by Ward Wagher
It took Dieter and Konrad most of the day to make the necessary connections. Finally, they had it ready and brought Florian into the huddle to take notes. Dieter flipped the switch to power up the device. The three observed as Dieter increased the power to the machine. And nothing happened.
“All right,” Konrad said with a note of disgust, “what went wrong?”
“A good question, and I don’t know,” Dieter replied. “It should have worked.”
Florian chewed on the tip of his pencil while he studied the setup. “You were trying to introduce controllability into the flight, correct?”
“Right. It makes sense, but it doesn’t work. It also doesn’t feel right.”
Konrad studied the wiring details again. “You are right, Dieter. It should work.”
Dieter looked at the clock on the wall. “It’s quitting time. And I’m tired of working on this anyway. Let me think about this tonight. Maybe I’ll have a sudden inspiration.”
“Any kind of inspiration would be welcome,” Florian suggested.
“Fine. I think we need to call it a day.”
Ignatz appeared in the door to his office and stood with his hands on his hips.
“Might I infer from the looks on your faces that you did not have a good day?”
Dieter shook his head. “It seemed like a total waste. But we now know what doesn't work. So, I guess that is progress of a sort.”
“Berlin wasn’t built in a day, Gentlemen. Go home. Get on the outside of dinner. Relax. A fresh start tomorrow will do wonders.”
Jette had noticed the discussion and quietly prepared to leave. While Dieter could go whenever he desired, the others would wait for the bus. Jette had decided she liked riding directly home instead of following the circuitous route the bus followed to drop everyone off.
“It seems like you weren’t able to accomplish much today,” she commented as they rode past the gate to the SS base.
“That is the nature of lab work,” Dieter replied. “There are times when the day is just a long, hard slog. Like today.”
“So, you couldn’t make your new invention work?”
“Not like I planned for it to. But my track record in the lab is actually well above average. Ignatz told me that the best researchers often go years without seeing results. So, he is pleased with my work.”
“Is it possible for you to take some of the equipment home so you could tinker over the weekend or during the evenings?”
“I don’t know,” he replied. “I think the SS would frown on that. This is still secret. But that’s not all you had in mind, was it?”
They rode in silence for a while before she spoke again. But you could do it, right?”
“I am not sure if I could remove anything from the lab without Ignatz or Rolf catching me.”
“Would you be able to build something at home?”
“What are you getting at, Jette?” he asked.
They stopped at an intersection as a couple of drays pulled by horses lumbered across slowly. The wagons were loaded with barrels, and the horses worked hard against the load. Both of them watched out the window until he was able to proceed. He shoved the gear lever into first and got the little car moving again.
“If we were to leave Germany to go to England or America, we would need to be able to defend ourselves. It would be much safer for you to build something at home, instead of taking something from the lab.”
“I haven’t agreed to leave Germany,” he said.
“Frau Hohltaube said you would when the time was right.”
“Frau Hohltaube has helped both of us a lot, but she is just an old lady. What does she know?”
Jette folded her arms across her chest. “She saved my life, Dieter. And there is no way she could have done that without being more than just an old lady.”
He laughed. “You are saying she must be some kind of a witch or something?”
“No. But nobody would have believed you, and I were magicians before you invented your tools.”
“There is quite a difference,” he said, “between a magician and a Hausfrau. And what does she do all day?”
“Have you ever asked her?”
“She would tell me it was none of my business. Besides, she is kind of scary.”
“She is a dear. She reminds me of my Grossmutter.”
Dieter didn’t know how to respond without making Jette upset again, so he merely nodded. He wondered if he was going to be forced to flee Germany eventually to protect Jette. Life ought to be simple. He had a lot of opportunities right now and was comfortable in his position. But, Jette and the old lady had prodded him to think about things that made him uncomfortable. He was convinced that Rolf was not his friend, any protests to the contrary.
When they arrived at the boarding house, she once again got out of the car and walked to her room. He decided he was going to have to speak with Frau Hohltaube. But he wasn’t sure what to ask.
Dinner was boiled cabbage and potatoes with sour cream. It was filling, although Dieter wondered about the lack of meat. He wondered if the British blockade of the German ports contributed to a lack of foodstuffs. The news from France was interesting. The German army and the SS Magician Corps were advancing upon Paris, and it seemed everyone in that country was in a panic. The British had embarked the Expeditionary Force to land in northern France to help defend that land. Dieter thought that the British would have about the same nasty surprise as the French.
After dinner, he climbed the stairs and stopped in front of Frau Hohltaube’s door. He knocked softly, and the door was snatched open almost as soon as he had completed the knock.
“Come in, Herr Faust. I understand you wish to speak with me.”
He walked into the old lady’s small room and wondered how she knew he wanted to talk. He turned to face her and folded his arms.
“Are things as bad as Jette thinks?”
