Chapter 3
The next day, Prof. Sandburg
knocked on the door of Jim Ellison's house in the centre of
Amsterdam. It took a few minutes before the door opened and Jim
smiled at him.
"Sandburg." he greeted
the younger man. "C'mon in and make yourself
comfortable. I've just made some coffee for us." With
that, he pushed Blair toward the living room and then disappeared
in the kitchen.
Blair smiled after the soldier and
then slowly paced around the large, comfortable room. He placed
his books and notebook onto the coffee table in the middle of the
room and walked over to a large work table in the far corner next
to the window. Various papers were strewn across the top and
pictures framed the top end. Blair leaned forward to catch a
better look. There was one with Jim and a younger man with a
moustache, both dressed in fishing gear. They had their arms
around each other's shoulders and jointly held up a huge
fish. There was a strong resemblance between the two, and Blair
figured that this could be Ellison's brother. The picture
next to it confirmed his suspicion. It was a newspaper clipping
from Cascade, Washington, dated only a few months ago. The
picture next to the article showed the younger man in a business
suit and the headline read "William Ellison Closes $4bn
Construction Deal". Blair raised his eyebrows. Quite a
family, he thought. The rest of the pictures showed Jim in
various official surroundings. In one, he shook the American
Ambassador's hand, in another, he received a medal from a
highly decorated General. And there was one with Jim shaking
hands with Franklin D. Roosevelt.
"Find something interesting,
Chief?" a voice came from the back and Blair turned around.
Jim had walked into the room with a tray and now placed it down
on the coffee table.
"No, Jim, I was just admiring
your place. It's great. So much bigger than mine, which is
actually not surprising, considering your Embassy connections and
my measly Professor's pay." Then he turned back and
pointed at the photographs. "You've been around."
he said.
Jim followed Blair's finger
and smiled. "Yeah, it comes with the position, I
guess." Then he sat down on the couch and began to pour
coffee into two cups.
Blair walked over and joined the
soldier on the couch. "So, how did you develop those senses,
Jim?" Blair asked. "I mean did you always have them or
did they come up suddenly?"
"Well, it happened in late
1934 actually." Jim started as he handed Blair his cup.
"I was in China then. The President had ordered the Marines
to land at Foochow to protect the American Consulate. When the
whole thing was over and my team was moving out, I was left
behind to secure the parameter. Suddenly, shots were fired and I
was knocked out somehow. My men thought I was dead and retreated
without me. It took me almost 3 weeks to get out."
"Were you all alone?"
Jim nodded. "Yeah. I was lost
in the mountains and it was days until I finally found a village
who helped me find my way back into civilisation."
Blair had opened up a notebook and
took notes. He was now also wearing a pair of wire-rimmed
glasses. "That's amazing, Jim." he said. "I
know that Amazon tribes send their Sentinels into a prolonged
isolation to fine tune their senses. Until now, I assumed that
this was just an additional custom, but it seems now that it is a
genetic thing. A Sentinel's senses become active after a
prolonged period of isolation. This is absolutely amazing."
Jim smiled. "Your coffee is
getting cold, Chief." he said as he stirred sugar into his
cup.
"What?" Blair asked as
he looked up and adjusted his glasses. "Oh, yeah, sure.
Coffee. Sorry, Jim." He took a quick sip and then turned
back to his notes. "So, how developed are your senses
then?" he asked. "Like your sense of smell for
example."
Jim shrugged. "I'm not
sure. I've never really tried anything experimental. I was
too worried that something might happen." Then he looked
straight into Blair's face. "But I can tell that you
had an onion bagel with cream cheese before you came here.
Probably from the little shop at the train station because
they're my favourites, so that's an easy one to spot
for me. The apple at the bottom of your bag has seen better days
and you were probably down at the docks this morning,
because I can smell the fish and the ocean on your
clothing."
Blair had stopped scribbling and
stared at Jim. "Wow!" he said and dropped his pen.
"That is so amazing. I can't I'm
speechless!"
"I doubt that." Jim
smiled and took another sip from his coffee. "Somehow you
don't strike me as the speechless type, Chief."
Blair pulled a face. "Okay,
okay. Let's try something else." He stood up, walked
over to the window and pulled the curtains aside.
Jim followed him curiously.
"What?" he asked.
"I want you to take a look
outside and tell me what you see down there."
Jim looked from Blair's face
hesitantly down onto the busy street, not quite sure what the
young anthropologist wanted. "I see people, Chief." he
offered. "And cars, street vendors offering stuff on the
sidewalk."
Blair smiled. "That's
good, Jim. What else do you see?"
"I I don't
that's all I can "
"Check out the guy out at the
street corner!" Blair offered. "What is he doing?"
Jim looked down. "He's
reading a newspaper."
"And what's the
headline?"
Jim concentrated at the front
page, his eyes almost zooming closer. "Prime Minister
decides on economic issues." he said and then saw a wide
grin on Sandburg's face. "What?" he asked.
"What do you mean,
what'?" Blair posed. "Don't you realise
that you've just read the headline of a news paper about 600
yards away – and from the top floor of a 5 storey building?
Man, you're amazing!"
Jim sighed heavily and then Blair
slapped him on the back. "Here, Jim, " he started and
pointed his attention back out of the window. "Try this now.
I want you to concentrate and see if you can hear what the two
guys at the bus stop are talking about."
"Chief that is really
I can't "
"Just give it a try,
okay? You're doing great." With that, he placed a
gentle hand on the small of Jim's back. He could sense that
the tall soldier was feeling uncomfortable and worried.
"Don't worry, Jim." Blair said in a low and
calming voice. "I'm here. I'll watch out for you.
Nothing's gonna happen."
Jim nodded and he could almost
feel the calming, comforting feeling pouring into him through
Blair's hand on his back. Ellison took a deep breath and
concentrated again. Extending his hearing, he seemed to travel
past the voices of the flats below them and down onto the
streets.
"No milk for Mr Weisner
today, Jon." he could hear the doorman at the front
entrance of his building say and kept going. He picked up the
engine noise and the honking of the cars passing by on the
street. A dog barked and two women were arguing about the price
of a dress in the shop window. Just as he was about to touch the
two men at the bus stop, he heard screaming and shouting.
"Please don't.
No!" the panicked voice of an older man rang in
Jim's ears. "We haven't done anything wrong.
