The Medusan Experiment

The year was 1916, and the world was occupied, with the reality and tragedies of the horror of the Great War. I had arrived one afternoon, at the trenches on the northern end of the Ypres, within the province of West Flanders that was located in Belgium. Most of the country was under the occupation of Germany, with the exception of the Western Front.

I had been working with the Belgium resistance movement. My name is Nathan Westbrook, an American scientist. I was sent to Ypres, to attempt to diagnose an unknown chemical that was being utilized by the Germans, against the allied forces there on the Western Front.

The trip was perilous, and the Germans were attentive to all the trains that had passed through Belgium. I had traveled from the contiguous province of France. Along the way, I had contemplated what type of unique chemical would cause such massive casualties on the battlefield? Its catastrophic effects would reveal the veracity of war, at its insatiable insanity.

Once at the hospital, where the wounded were treated and the dead were amassed, I had immediately observed them, with extreme caution and conscientious measures taken. I wore the proper equipment to protect myself, from the exposure to any possible chemicals that were found on the bodies or clothing of the fallen soldiers. It was a horrendous sight to have to bear and surmise their haunting affliction. It would be a precursor to the maddening fervor for war and its costly fruition.

To me, as a man of practicality and science, it was an ineffable sight that no person should ever have to witness and have to talk about its psychological terror. It would be my first experience with the usage of chemical or biological warfare, but sadly, not the last one that I would confront in my life.

It would be known that throughout the war, the use of this type of barbaric weapons would be experimented on the men of the battlefields and prisoners of war. Chemicals such as chlorine gas that is a greenish yellow cloud whose smell is that of bleach and causes the irritation in the eyes, nose, lungs and throat. It kills the person afflicted by asphyxiation. Phosgene which smells like moldy hay and is six times more lethal than chlorine gas.

Mustard gas, an agent that has a strong smell. Dianisidine chlorosulfate that attacks the lungs instantly. Tear gas was first used in 1914 by the French then by the Germans at Neuve Chapelle. Chemical warfare had been used for centuries, ever since the ancient Athenians.

There were other soldiers that were dead that were kept in a private part of the hospital, where I had not been before, and they were noticeably different than the others. I thought I had seen the worst of the faces of death, but there within the ample tents that were erected, were the remains of what had appeared to be dead men.

What was more chilling and unusual was the fact they all of the deceased were visibly stiff and frozen. Unlike the others that had pallid faces, with protruding alabaster eyes. Regrettably, I had seen many men fall to the ground, with their limbs in convulsions and distorted in agonizing death. They were not memories to reminisce so fondly.

The application of some kind of chemical gas was involved in these aforementioned cases. The question that was pending was, what could have caused these men to be frozen like hardened icicles? When broken, they were reduced to particles of ice.

The valiant men who stood on the parapet had suffered least, because the gas was denser near the ground in their inhospitable trenches. The usage of chemical weapons was against the violation of the 1907 Hague Convention on Land Warfare, but the Germans would not be the only ones using this atrocious weaponry.

The treaty of the Geneva Protocol, which was signed by 132 nations on June 17, 1925, would be created to ban the use of chemical and biological weapons during wartime. Whatever chemical had frozen the soldiers, it was of extreme importance that it be detected, in order for it to be constrained at once. At that moment, my ideas were analytical suppositions and unproven facts.

It had taken me a whole week of studious examination and observation to finally be certain to diagnose, the mysterious gas that had left frozen the dead soldiers. After hours of experimenting, I had concluded that the lethiferous agent that was used was in fact, a form of liquid nitrogen.

At 320 degrees Fahrenheit or 196 degrees Celsius it was dangerous. Its viscous vapor could rapidly freeze skin tissue and eye fluid, resulting in such things, as cold burns, frostbite, and permanent eye damage, even from brief exposure. Apparently, the liquid nitrogen was siphoned from tanks. They were brought by trains in containers. The soldiers that had witnessed the gas attack and lived, described it, as not having any odor nor transparent color.

