“I have no knowledge of such a place.”
“Yes. That would be as I expected. You can have one of your men take us back to the main land. Our mission is over at this point,” the major said.
“What should I and my men do?”
“How many men do you have under your command?”
“Fifty-seven.”
“Fifty-seven,” Zorn repeated.
“Well, in that case Captain, if I were you I would lock this place up, burn your uniforms and go make a life for yourself here. It seems like a nice place to make a new start.”
“Are you serious?”
“Actually captain, I am totally serious. In fact I’ve never been more serious. The military is pretty much defunct. No one will be paid any longer and no one knows exactly what to do next. We have been in Beijing since the change and no one really has any idea what to do.”
“But General Tasan. He must have a plan.”
“Between you and I. I doubt he knows what day it is,” was all Zorn said.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
- Quincy, Massachusetts -USS Salem –
The first conference of surviving nations was to take place in twenty-one days. The League members had arrived virtually trouble free to Quincy. The Captain was on hand to welcome them aboard.
“Welcome, I’m Captain Taylor.”
“Captain. I’m Randy Boling. This is Margaret Olson, Captain Miller and Dan Pierson.”
“Nice to meet you all. Seaman Martin will show you to your quarters. We will have your belongings delivered to your rooms. Please keep in mind this is a Navy ship so the accommodations will not be fancy. Creature comforts are not a high priority on our vessels.”
“I’m sure we will have no problems. It seems a small miracle that you were even able to make the Salem seaworthy,” Randy replied.
“Seaworthy? Are we going out into the open sea?” the Captain asked.
They all just looked at him.
“Just kidding. We are indeed seaworthy, I assure you.”
“You almost made me wet my pants,” Dan said.”
Seaman Martin led them along the starboard side of the ship, up a stairway and wound them through the narrow passageways. He showed each of them where they would be staying and then went to check on their belongings.
“You think we will ever find our way out of here?” Randy asked.
“I’m lost,” Margaret replied.
“Not to worry. I may be in the Army but I have a pretty good idea how to get us back topside,” Captain Miller said.
“Topside? Is that what they call where we came in?” Margaret asked.
“Sort of. It mostly just means the main deck.”
“Did you get a look at your room?” Dan asked.
“Not room, quarters. Not a lot to them is there.”
“You could say that.”
“Get used to it. You will find everything pretty spartan on a Navy ship.”
“So can we go ‘topside’ when we leave?” Dan asked.
“Hey, not bad. You got part of it right. You can go topside when we ‘get underway’.”
“Navy people talk funny,” Dan replied.
* * * *
Randy, Dan and Margaret stood at the deck railing watching the Massachusetts coastline disappear.
“I can hardly believe we are actually going. This is the first time I have ever been out of the country,” Dan said.
“Really? Not even to Canada or Mexico?”
“Nope. Heck, I hate to admit it but I’ve only been to a few states. I wish I had traveled more before The Event. It will be a lot harder now.”
“Yeah, but you won’t have to stand in lines any place,” Margaret said.
The next few days found them falling into a kind of routine. They reviewed the agreed upon agenda and what each person would cover. Since they were the hosts, more or less, they would need to arrange everything. Not knowing if anyone had even survived in Portugal didn’t make the task any easier. They would use some of the crew to help get everything ready and some of the ship's cooks for meals.
“What about security?” Captain Miller asked.
“I doubt that will be necessary. Who would have the ability or inclination to even try to disrupt the meeting?”
“What about China?” the captain pressed.
“I can’t see them traveling all that way. What would they accomplish anyway? I know you don’t trust them and neither do I for that matter, but I doubt they will concern themselves about the conference,” Randy replied.
“Still, I would like to be armed unless you think that would be an issue.”
“As long as you’re inconspicuous about it. Just make sure no one actually sees it.”
“Thanks. It will make me feel safer.”
“Now. As you know, and so do the other nations, the captain wants us to dock at a different location than we had originally selected. We are going to use Padrão dos Descobrimentos. It will make it easier for us to get to the convention hall and a Ritz-Carlton is right behind the Padrão. We will run the ship's power to both the Padrão and the hotel. The electricians on the ship say other than laying the cable, it shouldn’t take them too long. Two days at most.”
“Will they be able to find us?” Dan asked.
“They didn’t seem too concerned once we mentioned that it was right at the Monument of the Discoveries,” Randy told them.
“Are we staying at the hotel as well?”
“I think it would be good if we did. I don’t want to appear standoffish. I think having time to just talk and relax would keep everything on a friendlier footing.”
“What about the minutes of the meeting? How are we going to be able to do that? Also isn’t language going to cause some difficulties?” Dan asked.
