It was quite a dilemma. Were we surrendering? The situation was unique. I could think of nothing to say, nor could any of my companions. It was Harry who broke the ice. “You got any schnapps on board?”
Abraham smiled. “Of course, Mr. Bismarck, this conveyance has a replicator. There are no formalities—welcome aboard.”
The interior was familiar. We had seen it in the Hollow Mountain. Abraham invited us to have a seat in the lounge chairs and served us drinks. The situation was beyond ridiculous—beyond surreal. Here we were, guest of a Nazi, preparing to ride in a Nazi train to a place called the Core. Our host pushed a button on what looked like a TV remote and our car began to move with a slight jerk—just like a proper steam train.
“I’m curious,” M1 said to our guide. “Are you one of the original black boots we have been looking for or maybe the son of one?”
“I am an original, my friend, but not of that group. There were others.” he replied. “Like you, I was given the blue and yellow pill some time ago. Originally I was an office manager and was swept up accidentally in the final evacuation. Although I am officially a Nazi, I was never a believer. I simply take the path of least resistance—looking to extend my life span for as long as possible.”
“Abraham,” Alice said, “what’s the deal on that fighter plane on top of the car?”
“The war ended before it could be displayed to the public. It is non-functional, meant only for propaganda.”
This mundane explanation was a bit of a letdown.
“What about the other two trains?”
“I am sorry, Alice Dance. I am not sure, but I believe they were to serve the same purpose. I have no knowledge of the science behind the phenomena.”
By that time the train was moving rapidly.
“The trip will last over three hours,” Abraham said. “We will have plenty of time to talk and rest so that we arrive fresh. I think I know most of the questions you wish to ask, therefore allow me to answer them in proper order.” He sat with his own drink. “I serve an alien that I call, The Other. This being has many agents on many planets, including Earth.
“Some time ago I helped facilitate the transfer of many black boots to the Core through various routes. This included a last group of about sixty. Moses then closed the portals before they all could get through and left a few to fend for themselves, but a sufficient number had made the trip. One of that last group disappeared in the city you have named Manheim. You will soon see the remainder.”
At his point we were not inclined to tell Abraham what we learned about Unteroffizier Gunter Weis and the World War II submarine disaster or the man trapped in the courtyard.
“Understand now,” he continued, “you are committed. If I chose, you could have found an empty platform and your search would have ended, but you are needed. I was concerned that it was you who were trapped by the portal in the concentration camp area.”
“How did you know about that?” M1 asked.
“Among any population,” Abraham said, “treason can be purchased. There are several people who think their information goes to a news network. I hope it was not any of your friends who went to the primitive planet with the worm that is forever dying because there is no escape.”
None of us said anything. He didn’t need to know about the lifter.
“Why,” Alice asked, “did you create such elaborate diversions? I refer to that factory on Paradise and the concentration camp area.”
“Once you know the totality of our venture,” Abraham said, “you will see why no expense was spared. For the past century fate and chance has interrupted and altered vast plans that you earthlings knew nothing about. Those few who did have an inkling were dismissed as oddities and even freaks. Stories are invented to explain that which we do not understand.
“Almost one hundred years ago a German archaeologist discovered an ancient Egyptian tomb. I have been told that you have been there.” We nodded. “You learned that there was a portal there that had been taken to the Hollow Mountain.” We nodded again. “There is more to that story.” Our drinks were forgotten. “Thanks to newscasts and conversations with many earthlings, I know the history of Moses and his companion called YDRII.” He plucked a cigar from a side pocket of his chair. It was not a Shenandoah. Between puffs he said, “It is all a fiction, you know.” We nodded. “Really?” For the first time he looked surprised. “You knew this? Unexpected, but encouraging that you are so intelligent.
“Do you know why this elaborate lie was perpetrated?” We shook our heads and Abraham smiled. “It was a desperate delaying action, because those above the upper class Primes were in the process of fleeing this galaxy.”
Abraham paused and knocked the ash from his smoke. He was savoring the moment.
“Based on what we know,” Alice said, “this was not an instant evacuation. It took many years.”
“Thousands of years, Alice Dance. They were forced to develop a whole new science. The method they used required many hundreds of years of preparation and their departure was a fixed point in time. Any delay would result in a total collapse of the mechanism. I know nothing of that mechanism, but then I know nothing about the workings of a replicator.”
Abraham stood to top off our glasses.
“Interesting,” Amy said, “but can you tell us why they fled? What was so scary that made an advanced race of aliens abandon everything?”
Abraham looked at her while rubbing his beard. I think he was deciding how rather than how much to reveal. We were at his mercy, so he had no limits. “Amy Basset,” he said, “do you recall the engraving on the metal door?”
“Yes,” she said, “it looks like a constellation, but we couldn’t identify it. The stars were not named.”
Abram leaned toward her as though to convey a confidence. “Does the name Aldebaran have meaning to you?”
The name was somehow familiar, but it didn’t ring any bells for me. Bebe just shrugged.
“You mean like the star,” Amy said
“Yes, and you will soon see the proof,” Abraham said. Looking at the rest of us, he continued, “Your own records tell of it. Take the stories contained in the place called Google. Just enter The Aldebaran Mystery and you will see volumes of information—most of it wrong. But as in the case of most legends, there are kernels of truth.”
