by Don Dewey
That war became a conflict Karl threw himself into with zeal. He remained close to Hitler throughout, and had serious influence in the Nazi party.
Chapter 42
Interruption and Eruption
“Wait,” cried Kenneth. “You’re telling me this guy was a Nazi? Man, what a bozo. He couldn’t pick a winner, could he?”
With two steps his host had him on his feet, both hands gripping his neck in a serious chokehold. “You dare pass judgment on one of us? Little man, I could snap you like a twig.” He shook him painfully, and still didn’t relinquish his hold. “Karl sampled the best of the world, and the best of history. There was more to Adolf than you, in your little bubble of time, could ever know. I knew him. I saw his power and his will to change the world.” He threw Kenneth across the table into the wall, obliterating a large picture and its frame. Kenneth dropped to the floor, dazed and trying to get his breath.
His host kept talking. “Adolf Hitler, had he won the world, would have had everything. And I could have had it at the end of his short life. You just don’t, actually you can’t understand what it means to be above all moral laws and codes. You can’t judge me by your moral code. I am better than you. That is the simple truth. I cannot die. Do you get that yet? You will, and maybe today. I will not. I’m a god, and will eventually rule this world, and everyone on it. They’ll be my property, so where’s the moral issue with me using some of them up?
“I’ve set upon a breeding program to make better and more efficient use of my abilities. Think about that! Guards and soldiers who can heal while they fight, with the strength of two or three men. Think what that could mean!”
Kenneth had horror in his eyes now as he looked at this man. He was thinking about what that could mean. If his story was true, and he was sickeningly sure now that it was, then this was Karl, William, a former king and friend of Kublai Khan, Hitler, and God only knew how many more monsters through those long centuries.
“You’ve bred more of...you?” Kenneth voice faltered, fear dripping from it.
“I’ve tried, but I’ve had only partial success. My upcoming soldiers live longer, are stronger, faster, and don’t fall ill from stupid things like the flu. But no real Pures yet, although that will come. I’m a patient and determined man.”
“And you admired Hitler?” Kenneth managed to choke out.
His host smiled. “Yes, I am Karl. I’ve had more names than I care to list for you, and yes, I admired some things in Adolf. He eventually achieved real power, and I admire that. I have real power, and you don’t admire it. I don’t understand you at all. You should look up to me, and ask my favor. Yet you don’t. Why? Be honest with me Kenneth. I won’t punish you for your opinion. I want to know.”
“Power is a tool, a means to an end. As a reporter I’ve seen the misuse of power too many times. It should be used for the good of humanity, not just for personal gain. You do have power. Nobody can compete with what you can learn over the centuries, and nobody can do as much for mankind as you could. So I ask you, why not? Why don’t you desire to see good flourish, and people improved?”
With a distasteful look on his face, Karl responded with, “People don’t improve. I am the top of the food chain for humanity. I am what evolution has brought about, the pinnacle of the species. I always thought there would be more of us, but all my own sons have died or aged. One of them, a Pure, just disappeared for a long time. I’ve researched history, and would dearly love to know for sure what happened to him. He’s still out there, doubtless causing me trouble. The others,” with a wave of his hand he dismissed them, “they’re too petty, too much trouble, and I’ll slowly eradicate them. I’m the one who will survive and rule. Me.” He pointed to his chest with one well manicured index finger.
He touched a button on his watch and Scarface walked in, apparently hovering at the edges like the family mutt. “Have lunch brought in, and his laptop. We’ll be here a while longer. I want him to make notes of today as we go.”
Then he turned back to Kenneth, ignoring his man and focusing on this one who had challenged him. He must be made to know what was at stake. And he would find out very soon.
Laptop on the table, with food around the edges, Karl began to tell his tale. Kenneth, however, had lost his appetite.
Chapter 43
The Conflict Begins
He picked the story up at the end of World War I. When that war was lost, Karl got lost too. He took more of his ill-gotten gains and hid it away, skipping the next ten years or so. He looked Adolph up and they renewed their friendship. As they entered the Second World War Karl was more than glad to help Hitler, although even he couldn’t change the outcome. When defeat loomed over them, Karl vanished.
When he next revived he couldn’t believe the Allies were the current world powers. The world had changed again, and far more than even he could have expected. He put money in a Swiss bank more than once, and decided to no longer serve anyone else. That hadn’t really worked out so well for him. It was time to run things his way again, and to do it without the hassle of being the man seated on the throne, so to speak.
His empire was nearly invisible, dealing with narcotics and power instead of armies and thrones. He moved to America, because it seemed clear that the next wave of world dominance would be centered there. And he was right. His power base was in New York, through which passed the wealth of the world. Through his lieutenants, mostly German, he ran his enterprises from the shadows, unseen by most. He was an industrialist, an inventor, and a recluse with homes and facilities all over the world.
At his New York office desk one day his executive assistant came in and asked, “Is there anything you would like done about the forestry division, sir?”