“It’s a valid question but we are pretty well covered. Margaret is fluent in both Russian and German. Captain Miller speaks Spanish and Russian. I do well with Italian and French. On top of that Major General Yegor Nitikin speaks English and French. Edward Ramsden, from Germany speaks three or four languages, including English. I’m not sure about the French but I’m pretty sure their leader, Monsieur Bédard, speaks English and who knows what else? I think we are in pretty darn good shape from that standpoint,” Randy said.
“I can do a little Spanish and maybe some French, but neither very well. I took both of those back in high school and haven’t used them since,” Dan replied.
“Well, don’t worry about it. We will all find a way to communicate. If China came, then we would probably have a language problem. But they haven’t indicated they were interested in the proceedings. Now, here is how I would like to proceed the first day of the conference,” Randy said and gave them the details of how he wanted the meeting to start.
* * * *
On the third day, they ran into some fairly high seas. The ship, even with her size, was rolling fifteen degrees at times. For non-sailors it meant spending lots of time in the head, throwing up. Randy was better off than the other members because of his scuba diving. You spend a great deal of time on smaller boats and often in some pretty choppy water, so he was more used to it than the others.
None of them wanted to watch the movie they were showing in the mess hall so they had gone to bed early. Randy had just gotten to sleep when he felt the ship shudder. It wasn’t caused by waves, it was something else. He got up, quickly dressed and made his way to the bridge.
“All stop,” he heard the captain say as he entered the bridge.
Randy waited, not saying anything. He didn’t know if it was serious or not so he didn’t want to distract the crew.
“What have you got Chief,” he heard the captain asked.
“What does that mean?
“Can it be repaired?”
“What do you suggest?”
“Will it be safe?”
“Alright. I don’t know what else we can do but give it a try. What speed?”
“Okay. We’ll give it a go,” the captain
said and hung up the phone.
“Number three engine bearings are wiped out. They had to secure it. They are going to lock it down and then we can get underway again. It will reduce our overall speed due to the drag but the Chief seems to think we will be okay. He is concerned about the stress it will place on the other engines though,” the Captain told Randy.
“Will we still make it on time?”
“We will probably lose a day, maybe a day and a half unless something else comes up unexpectedly.”
“That’s not too bad. Of course there is nothing any of us can about it anyway.”
“She is an old ship that has been out of service for a long time.”
“I find it amazing what you people have done just to get it back in commission,” Randy replied.
CHAPTER TWELVE
- FüSSEN GERMANY –
“Where can I find Lieutenant Eisenberg?”
“Just down the street at the Gastenhaus. Fourth house on the right down the next block.”
“Danke Corporal.”
It only took the officer a few seconds to find the Gastenhaus.
“Lieutenant Eisenberg?”
“Ja?”
“General Schenck directs you to begin moving across the border tomorrow at 0800 hours.”
“Very well, tell the General we will be ready.”
“Ja, Lieutenant Eisenberg,” the lance corporal said saluting.
* * * *
“Is everything ready Sargent?”
“Yes sir.”
“Good, I have sent Lance Corporal Schmidt to Mittenwald to instruct Lieutenant Eisenberg to start crossing the border tomorrow at 0800.
“Then we should be ready to go the day after.”
“Correct. I will of course accompany you.”
“What about Colonel Rinested?”
“Colonel Rinested is being detained. He will not be reporting back to Herr Ramsden until we have secured Austria.”
“Won’t that cause him to send someone else?”
“By the time he realizes that Colonel Rinsted is not returning we will be in control of Innsbruck.”
“And after that?”
“I will then deal with Ramsden. A strong country is controlled by the military and I intend to make that happen with Germany,” the general said.
“So you will dismiss the current government?”
“Exactly.”
“What about Colonel Ringsted’s men?”
“They will have the choice to join us or resist. If they resist I will consider them traitors to the Fatherland.”
“What about the other nations?”
“What about them?”
“They may try to interfere as well.”
“They have enough problems. They will not be in a position for many years to meddle in Germany’s internal affairs.”
“I hope you are right General.”
“And I hope you are not doubting my judgment,” the general said.
* * * *
Lieutenant Eisenberg had moved his men at precisely 0800 to the minute. It was only a few kilometers to the Austrian border. Within a few hours they had cleared the small towns of Schrnitz and Seefeld.
They found no one in either town. Everything was going according to plan until they entered Zirl.
“Lieutenant, we have found a group of people in Zirl,” the advanced patrol reported.
“Group? What is a group exactly?”
“Maybe a hundred or so. They were still gathering when I left.”
“How did they seem? Hostile? Welcoming? What?”
“Curious maybe. I couldn’t really tell.”
“Alright corporal. We will be there soon enough. Go back and keep an eye on them.”
“Ja, Lieutenant,” he said saluting and hurrying back down the road.
“Lance Corporal Schmidt,” the Lieutenant yelled.
“Yes sir.”
“Tell the men to be prepared. We are less than a kilometer from Zirl and I do not want to be caught unaware.”
