Dawn of a New Day (3 page)
Authors: Nick Mariano
The canisters were then placed into a watertight container constructed of stainless steel with some special padding around the glass containers. This type steel did not corrode, rust or stain as ordinary steel did, when it came in contact with water or other elements. Lastly the cargo was placed in an outer stainless steel container that bore the emblem of the Nazi SS. Mengele thought this was a nice touch to add to his deadly cargo. Mengele knew that the Germans would not want to lose these vital assets on American soil at this critical phase of the war. The doctor also enclosed a detailed instruction sheet outlining how the canisters were to be handled, how they were to be operated and the cities or areas on the East Coast where he felt the virus would have the most profound affect. He knew Himmler would also transmit a coded message to them but he just wanted to be sure they understood the deadly nature of this virus.
The sub pens at Bergen, Germany were a scurry of activity as the final supplies and cargoes were loaded into the U-756. Himmler had intentionally picked the departure date of July 4th, the date of America’s Independence, as a kind of humorous starting point of what was to happen to the unsuspecting Americans. Groups of Hitler’s famous Waffen-SS provided added security to the sub facilities to ensure that nothing went wrong during the final preparations.
Without the normal fanfare of a U-Boat departing port, Commander Falke stood on the conning tower bridge of the U-756 as it slid from his mooring at the dock and headed due north from Germany toward the East Coast of Canada and North America and his initial destination of Newfoundland and St. Johns, where he would then sail southward towards the shores of North Carolina for a rendezvous with their German operatives.
Gary and Reed continued to examine the steel box they found on the U-756 while they cruised back to the dock at Wilmington. The box looked to be in fairly good condition considering the U-756 was sunk in the 1940’s. The sub itself appeared to be broken in two when they dove it and they were able to penetrate a portion of the interior and examine the U-boat up close. It appeared that the explosion blew outward from the sub’s interior as several shards of metal on its hull were pointing away from the interior instead of inward. They tried to reason why the sub would have been blown up in that manner unless the Captain had scuttled it. When they read about the discovery of the sub’s wreckage they learned that the U.S. Navy had no record of its ships attacking this U-boat during the time frame involved. The German Government had merely acknowledged that its U-boat had been on a mission along the U.S. coast but didn’t disclose any further details. The fact that the metal box was a good distance from the sub itself indicated that the sub had probably broken in half and decompressed and that its crew and objects inside would have been sucked from it and shot into the water and away from the structure. The metal box had large hasps that kept the lid attached to its bottom section and they appeared to be made in such a way so that they wouldn’t break or open unless a person actually opened the box. It was also strange that the Nazi SS emblem was engraved on its lid since the SS rarely had their men on U-boats. That would indicate that it was some sort of special cargo and the question that remained, “Was it something that was to be delivered to the U.S.?”
The dive boat arrived back at Wilmington mid-afternoon and the Captain had already called the museum curator and asked if he could meet them at the dock. Harold Strauss was the curator of the U-boat Museum in Wilmington and was a wealth of information when it came to World War II, German ships and U-boats and wartime wrecks in the area. The fact that the U-756 had just been discovered just a few months ago meant that there was still a lot to be learned about this wreck. Strauss had researched the U-576 after it was discovered and was amazed to find out that very little was known or written about it after 1943, when it last sailed on a secret mission. Strauss had also dove the U-576 and made the same observation as Gary and Reed, that it appeared the sub had been blown up from inside the boat versus being sunk by a depth charge. He too thought this was a bit strange and was anxious to see the mystery box that his friends had retrieved.
The dive boat arrived back at the dock about 3:00 pm and Strauss met with Gary, Reed and the boat’s Captain. He studied the steel container and was intrigued by its construction and the embossed emblem on its lid. He thought it would make a nice addition to the U-boat museum collection, as he had never seen this type of object from other U-boat wrecks in the NC area. The group agreed that Strauss would take the container back to the Museum and tomorrow they would all gather to discuss opening it and seeing what was inside.