“Why do you ask, Reg? Do we have another problem?”
“There is the matter of M & R, who want to block your mineral rights in the 10,000 acre section of Canada. They undercut you and seem to have the inside track to get those rights.”
“How tough are they, Reg? Do we need to send in someone to dissuade their management?”
“Mr. Ramsey did, sir, and his men never showed up again, no reports or contacts from them at all. A meeting with him is on your schedule for next week, if he makes it.”
“The mineral rights to that parcel could amount to a great deal of money to us. I want it done, and fast. The government has been giving us trouble, and we’ve been negotiating with M & R for over a year. I’m sick to death of attorneys. Arrange a meeting for me with the M and the R of M & R. Let’s get this done.”
“Yes, sir, right away, sir.”
It was business as usual for a few weeks, and then the meeting arrived. Karl and his entourage showed up in Toronto near the home office of M & R, and prepared for the meeting the next morning. They’d chosen a neutral place: a conference area in a downtown hotel. Karl had guards in place, and felt confident that his planning was comprehensive. He’d let himself blame terrorists for some of his actions at times. After all, who wouldn’t rather cry, “Terrorist!” than face the music themselves? This could be another such time, depending on whether or not he had to be brutal. But alas, unknown to him, his opponents, Max and Robert, felt very much the same.
Max and Robert reunited after Robert showed up and retrieved the other half of their money. They’d truly enjoyed their working relationship and felt like family. Both wanted to continue it. Neither told the other where they’d been when they skipped. Since they had been successful hiding places, they could be used again at need. Their trust was only so deep, after all. They were now their own grandsons; at least the legal records showed that to be true. Their financial empire had grown while they skipped, and even with the ups and downs it had experienced, they had quite an enterprise to run.
They prepared to meet their opponents in Toronto to deal with the mineral rights issue. They had guards that looked more like a SWAT team, both seen and hidden, along with advisors, attorneys, and personal assistants. Both sides were coming
with a large group, and both intended to get what they wanted. This was more than two successful companies vying for the same thing. This was a set up at which both sides were absolutely sure they couldn’t be challenged. Each side believed they had far more experience than the other side could possibly have. This was the human version of the irresistible force meeting the immovable object.
***
As they met in the main conference room, they began their negotiations. It turned ugly fast. The immovable object and the irresistible force were coming together for a major clash. When they all withdrew for a break, both sides tried some drastic means. Max and Robert caught Karl and two bodyguards in the hall. “Withdraw your offer, Karl, or you won’t like what happens.” Max couldn’t help it; something about Karl made his teeth hurt. The man was like a canker sore to him. He could tell Robert had the same feeling about him.
“Nonsense! Withdraw yours, or you and your pretty sidekick there will get hurt.” He nodded at Robert. His gaze settled on Robert for too long a moment, and then he motioned to his guards, who stepped right up. Max and Robert were men of action, and men of another age, so they met this open threat with force. Both of them suddenly had knives in their hands, and met the attack of the bodyguards with grim violence. As his men were put down, Karl pulled out a derringer and fired point blank at Max. It struck him in the chest on his right side, and pushed him back, but he didn’t go down. The killer in Max, that demon he fought to keep suppressed, rose up suddenly and flashed a humorless smile at Karl. “For that, you die.”
Karl fired again and Max dropped to his knees. As he fell, the knife Robert had thrown lodged in Karl’s right shoulder. He screamed in pain, jerked out the knife and threw it back with less precision. Men from both sides were rushing into the room, and the melee rapidly grew out of anyone’s control, like a storm that moved in fast; the rain started, then ramped up to a point of near invisibility. Both sides already had men down when the automatic weapons fire started.
What seemed like a long, sustained battle took only minutes. The screams of the wounded and dying, combined with the sirens of the city, reminded them of where they were. The situation had gone to critical mass in moments. Nobody had expected or planned for a disaster of this magnitude.
Between spurts of weapons fire, both groups finally managed a retreat, and Karl, Robert and Max were all aware that the three of them had left under their own steam. That should not have happened with all the physical damage they’d each taken. Karl was desperately wondering what had gone wrong. He left a lieutenant on site to make sure all the wounded from both sides, now witnesses, were dead.
Once speeding away in their separate strings of vehicles, both sides called the police, reporting an unprovoked attack by unknown parties. The authorities were already on scene, but it was a confusing mess with no clear course of action but containment, and that wasn’t too clear either, with no combatants still in evidence.
No, both sides explained to the police, of course they couldn’t come back since there had been shots fired and lives lost. It was far too dangerous. Their attorneys would meet with the police and fill out the appropriate reports.
“Robert, I think we have a problem.”
“No kidding Max, you’ve been shot, I was knifed, and the guy we should’ve killed got up and kept going. Hey, he was shot and stabbed. What’s with that? And the people we lost, they were good men.”
