“They sure are ugly sir.”
Chester and Cox could not contain their laughter. Hall smiled as he turned to march away.
Die Glocke
The elderly gentleman was escorted down the lift to the second floor. A security badge scanner barred the men from entering. The first man in black placed his hand on the scanner and the door opened with a beep; despite the fact the man did not have a security badge.
The three men peered through the open door that revealed a crowded laboratory, filled with busy looking scientists wearing light green suits. The scientist barely glanced up from their various tasks.
The elderly man who had been hiding behind the two men in black stepped into the open for the first time. He looked around sheepishly until his gaze locked onto the golden acorn that was housed in the middle of the room.
“Die Glocke…” He muttered to himself in German.
“So you do know what this is then Mr. Ames?”
A paper thin smile flashed across the elderly man’s face.
“Yes I know what this is.” He said as he surveyed the area, he noticed broken sledgehammer heads, splintered drill bits and a broken jackhammer that littered the floor around the device.
With a look of horror on his face he turned to face the men in black. “I see your people have no clue about this device and have tried to force it open.” He laughed a nervous laugh.
The elderly man turned to face an engineer who had just lite a blowtorch.
“Fools.” He shouted so loudly that the engineer jumped.
The room fell silent.
Authority and confidence suddenly oozed from the sixty-four-year-old. “Stay away from that device with that crude tool, you will achieve nothing.”
The engineer backed away.
The men in black approached the man.
“So what do we have here Ames?”
“Bloody yanks, this is Die Glocke, the Bell! We found the device buried deep in the side of a mountain in the fatherland.” Ames laughed. “This device was going to be our war-winning weapon until it disappeared in 1944.”
The men in black faces remained expressionless, the men chimed in unison. “So how do we access that potential?”
The smile faded from the old man’s face. “I’m not sure about the details…”
He was cut off, “You haven’t been much use to us Herr Kammler since we sent that submarine to rescue you from Germany in 1945.”
Kammler’s gaze dropped to the floor before they flashed up to meet the men in blacks gaze, his features hardened and the old flames of defiance flickered in through his grey eyes.
“Look here you bureaucratic puppets the device was under the direct supervision of the brilliant scientist Walther Gerlach and the deadly Jakob Sporrenberg. Gerlach disappeared at the same time as the device; we do not know what happened to him…”
“And the Polish executed Sporrenberg in 1952.” The Men in black interrupted.
Kammler nodded. “What I do know is that the device was housed in a metal frame and coated in ceramic tiles, this is what gave it the distinctive bell shape. Then a great deal of electricity was pumped through the device and the room had to keep a certain level of electrical charge.” Kammler paused for breath, “The device would then produce what we called Xerum 525 better known as red mercury which was exceptionally toxic. You best tell your men to wear protective suits.”
The men in black smiled, which made Kammler feel uncomfortable.
“Ok Kammler, you may have proved your worth. I want you to note all of this down and then supervise the project.”
Kammler folded his arms across his chest. “Ok but under one condition.”
The men in black stood silent.
“I want some of the German scientists from Operation Paperclip.”
The men in black smiled again.
“Ok, but von Braun is off limits.”
The smile faded from Kammler’s face but he nodded an agreement.
The man in black went to leave.
“We will arrange with the staff here for you to be well looked after. We will be back for updates on your work… And Kammler any funny business and you will be on trial for war crimes.”
Kammler saluted.
The men in black gave their orders to the scientists and then left.
Kammler wished he had taken his cyanide pill back in 1945 before those freaks had gotten to him.
Anti-War Movement
It was an almost cloudless day in the sun-filled skies over North Vietnam; this was a blessing for the crews of the four F4 Phantoms of Victor flight that prowled the skies. The large two seater fighters trailed a plume of black smoke as the powerful twin J79 engines burned through their fuel supply.
Victor flight was tasked with intercepting North Vietnamese MiG’s and to protect their fellow Phantoms on their bombing run. The mission was so far going to plan as the Phantoms successful hit their targets.
The radio crackled in the flight leader’s ear. “MiG’s in the air, somewhere below you.”
The flight leader dived to have a look, his wingman followed him.
“Freddy, do you see them?”
Negative Dan, Keep your eyes peeled.
The radio from command gave a more ominous warning. “MiG’s two miles out, to your South, Weapons cleared.”
‘Shit.’ Flight Leader Dan Campbell thought they’re on our six.
Dan and his wingman immediately pulled up their Phantoms and went inverted then rolled to level out; they had turned 180 degrees and were now heading straight towards the enemy.
The first sleek, silver, delta-winged MiG streaked passed some; one thousand feet passed Dan’s Phantom. Dan looked over and could see his adversary clearly.
“Shit, Dan, that’s a MiG-21!”
“Making history here Freddy!”
“Let’s get after him!” Freddy said excitedly, this was the first time a Phantom had been in combat with a MiG-21.
“No stay with me Freddy, we haven’t seen his wingman yet!”
The MiG’s had set a trap and were hoping the Phantoms would take the bait and follow the first plane, and then the second MiG could slip in behind them.
The second MiG showed his hand and streaked passed at 500 mph. This MiG was different, it wore dark camouflage paint, and it was not the brilliant silver of the first plane.
The Phantoms Inverted and turned quickly to get on the MiG’s tail but the two MiG’s did something unexpected. The First powered Skyward in a slight left turn, while the second MiG pulled hard right on a collision course with the two American fighters.
“What the hell are they doing?” Freddy called out.
It was peculiar as pilots generally preferred left-hand traffic, as it was much easier on the body to move the controls left when under the constraints of G-force.
“Blue bandit, going vertical on your two o’clock Jr, he’s all yours,” Dan called out.
“Roger that, we see him, Victor three taking the lead.”
Brooklyn Jnr was in Victor four and stayed close on his friend’s wing, “Get him Pete, I’ve got your back.”
The Silver Dart shaped MiG leveled out as soon as he caught sight of the two large Phantoms streaking down on him.
The Camouflaged MiG misjudged the skill of flight leader Dan Campbell, who in a wide corkscrew roll was trying desperately to keep his airspeed low enough to stay on his adversary’s tail.
Dan in Victor one managed to get into the kill zone behind the MiG, the growl of the locked on Sidewinder missile reverberated in his ear. The bulky Phantom was in perfect Sidewinder range, about 1500 feet behind the scrambling MiG.
Dan squeezed the trigger, nothing happened.
“Damn it,” Dan shouted as the AIM-9 Sidewinder failed to release from the underside of the aircraft.