She tilted her head as she studied him. “They are likely worse than she realizes. Before this war is finished, the Germans will murder millions of Jews, as well as other peoples. There is an evil force stalking this land, and it has fused hatred with ambition.”
“So, you agree that we should leave?”
“What do you think, young Herr Faust?”
“I do not know what to think.”
“You saw what the Gestapo did to Jette. Did that not enrage you?”
“Yes, I was enraged. Those men were evil.”
“What you saw was merely a simple manifestation of what the Nazis are doing to this country. To them, everyone else is not quite real. How long do you think you can protect the girl?”
“Ignatz promised to take care of her.”
“Do you think Ignatz can stand up to the SS?” she asked. “Do you really believe that?”
“What should I do, then?”
“I think you know what you need to do. You already know the answer whether or not you believe what I am telling you. Jette has already given you ideas on how to accomplish this.”
“Will you help?”
“I will help you learn how to make your way. But you must do this on your own. You cannot leave until you have made up your mind; it is the right thing to do.”
“Where should we go?” he asked.
She smiled now. “That is for you and Jette to decide.”
He returned to his room more puzzled than ever. He faced a danger that was more clearly defined by the day. He was sure something would force him to take some kind of direct action to protect Jette. And he was also faced with the enigma that was Frau Hohltaube. Considering the real possibility he would be forced to leave Germany; he began to think about how they would go about it. It would not be easy.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
December 22, 1939
The weather had turned colder as Christmas and New Year’s Day approached. Heavy snow kept the townspeople from venturing far. Getting to work was a struggle. The motor pool had fitted the bus with tire chains, and it bulled
its way through the drifts, and the development team for the SS Magician Corps made it to the office. Dieter still drove himself to work, although that was sometimes a challenge. The little KdF Wagen was surprisingly sure-footed in the snow, but sometimes the drifts almost overwhelmed the car.
One morning, Karl had slipped into the lab and over to Dieter.
“This would be a good morning for you to move your car into the shop, nicht wahr?”
He looked at the craftsman curiously.
“Rolf won’t be in today. He called Ignatz and said his Horch was buried, and there was no sense even trying to get it on the road.”
“So, he gets to take a day off, then.”
Karl held a finger alongside his nose. “You should always revel in good fortune, Dieter. We’ll get the job done on your automobile, and no one will be the wiser.”
He looked around the lab and then back at Karl. “I think I understand. Go, make sure you’re ready to open the door for me.”
“Back in a minute, Florian,” Dieter said as he pulled on his overcoat.
It seemed to him that it was colder than when he arrived. He trotted through the snow to where his vehicle huddled in the drifts. It had not cooled off completely since he arrived that morning, so it started immediately. As he pulled around to the double doors leading into the manufactory, he chewed on the thought that this was the last time he would have to start the engine in his KdF Wagen. It seemed kind of sad to him.
As he neared the doors, Karl pulled them open and motioned him to drive through the opening. Once he was far enough inside for the craftsman to close the doors, he stopped and shut off the engine.
“I leave it in your capable hands,” Dieter said as he climbed out of the car.
You’re too trusting,” Karl laughed.
When he walked back into the lab, the workers looked curiously at him. Jette raised a questing eyebrow, and he smiled at her. Again at the bench, he resumed his fight with the current device. He and Konrad had connected and disconnected the control stick several times. Without the stick attached, the machine would easily lift itself from the bench. During one experiment, the device once again succeeded in raising the entire bench off the floor.
Yet, every time they reconnected the control stick, the machine refused to budge. They had tried numerous combinations of wiring and patterns of the lights in the device without success. His frustration grew until finally Ignatz stormed out of his office and ordered Dieter to find something else to do.
Two days later, Karl presented him with the updated KdF Wagen.
“Here you go, Dieter. We have completed the work and tested it.”
“It doesn’t look any different.”
“No, and that’s the beauty of it. No one can tell you have an advanced magical drivetrain.”
They stood in the manufactory, studying the vehicle.
“And the motor is where the engine used to be?”
Karl walked over and opened the rear deck lid.
“Here is the power generator, and the motor is below it.”
“And it will drive the same way?”
“Very much so. We were short on time, so we retained the transmission and clutch. You will only need the clutch to change gears. But you should be able to keep it in third or fourth gear all the time. You won’t need the clutch when you stop – there is no gas engine to kill. Plus, this thing is fast.”
“So, you took out the gas tank?” Dieter asked.
“Yes. It was no longer needed. It gives you a bit more space for luggage and what have you.”
Karl walked over and opened the door. “The ignition switch on the dash is just a simple on or off with the key. You don’t need the starter, of course. And look down there.”
He pointed to a box in the center under the dash.
“You put the heater in,” Dieter exclaimed. “That is the best part.”
“At least during the winter. And Dieter?”
“Yes?”
“You probably don’t want to talk about this very much.” And the craftsman winked at him.
“Okay. In other words, Rolf doesn’t know about it.”
