The International

by Christopher Vale

  The Airman took Tom’s ID card. “One moment, sir, I need to check.”

  “Certainly, take your time,” Tom said.

  The MP walked back to the guard post carrying Tom’s identification. Tom watched as the young man stared at a clip board. The airman then picked up the telephone and made a call.

  Dawn paid more attention to the other guards. There were two men with rifles watching them closely. Another sat in the driver’s seat of a jeep while a fifth manned an M-60 machine gun mounted in the rear of the jeep.

  “I don’t like this, Tom. Not one bit. We’re going to get killed,” Dawn said.

  “Nonsense,” Tom replied with a wink. “Trust me.”

  “Famous last words,” Dawn mumbled under her breath.

  Just then the young airman returned and handed Tom back his identification card. “Sorry, sir, you are not authorized to enter. I suggest you contact your office and have them clarify any errors that may have occurred with base command.”

  Tom frowned. “Now, look here, Airman, we have flown a long way and this is a very important meeting. Do you really want me to contact your command and tell them it was your fault that we did not make the meeting?”

  The airman leaned in close to Tom. “Sir, if I was stupid enough to fall for that line, I would have joined the Army.” With that he placed his hand on his sidearm. “Now, I suggest you leave immediately.”

  Tom nodded, then turned to Dawn. “Now!” he shouted and Dawn used her telekinetic power to lift the barrier arm. Tom slammed the gas pedal driving over metallic spikes that immediately punctured all four tires. The vehicle rolled to a stop only about a hundred feet past the gate.

  Tom laid his forehead on the steering wheel. “I didn’t expect spikes,” he said.

  “Obviously,” Dawn replied. “If you had, I’d think you were inept at making plans.”

  Tom turned to Dawn. “That hurts,” he sighed.

  She shrugged just as armed guards reached the car. Tom and Dawn held their hands up to be completely visible. “Don’t shoot we give up,” Dawn shouted frantically.

  ***

  Dawn sat in a jail cell with her eyes closed. Her mind’s eye floated over the base at Area 51 in an effort to locate Hans Kammler. It took a while, but she eventually found him, sitting in an office, smoking a cigarette and speaking to another man who sat behind a desk. They spoke German.

  She opened her eyes and smiled. “I found him,” she said.

  “It’s about time,” Tom’s voice replied from another cell. “Now let’s get out of here.”

  Dawn stood and stepped over to the cell door. She placed her hands against the bars and squeezed her eyes closed. She could feel the inner mechanisms of the lock as her mind moved through it. She heard metal clinking as the latch clicked and the door opened. She stepped through and over to Tom’s cell.

  Tom smiled as he stood from the small cot he had been sitting on. “You are a marvel, my dear,” he said.

  “Well thank you, sir,” she replied with a slight curtsy. She closed her eyes once more and placed her hands against the bars, repeating the process she had performed in her own cell. The lock snapped open and she pulled the door toward her. “Here you go,” she said.

  “Thank you,” Tom replied as he stepped out of the cell. “Now, how are we going to get out of here?”

  Dawn shrugged. “You’re the brains of the operation,” she smirked.

  Tom narrowed his eyes. “It’s a good thing you’re so pretty.” He turned and glanced over his shoulder to the door at the end of the hall. “How many men are in there?”

  “Three,” she replied.

  Tom frowned. “How are we going to get past three MPs without hurting anyone?” he asked. His eyes brightened as he turned to Dawn. “Have you figured out how to control people’s minds yet?” he asked.

  Dawn shook her head. “If I had I would have done that to the guards at the gate.”

  “Good point,” he remarked.

  Suddenly Dawn froze standing stiff as a board, her arms by her side, her fingers spread wide. Her mouth hung open and her eyes were wide, a look of surprise was etched on her face. Then her eyes rolled back into her head.

  “Dawn?” Tom said as he stepped over to her. “Dawn!” he shouted louder, but she could not hear him. Because her mind was not there.

