The Eve of Abounding Wickedness

by Mark Spaid

  “I have a plan for that,” Little Wolf offered.

  “What?” Jozette asked.

  “I’ll simply use the world’s foremost authority on make-up and appearances,” he said looking at Belinda.

  “I’d be glad to help,” Belinda said and took a bow. Jozette sighed and shook her head.

  “Should we sleep in the RV tonight?” Lexi asked.

  “I think Lind and I’ll stay in there with Beth and Gabby,” Jozette posed.

  “Can I join you?” Lexi asked.

  “Sure,” Jozette said

  “I’d like to stay with you, Mom.”

  “Okay, Baby, I could use you with me tonight

  “So, we get a good night’s sleep then get an early start,” Tatiana said and it was agreed.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  “Here we are,” Belinda said as she, Justin, Lexi, Darcy, Jessica and Gabby went inside the public library and found a table in the reference room.

  “What do we do first?” Lexi asked.

  “Check the newspapers,” Jessica said.

  “What should we look for?” Belinda asked.

  “Anything with Will’s name in it,” Justin said. They split up in groups with Jessica charged with entertaining Gabby. They were there for three hours when they gathered back at the table to talk except for Justin who was working on something in the written archives. Not all the back issues of the papers had been converted to digital.

  “I’m not optimistic,” Lexi said as she sat dejected.

  “Where’s Justin?” Belinda asked.

  “He had a box of the actual newspapers from way back,” Darcy answered.

  “Here he comes,” Jessica said. Justin walked up slowly carrying a paper and the look on his face indicated it wasn’t good news. Lexi saw this and her shoulders slumped.

  “I take it you found something?” Lexi asked and Justin nodded then laid down the paper turned to the obituaries. Lexi took the paper and read it aloud.

  “Wilbur Wilson Parnell died in custody of the police on June 14th, 2011. He’d been arrested as part of the ethnic cleansing program instituted by the Party in an attempt to purify The Greater Reich.”

  “They killed Daddy,” Darcy said then burst into tears. Jessica hugged her friend.

  “I’m sorry, Lexi,” Belinda said.

  “I was sure it was something like this. I just needed to find out for sure,” Lexi said as she sat staring straight ahead.

  “We need to find out about Zara,” Darcy said as she had recovered, wiped her eyes and sat up straight.

  “I have that too,” Justin said. “She died the same night her brother did.”

  “She wasn’t with us because we never met her in this Time Frame,” Darcy observed.

  “Yes, it was the same break-in by guys looking for cash to buy drugs.”

  “I never realized how great a world we lived in until we changed places with this one,” Darcy said.

  “Yeah, if we ever get back to where we belong, I don’t think I’ll complain much about anything,” Belinda said. They left the library and walked downtown. Most of the stores were the same as they had been. They passed four different Nazi Party headquarters. They saw adults and even young children wearing the Nazi armband. They hated that but held their tongues. They saw several policemen on their way but luckily none of them were stopped and asked for identity papers.

  At two in the afternoon a siren went off and people stopped what they were doing and gathered around television sets that seemed to be everywhere. They were on poles on street corners and in the windows of shops. When the siren stopped everyone came to attention and a man seated at a desk looked up and began speaking.

  “Citizens of The Greater Reich this is your Fuehrer welcoming you to another week. We have made great progress since I last spoke to you. In all, over eight thousand undesirables have been rounded up and executed. Jews, blacks, Hispanics, Asians, homosexuals and other sexual perverts have been eliminated from our society. We are gradually purifying The Greater Reich of America just as we did in Europe. When that day finally arrives that we have no more undesirables then we will have achieved our paradise. Keep working hard at your jobs my fellow citizens and remember everything must be for The Greater Reich.” Everyone gave the Nazi salute; Justin nudged them to do the same and reluctantly they did. There was no mistaking who the Fuehrer was...it was Thomas Rutherford Jr. the grandson of Adolph Hitler who was spawned at Schensburg with the other Nazis.