Please, you can't just take these. This is all we have.
Please no "
"Shut up, Jew, and be
thankful that this is all we take." Jim heard laughter
in the background as items were thrown out of the first floor
window and onto the streets. "This time!"
"No, oh God - Marten
help me!" a woman's voice echoed through the
laughter. "Our things! Please stop it. We have done nothing
to you or anybody! Call the Police, somebody!"
"We are in charge here
now!" a harsh voice shouted. "It's time for
you to leave, Jew!" The men laughed loudly and Jim could
hear one of them grabbing the older woman. "We don't
want your kind here anymore!"
"Jim?"
"Let me go! Marten!!! Oh
god help me!!" the woman's screams echoed through
Jim's head.
"Hey, Jim!"
"Nellie! Leave her along,
you pigs!"
"Jim! Hey! Snap out of it!
Come back to me!" Blair's insistent voice brought
Ellison from the apartment only a few streets away, back into his
flat. He shook his head to bring himself back under control, but
he could still hear the fearful shouts of the couple.
Jim reached for Blair's
shoulder and squeezed it lightly. "I'm back, I'
okay, Chief. Thanks to you." Then he looked out of the
window and back at the young Professor. "Look, I'll be
right back, okay? You stay here!"
"What? Hey, wait a minute,
Jim, you can't just "
"I'll be right back.
Just stay put, okay?"
Blair wanted to protest, but as he
saw Jim's worried face, he simply nodded, but Jim was
already out of the door.
"Where the hell are you
going, man?" Blair wondered out loud as his eyes followed
Jim as he ran out of the house, across the street and disappeared
behind the street corner. The anthropologist sighed heavily and
slumped down in one of the leather chairs. His mind wandered back
to a few minutes ago. It was almost as if Jim had frozen on him.
He didn't respond to Blair's calls and had just stared
dead ahead out of the window. Blair's hands brushed his
long, curly hair back behind his ears and he reached into his bag
for his notebook. He opened it and started to scribble his
thoughts onto the white sheets.
"When exposed to a
more difficult task of extending the sense of hearing beyond the
immediate surroundings, the subject seemed to freeze in
concentration and was difficult to be pulled out of this state.
This might have been a manifestation of Burton's suggested
zone-out factor, in which the Sentinel focuses too much on one of
the senses and becomes oblivious to his/her surroundings."
Blair reread the sentence and continued. "A situation like
this would explain Burton's hypothesis that every Sentinel
needs a Guide. A person trusted by the Sentinel to watch his/her
back while the Sentinel is using his/her senses. The Guide would
be at the Sentinel's side, protecting it and be ready to
bring him/her out of such a zone-out. Burton noted that the
relationship between Sentinel and Guide is predestined and was
stronger and went deeper than between siblings, as one is ready
to give his/her life for the other in a heartbeat."
Blair nodded to himself and looked
up from his notebook. A Guide' he thought. He just
managed to bring Ellison out of one of those zone-outs. And he
didn't even know what to do. Just did it. And when his hand
had touched the Sentinel, it felt strange calming
complete. Did that mean he was a Guide? Blair swallowed hard as
he looked over what he'd just written. A Guide.
Pre-destined. He shook his head. No way! While he had to agree
that he felt an instant link to James Ellison from the first
evening they'd met, he still didn't believe that he was
pre-destined for anything else than teaching anthropology. But
was there really a difference? Isn't a teacher also a guide?
Did that mean that he was being prepared for this his entire
life?
Into his thoughts, he suddenly
heard footsteps outside the door, then a key was inserted and the
door pushed open. Blair jumped up from his chair at the sudden
noise and stumbled backwards toward the window.
The door was pushed open and Jim
walked in, followed by an elderly couple.
"Jim! Oh God, you scared the
living daylights out of me. Where did you go? What's going
on?"
Jim released a tense breath.
"Sorry to have scared you, Chief!" he said and then
pointed at a group of people behind him.
Blair creased his eyebrows
questioningly. "Who are those people, Jim?"
Jim pointed at the older man with
grey hair and metal rimmed classes. "This is Marten Weil and
his wife Nellie. Some German soldiers broke into their fur shop
across the road from the bus station. The soldiers smashed the
windows and took all his furs and then they threw Mr Weil's
clothes into the street. They've called them names and
smeared anti-semitistic shit all over their doors and windows.
I've heard what was going on and I just had to do something.
So I thought I'd bring them here because after that, I
don't think it's safe for them to go back to their home
"
Blair sighed and smiled warmly as
he realized what his friend was trying to do. "What are you
planning on doing with them now, Jim?" he whispered as his
eyes wandered across the faces of the two Jews in front of him.
Jim shrugged. "I don't
know I thought maybe to this place I heard about. To
Willem Boom's outside of town. He's a church minister,
and has worked with Jewish people for a long time. He's got
a large house in Hilversum for Jews who had escaped from Hitler's
Germany before the war."
Blair nodded in acknowledgement.
"Yeah, I know Willem. But Jim, the streets are swamped with
German soldiers. How were you planning to get them out?"
"I I wasn't
" Jim's voice trailed off. "I don't
know. This isn't my thing, Blair. I want to help, but I
don't know how."
Blair smiled at his enthusiastic
friend. Then his expression went serious as he turned to Mr Weil
and his wife. "Don't worry, Sir." He said in
Dutch. "We are going to help you. You stay here with Jim for
now. Be ready as soon as it's dark." Then he turned back at
Jim. "I have an idea, but you must promise me not to tell
anybody about this!"
Jim nodded. "Of course,
Blair." he said in determination. "I swear."
Blair gathered his things from the
table and walked out of the room. Before he reached the door, he
turned around. "We'll finish this another time,
right?" he asked, almost pleading.
Jim smiled. "Sure,
Chief." he nodded. "I don't want to give up on
this and I have the feeling that I need you more than I can
imagine right now."
Blair grinned. "We'll
work on this together and you'll see, it will be a blessing
and not a curse."
"I trust you, Blair."
Jim said seriously and then smiled.
Blair smiled too. "Thanks,
man. I'll be back tonight." With that, the door closed
behind the young professor.
That evening at nine o'clock,
Blair knocked on Jim's door and then led Mr Weil and his
wife away into the dark.
Chapter 4
Two days later, Jim heard a gentle
knock on the door and as he opened it, he saw a smiling Blair
Sandburg standing there, a brown paper bag in his hand.
