The Gemini Divergence (87 page)

As he awoke he murmured, “What does that
mean?”

“…The Raumsfahrtwaffe is fighting a battle
amongst them selves on the moon as we speak… in a location that we
had never detected them before. It looks like an underground base
in a volcanic tube that we never knew about.”

Nixon sat up in bed wiping his face, “Get
General Fitzpatrick on the Horn as soon as possible.”

*~*

All of Schwerig’s men and Graf quickly
huddled round him, reminding him briefly of the Fallschirmjaeger
heit back at White Sands years before.

He briefly looked around at them and then
silently motioned for a technician to open the next door.

Once the door was opened, he quickly
signaled for the first squad to run through, then, the door
technician and the second squad leapfrogged past the first into the
second hall section.

Over and over they did this until they had
descended into the main part of the facility.

They avoided confrontation by taking a
seldom used service hall to the back side of the main control room.
With all of the pipes and wires, there was barely enough room for
them to walk in single file without crouching.

Once to the control room door, Schwerig,
Graf, and the door technician stepped past the door to allow the
rest of the soldiers to line up like paratroopers ready to
jump.

Once the door technician wired up his
handset, he looked back at Schwerig for the sign.

He looked down the line at the waiting
raiders and silently mouthed the word, “Ready?” To which all of the
men down the line either nodded yes or held up their thumbs.

After nodding in concurrence, he pointed at
the technician in a gesture meaning now.

The door opened causing some of the control
room technicians to look and gasp in horror as the storm troopers
began to quickly file into the room, firing at anyone that appeared
to challenge them in the slightest way.

Schwerig calmly stood and listened to the
mêlée as he waited for the last of his men to file into the
room.

As soon as the final raider had piled out,
he could hear the shouting of his men already rounding up the
prisoners and standing them up against the wall.

Schwerig stepped out to see his small
battalion in total control of the central control room, but was
immediately disappointed to not see Adlerkrallen or
Kreutztrager.

“Damn,” he exclaimed, then walked over to
the highest ranking man against the wall and pulled him away to
face him, “Where are Adlerkrallen and Kreutztrager?” he
insisted.

The man quickly relented, “They just left
down the hall… probably only seconds before you entered.”

“Damn again!” Schwerig cursed because he
knew that they must have been alerted by the schmelzengewehr
fire.

He looked around the room at his men that
had taken control and at a group of his men that were later in line
and didn’t quite know what to do yet.

He yelled, “Those of you that have managed
to find a post, keep it. Those of you who haven’t… Come with
me.”

Schwerig made a bee line for the door and
pressed the button to open it, then turned and waived the first men
to respond on through to secure the hall.

After one of the troopers from the hall
yelled clear, Schwerig signaled a second small group into the hall
to leap frog the first and followed behind as he yelled back to
Graf, “Stay here and keep control of the complex.”

But before Schwerig had walked completely
out of the room, he heard the sound of gunfire erupt just as soon
as his men opened the second hallway door.

After Adlerkrallen and Kreutztrager heard
the surprise attack, they quickly set up a squad of men to ambush
Schwerig’s men when they came looking for them.

Schwerig ducked slightly as shrapnel flew
when a blast hit the door above his head.

He quickly stepped back inside the control
room as he turned around and yelled above the gunfire into the
hall, “Kreutztrager, are you out there?”

Schwerig smiled at Graf when Kreutztrager
sarcastically replied, “Why Wolf, what a pleasant surprise… I see
that somebody left the back door unlocked.”

Schwerig facetiously returned, “Pity you
didn’t have me build this place… There wouldn’t have been a back
door to leave unlocked… You never know what undesirables may just
wander in.”

“So I see,” as the gun blasts continued.

Schwerig offered more officially, “I’ll give
you and Adlerkrallen the same offer that I gave Von Sterbenbach and
allow you to return to the planet and live out your life as an
Earth dweller… if you give up now.”

One of Schwerig’s men yelled back from the
hall, “They only have two guards left returning fire now.”

Then Adlerkrallen yelled in defiance,
“Better to die in a blaze of glory, than to squander a lifetime of
work!”

“Speak for yourself,” Kreutztrager replied
to Adlerkrallen’s comment.

Schwerig yelled, “Trust me. I’m not the one
squandering lives and hard work.”

Suddenly he heard rapid gunfire from weapons
that had not yet been used in this skirmish. It sounded like
conventional handguns; like a Luger.

Schwerig’s men from the hall yelled,
“Someone is shooting at them from behind… I can’t see who they
are.”

Schwerig looked around at Graf to silently
inquire if he sent someone out to flank them and Graf shrugged his
shoulders to signal that he didn’t know.

The gunfire subsided, and after a moment of
silence, a teenage boy’s voice rang out, “Führer Schwerig, they’re
all dead… We have stopped them for you… Please don’t shoot us.”

Schwerig looked at Graf with pleasant shock
then signaled for his men to check it out.

They soon returned with small group of young
boys and the guns that they took from them and reported, “They’re
all dead alright… They got all four of them.”

Schwerig signaled for his men to let the
boys go as he asked one of them, “Why did you do this my son?”

The boy looked at Schwerig and replied, “I
was dragged here by my stepfather against my will. I have always
idolized you. I knew you would come… When I heard the gunfire I
grabbed the gun my stepfather had displayed in his office and came
to see if I could help you. I called some of the other boys in my
Solarian Youth Unit, and they felt compelled by the same allegiance
to you as well”

Schwerig looked shocked and in disbelief,
“What is your name son?”

