The Chair (13 page)

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.”