Complete Short Fiction, page 68
It would have made no difference if the airplane that was caught in the beam of blue light had been farther away from Dresden than seventy-five miles—that measureless force would have reached seven thousand five hundred miles just as easily, or seventy-five thousand.
The complete absence of visible heat is no evidence that it was not a sun. At forty million degrees Fahrenheit, heat, as we know it, does not exist.
The great man went on to say that he had previously given some thought to the danger from suns, and that in fact he was in the late mathematical stage of developing an attachment that would automatically reject bodies larger than ten thousand miles in diameter.
In his opinion, efforts to control the titanic energies of suns should be left to a later period, and should be carried out on uninhabited planets by scientists who have gone through the orifice, and who have been then cut off from contact with Earth.
August Buehnen
COMMENT ATTACHED
Kenrube’s explanation sounds logical, and it does seem incredible that he would meddle with such forces, though it is significant that the orifice was tilted “slightly upward.” We can dispense with his advice as to when and how we should experiment with sun energies. The extent of the danger seems to be a momentary discharge of inconceivable forces, and then destruction of the machine. If at the moment of discharge, the orifice was slightly tilted toward London or New York, and if a sufficient crisis existed, the loss of one more machine would be an infinitesimal cost.
As for Kenrube’s fine, scholarly appearance, I think Buehnen has allowed himself to be carried away by the greatness of the invention. The democrats of Germany are not necessarily madmen, but here as abroad they are our remorseless enemies.
We must endeavor to soften Kenrube by psychological means.
I cannot forget that there is not now a working model of the Kenrube machine in existence. Until there is, all the fine, scholarly-looking men in the world will not convince me that what happened was entirely an accident.
The deadly thing about all this is that we have taken an irrevocable step with respect to the Czechs; and war in the west is now inevitable.
Himmler
May 1, 1939
From Chief, Science Branch, Gestapo
To Reich and Prussian Minister of Science
Subject Secret Six
The Fuehrer has agreed to exonerate completely August Kenrube, the brother of Herr Professor Kenrube. As you will recall, August Kenrube was killed in the sacred purge of June, 1934. It will now be made clear that his death was an untimely accident, and that he was a true German patriot.
This is in line with our psychological attack on Professor Kenrube’s suspected anti-Nazism.
K. Reissel
June 17, 1939
From Secretary, Bureau of Physics
To Chief, Science Branch, Gestapo
Subject Professor Johann Kenrube
In line with our policy to make Kenrube realize his oneness with the community of German peoples, I had him address the convention of mathematicians. The speech, of which I inclose a copy, was a model one; three thousand words of glowing generalities, giving not a hint as to his true opinions on anything. However, he received the ovation of his life; and I think he was pleased in spite of himself.
Afterward, I saw to it—without, of course, appearing directly—that he was introduced to Fraulein Ilse Weber.
As you know, the Fraulein is university educated, a thoroughly mature, modern young woman; and I am sure that she is merely taking on one of the many facets of her character in posing to Kenrube as a young woman who has decided quite calmly to have a child, and desires the father to be biologically of the highest type.
I cannot see how any human male, normal or abnormal, could resist the appeal of Fraulein Weber.
August Buehnen
July 11, 1939
From Chief, Science Branch, Gestapo
To Secretary, Bureau of Physics
Subject Secret Six
Can you give me some idea when the Kenrube machine will be ready to operate? What about the duplicate machines which we agreed verbally would be built without Kenrube’s knowledge? Great decisions are being taken; conversations are being conducted that will shock the world, and, in a general way, the leaders are relying on the Kenrube machine.
In this connection please submit as your own some variations of the following memorandum. It is from the Fuehrer himself, and therefore I need not stress its urgency.
K. Reissel
MEMORANDUM OF ADOLF HITLER
Is it possible to tune the Kenrube machine to our own earth?
July 28, 1939
From Secretary, Bureau of Physics
To Chief, Science Branch, Gestapo
Subject Secret Six
I inclose the following note from Kenrube, which is self-explanatory. We have retained a copy.
August Buehnen
NOTE FROM KENRUBE
Dear Herr Buehnen:
The answer to your memorandum is yes.
In view of the international anxieties of the times, I offer the following suggestions as to weapons that can be devised from the hyper-space machine:
1. Any warship can be rendered noncombatant at critical moments by draining of its oil tanks.
2. Similarly, enemy oil storage supplies can be drained at vital points. Other supplies can be blown up or, if combustible, set afire.
3. Troops, tanks, trucks and all movable war materials can be transported to any point on the globe, behind enemy lines, into cities, by the simple act of focusing the orifice at the desired destination—and driving it and them through. I need scarcely point out that my machine renders railway and steamship transport obsolete. The world shall be transformed.
4. It might even be possible to develop a highly malleable, delicately adjusted machine, which can drain the tanks of airplanes in full flight.