"Hi Jim!" he said and
raised his hand holding the bag. "Can I come it? I brought
onion bagels."
Jim smiled warmly and stepped
aside, allowing Blair to enter. "Of course, Professor.
C'mon in." he took the bag from Blair's hand and
walked into the kitchen. "Is this the Greeks bearing gifts
or something?" he shouted into the living room.
Blair had walked over to the
window and stared outside. "Na, I just thought I'd
surprise you. You said you like them and I was in the area."
Jim fixed some coffee and bringing
in a large plate with bagels and a selection of meats and
cheeses, they settled down in the living room. Jim looked over at
the young man. "So?" Jim asked. "What happened to
the Weil's?"
Blair smiled and patted his arm
gently as reached for a bagel. "Jim, if you are going to
work with the Resistance, you've got to learn not to ask too
many questions." He turned around with a knowing smile and
then went serious. "Don't worry. They're
safe."
Jim released a breath.
"Good." he said and took a sip from his coffee. They
were silent for a few minutes and then Blair looked over at Jim.
"Listen, Jim, I know that
this must be really weird for you, but I want to tell you, that
you can trust me. I want to make this work, not only because of
the Sentinel thing, but because of you. I don't know, but
somehow, I like you. You give me this feeling of security and
comfort. There is something I can't explain it, but
it's more than just my research. I really want to help
you." Then he shook his head and buried it in his hands.
"Oh, God, listen to me! I sound really stupid and
pathetic."
Jim shook his head and reached out
to touch the younger man's arm. "No, Chief, you
don't. I feel exactly the same. Maybe it's got
something to do with this whole Sentinel thing, the way I've
felt totally lost and out of control until you came along. I
don't know. But I want to find out and I think we'll
make a great team."
Over the next couple of weeks, the
two worked hard on developing and controlling Jim's senses,
and their friendship grew closer and closer. They worked both at
Jim's and Blair's house and on occasion in Jim's
office at the American Embassy. Jim's senses made it easy
for him to notice that Blair was being watched by the Gestapo and
Ellison was more and more often forced to speak with Oberleutnant
von Karlstein to prevent Blair from being dragged into the
German's office. Holland was changing for the worse and
Blair, his younger brother Daniel and some of his University
friends were getting more and more involved in helping to hide
Jews from the increasing Nazi threat. Whenever possible, Jim and
even Peter used their influences at the American Embassy to help
out with either ration cards or contacts for hiding places. But
it became increasingly evident that all of them were fighting a
loosing battle and Jim secretly worked on a plan to get Blair and
his family out of Holland if it became dangerous for them.
It was a cold, Sunday afternoon.
Jim was reading the Sunday paper and absentmindedly listening to
the radio when the telephone rang.
"Jim, it's Peter. Have
you heard from your friend Blair?"
Jim shook his head. "Not
since two days ago. Why? What's going on?"
"Oh God, Ellison, you
haven't heard? The Germans are rounding up all the young men
out on the streets and sending them to Germany as slave
factory-workers. The soldiers also smash the windows of shops
owned by Jewish people and steal the goods inside." Peter
stopped for a few seconds to catch his breath. "Jim, the
Jewish shopkeepers from the bakery around the corner have
disappeared and there's an order out for all the Jews in
Holland to report to the police. All the Jews! They now must wear
a bright yellow star, on their clothes wherever they go."
"My God." Jim whispered.
"I've arranged for a ticket for Blair and his family
for the boat to New York, but it's not until next week
Friday and I haven't even told him about it yet."
Peter nodded. "I know. But
this is getting bad and I've heard from my sources at
Gestapo Headquarters that they are seriously thinking about
bringing Blair in. They've got every bit he's ever
published on this Sentinel thing and want to get their hands on
him for some reason. I don't know why and what these
theories of his are about, but the Nazis are serious, Jim.
American or not, Blair's got to go into hiding."
Just then Jim heard a knock on the
door and as he extended his hearing, he picked up the rhythmic
sound of a familiar heartbeat. "Relax, Peter, Blair just
came. I'll speak to you later."
Jim hung up and walked over to the
front door. When he opened it, he met a smiling Blair. As they
closed the door behind them, Jim looked intently at his young
friend and tried to ignore the yellow star that was stitched onto
Blair's dark brown jacket. "Coffee?" he asked.
Blair nodded as he followed him.
"Coffee sounds great, man."
"You look exhausted."
Jim commented as they walked into the kitchen.
In the kitchen, Jim filled the
brown powder into the machine and Blair leaned against the sink.
"God, Jim you can't believe how many people are afraid
for their lives here now. The Germans are hunting down Jews all
over the country. Yesterday, I helped one of my Jewish students
to go into hiding after her Nazi neighbour denounced her and
accused her of being a prostitute! I mean can you believe
it?"
Jim turned and grabbed the
anthropologist's shoulders firmly. "Blair, this is
getting dangerous. You're helping so many people. I think
you should maybe think about "
Blair shook his head in denial.
"Jim, I can't let those people down. I'm an
American exchange teacher and for now, I'm safe from the
clutches of the Nazis." Jim wanted to interrupt, but Blair
raised his hand. "And you don't have to tell me about
the Gestapo following me. I know about them. They came to the
University last week to question me. It was all about my Sentinel
research." He looked up at Jim. "You were right. They
think because of my research, that I'm some sort of Sentinel
expert." He laughed, but it was dry and sad. "It gets
even better! Imagine that, Jim, von Karlstein thinks I'm
secretly training Sentinels."
Jim sighed. "Well, you
are." he whispered and then he shook his head. "I knew
it, Chief, you're in danger."
Blair swallowed hard. "No. I
might be Jewish, but they wouldn't dare touch me. I'm
an American, an exchange professor. They've got nothing on
me and this Sentinel research is certainly no reason to arrest
me." He sighed deeply. "But my brother and his wife and
child and all their friends ..."
Jim sighed heavily. He knew that
whatever he would say to Blair would meet on death ears.
"Fine." he said. "But promise me you'll be
careful. I don't want this Sentinel research to become a
danger to you. It's not worth it." Jim paused for a
moment and then took a deep breath. "You will need ration
cards as well as places to hide your Jewish friends," he
said. "The US Embassy is evacuating all American citizens
and less and less ration card are now being issued. They will
have to find their own supplies in a few days time. And the
Embassy has been given an ultimatum. The last passenger ship is
leaving for New York next Friday. After that, there's no way
out anymore." Jim looked at the younger man and then reached
for the anthropologist's arm. Squeezing it gently, he said.
