A New Hope

New Discoveries

                                   Ocean outside wall Maria

                                  German Aircraft Carrier Graf Zeppelin

Two emotions are visible on Vizeadmiral Dönitz's face: hope and concern. Hope because of the fact they aren't alone here, and concern because of the pilots' pale faces and shaking bodies.

"What's wrong?" he asks, "you look ill."

Fritz and Johann look at each other for a few moments before Fritz speaks. "Herr Vizeadmiral," he says "do you want the bad news, or the very bad news?"

The eyebrows on Dönitz's head arch. 'Whatever they saw out there must have really spooked them,' he thinks to himself. Dönitz pauses briefly before looking at them. "The worst news first gentlemen, if you would please."

"Well, Herr Vizeadmiral," Fritz says "we can officially tell you that we are not in our world anymore."

Dönitz clenches his jaw and tries to mask the shock on his face. His mind is racing, thoughts flying through fast. He takes a moment to steel himself. "How can you possibly know that Captain Keiner?"

"Herr Vizeadmiral," Fritz says "the reconnaissance photos we took will clearly show these giant people. There's also a forest of giant trees, even bigger than those American redwoods."

At the word's giants, Dönitz quirks his eyebrows up. "Really Keiner? Giants?"

From his tone Fritz knew that the Vizeadmiral didn't believe him. He starts to respond when one of the intelligence officers' bursts through the door, hitting the wall with a resounding crack that gathers the attention of everyone in the room.

"HERR VIZEADMIRAL!" the man shouts running over to him, photos clutched in his hand. His eyes are opened wide, and his hands can't stop themselves from shaking. Crossing the room in mere seconds, he shows the pictures to Dönitz.

His face pales when he sees what is captured on the paper. "Very well captain I believe you now," Dönitz says, his voice cracking slightly as he speaks. He tries to calm himself and get color back in his face. "And what exactly is the bad news?" asks Dönitz in a reluctant voice.

Fritz looks over at Johann and grips his shoulder, whispering something under his breath.

"American planes, Herr Vizeadmiral. They're here, somewhere," Johann answers in a low voice, afraid of even hearing himself say the words.

Dönitz looks down at the photos again. "Between the Americans and these giants, I wonder who the real enemy is," he mutters under his breath.

Dönitz zeros in on the radio and makes it over there in a few strides. He hits a button and speaks into the microphone. "I want all ground commanders and most of the ship captains to report to the Graf Zeppelin briefing room to receive the report from the reconnaissance flight. That is all."

Setting the microphone down, he turns to the pilots. "Come men. You need to be present to give your report to the commanders, no?" With that being said, he walks toward the door with Johann and Fritz following him to the briefing room.

                                   American carrier George Washington

Silence hangs over the briefing room as Smith, Hale, and the pilots stand at the front of the room. The empty chairs in front of them wait for the ground commanders to join them.

The first one to walk through the door are Major General Eric Davis, then Captain Charles White. Soon men were filling the room, filling in one at a time. The seats beside MG Davis were Major General's Malcolm Stone and William Smithson. The seats on the other side of the room are occupied by some of the captains of the other ships, Captains Spencer, Fitzroy, Mullen, McNaughton, Livingston, and Wright.