5. Other possibilities, too numerous to mention, suggest themselves with the foregoing as a basis.
Kenrube
COMMENT ATTACHED
This machine is like a dream. With it, the world is ours, for what conceivable combination of enemies could fight an army that appeared from nowhere on their flank, in the centers of their cities, in London, New York, in the Middlewest plains of America, in the Ural Mountains, in the Caucasus? Who can resist us?
K. Reissel
ADDITIONAL COMMENT
My dear Reissel:
Your enthusiasm overlooks the fact that the machine is still only in the building stage. What worries me is that our hopes are being raised to a feverish height—what greater revenge could there be than to lift us to the ultimate peak of confidence, and then smash it in a single blow.
Every day that passes we are involving ourselves more deeply, decisions are being taken from which there is already no turning back. When, oh, when will this machine be finished?
H.
July 29, 1939
From Secretary, Bureau of Physics
To Chief, Science Branch, Gestapo
Subject Secret Six
The hyper-space machine at Gribe Schloss will be completed in February, 1941. No less than five duplicate machines are under construction, unknown to Kenrube. What is done is that, when he orders an installation for the Gribe Schloss machine, the factory turns out five additional units from the same plans.
In addition, a dozen model machines are being secretly constructed from the old plans, but, as they must be built entirely from drawings and photographs, they will take, not less, but more time to build than the larger machines.
August Buehnen
August 2, 1939
From Secretary, Bureau of Physics
To Herr Heinrich Himmler
Subject Professor Johann Kenrube
I have just now received a telegram from Fraulein Ilse Weber that she and the Herr Professor were married this morning, and that Kenrube will be a family man by the middle of next summer.
August Buehnen
COMMENT WRITTEN BELOW
This is great news indeed. One of the most dangerous aspects of the Kenrube affair was that he was a bachelor without ties. Now, we have him. He has committed himself to the future.
Himmler
FURTHER COMMENT
I have advised the Fuehrer, and our great armies will move into Poland at the end of this month.
H.
August 8, 1939
From Gestapo
To Reich and Prussian Minister of Science
Subject Secret Six
I have had second thought on the matter of Fraulein Ilse Weber, now Frau Kenrube. In view of the fact that a woman, no matter how intelligent or objective, becomes emotionally involved with the man who is the father of her children, I would advise that Frau Kenrube be appointed to some great executive post in a war industry. This will keep her own patriotism at a high level, and thus she will continue to be an exemplary influence on her husband. Such influence cannot be overestimated.
Himmler
January 3, 1940
From Secretary, Bureau of Physics
To Chief, Science Branch, Gestapo
Subject Secret Six
In glancing through the correspondence, I notice that I have neglected to inform you that our Agent Twelve had replaced Seventeen as Kenrube’s chief assistant.
Twelve is a graduate of Munich, and was for a time attached to the General Staff in Berlin as a technical expert.
In my opinion, he is a better man for our purpose than was Seventeen, in that Seventeen, it seemed to me, had toward the end a tendency to associate himself with Kenrube in what might be called a scientific comradeship, an intellectual fellowship. He was in a mental condition where he quite unconsciously defended Kenrube against our suspicion.
Such a situation will not arise with Twelve. He is a practical man to the marrow. He and Kenrube have utterly nothing in common.
Kenrube accepted Twelve with an attitude of what-does-it-matter-who-they-send. It was so noticeable that it is now clear that he is aware that these men are agents of ours.
Unless Kenrube has some plan of revenge which is beyond all precautions, the knowledge that he is being watched should exercise a restraint on any impulses to evil that he may have.
August Buehnen
Author’s Note: Most of the letters written in the year, 1940, were of a routine nature, consisting largely of detailed reports as to the progress of the machine. The following document, however, was an exception:
December 17, 1940
From Reich and Prussian Minister of Science
To Herr Heinrich Himmler
Subject Secret Six
The following work has now been completed on the fortress Gribe Schloss, where the Kenrube machine is nearing completion:
1. Steel doors have been fitted throughout.
2. A special, all-steel chamber has been constructed, from which, by an arrangement of mirrors, the orifice of the machine can be watched without danger to the watchers.
3. This watching post is only twenty steps from a paved road which runs straight up out of the valley.
4. A cement pipe line for the transportation of oil is nearing completion.
August Buehnen
MEMO AT BOTTOM OF LETTER
To Reinhart Heydrich:
Please make arrangements for me to inspect personally the reconstructed Gribe Schloss. It is Hitler’s intention to attend the official opening.
The plan now is to invade England via the Kenrube machine possibly in March, not later than April. In view of the utter confusion that will follow the appearance of vast armies in every part of the country, this phase of the battle of Europe should be completed by the end of April.
In May Russia will be invaded. This should not require more than two months. The invasion of the United States is set for July or August.
Himmler
January 31, 1941
From Secretary, Bureau of Physics
To Chief, Science Branch, Gestapo
Subject Secret Six
It will be impossible to complete the five extra Kenrube machines at the same time as the machine at Gribe Schloss. Kenrube has changed some of the designs, and our engineers do not know how to fit the sections together until they have studied Kenrube’s method of connection.
