"Nephilim - 03 - The Revealing" - читать интересную книгу автора (Marzulli L A)

"In the morning," Colonel Dougherty said.
"Yes, I look forward to it," Von Schverdt replied as the MP closed the gate, latched it, and then positioned himself beside it.
Von Schverdt made his way to the cot and tested it with the palm of his hand before sitting on it. He took off his great-coat and folded it over the metal chair, then stretched himself on the cot. What if there is nothing left? What if the hangar didn't hold up? he wondered. I still have the capsule of cyanide in the heel of my boot, but the Americans are eager for more. If the craft is undamaged, then all will be well. Von Schverdt constructed every conceivable scenario he could think of concerning what he might find when morning came. He care-fully scrutinized each one down to the last detail, and then, when he felt he had exhausted all of the possible outcomes, he drifted off into an uneasy sleep.
The next morning Von Schverdt awakened at his customary time of 5:30. Dougherty arrived a short time later, and after a hasty breakfast of runny eggs and burnt toast, Von Schverdt was escorted to an Army staff car and sandwiched in the rear next to Colonel Dougherty and one of the men who had been present at the meeting the night before. The third satin the front passenger seat.
Von Schverdt had not been formerly introduced to the tw? men. No names had been exchanged, and he knew nothing about them other th?? that they were part of an American organization called the Office of Strategic Services, or OSS. One of the OSS guy's ears stuck out, so he called him Dumbo,after the character in the Disney movie. Hitler had been fond of Disney movies, and Von Schverdt had watched several of them with Der Fuehrer at his mountain retreat, Wolf's Lair. The other man was fair-skinned with hardly a trace of facial hair, so he called the man Snow White. He enjoyed his private defamation of the tw? men, and it bolstered his spirits, making him feel superior.
The staff car was escorted in the front and rear by Military Police jeeps as it moved out of the Army headquarter's compound and headed southwest toward Peenemunde.
Von Schverdt looked out the window at the ravaged countrys?de as he answered yet another of the endless questions posed to him by the men from the OSS.
"You mentioned that the craft you had was operational?" Dumbo asked from the front seat.
"Yes, it was operational."
Dumbo and Snow White exchanged glances.
"Are you aware that our Air Force pilots reported this kind of aircraft as they were flying sorties over Berlin? They nick-named them `Foo fighters."
"No, I wasn't aware of that." How much should I tell them
should I glue them something now?A little tidbit, something to whet their appetites? Von Schverdt toyed with several bits of information.
"But the craft at your f?cility were never used in a combat-type scenario?" Dumbo asked.
"Correct." Von Schverdt shifted in his seat so that he faced Colonel Dougherty. "They've been here for thousands of years, Colonel," Von Schverdt said, and he saw that his statement made the men very uncomfortable.
"How can you be so sure?" Dougherty asked.
"Because I communicated with one of them." Von Schverdt waited a moment, letting the full realization of what he had said begin to sink in.
"You communicated ... how?" Snow White asked.
Von Schverdt pointed a gloved forefinger to his temple. "Telepathically. They are more evolved than we are. They are the old ones that make up much of the world'sЧwhat is your English word?Чmythos."
"I'm not sure ? follow you on that," Dougherty said.
"They can project thoughts into your mind. They can show you what has happened on this planet for thousands of years. Their involvement concerning man's ascent from apes, for one thing."
Silence followed.
Good, Von Schverdt thought, I have planted a seed. And it will grow when they see what lies ahead, ja?
They took several detours due to large craters in the road from Allied bombs. Bridges were either burned out or missing. Several hours later the cars stopped at the driveway of what appeared to be a deserted dairy farm on the outskirts of Peenemunde. The farm was located in a small, verdant valley several miles from Peenemunde, where the Vl and V2 rockets had been produced. Fenced fields that a short time ago contained dairy cows were now pockmarked with craters from bombs. The farmhouse had been ransacked: windows broken, the front door halfway off its hinges, furniture strewn about on the uncut l?wn.
"Now we are here, ja?"Von Schverdt said, and he leaned forward with worried expectation.
The staff car made its way up the driveway, which was wide enough to accommodate tw? vehicles. Von Schverdt saw the familiar pens, usually filled with livestock, with gates open and vacant.
What has happened here? he wondered as he stared out the window
As the car got to the disguised dairy barn, Von Schverdt's heart sank as he saw that the rear half of the building was gone, and a fire had gutted a good portion of it.
The men got out of the car and Von Schverdt began to run to the barn.
"General!" he heard Dougherty call out, but he kept running.
Von Schverdt reached the center of what had been the secret hangar for the flying disks, its floor a thick slab of steel-reinforced concrete. Just as he stopped, tw? MPs came up next to him with weapons drawn, followed a moment later by an angry Colonel Dougherty.
"Next time I'll tell them to shoot," Dougherty threatened.
"I'm sorry, Herr Colonel. It's just that 1 poured so much of myself into this. But here ..." He went to the center of the barn and with his gloved hands began to clear away the dirt and burnt timbers from the floor.
"Colonel, have your men help me."
"Do as he says," Dougherty commanded.
Two MPs came alongside Von Schverdt. "Like this," he instructed, as he stood up to move another timber. He dropped back to his knees and swept away the ash and dirt, exposing the floor, which had a blackened metal band running flush to the concrete.
"We clear this," he instructed the MPs. "It is our doorway to what the colonel needs to see."
"How does it open, General?" Snow White asked.
"First, we clear the debris ... then you will see," Von Schverdt answered.
"Sir," one of the MPs spoke up. "I've never seen metal like this . . . some kind of alloy or something. It's not even burned by the fire."
Dougherty eyed Von Schverdt, wanting an explanation. "Yes, it's an alloy ... similar to what the craft is made from," Von Schverdt explained.
Two hours went by with all of the men including Colonel Dougherty helping to clear the floor of the hangar.
Von Schverdt had taken off his shirt. His muscular torso was sweaty and soot-stained as the last of the debris was moved, revealing a forty-by-thirty-foot rectangular metal seam in the floor.
"Now we can open it," Von Schverdt exclaimed, as he made his way to the rear of the hangar, accompanied by one of the MPs. "Here." And he pointed toward a panel that was housed in a protective metal enclosure. He pulled a key from under the panel that had been hidden there and handed it to the MP. "Open it."
He watched as the MP fitted the key into the lock, and a moment later the door of the panel slid open to reveal a control box. "I'm going to open the doors, Colonel," Von Schverdt stated, as he began to reach for the controls.
"Not so fast, General," Dougherty called, as he approached with Snow White and Dumbo.
Von Schverdt stood up and waited until the men were next to him.
"Where's the power source?" Dougherty asked.
"I had everything buried underground. This facility has its own generators and is powered by synthetic fuel."
"Go ahead, General." Dougherty nodded at the controls.