“I don’t know what will happen,” Katherine added. “But we should be safe down here.”
She sighed as she helped Gudrun to her feet. The bunker under the Germanica Reichstag was heavily protected, easily the most secure place in the city. If the city was hit with atomic weapons, she’d been assured, the bunker would be perfectly safe. She had her doubts — there was no such thing as perfect safety, in her experience — but she had a great deal of faith in the Reich’s engineers. If Germanica was nuked, Karl Holliston and his government would survive to carry on the fight.
And the hell of it, she conceded reluctantly, was that she was no longer sure if that was a good thing.
Gudrun leaned against her, her body frail. It was easy to forget that she was only three or so years younger that Katherine herself, that she’d done well in the BDM. Two weeks of captivity, fed starvation rations and drugged repeatedly, had done her no favours. Doctor Müller might have been told he couldn’t feed Gudrun some of his more… interesting… concoctions, but what he had slipped her had been more than bad enough. Katherine would have been surprised if Gudrun had a clear grip on anything.
“You’re being nice to me,” Gudrun managed. “Are you planning to ask me questions too?”
“I do not have orders to ask you questions,” Katherine said, truthfully. She’d heard of using two interrogators — one nice, one nasty — to break down a suspect, but the Reich had rarely considered it a worthwhile technique. “I’m going to make sure you get some proper medical attention.”
Gudrun flinched. Too late, Katherine remembered what Gudrun’s last medical exam had been like. Doctor Müller and his goons had poked and prodded every last orifice, doing everything in their power to make it clear that Gudrun was no longer in control of her own body. And while Gudrun had put up a brave show, it was clear that she was coming to the end of her tether. The SS got everyone in the end, eventually.
They do, a voice said at the back of her mind. And you have to decide how you feel about that.
She half-carried Gudrun down the corridor and into the infirmary. The doctor — she didn’t know his name or reputation — looked surprised to see them, but took Gudrun and guided her to a bed. Katherine suspected that Gudrun would have preferred a female doctor, yet there were none to be found in the Reichstag. Even the nurses were male. One might have to be called in from the city above, if necessary.
A stern-faced stormtrooper appeared at the door. “Herr Hauptsturmführer,” he said, quietly ignoring Katherine’s obvious femininity. “The Führer demands your immediate presence. I am to escort you to him.”
Katherine nodded. Doctor Müller had definitely gone whining to the Führer. But she was only following orders, Holliston’s orders. She had a feeling the doctor was in for a nasty surprise.
“One moment,” she said.
She looked at the doctor. “Take very good care of her,” she ordered, nodding to Gudrun. “If there is any cause for complaint afterwards, you will suffer for it.”
“Jawohl,” the doctor said.
Katherine eyed him for a long moment — a doctor who worked in an interrogation chamber would have questionable morals, if nothing else — and then followed the stormtrooper through the door. Gudrun would be safe, for the moment…
…But with nuclear weapons being launched, Katherine had no idea how long that would last.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Germanica (Moscow), Germany East
4 November 1985
“The reports from the front make it clear,” Karl said, “that the enemy offensive has been stopped.”
He looked at Ruengeler. “This is correct?”
“Yes, Mein Führer,” Ruengeler said. His face was pale, his hands sweaty. “The offensive has been stopped.”
“Exactly,” Karl said. He looked at the assembled Gauleiters. “Victory is within our grasp.”
The Gauleiters didn’t look impressed, but none of them seemed willing to challenge him openly. Karl wasn’t surprised. None of them would have the nerve to challenge him unless the war went badly — and the nuclear blasts had stopped the offensive in its tracks. That would change, he was sure, but for the moment they would be quiet. It would give him time to move to the next stage of his plan.
Gauleiter Emil Forster cleared his throat. “Our forces were far too close to the blasts,” he said, smoothly. “Did they escape the worst of the fallout?”
“Yes,” Karl said, flatly. “Our defence lines are currently being rebuilt east of Warsaw. The onset of winter will make it harder for the enemy to resume the offensive before spring.”
Forster looked unconvinced. Karl scowled, inwardly. He’d known that Forster would be trouble, but without the support of his fellows there was nothing the older man could do to unseat his Führer. And besides, Karl still controlled most of the military and all of the atomic bombs.
“But that raises another question,” Forster said. “What of Warsaw itself?”
Karl allowed his face to darken. “The city was partly evacuated before the enemy offensive began,” he said. It was true enough, but only a small fraction of the population had been relocated. “The remainder of the population were warned to take cover once the fighting actually began.”
“But they were still too close to the blasts,” Forster said. “How many of our citizens were killed or wounded — or blinded — by the bombs? And how many have been sentenced to death by radiation poisoning?”
“There are sacrifices that must be made for the greater good,” Karl said. He had no idea how many civilians had been killed, but it hardly mattered. All that really mattered was preserving Germany East. “The population of Warsaw is a small price to pay for the salvation of the Third Reich.”
“Undoubtedly,” Gauleiter Hugo Jury said. “It is a honour to die for the Greater German Reich!”
“Those men and women were not soldiers,” Forster said, coldly. “They were civilians.”
He looked around the room, his eyes flickering from face to face. “The damage to the city is bad enough,” he said. “Rebuilding it is beyond our resources. But the long-term damage to the Volk may be worse.”
Karl allowed himself a moment of anger. Forster was smart, too smart — and too independent-minded. Jury could be counted upon to support the Reich and Innsbruck was too weak to oppose anyone, but Forster was dangerous. And yet…
“They will retaliate,” Innsbruck said. “They will use nuclear weapons on our territory.”
“They would not dare,” Jury hissed. “They know we will retaliate…”
“And then what?” Forster asked. “Do we keep exchanging nukes until the entire Reich is destroyed?”