by P. W. Child
“Because it would mean that you are just another terrorist, imposing your will on others by means of tyranny, you idiot!” she seethed. “But you don’t care. As long as you end up stinking rich and exempt, you don’t care where the weapon ends up.”
“Well, whatever you tried to do is down the drain now, pal,” Nina said. “The time window for Purdue to come back through has passed. You will never have the design now.”
Sam opened his eyes. With a motion of his head he directed her to the video camera he left on the desk from where he gathered up the battery powered lights. Nina smiled. No matter what happened next, there would be proof on camera of the professor’s involvement in the web of deceit surrounding the CERN fire incident.
“That remains to be seen, my dear girl,” he told Nina. “I can always call Penny Richards and tell her that Sam Cleave killed Christian Foster too.”
“Go ahead,” Sam said. “We’ll implicate her too. After all, Tägtgren was working for both you and her. I am sure she would love to know that her dear friend, the professor, was the one trying to sabotage all the experiments conducted by the Cornwall Institute all along.”
“Now it seems we have a problem,” Professor Westdijk said calmly. “I will not leave until you bring your associate back with my schematic. And it is no use you all getting killed for nothing, is it?”
“It is too late,” Lydia lamented. “His energy would have bonded to the point where he is now, so there is no way to come back anymore.”
“Oh my God, Lydia. For a genius you really possess a very restricted mind!” Professor Westdijk shrieked in exasperation. He paced around the chamber she had built, but kept the gun on her. “You are going to get this contraption up and running. And Sam Cleave will be your…” he smiled, “…voyager. Just because your other friend is a thing of the past, doesn’t mean we cannot follow up. Let him go get it for us, while I make sure we can bring him back safely, right?”
Sam and Nina looked at Lydia. She did not move for a long while, before finally letting out a deep sigh. “I suppose there is nothing else we can do,” she shrugged. “Purdue was an unfortunate casualty, but we did all we could do.”
“There is no fucking way I am getting in that oven of yours, Professor Jenner. You can shoot me first!” Sam protested.
“I’ll shoot your girlfriend,” Westdijk smiled, “if you don’t go, Sam. Easy as that.”
Chapter 31
Purdue was devastated that he could not make contact long enough with Lydia and Nina on the other side of his transmission. To make matters worse he could not discuss his predicament with anyone here. They would either think he was insane, as Diekmann did, or they would laugh it off as a joke. Hopeless, he sat on the bank of the small rivulet a few meters from Jean’s house. After the French Resistance sent out their scouts to stop the advancing convoys Purdue was welcome to spend some time relaxing at the little stream.
Jean had noticed how troubled the English stranger seemed, but he did not want to impose. Purdue wanted some solitude to think about a way to get in touch with Lydia and Nina even if it was too late for him to return. From his right pocket he pulled the BAT, now virtually worthless to him. He just shook his head, unable to formulate a way to get it to work again.
“What are you doing?” a voice asked behind him. It was Celeste. She had come with Henri and his family to find protection in the mountains.
“I’m just thinking,” he smiled sadly.
“What is that?” she asked.
“Just a little radio device I can’t use anymore,” Purdue explained, trying to stay positive and kind while his world was falling apart inside him.
“Why? Are the batteries flat?” she asked.
He looked up at her, surprised at the simple way in which children saw conundrums. He nodded and tossed it up a few times, catching it again.
“So why don’t you charge the batteries again?” she asked.
“How?” Purdue played along, not giving her solution a second thought.
“Jean and his brother use the water wheels here to generate electricity,” she mentioned casually. “You should ask them to help you charge the batteries for you.”
Purdue could not believe it. Her common observation was actually quite solid. Instantly his own heart felt recharged too. He jumped up and dusted off his clothes.
“Celeste, could you show me where they generate the electricity?” he asked.
“Of course,” she smiled. “Come, I’ll show you.”
