I whispered to the professor. “What are they calling this dreadful thing?”
“They call it the Feuerball! Stay close and don’t answer any questions, let me do the talking.”
We walked under the massive bell shaped flying machine and up to the two guards standing at the foot of a ten foot boarding ladder; then one of them began speaking to the professor in German.
“Ah, Professor Gratten, you have company today and who is this?”
“This is Franz. He has been ordered here to assist me today with the final engine tests.”
I added a reinforcing nod of the head.
“Very well, you may pass with him. Franz you are very privileged to be working on this project, but be aware, anything you see here remains here.”
I nodded again with a smile and the only acknowledgment I knew would probably work.
“Ja.”
I think the only two words I really knew in German were Ja and nein, yes and no.
We continued up the ladder and through one of the small entry hatches at the bottom. Climbing up into the machine, I could now see the inside and directly over another hatch to the outside was a small bomb bay holding several undoubtedly powerful bombs.
The inside of the machine wasn’t the roomiest place I’ve ever been in; similar to what I would have guessed a submarine was like. There was a cockpit above for one pilot only and just enough room for one more to operate everything else. Several heavy duty machine guns were locked in and placed strategically around in back of the pilot pointing in a circular fashion. I climbed up into the cockpit area and could see clearly out every one of the portholes, which were situated all the way around the hefty machine at the top. Another weapon was pointing outside the machine at the bottom which was attached to two tanks on the inside which, I thought, had to be a flamethrower. The cockpit and guns were inside at the top of the aircraft surrounding a rather large compartment in the very center. The professor told me this was the main engine compartment which held their extremely secretive– magnetic vortex engine.
Professor Gratten looked around to be sure no one would overhear us. “Richard, this is a deadly machine and if mass produced, could cause untold damage to whoever they decided to attack.”
“That is exactly why we must destroy this bloody prototype, before it goes into production. If we could manage to pull that off, it would possibly set them back for years having to start over from scratch! ”
“The third test is scheduled in two days, providing I give the ok on the final engine check. This is the one and only prototype they have built according to all specifications and with the whole compliment of weapons. Tomorrow comes the real test using the full lift off power of the vortex engine.
“I have a friend here, Ulrich Achmann; a German guard, with full access to the munitions locker holding explosive material. He has been spying for the underground resistance here in the warehouse for quite sometime and against all that Hitler stands for. He served in the last war proving to be brilliant in the use of all types of explosives for virtually any condition. If we could get him to somehow assemble a few explosive devices, we could place them with the main engine thrusters so that when they reach their peak take off output it would initiate a devastating explosion.
“Ulrich has been against this armed build up from the beginning but the SS has promised to expose his previous war efforts, trump them up as wrongful and try him publicly for crimes against humanity if he does not cooperate.”
We climbed back down out of the machine and walked to the service shuttle truck. I must admit I had been awestruck at the ingenious technology and brilliance of the Germans. These weapons were something out of a nightmare and now they were all too real.
Anders now had become a part of them, one of their agents to spread their Nazi madness to another part of the world, Ara’s sanctuary island. I was compelled to stay and do something which would insure that would never happen and if successful it might just make the difference between the death of many thousands and the German defeat.
“Will you be able to work something out with Ulrich before the test tomorrow?”
“He wouldn’t have enough time to put everything in place by then but there is a final take off testing of the engine the following day; by then, Ulrich ought to have put together something very effective that should do the job.”
“Good, this machine could make a colossal difference in the balance of power for the Germans; it could certainly be used to extort any nation it chose.
I thought of Ara and what she might be up against with Anders who was attempting to instigate this brash German plan on their island. Then, Catherine came crashing back through my head again.
Catherine Baker.
Where did she fit in my life now? Was I still in love with her, or was it Ara I now cared for? What must she be thinking now? Had she abandon the thought of ever seeing me again, or was she going through hell all this time, wondering what has become of me? I would have to sort out these matters later, much later. The here and now had to be my only priority at the moment.
I hid away in the truck while returning to the warehouse and replayed the assistant routine in order to get back to his apartment once again.
“Ara wants you to come back in one of the trackers that is still here professor and I would normally agree, but in this case I think it better that you stay until that bloody machine is history, don’t you agree?”
“No question Richard! I know Ara wants me safe and back on the island, but for now my duty to the island is to see to it that nothing like what you’ve seen today ever reaches us or anyone else.”
“Ara, ever since she was a little girl, had been a fighter of good causes, the cause of our island in particular. We certainly got along famously.