  * * *

  “Dr. Peabody, how’s the work coming?” Kleinschmidt asked as he strolled into the lab. It’d been just Peabody originally but since Warren gave them teleportation, at least, in miniature and time travel, Kleinschmidt’s opinion of Warren had risen to meteoric proportions.

  “I’m ready to test the miniature if you care to watch.”

  “By all means.” Kleinschmidt was as eager as a child on Christmas morning.

  “That rubber ball is the target,” Warren said pointing to a red ball twenty feet away on a pedestal.

  “How long does it take?”

  “Seconds…here put on these goggles.” They both wore eye protection as Warren lined up the weapon and aimed. “Three, two one.” There was a faint sound similar to that given off by an X-ray machine. Then the ball was gone. Kleinschmidt took off his goggles and stood transfixed with a smile on his face. He turned to Warren and shook his head in amazement.

  “Dr. Peabody, you continue to astound me. Is there anything you can’t do?”

  “Physics can solve many mysteries of the Universe.”

  “Dr. Peabody, with all due respect to Newton and even that Jew Einstein…physics didn’t solve this...you did. I’ll inform my superiors and they’ll be pleased. You’ll have the drawings ready for the real thing and give me a list of supplies you need very soon.”

  “I have that already. You do know that we’ll have to build it somewhere other than this lab,” Warren said.

  “Why?”

  “The size; it’ll be forty-five feet high and a hundred and fifty feet long.”

  “Why so big?”

  “You said the beam needed to circle the globe to nearly fifteen thousand miles. Well, it’ll have to be that big to establish a stream. In time the size may be able to be reduced but right now I’m not sure of the capacity of the circuits. The chamber needs to be long in order to achieve accuracy.”

  “If the Earth is twenty-four thousand miles in circumference then why would you need to go farther than twelve thousand miles?” Kleinschmidt asked.

  “Excellent question and the answer’s simple. There’s a best path each time and though the target is only nine thousand miles away we need to go the direction that avoids interference, such as mountains, skyscrapers, wind currents, electromagnetic forces, etc.”

  “I don’t understand what you’re saying but I’ll take your word for it given what you’ve done for The Greater Reich so far. We can’t build it here?”

  “No, absolutely not,” Warren said. He was right that they needed a bigger space but he was also getting the action away from the lab so Dave and Sol could send back the group to reverse what the Nazis had done in 1939.

  “Very well, we have two locations in the country that we’ve held in reserve for this kind of eventuality. “I’ll put a rush on the materials and the engineers will be there tomorrow to begin work. You’ll report here then be transported to the site.”

  “Okay,” Warren said and Kleinschmidt left. Warren always waited until he drove away. Kleinschmidt made him nervous. He didn’t trust him and for good reason; he was a Nazi. The guards knew nothing so Warren could do what he wanted around them. He’d been working on an idea he had for three days on the sly. He wasn’t sure it’d work but he had high hopes. “If I can transfer the coordinates then I can flip the target. But I have to do it rapidly or I’ll just end up dead. Would it be worth it? Of course, that goes without saying. To rid the world of these idiots, I’d do it now but I’d leave Ariel a widow and though
I’d hate that in time she’d understand. Will I have the nerve when the time comes? I don’t know; that’s the problem. It’s like creating these things I’ve been working on for these maniacs. Designing them is relatively easy but building them, now that’s different. So, I can plan on a heroic deed but will I have the courage to carry it out? There’s the rub as Hamlet said.”

  * * *

  “We need to speak to Detective Westfield,” Jozette said as she stood with her crew at the front desk of the Bloomington, Indiana Police Department.

  “He’s busy,” a man said not looking up or even recognizing the presence of anyone in front of him.

  “He’ll want to talk to me; tell him Jozette Kline is here to see him.” The man looked up, eyed everyone then hit his intercom button. Sir, a Jozette Kline is here to see you.”

  “Send her in, corporal.”

