Jackson nodded, picturing the machine.
'Alright, so what did it do that was so fantastic?'
'Well,' Igor began slowly, 'that is why I mentioned that the name was so prophetic. You see, when a bell is struck it vibrates, resonating at a certain frequency and sending off waves through the air that we hear as the chime. In this case, the Bell device caused an emanation from the Aether itself, causing a powerful resonance that radiated out and affected the particles that make up our universe, having a direct impact on atomic structures within the physical world and producing incredible effects.'
'Such as?' Jolene quickly asked, realising that there was a possible application to weapons of mass destruction.
Igor thought for a moment.
'Well, for one thing, during operation it generated extremely powerful magnetic fields and sometimes catastrophic surges in unshielded electrical equipment placed within range. Worst than that, it also gave off deadly blasts of radiation and several project scientists are reported to have died during the earliest tests. It became a top priority for the Laternenträger project to limit the side effects as at one point they had lost so many personnel that they had to dissolve the original research team and start all over again.'
Jackson regarded radioactive and electro-magnetic effects as relatively mundane and his tone betrayed his wariness.
'- is that all? I mean that doesn't sound particularly incredible.'
'Oh, that was the least of it,' defended Igor, 'in terms of the hypothesised operational characteristics it had a profound effect on organic materials, quite distinct from the damage caused by earlier lethal radiation doses that had been given off. It became apparent that the Bell emitted a field which could alter the chemical composition of plants and animals. Further experimentation revealed that the effect could be tuned to specific compositions and molecules, for instance water could be converted directly into Hydrogen and Oxygen. The field effects could be used to break down organic matter into constituent molecules, however, it was determined that the same process could be applied to non-organic materials, even to transmute substances from one form to another.'
'Transmutation?' Jolene queried before thinking for a moment, 'You're not talking about alchemy are you?'
Igor grinned to himself as he answered.
'Oh, you are good; you've obviously been reading up! That is exactly what I am talking about! After a long period of research to tune the Bell appropriately, a test was performed which was aimed at removing just three protons from the lead element, thereby causing the material to jump from the atomic number of 82 to the atomic number of 79. All evidence suggests that the test was a success - they had successfully converted lead into gold!'
There was a brief silence before Jackson spoke.
'Alright, I can see the obvious benefit to the Reich in filling their coffers with lead turned into gold and the possible application for weapons development, but what about advances in propulsion and energy?'
'Ahhh,' Igor pronounced sagely, 'this was all just the tip of the iceberg. You see, their experiments in transmutation led them to a startling conclusion, they had hypothesised that the protons removed from the lead atoms were not simply released as part of a standard atomic reaction, but were actually returned to the Aether itself. This led them to conclude that if they could dissimilate particles such as protons back to the Aether, then maybe they could assimilate particles from it as well.'
'Create matter?' Jackson asked with a slightly incredulous tone.
'Exactly!' stated Igor.
'They were trying to create matter and energy and effectively from nothing, the two states of physical existence essentially being interchangeable but always in balance.'
Jolene looked at Jackson as she spoke.
'Did they succeed?'
A long pause followed before Igor replied.
'Yes, I believe so. I believe that they managed to create surplus energy from their power input, although admittedly, only in an experimental form.'
Jolene shook her head.
'Surely it just isn't possible? Everything we know about physics tells us that you can't get something for nothing.'
'Agreed!' the voice from the speaker cried.
'As an example, within the context of the law of conservation of energy a perpetual motion device can only work if it delivers no energy to its surroundings, dissipation of heat through friction for instance. However, that relates to a closed system. What we're talking about here is a different concept of physics and the theory is that excess energy could be drawn from the Aether itself, an idea that modern physics completely rejects. Admittedly, they had a huge power plant operating the Bell, but the energy input was simply being used to maintain an open pipe to let free energy to flow out. Now, I'm not saying that was the reality, I'm just saying that it appears to have worked for the Bell research scientists in the 1940's!'
Jolene thought for a moment and made sure that she sounded excited.
'Alright, excellent, that links in directly to our article. This is great, but what about the weapons and propulsion developments?'
Igor hummed slowly, as if deliberating on the poor working practises of the German scientists.
'The propulsion developments kind of came about by accident, you see, the research team was now concentrating on tuning the field effect to confirm their Aether energy release and to produce specific physical phenomena in subject materials within the test chamber.
'During one such experiment the whole test chamber started to shake and rattle and for a moment the operators believed that the allies had located their base and that a surprise heavy bombing raid was under way right over their heads. The truth was even more unexpected in that the Bell itself was causing the vibrations; however, it wasn't through engineering defects in the drums or central axis. This was vividly demonstrated when the whole apparatus suddenly ripped itself free from the concrete floor and levitated right up to the top of the Hive.