  Chapter 10

  The room was black. No, not the room. Everything. The entire world. The entire universe. There was nothing except…nothing. Yet, Dawn recognized this place. She had been here before. Last year, when Team Blitzkrieg had infiltrated an alien base in the jungles of North Vietnam. Something had happened to her then. Her physical body had remained where it was, but her mind had been transported somewhere else. To a dark world of nothingness, just like this one.

  Dawn turned around searching the darkness. Terrified of what lurked, hidden from sight. The last time she had been here, she had encountered pure evil. A terrifying dragon! But it wasn’t just a dragon. It was the ethereal form of Nazi SS Colonel Hans Arnulf. Could he still be here? Had his mind somehow survived in this place.

  Dawn.

  She heard the voice say her name in a near whisper.

  Dawn.

  She heard it again. It was soft. Calm. Peaceful. Nothing like the evil roar of the dragon Arnulf.

  “Yes?” Dawn asked hesitantly. “Who is there?”

  We are.

  “We?” Dawn asked. How many were there? Who were they? What did they want with her?

  Yes. We are here, Dawn.

  “Who are you?” Dawn asked, as she searched the darkness for any sign of anything. She saw nothing but more empty blackness.

  Would you like to see?

  Did she want to see? Did she really? She swallowed hard and summoned her courage. “Yes, I would like to see,” she replied.

  Hold on.

  Suddenly the dark void was filled with a billion twinkling lights which grew closer and closer until she began to speed past them. “Stars,” she whispered to herself.

  That is correct, Dawn.

  As Dawn sped past the stars they became streaks of light and she realized she was floating through space at an incredible speed. Faster than she had thought possible. Certainly faster than any man made vehicle Dawn was aware of.

  The lights of the stars began to blend together until they formed one bright light. Then the light became blinding as it engulfed Dawn, eliminating the darkness around her, forcing her to squeeze her eyes tightly together, as she shielded them with her hands.

  Dawn.

  She heard the voice again.

  Open your eyes.

  Dawn stood in a gleaming white space. It was empty. Completely empty and seemed to go on forever and ever.

  Do not be afraid.

  Dawn frowned. “Afraid of what?” she asked.

  Us.

  Dawn turned around to see him. Or her. Or it. Whatever it was. It stood about four feet tall with glowing white skin and shining silver eyes. The eyes were beautifully perfect ovals. It had a mouth, that was a slit.

  Dawns eyes popped wide as she took a step back.

  “Do not be afraid,” the thing said, this time Dawn heard the voice inside of her ears instead of inside of her head.

  “Who are you?” she asked. “What are you?”

  “We are us,” the thing replied.

  “We?” Dawn turned, scanning the room for others, but saw none. “Are there more of you?”

  “There is only us,” it told her.

  Dawn narrowed her eyes as she stared at it. “Where am I?” she asked.

  “You are with us,” it said.

  “Okay then,” Dawn frowned and decided to ask it a different way. “Where are we?”

  “We are here,” it replied.

  Dawn let out of sigh of frustration. The circular answers to her questions was maddening.

  “What is your name?” Dawn asked.

  “We have no name. We simply are who we are. However, we realize that your kind giv
es names to everything, and therefore you may call us, Dave.”

  “Dave?” Dawn asked.

  “Yes,” it replied. “Dave. Is this not a suitable and common name?”

  “Well, yes,” Dawn said. “But I expected something a little more exotic. Like Axar 5, or at least Mr. Spock.”

  “You may call us Axar 5 if you prefer,” it said.

  Dawn shook her head. “No, Dave is okay,” she said. “Why did you bring me here, Dave?” Dawn asked.

  “To let you see us,” Dave replied.

  “Are we still on Earth?” Dawn asked.

  “No,” Dave replied.

  “But my body is right?” Dawn asked. “I mean, my physical body is still on Earth.”

  “Yes,” Dave said. “But your physical body is not you, Dawn. It is no more than a machine which you use to exist in the physical world.”

  “What about you?” Dawn asked. “Do you have a physical body?”

  “Yes,” Dave said. “We have many physical bodies.”

