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“So you think they take them on ships somewhere else?” I asked, amazed at this claim.
Aspasia nodded briefly but then turned her attention back to the group. "Also, Myrina told us about another underground tunnel system we want to examine."
"Where is this system supposed to be? We couldn't find anything on the old maps," a black-haired woman with braided pigtails said.
“Under Columbia University and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, there are passageways and rooms that are far underground,” I explained.
"That's right!" another girl exclaimed. "My grandfather once told me about the rumor there were tunnels under the University."
A few others nodded in agreement. "We will investigate this. Tomorrow, Maggy, Myrina, and I will go from here to search for a possible connection between our tunnel system and Columbia’s,” Aspasia decided, eyeing me expectantly. “You’ll be here tomorrow, right?” A grin flitted across her face.
"I wouldn't know where else to be," I laughed but became abruptly silent. "There is only one more thing I want to ask you."
Aspasia and Maggy looked at me inquiringly. They would certainly not be pleased if I arrived now with any conditions.
"Help me find my best friend, Charly," I asked them.
Sadness attached to both faces, and Maggy shifted uneasily in her chair. Guilt was reflected in her brown eyes. But she remained silent.
The other Amazon sighed heavily. "That's the goal of this troupe: to free the kidnapped women of New York. But I have to be honest with you. Despite all our efforts and a very connected circle of informants, we haven't yet recovered one of them. It is extremely depressing. Fortunately, there have been successes. Every single woman who has been intercepted here, instead of either being dead or having to spend the rest of her life as a prisoner, raped, abused, or severely traumatized, respectively, is proof enough of that."
"So that's why you're suspicious that ships may let the abductees disappear!" I surmised.
“Yes, exactly. We can’t explain it any other way. Our contacts are widespread, but nowhere inside or outside the city could they be located.” Aspasia turned to me. Her voice sounded as frustrated as Maggy’s face looked. The rest of the group had fallen back into individual conversations.
I briefly thought about which port might come into question.
“And you think it must be one of the docks right here in Manhattan?” I wanted to know. New Jersey had many more ports than Manhattan, but unfortunately, I didn’t know any of them. My father had often visited the competition on the other side of the Hudson River, but it would be too conspicuous if I asked him about it now.
“Yes, we think so. At least for those girls who are kidnapped here in the city. They’ll be looking for the quickest way to get them out of here. A long overland transport would have caught the eye of our sources,” Maggy said, now leaning further over to me. She had lowered her voice. Apparently, this information was not meant for all ears.
"Manhattan had many more docks at the end of the twentieth century than today. I've seen pictures from 1950 that showed docks running all along the lower tip of Manhattan. Shortly after that, they had started taking those away piece by piece. Many moved to New Jersey, and now seventy percent is just marinas connecting the city to the ocean. Of course, that doesn't include the ferry docks and the museum ship," I explained.
“Museum ship?” asked Aspasia. She was not the first who knew nothing about the decommissioned ship.
"Yes, exactly," I confirmed. "It's a maritime, aviation, and space museum. Few New Yorkers are still familiar with it, as it closed about ten years ago. The decision at the time was due to the age and decrepit condition of the ship and the planes. My father was amazed at the time, as the whole facility had just been completely restored and renovated five years earlier at great expense. I remember him saying that you could still fly the planes just as you could put the big aircraft carrier to sea. The entire dock became inaccessible to the public. A wall was drawn around the pier, and even from the waterside, there was no longer any view of the area."
“But that sounds very suspiciously like a cover-up,” Maggy reflected.
Aspasia nodded in agreement. “Where exactly is this pier?”
“Between West 45thand West 46thstreets. The museum ship had the nameINTREPID." My dad took my brothers and me there many times before it closed. The many different planes and space shuttles captivated me the most.
"I know my way around inside the museum very well. At least if the construction has remained the same. I have experienced many children's overnight parties there that I can't even count them on two hands. At night, we went exploring with flashlights every time. Even behind the screens. In parts that weren't open to the public. Well, not all the kids. Maybe more just my brothersand me. We had always been a bit rebellious," I grinned at how we used to persuade the kids to invite the four of us together every time they partied at theINTREPIDso we could explore a new part of the enormous ship when we stayed overnight again. Earlier, we had been so fearless. Together, it had felt like we could face the whole world. As if no danger was so great, we could not conquer it. How mistaken we had been back then.
"It's good to know you know your way around there. We will have to take a look at the place. Since the Knights also have the airspace under their control, it's possible they aren't taken away by ships at all but secretly by airplanes," Aspasia whispered thoughtfully.
"Does anyone even know why the Knights of the Seals are kidnaping all these women?" This question had been on my mind ever since Chris had told me about it, but now that Charly was in their power, an answer to it became more and more pressing since it might also give a clue as to what they were planning to do with my friend. However, at the same time, I was dreading the answer. Did I want to know what tortures she was subjected to? Actually, not. However, ignoring it ate me up inwardly.
Both Amazons looked at me sadly. Maggy lowered her eyes in concern, and Aspasia cleared her throat briefly.
"No, we don't know," she admitted, and I could see that it tormented her as much as it haunted me not to know what had happened to Charly. "Of course, there are theories, but none have been confirmed yet. The only thing that we can say with certainty is that the reasoning must be religious. The Order has acted basically according to the Bible and its revelation. So, we also suspect the answer to this question in a Bible text or passage."
“Unfortunately, I’m not a Bible-thumper, but my brother Chris, with whom I train in the tunnels under the cathedral, he’sa priest,” I said hopefully. If anyone could help us, it was surely him. He not only knew the Bible by heart but was an expert in every religion practiced before the Brotherhood took power.
"But he is a man," Aspasia replied dejectedly. "We can't let him come here. Most of the women here have fled from men, sometimes even from those in their own families. So, we must hope to find a connection to your tunnel. In addition, we also need a safe way to get to the docks of the museum ship. I know one of the tunnels extending from here goes to the southwest. So far, however, we have not been able to explore it completely. It's troublesome because some passages are half collapsed and must be cleared first."
"Where exactly are we here? At the level of which street? And below, what part of the city?" My orientation had been wholly lost in the tunnel that had brought me here. At first, I thought I had walked further north toward Harlem, but then it might as well have been east toward the West Channel.
