Documents of Significance Pertaining to the Straßburg Disaster

by ND

UNITED STATES BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION MAY 27, 1913

SENSITIVE EYES ONLY

The following documents have been archived by agents of the Bureau of Investigation at request of Bureau director Allen and Vice President Marshall in lieu of the ongoing investigation into and prosecution of members of the secret society operating by the name 'Gunboat Compact.' There is ample evidence to believe that this society was heavily involved in domestic and foreign terrorist activities. It is of utmost importance to domestic and foreign stability that the following documents remain classified.

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< DOCUMENT 001. >

INTERVIEW - DATED APRIL 14, 1913

Two black-suited men sit across from each other in a dimly lit interrogation room. The one facing the door, a lanky, sly, weasel of a young man, stares down the other, a small notebook and black ballpoint pen in hand and a cigar in his mouth. The other, a pale, pudgy, middle-aged whelp, fidgets under his withering gaze, his receding hair seemingly growing more and more gray by the second. The young man moves to say something.

"You know why you're here. If I'm to understand correctly, you were briefed before coming here. We know you were involved with 'em. How about you make this easier for both of us and speak, alright?"

There is no response.

"Listen. I can tell you know you made a bad decision that day, and you didn't realize it. And there's gonna be consequences for your actions. But if you speak, they don't gotta be bad, alright? I'm giving you a chance to absolve yourself, you gonna take it?"

"...I met with some of them on one occasion."

The pudgy man enters a lively bar on the west side of St. Louis with three other businessmen, all finely dressed. A younger man waves and comes to them, and the man, with a glint of recognition in his eyes, warmly shakes hands and embraces him. Being led to a large table, the man briefly nods and shakes hands with a few others before being seated.

"I was meeting with some associates in St. Louis in 1904, I think. The year of the World Expo. Invited by a mutual friend of Johnson and mine, though I didn't see Johnson there himself."

"As in, Robert Underwood Johnson?"

"Yes sir."

"You recognize anyone else there? See anyone else of note?"

As he's seated, another man, brown-haired and mustached with a heavy French accent, speaks up from the left of him. Introducing them to the people at the table and surrounding ones, he follows the man's points with his gaze. Many more businessmen are present and scattered across the room, few he's familiar with. He overhears a few men in uniform discussing nothings, some with heavy accents. To his left are a couple of men dressed in Native garb, who he decides to make small talk with as the French man finishes his introductions.

"Quite a few gentlemen from France. Didn't find it all too odd, considering where we were. Couple of Indians who spoke in tongues, told me they were Lakota or something of that nature. Some generals or officers. Lots of businessmen, who seemed to all know each other well,  at least judging by the way they talked with each other. I recognized a few as fairly high-profile, but no one else."

"High-profile? How high-profile are we talking?"

"Rich men from the bigger cities up North. Chicago, New York, you know. Investors and philanthropists, mostly. Can't say for certain, but I've heard from others they were close with Carnegie and Morgan."

"Interesting. That's very interesting. But not all I wanna know. I wanna know what happened there, alright?"

After a few more minutes of talking as a few more men trickled into the tables at the corner of the bar, the man with the French accent took everyone's attention. Over twenty minutes or so, the man presented something seemingly of great interest to the others present, enrapturing them as they  granted it their full attention. Proposals were offered, and deals were struck. At the end of the night, the greasy, rotund man left the bar a bit poorer than before, but with the promise of wealth beyond anything he could hope to attain years down the line.

"One of the French gentlemen, the one who introduced me to the others and who I can only assume organized the whole thing, introduced himself as a member of an investment group known as the 'Gunboat Compact.' Was hard to understand his name when he said it with that accent. I think he said it was Pe-something, though. He told us about some big project that was looking for investments over in Europe, headed by some big scientists and Tesla himself. Couldn't say no to investing in a project with Tesla on board."

"He ever say what the project was about?"

"He told us it was some revolutionary technology relating to electricity generation, tested over in Europe before being implemented back here. I never really understood science stuff, but it sounded like a good investment at the time. He promised that anything we invested into the project would be tripled or quadrupled in six or so years. I was convinced by my associates to put down twenty million on the project, and  went on my way."

"You recall anything suspicious about this meeting?"

"I can't say that I noticed anything amiss during that meeting. It's something I regret. Not being more observant, I mean. Maybe I could've stopped this."

"Don't beat yourself up over something you had no control over, alright?"

Again, no response.

"Hey, listen, alright? It seems pretty clear to me that you weren't really in the know on this, so here's what I can promise you. We're gonna continue to monitor you for a bit, but long as you keep your mouth shut about this whole business, nothing more's gonna happen to you. Sound fair?"

"... Very well then, sir."

Both men stand to leave.

"You did good here, telling us. It's gonna help us put some of these guys under.. You'd like that, no?"

"... I would."

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< DOCUMENT 002. >

LETTER - DATED JUNE 21, 1908

Robert,

I hope I can correspond with you on this urgent matter in privacy, though I'm afraid that there are few I can trust nowadays. My belief in many of my associates has been so spectacularly shattered in the past week. I fear that I may be killed soon.

As I have written to you about before in years past, I was approached by some former colleagues of mine back in 1903. Using my work as a template, they had theoretically proven it possible for a device to exist that would passively transmit electricity throughout an area without the need for wiring or anything of the sort. I thought it impossible at first, something that went so staunchly against what I've studied my whole life. But I could not find any flaws in their proofs and conclusions. It was truly an incredible feat of scientific thinking.