“I have a bad feeling that Karl leaves a trail of bodies behind him. The deal is, I’m afraid, that Karl Schmidt is one of us. We always assumed there were more, and now we’re certain. Nobody else could have taken what we threw at him and lived.”
“You’re okay though, right?” Robert asked as he glanced over to the blood that had spread to soak much of Max’s clothing.
“Hurting, but I’ll recover.”
“Hey, didn’t that guy look familiar to you? I think we’ve run across him before this business deal.”
“Don’t think so.”
“I have, and I have a really bad feeling about when and where. Let me give it some thought, and I’ll tell you when I’m sure. It’s been a long time.”
***
By the time Max and Robert had regrouped and decided to head back to their own US headquarters in New York, they got a call from one of their secretaries, dear old Shirley. She told them the police had come into the offices, asked everyone to get together in one room, and then, with over forty people there together, the officers opened fire. Nobody survived in that room. Shirley was an older woman who came across as mousey and careful. She also had a suspicious nature, and trusted nobody. She hid when the officers were getting people together. She heard everything until they got into the conference room and closed the door. Then she just heard gunshots. She was made of stern stuff, and after a long time she decided the fake cops had all left, so she came out of hiding and checked the room. Everybody was dead, with multiple gunshots in each body, and one tap to each head. After throwing up and trying to breathe for a while, Shirley decided to call her bosses first, even before the police. She was also loyal.
Max and Robert had an emergency war meeting. “Forty people dead. Karl killed them without hesitation. For that he’ll pay. Those people were ours, loyal and part of our extended family. Give Shirley a better job and a big raise, Rob, and let’s bring in people from the field offices and the operations in Toronto to pick up the slack here while we figure out what to do.”
Robert was incensed. “What to do? Are you serious? We need to kill that bastard! That’s what we need to do. And we need to destroy everything he’s built, I don’t give a flying …”
“No! Trust me on this. We need to make sure we’re covered, our people are as safe as we can manage right now, and that our businesses continue to function. Then we can make longer term plans to destroy him. Let’s send Tony and his agents to study him and find out everything they can. He’s our investigator, so let him investigate. He has to find out when and where Karl came from, when he entered this time, who he claims to be related to, right down to his preference in underwear! We’ve got to know every detail! Everything! We need more information; lots of it.”
Karl, on his end of things, had struck quickly. He had seen more conflicts than anyone alive, including any Pures. He knew the snake had to be decapitated, and fast, before it struck. This snake already knew he was there, and now who and what he was, and it had to die. Damn them. Always something comes up to wreck my plans. I won’t skip this time. I’ll hunt them down and teach them that they can actually die, and quite unpleasantly. I’ve killed better men than them, and I’ll do it again. His grim visage was for more than a determination to go to war: it was because he thought he recognized one of those men, and he was pretty sure he was a Pure. And he was one he should have recognized right away.
Chapter 44
Session 14
Karl stormed, rather than walked, into the area they’d been using for his monologues. He was obviously distraught, and Kenneth had no idea what was going on. He seemed to be moving with effort and in some pain. He was favoring his right side, and Kenneth hadn’t seen any physical weakness before in his captor. Karl kept flexing his right arm, like it was asleep or painful, but not so much that it couldn’t be used.
Speaking to the room and not directly to Kenneth, he gave directives in a loud and agitated voice. “Kenneth, collect your notes, the laptop, and the clothing I brought here for you. In one hour you’ll be moved to a more secure location.” Karl announced it to him peremptorily. “Be ready.”
“Why? What’s happened?”
For his question he got a slap across his face that threw him back three feet. “Go ahead, ask me another question. Do I look like I want to have a discourse with you? Just do it. One hour.” Then he showed just a flicker of hesitation. “I think I’ve found my surviving Pure son.”
With that, Karl strode out.
Chapter 45
The Conflict Escalates
After Max and Robert
had regrouped and felt like they could begin to ascertain what had to be done, Robert’s fear had subsided and Max’s anger had done the same. Now they were both smoldering like hot coals ready to burst into flame at the most appropriate moment. Karl had attacked them at their main office, brutally and decisively, before they could regroup. He had launched various forays into others of their ventures that were causing them serious problems. They’d done nothing to him as yet.
Karl was sure he’d found one, or perhaps two Pures, and he was sure they would be formidable. Based on that assumption, he was determined to use the best defense, which for him was always a strong and deadly offense. He kept wondering if the slight man, Robert, was his son. Surely he wouldn’t keep the same name after all these years, would he? He hadn’t seen his son since about 1200 AD, and it wasn’t clear to him what he would look like now. Perhaps he should have paid more attention to him back then, but 800 years was a long time, even to him. Well, Karl had changed his name and was back to his original, so perhaps Robert had done the same thing.
Do I want to fight my son? Do I want my son dead? He vividly recalled that day in Robert’s room, several hundred years ago, when he’d stabbed his son to see if he could recover. He proved himself a Pure, to some degree at least. Would he be open to a truce? Could they talk it out?