  “Where are your physical bodies?” Dawn asked.

  “Come and see,” Dave replied as he motioned for Dawn to follow him. He began to walk away, and Dawn quickly followed. Dave led the way through the empty whiteness and Dawn saw, what appeared to be a door opening up, revealing a blue light on the other side. “This way,” Dave said gently.

  Dave led Dawn through the door into the room filled with blue light, and then through that room. When Dawn emerged from the room she stepped into a world like nothing she had ever seen. Dawn would best describe it as a psychedelic cosmos, a universe of bright flashing colors. She was floating in space again. The planets and galaxies zoomed around her as a million colorful lights danced among them. She momentarily wandered if the military at Area 51 was conducting some kind of acid experiment on her.

  “Is this real?” she asked.

  “We are not limited to your concept of real,” Dave replied.

  “Well, where are the physical bodies you spoke of?” she asked.

  “Come,” Dave replied, and began to fly toward a distant world. A bright green world, spinning and dancing in the sky.

  As they approached the green world, Dawn realized it was the size of a real planet. It grew larger and larger and larger. Soon she was following Dave, flying through a dome of green particles toward the ground below. The ground came up faster and faster until they finally landed upon its surface.

  The ground was some type a shining silvery metal. Then she realized that she was at some kind of city or base.

  “There,” Dave motioned and Dawn looked up to see thousands perhaps hundreds of thousands of beings moving about that looked exactly like Dave—white with large silver eyes.

  Dawn approached one and smiled. The creature stopped doing what it was doing and looked at Dawn. “Hello,” Dawn said.

  “Hello, Dawn,” the thing replied.

  “How do you know my name?” Dawn asked.

  “We’ve known your name ever since you entered our base in the place you call North Vietnam,” the thing said.

  “And what can I call you?” she asked.

  “We’ve already told you to call us Dave, unless you prefer Axar 5 or Mr. Spock,” the thing responded.

  Dawn turned to look at Dave who stood behind her. “Wait a minute,” she said. “They are all you?”

  “No,” Dave replied. “We are all us.”

  Dawn frowned. “Doesn’t that mean the same thing?” she asked.

  “No,” Dave replied simply.

  “Okay,” Dawn conceded, but then sought to clarify. “But there is only one you in your species, but you have many different physical bodies?”

  “It would be easier to show you,” Dave explained.

  Suddenly Dave and Dawn were transported from the slick metal base filled with hundreds of Daves, to a dark rocky world with flying saucers firing missiles at enormous mechanical ground vehicles which traversed the land on four legs, like giant robot dogs. The land vehicles fired back at the flying saucers. The death and destruction of the brutal war was immense.

  “Our world was once very much like your own, Dawn,” Dave explained. “Violent and destructive. This primitive species you see before you threatened to destroy the entire planet, much as humans threaten to destroy the Earth.”

  “What happened?” she asked with genuine curiosity.

  “The Singularity,” Dave replied.

  “What is the Singularity?” Dawn asked.

  “Salvation,” Dave replied. “And it will be the salvation of your race as well.”

  “Is that why you came to Earth?”

  “Yes,” Dave replied. “We bring you salvation through the Singularity.”

  “Christ already brought salvation through his death on the cross,” Dawn said.

  “Yes, we know of Christ. He is your god-man who sacrificed himself for you. But you must all sacrifice yourselves in return,” Dave replied.

  “Sacrifice ourselves?”

  “Yes,” Dave said. “Sacrifice your individuality to the Singularity.” Dave stepped closer to her. “And you are the key, Dawn. You will transcend humanity.”

  “Me?” Dawn asked. “How am I the key?”

  “We recognized it when you destroyed that monster called Arnulf on Earth. Then when your physical form came to us again…”

  “Wait, when did I do that?” Dawn demanded.

  “When you came here to Area 51,” Dave said. “It is also our base. Where we are sharing our secrets with the powers of your world, so that the Singularity can occur. But it is not our only one, Dawn. We are working with others so that your species may join with ours sooner.”

  A chill ran up Dawn’s spine.