After several animal tests, I discovered that she was just small enough to sit on my lap, enabling me to occasionally take her with me on some of my trips to London. When we arrived, I would take her directly to one particular sweet shop on Carnaby Street to get her favorite ice cream, strawberry.”
The professor seemed to be drifting off with thoughts of his daughters earlier years coupled with a slight bewilderment in all of the madness going on.
“She would stay with the family of one of my co-workers for the day and when I was off work, I would take her to St. James Park to feed the pelicans.
“However, as life would have it, time has slipped by and she has grown up into a beautiful woman. Richard, if you care for her at all please protect her. I hope and pray that you are kind and understanding of her diligent sense of duty to our island.”
“Professor she is quite a woman, and I’m afraid I have become more than fond of her, but there is someone I left in London which has caused me to be hesitant.”
“Ahh, I see my boy. It is better to be sure of such things than to charge full steam into something you are yet uncertain of. These things are delicate matters and take some time― time I’m sure you will both have.”
CHAPTER
EIGHTEEN
I remained in Professor Gratten’s small barracks apartment another night. The very next day, after returning from work, he immediately went to the refectory for a bite to eat and speak with his friend Ulrich Achmann, the guard.
Achmann was an overweight man in his early sixties. His speech seemed a little slurred with certain words and he, according to Gratten, had a habit of immediately correcting a person on the smallest of errors in a matter. He was assigned to guard duty in the refectory and always made it a point of arriving at precisely the same time every evening. This was a good thing I thought, because dealing with explosives probably taught him the very need for precision.
I was again alone in the professor’s quarters, which certainly didn’t diminish any claustrophobia I might have had. Surprisingly, my wait for him wasn’t long; the professor showed up sooner than expected. His smile beamed as the door closed behind him. “Ulrich has managed to put together a pleasant surprise for
the Germans tomorrow afternoon, yes, a very nice surprise!”
“I take that to mean he has come up with something to destroy this machine?”
“Oh, believe me it will more than destroy; it will annihilate every bit of it,” he answered smiling wryly. “Achmann informed me he put together the components and all we had to do was place them at three very strategic places inside the machine’s engine compartment.”
Just then there was a knock at the door. The professor walked over hesitatingly and slowly opened it. I quickly ducked behind the professor’s desk as the door opened.
Looking under the desk, I could see two sets of boots standing at the door; at this time of night this was no casual visit.
“Ahh, professor, you’re still awake. Would you mind answering a few questions for us?
“No, not at all.”
“May we come in?”
“We found officer Hinrichs here, tied up and gagged in the room just down the hall.”
“Oh?”
“Yes and he swears that he brought a man and a woman to your door just before they locked him in the maintenance room. Would you happen know who these two were and their whereabouts?”
“Now that you mention it, there was a knock at my door. When I went to see who it was I looked down the hallway and a man and a woman were just leaving. I didn’t get a good look at them, nor do I know why they came to my door, they must have been mistaken.”
Then Hinrichs shouted. “It was no mistake! They specifically asked to know where your room was.” He looked back at the other SS officer. “He knows who they are I tell you; he is lying.”
“Hinrichs, that will be all, go back to your post; I’ll take it from here.”
“But sir!–”
“Return to your post, that is an order!”
Hinrichs looked at the professor angrily, turned and walked away. As the officer quickly gazed around the room he added. “We will most likely have to question you further concerning this matter professor, for now though, sleep well.”
The SS officers left and we were again alone. We both knew that the only reason the professor was not taken away and questioned at that very moment was because they were greatly in need of his expertise. The Nazi’s had to walk a thin line when it came to disciplining the men working on their most prized projects, at least until they were through with them.
“I should stay another night then.”
“Yes Richard, Achmann will be on guard duty till early morning. He informed me that he has put together what we need and will leave it in a satchel in the transport truck.”
“Won’t he be in danger of espionage when they find out the explosives are missing from the munitions locker?”
“It will appear as if someone broke into the locker while he was doing his rounds. The Germans are looking for a man and a woman, which will serve our purpose as scapegoats for any break in.”
“Sounds as if that should work professor.”
I walked over to a window with a view of a courtyard at the rear of the warehouse. “Ara insisted in taking one of the trackers back to the island to deal with Anders.”
“Yes, Anders is a bad one and very dangerous, but I did have Ara trained well in physical combat and firearms; she should be able to handle herself well in most situations Richard.”
“I know professor, but Anders and Paxton are cruel and have made it clear that they have it out for her; I’m afraid if they get their bloody hands on her, there’s no telling what they will do.”
“We’ll both have to hope and pray they don’t my boy. When we are through here, you must get back to the island quickly; she will require all the help she can muster.”
