Debut
Nix sprawls in the passenger seat, carelessly elegant, as I drive us to our intended destination, the jeep zipping smartly along. "What is this place?" Nix asks as we get out and head over to the door of the partially demolished home.
"Hermann Goering's house," I reply. "We discovered it yesterday. Had it on double guard ever since."
"I can vouch for that, sir," the guard at the door pipes up to say, and I raise my eyebrows at him in light-hearted incredulity.
"Oh, anxious to get off duty, O'Keefe?" I reply, and he shakes his head, young and eager and still fresh-faced.
"No, there's just so much to see and do, sir," he asserts. I hold out my hand, and he places the key into it.
I unlock the door onto a dark hallway, snapping on the light once we're inside. Nix follows me through another door and down the stairs to a double gate, which I swing wide open, then step aside as I walk through, turning immediately to see my best friend's reaction. It is just as I expect it to be; his relaxed expression is erased and replaced by complete dumbfounded shock as he slides off his sunglasses and sees the room he's just walked into. I don't drink, never have, and this room therefore holds no importance to me beyond what it will mean to him, and this moment, his reaction, makes it all worthwhile.
"It's all yours," I say, and Nix turns around to face me at that, looking just about like he's died and gone to Heaven. "Take what you want and have each company take a truckload. We're heading for Austria in the morning, but don't feel you have to leave anything here for whoever comes next."
"Austria, sir?" O'Keefe says questioningly as Nix goes back to surveying his newfound treasure, and I turn to look at him.
"Happy V-E Day," I say, and Nix looks back at me again.
"Yeah," he says, with something like awe in his voice, and I smile before turning to head back upstairs, hearing Nix explain to O'Keefe what V-E Day means as I leave the room.
As I ascend the stairs, I guess I must have been caught up in my thoughts too much, because when I reach the top things look very different from the way they did when I was just up here a minute ago. Goering's house is gone, replaced by a structure that is little more than a foundation and the beginnings of walls. And furthermore, I am standing in the middle of a jungle. Either that, or I have finally snapped and am hallucinating a jungle where Berchtesgaden is supposed to be. Has the strain of the war finally gotten to me? It doesn't seem possible.
There's one way to clear things up, and I turn and holler down the stairs. "Hey, Nix, I think you'd better get up here and take a look at this," I call, my voice steady and calm as always, though inwardly I am growing more uncertain. There is no answer, not then, and not after a second time, and so I jog back down the stairs, thinking maybe he is too far back one of the corridors and isn't able to hear me.
Things only become stranger, though, when I reach the bottom of the stairs and find the gate closed and locked. It hadn't been locked before, and furthermore, when I try my key it doesn't work. "Nix?" I call into the room, and as soon as I do I notice that it, too, is different. The corridors leading off the main circular room have disappeared. And the main room is suddenly much cleaner than I had remembered. I can easily see that there is no one in the room.
There's nothing for it but for me to try and figure out what's happened, so I pocket the key and climb the stairs again. I look around for a few moments, trying to get my bearings. My mind immediately tells me to keep alert, stay sharp, though imminent attack seems strange given we're no longer at war with Europe. But I've been in battle for a long time, and considering my situation it seems the wise thing to do. Now I only have to decide which direction to go.
"Hermann Goering's house," I reply. "We discovered it yesterday. Had it on double guard ever since."
"I can vouch for that, sir," the guard at the door pipes up to say, and I raise my eyebrows at him in light-hearted incredulity.
"Oh, anxious to get off duty, O'Keefe?" I reply, and he shakes his head, young and eager and still fresh-faced.
"No, there's just so much to see and do, sir," he asserts. I hold out my hand, and he places the key into it.
I unlock the door onto a dark hallway, snapping on the light once we're inside. Nix follows me through another door and down the stairs to a double gate, which I swing wide open, then step aside as I walk through, turning immediately to see my best friend's reaction. It is just as I expect it to be; his relaxed expression is erased and replaced by complete dumbfounded shock as he slides off his sunglasses and sees the room he's just walked into. I don't drink, never have, and this room therefore holds no importance to me beyond what it will mean to him, and this moment, his reaction, makes it all worthwhile.
"It's all yours," I say, and Nix turns around to face me at that, looking just about like he's died and gone to Heaven. "Take what you want and have each company take a truckload. We're heading for Austria in the morning, but don't feel you have to leave anything here for whoever comes next."
"Austria, sir?" O'Keefe says questioningly as Nix goes back to surveying his newfound treasure, and I turn to look at him.
"Happy V-E Day," I say, and Nix looks back at me again.
"Yeah," he says, with something like awe in his voice, and I smile before turning to head back upstairs, hearing Nix explain to O'Keefe what V-E Day means as I leave the room.
As I ascend the stairs, I guess I must have been caught up in my thoughts too much, because when I reach the top things look very different from the way they did when I was just up here a minute ago. Goering's house is gone, replaced by a structure that is little more than a foundation and the beginnings of walls. And furthermore, I am standing in the middle of a jungle. Either that, or I have finally snapped and am hallucinating a jungle where Berchtesgaden is supposed to be. Has the strain of the war finally gotten to me? It doesn't seem possible.
There's one way to clear things up, and I turn and holler down the stairs. "Hey, Nix, I think you'd better get up here and take a look at this," I call, my voice steady and calm as always, though inwardly I am growing more uncertain. There is no answer, not then, and not after a second time, and so I jog back down the stairs, thinking maybe he is too far back one of the corridors and isn't able to hear me.
Things only become stranger, though, when I reach the bottom of the stairs and find the gate closed and locked. It hadn't been locked before, and furthermore, when I try my key it doesn't work. "Nix?" I call into the room, and as soon as I do I notice that it, too, is different. The corridors leading off the main circular room have disappeared. And the main room is suddenly much cleaner than I had remembered. I can easily see that there is no one in the room.
There's nothing for it but for me to try and figure out what's happened, so I pocket the key and climb the stairs again. I look around for a few moments, trying to get my bearings. My mind immediately tells me to keep alert, stay sharp, though imminent attack seems strange given we're no longer at war with Europe. But I've been in battle for a long time, and considering my situation it seems the wise thing to do. Now I only have to decide which direction to go.