She walked up past the water mill and pointed out a small stone building, no bigger than Purdue’s bathroom back home. Inside he could only marvel at what he found. There were a myriad of devices and dials connected to various conductors that ran along the walls. The water wheel acted as generator for the four small houses outside town, so that they could be independent of the rest of the commune. Purdue was elated.
“Dear Celeste, you have no idea how clever you are!” he cheered with a warm smile. The girl did not know what was so amazing about what she suggested, but she was happy for Purdue nonetheless. He went to see Jean to ask his permission to use his generator. Of course Jean wanted to know what he needed it for, and with a grown up the battery explanation would not be sufficient.
“I have to charge this device to a certain amount of volts, Jean. And unfortunately it is a matter of urgency. My time is running out to…” he gave it some thought, “…contact the people who sent me by using this radio. But the charge has run out and I need it to communicate.”
“Oh, that should be very easy,” the Frenchman replied. “Why didn’t you just say so?”
Purdue hoped that he could have the device charged to the required voltage to reach the right thermal point, otherwise his attempts would be futile. Jean leaned against the wall of the small shack, “So what do you use this device for?”
It was the question Purdue had dreaded. He had no idea how Jean would take it if he had to tell him the truth.
“I need it to be charged so high that it would be able to reach a certain temperature when I switch it on,” Purdue explained, trying to sound as serious as possible. But to his pleasant surprise his host did not care for much more than that.
“Oh, alright then. Connect it up and charge it as long as you think. I have to meet with some of the militia members in a few minutes. Would you excuse me?” he asked cordially.
“Absolutely,” Purdue smiled. “Don’t let me keep you.”
He would let the BAT charge for the next few hours and attempt contact soon after. It worried him that they claimed to have trouble on the other side. It made him feel helpless, but as soon as he had juiced up the BAT he would find out what was going on. Not only did he need to contact Lydia, but he had to get the word out to allies of the French Resistance.
Purdue did not want to imperil the people of the French countryside with his presence there, but he could not let them know that he was the reason the Nazi’s were scouring the small towns. With Helmut dead and the macabre keepsake in Purdue’s possession, it was time to leave them behind so that he could transmit to Lydia and hopefully return home this time. With the BAT in his pocket he hitched a ride with one of Jean’s men, making his way back up toward where he knew Diekmann’s division would be stationed for the next few days. He alerted the local militia and told them where to ambush the 2nd Panzer Division ‘Das Reich’ before the Allieds locked on to the Vril Society under the noses of the SS.
In Berlin the clandestine societies that represented the Allied Forces, even various operatives and celebrities from the United Kingdom and the United States gathered their resources to create a dragnet for the Vril Society’s leaders. Masquerading as interested parties versed in the occult, psychics and mediums from all over Germany sought out the two women who led the Vril Society.
Purdue knew that he had to find a way to get back to Lyon, 2015 at all costs. With the French Resistance at his side, he managed to spread the word about the Vril’s plans to reinforce the Reich’
s weapons with Tesla’s work and use their power to topple the Nazi’s. Hitler was furious.
In Berlin the Nazi High Command had ordered the arrest of all the members of the Vril Society and the Black Sun. This was, however, not what was written in history books, the reason for which would also explain the discrepancies between historical facts and what Purdue found to be happening first hand. But he was not to realize this just yet.
What baffled him was the fact that he ran into doppelgangers almost everywhere he went. Several people he met along the way were the spitting image of people he knew in his place and time. Famous people from history turned out to look quite different from those he had learned of in his history text books and so even the dates of certain events differed slightly. He wrote it off to inaccurate accounts or the manipulation of information.
Purdue made the rest of his journey on foot to avoid being detected by German forces in France. Outside one of the small villages he hiked up through the woods. Just before his twelve hours had run out, he slipped into a low hanging cliff that formed a cave structure, and he got ready one last time to return home.
Chapter 32
Lydia was no longer the target of the greedy professor. Now he had Nina sitting right in front of him, threatening Sam with her life if he did not carry out his order.