  “Hello, Tom,” Jozette said as she, Andy, Dixie, and Beth sat down. Tom closed the door.

  “I’m glad I kept this packet near me at all times,” Tom said.

  “That’s why I gave it to you.”

  “I woke up the other morning and wow. My uniform had a Swastika on it and there were Nazi flags all over town.

  “Does Captain Shellhause know?” Jozette asked.

  “He does; we talked that morning and we’re on the same page except we’re not sure what to do. Before there was a Police Commissioner but now we have a Nazi Party guy who comes around too often for me and he’s full of questions.”

  “Do you know why we’re here?” Andy asked.

  “I think so, it’s that little adventure you have planned.”

  “That’s it; we have to go back and stop this from happening,” Jozette said.

  “I take it Peabody will be the brains of the outfit.”

  “Yes, along with Dave and Sol,” Andy added.

  “Who’s going”?

  “You, Little Wolf and Tatiana,” Jozette answered. Tom nodded.

  “Good choices; three of us should be enough if we do it right. Too many people could get in the way.”

  “That’s what we thought as well.

  “When will this take place?”

  “We’re not sure. Right now, they have Warren building a particle beam weapon so they can crush resistance across the globe,” Andy said.

  “So, he’s under their thumb.”

  “Yes, but the time portal is already there in the lab he’s been using. Doesn’t he have to operate it?”

  “Dave and Sol say they can do it. They’ve watched Warren in the past and he’s explained everything to them.”

  “I sense hesitation in your voice. What is it?”

  “The only clinker is the chronometer…getting it aligned perfectly so we send you to the right time,” Jozette said sheepishly.

  “Oh, great so we could be ten years off,” Tom said as she got up and paced his office.

  “Or a few thousand,” Andy said.

  “What! You mean we could end up in the dark ages or hunting mammoths with the cavemen?”

  “Well, to be perfectly honest…yes, you could,” Jozette said. Tom sat down again in his chair shaking his head.

  “Do you still want to do this, Tom?” Andy asked. No one would blame you if you bailed.” Tom looked around the room.

  “No, I’ll do it. I couldn’t bear to live in this world.”

  “I’m tinged with guilt, Tom. I knew you couldn’t say no and I feel like I railroaded you into this,” Jozette said.

  “You did but not deliberately and besides what choice did you have. You trust Captain Shellhause and me and to be honest your gang is about the only people I absolutely trust in the entire city, especially now. I remembered what you told me before the change, so I’m ready and so is the Captain.”

  “I’ll keep in touch and let you know when we’re ready,” Jozette said and they left.

  * * *

  “We’ll take the side streets and the alleyways to keep out of sight of SS Patrols,” Tatiana said. They were headed for the lab to check on doors and windows even possible rooftop entrances.

  “Stop!” A voice shouted and two people were running from two armed guards; SS lieutenants they were, with guns drawn. They were chasing a young man and woman who ducked down an alley.

  “Let’s go back that way,” Tatiana said and they flanked the SS officers from a side entrance to the alley. The SS had the young couple at gunpoint as the two youngsters stood with hands in the air and trembling with fear.

  “You know the penalty for race mixing,” one of the officers said.

  “Yes, we know,” the woman said.

  “He shouldn’t even be here in the city. He is an undesirable and should’ve been in a camp or executed long before this. How’d you get here and how have you not been arrested before?” The officer questioned with his rifle at the young man’s throat.

  “I stay hidden.”

  “Look, the dog uses make-up to cover his filthy dark skin,” the other officer said as he swiped the cheek of the young man.

  “What are you?” The other officer asked.

  “I’m Mexican.”

  “What’re you doing here in Indiana? You should be in one of the detention centers awaiting transfer to the work camps in the south.”

  “I was a piano teacher at the University before…”

  “Before what?” The officer asked.

  “Before the change.”

  “What change? There was no change...things have always been this way.” One of the officers said.

