Nexus - 1205 - New Times Magazine-pages

Page Content (OCR)

They followed the tunnel for miles, and eventually they came to On hearing that, the Major issued the battle cry, and guard duty a vast underground cavern that was abnormally warm; some of was set up whilst the Major and the scientist discussed, in private, the scientists believed that it was warmed geothermally. In the just what we were to do next, even though it was obvious to the huge cavern were underground lakes; however, the mystery deep- rest of us. ened, as the cavern was lit artificially. The cavern proved so The next morning we were ordered to "investigate the tunnel", extensive that they had to split up, and that was when the real dis- and for the next 48 hours we made our way steadily to the dry val- coveries were made. ley and the supposed "ancient tunnel". Upon arriving in the dry The Nazis had constructed a huge base into the caverns and had valley we were all amazed, for we had been told that Antarctica even built docks for U-boats, and one was identified supposedly. was completely ice-bound and yet here we were in a valley that Still, the deeper they travelled, the more strange visions they were reminded me of being back in the North African Sahara. We greeted with. The survivor reported that "hangars for strange were forbidden from even approaching the tunnel until the tempo- planes and excavations galore" had been documented. rary base camp had been erected; and whilst the men constructed However, their presence had not gone unnoticed: the two the base, the scientist and Major investigated the tunnel. survivors at the Maudheim base witnessed their comrades get After a few hours, they returned to the now complete camp to captured and executed one by one. After witnessing only six of chronicle what they had seen and what our next plan of action was the executions, they fled to the tunnel, lest to be. The tunnel was not an ancient pas- they be caught, with the aim to block up the sageway at all, claimed the scientist, tunnel—though "it was too late; the Polar although the Major added that the walls were Men were coming", claimed the survivor. made of smooth granite and looked infinite. With enemy forces hot on their tail, they We were informed that we would be able to had no choice but to try to get back to the make our own minds up after we had rested base so that they could inform and warn their "The cavern proved for the night. superiors about what they had uncovered. . Sleeping in Antarctica during the summer They managed to get back to the base, but, so extensive that they months was difficult with perpetual daylight with winter approaching and little chance of | had to split up, and that covering the continent; but that night, sleep rescue, they believed it was their duty to was even more difficult to come by with all make sure the secret Nazi base was reported; was when the real the thoughts running through each of our and so they split up, each taking a wireless discoveries were made. minds about what we would find and just and waiting in separate bunkers. One of the The Nazis had when, or where, we would encounter the survivors tempted one of the Polar Men into the bunker in the hope that they'd believe only one had survived. The plan worked, but to the detriment of his life and to the radio. Unfortunately, the brave soul in Bunker One had the only fully operational wireless radio, which was destroyed in the fracas. The other survivor had no option but to sit, wait and try to avoid going stir crazy. The mystery of who or what the Polar Men were was explained, not satisfactorily but explained Polar Man again. Just before we were assigned our times for guard duty, we were informed that we would be following the tunnel all the way—"...to the Fiihrer, if needs be". That night our fears were confirmed, as the Polar Man did indeed return. However, this time no more casualties occurred [on our side], but the Polar Man was slain as he was lured to the camp. The scientist decided that the Polar Man was "human" but, it seemed, nonetheless, as a product of Nazi had been able to produce more hair and science; and the enigma of how the withstand the cold far more effectively. Nazis were getting power was also explained, albeit not in The corpse, after a brief post-mortem, was stored in a body bag, scientific terms. The power that the Nazis were utilising was by and with the cold could be preserved until a more meticulous dis- volcanic activity, which gave them heat for steam and also helped section could occur. constructed a huge base into the caverns and had even built docks for U-boats..." produce electricity, but the Nazis had also mastered an unknown The next morning it was decided that two would remain at the energy source because the survivor claimed: "...after what I tunnel's entrance with the corpse, the tractors, the equipment but, witnessed, the amount of electricity needed is more than could be more fundamentally, the radio. The Major, leading the expedi- produced, in my opinion, by steam". tion, needed the Norwegian for his expertise and also the scientist; The scientist amongst the party dismissed most of what was the survivor, too, was critical for the mission's success. The rest divulged, and rebuked the survivor for his lack of scientific edu- of us wanted to join them. I was selected with the other jubilant cation and implied that his revelations "could not possibly be four who would be undertaking one of the most exciting and pos- true". Though the scientist dismissed the survivor's claims, the sibly one of the most important expeditions in human history. Major didn't. He wanted to know more about the enemy that we The two who were kept behind were disappointed, but their were facing, but, more fundamentally, just what the Polar Man roles were just as vital to the mission's success as the nine who was going to do next. The answer from the survivor did nothing would be traversing into the unknown. to comfort us and provoked the scientist to announce that the sur- As the nine of us prepared to enter the tunnel, we made sure vivor was "certifiable". Disconcerted is too weak a word to that we took enough ammunition and explosives to wage a small describe how we felt when the survivor replied to the Major's war and hopefully destroy the base in its entirety, for that was our questions about the escaped Polar Man's intentions: "He will mission: not to salvage, but to destroy. wait, watch and wonder just how different we taste." We walked into the darkness, and thankfully after four hours of 42 = NEXUS discoveries were made. The Nazis had constructed a huge base into the caverns and had even built docks for U-boats..." www.nexusmagazine.com AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 2005