"Blair, the last boat back home leaves Amsterdam next
Friday. I've got you and your family tickets and I'm
going, too. It's no longer safe here for you. You should be
on that boat out of here."
Blair enclosed Jim's hand
with his' and shook his head. "No Jim, I can't
leave here. Not yet. There is still so much more to do." He
closed his eyes and sighed deeply.
Suddenly, Jim's eyes caught
sight of something sticking out of Blair's pocket.
"What's that, Chief?" he asked as he reached out
and before Sandburg could stop him, he pulled the piece of paper
out.
"It's nothing,
Jim." Blair said and tried to reach for it back.
"Nothing that concerns you."
Jim pointed at the yellow star on
Blair's jacket. "Like this is nothing?" he asked
dryly. Then he turned around and held onto the paper
protectively. He opened it and saw it was a letter from the local
Gestapo station. His eyes flew over the text. "Chief, they
wanted you to come to the station for a more detailed interview
about your academic work." Jim read the letter and shook his
head. "They want you to bring all your research." Then
his eyes found the date. "Yesterday afternoon!"
"Yeah, so?"
"Yeah so? Well, did you go?
Tell me you didn't go."
"Relax, Jim, of course I
didn't go. It's probably about the classes I teach or
something. Nothing to worry about. They are not very likely to
come running after me. The Gestapo's got more important
things to do right now." But Blair didn't sound
convinced and his heart was going at 100mph to Sentinel ears.
Jim shook his head. "I
don't know, Chief. Are you sure that's all they're
interested in? Not the hiding people stuff?"
Blair stood up resolutely. "I
don't want to find out."
Jim stood also. "I'll
help you hide." he said. "You can stay here with me. I
have a big enough guest room and we could work on my senses. You
can get all your research done quicker. Up close and personal.
Wouldn't that be something?"
"You don't have to do
that, Jim." Blair said quietly. "You're not my
blessed protector or something. Besides, it's too risky. If
they see us together they might put two and two together and get
suspicious, and then you're gonna be in trouble, too."
Jim smiled. "Blessed
Protector? I like that. But we're in this together,
Chief." he said and slapped the young anthropologist on the
back. "All the way. In any case, the Nazis won't
suspect me. They won't dare raid the apartment of a member
of the American Embassy. I have diplomatic immunity. You can stay
here for as long as you like. This place is perfect and it's
big enough for two."
Blair was pacing in the middle of
the living room and Jim's Sentinel sense picked up his young
friends pounding heartbeat and he knew that Blair was worried.
Jim walked up behind the anthropologist and placed a gentle hand
on his shoulder, turning him around to face him.
"Stop worrying, Blair."
he said gently. "Everything will be fine. You'll
see."
Blair met his eyes and the sadness
in them drove into Jim's heart like a dagger. "Jim, I
have a bad feeling about this. You shouldn't have to do
this. It's much too dangerous. If they only suspect that
you're a Sentinel Please listen to me "
"I have listened to you,
Chief. And I know you feel, too, that there is a bond between us.
I don't know what it is, but I know I can trust you. And you
know that you can trust me. Over the past week, I feel like
I'm closer to you than to my own brother. I'm
constantly thinking about everything you ever said about what is
morally right and what is wrong." Jim's hands brushed
gently over the yellow star stitched onto Blair's jacket.
"This is wrong." he said and then pointed at the guest
room door.
"This is right."
Wednesday
morning, February 1939
It was a particularly harsh and
cold February and Blair was ill with the flu. With a loud cough,
he came from the kitchen and placed a tray of hot, steaming tea
and several cups onto the living room table. Then he smiled into
the faces of the two other people sitting on the sofa. His
younger brother Daniel was the first to reach for a cup and then
looked at Blair worriedly. But his older brother just smiled,
coughed again and sat down next to Jim Ellison.
"Okay, " Daniel began.
"I think you all know why we've come together here
today. The Kindertransport we are planning on stopping, needs as
much help and organisation as possible." Daniel took a deep
breath. "There are around 250 Jewish children from
Nazi-occupied Europe being transported by train to Germany next
week. The train is to depart from Amsterdam Station and has to be
prevented from leaving. As it is a routine transport, the Nazis
won't expect us. Guards should be minimal and we
shouldn't have any problems overpowering them. And then we
will have to take care of the rescued children." He looked
over at Jim and smiled proudly. "Jim, you've done some
discrete listening-around and said that you've already found
homes for almost 100 children in England?"
Jim nodded.
"That's fantastic,
Jim!" Blair said.
Jim sighed and poured himself a
cup of tea. "Unfortunately that's all I've managed
to secure for now, but I'll try and find more people, maybe
even in America, who would take in Jewish children. There are
even a few people at the Embassy who are willing to help, either
by fostering some of the children themselves or finding foster
homes for them."
"You're doing way too
much, Jim." Blair said sadly. "You're running a
big risk. If the Nazis ever find out "
"I'm not doing enough,
Blair." Jim said. "Look at you and your brother.
You're risking your lives every day to help others. How can
I stand by and just watch?" Ellison took a deep breath.
"Now, the children will need counselling and a lot of moral
support." he continued. "I can't begin to imagine
what it must be like for them to say good-bye to their parents,
not knowing if they'll ever see them again."
Blair nodded. "Yeah, and then
we ship them off into a strange country with a new language to
learn and to live with strangers."
Suddenly the buzzer sounded and
the three men looked at each other.
"Are we still expecting
somebody?" Daniel asked.
Jim shook his head.
"Nope." He stood up and walked towards the door and
then opened it. He gasped as he stared into the face of several
Gestapo officers. Jim was roughly pushed aside and the officers,
followed by two Dutch Nazis, burst into the house and into the
living room.
Jim followed them and cleared his
throat firmly. "Excuse me, officers, but what's going
on here?"
A tall, German officer, who was
obviously in command, stepped forward and stared for a moment at
Jim, assessing him from top to bottom. Then he simply turned
around and pointed at Blair. "This one." he said and
one of the Gestapo grabbed Blair roughly and pulled him into the
kitchen, slamming the door. Inside, he shoved Blair down to sit
on a chair and started to circle around him.
