"Julia stopped him. Was she the one who betrayed me?" he asked, holding back his tears.
"That's it."
"I don't believe it."
"I remember that Fritz called and told me everything shortly before he died in the accident. Damn coincidences."
"It wasn't me."
"I know. It was just a stupid car accident... nothing more."
"And what did he tell you?"
"He told me she asked him not to go off searching for you because she needed him.”
"But why!" he sighed, crying now from anger. "Is it that I wasn't enough for her?"
"She needed him to help her raise your son."
"What?!"
"Jürgen is your son. After the accident, I brought him to Norway with me and handed him over to a good family who lived near me. If it wasn't for that damn promise to our fathers, I would have adopted him myself. And if wasn't for your damn stubbornness, you could have enjoyed having a family instead of rotting away up here consumed by anxiety and hatred."
Overcome with shame, the man looked over at his son, who watched him with disdain mixed with fear. He felt disgusted with himself and realized that the paranoid world he had constructed around himself, built with bricks of hostility and the cement of rage, had collapsed in an instant. He stood up and remained motionless, bewildered and lost, like a rag doll no longer controlled by the strings of his will.
"I'm sorry," he murmured.
He grabbed a pistol he had tucked in his belt, swiftly raised it to his chest and pulled the trigger without the slightest hesitation.
"He's already suffered enough. Go in peace," the professor whispered as he, too, exhaled his last breath.
"Nooooooooooooo!!!"
Jürgen thought he was going out of his mind. He looked around frantically in every direction but couldn’t see a thing. He groaned, twisted and turned, swore and hit himself as punishment. Suddenly, everything became clear to him. His eyes fastened on his father's pistol and he knew his destiny was to be punished. The island demanded his life. There was no turning back.
"None of that, don't even think about it," said the captain, slapping him a couple of times to snap him out of it. "You're going to live and you're going to do what your grandfather wanted you to do. And we'll help you do it."
Jürgen regained his composure.
"You're not alone, you know," one soldier said.
Everyone else agreed and promised to help him.
XVIII – Good for Evil
The best place to wait and ride out the storm was inside the cave. The captain went back outside and told Erika, who was still waiting along with the other two soldiers. He filled them in on what happened and told them they should go in. They stayed in the cave for three days until the storm finally subsided, passing the hours planning what they were going to do with all that gold. And there was a lot. When they entered the impromptu treasure room, they were all rendered speechless. The crates were piled up on top of mounds of gold ingots and precious stones, while sacks of jewels and coins scattered all over the ground hindered their access to a rear section that seemingly went on forever. The gold of Spaniards taken to Russia, Nazi ingots, the jewels of Belgian nobility and the riches of Dutch merchants, precious stones from France, Italy and Austria; fur coats, scepters, tiaras, more ingots, more coins, rings, necklaces, more coins and more jewels. A fortune great enough to change the world that all of them knew up to that moment.
When they were ready, they abandoned the treasure and climbed aboard the submarine that appeared to still be in working order. The captain and his soldiers made some rudimentary repairs that were more than sufficient for them to leave the island behind and make their way to Greenland, the place where they would donate that impressive, durable vessel. They would make the return trip to Norway and report to the authorities on what happened on the island, without mentioning the cave and treasure. And once they were finished with all the formalities, they would dedicate themselves to fulfilling the promise that the three idealistic adventurers made to the world and its neediest inhabitants. With no strings attached, they would impartially finance medical research studies, create infrastructure projects in underdeveloped countries, battle against greed and lend a helping hand to the disadvantaged. And for all the evil that was done in the world, an equal measure of good would be distributed. The most expensive act of penance ever done.
THE END
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Tales from the Voynich Manuscript and the Island of Jan Mayen Page 14
