The events of the last several hours had affected Erich in ways he would not have expected. The secrets of this base were clearly more profound than any other Nazi scientific projects, and he was not sure he felt comfortable with the likes of Jaeger and party zealots dubbed as its caretakers. Erich realized he would need more answers, but first he would remove the survivors from any further danger.
Several things happened in the next few hours: Kress and his men were able to repair the hydroplane, although he could not swear to how long the fix might last. Metal fatigue was one of those things that could not be assessed until an actual failure occurred. In addition, Dr. Jaeger and his four associates were pulled from the wreckage and returned to the boat for medical attention and food from Hauser’s kitchen. The U-5001 still floated on the serene inner sea of the cavern, but that would soon change.
Erich spent the time trying to make sense of what he’d seen at Station One Eleven. Too much of what he had seen did not “add up,” and he knew he would be demanding more answers from Jaeger, and perhaps eventually, even Admiral Doenitz himself. But for the moment, he had ordered a briefing with Dr. Jaeger and had invited Manny to sit in.
A tap at his quarters’ door announced their arrival.
“Come in.”
Manny opened the door, ushered in Jaeger, who looked better after cleaning up and a good meal. As they took seats on the bunk, Erich leaned back in his desk chair, regarded the scientist, who appeared to be in his mid-forties.
“I trust we have treated you well, Doctor?” he said.
“Wonderful. This is a magnificent boat, Captain. An impressive crew.”
“Good, good.” Erich paused, sat up, and assumed a serious expression. “Now, I will get right to the point. We are in the middle of a very important mission, but that does not preclude my asking you for some additional information.”
Jaeger grinned sheepishly. “To be blunt, Captain, I would be more surprised if you had no questions.”
Manny looked on, but said nothing.
“To begin,” said Erich. “What is the nature of the work being done there?”
Jaeger paused. “I am sorry, but the exact nature of Station One Eleven is so classified that—”
Holding up his hand, Erich spoke softly. “No, Doctor. Do not bother with the official party line. I have been inside the Station. It is no longer classified to me or my crew. Now, either you tell me what I need to know, or I will leave you here. This is my boat, and as long as you remain onboard her, I am the supreme authority.”
Manny grinned as a pall settled over the cabin. Jaeger’s silence indicated he was taking Erich’s words to heart. Finally: “You make a fine, logical point. I suppose there is no need to pretend the base has not been compromised.”
“Being here to effect a rescue, I would not use that particular word,” said Erich. “But I have no interest in semantics, only facts. Now tell me, what kind of work has been going on here?”
Jaeger drew in a breath, exhaled slowly. “Two basic lines of research, actually. One group has been exploring the ruins and the… artifacts of the cavern. The other group has been working to apply what we learn to our own new energy and weapons technology.”
“Ruins? Elaborate please. How long have our people been here? How old is it? Who built it?”
“The site that eventually became Station One Eleven was actually discovered in 1931 by Frederick Millhausen, a geologist from the University of Leipzig. His specialty was vulcanism, and he had been searching for evidence of volcanic activity. His team discovered a strange fault in the surface ice, and after some test bores, he uncovered unexplainable heat signatures and evidence of great geologic anomalies.”
“And that’s how Millhausen found this cavern?”
“No, not exactly. Several years later, after the Fuhrer had been sworn in as Chancellor, he heard about Millhausen’s work.”
“How and why would that happen?” said Manny.
Jaeger looked at him with a patronizing expression. “Hitler has always been driven by the idea of secret bases at both poles. He believes the antipodal positions mark the widest possible boundaries for the reach and control of the Third Reich.”
“Go on,” said Erich.
“Later that year, the new Chancellor financed new expeditions. One to Greenland and one to Antarctica. The northern expedition found an entrance cavern, and the ruins. Hitler was ecstatic. He believed he had been ‘fated’ to uncover this place.”
“Hmmm,” said Manny. “I have heard rumors that he and his cabinet are quite interested in things mystical.”
Jaeger smiled sadly. “Yes, that has been said.”
“What do you know about the ruins?” said Erich.
“Not as much as we would like. The best estimate is that they are at least fifty thousand years old, but that figure could just as easily be one hundred thousand or one million. There is no way to be certain.”
“Fifty thousand? That in itself is incredible.” Erich felt a slight shudder pass through him. The idea unsettled him. A million years was simply incomprehensible.
“Where did they come from? Who built them?”
Jaeger shrugged. “We do not know yet. There are theories, of course.”
“Such as?” Erich leaned closer across his desk.
“The earth is very old, perhaps billions of years. It is not difficult to imagine previous civilizations farther back in time than we ever realized. It is quite possible they were totally wiped out by some catastrophic events. All traces scrubbed clean from the surface of the earth. Perhaps more than once.”
“But not beneath the earth,” said Manny.
“Correct,” said Jaeger. “Or beneath the waves. Perhaps the legend of the sunken city of Atlantis is based in fact. Such as this place.”
“What about records? Language? Art? What is left?”
“We have found traces of all those things. But they remain mostly a mystery.” Jaeger shook his head. “Deciphering a language with no links to any known language in existence is daunting. We have had better results using mathematical cues.”
Erich nodded. What the scientist was saying did not sound unreasonable to a thinking person. “Tell me more about the station. Our people have been here more than eleven years?”
“Yes, but in small encampments… until a large-scale permanent base was established in 1939. It has been under the command of General Hans Kammler — although he does not spend all his time here.”
“What about that tower in the harbor?” Manny said.
Jaeger smiled. “One of our greatest achievements. The first teams in here found the ruins of something very much like it. We used rare earth phospho-vanadate phosphors — based upon what we found in the original artifact. They emit light under extreme heat. We built the tower and the geo-thermal energy system by back-engineering.”
“Geo-thermal?” said Erich.
“Heat from the molten layers of the earth’s mantle.”
“Impressive,” said Erich. “Did it require all six years? Is that what contributed to blowing yourselves up?”
Jaeger looked embarrassed as he smoothed down his thick blond hair. “No, no. We have uncovered many remnants and artifacts of a very advanced technology, but we will need many years to understand even a small fraction of it.”
“What caused the explosion?” said Manny.
Jaeger shrugged. “Until we can get more people in here to investigate, I have no way to know for sure. Most of what we do here is trial and error.”
“Tell me more about the Tau radiation. You said it did more than you realized.”