in the middle of the room.

  “And where is the book now?” the colonel asked the CIC agent.

  “Right here, sir,” the agent replied, holding up the white book for all to see.

  Colonel Pash turned to Kimberley, who sat straight on the single chair in the middle of the room. She had her small cross necklace with her in case the Gray Ones and their American minion decided to show up.

  “And what do you have to say about this, Agent Joana?”

  “Eh, what?” Kimberley had forgotten her alternate Counter Intelligence Corps name, but now remembered. “Well, sir,” she began, “the story of that book is bigger than all the wars the world has ever fought in history put together.” She smiled when she saw the confusion plastered on the many faces surrounding her. The colonel before her had a frown on his face instead.

  “This is no joking matter, agent,” the Alsos leader warned. “Is this book a secret weapon?”

  “What? Of course, not.” Kimberley shook her head. “Not in my knowledge, no, sir.”

  “Sergeant Bradley reports it protected the Jeeps from the lone German with a ‘dome of ice’?” the first Counter Intelligence Corps agent pointed out, and Kimberley scoffed.

  “That must be a figment of the sergeant’s imagination, sir,” she replied. “What, with his men under attack and all that, anyone could flip in that situation.”

  Sergeant Bradley stiffened where he stood. “I know what I saw, agent,” he said. “You were there, why are you now lying all of a sudden?”

  “Am I, sergeant?” Kimberley asked him. “A lone super soldier? A dome of ice from a child’s book? Really, sergeant, which sane person would believe all that fairy tale?”

  Those gathered laughed at this, but Colonel Pash remained silent.

  “So, why is the book wet, agent?” he demanded. “Always wet, I mean.”

  Kimberley made light of this question as well. “I don’t know, sir,” she said. “Someone must have thrown it into a bathtub, you know.”

  This time, Colonel Pash laughed with his cabinet. “Sergeant Bradley’s men must be very exhausted to be reporting sighting ghosts and lone German super fighters during this expedition beyond enemy lines,” he reasoned. “Nonetheless, I’m assigning Dr. Carlton the job of investigating this. If the Germans have a new weapon and this…this book defends against it, please find out, doctor, and if Sergeant Bradley’s men are having some kind of psychological breakdown, doctor, please don’t hesitate to let us know as well.”

  “Yes, colonel,” Dr. John Carlton said with a chuckle. “I seriously doubt the veracity of this story,” the Cornell University scholar and scientist added. “However, I’ll thoroughly pursue my duty to its conclusion, sir.”

  “Okay, gentlemen,” Colonel Pash said in conclusion. “You can go now, Agent Joana. Sergeant Bradley.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Kimberley said, getting up. A private led her and the sergeant towards an exit. “What of the book, sir?” she asked. “Eva will be distressed if she doesn’t get it back.”

  “I will return it to your friend once I’ve given it a thorough check, agent,” Dr. Carlton said. “No need for her to be distressed, dear.”

  But Kimberley wasn’t convinced she had succeeded in taking everyone’s suspicion away from the ancient relic. She could only hope for the best now.

  “Back to our pressing work,” Colonel Pash resumed as she was being escorted out. “And first stop, Hechingen.”

  “We have taken delivery of two armored cars, four Jeeps with machine gun mounts, and two .50 caliber machine guns, sir,” someone stated as Kimberley went out of Colonel Pash’s office.

  “Whatever you’re hiding, agent, I’m going to find out,” Sergeant Bradley said behind her.

  * * *

  Carl Bain watched his men unpack equipment from three Tiger II tanks. He admired the professionalism of the German army at a time he knew that they had lost their petty war. If only they had a better commander-in-chief than Adolf Hitler, he thought, winning would have been very easy, since he’d confronted the enemy and knew that they had many weaknesses. Shaking his head, he turned to look at his invisible companion again. The infernal war he’d found himself in mattered more to him at the moment.

  The American hustler flinched and looked at his right palm. He looked at the cross sign that ha
d burnt into his black glove where the police sergeant had placed the cursed symbol. He wondered why his masters feared a simple cross sign.

  “We need a new plan,” he told the ashen form floating beside him. “This one is not working.”

  The demon remained expressionless and Carl Bain cursed softly. “Have you lost your tongue?” he snapped, but the gray entity did not react. Their silent presence could be frustrating, the American thought, and what use was the power they had given him if he could not get back his package with it?