“You know, Sam, if he shoots me he is still not going to get what he wants,” Nina said defiantly.
“Would you like to call that bluff, madam?” Westdijk asked, sitting back on the chair opposite the table from Nina.
“Don’t rock the boat, Nina,” Lydia said softly. She was at the control desk, ready to heat up the Voyager III for Sam’s unfortunate departure to join Purdue at the same so-called coordinates. “He is a psycho of the highest order who would do anything for a bit of money.”
Sam was busy getting dressed in the same kind of protective gear Purdue was wearing when he successfully went through the ether. He procrastinated, hoping that Purdue would make contact one more time. Surely the event would distract Westdijk long enough for Sam to overwhelm him, but Purdue was a no-show, as they feared.
“You do know that this is a ludicrous attempt, right?” Lydia told Westdijk. “The machine moves like a line of cars in a one way street. We sent someone down and we cannot send another down until the other has come back up…not without resetting everything.”
“Then reset it,” he sneered at her.
Nina was livid. She hated feeling so helpless. Here they were being bullied by one person, when there were two of them who could attack him if he could only be distracted long enough. She was disappointed that the weapons she and Lydia had at their disposal before were now mere ornaments cast aside on the wall desk.
The only solace was the running video camera. It was Nina’s biggest flaw, in her own opinion, that she could never accept when she was in a corner. While so many ideas for possible solutions went fleeting through her mind, Lydia was devising a plan of her own.
“Come on, my boy! Not even a woman takes that long to get dressed!” Prof. Westdijk shouted to Sam.
Nina’s eyes wandered toward the weapons on the desk, but Lydia’s expression suggested she abandon the notion for now. On the screen Nina saw Lydia punch in a code that was not there before, one to short circuit the machine. Westdijk would not know the difference, never having seen this kind of chamber before. Sam still ran the risk of being electrocuted, even without being caught in the middle of the unified fields and that is what Lydia was most concerned about.
“Will Purdue never come back again?” Nina asked out of the blue to procrastinate.
“I don’t think so. Not anymore,” Lydia replied. “We would need considerable sound amplification to be carried along the electrical current at the same time that he attempts to come back and we lost that with the power failure.”
From the far side of the hallway something stirred. It caught Nina’s eye, but she did not pay attention to it. She did not want Prof. Westdijk to see that something was going on behind him. Suddenly the lights dipped and the screens flickered.
“What is that?” Westdijk shouted in suspicion.
“I don’t know, probably the weather,” Lydia replied, studying the lights against the ceiling. “We would have to keep the current strong if we want Sam to make it to the other side.”
Through the speakers the strange electronic voice phenomenon sounded, starting Prof. Westdijk as it spoke next to him through the auxiliary monitors.
‘—ia, charge now—home,’ was all that came through. Westdijk jumped up to shoot Lydia. He looked completely ashen.
“Don’t you dare switch it off!” he warned, but before he could pull the trigger Healy came at him from behind, striking him down.
“Dave! We don’t have enough current to bring your back yet! Wait!” Lydia screamed back into the void. “He will be caught in the middle if we don’t have enough sound to carry with the electricity, Nina!” she shouted in vain. Sam had no idea what to do, and neither did Nina. While Healy subdued Prof. Westdijk, Foster came stumbling from where he was shot. He looked at Lydia with determination in his eyes.
“Diamonds conduct sound, don’t they?” he groaned.
Sam grabbed one of the guns and pointed to shoot.
“No!” Nina shouted. “Sam, don’t shoot!”
Foster had his hand in his shirt. He ripped his diamond crucifix from his neck and flung it to Nina.
“Lydia, go to the soundproof room!” Nina yelled out as she positioned the diamond pendant to the power slot. She gave Lydia enough time to lock the door behind her so that the sonic clap would not kill her and then she shoved the diamond object into the hole like a wall plug, hoping that it would work.