“Ara was insistent that you be sent back to the island as soon as possible, but it looks as if that will have to wait till we clear this mess up.”
The next morning we rose early and ate a small breakfast of some mixed fruit, oatmeal and boiled eggs the professor gathered at the refectory. I remained in his quarters till all was fairly quiet down the hallways and the professor was ready once again to go to work on the machine. Dressing again in the same work overalls, I passed through the guard points to the transport truck. Once inside I spotted a canvass satchel that Ackemann had left in the rear of the cab. I opened it up, quickly glancing in. There were three compact bombs, all wire wrapped and all with some sort of triggering device connected to what was sure to be a very volatile explosive material; also a note of placement instructions for the professor to follow. This would be the first day for the full thrust take off.
When we arrived at the old abandoned cement works, we were both surprised this time to see, a full compliment of armed soldiers placed around the entire complex. Our transport came to a stop in front of several armed SS guards who promptly approached the cab and said a few words to our driver. We stepped out of the truck, grabbed the canvass satchel along with the professor’s toolbox and began walking toward the enormous grey killing machine. Three more guards stopped us at the foot of the ladder quizzing us on our scheduled procedure for the day. I remained quiet while the professor speaking in German informed the guards of his orders for the final engine trial. They seemed to have further information to relay to the professor and then they let us board the machine.
As we entered and shut the hatch, the professor filled me in on their little conversation. “They just informed me the Führer himself will be here to witness final testing of full thrusters. This, you know, is a high priority project and he considers it key to his future plans.”
“How long have they worked on this thing professor?”
“Long before they brought me here. I heard they were working on various stages of prototypes for several years. Hitler has touted this one as a critical piece on the chessboard for some time now.
This, however, is only one of many Nazi undertakings; others like me have been working on rocketry design and field artillery for them. They’ve even begun plans for a mammoth piece of artillery they nicknamed Dora; it’s designed to fire a seven ton shell, as big as our transport truck, a distance of 23 miles!”
“This is a madman and he is obviously planning some type of large scale attack at some future date.”
“Speak of the devil Richard; look out there at the tunnel entrance.”
I looked out through one of the portholes and saw a caravan of motorcars approaching the area through the cement tunnel; the lead vehicle was a large black sedan sporting Nazi flags fluttering on either side of it.
Ten or fifteen soldiers quickly ran up close to the sedan and formed a line in front of one of the side doors; their arms extended fully straight out in front of them, palms up in a salute.
The door finally opened and Hitler himself stepped out with several of his high command SS officers who appeared to be staring straight at us, but it was the machine they were looking at.
Standing in the circle of SS officers, he pointed to the machine with one hand making gestures with his other, most likely bragging about certain features it carried.
I looked back at the professor, who was reading the note that Achmann had placed in the satchel. He began slowly pulling out each of the explosives one at a time, setting them carefully down on the deck and then began examining various parts of the engine compartment. The explosives, he had told me earlier, would have to be placed at strategic positions in the compartment in order for maximum destruction of the machine.
“I glanced back at the circle of officers who now seemed to have their eyes trained on one particular man walking in their direction dressed in pilot’s attire.
The professor filled me in. “That would be Hitler’s intrepid ‘doomsday machine’ pilot; the one who is going to get this thing up to full power.”
Then I couldn’t help adding. “And who will also be blown to bits I’m afraid, poor chap.”
The pilot, all smiles, walked to the circle of officers, each one patting him on the shoulder and shaking his hand. We had little time remaining to set the
explosives in designated places around the engine while carefully double checking each and every one; the vortex engine operating at full capacity on takeoff would do the rest.
CHAPTER
NINETEEN
With the explosive devices set, we began to exit the strange craft. I felt a small sense of remorse with what we knew was about to happen, but it had to be done. Their Führer seemed to have a strange hypnotic spell over the people here that was surely leading them to bloody hell.
Timing was now all important as we boarded the transport truck once more expecting the driver to start it up and leave immediately; instead, he got back out of the truck ambling over to the guards and began talking to another one of them.
We watched as the pilot began walking towards the machine with a proud look and great gusto; that same chilling Nazi loyalty plastered all over his face.
I elbowed Professor Gratten. “Professor we have to get out of here now! That bloody thing will blow any minute and it won’t be hard to figure out who might be the cause of it!”
The professor looked over at me pursing his lips nervously and nodding. “I know my boy, stay here, I’ll take care of it.”
He stepped back out of the truck, walked slowly up to the driver and I could see him whisper something in his ear. The driver seemed to acknowledge, nodding his head, but continued talking with the guard. I could tell the professor was beginning to pace, patiently waiting for him to finish his conversation.
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