Several months before the U-756 was discovered off the U.S. Coast, a pandemic that had broken out in the Northeast had finally been brought under control. Although local and national news sources had covered the spread of a mysterious virus, that could turn people into zombie like creatures, the U.S. Government had never released any information on how the virus had initially materialized on its shores. The files were immediately classified and would remain classified for years to come. The files reflected that authorities finally ascertained that the virus used by ISIS had been a super weapon developed by the Nazis during World War II and that Hitler and Himmler had personally overseen the project. Agents from the U.S. working with German Intelligence had uncovered classified records that were still held by the German Government outlining the wartime project. Josef Mengele, the doctor in charge of Auschwitz, and a group of doctors had successfully combined the flu, plague and rabies viruses to form a super virus. Reichsfuhrer Himmler had been appointed by Hitler to oversee the project and to deliver the virus to the shores of the United States. Himmler had used three U-boats to deliver the virus to different locations on the East Coast. Commando teams were then to bring the virus containers ashore to German agents who were already in place. Mengele had also developed special canisters and outer containers to protect the virus, which remained in a dormant stage until it was again exposed to the atmosphere. German war records reflected that three U-boats had set sail for the United States sometime in 1943; however, all contact was lost with them before they reached their final destinations. Himmler finally assumed that the submarines had been detected by Allied forces and subsequently sunk. No communications were ever heard from the U-boats and there was no indication that the super virus had ever been released in America. Himmler assumed the project was a failure and abandoned it.
After ISIS successfully released the virus in upstate New York and later New York City, doctors and scientists at Fort Detrick and the CDC finally realized that it was impossible to cure those who had already become infected either by inhaling the virus or after being bitten by an infected person. One group of scientists finally decided to try to develop a vaccine to prevent people from becoming infected in the first place. Working with various vaccines that were developed during the Cold War to combat possible biological attacks by the Soviets, one group finally made a major breakthrough. A number of lab animals were inoculated with a vaccine labeled X554 and then exposed to the virus by using tissue from infected bodies. After five days the animals showed no signs of the infection and the scientists decided to rapidly move the experiment to the human stage. A volunteer came forward to act as a test subject and the vaccine was administered. The subject was then exposed to some newly infected patients for several hours and then put in isolation. After five days the subject reported no ill effects from the exposure and blood tests confirmed that the virus had not taken hold in his body. Although the scientists weren’t 100% sure that they had a totally effective vaccine, they also knew it was the only thing they had so far. An initial supply of the X554 vaccine was stored at Fort Detrick and medical teams were dispatched to outlying areas in NY where the virus hadn’t spread. People were administered the vaccine and the scientists and doctors sat and waited to see if any new cases would be reported in these areas. Meanwhile a number of pharmaceutical companies were pressed into service by the federal government and started to manufacture the vaccine. Gradually all the Northeastern states were brought under control and only a handful of new cases were reported. By this point in time, however, over 15,000 had been infected and 13,000 had already died. Two hundred new cases were reported and authorities moved into these areas quickly and cordoned off the towns so that the infections could be contained. The government then mandated that all persons in certain areas of the United States, where infections were previously reported, must be vaccinated. The program continued for several weeks and it appeared that things had finally slowed down and the virus had run its course.
Over the next several weeks only one case of the virus was reported on the East Coast and thankfully the virus never moved to the south or westward. Everyone was hopeful that they had seen the last of the virus and of zombies roaming city streets.
After a few months, most people had begun to forget that the pandemic had ever taken place. No new cases were reported and people had just assumed that ISIS had somehow manufactured the virus on their own. No one was ever privy to records held by the government, which revealed that this was a Nazi weapon of mass destruction. Even the U.S.Government put the incident on a back burner and when the U-756 was discovered off the coast of North Carolina, no one ever thought this might be one of the three lost U-boats that German Intelligence indicated had been part of Himmler’s project. Had someone put two and two together the following events might never have taken place.
Everyone from the dive the day before met at the local wartime museum to further examine the mystery box and begin the opening process. Gary, Reed and the boat Captain arrived early and met with Strauss in his office. Everyone was excited to see just what they had uncovered. They again went over the rules regarding naval wartime graves and believed that the box did not come under any of the articles outlined in the government rules. If it turned out to be something really significant they would notify the appropriate authorities and turn the box over to them. Strauss had a number of items in his museum that were discovered on U-boat wrecks found off the North Carolina coast and so he knew what was appropriate and what was not.
