Epilogue

Dieter Helsm entered the dark hall and watched the high figure
that was on the other side of the room, turning his back to him. At
the man’s feet an extraordinary black panther lay languidly, raising
his head to observe the just arrived individual. Its owner, however,
did not move at all.
“Welcome, number thirty and seven. How has your trip gone?”
As each time it listened to that voice, Dieter remained frozen, and
unconsciously he began to look at the ground. Somehow, it was
impossible for him to maintain his gaze on the man in black, even
when looking at his back.
“Very well, Sir. Everything has happened as you predicted. I have left
the apparatus where you asked, and in my report you will be able to
see that…”
He did not f inish his sentence. Before he could continue, his
interlocutor made a gesture of disdain with its hand to indicate that
he should shut up.
“I was not referring to that. I did not have any doubts that it would
turn out well. What I was asking you is if you have enjoyed your f
irst trip on the zeppelin.”
“Yes, Sir. It has been… interesting.”
As always, Helsm asked himself what was in the mind of that
person, and inevitably began to feel more and more nervous. Neither
the principality of Gabriel nor the Empire knew anything about his
master, and even somebody like the Lord of Nightmares Malekith
was more than a marionette in attaining objectives that Dieter did
not even begin to glimpse.
“I am very glad,” That indecipherable voice continued.
“Now, we can proceed to the second phase of the preparations.
Surely it is going to be very interesting to observe what is going
to happen.” The panther rose from the ground and it began to rub
against his legs while he, distractedly, admonished it with some taps
as if it was nothing more than a small sweet cat. Then, slowly, the
man in black turned around and began to walk towards the exit of
the room. Dieter remained in the same position, with his head down.
But while the f igure passed by his side, he could not avoid looking
into his eyes for a moment.
And he felt cold…