Virginia just nodded as a brief thought of Jenks and the others flashed through her mind. She was prepared to do as ordered, when she stopped and then pulled out her electronic notepad. “We do have one more item that is as confusing as the rest. It seems the Russians are out to acquire as many industrial blue diamonds as they can get their hands on.”
“And why are blue diamonds so important to the Russians?” Niles asked Virginia.
“That we don’t know. But one thing is for sure: the Russian government as we know it does not exist, and what their plans are for them we haven’t a clue.”
Niles remained sitting and thinking as Virginia sat back down. He looked at Alice in the hopes she had some advice as far as why the Russians would want blue diamonds, but her face said that she was just as stunned as he was. She just shook her head.
“We have to stand down for now until we have more information. I’ll get word to our friends in MI6 somehow and see what they can come up with.
“Captain, you haven’t commented since you came in. Is it that you’re worried about Jack and the others? Or is the thought of the Russian agenda for war against the West?”
Will Mendenhall gathered his briefing materials and then faced his director.
“I think war has already been declared here, Doctor, and we’re just learning who is declaring it. It might already be too late.”
Niles watched as they filed out of his office and conference room. He picked up the phone and made the connection to the Oval Office.
“How in the hell do I start this conversation?”
Master Chief Jenks watched as Professor Gervais covered the ground that he and Charlie Ellenshaw had already covered without the Russian scientist’s knowledge. Jenks wanted to see how up front the good professor was in telling the Americans the truth of the science of phase shifting.
“As you see, gentlemen, the phase shift occurs when the correct frequencies are struck between the field generator on board Simbirsk and the surrounding air. For a reason no one’s science can explain adequately is why the vessel vanishes at all. The electrical field generated around the ship disperses and then takes the ship with it into an adjoining dimension that fits the electrical field frequency. This world just happens to be on the same frequency as the phase shift field. Eventually, by adjusting varying frequencies, we can discover new worlds, new peoples, new assets for our own.”
“Professor, trust me when I say we have had some experience in this area.” Jenks paced around the glass separating the field coils for the phase shift engine and placed a hand on one of the large lightbulb-like electromagnetic pulse projectors. He removed it quickly when he remembered Charlie’s hypothesis that it was these innocent things that burned sailors to death when their electrical field was released. “The Simbirsk cannot hit the same frequency twice, much less continuously send it to the same dimension. It would be random at best. So why does the Simbirsk travel to the same one every time?” Jenks turned and faced the small Russian, and Charlie saw that the man was apprehensive at best. “You would have to have a targeted transponder to guide the shift to that same location, thus here we are in Candyland with the purple sea. So, you see my concern here, Professor? The electromagnetic field and the frequency of this world cannot be random, as you suggest. You don’t know the frequency. You would need a transponder, a signal to lock on for that correct freq.”
“How do you know it would take a corresponding beacon or transponder? Maybe this is the only other dimension there is,” Gervais said, thinking his argument was sound enough for the Americans to become believers.
“I don’t want to get into the whole Einstein thing about there being a varied world of differing dimensions. That stuff gives me a massive headache. But rest assured, Professor, we know for a fact that dimensions are vast and varied. Time, space, all that E = MC2 crap, while not proven”—Charlie smiled as he glanced at Jenks—“is a fact of life.”
Jenks saw the worry on the face of Gervais. “Believe me, we’ve been down a lot of roads, and we suspect Mr. Alien Brain Einstein was pretty accurate.” Jenks moved back to the small worktable with the diagrams Professor Gervais didn’t know the Americans already had. “Now, why don’t you tell us what it is you people are really up to here?” Jenks lit a cigar, knowing that was forbidden to do inside the phase shift engine area.
“I don’t understand,” the Russian said as he glanced toward the main hatch, where a Russian commando watched them.
Jenks reached into his pocket and produced a second blue diamond that Jack had given him for this little confrontation. “You have a field element here already, don’t you, Doc?”
Gervais looked from the filthy diamond to Jenks and Charlie. Ellenshaw was smiling, as he loved confronting people about the truth or lie of their predicament.
“Field element?” he asked, looking again at the Russian watching them. He seemed more attentive than he had been just a moment before.
“What ship is out there, Professor?” Jenks persisted.
“I don’t know what it is you mean.”
Charlie stood and did his best prosecutor pose as he faced Gervais. Jenks allowed the cryptozoologist to have his moment.
“I think it’s time you come to the side of the Lord, Professor. That man you have calling the shots is a maniac sent to cover up the fact that your government, or whoever he works for, has known about this place for a very long time and has sent people here to gather up industrial blue diamonds. For what purpose?”
Gervais clammed up.
Charlie leaned on the table, his hands only inches from the Russian scientist. “You know, I have learned a lot about people by accompanying the very best while they were doing what they do best, discovering who the real bad guys are.” He looked at Jenks, who nodded. “You, my good man, are in the company of very bad people, who in turn are being ordered around by more, even worse people. Why are you here?”
“You know that Salkukoff is here for one reason. He cannot allow anyone to learn the real truth of what’s happening here. He is going to try to kill us all,” Jenks added.
“He will succeed. He always does.”
“Now, was that so hard? Being human is hard sometimes, and I know that for a fact,” Jenks said.
“So, you have been in this dimension before?” Charlie asked, surprised Gervais had given up so readily.
“Yes, twice.” Again, they saw him look at the Russian commando, who was overtly watching them. “Certain elements inside Russia have discovered a new and improved way to destroy mankind. During the rush to find new weaponry for the common good during this outer space incursion, we discovered a way to destroy organic material and leave the surrounding area — buildings, cities, and geological formations — untouched.”
“Neutron physics?” Jenks asked.
“That’s been outlawed by international agreement,” Charlie said, and for some strange reason, that elicited a small laugh from Gervais.
“With industrial diamonds, we can now generate power from a laser platform in space. We can target entire cities or countries. But the power it takes will require abundant industrial blue diamonds to operate. Salkukoff has information on your strange group under the desert and knew that you had recovered every available blue diamond on the planet for Operation Overlord and some other mysterious project in Brooklyn conducted a few weeks back.”
A knowing look between Charlie and Jenks belied the fact that the Russians had an inkling of the Wellsian Doorway. How much they knew, that would be for Colonel Collins and Niles to figure out later.