Chapter 6

Time was moving at a great speed and it seemed that they were falling behind. The storage shelves were complete on the second level and a solid start on the third level. Malissa, Toni, Audry, Mac, and Daniel were discussing the time line against the progress being made. There was a difference that was visible when the data was put on paper. Mac said if they were to meet the projected date they needed a minimum of two more fifteen man crews besides adding electricians, plumbers, and finishing carpenters. Some of his people could hang drywall, but as far as he knew there were no finishers. Then there was requirements for painters. Mac said he knew where he could get three more framing crews, but wanted background checks on all of them. As for the other trades, again with the down turn in the economy there were plenty available, but again the background checks needed to be completed.

Malissa called Gayle asking her to join them. When she sat down, Mac explained the situation and the requirement for these men to start work soon if they were to meet the deadlines. Gayle asked when the list of names would be available. Mac slid the list to her and said that the names were in ascending order, with those that were married with children considered first, those that were married and no children second. Finally each couple's marriage should be looked at to insure there were no coming divorces in the works. Daniel handed her a list with the same instructions. Finally Mac said a list of electricians, plumbers, and other trades people would be ready tomorrow. Gayle said her people would be busy for a while. She would email a daily update as to hiring availability.

Robert said that he needed more money, as they had burned through almost 800 million dollars and needed at least another 1.5 to 2 billion dollars. Sarah and Roberto nodded, looking at the folder in front of them. There was about half a billion that could be changed into liquid funds. Roberto said that Robert needed to take a trip into the past and recover 160,000 pounds or 79 tons of gold. A book was written on Hitler's Mountain of Gold. Supposedly 3.3 billion dollars in gold and gems were never found or confirmed to even exist. Robert should return to the past to see if it existed and establish its whereabouts.

Robert had been working on his mind reading and invisibility skills. He was a little worried about his ability to understand German. Nancy told him not to worry, as he would be able to understand any language spoken on earth. Closing his eyes, Robert was in Walter Funk's bedroom in 1960. Funk was a very sick man, so Robert entered his mind. He found that Goering and Himmler had sent a message in February 1945 to have all the gold and jewels held by the bank to be made ready for shipment by February 28. On February 28 several trucks arrived at the loading docks at 9:00 PM. All the holdings that the bank had on deposit by Hitler were estimated by Funk at 3.5 billion US Dollars.

Robert then went to Goering's cell two days before his execution, entering his mind. He looked through his garbage to February 28, 1945. Goering and Himmler were watching the gold and jewels being loaded on to trucks. An SS Colonel was responsible for transporting the funds to its hiding place. Only Hitler, Himmler and the Colonel new the places that the gold and jewels were hidden.

Robert then went to Himmler's cell while he was waiting for the verdict of his trial. Robert found the man in a depressed mood and thinking about suicide. Robert did not care, as long as he got the information he needed. He found what he was looking for. All of the art and jewels were hidden in a mine near Deutschneudorf, Germany. There are hundreds of mines in the area, but one copper mine also had a large deposit of salt, and it was believed that the salt would absorb any moisture and protect the art. There was about a ton of gold there to provide funds to retrieve the remainder of the gold. The remainder of the gold was at the bottom of Lake Toplitz, Austria. Because there were so many trees in the bottom of the lake, unless you knew exactly where the gold was you would never find it.

Robert moved ahead to 1955 when Austria was in economic trouble and the lake seemed almost forgotten. Nancy was with Robert and took the information and pinpointed the area on the lake. Robert then put on 2010 scuba gear, rowed to the area, and dove to the bottom of the lake. Sure enough, there were hundreds of boxes with a swastika on them. Robert secured a rope to one of the boxes and swam back to his rowboat. Pulling the box into the boat he rowed to shore. After removing his scuba gear and stowing it, he then pried the box open and found five bars of gold. Robert asked Nancy if she were allowed to transport all the boxes to the cold room on Initium Novum. Nancy was quiet for a few minutes, and then said it would be done. Once again Robert moved to the recession of the 1980s when most of the mines around Deutschneudorf were shut down, and found the location by the coordinates supplied by Himmler. There appeared to be nothing but solid rock. Robert then remembered Himmler said when they left the mine a large bolder had been moved into place over the entrance of the mine. At 1 meter above ground in the area where the boulder was against the face of the cliff was a carved swastika. There were three boulders that were leaning against the face of a cliff. There was one that appeared to almost grow out of the cliff face, so Robert examined that one first. It took him about an hour before he found the swastika.