“Jawohl.”
He was not really expecting any resistance. They were only a short distance from Germany and most of the population were just displaced Germans after all.
* * * *
“Everyone please. Listen. I will answer your questions but you need to listen to what I am saying,” Lieutenant Eisenberg, shouted while standing on the hood of one of the trucks.
It took a few minutes before everyone quieted down enough for him to be heard.
“What has happened here seems to have happened around the world. We know that most countries as far away as China, Russia, and even the United States have undergone the same changes. No one knows what caused it.”
“Why are you here?” someone shouted.
“We are going to Innsbruck to determine their needs, if any. Germany wants to make sure Austria is taken care of. After all this country was a part of Germany originally. Most of you are of German descent. We consider you as our extended family,” he said.
“Does that mean you are here to take Austria back?”
“Well, that would be up to your leaders. We have no intent of forcing you to do anything. It does seem like a good time to discuss it with your Government,” the Lieutenant told them.
“Then what are you doing here?”
“I just told you,” Eisenberg said, frowning.
“They why aren’t you in Vienna? Don’t you know where the government center is?”
The Lieutenant didn’t know what to say. His neck started turning red as everyone watched him struggling.
“Look, I just know what I was told to do. Those are my orders. For all I know, others may be on their way to Vienna. I would have no way of knowing that,” he said finally.
He could hear them murmuring and talking amongst themselves. It seemed like a reasonable answer but it was obvious the people were skeptical.
“My commanding officer will be here within a day or so and he will have more information than I have. I’m sure he will be able to explain it much better.”
“You have more troops coming? Just to talk to the people in Innsbruck? Why would you need so many to just talk?”
The Lieutenant was clearly flustered. His face was getting red.
“I said my commanding officer will be here. He will answer your questions. That is all I intend to say for now,” he said and jumped down from the truck. It had not gone well. Now the people were suspicious.
“Make sure the men are ready in case they get pushy,” he told the sergeant.
“If they do, what do you want us to do?”
“Subdue them.”
“Including shooting them?”
“If it comes to that,” Lieutenant Eisenberg said walking off to sit in one of the trucks.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
- USS SALEM –
Everyone was excited when the ship was finally secured to the pier at the Padrão dos Doscobrimentos in Lisbon, Portugal. The landlubbers could hardly wait to set foot on solid ground again.
“Well we made it,” Randy said as they stood at the base of the Doscobrimentos tower.
“About time. I don’t see how sailors take it all the time. I need dry land,” Margaret said.
“So what do we do now?”
“Check the place out. The meeting will take place there,” Randy said, pointing to the semi-circle part of the building directly in front of them.
“The hotel is just behind the meeting place,” he pointed out.
“I guess we could check out the meeting place while our stuff gets unloaded,” Dan said.
“Sounds like a plan,” Captain Miller added.
“Man, that monument is really something else,” Dan said.
It’s the Monument of the Discoveries. If you really look at it you can see it is a ship with discoveries up both sides. It depicts Portugal’s contributions to the discoveries in the 15th and 16th century,” Randy said.
“How did you know that?” Miller asked.
/> “I read up on it before we sailed.”
“Oh sure, make us look bad,” Dan kidded.
They walked up the wide open area and stopped to look at the huge medallion of stone with a map of the world inside of a compass rose.
“Wow, that’s really something,” Dan replied.
“It depicts the discovery of the various parts of the world,” Margaret told them.
“I suppose you read up too?” Dan asked.
“Of course, what else was there to do on the ship? The pool seemed to be missing,” Margaret replied.
“Incredible,” Randy said.
“What a beautiful place,” Miller added.
“Perfect,” Dan replied.
They made their way around to the meeting center after a lot of gawking at the various displays.
“Kind of dark,” Dan said, looking in the convention center main room.
“The ship will supply power to the center and to the hotel. The Captain assured me that they had plenty of power to run both.”
“And the cooks will provide the meals?”
“Correct. I thought the chow was darn good on the way over.”
“Yeah, the Navy always has the best food,” Captain Miller added.
“So we will get some of the ship’s crew to help set this room up. When we left we had six countries coming. China has never responded. I think we should have a place for them in case they do decide to show up. There could be a reason they have not communicated with us yet.”
“I think they are not coming because they want to go their own way. They almost always have in the past,” Miller said.
“Well, nevertheless, we should be prepared in case they do come. We will have a strange looking set up. I would like to have some kind of polygon shape.”
“A heptagon,” Miller said.
“Okay. Whatever it’s called.”
“How many seats on each side?”
“Five should do it and then some. Almost every one said they would have between three and five. If we need more we can scramble at the last minute.”
“We should have brought each country’s flag,” Dan said.
“Not to worry. I have them stored on the ship. I even have one for China.”
THE REVELATION - Book 3 (THE EVENT) Page 6