From my knowledge of chemistry, I knew that liquid nitrogen consisted of pure nitrogen molecules, and at normal pressure, the nitrogen becomes a liquid. The terror was its rapid expansion from a liquid into an injurious gas. Because of the energy spent, it reduces the temperature considerably.

This is analogous to the liquid that evaporates from our skin that lowers our body temperature, due to the energy, in the form of heat. Eventually, it freezes and hardens into a glass-like solid mass, with a chain reaction. The nitrogen glass is unstable. Its atoms seek to reorganize into a puissant and crystalline structure. The glass cracks into a shard of million minuscule fissures, as the molecules rearrange then themselves like a gestalt.

The name of Dr. Ludwig Reiner, a German scientist had been referred to me, as the mastermind behind this implementation of liquid nitrogen. I had heard of his continual work and his expertise on the different usages of gases, but I was not fully acquainted with his recent experiments.

It was said that he was an innovative man and had a high intellect. The fact that the Germans were using this type of chemical was a daring tactic in their warfare. If Dr. Reiner was the instrument to its utilization, then he had to be halted and captured. The question was where could he be located?

My immediate task was assisting the army in combatting the chemical and finding him, before he could create more deadly weapons against the allies. Realistically, there was nothing that I could have done to have prevented the deaths of the cadent soldiers.

I had left the area of Ypres and headed toward France. There I would be able to study more in depth, one of the frozen bodies that were retrieved from the battlefield, as a specimen at the laboratory that had belonged to a Dr. Van Der Hout of Belgium.

Once I was finished, I would return the body back to the army. Dr. Van Der Hout was eager to assist me in whatever endeavor was necessary. He was a very reliable scientist and chemist. He was secretly, a member of the resistance movement. When he examined the frozen body, he had concluded that liquid nitrogen was indeed, the chemical that the Germans had inflicted their terror.

In the mad hands of an astute scientist of connivance like Reiner, the gas could be used for malevolent purposes. What was worse was a report that he had been experimenting on allied captured soldiers and local civilians, for his scientific research. I was not a zetetic of his ostensible perversion.

It was remarkable yet alarming that if the reports were accurate, then he had to be seized. Dr. Van Der Hout was convinced that Reiner was operating from nearby the front. He was not certain which, but he had assumed it was near the German and France border.

I was prepared to go to either of those countries to find him. I knew that it would not be facile to apprehend him. We had to be mindful about that possibility. In the meantime, we had concentrated on determining, how much of the liquid nitrogen was needed to instantly freeze the bodies of a human being, at a given temperature. We did our own experimentation, but with rats.

Although the size of a rat was not relatively the same, as the size of a human, it had still allowed us to determine in our calculations, some measure of comparison. In the end, the results were horrifying. After a week had passed, there was news of the whereabouts of Dr. Reiner. Apparently much to our surprise, the doctor was secretly in Paris, operating as a spy for the Germans.

Once we had been apprised of his whereabouts, we headed in the direction of the hotel that he was staying at. Unfortunately, for us, we were too late, and he had fled before we could arrest him, but he left behind a row of bodies that were completely frozen, like the soldiers found in the battlefield at Ypres.

It was utter shock to see the bodies, in such an unthinkable state of frigidity. They were like stoned figures immovable and hardened. We would soon learn that they were British agents that were sent to capture Dr. Reiner. I was not informed about the British agents and their activity, nevertheless, I was stunned by what had occurred. It was clear that there was a struggle between the agents and the doctor.

Did someone inform him that the agents were arriving at the hotel? Judging from the evidence, liquid nitrogen was utilised to freeze the agents. How much? That was still pending to further examination. It would seem that the dead agents had been frozen for over an hour. Upon touching them, they broke into fragments of ice that then resulted in small particles. The room inside was cold and drear, even my hands were becoming numbed and clammy. My breath was puffing circles of patent smoke.

We were forced to abandon the room and to heat up outside of the hotel. There was no sign of the elusive Dr Reiner, as mentioned before. He had registered under his name, which tipped off the British Agents. Where he had fled to was the impending question that I had pondered upon our departure from the hotel.