Nancy showed him an alternate entrance that only the Colonel knew about. As Robert entered the mine he noticed that it was very dry and arid. Robert's light passed over an area of the wall that appeared to have a light switch there. Laughing, Robert twisted the switch and was amazed that lights came on. Before him were many crates of paintings and a few hundred sculptures. He opened one case and found thousands of loose diamonds, another case had rubies, and yet another had emeralds. He told Nancy these things could not be put in the cold room, and asked for a suggestion. She told him to let her ship store them until after the ozone repaired itself, and then return them to him. Robert asked Nancy if she could fine 20 two carat diamonds, and forty each 1 carat rubies and emeralds. Nancy handed him a small cloth bag with the stones inside. Robert watched as all the art and jewels were removed. The gold there was taken to the cold room on the island.

Robert took Sarah and Roberto to the cold room and found hundreds of boxes of gold stored in the back corner, with the box that he had opened easily accessible. When Robert showed them the bars, Roberto said they had a problem as each bar had a swastika embedded in the bar. What need was stamped, and melt it down putting the emblem of Initium Novum on it. Robert thought that was a good idea but who would do it. Sarah smiled, saying she had an old client that had been charged with changing the emblems on US gold bars and had served two years for it. He owed Sarah a favor as he had been looking at twenty to life.

Maddy and Brad were talking when they saw Robert heading for his office. They followed him, asking to talk with him. As the three sat in his office, Brad said a colleague that was currently at John Hopkins Hospital had just had a terrible loss in her life. Her husband, twin boys, her mother and father had been hit by a drunk eighteen wheeler driver. The rig was a gasoline tanker and had exploded and burned, incinerating the car and the occupants within. The only reason they knew who was in the car was a Maryland State Trooper was patrolling the highway and had his camera on when the accident happened. The video showed the accident, and they were able to obtain the car's license plate number. Marion Evens was a basket case, and needed an extended period of rehabilitation. Maddy said she had completed her residency in orthopedics while Marion was doing her residency as an OB-GYN, and the island would need one for all the babies expected. Robert did not hesitate, as he told them to take his new plane and go get her.

It was decided that Maddy would go to Baltimore and bring her back. Robert told Injerd and Elisa to kick that new plane in the ass and see if it would really travel as fast as advertised. Both women smiled, as they wanted a longer trip just to see how the plane would perform. Maddy came into Robert's office, telling him when a plane was available she was ready. Injerd put her arm around Maddy's shoulders, telling her it was time to leave. The three ladies were ready to taxi as Elise was calling in their flight plan. She was questioned about the requested altitude. Elise said that any lower would cause problems as they would be exceeding Mach 1. The flight plan was accepted.

On the climb out, Injerd contacted ATC for requested altitude and speed approval. The ATC controller was surprised when a private aircraft wanted an altitude of FL490. There was very little air traffic at that flight level. As they were talking, the ATC asked why that FL. Injerd said they would be traveling in excess of Mach 1 and did not want to disturb the ground pounders. ATC told them to turn on a heading of 090, climb to FL 490, and have a good flight. The ATC did not believe they would ever reach Mach 1, let alone exceed it. Elise had put Maddy in the jump seat so she would not be bored and could see what the pilots saw. Elise set the autopilot to a heading of 090 with an altitude of 49,000 feet and an air speed of 695 kt. Maddy questioned Elise about all the input into the console, and was given her first lesson in autopilot technology. About twenty minutes later ATC called to hand them off to Denver Center, wishing them a good flight. The controller congratulated them on letting him see something he never thought he would see. Denver Center took over, confirming direction, altitude and speed.