I have personally asked Kenrube the reason for the changes. His answer was that he was remedying weaknesses that he had noticed in the model. I am afraid that we shall have to be satisfied with this explanation, and complete the duplicate machines after the official opening, which is not now scheduled until March 20th. The delay is due to Kenrube’s experimentation with design.
If you have any suggestions, please let me hear them. I frankly do not like this delay, but what to do about it is another matter.
August Buehnen
February 3, 1941
From Chief, Science Branch, Gestapo
To Secretary, Bureau of Physics
Subject Secret Six
H. says to do nothing. He notes that you are still taking the precaution of daily photographs, and that your agent, Twelve, who replaced Seventeen, is keeping a diary in triplicate.
There has been a meeting of leaders, and this whole matter discussed very thoroughly, with special emphasis of critical analysis of the precautions taken, and of the situation that would exist if Kenrube should prove to be planning some queer revenge.
You will be happy to know that not a single additional precaution was thought of, and that our handling of the affair was commended.
K. Reissel
February 18, 1941
From Gestapo
To Reich and Prussian Minister of Science
Subject Secret Six
In view of our anxieties, the following information, which I have just received, will be welcome:
Frau Kenrube, formerly our Ilse Weber, has reserved a private room in the maternity ward of the Prussian State Hospital for May 7th. This will be her second child, another hostage to fortune by Kenrube. K. Reissel
COPY ONLY MEMO
March 11, 1941
I have today examined Gribe Schloss and environs, and found everything according to plan.
Himmler
March 14, 1941
From Secretary, Bureau of Physics
To Herr Himmler, Gestapo
Subject Secret Six
You will be relieved to know the reason for the changes in design made by Kenrube.
The first reason is rather unimportant; Kenrube refers to the mathematical structure involved, and states that, for his own elucidation, he designed a functional instrument whose sole purpose was to defeat the mathematical reality of the machine. This is very obscure, but he has referred to it before; so I call it to your attention.
The second reason is that there are now two orifices, not one. The additional orifice is for focusing. The following illustration will clarify what I mean:
Suppose we had a hundred thousand trucks in Berlin, which we wished to transfer to London. Under the old method, these trucks would have to be driven all the way to the Giibe Schloss before they could be transmitted.
With the new two-orifice machine, one orifice would be focused in Berlin, the other in London. The trucks would drive through from Berlin to London.
Herr Professor Kenrube seems to anticipate our needs before we realize them ourselves.
August Buehnen
March 16, 1941
From Gestapo
To Secretary, Bureau of Physics
Subject Secret Six
The last sentence of your letter of March 14th to the effect that Kenrube seems to anticipate our needs made me very uncomfortable, because the thought that follows naturally is: Is he also anticipating our plans?
I have accordingly decided at this eleventh hour that we are dealing with a man who may be our intellectual superior in every way. Have your agent advise us the moment the machine has undergone its initial tests. Decisive steps will be taken immediately.
Himmler
March 19, 1941
DECODED TELEGRAM KENRUBE MACHINE WAS TESTED TODAY AND WORKED PERFECTLY.
AGENT TWELVE
COPY ONLY MEMO
March 19, 1941
To Herr Himmler:
This is to advise that Professor Johann Kenrube was placed under close arrest, and has been removed to Gestapo Headquarters, Berlin.
R. Heydrich
March 19, 1941
DECODED TELEGRAM REPLYING TO YOUR TELEPHONE INSTRUCTIONS, WISH TO STATE ALL AUTOMATIC DEVICES HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM KENRUBE MACHINE. NONE SEEMED TO HAVE BEEN INTERFERED WITH. MADE PERSONAL TEST OF MACHINE. IT WORKED PERFECTLY.
TWELVE
COMMENT WRITTEN BELOW
I shall recommend that Kenrube be retired under guard to his private laboratories, and not allowed near a hyper-space machine until after the conquest of the United States.
And with this, I find myself at a loss for further precautions. In my opinion, all thinkable possibilities have been covered. The only dangerous man has been removed from the zone where he can be actively dangerous; a careful examination has been made to ascertain that he has left no automatic devices that will cause havoc. And, even if he has, five other large machines and a dozen small ones are nearing completion, and it is impossible that he can have interfered with them.
If anything goes wrong now, thoroughness is a meaningless word.
Himmler
March 21, 1941
From Gestapo
To Secretary, Bureau of Physics
Subject Secret Six
Recriminations are useless. What I would like to know is: What in God’s name happened?
Himmler
March 22, 1941
From Secretary, Bureau of Physics
To Herr Heinrich Himmler
Subject Secret Six
The reply to your question is being prepared. The great trouble is the confusion among the witnesses, but it should not be long before some kind of coherent answer is ready.
Work is being rushed to complete the duplicate machines on the basis of photographs and plans that were made from day to day. I cannot see how anything can be wrong in the long run.
As for Number One, shall we send planes over with bombs?