When we had thought that there was no sign or trace of him, we had found a document that was left behind by Dr Reiner. Was it left behind intentionally, or did he commit a foolish mistake on his part? Either way, it was valuable information we had ascertained.

The document was entirely in German, but I had learned the language, during my time in Germany before the Great War. The experiment was named Das Medusan-Experiment in German, the Medusan Experiment in English, due to the comparison with the gorgonizing Medusa of Greek mythology. What was described in detail was disturbing and abhorrent in nature.

It would confirm without a doubt, my growing suspicion that Dr. Reiner had indeed been experimenting, with captured allied soldiers and local denizens. He had transcribed and reported every experiment effectuated. They even had dates assigned. What was more concerning was the fact that he had planned on using the liquid nitrogen in other battlefields and places. This was the reason that it was imperative that we prevented these occurrences and capture Dr Reiner. They were despicable acts against humanity.

The Germans had persisted in their use of liquid nitrogen, and it was a hellish nightmare of terror to confront. The gas masks that the allied soldiers would cover their faces were not effective, against this form of deadly gas. We had related all the information discovered in the document to the leaders on the battlefields, especially in Ypres where the battles were intense, and the casualties were insurmountable.

I had the sensation that the Germans would go to extreme measures to win the war, at whatever cost it had seemed victorious. Dr. Van Der Hout was in concurrence with my analysis, and he had suggested that the allied forces prepare themselves for more horror. It was not out of the realm of thought that liquid nitrogen would be used by the allied forces also.

Dr. Reiner was then located again. This time he was arrested at the border with Germany in Alsace. He had been secretly meeting, with German chemists in that remote area in the countryside. He was immediately taken to Paris, where he would be interrogated there. Dr. Van Der Hout and I had gone to Paris to speak to him, but when we had arrived, he was no longer there. He had somehow escaped French captivity.

Apparently, he had used the same method as before in his escape from the previous hotel, the nitrogen liquid gas. It was incredible to believe that under French supervision, he was capable of having this chemical, without being detected. I knew then that we were dealing, with a cunning man that could not be underestimated.

When I spoke to the French authorities who had Dr Reiner in custody at the local police station, I was told that he was checked before his imprisonment, but someone from outside had entered the police station and handed him the substance. It was more feasible to believe that it was someone that was either German or a German sympathizer. Whoever it was, had breached the prison security. Not only was Dr Reiner an argute chameleon, but he was brash enough to flee and be successful in his two attempts.

There was an imminent probability that he had returned to Germany to seek refuge, knowing that we were in pursuit. The other possibility was that he had gone to the front in Ypres to join the German cause there. The latter was not discarded, but it did appear to be too risky to be exposed to capture again.

I had learned through a direct telegram that was sent to me that the Allied Force had intercepted a train that was carrying nitrogen gas heading to Ypres.

There was no doubt in my mind that it was intended to be utilized in the front, against the Allied Forces.

We went to the train station, to investigate the dangerous material that was on board. After a meticulous examination, we had confirmed the substance to be nitrogen gas. Once it was removed from the train prudently, the train would be operable. The incident had posed a serious dilemma that was hazardous and destructive.

Was this a new tactic of the Germans to carry nitrogen and other poisonous chemicals on trains? What if this nitrogen was delivered, with passengers on board? That was a frightening plausibility. What this had meant as well was the fact that we were dealing with not only a devious scientist, but a duplicitous spy, who had eluded and escaped capture. There was nothing clandestine, about the effects of nitrogen liquid. What was furtive would be the operations of the Germans and Dr. Reiner.

We were assigned to deal with the containment of the chemical, yet it was a joint operation between numerous countries involved. Without their involvement, our search and investigation would be futile. There was nothing else we could do at that moment, except wait for any good news on the arrest of Dr. Reiner. We had proficiently determined the cause to the exallotriote frozen bodies of the perished soldiers. All we needed was to find Dr. Reiner and learn more in depth, about his elaborate plans.