As they approached Maryland they were given descent instructions into Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport or BWI Marshall for short. As soon as they touched the runway Elisa had a secondary radio set to ground control, which welcomed them to BWI. He gave them instructions to the General Aviation hangars and indicated he would close their flight plan. As the three women entered the office, Injerd talked with the manager indicating what was needed before their return to California. He said that he would have the plane ready in ten hours. Injerd asked why so long. The manager said with their sleep time that would be the earliest they could leave. Injerd bristled a little, telling him they had left California just over three hours ago and were not required to have a rest period. She went to the flight plan computer, pulling up the closed flight plan showing him the information. A very embarrassed manager apologized and said the plane would be ready in one hour.

Maddy rented a Navigator SUV and the three of them headed for Marion Even's place. They knocked on the door several times before a woman in her early thirties, looking seventy, opened the door. A surprised Marion collapsed into Maddy's arms sobbing. They went into a very nice house that was a mess. Marion said that she had been talking with Brad, and did not expect them for several hours. Elisa took over and started cleaning the house. As things were straightened up they went to Marion's bedroom and started packing clothes. All along Maddy was asking indirect questions, finding out what Marion wanted to keep and what could they find a new home for. Marion said that her brother-in-law would handle anything they left behind. Maddy called him, asking him to come over. When Mike Osborn arrived he was in work clothes, and hastily explained that he was a housing builder and was currently out of work, and if it had not been for his wife Amy they would be on the street.

When everything was decided, Mike would call the Sally Ann to come get all the clothes. About that time a red headed bomb hit the front door. Marion just looked up, seeing her sister-in-law she half smiled. There were tears in Amy's eyes as she hugged Marion, telling them to get her out of here as she needed to get away to start healing. Amy was a Psychiatrist and had done everything she could for Marion, but had gone as far as she could. Maddy ask the two of them to be in Palo Alto in a week, as there were people that needed to talk to them. With that she handed Mike three thousand dollars and told him to make it happen. Amy blushed, telling Maddy that they could not come without Maggie. Injerd handed Mike another two thousand dollars. Mike said they would be there. Elise told Mike to figure on not coming back to Baltimore, as there was more work than he could ever handle.

The four were pulling up to the G650 and started to unload the Navigator when two attendants began to help. Finally everything was loaded when Maddy asked where Marion's medical bag was. One attendant opened the cargo space door, pulling out a bag asking if this is what she was looking for. Looking inside she said yes. Maddy gave each attendant $50, thanking them for their help. Injerd and Elise were still checking the plane when Maddy asked her if she had slept any recently. Marion said maybe an hour a day or so. Maddy loaded a needle with a sleeping drug. Marion said she did not want it as all she would do would dream, which would turn into nightmares. Maddy said not with this stuff, and injected her before she could argue. The two talked for about five minutes before Marion fell asleep.

They had just reached their cruising altitude when Maddy asked the pilots if she could use her cell phone. Elise said no, but handed her a satellite phone telling her to use it. Maddy called Mandy Adams and asked where she was. Mandy said she was on the island, as she had just quit her job when the hospital administrator wanted to sleep with her for her to keep her job. Maddy said good, as she had a couple of jobs for her. She explained about Marion and the tragedy she had been through. Maddy asked if between her and Rosalinda Gonzalez, if they could help her try and get Marion's head back on straight. The main thing was to let her sleep for five days, so an IV and catheter would be required and around the clock monitoring to insure nothing happened. Maddy said Dr. O'Connor would be bringing a drug that he put people in a coma with, to insure that she stayed asleep and hopefully recuperated some. Marion's sister-in-law was a Psychiatrist and would be arriving in a week, and that was when Maddy wanted to bring Marion out of the coma. Mandy said that she was sure Roseanna would help, and several of the other wives were looking for things to do, and they could be trained as nurse assistants. That would be great for the long haul also. Maddy thanked her and hung up.