"Where is the Sentinel?"
he asked as he adjusted his black leather gloves.
"What? A Sentinel? I
don't know what you're talking about." Blair
answered, hoping that his voice didn't show how panicked he
was. He swallowed hard and tried not to turn around and trying to
see where Jim was. If he was looking. Or listening to him and
thus give himself away. Without warning, the soldier reached out
and struck him brutally across the face. Blair's head
snapped to the side and he tasted blood. And through the haze of
dizziness, he could hear the soldier asking him the same question
again. Blair raised his head in defiance and looked coldly into
the soldier's eyes. "I don't know what you're
talking about." he repeated.
"We know about your work and
your research and we know that you are hiding a Sentinel. Where
is he?" the soldier asked, and when Blair clenched his jaw
in response, the German reached out and hit him again several
times.
Blair felt the blood in his mouth
beginning to trickle down the side of his chin and the room began
to spin around him dangerously. He knew that he had been careful
and all the notes he had done about his work with Jim gave no
indications as to the subject's identity. The Nazi officer
was fishing. "Go to hell." Blair hissed stubbornly.
"I know what you're
doing and I don't care if you're an American or not.
I'll kill you, Jew, if you do not cooperate." the soldier
said coldly.
"Don't let me stop
you." Blair whispered as he whipped the blood away from his
split lip. "I won't tell you squad!"
The officer pulled Blair roughly
up from his chair and pushed him back into the living room. Jim
rose from his seat as he watched his young friend stumble towards
the sofa and he reached out to help him sit down, worriedly
taking in the Blair's blood-covered face.
Then the tall Marine turned at the
officer who was obviously in charge. "What's going on
here? How dare you do this? We are American citizens and you have
no right to treat us this way. I'm demanding to contact the
Embassy right now."
All this time, the rest of the
German soldiers were searching the house, smashing open cupboards
and doors, obviously looking for something. After half an hour
they gave up.
"All right," the officer
in charge said. "Arrest them and take them to the police
station. And leave a guard outside the house. I want to know
exactly who goes in and out of here."
At the police station, Blair,
Daniel and Jim had to spend the rest of the day sitting on the
floor of a large room amongst more people. All of Jim's
calls and demands to speak with the American Embassy were
ignored. As it turned evening, a small group gathered around an
old man who had been sitting in the corner quietly. In a deep,
calming voice, he recited:
"Adonai Eloheinu - You are my
hiding place and my shield. I find hope in your word. Hold me up
and I shall be safe."
Neither Blair, Daniel or Jim had
ever been religious people, but somehow the old man's faith
in God gave them comfort and strength.
Chapter 6
The next day, Blair and Jim were
taken to Ravensbrugge concentration camp, just outside of
Amsterdam. For further questioning, they were told. Daniel was
released. During the night they had spent at the police station,
Jim had over and over demanded to be allowed to contact the
American Embassy, but his requests fell on deaf ears. One of the
Gestapo officers had taken his diplomatic passport away from him,
and all of Jim's demands to have it returned only resulted
in laughs. He was being accused of being a spy, and the Nazi
officer had informed him that they had stripped him of his
diplomatic immunity. But Jim and Blair both knew that Jim was
being used against Blair.
The first night at Ravensbrugge,
the two men had to sleep out in the open. It poured with rain,
and the ground became a sea of mud. Then the next day, Jim and
Blair were packed into a huge barrack-room. It had been built to
house 400 people, but there were now almost 800 prisoners in it.
They had to sleep on straw mattresses filled with choking dust,
swarming with fleas and Blair shuddered as he realized that
someone had been sick on his'. The room was bitterly cold
and their only food was a plate of thin porridge the next
morning, and one piece of black bread in the evening. Punishments
were severe and male prisoners were shot on a daily basis
In the evening, after a miserable
supper, Blair and Jim sat together and Blair told Jim about the
travels he'd done in the past to keep them busy and
distracted. At first, a small group of other prisoners gathered
around them to listen, then more and more men joined them. The
men came from many countries, including Poland, France, Germany
and Russia. Blair translated his stories from English to Dutch
and even into German, someone else translated the German into
Polish, and so on. Under these terrible conditions, the goodness
and the eternal believe in justice and fairness in Blair's
stories shone out brightly and his firm believe in hope brought
everybody comfort. With death all around, the young man's
enthusiasm seemed to give the men hope for the future. Blair
seemed to have risen above all the suffering. As the evening
turned into night and everybody settled down on their mattresses,
Blair whispered to Jim, "I can see a place, somewhere in
America. It's a beautiful balcony of an apartment
overlooking a marina. We are sitting on the balcony, drinking
beer and laughing and having fun. We are going to be together and
alive. Jim, I believe one day this nightmare will be over."
The next day, Blair was taken away
for an interrogation. When he was dragged into the cold, grey
room, he was surprised to be greeted by a man in civilian
clothing and not in Nazi uniform.
"Who are you?" Blair
asked as he sat down on a wooden chair.
The man smiled. "My name is
Michael Bertmann and I work for the Gestapo."
The accent gave the man away and
Blair creased his eyebrows in surprise. "You're not
German." he noted. "You're Dutch."
Michael Bertmann nodded.
"Very perceptive, Professor Sandburg. I am Dutch if you must
know." Then he leaned forward and began in a very friendly
way. "You are an American and I would like to help you,
Professor. But you must tell me everything about your Sentinel
studies. Tell us all about Sentinels and tell us where
you're hiding them. You must co-operate with the Germans and
then they will set you free and you can go back home."
"I'm not hiding a
Sentinel, let alone a group! Whatever gave you that idea,
man?" Blair asked.
Bertmann pulled out a journal and
dropped it onto the table in front of Blair. Sandburg gasped. It
was his notebook.
"Where did you get
this?" he asked.
"We found it in your bedroom
in Colonel Ellison's house. In a loose floorboard."
Bertmann smiled. "I can see that you weren't expecting
us to find it."
Blair shrugged. "So? You
found my research. Good for you. Know any good publishers?
It's a hell of a SciFi novel."
"SciFi novel?" Michael
asked.
Blair nodded. "Yeah. Novel.
C'mon, you don't believe that any of what I wrote is
real, do you?" Blair leaned over, reached for his notebook
and opened a page. He smiled as he read the paragraph "He
stood at the window of the top floor of the high rise tower and
using his senses of sight, read the newspaper headlines of a
newspaper held by a man standing at a bus stop 400 yards
away." Blair looked up at Bertmann. "C'mon!