Back at Paris, we were attentive to the information that was divulged in the document, and we knew that Dr Reiner was cognizant that he was being deliberately sought. His contacts in Belgium and France were apparently, more distributed than predicted. He would be forced to use alias names, so that he would not be apprehended and his identity revealed.

It was significant that we had prepared every course of action to be taken. It was a serious matter that had required time, effort and diligence on our part. The war had seen the ghastly effects of the usage of gas, and it was the precursor to its haunting nature. The ineffaceable images of the frozen bodies of soldiers that were affected by this chemical were sufficient to not forget their hideosity.

Months would pass, until a secretive laboratory was located on the outskirts of Gent. What was disturbing in the discoveries made at the laboratory were the evident frozen bodies that were found. There were similar to the ones I had seen several times before. It was extremely difficult to not be affected by such a gruesome sight. I had pondered in my mind the question about what was the ultimate goal for the Germans, with these inhumane experiments?

If they were to serve the purpose of terrorizing their foes, then it was definitely an instrument that would bring sheer terror to anyone that had to combat this gas. It would be a strange irony that in the Second Great War, the Germans would take their experimentation to the most abhorrent level of unbearable cruelty. The use of gas would still continue to be utilized by the Germans effectively, but nitrogen liquid would cease to be then implemented.

I did not have a clear idea about why the Germans stopped using the chemical, except that I had deduced that they were probably having problems in the distribution of its risky substance. The other alternative was that they were running out of the chemical and could no longer produce its deadly outcome. As a man of science, I was an exponent for the advancement of its new discoveries, but I was totally against the usage of chemical weapons in war. The world was full of such brutality that it did not need for voracious men to be, at the vaward of its manifestation.

I was at my room in the hotel of Paris staying the night, when I was visited by an unknown stranger who had resulted in being Dr. Reiner himself. At first, I did not notice his present or his entrance. I had been occupied with studying the different gases that had been used in the war, in particular, nitrogen liquid. It had fascinated me.

When I had realized that he was present, I was suddenly astonished to find him in my hotel room. At last, I would come face to face with the notorious Dr. Ludwig Reiner. He had caught me off guard that I did not have a single weapon to defend myself, except my intuition. He was an intimidating man. He was tall and imperant in stature, but the most noticeable thing about his physicality was the visible scar, on the left side of his face. It would seem that I was at a clear disadvantage.

When he spoke in English, he said the following words in his German accent, ''Are you not happy to see me, Dr. Westbrook?

''How do you know my name? How did you get inside the room undetected?'' I had asked him.

''It is not important how I know your name. As for your second question, I have my connections and was given a key.''

''What do you want? You know that you cannot hide from the authorities forever. You will be eventually caught.''

''Perhaps, but I doubt that will occur soon. What I want, is for you to listen to what I shall propose to you.''

''What is it exactly that you are proposing, Dr. Reiner?''

''That you assist me.''

''Assist you. Are you mad?''

''Not that I know of. I can assure you that I am not mad. Would a madman come to you and expose himself to the danger of being arrested?''

''A desperate and irrational man would.''

''I might give the general impression that I am desperate, but I am not irrational, Dr. Westbrook. How could I convince you otherwise?''

''Give yourself up, doctor. You have no other choice, for the Germans will not win this war.''

''Perhaps, but I am a scientist as you are, and a proud German. Just imagine what we could do with our knowledge on chemical warfare. We could change the course of a war.''

''Or destroy mankind.''

''As I was alluding to before. Together, we could create the greatest accomplishments in the field of chemistry.''

''I will have no part in your insane scheme. You will not succeed!''

''Then you give me no other choice, but to murder you. I gave the same option to your colleague Dr. Van Der Hout, but he also rejected my offer and I had to get rid of him.''

''What have you done with, Dr. Van Der Hout?''

''I merely did what I was forced to do, kill him.''