“Xavier Augustine.”

Schwerig walked over to a prisoner Leutnant
and removed his hat, then walked over to the boy and placed it on
his head as he said, “Well you’re a hero of the Raumsfahrtwaffe
now… Welcome aboard.”

*~*

President Nixon walked into the living room
of his houseboat in his pajamas and a night robe and picked up the
phone, “General Fitzpatrick? What the hell is going on up
there?”

Fitzpatrick replied, “Dr. Volmer was right,
Schwerig just contacted us… It’s over. He is in complete control of
his people. We’re closer than ever to completing this deal.”

Nixon looked up to his advisor and held up
his drink in a toast, slammed it, then leaned back and wiped his
brow in relief as he said, “You know… I think that I may sleep in
the White House again tomorrow night.”

25 May 1973

Skylab 2 was launched. It was the first
manned Skylab mission, but the original scientific mission had been
scrubbed and replaced by a repair mission to make Skylab habitable
again.

12 July 1973

A major fire destroyed the entire
6
^th
floor of the National Military Records Center in St.
Louis.

Investigators were at a loss to explain it,
but reported that it was very likely an errant cigarette tossed
into a trash can by a random wandering security guard.

The majority of the records lost were Air
Force personnel records and discharges from the creation of the Air
Force all the way up until 1973.

The fire almost completely wiped out the
entire existence of the Air Force on paper.

The only history of the most powerful Air
Force that ever existed was now almost completely from the lips of
its surviving alumni.

21 and 25 July 1973

Soviet Mars 4 and 5 probes, respectively,
arrived at mars, returning confirmation pictures to the Earth
without being attacked.

28 July 1973

Skylab 3 was the second manned Skylab
mission. They carried out the scientific mission originally
intended for Skylab 2.

September 1973

Both Germanys are finally permitted to join
the UN.

27 September 1973

The Soviets resumed their Soyuz program and
launched Soyuz 12, which was the first manned Soyuz launch since
the Soyuz 11 tragedy back in 1971.

~~~**^**~~~

Resolve and Solace / Treaty In The Heartland

October 1973

The broad leaf forests of the American
Midwest were glowing with their autumn hues. The crisp fall air was
cool and pleasant while still not cold enough to prevent people
from enjoying the autumn, outdoors.

Senator Symington knew of a small town, off
the beaten path, within his home state that still had a native
population of German speaking people, and they were going to be
publicly celebrating Oktoberfest.

He thought that this would be the perfect
place to conceal a meeting with Schwerig.

The annual celebration attracted people from
miles in every direction. Nobody would think anything odd about a
group of strangers conversing with men with German accents.

Hermann, Missouri was founded by immigrant
Germans that wanted to escape post Napoleonic Europe, in the early
1800s, to preserve their traditional ideas and values in the new
world. They were disgusted that even after Napoleon’s utter defeat;
his revolutionary ideas were still taking over every aspect of
their lives.

After a German Immigrant named Gottfried
Duden wrote a book that became a best seller in Germany, about the
budding traditional German culture taking hold in the Femme Osage
area of Missouri, immigrants came to America by the tens of
thousands; in the hopes that they could preserve their ancient way
of life.

Not all of them made it to this exact part of
the Missouri River valley described, but the ones that did
fervently held onto their traditions and language for
generations.

Only the World Wars put an end to this bubble
of old German culture.

Volmer was delighted and amused at this
little known enclave of culture that reminded him of his past.

He and Symington had found a booth in an open
air bier garden that overlooked the beautiful autumn hued valley
and the wide ebbing Missouri river that had reminded the original
settlers of the Rhine back home.

Polka music played in the background and the
smell of sausages cooking over open flames permeated the crisp fall
air.

Symington looked at his watch and moaned,
“Its one o’clock… where the hell is he?”

Volmer gazed happily at the crowd and
responded, “He’s very punctual… never late, I’m sure that he is
only seconds away… probably sitting here somewhere watching us
now.”

Symington sat quickly upright and scanned the
bier garden for Schwerig, when Volmer nudged him and pointed at a
man in lederhosen and an alpen hat with a feather, walking briskly
towards them with an ornately carved walking stick in hand.

“Guten tag, Herr Schwerig,” greeted Volmer as
he gestured for Schwerig to sit.

“Sehr gut… Wunderbar!” answered Schwerig as
he sat, “I have not enjoyed myself like this since I was a boy…
Look at this.”

Schwerig leaned back and gestured to his
colorful new Bavarian garb, “You know… this morning I had my hair
cut… here in America… and during the entire duration, nobody spoke
a word of English… The locals even tell their jokes in German!” as
he laughed.

“Well I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself, Mr.
Schwerig,” Symington facetiously remarked.

“’Herr’ Schwerig,” Wolf corrected, undaunted
as he smiled and gestured around, “When in Rome, you know.”

Volmer, in a seemingly concerned and quiet
tone, “Herr Schwerig, where were you able to park your…
‘vehicle’?”

Schwerig smiled as he signaled a maiden for a
round of beers without asking if they wanted any, “This berg is an
island in a very rural part of the country, my friend. There are
many hedgerows and ravines within hiking distance of here… I had
little problem. I will just have to wait for nightfall to depart
again.”

“Where is Graf?” asked Volmer.

“Close… don’t worry. My attention for detail
has not waned. I have men watching from many places in the
crowd.”

Symington quickly looked around with a
slightly paranoid gaze.