“But it’s an orange giant,” Amy said. “It can’t have planets like Earth.”
Abraham dismissed her concern with a wave of his hand. “I am taking you to meet a being from that star system. There is but one of them on this planet and that is why you are here.”
“Okay,” Alice said, “but why is it here on Earth?”
“In recent centuries, to create mischief, but by mischief I mean war, famine, conquest—misfortune on a grand scale. When the time is right, when something is fixed, more beings from Aldebaran will arrive. They care not that the real rulers have left, because they are not yet out of reach. As we approach the Core I will tell you more while giving you a tour of some very interesting sites.”
Safe to say our heads were spinning with all of this new information. Things were changing fast—too fast and we were at a great disadvantage.
“Mr. Bismarck,” Abraham said, “the set of your jaw tells me that you think that as soon as we finish we will terminate all of you.”
“It’s a logical assumption,” Harry replied.
“But why would we kill you?” said the old man, “You are no threat to us. I know you will survive and return to the surface—a surface that is rapidly changing. You see, the die is cast. There is nothing you and your friends can do to change what is happening even though your exploits have been very disruptive.
“Speaking of disruptive, I must tell you that things on the surface of Earth are in turmoil and many will die. For the most part it is the weather—bad weather. Major storms of every variety blanket the entire planet. This will continue for years. The human population will be reduced to a few surviving remnant
s.”
“What? But why?” Alice asked.
“I’m afraid,” Abraham said, with little sincerity, “that the Dance Band has precipitated these actions. When you return to the surface, I recommend that you go directly to Enigma. There is nothing you can do to help the situation on Earth. I will travel with you for the same reason.”
Abraham turned to his schnapps. I think he was giving us time to digest what he had revealed. I know that I could use a pause. As I leaned back to maintain my composure, my eyes were drawn to the car windows. The interior light, spilling out, faintly illuminated the tunnel walls flashing by. “Abraham,” I said, “these tunnels are amazing and impossible based on what I know about the science of underground construction. How was it created?”
“You will see the machine that created this,” Abraham replied, “It is not of this earth and I have no knowledge of the science behind it. I was told that it somehow liquefies and condenses the rock to an extraordinary hardness.”
“How fast are we going?” Alice asked.
“I don’t know the number, but a fast fighter airplane would be hard pressed to keep up.”
“Another thing,” Harry said, “this is a steam train. Where’s the steam? Where’s the smoke? And also how can the parts of a steam engine move that fast?”
“All I know,” Abraham said, “is that a something other than fire and water provides the motive power. The movement of its parts is a thing that interests me not.”
The conversation faltered. Shan and Bob were silently bewildered and the rest of us were in turmoil. Jesus remained unconcerned and Blue sat quietly beside Shan. Alice speculated on the distance we might travel. “Jet speed could take us two or three thousand miles,” she said. “I hope it’s north. I hope the Core is not somewhere under an ocean.”
I noticed Amy staring intently at Abraham. “Hey, people,” she pointed at our guide, “I just realized that Abraham, who we assumed to be a Prime, looks more like the German that he is.”
“It is the reason for my full beard,” Abraham said. “It has been a good disguise. You are the first to notice—not that it matters anymore.”
The talk got us nowhere, but it served to pass the time. We were almost numb—wanting to do something, but void of ideas. It stayed that way until we felt the train slow and the tunnel became very dark. Before we could react, the light returned, but the view through the windows changed dramatically.
CHAPTER 35
“Welcome to the Core,” Abraham said. “It has been many years since I have been here, but I remember it well. The lighting is not intense, but it is adequate.”
Like tourists (which we were) we glued our faces to the windows.
“Wow and double wow,” Shan said. “I cannot see the roof or any sides.”
“Are those clouds I see?” Amy asked. “How can that be?”
“I think they are,” M2 said. “It’s unusual, but there’s a giant building at Cape Canaveral that has its own weather.”
Bob called from the other side of the car. “I see a great body of water. It appears to be without limit for I cannot see a far shore. It glows a bright blue and a strange object is suspended just over the surface.”
We scrambled for a look. On Bob’s side the track curved to the right to follow the shoreline. The strange object resembled a giant clamshell on edge, its silver gray surface smooth and unbroken.
Abraham anticipated our question. “On my first trip to this place, I was told that the device is here to guard the tunnel exit. Should any unauthorized vehicle appear, it will be immediately destroyed. That is the extent of my knowledge.”
M2 took some pictures while Harry commented on the power source that would let that thing hang in midair for years on end.
The rolling landscape on the right was also a light source. A huge variety of multi-colored fungus blanketed almost every surface—each radiating in competition with its neighbor.
“Very colorful, James,” Bebe said, “but there is no sign of human habitation.”
“That’s right,” I said. “Abraham, I see no signs of occupation.”
