4 Chapter 4

Chapter 4

“Yes Selma." Dennis answered immediately. "You cannot explain the phenomenon of Nazism just for economic or political reasons. All his detestable racist surface ideology was based on esoteric beliefs communicated to the followers by some of their leaders, especially Hitler himself, his subordinates Hess, Rosenberg and above all Heinrich Himmler, the all-powerful creator of the SS and concentration camps. All of them used the services of seers and in some way were shaping the Nazi ideology on occult bases. Its central nucleus was generated by a secret organization called Thule Society, created by a man called von Sebottendorff before the assumption of power by the Nazis. They believed that under the Gobi Desert lay the keys to the birth of the Aryan race and that their origins had to be sought there."

“You must know that between 1931 and 1938 the Nazis sent two pseudo-scientific expeditions to Tibet to look for traces of those origins in the dispersed populations in the Himalayas.” Debbie paused.” Those expeditions were under the command of a biologist named Ernst Schäffer and in their activities they performed thousands of anthropometric measurements to Tibetan villagers, claiming that the leaders of that people had Aryan genetic traits. Himmler himself believed he was reincarnation of a remote Saxon king named Heinrich.

“ How is it possible that such absurd beliefs have developed in highly educated and scientific societies such as the Germany of that time?"

“ It's a good question."Deborah answered." But I'm afraid I do not have a good answer."

Martín, who had been silent until then suddenly got up and snapped.

“I have listened carefully to all your explanations but I have a question. The group that you belong to ... Bluthund, are you interested in all this subject of Agartha, Shambala and Nazi esoterism by pure... let's say... academic curiosity? Or is there a more specific motive moving you?"

Dennis, obviously satisfied by his relative's sensible question, signaled to his girlfriend that he would take charge of the answer.

“ Actually, for both. All these themes harmonize perfectly with the "alternative knowledge" that we handle in Bluthund, and we have already stumbled upon the Nazi myths in the past."At that moment he paused.

“... But it is also true that the fact that we are now dealing with these issues obeys a specific and very material issue. A theme that has attracted the interest of some of our members."

“What is it?" Selma made again her voice heard.

“We still do not have all the information, and just next weekend we have organized a meeting with one of our colleagues who has investigated this issue and proposed it to Bluthund as a work area. This person will update us on the details. His name is Jack Berglund, one of those who has acted in the area of Nazi mythology in the past." **

** cf.op.cit

“ You never mentioned that name to me.” Selma said to her sister. ”Who is this Jack?"

“An American runologist. He lives here in New York City."

“Runologist?"

“Specialist in Scandinavian runes. He just got in touch with the Nazi theme because they used runes in their mythology. For example, the fearsome SS formations took their name from a rune called Sowilo."

“ And why just next weekend?" Martín's impatience was the true reflection of the interest that the issue had awakened him

“Because Jack must take certain precautions to move around."

“What happens? Has he got outstanding accounts with justice?"

Selma's question was logical.

“No. His accounts with the justice have already been settled. They were issues related to his professional activity. The enemies Jack must take care of now are of a different nature, more hidden and more fearsome. Therefore, special precautions must be taken."

Selma and Martín looked at each other somewhat bewildered.

“ For that reason we will prepare a picnic or the coming weekend.” Dennis continued.

“Really?"

“Yes."

The Bear Mountain State Park is located in the Rockland County, in a mountainous area of New York State placed on the west bank of the Hudson River. The zone includes lacustrine landscapes, streams and groves suitable for picnics.

Dennis silently guided a rented car and drove silently so he could concentrate on the many curves on the road and determine the location chosen for the meeting.

"Have you been here before?" asked Debbie.

“ Yes, a couple of years ago. I hope I will remember the curve in which we have to leave the road and park.

“So far I´ve seen see very few cars and few people on this site.” said Martín.

“The weather is very variable and today's forecast indicates rain. It is not a day that many would choose for a picnic.” answered Deborah.

"Debbie, I think there's some information about Jack that Selma and Martín should know before we meet him. I want to concentrate in driving the car. Why don´t you tell them?"

