by P. W. Child
“What in God’s name?” he marveled at the sight of the Nazi officer. In turn Helmut looked absolutely spooked. Helmut rose to his shackled feet with much effort, but he had to. What he saw before him was unbelievable. He stared at Purdue for a moment and then he smiled, “No wonder Lydia Jenner wanted to sleep with me. I look just like the man she had been in love with since college!” He burst out in laughter. Jean raised his gun in defense, not used to the boisterous behavior of the normally quiet prisoner.
“You didn’t know?” he laughed. “She told me all about you, Dave Purdue!”
“What did she tell you?” Purdue shouted, unsettled by his recognition. Jean had no idea what was happening.
“You were the one she loved since she met you. She told me that I reminded her of you, but you know what? It was still my name she screamed!” he sniggered in amusement, winking at Purdue. “Now you are here? She sent you, of all people, back to get the Tesla papers from me? How terribly vindictive!”
“You have the papers with you?” Purdue asked, electing to ignore the hostility seeping from Helmut’s words.
“Nein.”
“Where are they?” he asked Helmut.
“Burned. I pinned them to a Jew in Limoges and watched Tesla’s genius go up in flames with him,” he said nonchalantly. Jean pursed his lips and played with his finger on the trigger. “Tell the French dog to shoot me, then, Dave Purdue!”
Purdue and Jean exchanged glances. They both desired the end of the Nazi. Purdue knew that Helmut would not have gone through the trouble of obtaining Nikola Tesla’s documents all the way from the United States if he did not plan to sell them or use them for the good of the Reich.
“Strip him,” Purdue ordered.
“What?” Jean frowned.
“Strip the Nazi swine,” Purdue repeated, switching his innate jovial nature for one far darker to accommodate the handling of a reprehensible character such as Helmut. “The schematic I am looking for is on him and I want it.”
Jean summoned his men and against the prisoner’s struggling they stripped him of every grain of clothing he wore. Nude, he stood there screaming at them in German, but they stood mute and fascinated at what they saw. On his back and stomach the precise design details of Nikola Tesla’s Teleforce weapon was tattooed, complete with notes.
“Jean, in Berlin there is a secret society, the Vril Society, led by two females. They are affiliated with Hitler and they intend to use this design to create a weapon that will wipe out entire armies and air forces at a time,” Purdue told the leader of the Resistance. “If this officer is rescued by the Nazi’s who are on their way here now, he will deliver the weapon’s design to them and then Germany will have the power to overthrow the whole world.”
Jean got the message. Without hesitation he shot Helmut in the head.
“Skin him!” he shouted to his men. “Peel that design from his carcass and prepare it for our friend here to take with him. Dave, we have to avert the Nazi’s on their way here. Are you with us?”
“Hell yes,” Purdue smiled. “We have to destroy the 2nd Panzer Division before they pass Saint-Auvent and I need you to contact your associates in Berlin to let them know where to find Maria Orschitsch and her associate, Sigrun. Once you have them, the mass destruction the Third Reich could inflict will be neutralized.”
Chapter 29
Nina and Lydia were wide awake by sheer fear and worry. Neither had slept in over a day and now that Sam was absent and Purdue was almost due back they could not afford a moment’s distraction.
“You are officially one of my favorite inventors, Professor Jenner,” Nina remarked.
“Why, thank you, Dr. Gould,” Lydia grinned.
They each sat in their places next to the Voyager III, armed to the teeth. Lydia had introduced Nina to her storeroom where she kept all her inventions, those not pertaining to particle acceleration or Einstein’s theories. During her stint with the SAS as advisor, where she met Healy, Lydia had a fascination with munitions. In effect, the sheeting all around her house and inside was not just to regulate the decibels her sensitive senses were influenced with.
Lydia used it to make a tank of her house. Reinforced steel was in place to protect her should there be an outbreak of war. Healy used to tell her that she was paranoid, but little did he know that she was preparing to defend her home against those who would come to end her life for her secrets. It was another devastating fact she discovered while working on the Tesla Experiment.
