by Tim Wheat
Poppen stopped and let the words sink in. Alexei listened with intent, and The General still leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling. After thirty seconds of silence Alexei spoke.
“So, what do we do next?”
“Bobby, you have done fantastic work. What I need from you and Alexei next is a large task, and most days I would leave it to more seasoned agents. The two of you, however, are in a unique position to be experts on the scene.” The General rose from his chair and began pacing. “Now that we know Dietrich Hoff is a major player in the world, we need to know him inside and out. I have a plane already chartered and set to take the two of you to Oxford. We have an asset there with detailed files on Mr. Hoff. I, of course, am asking you, not ordering you, but I hope you both accept.”
“I’ll do it.”
“Me too.”
“Fantastic. Your plane leaves in an hour. Perhaps you need to consult with Mrs. Chase?” The General raised his eyebrow as he questioned Alexei.
“She will understand.”
“It’s all settled then boys. Enjoy the fish and chips.”
*******************
51.
Quarters onboard the state of the art submersible vehicle were first class. Anelie Hoff’s bedroom alone was five hundred square feet, and boasted all the amenities of the most posh ocean liners. She had not found it difficult to adjust to life on the boat, and as she slept her subconscious mind replayed the events of the previous days.
She had checked on her prisoner a number of times, and the woman had yet to awake. The woman’s vitals had been good, but suitable blood donors not available. Anelie had donated all she could in a short period of time, and the other woman’s rare blood type made the task of finding donors a difficult one. In time, though, the woman’s body would produce enough blood to replenish her system. She just needed more time.
Anelie awoke with a start, and confused for a short moment, shot up in bed. Her husband had built their bedroom to be darker than night, and he had succeeded. Sensing something, or someone, in the room she strained her eyes, while feeling for her husband in bed next to her. From the other side of the room, a match struck, outlining the form of Dietrich Hoff.
“My dear, you almost gave me a heart attack,” Anelie sighed in relief as she clutched her chest. “What is wrong? Can’t you sleep?”
“No, I’ve been having a difficult time sleeping as of late,” Hoff took a deep drag of the cigarette, his silhouette outlined in the glow, and blew it out. “I have quite a few things on my mind.”
Anelie became aware of strange metal bracelets on her wrists and ankles. She had not been wearing them when she had gone to bed, and they were not jewelry. Three inches wide, and a quarter of an inch thick, they felt a lot like iron shackles. A lump grew in her throat and she decided to feign disinterest.
“I’m very tired darling. Perhaps you would prefer me to sleep in other quarters?”
“You will not be leaving these quarters tonight” Dietrich’s voice became sadistic. “It is possible you may never leave here again.”
Her mind raced as she flew through her options. Fleeing would be useless. He was bigger and faster than her. Fighting him would be more useless. She moved her left hand across the nearest nightstand, and felt around the back.
“Looking for this?” In his hand, illuminated by the glow of the cigarette, Dietrich Hoff held a small forty caliber pistol. It was the same pistol she had stashed behind the nightstand when first arriving on the ship. He should not have known of its existence. “It is puzzling why you would feel the need to conceal such a deadly piece of firepower in our personal quarters. I must say, when my men found it, it puzzled me.”
“It is just something that makes me more comfortable, my dearest,” she purred in her most womanly voice. “Now, come to bed and let me help you with your insomnia.”
“Now you are playful, whereas before you were so sleepy?” Hoff’s voice tinged with hate, and Anelie detected jealousy as well. “Perhaps I should send for our friend with whom you went on your little excursion. What was his name again? He’s a surgeon and a pilot. I forget his name.”
Frozen in her bed, Anelie’s heart now beat hard inside her chest, her armpits began to sweat, and she fought to control her breathing. Things were going wrong for her, and she feared for her life. Sleeping with the pilot had been a mistake, and not one she was willing to die for. Terror ruled her inward feelings but her outward demeanor remained sultry.
“I’m not sure of his name, my darling. I’ve met him the one time,” she cooed. “Now, come to bed so we can get some rest.”
“Do you remember when we met?” He changed the subject. “I was smitten from the first time I laid eyes upon you. We would steal away in the night, make love under the moonlight, and plan our lives together.”
“I remember. I was so very young, and you were so very old,” she teased. “My mother would have thrown a fit had she still been alive when we married.”
“She would have.” Hoff lit another cigarette and by the light of the match, Anelie could see he had tears in his eyes. Perhaps she miscalculated his intentions. “Do you remember the day she died?”
“I do.” Anelie Hoff remembered the day as crystalline as if it was yesterday. She had begged her mother to take her into the mountains for horseback riding. Her plan had been to wander off when her mother wasn’t paying attention, and elope with Dietrich. With their marriage completed there would be little her parents could say on the matter. “It was such a beautiful day, until the accident.”
“It was no accident,” her husband delivered the line as if he had rehearsed it a thousand times, and cleared his throat before speaking again. “Your mother’s death was no accident.”
Tears burst from her eyes as she came to a realization. It was a realization of the true nature of the man she had married. Though she had been implicit in his plans, she somehow felt detached from it all. The thought that he would treat her the same way he treated others had never crossed her mind. Composing herself, she spoke.
