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The Offices of William Donovan
"Ladies and gentlemen, good evening. For those of you that don't know me, my name is Bill Donovan, and this is William Friedman." "As you may have heard, Hitler just declared war on his unfortunate Soviet allies. Although we've known about his plans for some time, Stalin wouldn't listen to our warnings. Now we estimate that approximately 3 million German soldiers, the bulk of Hitler's active forces, are marching fast toward Moscow and Kiev. We don't expect the Russians to hold the lines. Nonetheless, this creates an opening that we've needed for some time." "You've already been briefed on the "Voynich Manuscripts", the focus of this groups efforts. For your own protection we've been vague on the details of this part of the operation... suffice it to say that what we've discovered so far has been... incredible. Our cipher group has completed some interesting new translations, and we need a team to investigate in the field. In this case, that field happens to be the foothills of the Carpathians, in Little Poland." "I've asked the Captain here to lead the mission, and he selected your dossiers for his team. Some of you have already had experience with... well, lets just say you've seen things that most folks wouldn't believe. We'll need your kind of courage and open-mindedness to pull this stunt off." "Your objective is a box. If our information is correct, the box has been changing hands across Europe and the Middle East for several centuries, and contains something important enough to topple nations and sacrifice lives for. Before you ask, no, we don't know what's in the box... yet. It might be documents or scriptures, like the manuscript itself, or it might not be. It's also thought that it contain "the philosopher's stone". In any case, it would seem that even Napoleon thought it was worth crossing the Alps and invading Austria to put his hands on it... and others thought it important enough to make sure he never found it." "The box has apparently been guarded by a radical kabalistic sect of Hassidic Jews for generations. Our sources say that for the last few years the box has been smuggled around the Jewish underground of Poland, moving constantly in an effort to keep it out of Hitler's hands. A contact inside the Polish resistance, however, indicates that this chase is coming to an end, as too few members of the Jewish community remain free to hide it. What's more, it would seem that certain SS officers have been asking very specific questions about the box in recent months. It's time for us to make our move." "Ladies and gentlemen, I won't lie to you. Although we will be able to get you into Poland through our contacts with the Home Army, the going will by no means be safe. The Nazis have complete control over the Polish territories, and their supply lines are moving steady streams of troops and armor through the area to the Soviet front. We expect them to be distracted, and paying little attention to their rear, but Himmler's Einsatzgruppen are working overtime exterminating Jews, Poles, and Soviets alike. I won't call this a suicide mission, but the dangers are certainly clear. No one will think less of you if you decline to go. But I can tell you, if what we've translated from the manuscript about this box is true, it is vital that we retrieve it. The fate of the war, and quite possibly the world, relies on it." "I'll expect your answers by the morning, at which time we'll begin working
out the details. If you have any other questions, talk to the Captain
here. And of course, everything you've learned here tonight is, as always,
strictly confidential. Thank you, and good night."
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