  “But…” the young man started and was slugged with the butt of a rifle and fell down bleeding.

  “There was no change! Things have always been this way. That’s the official policy of The Greater Reich in America” The officer shouted. The young woman knelt to aid her friend. Tatiana had seen enough and nodded to Dave. They each jumped an officer from behind. Dave put his in a bear hug and knocked the rifle to the ground. Tatiana grabbed the pistol in the officer’s belt and held it to his neck.

  “It’s not fair to hold a gun against someone who’s unarmed,” Tatiana said.

  “I can’t breathe,” said the officer that Dave was holding. Dave was not the warrior that Tatiana was but when aroused he had tremendous strength and in a few seconds the man he was holding passed out.

  “You can join your partner,” Tatiana said and slugged the officer on the head and he fell down.

  “Are they dead?” The young woman asked.

  “No, but you can get away now. I’ll keep their pistols,” Tatiana said and put both guns in her belt.

  “Who are you people?” The man asked.

  “Travelers,” Dave answered.

  “Where are you going?” The woman asked.

  “We’re not sure but we have a mission to accomplish,” Tatiana said.

  “Can we come with you?” The man asked.

  “We’re kind of crowded as it is,” Dave said.

  “Wait, you said something about the change,” Tatiana said. “What change?”

  “Many of us felt something; it was like a wave that swept through our body then the surroundings were suddenly different. Other people sensed it to but the SS won’t let anyone even mention it. The government seems determined that things have always been like they are…that the Nazis have always been in charge,” the woman said.

  “But they haven’t,” Dave said.

  “No, something happened. I don’t know what but this is not the world we were used to and it’s not the one that’s supposed to be here,” the woman added.

  “Are you from Bloomington?” The man asked.

  “No, Pennsylvania but our friends live here in Bloomington and we all know that something happened,” Tatiana said.

  “We won’t get in the way and we might be able to help,” The woman said.

  “What’re your names?” Tatiana asked.

  “Mario and Janet,” The man said.

  “Tatiana and Dave and these are our daughters Melanie and Mallory and our fr
iend Sol,” Tatiana said.

  “How do you do?” Janet said.

  “Where are you staying?” Janet asked.

  “In the woods north of town,” Dave said.

  “Alright we’re headed for a building to investigate but we can’t be seen so lay low and follow us,” Tatiana said.

  Bloomington, Indiana

  2020

  The Home of Thomas Rutherford

  “It has happened,” Robert Cannover said as the six grandchildren of the original Nazis sat around a table. I felt the impulse, so did all of you and of course, the change in things is obvious.”

  “Yes, we’re aware,” Thomas Rutherford said. We’ll all take our places at the head of the party.”

  “What we feared might happen did not. All of the descendants survived the time change and the work can continue.”

  “We are here and ready for the beginning of the rule of our new Fuehrer,” Donald Wright pronounced and there were cheers and clapping as Thomas bowed.

  “Yes, Thomas will be officially declared the Fuehrer tomorrow and the rest of you will step into the positions your great grandfathers held many years ago.” I know he’s spoken on television already but tomorrow will be his investiture,” Cannover said. It’ll be a glorious day for us all. The Fuehrer, Adolph Hitler’s mission has been fulfilled. The Greater Reich has been established.” There were loud shouts of Hail the Fuehrer and long live The Greater Reich.

  “My fellow party members, we have achieved the Reich but there’s much work in keeping it strong. There’ll no doubt be opposition by ethnic inferiors and even some party members who’ll see their positions eroded because we’ve arrived,” Thomas said.

  “We’ll deal with them, my Fuehrer,” Randall Willoughby said and there were shouts of agreement, foot stomping and shouting for several minutes.

  “The current leader of the party, William Foster has been given a subsidiary post in Germany, where it happens, he has always wanted to live. He’ll depart tonight and won’t be at the ceremony tomorrow,” Cannover said.

  “No, he must be at the ceremony with all of the rest,” Thomas said.