David Golemon - Legacy

Jack placed his napkin on his empty plate and watched the senator, who was growing visibly weaker.

“In 1945.” His one eye good wandered over to Alice as she entered the living room with a small black bag. She did not look at the others as she pulled out a chair and sat next to the senator. “I saw this symbol on several crates we intercepted in Ecuador. They were in the hands of the Nazis and they were going to attempt to use their contents as a bargaining chip for leniency from the Allies after the war. They were excavated from a mining operation right under the noses of the Allies in Ecuador.”

“What were the contents?” Niles asked, watching Alice fill a syringe with an amber liquid. As she did, Compton lowered his eyes when she pulled the senator’s robe and pajama sleeve up, and then dabbed an alcohol swab on Lee’s arm. Then she expertly jammed the needle home. They all watched as the old man’s face cleared up. The pain eased almost instantly.

Alice sadly tossed the needle into the black bag and then stood, ignoring the senator’s bravery. Lee watched Alice leave the room and then he became serious as he finally reached for a sandwich from the platter. “Everyone saw the extraordinary video from the Moon this morning,” he said, taking a bite of the sandwich. He looked from one face to the other. Everyone nodded their head.

Alice returned and sat, replacing her napkin and stoically eating her salad.

“Now,” said Lee, “you mentioned that the president has called his best friend for help.” He looked at Niles, who in turn acted as though his friendship with the president was a bad thing. Lee nodded his head. “It’s not a bad thing to be friends with the most powerful man in the world, Niles. I must say, I never achieved such lofty acquaintances in my tenure at the Event Group.”

Everyone around the table knew that the senator was fudging on his own history, as every president since Harry Truman knew and respected Lee more than anyone in government service.

“Cruella, can you bring me the map please. It’s on my desk.”

Alice stood and made her way into the senator’s study, again ignoring his jibe.

“She thinks I could have handled this on the phone. But what she doesn’t realize is that I know this is my last, grand adventure, and I’m damn well going to see it through.”

Jack, Sarah, and Niles all felt uncomfortable because they knew anything that Alice thought was bad for the senator, you could take as gospel. None of them looked at Alice when she returned with the map. Sarah finally smiled as Alice sat and lowered her head. Sarah placed her small hand over Alice’s more elegant one and squeezed.

“Now,” Lee said as he folded the map and pushed it toward Jack and Niles. “The Nazis dug up what was in the crates here.” He tapped the map.

“Quito, Ecuador,” Jack said aloud.

“Yes, there was an excavation just at the base of the Andes that the Germans carried out for years, at least since the spring of ’38. We discovered, or I should say Cruella’s late husband, Ben, discovered, the shipment and stopped it, for a while anyway. That mission cost that boy his life, or I should say my slow reactions did.”

Alice looked up and gave Lee a dirty look.

“Slowed reactions because you were half dead at the time,” she countered while holding Lee’s singular gaze. “If you’re going to tell it, tell it right, or what’s the damn point?”

“I defer to one that’s not tripping the light fantastic,” Lee joked as he bowed his head in Alice’s direction.

“As he said, he and Ben, my late husband, stopped the Nazis from removing the shipment from South America.” Alice pushed her salad plate away. “The old man received his beauty mark there, and Ben lost his life. When the senator recovered enough to tell his story to his superiors, he was informed that the crates were gone, and no trace of them was ever found. It was as if Ben had died for nothing and Garrison was half butchered for the same result. Someone in either our government or the German high command had taken the crates from the train before an unconscious Garrison was found by members of the FBI.”

“Do you know what was in the crates?” Sarah asked.

“Of course I do. As I said, each crate, about fifteen of them, were marked with that circular symbol, and during some unpleasantness at the time, one of the crates had broken open. Guess what was inside? None other than a skeletal corpse,” Lee said, enjoying the moment as he watched his lunch guests closely, and then he finished when he saw that his statement had the right effect. “Inside were items coded by the Germans as Operation Columbus, and that quote came directly from a Nazi general named Goetz.

“Tell them, Garrison,” Alice said, trying to hurry him on as she watched his good eye start to droop.

“As I said, inside the crate was a skeleton. The petrified remains I saw in 1945 wore the same kind of blue and red space suits as the one discovered on the surface of the Moon just this morning. And here’s another tidbit: on the shoulder of this ancient bit of clothing worn by our visitor was that symbol right there,” Lee said, tapping the drawing of the circles on the napkin.

The room was silent. Alice stood and walked over to Lee and stood behind him. She placed her hands on his shoulders and pressed.

The three guests sitting around the table were flabbergasted. Niles opened his mouth, wanting to ask something, but his voice failed him. It was left up to Jack to ask the obvious question.

“Columbus? Why that code name?”

Lee reached up and patted Alice’s hand as she rubbed his shoulders. “I assume it’s because the Germans believed, and I think rightly so, that the remains of the spaceman they found was a visitor, an explorer if you will, to this planet.”

“How long ago?” Niles asked, finally finding his voice.

“I don’t know,” Lee said, lowering his head. “If only the OSS had had a chance to examine the crates more closely.”

“And we don’t know where the crates are now?” Sarah asked as she stood and started pacing.

“No. No trace of them has ever been found,” Alice said with resignation. “The last known sighting was Ecuador. So, either Germany or Washington is where you should look.” Alice removed her hands and then sat in the empty chair next to Lee’s. “I think you need to start there.”

“Start what?” Niles asked.

“Your investigation, of course. I assume it would be within the parameters of what the president has given you authorization to do,” Lee said, smiling at Niles.

“Why not start at the excavation you spoke of?” Jack asked.

“Because it has been buried and the ground salted. The Ecuadorians allow no one near the site. I know. I was shot at years later trying to get in,” Lee said.

“May I suggest, since we have a geologist on hand, that we use her to find out what she can about the excavation? And while Sarah is doing that, Niles and Jack can start the search for the crates. Because whatever is in those wooden boxes holds the answer to what they just found on the Moon.”

As they watched Alice answer for a very tired-looking Lee, she stood and helped the senator to his feet. She placed her arm around him and started walking toward the hallway.

“That’s enough for you for one day,” she said. “Say good-bye and good night.”

“Damn woman won’t let me play no more.”

“Get some rest,” Niles said as Sarah walked over and kissed Lee on the cheek once more. Then she regretted the gesture; the senator had to bend low to accept it.

Jack turned toward Niles and shook his head. “I don’t see the point of this. NASA will soon have the answers we need, and if the skeletons are indeed from one and the same civilization, why bother to find the crates? And we have to consider the big question here.”