That's just not possible!"
"But your Sentinel research,
all your papers "
"gave me the ideal
background for a novel like that." Blair put the book down
and leaned back in his seat. "What can I say? Anthropology
doesn't pay that good to pass over a chance like that."
But Bertmann was not at all
convinced, and for an hour Bertmann questioned him, and Blair
managed to avoid giving away any vital information. Especially
concerning Jim. But the questions about his Sentinel work
didn't stop. The Gestapo man specially wanted to know how a
Sentinel became a Sentinel. Blair was glad he really did not know
exactly and told stories about his time spent with various
Peruvian tribes.
"That's very
interesting, Professor. And now tell me about your other
activities." Bertmann asked suddenly.
"Other activities? Oh yes,
about the anthropology club and my work for the local
museum." Of course Blair knew that Michael Bertmann did not
mean that, but Blair eagerly told him all about it, and after a
while, the man listened in amazement.
"What a waste of time,"
Michael commented. "Clinging onto religion and obsolete,
ancient believes to hope for some Messiah to give you salvation
in the end."
"I don't see it that way
and neither do thousands of different cultures around the
world." Blair said. "We can learn a lot from the
development of various cultures and draw parallels to our own.
You yourself must know how important it is to study a culture in
detail in order to preserve it." Then he paused for a moment
and regarded the man opposite him with interest.
"You're Jewish, too, aren't you?" he asked.
"Why are you doing this? Why are you helping them? You
should be fighting with us."
"That will be enough for
today," Bertmann snapped and gestured for the guards outside
the door to take the prisoner away.
"It's not about belief,
it's about what's right! You might not believe, but you
can't deny who you are and what is right and wrong!"
Blair shouted as he was dragged out of the door.
The next day, when the hearing
continued, Michael Bertmann asked Blair more and more about his
work and the various cultures he had visited and studied. The
Sentinel questions seemed to be forgotten. Blair was able to tell
him about the various cultures he'd studied and the many
expeditions he'd been on. It turned out that Michael hated
the work he had to do and had actually studied anthropology
before the war. But his parents had been transported to a
concentration camp in Germany by the Nazis to get him to
co-operate with the Gestapo, using his anthropological
background.
From then on, Michael actually
tried to make Blair and Jim's lives easier as much as he
could, but he didn't have the power to set them both free.
All this time Jim had been giving Blair more and more of his
rations each day, because the young anthropologist had still not
gotten over his flu and was getting weaker. But there were so
many other needy prisoners, young boys and older men, that Blair
had begged him to pass the food on to them. Jim obliged
heavy-heartedly, knowing that Blair needed all the food he could
get.
A few days later, there were
rumours that the Allied army was not far from Holland. The
prisoners heard explosions and became very excited. But it turned
out that the Germans had only been blowing up roads and bridges.
The next day, the Germans shot 700 of the male prisoners. Half of
the men were put into cattle trucks and sent to Germany. As Jim
and Blair nervously watched yet another truckload of men leaving
the camp through the windows of their barrack, the door opened.
"Haftlinge Sandburg und
Ellison!" a tall German soldier barked and pointed his rifle
at them. "Mitkommen!"
Jim and Blair exchanged concerned
looks and followed the soldier outside. What was going to happen?
Were they going to be punished for something? Or shot?
They were escorted to a waiting
truck and pushed roughly inside. The back cover was dropped
closed and as they sat in the dark, they felt the truck take off.
They had driven for what seemed like an eternity as the truck
suddenly came to a halt and Jim could feel Blair pressing closer
to him as the cover of the truck was thrown back and the face of
Michael Bertmann smiled at them.
"Sorry to be so melodramatic,
but it was the only way to get you guys out." he said and
motioned for them to come down.
"Michael?" Blair asked
in disbelief as he accepted the Dutchman's hand to climb
down from the truck. "What are you doing?"
"What does it look like,
Blair?" Michael asked as he helped Jim climb down to.
"I'm helping you escape. That's what I'm
doing."
Jim and Blair stared at him
speechless. Michael smiled. "You gave me a lot to think
about, Blair. I used the Gestapo's contact list to find my
mother and my father and you were right. They were killed
in Dachau three months ago."
"Michael, I'm so
..." Blair started but Michael just waved him off.
"It's okay, Blair. You
were right and I was wrong. The Nazis used me just like they
tried to use you. But you weren't ready to surrender your
ideals and betray your friends and family." He looked over
at Jim. "And your Sentinel." Jim gasped but Michael
just padded his arm reassuringly. "Don't worry,
Colonel. You can trust me. I've known for days about you and
if I wanted to betray you, I would have done it a long time
ago."
"What are you going to do
now?" Blair asked.
Michael shrugged. "I
don't know, but I have spoken with this guy Daniel Sandburg
and he told me about those two men in Amsterdam who are ready to
give their lives to smuggle children out of Germany. I actually
want to join them."
Chapter 7
The train station was surprisingly
calm at this late Friday lunchtime, and Jim and Blair waited
patiently behind a small wall along the main building. From their
hiding place, they could overlook both the station's
platform and the car park. Jim eyed the group of SS soldiers
patrolling along the waiting train.
"I can take them out,
easily." he whispered. "What time is it?"
Blair checked his watch.
"It's almost 2. The children should be here any minute.
Once we get them out of here and on their way, we have enough
time to still make the boat to New York."
A quick movement behind them made
them turn around and seconds later, Michael dropped down next to
them behind the wall. "Daniel said the truck is ready and
waiting." He breathed as he peeked over the wall across the
train station. "I can take them out easily." he
whispered as he spotted the group of soldiers.
Blair grinned. "Well, between
you and Jim, I feel as safe as houses."
Just then they heard screams and
shouts and an approaching German army transport vehicle. They
ducked deeper behind the wall and Jim's Sentinel hearing
tracked the vehicle as it stopped in the parking area in front of
the station. Blair looked to the other side of the station and
spotted Daniel and several resistance members positioning
themselves behind the building and on the roof tops. In the
parking lot, several soldiers jumped out of the driver's
cabin of the army transport and positioned themselves at the
back. One of the soldiers pulled the large cover back and
shouted: "Out! Schnell, schnell!"
"It's show time."