“All right.”The woman responded, taking a few moments to sort out her ideas.” As we told you, Jack was imprisoned for his participation in an incident related to Bluthund, and for reasons that we never knew was released shortly afterwards. Those who moved their influences to set him free tried to manipulate him but he did not live up to their purposes and these people persecuted him ever since. Jack had a girlfriend named Lakshmi Dhawan (**), a woman born in India and a FBI member, who took part in many of the events that happened then but when Jack was convicted she ended up marrying another academic member of Bluthund, an Icelander called Ingo Ragnarsson, with whom she had a daughter, Alina, who today must be about six years old. Eventually Lakshmi and Ingo divorced and when Jack was set free he tried to go back with her. There is no doubt that Lakshmi and Jack always loved each other but circumstances played against them. We do not know what happened next."

(*** op.cit.)

"There it is!" Dennis interrupted. "I recognize the place."

He drove the car to a dense grove on one of the edges where they all descended. As noon time approached, Debbie and Dennis carried several baskets with the food supplies they had brought.

“Now I know that the picnic plan was serious.” Exclaimed ironically Selma.

“Secret plans or not we have to eat.” was the simple answer.

“ What now?" asked Martín.

“Now we eat and we wait for Jack to appear."

“Aren´t we meeting at a fixed hour?"

“Approximately at noon."

They had already had lunch and had collected all the debris to dispose of it somewhere outside the park. The two sisters had left the place to walk around the site in order to reach a nearby stream; the place was idyllic despite the threatening sky. The three men had been sitting on the floor, talking about banal issues.

Debbie and Selma walked along the descending path that led to the watercourse. In a moment Selma was startled by the agitation of branches of nearby bushes behind which a diffuse shadow appeared; the young woman looked scared at her sister, who had also perceived the movement and was looking expectantly in that direction.

“Hello Deborah.” The voice was close and produced a relaxing effect on the woman, who ran to a man who had emerged from the vegetation and embraced him, to the perplexity of her sister.

“Oh Jack! it´s been so long."

They hurriedly walked towards the place where the men were. Martín lay on his back on the grass talking to Dennis and when he heard a noise he turned around and found himself alone. His relative was running towards the approaching group. The Argentinean looked at the newcomer, a bearded redhead giant that brought a number of Viking characters to his mind.

Dennis had embraced the man and it was evident that both and Deborah shared an old affection.

Dennis made the introductions with a lump in the throat so that his girlfriend had to complete it.

<Well, so this is the famous Jack. I have to grant that he has an imposing presence.> thought somewhat bewildered Martín; then he looked at Selma and noticed that the girl was also a little shocked.

Since the newcomer had not eaten the picnickers shared with him the lunch they had brought while they were sipping coffee. The talk was monopolized by Debbie, Dennis and Jack Berglund and revolved around shared experiences and what happened after their separation, which according to their estimates had taken place three years earlier.

Once the conversation about memories subsided, Jack asked his old friends.

“Well, are these the guys that are going to accompany us in this new stage?"

"Yes," Dennis answered. "As we have explained before, both are related to Debbie and me and are absolutely trustworthy."

Berglund leaned against the trunk of a tree, and despite his previous stressful appearance was now relaxed. Debbie reflected that in his random life the man probably did not have many chances to be safe among friends. In an impulsive gesture she asked.

“Dime Jack, how are your things, you know, the personal ones?"

The man looked at Selma and Martín and then at the woman.

"As Dennis told you, you can speak in front of them." Added Deborah, anticipating her friend's doubts.

“ As you may know, I told Lakshmi that I want to have a second chance with her. The problem is that I have to hide myself permanently and being together would limit her and the girl's activities and on the other side would be incompatible with her FBI membership, so we should content ourselves with meeting in a clandestine way, as you and me have found today."

The air with which Jack answered was sad and melancholic and clearly showed his state of mind. To throw his friend off his depression Dennis thought it was time to talk about the subject that had brought them together. Without mediating any introduction, he said.

“ Jack, tell us about Agartha."

The aforementioned turned around in his resting position in the trunk while looking for the tip of the ball to begin his narration.