“That’s right. If he finds out and yells, just blame me.”
“I’ll worry about that when it happens,” Dieter said.
The ride home that evening was interesting. He had purposely not told Jette about the changes to the car. He wanted to see if she would notice anything.
“That box wasn’t there before,” she said, pointing to the heater.
“It’s a little something I am trying out,” he replied.
“And it is warm in here. Is that a heater?”
He nodded as he concentrated on negotiating the ruts in the snow.
“I like this.”
She spoke again after they had gone further into the city.
“You aren’t shifting. And the motor sounds different.”
He grinned at her and then looked out the windshield again.
“Karl did a little work on it. It is now powered by an electric motor and a magical power unit.”
She looked at him with her mouth open. “They let you do that?”
“Karl told me not to say anything about it. So, I guess we can call it an experiment.”
“You no longer have to purchase gasoline, then.”
“That’s right.”
“Then, when we leave here, the car will take us wherever we want to go. All the way there.”
“When we leave,” he emphasized.
“I should make a list of things we need to take with us,” she said. We will need money, food, personal armor, and a beam weapon. I need to write this down.”
“Don’t write it down, Jette,” he warned. “You do not want your list to fall into the wrong hands.”
“Oh.” She seemed abashed. “I didn’t think about that.”
“I haven’t made up my mind yet if we are leaving, but understand it will be perilous. We created a world-changing weapon for the Reich, and they will not let it out of their fingers easily.”
“But if we are carrying our personal power packs with the shields and the beam weapon, nobody can hurt us.”
“We will have to sleep sometime. And the SS could overwhelm us with sheer numbers. No, Jette, we will have to think about all of the things that could go wrong. Because some of those things surely will go wrong.”
She was subdued again for the rest of the ride home. Dieter was amazed at the power the little car now had. He looked forward to driving it on dry pavement. And the heater was a magnificent luxury. Fortunately, Karl had put a rheostat on it, so that he didn’t have to turn it off when it got too warm in the car.
Now, after completing another day in the lab, Dieter was close to hair-pulling frustration over his inability to get his latest invention to work correctly. It was quitting time, and Ignatz walked over to Dieter’s bench.
“Any progress today?”
Dieter shook his head. “We have tried everything we can think of, and it just won’t work.”
Ignatz placed his hands on his hips and gazed at the recalcitrant device. Finally, he threw up his hands in disgust.
“Hokay, Dieter. Let’s put this one on the shelf for the time being. At some point, you must realize it is time to let a project rest for a while. And I think you need to rest for a while. Take tomorrow off. Think about something completely different.”
“Are you sure that’s okay? I mean, if I don’t work, I don’t get paid, right?”
“You will be paid for tomorrow,” Ignatz laughed, patting Dieter on the shoulder. “You always put in extra effort on everything. You deserve it.”
“Well, thanks. If you’re sure I won’t get into trouble.”
“I keep telling you,” the little man explained, “that I’m giving you a holiday. You deserve it. Don’t worry about it.”
“If you say so.”
“Dieter!” Ignatz spoke sharply.
“Yes, Sir?”
“I say so. Go home.�
��
Dieter pulled on his overcoat and walked over to where Jette was watching him.
“Can you take the bus home tonight?”
“Whatever has happened, Dieter,” she asked.
“Ignatz told me to go home and take a holiday tomorrow.”
“I have never heard of such a thing.”
“I haven’t either, but it sounds nice.”
“Very well, Dieter. I will ride the bus home tonight.”
He reveled in the sense of freedom that came from leaving the office early in the afternoon. It was nice to drive home in daylight. He wondered if he ought to drive out of town and explore some of the scenery. Of course, the landscape was mostly covered in snow, so he just went home.
He stretched out on his bed with the electronics textbook on his stomach and put his hands behind his head. It was his favorite thinking position. The flying device was not working correctly or at all for him. He was unable to visualize how it needed to look. All he had was the sense that the current design was wrong. But he couldn’t imagine rightness.
As he pondered the problem, he drifted off to sleep. He awakened in time to join Jette at dinner, and then went to his room and went to bed again. He concluded the work was more wearing than he realized, even though he was having fun. Perhaps the extra day off of work would allow him to get some rest. Maybe he would even solve the problem of the flying device.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
December 25, 1939
Christmas wasn’t celebrated in Nazi Germany, at least publicly. Monday was another workday. In Berlin, the government went about its business. In France, the Wehrmacht and the SS Magicians Corps continued its progress towards Paris, tossing aside any attempts to stop them. In Frankfort, Dieter was back at work in the laboratory on a new idea which he had been pondering over his long weekend.
He now tinkered with a variant of his anti-gravity device. He had concluded that if he couldn’t make the machine do one thing, it might be possible for it to do something else. He hated disappointing Ignatz. The man was unfailing in his kindness and patience. He had struggled for weeks on the previous project and had nothing to show for his efforts.