* * * * *
The polygraph test continued.
"True or false?" asked Dr. Long: "You wish to defect to the United States."
"True," replied the man now known as "Pierre LeGrande" (for what seemed like the hundredth time).
"True or false? The reason for your defection is due to the KGB's betrayal of your loyalty."
"True!"
Dr. Long had no trouble detecting the bitterness in that emphatic response. But, he maintained his calm and clinical detachment as he continued working his way down the list of questions.
Meanwhile, in the adjoining room behind the one-way mirror, Bryce Paxton kept on reading the microfilmed diary of Gustave Liebenkraft.
* * * * *
"15 Jan. 1923:
I finally have the topic for my master's thesis!"
" 'It is my firm belief that the Apples of the Hesperides (from Greek mythology) and the Golden Apples of Idunn (from Norse mythology) are basically describing the same thing: lemons! More specifically; yellow bitrons (hybrids of bitter orange and citron). Traded by Polynesian seafarers, to pre-Columbian Inca Indians, for sweet potatoes. Then, traded by the Incas, to Phoenician seafarers as payment for Cornish tin. And, finally? Traded by the Phoenicians, in turn, to ancient Cornishmen, for tin-mining rights. Yet, odd as it may sound, it is not the above that I intend to validate with this thesis. But, rather, the mystery of how these proto-lemons reached pre-Germanic Scandinavia that I wish to hypothetically solve.' "
"I can only hope the thesis committee does not reject it."
* * * * *
"7 Feb. 1923:
"It has been accepted, unconditionally. Vunderbar!"
* * * * *
"1 Apr. 1923:
I met Professor Phillips, again, after returning from Easter services, this morning. And, he has told me a most interesting tale."
"It seems that he was recently approached, after a lecture in San Francisco, by a man who identified himself as Matthew Lancer. This man claimed to be a former soldier-of-fortune! And, he further claimed that--sometime before the turn of the century--he had played poker with a retired Dutch sea captain named Vandersnatch. The latter was a widower. And, towards the end of the card game, he bet the only thing he had left that was of any monetary value. Something he had inherited from his late wife (a Chinese woman from Sinkawang in the Dutch East Indies)."
"A map to the fabled island of Kapu Hiva."
" 'The Forbidden Island?' I had exclaimed: 'But, surely you don't believe him! That's just a Polynesian fairy tale. No more real than Atlantis!' "
"To my immense embarrassment, he smilingly reminded me how my countryman, Heinrich Schliemann, disproved similar beliefs once held by the rest of the world, regarding Homeric Troy."
" 'Even granting you that,' I then countered: '...and assuming that this map is genuine, how did this Dutchman's wife come by it?' "
" 'According to Vandersnatch?' my old professor replied: 'She was descended from the great Admiral Zheng, who apparently lost a treasure ship to one of its coral reefs.' "
"It was then the proverbial light dawned on me."
" 'You're going after the treasure! Aren't you?' "
"Professor Phillips shrugged: 'You cannot deny that it would be a unique opportunity to restore some long-lost artifacts to the world.' "
" 'It would also immortalize your professional reputation when you finally retire, next year,' I sarcastically added."
"Professor Phillips smile broadened into a child-like grin. The kind a shamelessly mischievous little boy might wear!"
" 'That certainly wouldn't hurt.' "
tbc
Giantess World