“Have you ever heard about Aman Bodniev?"

“ Never."

“Bodniev is a Siberian shaman who lives in a lost cabin in the taiga, serving as a healer to the few inhabitants of Yakuta origin who live scattered in those desolate plains. He has demonstrated his gifts of clairvoyant in the past with notable successes in the search for lost people in the tundra, objects and in the prediction of events. He has always shied away from putting his talent at the service of Russian governments, but from time to time he introduces some new... let´s call it intuition to the small group of people who know him."

"And has he manifested any of those ... visions now?" Dennis's tone showed a clear skepticism.

"Yes, on a subject that has baffled many explorers and adventurers of all stripes for almost a century."

“What is it about?"

Jack again answered with a question.

“Is the name Baron Roman Ungern von Sternberg familiar to you?"

“No. We do not know anything about him either."

“ Well, in this case this is going to be a long story.” Jack settled back on the floor.

“ When the communists took power in Russia in 1917, it took them years to extend it to all the immense territory that was to constitute the USSR. Groups of aristocrats and people linked to the Tsarist past revolted for a long time and confronted the Bolsheviks with arms. One of the most important was Admiral Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak, a hero of the Russo-Japanese War and the First World War, when he commanded the Tsarist Imperial Fleet. Kolchak established a state independent of the Bolsheviks based in Omsk, until 1920 when he was betrayed and executed by the Communists. His troops, consisting of white Russians and Poles made a desperate withdrawal pursued by the Bolsheviks through thousands of miles of Russian territory, Mongolia, China and Tibet trying to reach colonial India. It was on arriving in Mongolia that they found our character, Baron von Ungern."

“Who was he?" asked Martín, his attention once again evidently captured by the narration.

“ Baron von Ungern Sternberg, possibly born in the Baltic countries, had two conflicting personal characteristics. On the one hand, he was a military man with a great strategic capacity and a fanatical supporter of Russian nationalism. On the other hand he was a mystic very knowledgeable of Buddhism and Tibetan Lamaism, and apparently considered himself a reincarnation of the Mongol god of war. He went from being a general in the anti-Bolshevik army in the civil war in Russia I just told you about to a true warlord who took control of Mongolia commanding his Asian Cavalry Division, wresting that country from the Chinese. That division was a formidable nomad army with great mobility and firepower. Ungern was a monarchist who wished to restore the Romanovs in Russia under the power of a Grand Duke and at the same time reestablish the power of a certain Bogd Khan in Mongolia after ousting the Chinese. It is said of him that he wanted to restore the empire of Genghis Khan in Asia."

"Is everything you're telling us true?" Inquired Selma, whose youthful mind had also been trapped by the epic story Jack was telling.

"Yes indeed, although it's not too well known because the Soviets have hidden it.

“ And how does the story go on?" urged Martín, while Debbie smiled at the attention of the audience achieved by her old friend, who continued his story.

“In 1921 von Ungern commanded an invasion of Eastern Siberia with an army formed by Russians and Mongols, but was eventually defeated, captured and shot and this was the end of his story ... and the beginning of the legend of his treasure."

"What treasure?" Martín's reaction was instantaneous.

“In his raids Baron Ungern, who was a bloody and unscrupulous individual, looted the riches of the cities he had conquered and according to the stories of those who knew him, he had collected a treasure of a great quantity of gold and silver, and numerous precious stones of great value. His purpose was not only personal enrichment but primarily to put those funds at the service of his monarchical restoration project."

“ Do you know what happened to the treasure?"

“According to the legend, before the advance of the Red Army, von Ungern tried to have it carried to a safe place out of the country and for that purpose he sent it with a strong contingent of his troops but they could not cross the border and buried the treasure in the steppes of eastern Mongolia and then scattered. Thus began the myth of the treasure of the "Crazy Baron" and although many have sought it, nobody could find it until now."

After his long narrative Jack looked tired and hoarse, so he took a breath. After a while and proving that not only young people had been hooked on the story Dennis inquired.

"And how does your Siberian shaman enter this story?"