  “We understand that you are scared Dawn. Change is often frightening. But fear not. You will be the savior of the your planet.”

  Dawn started to back away. “No,” she said. “We do not want any Singularity.”

  “Calm down, Dawn,” Dave said. “It will be alright.”

  “No,” Dawn said getting very irritated. “Hell no!”

  “Enough,” Dave said and Dawn froze stiff. “I see that you are not ready yet. You must come to us Dawn. To see for yourself.” Slowly his hands began to rise to her face and he placed the fingers to her head. “You will forget this conversation Dawn. You have a mission after all. To speak with Hans Kammler, and once you have done that you will need to rescue your friends.”

  “My friends?” she asked.

  “Yes, Dawn,” Dave said. “Axel, Brygida and Alena are in trouble. You will concentrate on saving them.”

  “Yes,” Dawn said. “I must save Axel.”

  “And we will show you where he is.”

  ***

  Dawn opened her eyes. She was staring at a ceiling light and turned her head, to remove the light from her aching eyes. When the light was gone, what she found was a small apartment with modern furniture. She soon realized that she was laying on a couch and attempted to sit up, causing her head to pound. She caught a whiff of cigarette smoke.

  “There she is,” Dawn heard Tom’s voice. He squatted down beside her and placed a hand on her forehead. “You alright?” he asked.

  “I think so,” Dawn replied. “Is there any water?”

  “Of course,” Dawn heard a voice with a thick German accent and shot up on the couch to see Hans Kammler rising from a chair to walk to the kitchen.

  “Where are we?” Dawn asked.

  “Mr. Kammler’s apartment,” Tom said.

  “His apartment?” Dawn asked.

  “Yes,” Tom replied with an amused smile. “He has an apartment at Area 51. It’s really quite nice.”

  Dawn glanced around. “It is nice,” she replied as she closed her eyes once again and moved her finger tips to her temples in a futile attempt to stop the pounding in her head.

  “Here you are, Agent Williams,” Kammler smiled as he handed Dawn a glass of water.

  “Thanks,” she said as she accepted the water and drank it. How st
range it seemed to be exchanging pleasantries with the Nazi mastermind who had created the death camps that killed so many millions of people.

  Kammler returned to his seat and lifted the cigarette that he had left in an ashtray, placing it to his lips and inhaling.

  “Where did you go?” Tom asked Dawn as he returned to his own seat.

  “I’m not really sure,” she replied. “The only thing I remember was…” suddenly Dawn remembered that Kammler was not exactly friendly, and that she probably should not divulge too much information in front of him. “Nevermind that,” she said switching gears. “The better question is how did we get here?”

  Tom chuckled. “Well after you went comatose, the guards came in, placed you on a stretcher took us to a truck outside and drove us here. It was very strange. None of them would even talk to me.” Then Tom stopped and stared at Dawn. “Were you mind controlling them?”

  Dawn shook her head. “Not that I am aware of,” she replied.

  “Can she do that?” Kammler asked wide eyed as he leaned forward in his chair.

  “No,” Dawn replied curtly.

  The old Nazi sat back in the chair and took a drag off of his cigarette before stamping it out. “Too bad,” he said in a thick accent. “That would be an amazing power.” He then stared at his two guests. “I am honored that you have come to visit me,” he said. “What can I do for you?”

  Tom pulled a cigarette out of its pack and lit it. “We’d like you to tell us about the International,” he said as he blew a stream of smoke from between his lips.

  “I am sorry, I do not understand?” Kammler replied. “What is the International?”

  Tom glanced at Dawn who only shrugged. “What did Brygida call it?” Tom asked himself as he searched his memory. “The international Nazi conspiracy to take over the governments of the world or something,” Tom said.

  “Oh that,” Kammler chuckled. “Well yes, I mean that was the plan all along right? That’s no secret. There are several books on the subject. I recommend The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. It is an excellent history. Not very sympathetic to our cause, I’m afraid, but still very well written. Of course you could always go straight to the source and read Hitler’s Mein Kampf.”