“I’m not sure of what you speak my dearest, but please, let’s go to sleep and speak again tomorrow. I’m exhausted.”
“She would have never allowed us to be married, and you would have insisted on going back.” He continued without heeding his wife’s wishes. “I know that you have blamed yourself for your mother’s accident all those years ago, and your family blamed you as well, but the blame should be on my shoulders. After all, I’m the one who pushed her off the cliff.”
A sadistic smile curled on the lips of the seasoned killer. Anelie had known him to be a cruel man to others, but she had never been the focus of his hatred. Her mind could not settle on a proper course of action so she remained quiet.
“You have nothing to say my dear?” Dietrich said. “I’ve just admitted to throwing your mother off the side of a cliff so that I could have you to myself. Your family disowned you and your sister…”
“You don’t need to speak of my sister,” Anelie interjected, her voice now filled with anger. “She is not of your concern.”
“Don’t hurt yourself, my dear,” Hoff laughed. “I knew from the second I saw that woman I had lost you. I’m not sure I ever believed I could keep you away from your twin sister forever.”
In an instant the darkened room flooded with light. Anelie squinted, covered her eyes, and attempted to focus on her husband sitting across the room. He, however was not looking at her and instead held his eyes focused to her left. She turned her head to see what he was looking at, and recognized the object of his attention.
“Angela.” she exclaimed as she leapt from the bed and went to her sister.
Angela Sarff lay in a cot in the corner of the master suite, her arms and legs bound and hog tied behind her back, and her mouth gagged. She also wore the strange iron wristbands and ankle shackles. Anelie untied her twin sister and removed the gag from her mouth. A terrified and perplexed look on her face, Angela spoke.
“Tricia? What is going on? I heard all those things. Did you k…”
“Shhhh, Angela.” Tricia Hoff was Anelie’s real name. When they married she had taken Dietrich’s last name, but upon moving to Germany she went by the name Anelie. It helped to have a more German sounding name when hob knobbing with the rich and powerful. Tricia focused her attention on Dietrich, who seemed amused.
“I have never been anything but honest and true to you Dietrich.” She seemed to be scolding him. “Now you wish to repay me by mistreating my sister, just because I wished her to live?”
“My dear, I have no intentions of hurting the two of you” he lied. “I think that my current interests are better served, though, with both of you somewhere safe and out of the way. You’ll notice I have fit you with some restriction bracelets. I hope they do not chafe too much. I designed them to keep guests from roaming too far from where I would like them to be.”
“Where will we be unable to go?” Tricia asked.
“Your movements are restricted to this room” Hoff said. “One of the wonderful breakthroughs we’ve just outfitted is called a force field. You see, a little man came up with this formula, and the easiest way for us to test it was to make a real world application. My genius physicists had the idea of a force field, and they work. You’ll be happy to know, my dearest, we are days away from our goal. My men tell me this new equation is revolutionary, and will make all of our dreams possible. Isn’t that wonderful?”
“Yes dear. It is wonderful.” Tricia wanted to believe her husband was just being careful, but her instincts told her otherwise. “Why keep us locked up, though? Couldn’t I be of service elsewhere?”
“Did you believe my most elite commando unit would go off on a trip across the continent without consulting me?” Hoff changed the subject again. “Why would you go around me to kidnap your own sister? You could have persuaded me to make the order myself.”
“Kidnap me? They tried to kill me. They tried to kill Daddy too.” Angela Sarff spoke as she fought back tears. “What have you done with my father?”
“I never intended for any harm to befall your father,” Hoff said. “He was a special mind; much more so than the men I have working for me now. They are good with the application of the science, but your father, your father invented it.”
“He would tell you that he never invented anything,” Tricia said. “He just discovered things nobody else had found yet. His partner in Boston, did he do the math for you?”
“What about our father.” Angela said. “Don’t you even care about him anymore?”
“Of course I do.” Tricia grasped her sister in a hug. “Of course I do.”
“As I said before, I wished your father to stay alive. My reports are that he left the camp after your abduction, and has hidden away somewhere,” Dietrich said. “The math for our project came from a rather improbable place. Alexei Chase and your father were onto some fantastic discoveries together. It is a shame Mr. Chase has such powerful friends to protect him. It seems, though, Alexei’s son began to play a large role in everything in recent days, and has become a thorn in my side. One of his friends did the math for us.”
“Rex Chase.”
Angela Sarff recognized the name Alexei Chase from her father, and the night she had spent with George. She knew Alexei had a son named Edward Rex Chase, and that he and George Ahiga had been friends their entire lives. If the young Chase now played a part in this entire affair there was a good possibility her love George did as well. She recognized the quizzical look she received from Dietrich Hoff and devised an explanation.
“My father mentioned him once when we were speaking of his work. I hear he is a brilliant physicist in his own right.”
“I wouldn’t know about any brilliance,” Hoff snapped. “I know that he was a problem, and now he is not. He and his friend will not be bothering us any longer.”