They examined the box again and confirmed that the hasps were designed to keep the box from opening by itself or from any jarring movement. The hasps were intact, however, they were corroded by the seawater and would need some sort of chemical treatment to loosen them up. Strauss said there was nothing like good old WD-40 to get rust and corrosion off metal. They sprayed the hasps with a generous amount of the lubricant and decided to have a late breakfast, and let the WD-40 do its job, before trying to get the box open.
Strauss picked a local restaurant famous for its pancakes and omelets and everyone ate a hearty breakfast while talking about yesterday’s dive. Strauss was anxious to hear about Gary and Reed’s dive and any observations they may have made. They talked for a while about the fact that the sub appeared to have blown outward from the inside versus an inward explosion from a torpedo or depth charge. Gary and Reed said that they had partially penetrated the hull and the inside looked to be totally destroyed. They told Strauss how they had circled the sub a number of times and just before they were to begin their ascent, Reed spotted a metallic object in the sand a short distance from the hull. It was still partially buried in the sand and probably had been totally covered by sand at some point. The recent storms must have uncovered it and made the discovery possible. They attached the box to a lift bag and sent it on its way to the surface while they began their ascent and several decompression stops. Initially they had hoped that the box might contain some German gold, as several U-boats had transported gold bars during and toward the end of World War II. When they got the box on board they decided that it was too light to have heavy gold bars in it. As the groups debated what the box might contain, no one had any real idea about its purpose. Strauss finally said that it was time to find out what the mystery was all about. The group returned to the museum and began the opening process. It appeared that the WD-40 had done its job and now the bolts securing the hasps could be turned with a little effort and a strong wrench. One by one the bolts spun off and finally after an hour all the hasps were free. The lid was still stuck to the bottom section but a rubber mallet finally dislodged it. Strauss gently lifted the lid and saw that the contents were covered in a sort of heavy padding. The interior was dry to the touch and Strauss began to remove section after section of padding to finally reveal four vials, three of which had some sort of aerosol device on top of them. There were no markings on the vials and no one could imagine what they might contain. Rather than leave the contents as it rested, Strauss decided to remove one vial so the group could further examine it and try to determine its purpose. The vial was a sort of canister constructed of metal and the top appeared to be some sort of dispersal device. The group said that this was definitely not what anyone had expected and that perhaps they should leave everything as is and call the authorities. After several minutes of debate the group finally decided that Strauss would call the FBI and have someone come down to examine the item. Although everyone was a bit disappointed by the box’s contents, Strauss said the box itself would be a nice addition to the museum, provided the authorities returned it to him. Gary and Reed and the boat Captain thanked Strauss for all his help and Gary and Reed headed back to Myrtle Beach and work at the dive shop.
Strauss continued to play with the canister, trying to figure out its purpose when suddenly a light mist began to escape from the aerosol top. He quickly moved the canister away from his person but he detected a sight odor as he did so, and then it disappeared. Strauss was shocked by the course of events but after sitting there for several minutes finally decided that he was still alive and so there hadn’t been anything deadly inside. He returned the canister to the box and placed everything on a table until the FBI showed up.
The following day Special Agent Max Taylor from the local FBI office visited Strauss who conveyed the story about how the two divers had found the box on the ocean’s floor while diving the U-756. Taylor was new to the FBI and so even though he was aware of the pandemic that had erupted in the northeast, he didn’t know anything about the ISIS group who carried out the attacks or the fact that the virus had originated from a weapon developed by the Germans and brought to U.S. shores during the war. Taylor examined the canisters and said he would take the box and it’s contents back to his office and check with his Washington Headquarters on what to do next. Strauss thanked him for his assistance and decided that he wouldn’t mention that one of the canisters had emitted some sort of vapor, since obviously nothing adverse had happened to him as a result.
Taylor placed the box on the back seat of his government ride and headed back to the office. He was scheduled to leave in four hours for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to assist in a terrorist investigation there. As he drove along the highway back to town he thought he detected a faint odor in the car, which quickly dissipated. He thought it was just a smell from the box as it had been lying on the ocean’s floor for over 75 years. When he got back to the office he decided he had to get going to the airport so he placed the box and it’s contents in an evidence room inside the office for safe keeping until he returned from his trip. He thought, “This has been lost and on the bottom of the ocean for all these years, another week won’t make any difference.”