31
2055 hours, Sunday, August 9, 1942, Indre River Valley, Indre-et-Loire Department, Vichy France
Hiram trusted no one with the Mark XII weapons and portal technology. He feared American or British commandos waited in the shadows ready to swoop in and seize the bombs once Falcon confirmed their existence. And, if the weapons fell into enemy hands, they could torture the arming secrets out of him if they tried hard enough. So, he’d resolved to bring the weapons through the portals himself. Only he could arm the devices.
But, the OSS man expected six hyperbaric nuclear weapons.
“Agnes, have Team Foxtrot conduct a patrol around this field where the American OSS officer will land. Tell them to be careful, and make sure there are no surprises waiting for us.” Once the translator repeated his words, he listened as Agnes relayed his instructions over her C2ID2 to Team Foxtrot.
“And have Team Golf join us here, please,” he said.
Five minutes later Team Golf’s railbike pulled up. Justine and Emma straddled the bike. Ellen held Myriam in her lap. Myriam’s legs rested over the side of the car, kicking at the wind like a little girl. He smiled at the site of them until the memory of Vera, who had been held in much the same way, crept into the moment. His attention returned to the Mark XII devices.
“Okay ladies, we need to pull six Mark XII’s through my portal and disarm them. They’re waiting in my pod. Should only take a few minutes to extract them with the pulley system. We have to work quickly.” Not just because of the visitor on his way. Hiram wasn’t sure how long he could stand to stay inside his pod. The headache had died down, but his ankle felt like the bones had been shattered. If he kept going into the pod, he feared at some point his ankle would shrivel up, his foot along with it. The image of that damned, helpless dog kept swimming through the back of his mind. The mutt had wandered into his camp one night as he crossed the Sinai desert, and hung around after Hiram threw him a few scraps. It was a lonely crossing, and Hiram welcomed the company. A few nights later Hiram absentmindedly tossed an empty pod food wrapper through the portal in his pack. The dog darted after it, his font legs and head breaking the milky white surface of the portal before Hiram realized what was happening. He remembered the way the remainder of dog’s body had relaxed an instant before sliding all the way through the opening. By the time he got down into his pod, the dog was a shriveled-up husk on the floor.
Hiram shivered at the thought and waited for the translation to complete. The women nodded.
Hiram climbed down into his pod through the portal in his pack. The weapons waited side by side, nuclear soldiers ready to join the fight. He pushed a tripod and pulley system out through the portal. Ellen and Myriam guided the rig out of the pod.
Hiram poked his head out of the portal and watched while the two women setup the tripod and hooked the pulley system at the apex. No need to do anymore climbing on his bad ankle than necessary. “I’ll attach the hook at the end to a harness for the first weapon. When I tug the line, turn the crank to lift the device out of the portal. Once you pull the weapon clear, detach the harness, not the hook, and drop it back through the portal.” The Babel Fish repeated.
The women nodded. Justine gave him a thumbs-up.
Confident they understood, Hiram ducked back through the portal with the hook in hand. He hooked the line to the harness already attached to the first weapon and gave a short tug. On cue, the line tightened and the weapon ascended. The portal distorted to accommodate the size of the Mark XII. He waited almost sixty seconds before the hook passed back through the portal. He attached the hook to the harness on the second device and tugged the line. They repeated the process for the remaining devices.
Once six of the Mark XIIs had been pulled from the pod, Hiram climbed out through the portal a final time, using his upper body to pull most of his weight up each rung of the ladder. This trip out of the portal was the hardest yet. His arms quivered with exhaustion and he had a hard time catching his breath.
The short grey metal drums, each sixty centimeters tall and fifty centimeters wide across the top, stood in a row. Ellen, Myriam, and Justine stood behind the row, hesitant to stand too close.
“They can’t do any damage like this,” Hiram said as he leaned on one of the metal drums. “Justine, hand me the screw driver.” He waited for the translator to finish and put a shaky hand out.
The three women stepped a little closer. Hiram attempted to unscrew the top lid. He couldn’t manage to set the driver into the head of the screw.
Justine stepped forward, put a hand over his, and eased the screw driver away from him. “You tell us what to do,” the Babel Fish said.
Hiram nodded. “Unfasten the lid by removing the screws.” He waited for Justine to complete the assignment. “Then remove the top lid.” He wanted to sleep, so badly. Every part of him seemed heavy and uncooperative. “Each drum is made up of three sections. This top section holds a set of seven titanium discs. You’ll notice the size of the discs decreases as you move toward the bottom.”
Justine peered over the edge of the drum and into the Mark XII, still hesitant. “It looks like an upside-down layer cake,” she said. “Come see.”
Ellen and Myriam approached with caution. Once they peered inside, the device seemed to be less dangerous and more interesting. He wondered if they had expected a demonic creature to emerge.
“Each titanium disc contains a two-centimeter-thick portal, like the one in my pack. The discs keep the portals stable just long enough for the blast wave to pass through after detonation, which happens in less than the blink of an eye. The design allows the user to select the desired yield, the larger the disc, the more energy it transmits.”
Ellen, Justine, and Myriam accepted his explanation and nodded.
“You’ll need to remove the portals from all of the devices. Take the screw driver and pry open the clips holding each disc in place.” His breathing was wrong. “Then, you’ll need to unplug the wire that provides power to the portals and connects the arming mechanism. See those ribbed sections, squeeze them together.”
Justine took a few seconds to figure out what he meant. She seemed pleased with the result as the plug released with little effort.”
“To remove the portal from the disc, you need to grasp this tab and pull away.” Was the translator speaking faster than he was?
Ellen pointed to the portal. “Is it safe to touch the portal?”
“The portals are not active without the power source. Be sure to unplug the wire before removing the portal from the disc.” he said. He thought again about the shriveled body of that poor dog. The portals needed little power to function and the small electric battery could handle the job. If not disconnected from the power source first, the portals could be activated. “Please take your time.”
Justine removed the next portal, careful only to touch the titanium disc and the directed tab. Hiram left her to finish and headed to the next Mark XII. He instructed Myriam as she removed the lid. When all the lids had been removed, Hiram returned to the first device. Justine pulled out the last disc. She moved to the next Mark XII and continued.
Ellen moved to the third device in the line. “I’ll take this one.” She pulled another screw driver out of her thigh pocket.
“Myriam, I need you to help remove the electronic components.” He lifted the lid and struggled to line it back up on the top of the drum. “We’ll need to flip the device over.” The translator repeated.