  Carl Bain cursed again. He stood up and looked out at the terrain before him. The battalion was preparing to move out of the vicinity, having been pushed back by the French First Army. The American, however, intended going the opposite way.

  A new plan had emerged.

  “Yes,” he told the demon beside him. “It’s good that you’ve found her. We will manipulate her before they get to her.”

  The demon’s face remained blank.

  “This will work,” Carl Bain told himself.

  * * *

  That evening, Aiden brightened when he spotted Kimberley entering the clinic block with Rachel right behind her. He had recovered some strength after the military doctor removed a bullet from his shoulder, stitched him up, gave him pain pills and adequately fed him.

  “Hey,” he said, reaching out his right hand when they came up to his bed.

  “Hey,” Kimberley returned, taking the outstretched hand. “Glad to see you awake.”

  “I’m okay now, Kim,” Aiden assured her.

  “Good to hear,” Rachel said. “We almost lost you.”

  “We should stick together from now on,” Kimberley whispered, looking around. “And I think it’s time we moved on.”

  “What about the book?” Aiden began.

  “It’s here, somewhere,” Kimberley said quietly. “We just need to find it without raising suspicion. Good that we’re not confined.”

  “And our contact?” Aiden asked.

  “I am yet to find her here,” Rachel said. “I hope I find her soon.”

  “Just keep looking,” Kimberley said. “Keep looking while I look for the book.”

  “Won’t it reveal itself when the Booklords come for it?” Aiden asked her.

  “Of course, it will, but we can’t wait for that to happen, right?”

  “Those things haven’t been able to take the book, you know,” Aiden pointed out.

  “Not for trying,” Rachel said. “Remember they almost succeeded last time? They…”

  “We just have to find a way to end this and…and return home,” Kimberley cut in.

  “Will we ever do that, Kim?” Aiden asked. “Return home, I mean?”

  “Yes, why not?” Kimberley snapped. “We just have to find one of Rachel’s father’s friends who know what we must do with the book. We can go home afterwards, right Rachel?”

  The little girl nodded silently, looking down at the floor.

  “Or we can just go back now with the book?” Aiden proposed and Rachel looked up anxiously.

  “Aiden,” Kimberley whispered as a military doctor passed the bed. “We promised to help Rachel, remember?”

  Aiden nodded, and then shook his head, staring at her. “Dunno what’s happening anymore, Kim,” he whispered back. “It’s like we’ve lost our way.”

  Rachel turned white. “No, we haven’t,” she said quietly, frowning. “I–I just need to…to find our contact here.”

  “If she’s here, that is,” Kimberley whispered. “She could be anywhere, for all we know.”

  “If she’s not here, then we won’t be here,” Rachel said.

  “And how did you know that?” Aiden asked her.

  “Experience?”

  Two sentries stopped outside the military clinic. “You need to come with us, miss,” one of them told Kimberley.

  “Okay,” she said. “Stay with Aiden,” she told Rachel, who held her right hand.

  “Please, don’t go,” the little girl begged her. “They are not our friends.”

  “She has to,” Aiden said. “You’ll come back, won’t you, Kim?”

  “Yes, I’ll come back,” Kimberley said. She had her doubts, but could only keep these to herself at the moment.

  They took her to a separate cabin in the Alsos camp. A familiar face greeted her from behind a small desk on which lay the white book. Kimberley noted the presence of Sergeant Bradley and Private Johnny among the men standing beside the door. She studied the ancient codex as she sat down on the seat offered her by her guest. The artifact appeared not to have been tampered with. Yet.

  “It appears you have not been truthful with us, CIC Agent Joana,” Dr. John Carlton began, sliding the book towards his end of the desk. “I have been examining the nature of the material used in producing this book and it seems quite remarkable.”

  “What do you mean, sir?” Kimberley asked, feigning ignorance. “That’s just a book, right?”

  “Wrong, my dear,” the learned doctor said, standing up to walk towards a rack of books. He picked out one with a red cover and brought it back to the desk. “The History of Ancient Rome.”

  Kimberley’s heart skipped. “What has that got to do with anything, sir?” she asked.

  “Everything, agent,” the doctor said. “Everything.”

