Bruce Larson vs. the Germans: Pt. 2

By Brian Englesma

click here to read part 1.

The mystery man led Bruce to Washington Street where a black sedan with tinted windows was waiting.  “Get in,” the mystery man said, opening the rear door.

Bruce didn’t know why he did it, he didn’t make a habit of getting into strange cars with mystery men, but there was something about this man, about this situation, that made it all different.  He seemed to know what he was doing, and more importantly he seemed to know what was going on here.  He slid into the back seat of what appeared to be an old Cadillac Deville, American made, just the way Bruce liked it.

The mystery man slid into the seat next to him, leaned forward and muttered something to the driver.  Suddenly a plane of dark glass slid up from in front of Bruce, separating him and this mystery man from their driver.  Bruce felt the car slowly move forward.  It was at this time that Bruce wished he could see out those tinted windows.  See where he was, where they were going.

Leaning back into his seat the mystery man took off his hat and sunglasses.  “Hello Professor Larson, my name is Agent Cartier, I’m with the CIA, you don’t know me, but I know you.  You see, the agency, that’s what us agents call the CIA, we’ve been following what’s been happening at Gettysburg College for some years.”

It was at this moment the car started to speed up.  Bruce felt the driver take a lot of turns, like they were being chased or something.  Now more than ever Bruce wished he could see through these darn windows.  “Just where are we going man,” asked Bruce.

“For your safety I think it’s better I don’t say,” responded Agent Cartier.

“Listen, man, I don’t what’s going on here, this stuff is just like to crazy,” said Bruce.

“We know Bruce.  Trust me; the agency has got a pretty good read on the situation.  You see Bruce, can I call you that, it seems that for years the Germans have been trying to infiltrate Gettysburg College.  You ever notice how the German Department was the best funded on campus?”

“No, not really, I’ve never noticed anything extravagant about them.”

“Trust me Bruce, if I showed you just how much they got your head would spin.  The Germans have been playing you guys for fools all these years, they had us for a while too, but sooner or later the agency always comes around.”

“Listen man, can you just tell me what this is all about?”

“Certainly, how could I forget.  Surely you’ve heard of Pennsylvania Dutch Country before, right?”

“Well yeah, of course I have, but what does that have to do with Germans taking over the school?”

“It has everything to do with the Germans taking over the school.  This thing goes far deeper than you think.  The Germans, they’re trying to take over Pennsylvania Dutch Country, return it to the fatherland.”

Bruce was shocked.  “That makes no sense; Pennsylvania was never part of Germany.”

“Try telling that to the Germans.  They’ve been working at this for years, trying to get people into key positions at the school.  Did you ever ask yourself why Gettysburg College built that new athletic center?”

“Yeah, I could never figure it out.  I guess it was to attract more student athletes or something like that.”

“Ha, hardly. For years the school has been trying to get the students into better shape, make them grow some lean muscles.  Did you know that they put steroids into the servo food?”

“No, but I still don’t see what you’re getting at here Cartier.”

“They aren’t training students, Bruce, they’re training an army.  And soon they’ll be strong enough to make a move on Dutch Country unless we do something to stop them.”

“So you mean to tell me the Germans somehow managed to take control of the whole school, that all the key players are in on it?  Von Wolfenstein, Servo, all of them and more.”

“Yeah, and that’s only the start:  The Board of Trustees, most major members of the administration, heck they’ve even got Frank over at DPS.”

“But how, how did they do this?”

“Deutschmarks, Bruce, deutschmarks.  They paid them all off in deutschmarks.  By the time people realized that deutschmarks were out of circulation it was too late, the Germans were in control.”

The car started to slow down.  Agent Cartier opened the door. “Alright Bruce, this is the end of the line.  Do you have a shortwave radio?  If not I suggest you get one, that’s how I’ll contact you next.  Remember, you’re the Silent Unicorn, I’m the Spitting Camel.  When the time comes you’ll know what to do, the agency will make sure of it.”

“But wait, where am I?” asked Bruce.

“Turn around, you’re back where we started.”

“But all those turns…”

“Yeah, we were driving around campus.”

With that Agent Cartier shut the door and sped off.