He had grabbed from inside his trench coat, a sample of nitrogen liquid. He had planned on throwing it at me and freezing me to death. When this was occurring, someone had knocked on the door and had requested to enter. It was a police agent, who had wanted to speak to me. The arrival of the police had caused Dr. Reiner to exit through the window and down the staircase, outside of the room. Immediately, I had opened the door and had informed the police that Dr. Reiner had fled and was in Paris or its vicinity.

Unfortunately, he would escape to Brussels and leave the city. My encounter with the doctor had demonstrated his ability and wit to locate me. I knew then that I was personally, an enemy to him. It was confirmed through a clarification that Dr. Van Der Hout was indeed murdered.

Two years would pass, since that harrowing encounter and experience, and America was then involved in the Great War on the Allied side. I was in France, when I had received the news that Dr. Reiner was aboard a train that was heading toward Brussels in the afternoon, from Paris. I had boarded the same train, expecting to find the doctor, as one of the passengers.

I was aware of the immediate peril that I would be confronting, but at that moment, I did not know what was the reason that he had boarded the train. His intentions I had intuited were sinister. I was told he was in disguise by one of the informants, who had apprised me of his presence on the train. I knew that he would not allow himself to be easily apprehended, and I would be correct.

I was accompanied by the French gendarmes. Once aboard the train, we had begun the search for Dr. Reiner. He rarely traveled with company. Thus, we knew that he could easily blend in with the other passengers. What we did not suspect was the devious plan that the German doctor was preparing to execute. That we would discover upon boarding the train.

There was a total of 200 passengers on board, and it would require the application of conscientiousness to detect his presence. The gendarmes went through every car, checking the passengers. We had ascertained the list of the passengers, but his name was not on the list. This did not mean that he was not aboard the train, or did it exclude him.

It merely meant that he had been using as in previous occasions, an alias name to conceal his identity. Dr Reiner was a ubiquitous and astute man. The war then was not propitious to the Germans. They were losing on the ensanguined battlefields and territory occupied in Belgium. The Germans had committed war crimes, against the civilians of Belgium.

They were more desperate to leave the country and not be arrested, for their barbaric activities and experimentations. Dr. Reiner was aware of those atrocities. He was behind the experiments that were being conducted in secrecy. He knew that if captured by the Allied Forces, he would be accused and brought to a trial for his despicable actions taken.

If found guilty, he would be hung from the towering gallows. We could not afford to make a mistake in permitting him to escape this time. At precisely one o'clock in the afternoon, Dr. Reiner was spotted coming out of the front compartment, where the conductor was at. There was an immediate halt to the train, causing frenzy and panic, in the ducenarious screams of passengers. There were countless injuries as well.

I was not injured, but I had risen to my feet to inspect the area of the conductor with the gendarmes. There inside, we found the conductor completely frozen and stiff. It was chilling to see again, the familiar body of ice. We could not remain there, due to the bitter coldness.

It was a dreadful occurrence and realization. There was no doubt in my mind then that Dr. Reiner was the indicated culprit, behind the murder of the conductor. I knew that it had planned something, but what was that something in its totality? That I was not certain of its nature.

I had related to the gendarmes that there was a daunting possibility that he had planned on using nitrogen gas that would transform into liquid, through the open vents of the cars. If so, extreme measures of caution had to be effectuated and imposed on our part with a celerity. We were halfway to Brussels, when the train was immediately halted. All the vents needed to be closed before the gas had reached the passengers and killed them.

Unfortunately, it was too late to save all the passengers. In the front cars the gas had entered violently, killing the passengers in those cars, as they froze to death. It then had spread onto the following ones that were adjacent, and the passengers there as well, froze to death.

The next and the next car would be frozen and the passengers also. It was the last car that the remaining passengers had huddled. We had closed the vents and eagerly waited in anticipation of what would happen afterwards. The passengers were more fearful and consternated. They had witnessed with their own eyes what had happened to the other passengers aboard in the front cars. There was nothing else that we could have done to stop the nitrogen from reaching the last car.

The gas had penetrated and encompassed the whole train, except where we were at. It was uncertain, how long we would be able to resist the gas and survive. We had gas masks that were available to us that were kept on the train, but they were at the front of the train. It was impossible to go and retrieve them, due to the frigolabile cars being frozen.