  “I’m all ears, sir.”

  A short pause followed. Kimberley braced herself.

  “Ever heard of papyrus?” Dr. Carlton asked her.

  “Yes, sir,” she replied. “The Egyptians used it for their manuscripts, I think.”

  “Well, Agent Joana, this book was made from a very tough papyrus-like material,” the doctor revealed. “I think it was even made before the earliest form of the codex came into use in ancient Rome.”

  “Okay, sir,” Kimberley chuckled. “I guess Eva never knew she’d been carrying around ancient treasure.”

  “You really think this is a joke, agent?” Sergeant Bradley asked her. “You’ll soon think otherwise.”

  “Right,” Private Johnny said, and the men at the door started murmuring.

  “How did you come across the children?” Dr. Carlton asked Kimberley.

  “They were part of a group our targets prepared for a nuclear experiment,” Kimberley replied. “I was forced to join this group when the Germans discovered what I was actually doing. It’s all there in my report.” She wondered where all the questioning was headed.

  “Good intel, by the way,” Dr. Carlton commended. “We now know where Otto Han is, thanks to you.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  “But you haven’t been truthful about this book, and Sergeant Bradley’s report.”

  “To the best of my knowledge, I have been, sir,” Kimberley lied.

  “Liar!” Sergeant Bradley exploded. “Can’t believe you made mockery of my report before my superiors. Just wait and see, miss. Dr. Carlton will expose you and your lies.”

  “And you’ll have to tell us about that lone super soldier when we finally break you,” Johnny added. “Right, serg?”

  The doctor studied Kimberley briefly. He sighed and opened the white book.

  “Whose names are these, agent?”

  “I don’t know, sir,” Kimberley replied. “It’s possible Eva writes on it, after all, it’s her book, right?”

  “Are you saying this is Eva’s book?”

  “Exactly, sir.”

  Doctor Carlton turned to a guard stationed at the door. “Bring the girl,” he directed.

  “I hope you’ll take it easy with her, sir,” Kimberley pleaded. “She’s been through a lot, really.”

  “I don’t understand, agent.”

  “That little girl’s the one with the book, doctor,” Sergeant Bradley pointed out. “She knows more than she lets on.”

  “She lost her parents in Warsaw,” Kimberley revealed, glaring at the US Army sergeant.

  “I see,” Dr. Carlton said. “Don’t worry, agent.”

  Rachel entered the room look
ing distressed. She walked over to Kimberley and the older female took her hands.

  “Eva, how are you, my dear?” Dr. Carlton began.

  “I’m fine, sir,” Rachel replied.

  “And this is your book?”

  “Yes, it is.”

  “Eva, why did you write these names?” she was asked.

  “I–I was whiling away time with it, in…in the room?”

  “You were provided different mediums for writing while you were…incarcerated?” the doctor asked, flipping through the book’s pages. “Even charcoal and…and ink?”

  “I think she used whatever she saw, sir,” Kimberley said.

  “Is that correct, my dear?” the doctor asked Eva.

  “Yes, of course,” Rachel replied.

  “Well then,” Dr. Carlton said. “This means that you’re Agent Joana’s accomplice, little one.”

  “I don’t understand, sir,” Kimberley started. “What are you saying?”

  “I have investigated this, my dear, and I’ve come to the conclusion that you’re both lying.”

  Both accused individuals had blank faces.

  “I have looked at Sergeant Bradley’s report and I’ve spoken to the men who volunteered for the mission he led in order to get you out?”

  “And what did you find?” Kimberley asked the man.

  “Their narrations corroborate,” Dr. Carlton said. “They appear to be telling the same story, and it’s obvious that the first Jeep did not flip over from a road mine. I examined the pictures they brought back.”

  “That is not enough evidence to conclude that I’ve been lying, sir,” Kimberley objected.

  “Yes, well, that coupled with the fact that the book before me is unlike any I’ve ever seen,” the scientist said. “I also have with me an individual who had been telling me a purely fantastic story about this…this white book.” Doctor Carlton noted the stark surprise on the face of the little girl with the agent, but continued like nothing was out of place. “She was also rescued from the Germans in the raid that brought you back.”

  New information.

  “I don’t remember seeing any other civilian among the soldiers that rescued us, sir,” Kimberley said, trying to hide her alarm.