Concept

The notion for this story was born of my reading of the Nazi pillaging of art and other treasures, at the end of  World War II. I became aware that, whilst the looting of many countries had been documented, it seemed that scant regard had been paid to the atrocities brought upon the Dutch peoples.

The Story

Black Ice

Just prior to the end of the War, a  Dutch mansion is looted of it’s treasures and the family patriarch, a wealthy diamond merchant, is murdered.

Meanwhile, in war-torn Berlin,  a sixteen year old youth is illegally conscripted into the German Army by force. As his sister searches for him, Hans Peter finds a mysterious velvet pouch containing a fortune in diamonds. Under threat of death, he steals the diamonds and smuggles them to his sister, who buries them for the duration of the war.

Marja, the Granddaughter of the diamond merchant, eventually traces the pouch to the Barossa Valley in South Australia, where Gretel, the thief’s sister, has secreted them. Seeking the treasures, Marja seduces Gretel’s son David,  before a Chinese sage helps her to understand her spiritual needs, making her relentless pursuit of wealth, pointless.

Black Ice – The Chase

With the diamonds secure, Marja and David’s peaceful existence is shattered by the murder of Gretel by German agents, searching for the looted treasures.

Marja buys a piece of art to exchange with the agents for her safety and sets a trap, but she is wounded in a  shoot-out and the agents escape.

After an armed confrontation in David’s hotel, Marja is followed to Gretel’s vineyard, where in a wild battle, the Germans are eliminated and the diamonds are again, secured.

Black Ice – The Catch

Years later, Marja and David are kidnapped and the diamonds stolen by a new generation of agents. They are pursued to Rottnest Island, where Marja participates in a police operation in mountainous seas but policewoman Helen, is captured and the diamonds are lost overboard.

Overcoming her fear of the water, Marja dives in a submersible to recover the diamonds from the ocean floor, before driving an offshore powerboat through cyclonic seas, to exchange them for Helen.

In a final confrontation with the agents, Marja demonstrates her new boating skills, to lure the agents to their own end.