Walking to the flight deck she asked what their destination was. Injerd said Initium Novum, unless there were other stops that were required. Maddy said just get them there as fast as possible. Elise was calculating the fuel to figure if they should stop for fuel before leaving the west coast. Looking at Injerd she shook her head, telling her with the head winds they could make it but would have less than 5% fuel left when they landed. She said she did not want to face Robert if he ever found out they had done that. Injerd waved at Maddy, asking her where she preferred to refuel before leaving the west coast. Maddy said that if possible Palo Alto, as there were a few medical supplies that could be waiting for them at the airport.

Once again Maddy was on the satellite phone, talking to Brad about the drug for Marion and how much real rest she would have while under. Brad said she would be totally caught up, but he wanted her on a special IV solution and feeding tube to maintain her body weight. He said he would have everything at the airport when she arrived, along with an ICU nurse who knew about this procedure. Maddy said to call her office and get Heidi to pack a bag for two weeks and get to the airport. While Brad was talking, he was writing prescriptions on a pad and the ICU nurse was on her iPad ordering the medications, indicating it would be picked it up in one hour and to have it packed in ice for travel. She then ordered catheters, bedpans and an oxygen tank. Brad told her to go home and pack for two weeks and not to worry about uniforms, and he would pick up the ordered items. He would pick her up then Heidi and them to the airport.

As the plane was landing, they followed an Embraer 137 in the flight pattern, Elisa call Robert to find out where he was. He was heading for the island, as Tom Fitzgerald wanted to start ordering supplies. Elisa said they would be on the island in two or three hours, depending on their ground time here, with that she hung up. As they landed, Maddy gave Marion a half dosage of the sleeping drug, as she did not want her to wake up for a long time. As they were taxiing to their assigned location, Maddy saw a group of people waiting for them.

There were some people waiting on the Embraer 137 to go to the island. Brad asked a couple of men to assist them in getting the other plane offloaded and reloaded onto the Embraer. As the door of the Gulfstream opened the two nurses were on board in seconds. Maddy started pointing to things that needed to go to the other plane. Maddy's nurse, thing was on the Embraer. Brad had his ICU nurse, Brianne and Heidi together, instructing them in the use of the induced coma drug. The main thing was to use enough to allow the patient to rest, yet not putting a stress on the lungs or heart. Brad said that Marion needed to be weighed so the amount of dosage could be determined. Looking at Maria, Brad said she had been there before and knew the drill. He would arrive on Friday to make any adjustments required. As they were finishing up the Embraer headed for the runway, Injerd was watching the fueling when she noticed one of the tires seemed low. She called maintenance to check the tire. Sure enough it was low. Injerd asked if they had another tire and how long it would take to change it. A call was made and a tire was in the shop, but was scheduled for another Gulfstream. Injerd said they had a medical emergency aboard and needed to get in the air, she allowed him on board to talk to Brad.

As soon as the maintenance man left the airplane he was on his radio, and was at the wheel disconnecting the electrical attachments. He was hoping they could change the wheel without removing the brake hydraulic hoses. A truck rolled up and three men were at the wheel, doing what they were trained to. One of the important things was to lock the shock absorber in the position it was in now, and be able to lift the plane a few inches so the wheel could be removed. The bracket was a tripod that kept the left and right clear for working. The two men working on the wheel were unbolting the bracket that held the wheel. The brake assembly came with the bracket as it separated from the strut. A low table was slid next to the strut, and it allowed the assembly to lying on the tarmac and the new wheel was being bolted into place. As everyone watched, the locking wire was put through each bolt head then twisted until all ten bolts were secured. The assembly was mounted onto the strut and secured. Once again the locking wire was put in place. A hydraulic pressure system was connected to the aircraft by quick connects. For five minutes the fluid was circulated through the system with a clear tube included to watch for air bubbles. There were none. As that was happening the maintenance manger was writing in the aircraft log. When the hydraulic check was completed the pressure system was disconnected and the caps reinstalled. The maintenance manager handed the FAA mechanic the log book, and he read everything that had been written then added some more and signed off. The entire operation took forty minutes. Elisa pulled ten $100 bills out, and gave each one of them two and a kiss on the cheek.

