Six: Sabotage Most Foul!
THE MORNING began with a mind-stabbing explosion.
Bantam awoke immediately. Pushing through the fog of dreams, he stumbled out onto the balcony.
The Volzstrang Pin, the impossible tower of black diamond that reached into space, was falling.
The base of the Pin was on fire — but in a way Bantam had never seen before. This fire was green. It sort of wiggled strangely in a way that clearly signified burning, but not in the way that a yellow flame flickered and licked.
Boom! A secondary explosion went off, ripping into the Pin, sending millions of black-diamond shards spewing in every direction at once. As it struck the yards of pavement that surrounded the Pin, it sounded like the tinkle of broken glass.
As Bantam watched in horror, the Pin wobbled in slow motion, like a drunk about to tip over. Vibration waves traveled up the length of the Pin visibly bending the diamond superstructure. That sight alone was enough to strike fear deep in the heart: that thing was not supposed to bend. It was made of the hardest material known to man and then some.
It was going to tip over.
Dear God! How many miles high was that thing? Surely it would come down on much more that just MacLaren. It would hit surrounding towns. Lots of people were going to get killed.
Unable to help himself, Bantam ran to the door, which was locked, of course.
He had to do something! Intolerable that he could do nothing!
He could taste fire on the air now. Klaxons began howling all over the base. Back on the balcony, he could see a massive plume of acrid smoke steadily pumping out of the base like black lava injected into the sky.
Men poured out of the barracks, donning their clothes as they ran. Dirigibles now circled the Pin. Personal flying machines of all types lifted off rooftops. Some of the men even jumped on exotic bicycles.
Boom! A third explosion. This one did it. The base lurched up out of whatever secured it to the ground, almost like a pogo stick. When it rammed down again, the Pin shattered in several places, sending several segments whirling and falling.
One hit a dirigible, neatly slicing the balloon in two halves that flapped flacidly. The carriage went into free fall with the sounds of screams on the wind.
The largest Pin segment — the one that reached up into space — was in free fall now, tilting as it fell. It bent like a switch as it did so.
With a deeper shade of horror, Bantam realized what was happening. Oh dear God. It was going to crack like a bullwhip as it hit.
As the near end landed, that was exactly what happened. The top portion suddenly gained speed. An unholy howl rang out as the uppermost Pin segment broke the sound barrier — a sonic boom. Then it snapped into the earth, continuing to drill down well past the horizon.
Thousands of people were just killed in their beds, Bantam thought.
Other shards of Pin bounced up from their initial impact, flying in several directions. Bantam realized that one small piece was headed directly for him. Stupidly, he stared as it approached.
It was like a chunk of a Greek column. It rolled through the air like a barrel.
He could see a cross-section now. Wow, that’s a lot bigger than it looked from far away, he thought. The diameter was something like the size of a football field.
Bantam’s brain finally kicked in and he ducked just as the Pin cross-section slammed into the room next to his.
And then, mercifully, it was over.
It was only after a few more moments that Bantam realized that the American Space Program had been set back a decade at least. Germany would win the race to the moon for sure now.
GENERAL VEERSPIKE KICKED open the door personally.
Two of his men grabbed Bantam and held him down.
«You son of a bitch!» Veerspike screamed. More men poured in behind Veerspike. Immediately, they began searching the room.
«What?» Bantam asked. «What is it?»
Veerspike snarled and belted Bantam across the face so hard Bantam’s skull rattled in his head.
«What?» Veerspike imitated. «What? How dare you inquire as to ‘what’? That — “ Veerspike pointed out the window to where the Pin lay broken and burning — «That is ‘what’! I know you are the villain behind it. I’ve known since you arrived that you were an infernal menace!»
Bantam blinked in surprise. «You think I did that? I’ve been here the whole time! I’ve been under house arrest! General, you know that!»
«I’ll tell you what you I know. I know that you appeared out of nowhere a few weeks ago. You broke through our security once somehow. That means you can do it again, probably at will. Then you tell this cock-and-bull story about time traveling. Well, you may have fooled Hardin and Cleveland but you haven’t fooled me.»
Wiping the blood from his mouth, Bantam said, «I seem to have fooled Dr. Archenstone as well.»
Veerspike’s eyes became dark pools of unconsciousness, filled with a flood of deep hatred. He shook, and raised his hand to strike again.
But a voice called out: «Hold!» It was Doctor Hardin. Rachelle was with him. «General Veerspike. I thought I was clear that — “
«Not anymore!» Veerspike raged. «Not any goddamn more! Have you looked outside the window, Doctor Hardin?» Hardin opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, Veerspike continued: «No! Just stop it. Just stop it. Not this time!!!»
Hardin seemed to lose all power and shrink even smaller than he was.
«General!» one of the men searching the room called out. «General. Look at this.»
Veerspike hurried over to where the man had pulled an armoire away from the wall. There was a small hold dug into the plaster behind it. The man brought forth a paper bag. Veerspike peeked inside it. His eyes widened. «Ah ha! Ah ha! You wanted proof, Doctor Hardin? Here it is!»
Veerspike pulled out a strange device. It had four chambers, each a different color. All four chambers were depleted.
«Proton fire!» Veerspike sneered. «That explains the green flame.»
A look of horror came over Rachelle's face. Her hand flew up to her mouth and she ran from the room. Veerspike watched this smugly.
«What’s a proton fire?» Bantam asked.
«He pretends he doesn’t know! Oh, that’s rich!» Veerspike said.
«It’s a plasma fire,” Hardin said quietly. «An exotic chemical reaction. The mixture of four compounds creates it. It’s the only thing capable of burning through the black diamond superstructure of the Pin.»
«General Veerspike. Please. Listen to me. It was the Nazis! It wasn’t me! Hitler did this. Hitler blew up the Pin. I swear to you that I’m telling the truth! You’ve got to believe me!»
«Get him up!» Veerspike said. «Now we’re going to do things my way. Down to the holding cell with him!»
«General … I — “ Hardin began.
«This happened because of your carelessness,” Veerspike said. «Yours and Cleveland’s. And mine for indulging it. The prisoner had access to the entire base! He was walking around free! Well, I am now hereby activating Article 4, Hardin. The Emergency Powers Clause. That puts me in charge. I’d say we have an emergency, wouldn’t you? Am I being in any way unfair?»
Hardin shook his head.
«Good,” Veerspike said. «Now. Mr. Bantam and I are going to get acquainted. Much better acquainted.»
THE TORTURE was exquisite.
It employed a device known as The Pinion.
It worked by setting the blood on fire, or so it seemed to Bantam. Through the haze of pain, Veerspike had explained something about the water in the body and sympathetic vibrations eliciting the amplification of pain, sharpening the experience.
Veerspike barely even asked him any questions: he just seemed to enjoy tormenting him.
How this went on, Bantam couldn’t say. The Pinion scalded his psyche in places he did not know existed.
He prayed for death.
And it was death that came for him.
Seven: A Journey By AetherLev