They asked me to help plan and construct a device that could carry out such a feat. They put me in contact with investors from France and the Northeast, mutual friends they said. The investors agreed to fund an initial project in Germany, northeast of the city of Straßburg and close to the largest industrial centers in Europe. So my colleagues and I set off for the continent. 

Over the next five years, I would work tirelessly with colleagues to plan out a machine that could output enough energy to passively power the industrial heartland of Europe, and with engineers hired from Germany to make that plan a reality. Funding was sparse at first, but grew considerably over time, and I saw to it that everyone was well rewarded for their work. I was growing to be somewhat suspicious with my work, though. There were days where unusual men, often accompanied by cloaked or disguised figures with heavy French accents, would arrive at the site of construction, survey it for many hours, then leave. I was told by my colleagues that they were investors, but I found it strange I was never allowed to talk with them.

Construction of the project was completed in late winter of this year. Three towers with interlocking triangular coils attached, arranged around a large steel pole that stretched far into the sky. In layman's terms, if calculations and estimates were correct, it would work by capturing latent electricity from storms and distributing it evenly across a radius to power other devices within that radius. A true marvel of engineering that would revolutionize the world economy if it were true.

Celebrations were held in the week after completion, and I admittedly mostly stayed away from the festivities. On the final day of festivities as I prepared to head back to America, I was stopped by a man to talk with him, his face mostly concealed by a large hat. He introduced himself as Colonel Pétain, in the French Army I believe, though he asked me not to tell anyone. He gave me his gratitudes for my work, but informed me that future funding would be cut and the device built here and the knowledge of its construction and function were not to be spread elsewhere. I queried, a bit taken aback, why such an invention would be suppressed. He then told me that I had not constructed what I thought I had. That I'd unknowingly built a weapon to destroy the German people. This shocked me, and before I could ask what he meant, he explained that God told him it is His will to destroy Germany, and that I should be proud of being a 'true honorary Frenchman' who would go to heaven. Additionally, he told me that I was to never speak of what I was just told, and that I would have people making sure I didn't, before making his leave.

I was very much shaken by this event, and as I made my departure back to the States a day after, I contemplated telling the authorities what I had been told; a few men I recognized from the festivities tailing behind me at a far distance convinced me otherwise. 

That brings me to today, a few weeks afterwards. I still see suspicious men following me every now and then, stalking from afar to see if I move out of line. I have contemplated for many nights if the man, Pétain, was telling the truth. Had I truly built a weapon of genocide without realizing? I thought the calculations were flawless as to revolutionizing electrical technologies, but perhaps I was wrong. I fear very much that I was wrong, and that I will be complicit in some grand tragedy in Europe. That is why I shall deliver this note to you in person as soon as it is finished. If there is a true threat that I've created, I shall do everything in my power to stop it. If I am killed after delivering this message, I'm afraid you will know the reason as to why.

Yours sincerely,

N. Tesla

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< DOCUMENT 003. >

TRANSLATED JOURNAL ENTRY - DATED JUNE 26, 1908

26 June, 1908

If the calculations made by the other members of the Compact are to be believed, this will all be over in four days. I suppose I owe them some thanks for their work, but not much. They are all either American warmongers, barbaric heathens, or sinners obsessed with greed and only in it to make profits.

Fate is a funny thing. I knew since our defeat in 1871 that it was my duty to defend and reclaim glory from the treacherous Germans. Never would I have expected, though, that He himself would assist me in my work. Through mass manipulation of energy and electricity, things can be shifted to places they shouldn't be.This is what He told me.

A rock is supposed to fall from the stars in four days, into the vast wilderness of the Russians. With enough energy, my associates suspect that fate could be shifted. The rock could be shifted. The weather has been kind the past months, and we should have enough for this to work. If there's one thing I can respect about the godless barbarians I worked with from America, it is their propensity for the occult. His mission would be much harder to achieve, otherwise.

The industrial heartland of the German people will be completely obliterated, melted away. French boots will march through and reclaim what is rightfully ours. I shall make sure myself it is done, even if it means my death. It will be well worth it to observe their destruction from Heaven above. Ever faithful to France and God.

Ph. Pétain

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In the dead of night, just north of the city of Straßburg, a lone man approaches a shed, near a hulking steel behemoth. A few minutes after entry, a low hum can be heard throughout the city and countryside nearby. Gradually, a brilliant blue glow manifests around the large pole and the three towers nearby. The hum becomes deafening. The night sky, once cloudy, quickly begins to clear. A shooting star streaks across the night sky, moving westwards towards the city. It grows and grows in size as it soars towards the city. The glow becomes brighter and brighter, there is a sudden roaring in the sky. A flash of light and a deafening boom. It is day.

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< DOCUMENT 004. >

EXCERPT FROM THE DAILY EXPRESS - DATED JUNE 30, 1908

It is reported that at approximately 01:00 today, a massive explosion occurred in the German city of Straßburg, situated on the French-German border. Many citizens of London and other parts of the Empire experienced a sort of aftershock and startling boom shortly after. The cause of the explosion remains unknown. We do know that there is widespread destruction in the area. Men as far away as Metz were reportedly injured with severe burns, and it is unlikely that anyone closer to the epicenter remains alive. 

Many government officials, especially those from Germany, have pointed to the possibility of a French sabotage on the recently finished Tesla Passive Electrical Station, which was supposed to go into service in July of this year. The French have vehemently denied this. Such claims have only exacerbated tensions on the ground, as both French and German troops have entered the region of Elsaß-Lothringen to restore order, and some clashes have already been reported. It is possible that war is on the horizon for France and the German Empire, and perhaps the rest of the continent.

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