'Of course, the thing wasn't designed to fly and after the power cables were torn free the device just dropped like a stone and smashed back down before finally spinning to a halt. Although they had to completely rebuild the Bell, they now had another avenue of research!'
'That must have been impressive,' Jackson stated dourly, trying not to sound too credulous.
'What about the weapons development though? Surely they didn't succeed in creating anything useful or the Swastika flag would still be flying over the whole of Europe?'
'Yes, you're absolutely right,' conceded Igor, 'but the lack of a deployable weapons capability is an example of the wider issue that the Bell scientists faced. Remember that this device was an experimental model that simply exhibited certain effects. Although the effects had been hypothesised and predicted by The Vril Society in their earliest submissions to Himmler, it was essentially a shot in the dark that miraculously came close to the bullseye.
'Their energy experiments required a huge power input which yielded measurable although comparatively minuscule excess power output, the point being that they believed that their theory had been proven but the apparatus was not yet in a form whereby Germany could cease to worry about the chronic fuel shortage. The propulsion system had clearly if accidentally been demonstrated, but again, there was no way a craft could be built that would house the required power source, even taking into consideration the possibility of harnessing free energy. Even though this was at the forefront of experimental technology, the Bell represented an old coal fired steam engine in comparison to a modern nuclear power plant even though they basically work on the same principle to deliver power generation.'
'So where does that leave us?' asked Jolene, keen to get a summary of what the Germans had allegedly achieved and aware that Igor Farley's knowledge of events did not include the classified references to 'Foo Fighters' and levitation beams that Jackson had turned up from the archives.
'In chronological terms, it only takes us up to around the end of 1944,' Igor s
aid, smacking his lips, 'the Bell was still a purely experimental device although some witnesses claim that the propulsion effects were actually harnessed and a prototype craft developed; there are tales of what were described as 'flying barrels' at a test site near Schloss Fürstenstein located in the province of Lower Silesia, Poland. The whole area was under German control at the time as one of the eastern territories of the Reich and was home to a secret underground laboratory built into a disused coal mine.
'The Bell itself remained at another larger compound only twenty miles away, utilising the old Wenceslas Mine close to a village now called Ludwikowice Klodzkie near the Czech border. Even today there are structures still in place that may have been used for testing the propulsion capabilities and certainly, the mine itself is filled with cavernous galleries.'
'- and the weapons?' Jolene prompted.
'By all accounts they largely remained on the drawing board as the experimental Bell was effectively useless in any strategic or tactical military sense since it could only produce a localised field effect; however, it appears that there were plans to create a series of projection cannons that would have focussed the raw effects of the Bell into a beam that could be directed at enemy installations, men and equipment. This project attracted the name of Holzbläser - meaning 'woodwind'- due to the cannon designs bearing a resemblance to certain musical instruments. The largest cannon was actually called Wunderfagott and was strategic in nature, the idea was to destroy entire cities with it. The next was a tactical battlefield weapon designated Allheilklarinette and aimed for use against enemy installations and massed armour. The smallest device was envisaged as a kind of small-arms weapon to be used against light vehicles and infantry, the Zauberflöte. In English, the names basically translate to Wonder-Bassoon, Panacea-Clarinette - or as near as dammit - and Magic-Flute respectively. Quite ironic I've always thought.'
Jackson mused before he spoke.
'- but these were never developed, right?'
'No, at least, not by the Germans. You see, the legend has it that in April 1945, as the Russian advance threatened the area, a ruthless SS General by the name of Hans Kammler collected every scrap of documentation from both the Wenceslas and Fürstenstein research sites, effectively covering both the 'lantern carrier' and Chronos projects. The vast majority of the equipment was completely destroyed or entombed in the mines using explosives, but the Bell itself was dismantled for evacuation and flown out of Opole airfield in a Junkers 390. However, in keeping with the best traditions of this kind of legend, both the plane and the General were ever seen again.'
Igor let the tale sink in and Jolene was first to respond.
'So where do you think that the Bell went?'
Another chuckle broke from the loudspeaker as Igor Farley considered his reply.
'To be honest, I have no idea! The Bell itself certainly never fell into the hands of the allies, although there is some evidence that knowledge of it may have been culled from captured scientists who had worked on the original project. The thing is, most of the original research team had been executed on the orders of Hans Kammler during the evacuation, over sixty men and women were shot, all scientists in the programme and just to keep the secrets of the Bell from falling into enemy hands.
'Inevitably, some workers managed to escape the net although they were probably lower level researchers and technicians on the periphery of the main project. That explains why none of the allies managed to get their own version of the Bell up and working after the war had ended, even though both the Americans and the Russians then had the cream of the German scientific community on their respective payrolls.'
'So this technology just disappeared?'
'That is about the size of it!' confirmed Igor.
'I'm afraid that your article isn't about to solve the energy crisis just yet, but, as the Germans might say, die Wahrheit ist irgendwo da draußen!'
Jolene smirked and nodded at the words.
