THE LOST TREASURES
—PART THREE—
Dearest reader, it is here in Greenland that I, Jules Verne, planned to leave my vast treasure. But here marked the beginning of the end of my fragile alliance with this captain of dark moods and deep intellect. I thought no act could be more hideous than the destruction of Ikaria. But here is where I learned the true scope of his plans. The depths of his delusions.
I am a man of science. Yet I stand in awe of the mystery of nature. The former exists to understand the latter. To break down the natural world into smaller parts for examination. Yet the combination of nature’s parts can be put back together in new ways. They can create monsters of their own—substances of explosive energy. Death sticks whose force can vaporize a human being in seconds. This power makes a mockery of gunpowder and bullets. And this power is what my enemy seeks to use to ever-more-destructive aims.
Having seen the calving of an ice shelf by chance upon his voyages, he set his mind upon causing one such event himself. For his pleasure alone! For now, I have defused his demented plot. But someone will trip the meteorite, and I pray for the survival of all the gentle souls nearby. And then what? The development of ever-greater methods of destruction? The taming of the atom itself, a goal which my nemesis has professed to seek?
I fear he is drunken with the success of his plunder of the Ikarian secrets! In his lifetime, he believes, he will master the building of an underwater civilization. It is then that he will set in motion his plan of devastation. And when the cities empty, then into his triumphal kingdom will flock his chosen people—chosen by their willingness to accept him as master.
Reader, if you have made it this far, I can only imagine your astonishment. But it is crucial that you know what happened. That you see the depravity of the demented genius who calls himself No One. It is here that I decided upon his final fate. May God forgive me. May you forgive me.
Take this note. Secure this cave. Proceed, as I did, to the northeast, stopping at the port of Tourbillon D’Eau.
JV