“It is the reason why I deliberately made sure that only I kept the data on the progress of the experiment,” she told Nina while they sat in the dead silence, having a smoke. “I quickly noticed that my colleagues and my investors took too much an interest in taking over the experiment once I started showing positive progress.”
“Jesus. So they don’t know you came back, and still they have been searching for the data?” Nina asked.
“Correct. Thinking me dead, they started snooping around CERN, hoping to find lost information. They employed Tägtgren to keep an eye, they…”
“’They’ being who?” Nina interrupted eagerly.
“The Cornwall Institute. They supplied a lot of the funding, but once I disappeared they kept watch over the experiment’s legacy, just in case something surfaced,” Lydia explained, her eyes scanning the markings on the weapon she had in front of her on the table.
“And when Sam showed up on the CCTV at the Alice, all hell broke loose,” Nina remarked. “Now I get it. By that time Purdue was already here with you?”
“Yes, I never stopped experimenting, you see,” Lydia disclosed, having no idea that Nina was recording everything she said for Sam’s sake, should he need the evidence. Lydia was spilling her heart now, looking utterly worn by it all. But she was tranquil for once, as if Nina managed to calm her by accepting all her reasons without prejudice.
“I kept trying to get back to Helmut to get Tesla’s work he stole, but my body was just too frail. That was why I finally summoned Dave in desperation. I knew he would understand. But I did not mean to involve so many people in my little secret success,” she said through the smoke she exhaled. “Just Purdue. He deserved the glory, you know?”
Lydia chuckled sorrowfully, knowing she would never have him, especially now.
“I loved him. I still do. You know what that is like,” she told Nina.
Nina nodded. More and more it became evident that Lydia was not planning to resurface. She planned to stay dead, to be dead. And when the time came she wanted Purdue, the man she loved secretly, to take the credit for her inventions.
“I wanted to give him the acclaim that he deserved in this world, in this era, you see? I wanted Dave Purdue to be my Tesla,” she smiled at Nina with a shimmer in her eyes.
Nina smiled sweetly at the professor. Now that she understood what the whole experiment was really about she would do everything to help accomplish Lydia’s endgame.
“I am sorry, Lydia, for being such a bitch,” Nina apologized. “I had no idea what was really going on.”
“Look, I know why you went off at me, but I could not let you in on all the secrets yet, could I? I had to leave you to believe that I was some power hungry bitch who did not care what happened to Purdue, even while I was shattered to know that he may never make it back on my account. But now I am very glad I got you to understand the method to my madness…and God, am I full of madness!” she laughed. “I just really hope that we can get him back and if we do, that he does not sustain this amount of damage.”
“Do you think his body would hold out?” Nina asked. “I mean, did you calculate his time there to accommodate…”
Lydia gave her a look of reprimand.
“Of course you did. Just checking,” Nina smiled.
“If his return voyage goes smoothly, he should be fine, physically. My damage came solely from miscalculating the difference in duration. I only have one concern,” Lydia sighed. “If the voltage of the BAT is too low the devic
e in his mouth will not be able to amplify the frequencies – the various fields at play – enough. That sound wave emitted by the radio signal is almost more important than the electrical current itself.”
Nina gave it some thought. “You know, I am not one for this scientific stuff, but would it help to use an amplifier of sorts? Maybe turn up the volume on the radio pulse at the moment of the voyage?”
“That would work, but the problem is that this kind of sound we need would certainly blow up my damn head! My ears cannot handle that kind of emission,” Lydia explained.
Nina looked at the control board with all its copper wiring, old screens and large dials. She had no idea what was going on there, but she would do anything to help Lydia get Purdue back successfully. She leaned forward and looked at Lydia. “Do you trust me?”
“Now why would you say that?” Lydia moaned, putting out her cigarette.