Dietrich Hoff paced back and forth on the other side of the room. While her sister had been the focal point of his attention, Tricia had scanned her surroundings, looking for a tactical advantage. Though she hoped her husband was telling the truth about being careful, her instincts told her to leave as soon as possible.
“Is there somewhere else you would rather be, my love?”
Hoff had noticed her eyes flitting about the room, and she answered him.
“According to you, there is nowhere else I could even go.”
“Quite right,” he said. “If you’ll stand and attempt to walk out that door you shall get a demonstration.” Both Angela and Tricia hesitated, and Hoff then commanded. “My dearest Anelie, get off that bed and walk out that door.”
She rose to her feet, adjusted her nightgown, and walked toward the door. As she neared the exit she felt a slight tingle in her ankles and wrists. Pausing for a moment, and adjusting her irons, she attempted to walk through the doorway. Her face and body seemed unaffected, but her wrists and ankles could not break the plane of the doorway.
“It’s an invisible barrier,” Hoff beamed. “It’s exceptional, isn’t it? Any iron object in tune with the field cannot get through it. It is unbreakable.” Hoff shoved his wife to the side with ease and walked back and forth through the passage. “You see. You see. It’s remarkable, isn’t it?”
“It’s this technology which will take us under the sea, through the skies, and to the moon?” Tricia attempted to soften her husband. “I thought we were going to the moon together, my dearest Dietrich.”
“Ah, yes, the moon.” Hoff sighed as he entered the room once again, lit a cigarette, and sat down in his chair. “I have a question for you, Anelie. How do you think I was able to speed along the recovery of your sister? I know you checked on her a number of times today, and the prognosis was foggy, to say the least.”
“I hadn’t thought of that,” Tricia admitted. “Her recovery is quite remarkable. I suppose you found a suitable blood match for her.”
“You are correct in your assumption. The occurrences of the last few days made it one of the easiest decisions of my life.” Hoff drummed his fingers on a box that rested on the table next to him, and he took a deep drag from his cigarette. “Did you think I would allow you to have sex with one of my employees?” He now shouted in anger. “To fornicat. On my plane. With my surgeon. Minutes before you attempt to seduce me in my own hanger.”
Tricia’s heart sank through the floor. She now knew her husband had no intentions of letting her live. Perhaps she would have gotten away with her other small indiscretions, but the tryst on the airplane would be her downfall. Eyes on the floor, tears flowing, she attempted to dig herself out of the hole.
“I didn’t want to tell you, my dear.” She was thinking on her feet. “I couldn’t bear to tell you. It was all so awful.” She then broke down sobbing as she fell in a heap to the floor. Hoff’s demeanor softened a slight bit and the hatred left his voice.
“I don’t understand.”
“He raped me. He’s been raping me for months now.” Tricia’s body seemed to convulse as she writhed on the floor. “Last year I developed a gambling problem. You know how I love the horses. I lost a lot of money, and I had to hide it from you. He found out somehow, and has been raping me ever since. It wasn’t my idea to send the commandos to Arizona; it was his, so he could rape me.” She concluded with a flurry of tears, and uncontrolled crying.
Angela Hoff sat on the floor and cradled her identical twin. Tricia buried her head in her sister’s shoulder and cried even harder. Dietrich Hoff sat in his chair, took in the scene, and after thirty seconds, he spoke.
“If what you are saying is true, your story will be easy to confirm. You can write down which companies you siphoned the money from, and how much it was, and I will have it looked into. Either way, the outcome for your rapist, or lover, is still the same.”
Hoff palmed the box sitting on the table, and as he stood, lifted it in the air. Both women stared in horror at the grotesque sight. Sitting on the table was the grotesque head of the surgeon
, his eyes open in a vacant stare, his mouth agape, and his tongue protruding. Angela leaned over and vomited on the floor while Tricia sat frozen, her eyes glued to the grisly scene.
“Your sister, it seems, owes her life to this man.”
Dietrich Hoff ruffled the hair of the head, smiled a lunatic’s smile, and exited the room, slamming the door behind him.
*******************
52.
Neither Bobby Poppen nor Alexei Chase had ever been on an airplane before, and their first flights had been eventful. Crossing the big pond by airplane was much faster than by ship, but was also a considerable bit less comfortable. The General had a plane for them to use, and though it had received slight modifications, comfort was not its most endearing quality.
Their pilot was an athletic looking man in his thirties by the name of Captain Bryan Morris. During their flight Alexei had spent some time in the cockpit, and the two became friendly. After introducing himself as Alexei Chase, the younger man had grinned and told the story of the flight to Arizona. Dr. Chase listened as the pilot told of his son’s exploits in the skies. Rex never ceased to amaze his father, and he felt an abundance of pride. It seemed Captain Morris didn’t have a bad thing to say about the young man.
Flights across the Atlantic, though, were quite dangerous, and after an emergency landing in Greenland, the captain had asked they stay out of the cockpit. The service ceiling of the modified DC-3 aircraft was not quite high enough to fly above low level turbulence, and only hours into the trip, both men were air sick. Alexei had been sick once on an ocean liner, but air sickness was not the same. It was worse.
