“I’ll be on my way this afternoon, then,” Kurt said. “See you on the other side.”
“Victory or death,” Horst agreed.
Kurt winced. The plan was a desperate gamble. If it succeeded, the war would end; if it failed, they’d be trapped in Germanica, hundreds of miles from support. And while they would do immense damage to the city, it wouldn’t be enough to unseat Holliston.
“Victory or death,” he agreed.
Germanica looked quiet.
Karl Holliston stood in front of the window and peered out over the city. Darkness was descending rapidly, but he could still make out the guards watching carefully as the streets were swept clean of snow. Bringing the Untermenschen cleaners into the city was a risk, particularly now that half of the garrison had been dispatched west, yet it was one that had to be borne. It was important, very important, that life in Germanica remain as close to normal as possible.
He took a sip of his drink, tasting the alcohol as it slid down his throat. The original group of mutineers had been crushed, save for a handful of survivors who had fled into the snow to die. And the others would be crushed too, given time. And many senior officers who hadn’t shown enough fortitude, in the early hours of the mutiny, would be purged.
And the rebels haven’t tried to take advantage of the chaos, he thought, feeling a grim flicker of satisfaction. His spy was still reporting that everything was quiet in Berlin, that the enemy was going into winter quarters. By the time the rebels were ready to resume the offensive, his forces would be ready to meet them. They don’t even know we had a mutiny.
He smiled, rather coldly. The Gauleiters were meeting, plotting against him… did they think he hadn’t noticed? But they couldn’t overthrow him. A Führer could not be removed from office, save by force…
…And their forces had been sent west to confront the rebels or east to protect the settlements.
They will be purged too, he promised himself. There were just too many Gauleiters who were disloyal to him. The entire position needed to be rethought, perhaps replaced by men who would do his bidding and nothing else. Once the rebels are defeated, I will reshape the Reich so I can lead it into a glorious future.
He took another sip, enjoying the taste. His position was secure. Gudrun, for all her defiance, could do nothing to save herself; the Provisional Government, hundreds of miles away, would fall apart as it struggled to build a new order; the Gauleiters¸ ambitious bastards to a man, were powerless. And while there had been some setbacks, the future was bright and full of promise. The inevitable American collapse would allow the Reich to finally realise its destiny of ruling and reshaping the entire world.
And soon, he promised the city silently, the entire world will look like you.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Emergency Airfield, Germany East
16 November 1985
Unterscharführer Edwin Telkamp cursed under his breath as the dawn rose, cursing his commanding officer under his breath. There had been no bandit attacks this close to Germanica for years — and they were hundreds of miles from the war front — but the asshole insisted on Edwin and his men standing guard in front of the gates at all hours. Edwin would have obeyed orders — happily — as a young man, but as an older man it seemed remarkably pointless. He’d been recalled to the military and assigned to guard an airfield in the middle of nowhere, rather than defending his farm… he had no idea what his wife and daughters were going to do in the coming year. His three sons had also been called up…
He gritted his teeth. The cold was seeping into his bones more than usual, but the CO didn’t give a damn. It was alright for him, Edwin supposed; the bastard had spent the night in a cot, not standing in the bitter cold staring into the darkness. Edwin had wound up keeping his men moving in and out of the guardhouse all night, catching some heat before they walked back out into the cold. He didn’t know if it was any good, but without the tiny heater in the guardhouse he had a feeling they would all have frozen to death before the sun rose.
Bastards, he thought, crossly. They could have just forgotten about me.
He scowled at the thought. He’d done his service, hadn’t he? He’d put in fifteen years as a stormtrooper, patrolling the settlements to the east and hunting down bandits and other threats to the Volk. His long tour on the Chinese border had been particularly gruelling, which was why he’d retired and returned to the family farm to raise his family. But now he was back in the uniform, patrolling an airfield built for a war that had never come…
…And then he heard the engines.
He tensed as a line of armoured patrol vehicles came into view, heading straight towards the airfield. They looked normal, flying standard pennants in the morning sun, but the bandits were known for being devious. And yet, he found it hard to believe that nine patrollers could have been captured and put to work. Most of the bandits simply didn’t know how to drive!
The lead vehicle came to a halt outside the gate. Its hatches opened a moment later, disgorging a dozen men in Volkssturm uniforms. They looked younger than he’d expected… he felt a flicker of anger as he realised that most of the soldiers would have gone into the Volkssturm to escape service on the eastern front. But the joke was on them now, he knew; a number of Volkssturm units had been dispatched west to confront the rebels. He stepped forward…
…And froze as a rifle was jabbed into his chest.
“Make a sound, any sound, and you’re dead,” his captor growled.
Edwin stared in utter shock as his men were rounded up, searched and then cuffed while two of the intruders opened the gates. Who were they? There was no way that they were bandits, not when they were clearly Germans. And yet… he gritted his teeth as the Volkssturm drove up to the control tower and stormed it, probably capturing everyone before they could get a message out. If it was a security inspection — and it was a possibility — he had to admit that they’d just failed. The commander was probably going to be reassigned to the eastern front after losing so badly…
…But there was something about the way they moved that suggested otherwise.
“On your feet,” a voice growled. “March.”
Edwin tested the cuffs lightly as they were frog-marched towards the nearest hangar. They were tight, almost certainly unbreakable. The tricks he knew for escaping his bonds were probably worthless. There was no way out, no way to pass the test — or escape to warn their superiors if it wasn’t a test. Whatever happened, they had lost…
…And he had no idea what would happen next.
Kurt allowed himself a moment of relief as it became clear that the airfield guards hadn’t had a chance to transmit a warning message before they were overwhelmed and captured. They hadn’t been very alert at all, despite being in the middle of Germany East. But then, most of the guards were old enough to be his father and their commander didn’t seem to take his job very seriously. They were a long way from any actual threat.