by Bill Blowers
How many times did I plead with you to be stronger? How many times did I beg you to let me negotiate for you? But no, you did it all for the “good of the world.” But what has the world done for Nikola Tesla? What has that bastard Morgan or that pig Edison done except conspire against you? And what about that thief Marconi, what about him?
Your moment in the sun is upon us. If you go to my private laboratory, you will find a key to a locker at Grand Central Station. There you will find an acoustic receiver and special underwater microphones. I have placed an acoustic sounder on board the Titanic that can be heard for thousands of miles. The sound it makes, like the sound of a chirping bird, will guide you to her. Once you locate her and her wealthy passengers, the world will look at you as a deity and the likes of Morgan, who has done the most to destroy you, will offer you a fortune, but more than that, he will acknowledge your greatness and his sins against you.
And on it went. It was written in their Serbian language to prevent accidental discovery.
Of course Tesla remembered the Titanic sinking. Anyone who had been in New York in 1912 had followed the newspaper reports from that first New York Times headline telling of the collision with the iceberg and the loss of life all the way through the daily reports of the trials that Senator William Alden Smith conducted. In fact Tesla had been interviewed by several reporters and asked his opinions of the claims that Titanic had been “unsinkable.” His reply, published in the Post, was brief and sobering: The events of April 15th answer that question with unquestionable accuracy.
Tesla stared at the letter in utter disbelief as it went on to tell of Viko’s plans, to explain exactly how it would be done, and that he, Viko, would exclaim to the world that the great inventions of Nikola Tesla were greater than the money and the power and the influence of all others. Of how he was certain that finally Nikola Tesla would be given the credit, the position, and the power to realize his ultimate dream of wireless power to the world.
Tesla put the letter in his pocket, locked up his notes for the last time, and in a stupor got up and went back to his rooms at the top of the hotel. His normally erect posture was gone. Those who saw him pass through the lobby hardly recognized him. Charles Vinder, the desk clerk on duty that day and a longtime admirer of Tesla, commented later that “Tesla looked like a walking cadaver.”
In his room, he took one last look at the letter, placed it in his fireplace, and burned it along with the plans for the acoustic sounder that Viko had drawn up. He went to his two pigeons, lovingly took them to the open window, and let them go, telling them to go forth, have babies, and forget him.
Closing the window, he slumped into a chair, buried his head in his hands, and began to sob. His dream had always been to help mankind. He wanted nothing more than to take the burden of labor off the backs of men and women and let them experience the art, the poetry, and the beauty of this world. And yet his creations had been used unknowingly to cause the deaths of 1,517 innocent men, women, and children.
Two days later he was found dead in the chair, and even though he was eighty-one at the time, those who found him commented that he looked twenty years older.
The ultimate twist of fate in this story of hatred and revenge can be found in a rumor that continues to persist. Morgan, on his deathbed in 1913, in an apparent moment of contrition, ordered that a trust fund be established ensuring that Nikola Tesla would be provided with housing and food for the remainder of his life at nothing less than New York’s finest hotel.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
For years I would occasionally mention to people that I had an idea for a conspiracy novel based on the Titanic disaster. Thanks to all those who expressed an interest in this frighteningly possible scenario and whose encouragement convinced me to sit down and write.
I would like to thank the following people who took the time to read my first drafts and give me valuable feedback and critiques: Roger Basham, Jon Claitman, Don Coe, Rod Girard, and Gary Neidhardt. Particular thanks to Tom Allen for his insightful comments regarding terms and verbiage used at the time of Titanic, as well as granting me permission to use his name as one of my characters. Thanks to all members of the Golden Pen Writers Guild of Santa Clarita, California, for their constructive critiques, which have helped me become a better writer and grammarian, and with special thanks to Pat Kraetsch for the hours of proofreading and many suggestions that helped clarify word usage. I must also remember Judith Buntin, Stan Clough, Christine Hermann, Nancy Perkins, Nancy Senger, Marty Stephens, and Dianne Wheaton of the Wednesday Night Gang for their encouragement and constructive criticism.
Two editors at Morgan James Publishing, Angie Kiesling, and Katherine Rawson are amazing. Both offered excellent suggestions and clarifications, and pointed out a few of my boneheaded errors. Every fiction author should have the privilege of working with you two.
Words alone are not enough to thank book coach Judith Cassis for her encouragement, insight, editorial corrections, and guidance through the entire process. Judith, you are a gem. Thank you for the endless hours spent poring over the manuscript and the many suggestions that clarified and improved the story. This book would not exist without you.
It seems obligatory for an author to thank his wife. However, in this case it goes far beyond an obligation; it is a small attempt at compensation for wading her way through five rewrites. Her endless patience was a gift through the entire process. Her critiques have been insightful and helped immensely in telling this tale of what might have happened. Thank you, Sherron, for the hours you spent alone with the TV while I sat in my den, hunting and pecking my way through this thing. You are the love of my life.
AFTERWORD
Dangerous Betrayal is a work of historical fiction.
I have been interested in the Titanic disaster ever since I first saw A Night to Remember as a child. However, the tragic reality of the event was most brought alive for me by the movie Titanic, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet (1997). Somewhere along the line I began to wonder—was it truly an accident?
My purpose in writing this story was threefold. The first was to entertain. I know of few things so intriguing or entertaining as conspiracy theories. The second was to point out amazing coincidences between Titanic, her backers and passengers, and the life of Nikola Tesla. When I first had the idea for this scenario about fifteen years ago, it was just a whim. But as I read and studied both subjects, the coincidences were amazing. The third purpose was to make a statement about how brilliant ideas can be turned into terrible methods of death and destruction. For example, Einstein’s theory of relativity revolutionized physics, but also led to the atomic bomb. He didn’t intend that.
There is a large community of people, myself included, who believe that Nikola Tesla was one the world’s most significant inventors. He was one hundred years ahead of his time, and his contributions to our lives today are immeasurable. Just think of the world without AC power, radio, television, or the basic element of all electronic digital communications, the AND gate. All of these were originated by a man of incredible intellect who died a pauper’s death on January 7, 1943. History has unfortunately given credit for most of his work to others. It is not my intention to detract from his greatness, however, Dangerous Betrayal does reflect his contributions to his own obscurity.
Any connection between the sinking of Titanic and Nikola Tesla is entirely fictitious and the product of the author’s imagination. His nephew Viko did not exist, nor did his sister Christina (Viko’s mother), as well as several other characters used in telling this story. J.P. Morgan was a famous banker and industrialist whose methods (and those of other financial barons of the age) are accurately depicted as the story unfolds. Although scheduled to be on Titanic’s maiden voyage, a last-minute change in his schedule caused Morgan to remain behind, most likely saving his life. He died in 1913.
Among those reading this book may be relatives who lost family members in the Titanic disaster. If this book has in any w
ay caused pain or discomfort, it was most certainly not my intention.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
William (Bill) Blowers is a retired engineer who turned his love of reading and writing into a second career. The recipient of Technical Academy Awards and co-author of Waiting at the Train Station, he directed his inventive abilities to the successful creation of novels, business books, short stories, poetry, and numerous newspaper stories. He and his wife Sherron, along with their shih tzu Abby, live in the historic town of Newhall in California’s Santa Clarita Valley. Dangerous Betrayal: The Vendetta That Sank Titanic, is the result of his lifelong fascination with the Titanic disaster.