Purdue was on his way back through the BAT’s generator and from this side the diamond necklace increased the sound and thermal current of the machine to almost 1000 degrees Celsius, pulsing though the ether at a stronger rate than it had before. With a rush of lightning darting past them the chamber lit up with electricity, rapidly heating the atmosphere and roaring like thunder around them all. They cowered and took cover where they could as the pulse throbbed several times, threatening to bend the steel on the windows. Professor Westdijk looked up and rushed for a gun while the others were scattering. Purdue would not have a moment to collect himself before the professor would hold the gun on him to take Tesla’s diagrams from him.
But as Purdue burst through the tapestry in the chamber a bolt of lightning radiated from the exterior of the chamber like the rays of the Black Sun. Westdijk was the only conductor standing up to receive the current. The blue cracks of electricity connected with him, attracted by the water in his cells and within a few seconds his body was charred beyond form under the onslaught of Tesla’s famous coil.
Within moments of the mayhem all fell silent. Here and there a clap of a spark could be heard throughout the house. The majority of the electrical current was conducted by the steel plating along the walls of the house, lighting up all the lights in the entire manor and activating all the appliances at once. Healy was lying on his back, looking stunned. Lydia emerged from her soundproof room and helped Sam up. Under his body was Nina, safely shielded from any harm thanks to the journalist.
“Jesus Christ! Did you see that? We have managed to recreate the Tesla Coil!” Lydia shrieked with excitement.
Nina stood up slowly, holding on to Sam. He dusted off her beautiful dark tresses and she fixed his shirt. She suddenly gasped, “Purdue! Where is Purdue?”
Sam and Healy opened the chamber door with much effort. Some of the rubber had melted onto the exterior metal, but inside they found Purdue lying curled up on the slant of the floor. His hair and eyebrows were singed off, but otherwise he was fine. His clothing was burned to shards in most places, leaving his reddened flesh exposed, but he did not suffer anything worse than a sunburn.
“Oh my God, Purdue! I’m so happy to see you!” Nina crooned ecstatically as the hugged him. The agony of her embrace woke the exp
lorer. Purdue howled in pain.
“Sorry! Sorry!” Nina wailed, placing her hands over her mouth. “I forgot, Purdue, I’m so sorry!”
“Bring him out so I can see him,” Lydia called from outside the chamber. The whole place was filled with smoke and the overwhelming stench of electrical fire. Nina smiled. She could hear Lydia’s affection in her swift request. She wanted to see Purdue, not to ascertain if he successfully recovered the diagrams, but just to see him again. Healy and Sam helped the dazed Purdue from the heat of the Voyager III. Sam looked over at Healy, “You thought this would make amends for what you did?”
“No, I expect hell to rain on me, and rightly so, sir. But I am not sorry I came back,” Healy replied. “Not even that lightning bolt could stop me from protecting Professor Jenner.”
Sam was amazed that the butler still addressed him formally after all they had been through. Purdue slowly opened his eyes, moaning in pain. On the floor lay a heap of black ash that reeked up the place so badly that they wanted to vomit.
“Let’s go to the drawing room, rather,” Lydia suggested, and she did not have to invite them twice. Nina wheeled her up behind the men as they carried Purdue to the drawing room. Healy draped a cold cloth over Purdue’s shoulders and they all sat down to recover from the frantic day they all had.
Exhausted, shocked, relieved; they sat in silence for a few minutes, just panting, coughing, groaning. Finally Healy went to fetch the Medical Kit to tend to Purdue’s wounds for the time being until they would take him to hospital. Purdue stared at Nina across the room.
“What is the matter?” Sam asked.
“I met someone who looked precisely like Nina while I was captive in Hitler’s bunker under the Reichkanzlei,” Purdue smiled. “And Helmut…this is uncanny…”
“He looked just like you,” Lydia recalled.
“That’s right,” Purdue winked at her, silently letting her know that he knew why she slept with Helmut while she was there. Lydia just shook her head and chuckled.