Jack Aimes and the Serpent's Kiss

Interlude (part 1)

WHAT LIES BENEATH THE ICE

And the closer the army came, the greater it grew, and their weapons sparkled like a field of broken ice.

-King Harald's Saga

Antarctica, 1937

On its third attempt, the Type IX-A submarine cracked the sea's arctic ceiling to surface above the ice. Kapitänleutnant Adalwulf Fischer was relieved that blasting hadn't been required--explosive charges may have been detectable to any foreign research parties nearby. Even here in the most desolate location in the world, it was of utmost importance that his vessel and mission go unnoticed.

Clad in multiple layers of cold weather gear, a contingent of his crew waited impatiently in the Command Room. These men would make up the expeditionary team along with a group of... Fischer hesitated, trying to think of the best word to describe his bizarre passengers. "Archaeologists" seemed too dignified a word for this lot, so he settled with cultists.

Their specific task had not been provided to the U-boat commander. He had been given only the barest of information, but one thing had been made very clear by his superiors: he and his crew were to give the team, made up of two men and one woman, his complete obedience.

For three weeks, Fischer had done precisely that, but he was far from happy about it. Standing before the trio, he decided the time for answers had come. He addressed the eldest of the group, Dr. Jehoiakim Weber, the man he thought of as their leader. "Herr Professor, let me speak plainly. I have brought you to this God forsaken land as ordered. Now I believe my crew deserves to know why."

Weber nodded his head almost imperceptibly under the thick hood of his parka. "The Fuhrer's mandate is to discover the origins of the master race. Both the Fuhrer's philosophical adviser, Alfred Rosenberg, and I believe that we will find evidence of the Aryans here," he explained.

Fischer was taken aback by this information. For weeks they had traveled, all the while he thought this expedition sought a relic or some ancient weapon. Never could he have imagined that his boat and his men were sent to chase fairy-tales. He knew a little about the subject, so he probed for further details. "As I understand it, the master race came from the lost continent of Atlantis."

Weber nodded but added nothing more.

"But didn't Plato describe Atlantis as being past "the pillars of Heracles," or as we know it now, the Strait of Gibraltar. That would put it somewhere in the North Atlantic. We are as far from the North Atlantic as we can get."

Gisela Kruger, the youngest of the trio and the lone female, enthusiastically chimed in, "That may be true, but we believe the people of Atlantis visited this land, leaving part of its culture and science. For millennia, nearly all evidence of this was lost until our researchers in the Ahnenerbe uncovered the clues that led us here."

The U-boat commander glanced at her with a bit of annoyance for the interruption. "Fraulein, Atlantis was nothing more than the concoction of a drunkard who wove elegant stories for the masses."

"The Fuhrer thinks otherwise," snapped Benedikt Fuch, the third member of the expeditionary team. "I suggest you keep your opinions to yourself if you know what's good for you!"

The Kapitänleutnant jabbed a finger at him. "No one threatens me aboard my--,"

"He meant no offense," Weber interjected. "Fuch sometimes speaks out of turn. "I hope you can make do with the little we have told you because I'm afraid that we can give you no more details."

"Atlantis," Fischer muttered under hisbreath, lowering his raised arm. "Yes, perhaps it is wise that I know nomore of this "mission." I will have my crew set up camp on the ice.The sooner this expedition is over, the sooner we all can return home."