Jim whispered as he heard the children dropping out of the
vehicle one by one. They waited until all the children had left
the vehicle and were escorted to the waiting train. As the first
child was about to climb up to the open wagon, Jim shouted:
"NOW!" and Blair jumped up from behind the wall.
Looking at the children, he shouted in Dutch "Get down on
the floor now!"
Just as the surprised children
dropped to the floor, shots rang out from across the station and
one by one, the German soldiers dropped to the ground. Jim and
Michael were up and running across the platform. With powerful
swings, they took out the soldiers standing closest to the
children, while Blair ushered them out of the station and back to
the parking lot. There, next to the German transport stood a dark
grey truck. Daniel was waving at them.
"C'mon,
c'mon!" he called and smiled, trying to look friendly
and as less frightening as possible. "We don't have
much time!"
One by one, they helped the
children into the back of the truck and as the last one was
safely settled down, Blair banged three times against the side of
the truck. "This was the last one! Go, go, go!"
With a powerful roar of the
engine, the truck took of and Daniel and Blair watched it
disappear down the road.
Blair and Daniel exchanged a long
look and smiled at each other.
"Our pick-up will be here any
minute." Daniel said.
"Blair? Daniel?" they
heard Jim's worried voice and seconds later, the Marine and
Michael came running out of the entrance door. "Everything
okay?"
Daniel nodded. "Everything is
fine. They've gone."
A movement behind Jim made Blair
look up and he froze. "Jim!!!! Look out!!!!" Blair
shouted and reached into his large coat, bringing out a German
army service revolver.
With one swift move, Ellison
turned around and dropped the German soldier with one shot from
his revolver.
Then he walked over to Blair and
Daniel, who hadn't moved. "Give me that thing, Chief.
You can barely hold it!" He reached for the weapon and
pulled it effortless out of his young friend's hand.
Suddenly, another shot rang out and as the three men turned
around, another German officer dropped to the ground, gripping
his arm painfully. Michael had stepped from the shadows of the
building and now stood over the fallen soldier, his gun pointing
at the man's head. Behind the men, a black car approached
and Daniel waved at the driver to wait for a moment.
"No, Michael!" Blair
pleaded. Killing in self-defence was one thing, this would be
cold-blooded murder, no matter who the man on the ground was.
"Don't do it. It's not worth it."
Michael's hand holding the
service revolver shook as he tried to gain control of his
emotions. "All those years while I was serving those
animals, I kept praying to God. Often, when the pain of what I
had to do became too much to bear I would say, God if you let
me live I promise to take revenge and kill every Nazi
that crosses my path. I will make them pay for taking my family
from me and leaving me without a burial site to visit."
Blair swallowed hard at those
words and carefully looked around them to see if they'd
attract any unwanted attention so far. Jim nodded to let his
young friend know that his Sentinel senses hadn't picked up
anything.
"Michael " Blair whispered urgently. "How
many Nazis can you kill before you die? 10, 100, 1000? And then
what? Who will remember your mother or your grandparents or your
brother after you're gone? How will you honour their
memory?"
Michael's eye filled with
tears as he looked up into Blair's blue eyes. Then he
lowered his hand holding the revolver and the tears started
falling. "God, please forgive me for not keeping my
promise." he sobbed.
Blair grabbed Michael's
arms forcefully and shook him. "Michael, listen to me! You
will survive this and you will make a good life for yourself. A
life that your mother would be proud of. You'll raise a
family, leave behind descendants so that there will be
grandchildren for them to remember after you're gone. Never
forget your ancestors and put your memories in the deepest corner
of your mind to recall them before your days on Earth will
end."
Michael looked up into
Blair's eyes and his own filled with more tears. "Oh
God, Blair .." he whispered.
"Blair!" Jim called
out as he stared ahead of them. "We better hurry up.
Company's coming."
Michael's eyebrows
creased. "I can't hear anything. How can he tell?"
Then he stopped himself. "Of course "
Blair pulled the man with him back
to the waiting car. "He's got good ears." he said
simply and then waved at Daniel. His younger brother stood at the
car, talking to the driver.
"Are the children safe?"
Blair asked.
Daniel nodded as he turned around.
"Yes, they're gone safe and sound." Then he looked
at Jim and Blair. "This is your pick-up to take you to the
harbour. You've got to go. The boat is waiting. It
won't be long until the Nazis find out what's happened
here. Go!"
"Not without you,
Danny!" Blair said. "We have to go and get Sharon and
little Naomi, too."
"They're already safe,
Blair. It's you and Jim, who have to get out of here before
"
Suddenly, they were hit by a
bright searchlight and a group of SS cars turned around the
corner and stopped in front of the small group. Soldiers jumped
out of both sides of the vehicles, weapons drawn and pointed them
at Jim, Michael, Blair and Daniel.
"Well," the Oberleutnant
snared as he paced in front of the men. "Which one of you is
the traitor Michael Bertmann?"
Blair's eye locked with those
of his friend and he smiled sadly. This was his chance to repay
his friend for all he had done and the Oberleutnant didn't
really want Michael. He wanted him, and Blair was not ready to
let somebody else go to their death for him. Blair took a deep
breath and then he took a step forward. "I'm Michael
Bertmann." he said resolutely.
Michael's eyes went wide in
shock and his head shot up "What? No, Blair, don't do
this!" Then he grabbed the German officer's arm.
"I'm Michael Bertmann."
Blair shook his head and looked at
his friend gently and his right hand secretly pushed his ticket
into Michael's pocket. "My friend here is just trying
to protect me, Herr Oberleutnant. If you check his papers you
will see that he is due on the USS Lutetia in two hours. I'm
the one you really want. I've got everything you want."
The Oberleutnant nodded with a
satisfied smile and after pulling the travel ticket out of
Michael's pocket and inspecting it, he pushed Michael behind
the line of soldiers, but Michael tried to get back to Blair. The
soldiers rushed forward to hold him back as he screamed
"I'm Michael! I'm Michael please, Blair
No "
The Oberleutnant looked down at
the orders in his hand again and raised his eyebrows. "Oh,
I almost forgot. And we also have to pick up Daniel
Sandburg." he added and looked around him. Blair's face
went pale. "No! Why? Not Daniel! You bastards
No!!!!"
Daniel smiled sadly, but before he
could take a step forward and join his older brother, a large
shadow moved in front of him and pushed him backward.