“Nor will you, except for a single building,” Abraham replied. “The Core was created thousands of years ago. If the planned events had happened on schedule, you would see many buildings and other signs of occupation, but having served their purpose they would be long abandoned. However current events will allow our leader to bypass that phase and go directly to the surface to introduce the world to,” Abraham took off his translator and said in German, “Die zukünftige Rasse.” He retrieved his translator and said it again. This time we heard, “The coming race.”
Coming from where?” Alice asked.
“All in good time,” he said. “First the tour comes.”
Abraham couldn’t hide his excitement and kept relapsing into the phrasing of his native German. Our level of anticipation was at maximum intensity as we rode deeper into the incredible cavern. The view changed little for several minutes and then Bob saw something from his seat on the left. “Look here,” he said, “There is another thing, but it floats on the water. It is very big.”
We all went to his side.
“That,” Abraham said, “is the machine that created the tunnels through which we traveled.” “You will note that from front to back it has the same shape as the tunnel. I think it is as long as one hundred of your yards.”
“Humongous,” Amy said, “but it looks like a silver deflated blimp—and the surface is smooth. I see no tools, no giant drill snout, no tank treads and no windows. Abraham, how does it work?”
“Like the motive power of the steam train,” Abraham said, “the way it works is a thing that interests me not. I think that it melts the rock and condenses it to a super hard material to line the walls. The machine has not moved for many centuries. At this moment though, I suggest that you look out of the windows on the right. We have arrived at the Core center.”
“Holy...” M2 began, but his voice trailed off.
It was silver. It had many parts and small features beyond counting. Like a bursting star, great jagged shafts of metal shot out from a central body. The scale was so gigantic that we could see only a fraction of the whole.
“It must be a space ship,” Alice said, “the Grande Dame of all space ships.”
“Yes, it is the ship of The Other,” Abraham said. “I have learned that it is a supply ship. The supplies are weapons, and supplies for the hundreds of small attack vessels contained therein. The Other is the only living thing that came with it.”
It’s at least fifty stories high,” Alice said, “I doubt it would fit in the Pinocchio crater.”
“It would not,” Jo said. “Its bulk must be measured in megatons. I do not understand how it could be here under the Earth.”
“Maybe it melts rocks like the tunnel maker,” Amy said. “Or maybe it’s what created the Gulf of Mexico.”
As we gawked at this wonder, the train approached to where we could see only a wall of silver and there it stopped.
Abraham rose from his chair. “And now, my friends, we begin a very interesting tour.” He glanced at Harry and M2. Both were not trying to hide their guns. “Although you will not need them,” he said, “please bring all of your weapons and your well behaved animals. Your personal radios will remain active.”
The air outside was pungent but not unpleasant. The platform looked like a lava flow, although smooth. It led directly to a large, unadorned building made from the same melted rock. It was tucked under a huge cantilevered part of the towering ship. The total silence was disturbing as our guide led us there.
“It looks like an office building or a warehouse,” M1 said.
“An astute observation, M1” Abraham said. “You will know why very soon.” He pointed to his right. “That doorway leads to the auditorium, which is where the tour really begins
CHAPTER 36
It was the first time I had heard Shan scream. Here were the mysterious black boots, hanging like v
ictims of the gallows, except that they hung side by side, row on row with no support. Once again, all we could do at first was to drop our jaws and look. Abraham was patient enough to stand aside and let us react.
“What a nightmare,” Alice said, “this building has to be much deeper than it is wide. I cannot begin to count those bodies and why are they suspended above the floor? I see no ropes holding them there. Abraham, talk to us, please.”
“With pleasure, Alice Dance,” he said, “Here you see the coming race—those who will soon assume control after the storms and when the Others are able to come here from Aldebaran. The delay in their arrival is the sole reason for the years of waiting. But the remedy is at hand.”
“There are a lot more than sixty or so bodies hanging up there.” M1 said.
“I will treat that as a question,” Abraham said. The group you were tracking is in the first two rows. The others were brought here directly from above before the end of the war. We need a fair sized population of men and women to reproduce and to fulfill our future duties.”
“Future duties?” Harry said.
“We’ll be running things,” Abraham said. “What you see is a form of stasis. They remain suspended here, not ageing until they are needed. The Others have conquered many planets. They are masters at delegating authority to some of the native population.”
“Delegating authority,” Harry repeated with scorn. “You’re just mercenaries. The coming race is just a bunch of paid flunkies.”
“We shall see, Mr. Bismarck,” Abraham said, “we shall see.”
“Anyhow,” Harry continued, “this reminds me of my search for Nora,” I was running around Peru and for all that time she was on Enigma. The whole time we’ve been running around the galaxy, they were here, right under our feet.”
“And now I must show you one other feature in this building.” Abraham turned back toward the entrance. Off to one side was an oversized alcove with small tables and chairs. It looked like a lounge. We followed along as he entered and walked to the far end. There on a stone pillar we saw the carved image of a Mobius strip, identical to the one that took Carl from us. This one was encased in a large glass tube. We didn’t react at all. “This,” Abraham continued, “is something that will help solve the problem of the fleeing rulers of the Primes. Right now it cannot be touched. When the Others arrive the glass barrier will be removed. I do not know what will happen then.”
LOST AND FORGOTTEN: BOOK THREE - ENIGMA Page 23