It had appeared that we were trapped inside the car and at the blinding mercy of Dr. Reiner. The men had attempted to comfort the women, who were more unnerved in their panic by the ongoing situation. It was a horrific quandary that we twelve persons were confronting. Seconds were converted into minutes, and soon it had been an hour, since we were stuck inside the last car together.

The idea of detaching the car from the rest of the train, including from the locomotive was discussed amongst the desperate passengers. Time was of the essence, and we had to react promptly, or we would be frozen. The cold from the car that was in front of ours was beginning to gnaw at the spissous walls. It was a matter of time, before it would eventually reach us, with the secability of the gas.

Then, the voice of Dr. Reiner was heard from the radio of the cab. Had he re-entered the cab after it was temporarily frozen? It was the only way that he could have survived also, the nitrogen liquid. He had directed his words, at the remaining passengers. He had made a declaration, which was that we were to be his hostages and taken back to Brussels. It was not a demand, but a pronouncing threat.

After the cold had cooled down and gradually evaporated in the train, the German doctor had opened the door and entered. He was wearing a gray trench coat and trousers, with long black boots. He had removed his gas mask. His hair was raven, and his eyes were blue, as the sky. The familiar cut on his face was recognizable by me. He had a devilish smirk that personified his cruel persona. Despite being multiscious, he had a certain schadenfreude that was evident, with his ribaldry and impetuosity.

''We meet again Dr. Westbrook,'' he uttered.

''What are you planning to do with us, Dr. Reiner?'' I asked.

''That all depends on you, doctor.''

''How? I don't see how any action I could do, could be a benefit to you or your cause. What do you really want from me?''

''The same thing that I once asked you before. To assist me. Join me in the cause. We could create new discoveries that would make our two countries, Germany and America stronger than before. Both of our countries would be superpowers.''

''If I rejected your offer. What would become of the surviving passengers?''

''They would die—but if you accept, then naturally, I will spare their lives.''

''Then, I agree to your terms.''

I did not want to see the remaining dead. Thus, I had acquiesced in the end, not from my volition. The passengers were led out of the train from the back entrance, but as they were departing, Dr. Reiner pulled out a pistol and began to shoot the remaining passengers. He had reneged on his word and had demonstrated, his ruthless connivance.

Sensing that I would meet the same fate as the others, I had quickly lunged at him and knocked him onto the ground, where we tussled with each other. I had managed to remove the pistol from his possession. Seeing that he was at a disadvantage, he then grabbed from his pocket a tube container that had nitrogen liquid. His intention was to pour it over me and murder me. I was able to shoot at him, before he could achieve his goal.

In the end, he would accidentally pour the nitrogen liquid onto himself, causing his body to instantly freeze to death. He looked like an ice figure that had resembled hardened stone. It was a ghastly sight to descry in person. The lingering madness of Dr. Ludwig Reiner had finally been defeated and destroyed. He had received condign punishment.

There were twelve of the passengers that had remained alive and were not killed by the doctor. The horror of the war would soon end as well. The German occupation of Belgium that had lasted from 1914 to 1918 was over. The once divided three separate administrative zones and the General Government ruled by a German general were erased.

The aftermath of the armistice of November 1918 had implied the end to the war, with the defeat of the Germans. Dr. Reiner's experiments would influence the Nazi Germany of the Second World War and the horrors that were committed, during that abominable war.

The documents on the Medusan Experiment would be kept and stored, in the archives of the U.S. Army to never be revealed to the public. Records of Dr. Reiner's experiments were retrieved from Brussels and also kept as top secret. I would return to America and assist in the creation of the first nuclear bomb that ended the war in 1945. As a chemist and physicist, it wore on my consciousness, but I had upheld my duty as an American.

I wonder at times, am I morally any different than Dr. Reiner? He had used chemical weapons, as a duty to his country. I suppose that I will leave that moral question to the reader, but I make the admission, I was never a soldier or barbarian. He was a fascist, and I was a humanist.

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