The two pilots were now an hour behind the Embraer and they wanted to land first. Taking off Injerd decided to maintain the cruising speed they had maintained all day. The flight was uneventful, and they heard the Embraer identify and request landing instruction about a half hour into the flight. They let the Embraer go on final before they identified and requested landing instructions. They landed and were taxiing when they were told to stop and hold. Then the word came to shut down. The pilots followed instructions and then opened the door, stepping out as a maintenance cart slid to a stop. One of the men pointed to a tire that was going flat, and it was the same tire that had just been changed. Another cart rolled up that looked like an ambulance cart. A solid board stretcher was taken on board and Marion was strapped on. The stretcher as moved to the cart with Brianne and Heidi on each side. It had been decided that Marion would be taken to the eighth floor of the condo complex. The cart moved off with the two nurses. Two more carts arrived taking the passengers and luggage to the appropriate places.

Injerd and Elisa were worried about the Gulfstream and why it was destroying a tire on every leg of a trip. Ingrid called the maintenance shop in Palo Alto, asking for the FAA Mechanic. When he came on the line she asked if he had inspected the tire yet. He said he had and was puzzled as to why it went flat. Injerd said to sit down, as the new tire he had installed was flat. The FAA mechanic thought and said he was issuing an unfit to fly on that model of Gulfstream. Injerd said thanks and hung up. She turned to the local mechanic, telling him to move it to the hanger. Injerd was dialing General Dynamics' worldwide headquarters, asking for the chairman of the board. She was told that she was not available and would not be available until Monday. She said fine, Admiral Thomas Fitzgerald would be canceling all twelve Gulfstreams on order, but if she thought it was appropriate she could be reached at the following number, and hung up. She marched into Tom's office telling him about the Gulfstream and the disinterest at General Dynamics when she tried to get assistance. She also said an unfit to fly order had been issued by the FAA mechanic in Palo Alto. About that time Injerd's phone rang showing General Dynamics. She showed the phone to Tom who took the phone. Answering, he said Admiral Thomas Fitzgerald, with whom was he speaking. A man gave his name and position. Tom said that he was not good enough and he wanted to speak with the chairman of the board and hung up.

Before he laid the phone down it rang again, and a woman introduced herself and Tom knew who she was. Tom said, "Sheila what kind of planes are you people delivering". The Gulfstream that was delivered to the Monarch of Initium Novum has been grounded as unfit to fly by the FAA. Sheila asked what problem had brought this about. Sheila asked where the plane was, and was told it was on the island of Initium Novum. She asked if an inspection team could land a 737 there, she was told yes. Sheila said she would be on that 737 herself, and the best inspection team in GD. Tom said that they needed to stop in Palo Alto and pick up the FAA inspector mechanic and bring him along, as he was the only one that could lift the grounded order. Sheila said done.

Tom and Injerd went to see Robert and inform him of what was happening, and of the incoming visitors. Robert said that that was alright, and had Sarah let everyone know that non citizens were coming and to keep quiet about what they were doing. Benson wanted to know how many visitors were coming, and was told no more than ten. The GD team did not make it that night, and Sheila called, telling Tom they would be there at 8:00 AM the next day.

Robert had just finished his run and swim when Sarah said that the GD 737 was requesting landing instructions. Robert said to provide instructions and bring all of them to the house for breakfast. Sheila was surprised when Tom met them as they deplaned. He requested that all personnel including the flight crew join them for breakfast. Sheila started to object, when Tom got the look of a commanding Admiral telling it had been a request now it was an order, or to get on the plane and leave as the country's legal team would deal with them. Sheila knew she was in another country, playing by their rules. So off to breakfast they went. Breakfast was wonderful and enjoyed by all, when a tall man flanked by two women walked in, the man walked to Sheila, introducing himself as Robert Callahan and his head of security, Carolyn Hearst. The other woman did not say a word, however Sheila knew that there was unbelievable power there.