'The truth is somewhere out there!'
Jolene and Jackson had their confirmation of the possibilities of the technology; however, Igor Farley's account of events during World War II was not exactly first hand even if the basic outline fitted with the sporadic documents that Jackson had uncovered in the official files. They thanked the author for his input and closed the call, assuring him that he had been very helpful but Jackson had sighed wearily after the telephone line had gone dead.
'So what now? All of this information is interesting, very interesting in fact, but it proves nothing. We cannot get anywhere like this, besides, Farley didn't even mention the Sun of the Sleepless, only the Vril Society.'
'Yes,' nodded Jolene, 'but that is fine. What we need to do is present this as supplementary evidence to Kappel, let him decide how to go forward and whether he can tell us anything further.'
'Further?' Jackson had picked on the use of the adjective and his tone was derisory. 'He hasn't told us any so far so I am not sure what else he will add.'
'Ahh!' exhaled Jolene somewhat coyly, 'I didn't tell you, did I? Kappel admitted to me that he knows more than he is letting on, although he was very discrete about it.'
'When did this happen?' Jackson asked, somewhat taken aback at only just learning the news.
Jolene blushed slightly in apology.
'Sorry, I meant to tell you earlier, it was during out last conference with him. Remember when I had to leave the table to take another call? He revealed that he had been under surveillance but he didn't elaborate. Suffice to say, we should use our next conference to get a bit more information out of him. We cannot operate in the dark for much longer; we need to know what he expects from us so that we can get what we need from him.'
'So you think that Dale was right? When he said that we were telling Kappel what he already knew?'
'Almost certainly!' Jolene nodded, stone faced.
'Alright, so what now?'
She looked at her watch as she spoke, 'We send across the recording of Igor's statements and then call Kappel via secure video conference, he should be available soon. Let us hear what he has to say.'
Chapter XIX
Firing Blanks
'Loftus?' Rey called out from his office door, immediately hearing a muffled Boss shouted back from somewhere in the farmhouse followed by the tramp of heavy boots against creaky floorboards.
Rey turned back to his desk and settled down, a cigarillo burning in an ashtray beside him and a mug of steaming tea within arm's reach.
Sergeant Andy Loftus appeared at the door.
'Yes Boss?'
'Come in, take a pew. Close the door behind you though.'
A chair scraped as Loftus sat down before the desk of his commander, a disconcerted look spreading across his face as he realised that something was wrong.
'How are the Claymores coming along?' asked Rey.
'Good,' nodded the Sergeant, 'the team is digging in and Lieutenant Akosua is rigging the woods. We're also working on setting the radar up. Nothing is getting in here without us knowing it, whether they show up on the scope, set off a Claymore or fire a signal flare.'
Rey hummed.
'Great, let's just hope that we don't get some couple from Oban heading up into the trees for a bit of extra-marital exercise.'
Grinning widely, Loftus started laughing.
'It could be a lot worse if the woods turn out to be a local dogging spot!'
His joke elicited only a stifled harrumph and he knew that Rey was preoccupied.
'What's up Boss?'
A short pause followed before Rey spoke, frowning slightly as he did so.
'Is it that obvious?'
'Afraid so, you haven't been right since you arrived. I thought that we were all set but you're making me worry to be honest.'
He gave a chuckle to nullify the effect of his words.
Rey took a quick swig from his mug of tea, picked up his cigarillo and flicked the ash off into the tray. He leaned back and sighed as he started absent-minded
ly scratching at his forehead.
'We were bait. That is why Akosua and I were called over to The Netherlands. We were bait to ensure that the US had something to follow up on as part of an operation to misdirect he attention of the intelligence and security services.'
Loftus nodded and stuck out his bottom lip as he considered the assessment.
'Not entirely unusual though, why are you still bothered?'
Rey looked out of the window across the tops of the trees on a nearby hill before answering.
'I'm not sure that we're out of the woods, so to speak,' he said before turning back to face his Sergeant.
'I have a nagging suspicion that we're still bait.'
'What do you mean?' Loftus asked, somewhat unsurely.
Rey chewed the inside of his cheek before answering candidly.
'I can understand why Senator Dru needed likely candidates for the US to follow up on. It didn't go exactly as planned but it all turned out nicely, the US was put onto us and is currently looking for us. No doubt they'll track us to Open-EZ and they'll raid the premises but that is where it might end. However, just think for a moment -'
He leaned forward and rested his forearms on his desk.
'Dru has basically assumed that we've done everything by the book, nothing to lead the investigation into us up here. What if I'd bought something by credit card at a garage, or been stopped by the police, or crashed the car in the snow?'
'Well, you can't help providence can you?'
'Exactly, but Dru knows that. The more I think about it the more I cannot believe that he would lay a trail leading to us and then put us back into the field where any slip up could lead the US or British security services to us.'
Sun of the Sleepless Page 37