"I'm Daniel
Sandburg." Jim Ellison said and moved to stand proudly next
to Blair.
Blair stared from Daniel up to
Jim. "Don't do this Jim ... Oh, God, please Get
out, get away!" then he turned at the Oberleutnant.
"You're making a big mistake here! Let them go, they
have done nothing wrong. It's me you want. He's
"
But Jim's hand grabbed him
arm and pulled him around to face him. "Blair,
don't." he whispered and smiled. "Your brother has
family a beautiful wife and an adorable daughter. Do you
want to see them die?" Blair's painful expression
almost broke Jim's heart and he loosened his grip on the
young man. "They'll be on a ship to America in two
hours and I give my life gladly for them." Then his hand
grabbed Blair's chin and raised it slightly so their eyes
met. "And I want to be with you every step of the way. I
won't leave you alone to face whatever they'll do to
you. Ever. This is about us. We finish this together,
remember?"
A whistle blew at the bottom end
of the station and the soldiers moved forward.
"Well, this train
shouldn't leave empty. It would be a waste. Get on the
train." the Oberleutnant snorted and pushed Blair and Jim
towards the open wagon door.
Before the door was pushed closed
behind them, Blair turned around, threw a gentle smile at
Michael. "Take care of my brother." he said and then
looked coldly at the soldiers. "You might laugh now, but in
the end, everybody gets what they deserve."
But the soldiers only laughed and
roughly pushed the massive wagon door closed. A second whistle
blew and slowly the train pulled away from the station into the
advancing darkness.
Michael and Daniel stood at the
far end and embraced each other in a comforting hug.
"Dear God "
Michael whispered. "Take care of them."
Both men watched the last of the
train leave the station, when rough hands pulled them around.
"Jim Ellison and Blair Sandburg?" the German officer
snared. "Report to the station office immediately."
Both Daniel and Michael tore their
eyes away from the train vanishing into the distance and then
followed the soldier in silence across the courtyard. No words
could describe the feelings raging inside if them. Inside the
station, they were led into a holding cell and soon they'd
lost track of time. It must have been way past midnight, when
their cell door unlocked, a German soldier entered and handed
them both a set of papers. Michael looked at the papers in his
hands and the red large stamp across them.
"Deportiert nach
Amerika." (Deported to America)
Michael and Daniel were free to
leave. Michael could hardly believe it. But then he took a mental
step backwards. Not him and Daniel were free. Jim and Blair were
free. Both were pushed towards the car park.
Peter Simmons stood in the middle
of the now empty space next to an official black Embassy car and
shook their hands firmly. "Michael Bertmann and Daniel
Sandburg, I presume? I'm Peter Simmons, Cultural Attaché of
the American Embassy. It's good to see you in one piece. I
had word about what was going on here and thought you might run
into some trouble with your little *operation*." Then he
looked questioningly into the man's eyes. "Jim Ellision
and Blair Sandburg?" he asked carefully as he looked around.
"Where are they? I'd ordered all of your deportation.
Were they not with you tonight?"
Michael's eyes filled with
tears as he swallowed hard and looked into Peter's face. He
shook his head sadly.
"Blair and Jim ... are
they are they never "
"Blair and Jim are
gone." Daniel said, his voice heavy with emotion.
Peter didn't need to hear the
words to understand that Jim and Blair were dead. "I was too
late .." he whispered and his eyes locked with
Daniel's. "Oh God, I'm so sorry."
"You did all you could."
Daniel whispered and clutched the other man's arms with his
hands. "We were all too late."
Peter nodded. "Let's go
home." Peter whispered and pushed Michael and Daniel into
his car.
Epilogue
As the ship sailed into the night,
Michael drew in a painful breath as he watched Daniel Sandburg
and his wife sitting next to him in the seats. Sharon held little
Naomi tight in her embrace. A small smiled hushed across his face
at the picture and Michael's gaze went out of the window and
at the dark waters rushing beneath the ship.
He knew that by now, Blair and Jim
were dead, and fleeing to America into safety, he was now the
youngest survivor from a city of 25,000 Jews. Why was he chosen
to live? He was neither the smartest nor the strongest. Blair
certainly would have had the better future of them. But Blair had
decided to give his life for his and Jim would not let his young
friend go alone into an uncertain future. Deep down, Michael felt
that the two men had been together like the brothers they chose
to be. Until the end came. Shaking his head heavily, Michael
tormentedly looked for an answer, but the God he had almost died
for did not reveal himself to him. Not in his nightmare-ridden
sleep nor in a vision. Michael had to search the deepest regions
of his soul to arrive at an answer that he could accept and live
with. That his life suddenly had a purpose: He would be a
messenger. A guardian of the past and the stories it had to tell.
And as Michael stared at the dark sea outside his window, he made
a promise.
"I will always remember you,
Blair." he whispered heavily, his hot breath fogging the
glass of the window as he spoke. "I will memorialise your
beloved face by putting your and Jim's image and your story
in a book so that people all over the world will know that you
once lived and walked on this earth. So that my mother in Heaven
will be proud of the work I have done for you and for all the
others who have suffered and died with you."
Then Michael closed his eyes and
sleep finally claimed him.
In Cascade, Jim's eyes closed
heavily after the words "The End" and he took a deep
breath. It was 4am and he couldn't believe that he had
started and finished the book in one go. The Sentinel wasn't
sure what had shocked him more about the story. The sadness of
the events that had led Naomi to grow up in America, or the fact
that one Colonel James Ellison, who also happened to have
heightened sense, was Blair's great-uncle's best
friend.
A friend to the death.
Jim's father had never told
his son's much about their family relations but Jim was sure
that it wouldn't take much research to find out that this
Colonel James Ellison was is great–uncle who was listed as
MIA in Europe at the beginning of the Second World War. Suddenly
Blair's words from earlier sounded in his ears.
"This gives the theory of
re-incarnation a whole new meaning, don't you think?"
Jim shook his head. These were
still the contents of the Sandburg Zone and he was still not
willing to go there.
But he had certainly taken one
step closer.
The End
DISCLAIMER - Jim
and Blair have not been harmed in the writing of this story.
However their characters have been used to show the cruelty and
inhumanity of ignorance, prosecution and prejudice. This story is
dedicated to those who are willing to give their lives to fight
against oppression and those who have done so in the past. May
their stories guide us onto the righteous path.