Robert asked if he might say a few words. Turning to the group, he welcomed them to Initium Novum and hoped their stay there was enjoyable and all problems could be resolved. With that he turned the floor over to Carolyn. She explained that a considerable amount of research was being conducted, and they would require escorts wherever they went. Since they were not in the United States but in the sovereign country of Initium Novum, the local laws were in force. If they were caught without an escort they would be shot, end of statement. Now, all that aside, they may have any thing they desired to eat and if the problems with Robert's Gulfstream could be quickly found they would be provided a bonus of a month's vacation anywhere in the world.

Sheila asked Tom if he would be her escort. He said that he and Lenora would be happy to escort her wherever she needed to be. Sheila showed disappointment, but smiled and thanked Tom. Tom and Sheila had a history, as they had been in the same class at the Naval Academy. They had attended flight school together and were assigned to the same carrier. After that assignment, Tom was named as CAG and then Captain of the USS Mississippi. He was selected as an Admiral Lower Half the first time his name came up. Sheila, on the other hand, knew she would never make rank above Captain, as she was an entrepreneur, and could not keep her thoughts to herself when she needed to. She was good, but not as good as Admiral Rickover. Lenora knew about his history with Sheila, and thought she would make an excellent second wife for Tom.

The inspection team and the FAA mechanic had the airplane wheel well in pieces and the wheel retracted, all seemed OK until one of the engineers said to close the doors. In Las Vegas there was the same unit on the chocks doing the same thing they were. The Las Vegas advantage was they had cameras and had left the units assembled to see if they were missing anything. There was nothing that could be seen. Another group was examining the tires looking for flaws anywhere they could. Finally, one of the GD team asked if they had a band saw and could set it up outside. After lunch, a saw was setup on the tarmac in a canvas booth. The FAA man and one of the GD team started to cut the tires in four inch segments. Two other engineers were inspecting the segments finding nothing wrong. After three ten hour days they still had not found any problems, except the marks on the tire removed in Palo Alto. Pictures were taken and sent to all Gulfstream facilities. The next morning a call came from the Georgia plant telling them to look at the mounting bracket for the wheel well sensor collector electronics. The team inspected the bracket, and found that it exerted a fair amount of pressure on the tire. Nothing was enough to puncture the tire, but a feature of the aircraft was to keep the proper pressure in the tires. Because of the added pressure of the bracket about half of the air could be released from the tire. When the design prints were checked, the bracket was mounted in the wrong place. It was about two inches from where it was supposed to be, the engineers asked why it was moved and were told it was because the new location made it much easier to mount. The specified location was very hard to get to. When the bracket was mounted in the proper place it was impossible for it to reach or touch the tire. When they looked at the other wheel well, the bracket was mounted in the proper place. All Gulfstreams of this model were quickly looked at, and on the left wheel well the brackets were in the wrong location. The repair was simple and fast, just not easy to get to.

As promised, Robert issued vouchers for a one month vacation at any resort hotel. The voucher was drawn on Thomas Cooke Travel Agency, good for two adults and all family members under the age of eighteen unless in school. The last night there, Robert threw a big BBQ for the GD team and FAA Mechanic. They had the largest steaks they had ever seen and they were excellent. What they did not know was they were Bison.

Sheila had been with Lenora and Tom all evening, when she finally told them that this was about her last official act as CEO and Chairman of the Board at General Dynamics. Sheila said she had enough to finance her in the custom she was use to, but she had regrets as she never married, and her Naval career could have been a lot better. Lenora told her that the laws here were a lot different than in the USA, and she knew Tom had more than an interest and fondness for her. The Monarch has several wives, and others did also. The blush on Tom's face was almost scarlet when he asked Lenora if she was trying to get a sister wife. Lenora laughed, telling him she could not keep up with him and she needed help. Sheila told Lenora she should not make an offer like that, as she would take her up on it. Looking very serious, Lenora told her she was dead serious and wanted a sister wife, and besides, at forty-two she was pregnant and would need help keeping Tom satisfied.