“If you tell me what to do, I’ll do it on your behalf when the time comes. You can close yourself up in one of your soundproof rooms and I will bring him back,” Nina said.
“You are serious, aren’t you?” Lydia smiled at the brave historian.
“Aye.”
“Get me a piece of paper and a pencil,” Lydia said with renewed hope. “He should be checking in for the voyage back in about 15 minutes, so we had better hurry.”
Chapter 30
Professor Westdijk kept looking in his rear view mirror.
“Listen, Sam, where are we going?” he asked.
Sam did not want to relay all the madness of the experiment to the professor for fear that the old man would not believe him.
“It is a long story, professor, but I promise I will fill you in as soon as we are safely inside the property and get rid of this maniac,” he told the old man at the wheel. “For what it is worth, you would find it fascinating.”
“Well, I’ll say this…you don’t have a boring life, my boy,” Professor Westdijk replied, changing lanes again to keep their pursuer from catching up. “You will have to give me an address, or else I am not going to know where to go!”
Foster was right on top of them, occasionally slowing down enough not to draw too much attention. But he had the eyes of a hawk, never losing them ahead of him. Along the Rhône they sped towards Jenner Manor. Sam punched the address into the GPS while watching the speeding red vehicle in their wake, keeping up with them every step of the way.
“Sam, if I am risking my life to help you, the least you can do is tell me where we are going,” Professor Westdijk implored and he wove the car through traffic.
“A friend of mine asked me to stay and help him and an old university colleague with an experiment. That is all. Remember when I first met you?” Sam asked.
“Yes, at the hotel and at CERN,” the old man affirmed.
“The interview I conducted with the engineer?” Sam asked again.
“Yes?”
“He was murdered and they think it was me,” Sam disclosed. Westdijk looked at him with wide eyes, but said nothing. “I didn’t do it, I swear to God!”
“So this chase is to get away from the Cornwall people?” he asked Sam.
“Aye. We have to get to Lydia’s house before he catches up with us, because I think I have done enough to stretch their patience. They are aiming to kill me this time,” Sam said, turning again to look behind him.
They turned into the last street, shedding most of the traffic to only match speed and wits with Foster as they raced to make it to Jenner Manor. Sam called Nina, but the signal was too weak. The rain was pouring on the road, forcing Prof. Westdijk to slow down around the corners. Foster came so close that Sam could look him in the eye.
“Honk the horn. God, the place is soundproof!” Sam recalled to his dismay. But he underestimated Nina. Knowing that her cell phone signal would be perturbed and that she would not hear them coming, she stood on the balcony outside her guest room.
“Here they come, Lydia!” she shouted down to the lobby, where the hostess waited for her alert. From there she opened the gates for Sam and Prof. Westdijk to come roaring into the yard. Unfortunately the gates did not close as quickly as they needed.
As they raced through the gate Foster pushed down the accelerator pedal of his car and crossed the gateway just as the steel plated gates slid shut. The edge of the gate caught the rear brake light and bumper as it closed, but he made it through.
In the pouring rain Sam and the professor rushed for the back door. The low branches of the backyard would make it difficult for Foster to move fast. With the gate shut the doors to the mansion was unlocked until Sam was inside.
“Nina! Where are you?” he shouted.
“Chamber! Hurry, so Lydia can lock the door to the basement area!” Nina cried from down the hall.
“Come, Professor! We have to go downstairs. It is safe there for now,” Sam said, dragging the confused old man with him. As they descended the ramp toward the underground area where the ladies waited, they could hear gunshots outside the kitchen. Foster used his colossal frame to ram the door after shooting the electronic locks.
Sam and Prof. Westdijk rushed in and Nina shut the door.
“Thank God you’re safe!” she panted, flinging her arms around Sam in a passionate embrace. He was soaking wet and his body was shivering from more than the cold. The nerve wrecking encounter he had endured since he was abducted had his body shaking uncontrollably. “Oh, Sam, I was so worried that you would never come back,” Nina said, looking deep into his dark eyes. He kissed her with the same affection she showed him, not wanting to let he go this time.
“I don’t mean to break up this happy union,” Prof. Westdijk said, “but there is a man trying to kill us.”
“He won’t get in here,” Nina said confidently. “This door in enforced steel with an electrical current running through it.”
“Nina! Nina! He has made contact! Come!” Lydia shouted frantically, summoning Nina to the control board.
“Purdue,” Nina smiled at Sam’s befuddled expression. “Purdue is about to come back through! Come!”
Sam followed Nina as the loud crackle started. Lydia had disappeared into the small soundproof room to avoid the amplified sound frequency from killing her. Sam watched Nina handle the board like an expert scientist. One by one she turned the four field knobs to exactly the frequency and voltage directed on the paper Lydia drew for her. Sam took up his recorder to get footage of the process. As the crackle increased in sound, and the entry time neared, the power failed.
“Oh sweet Jesus! No!” Nina screamed, bashing her fists on the table next to her. It was pitch dark.
“It’s not the weather,” Sam voice came through the darkness. “Foster tripped the power from the kitchen, the son of a bitch!”
Lydia opened the door to ascertain what had happened. Distraught, she cursed furiously. “What the fuck is happening? Why now?”
“Don’t worry, we’ll get him back as soon as we get rid of Foster,” Sam reached for the battery powered spare lights under the wall desk while Nina and Lydia collectively fumed at the failure to bring Purdue back.
“Who is Foster?” Lydia asked.
“A mercenary the Cornwall Institute hired to kill me, because they think I killed the CERN engineer that witnessed your little trip back in time, Lydia,” Sam explained while switching on the lights one by one. They were faint, but adequate for them to check the breakers, at least.
A thunderous din echoed from the door as Foster tried to fight his way through.
“Open the door, Sam! I just want to speak to you!” Foster shouted.
“Aye, of course you do!” Sam hollered back through the door. Without the electrical currents running along the steel plating the house was not half as secure as before.
“Christ!” Lydia screamed. “Not you!”
Sam and Nina turned to see Westdijk aim a weapon at Lydia.
“Professor! She is not the enemy!” Sam exclaimed harshly. “Our problem is on the other sid
e of this door!”
“Hello Professor Jenner,” he greeted Lydia with the hiss of a snake. “Holding out on us, are you?”
“Sam, open that goddamn door!” Lydia screamed.
“No way!” he refused, but Nina knew to trust Lydia’s judgment.
She lunged past Sam and unbolted the door, and Foster burst through. Sam tried to stop him, but he knocked the journalist off his feet with one jab. Westdijk cocked his weapon, holding it steady on Lydia.
“Go and switch on the power!” he insisted. “I want to see what comes through the ether this time. And here we thought the Tesla Experiment did not work. Switch the power on,” he spelled it out for Nina. Nina shook her head and moved in behind Foster.
Professor Westdijk lost his patience. He turned the gun toward Nina and shot Foster in his tracks. He fell at Nina’s feet, exposing her to the gun. Hysterically she screamed and crouched down next to Sam, holding him. “Sam, wake up!” Another shot rang just short of them, evoking another scream from her.
“Go and switch on the power or I will kill everyone in this house,” he roared. “I have spent enough time and money trying to bring the Tesla Experiment into fruition and here you go behind my back, Lydia?”
“You wanted this experiment to work so that you could build the death ray, and that is as far as your loyalty towards science stretched, you money grabbing charlatan!” Lydia growled at him.
“That’s why this big monster tripped the power?” Nina asked.
“To prevent Purdue from coming through with the schematic. So that this piece of shit would not get his hands on it!” Lydia ranted. “He would build the teleforce weapon so that he could become the master of war, bringing the governments of the world to their knees with its undeniably destructive reach.”
“Why else, Lydia?” Westdijk asked. “Why else would you create something so brilliant and not use it to keep the world’s terrorists in check?”