He sagged, shaking his head in bitter frustration. They’d failed…
…And there was nothing he could do, now or ever, that would retrieve the situation.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Germanica, Germany East
16 November 1985
Doctor Müller eyed Katherine sourly as she stepped into the security room. “She’s still in her cell,” he said, nodding towards the monitors. “Did you think she’d be somewhere else?”
Katherine shrugged, trying to keep the distaste off her face. The Führer had ordered Doctor Müller to leave Gudrun alone, but she wouldn’t have put it past the doctor, now that Gudrun had been sentenced to exile, to try to have some fun with the poor girl. But instead he was merely watching Gudrun through the cameras. Thankfully, Gudrun knew she was being watched at all times.
“The Führer will be arranging her departure tomorrow,” Katherine said, ignoring the question. She had no idea when all hell was going to break loose — Horst hadn’t been too clear — but she couldn’t afford to seem deficient in her duties. Too many familiar faces had vanished already as Holliston’s paranoia began to bite. “Until then, let her get some rest.”
“As you wish,” Müller said. He leaned towards the monitors, drinking in the scene. “The farmers would prefer her to be intact, I am sure.”
Katherine silently measured his back for the knife. It was easy, chillingly easy, to imagine the young Müller peeking at girls in changing rooms, slowly growing up into a monstrous pervert. No wonder the SS had recruited him. A man who enjoyed his work would be far more reliable than a man who saw it as a duty. And Müller would hardly be the first monster who had been offered a choice between service or going straight into the gas chambers.
“I am sure,” Katherine said.
“They’ll know she’s not a virgin, of course,” Müller added. “But I doubt they’ll care.”
Katherine touched the hilt of her dagger, resisting — barely — the urge to stab him there and then. She was no stranger to doing horrific things for the Reich, but she had never enjoyed them. Müller… did. He had nothing to gain from spying on Gudrun now, particularly after he’d been ordered to leave her alone, yet he was still watching the girl. And to think he had plenty of other victims at his disposal.
Bastard, she thought, nastily.
The alarms went off. She looked up, sharply, as red lights began to flash. The city was under attack! No, the Reichstag was under attack. She had no idea what Horst had done — he hadn’t been remotely clear on the details — but it was clear that he had done something. Three different alarm tones — air attack, ground attack, security breach — were sounding, blending together into a terrifying cacophony. She couldn’t help wondering, as she drew her dagger, if someone had deliberately set off the wrong alarms.
Müller glanced at her, his face suddenly fearful. She saw his eyes go wide as he noticed the dagger and realised what it meant. He stumbled backwards, but it was far too late. Katherine couldn’t help feeling a flicker of contempt as she lunged forward and sliced the dagger across his throat. His body crumpled to the ground, bleeding like a stuck pig. The stench of piss rose to her nostrils, making her smile. In life as well as death, Doctor Müller had been a coward.
She stepped over the body and peered down at the console as the alarms faded to a dull background noise. Dozens of voices were shouting over the intercom, despite the best efforts of the emergency controllers. God alone knew what was happening on the surface… she pushed the thought to the back of her mind as she triggered a pair of security protocols, then opened the locker and removed two rifles and a pistol. Gudrun could shoot, she knew; she’d seen her using a pistol. She could still help even if she couldn’t fire a rifle.
A low hum echoed through the bunker, followed by a voice babbling about lockdowns and sealed hatches. Katherine winced — there was no hope of simply taking Gudrun and sneaking out now — and then headed for the inner doors. They would have been sealed, of course, the moment the alarms went off, but they were easy to open from the outside. She’d just have to make damn sure the locking mechanism was jammed or she’d wind up trapped in the complex herself.
The two guards standing outside Gudrun’s cell looked relieved, then astonished, to see her. Katherine shot them both before they could react, feeling a twinge of guilt as their bodies collapsed. They hadn’t been nasty, unlike Doctor Müller. They’d done their duty as best as they could, instead of taking advantage of the situation. Hell, they’d even respected her as a fellow soldier. But there had been no time to try to talk them into surrender, even if she’d thought they would surrender. She’d had no choice.
She opened Gudrun’s cell and peered inside. Gudrun was seated on the bed, her arms crossed over her breasts. She looked resigned, rather than eager. Katherine blinked in surprise, then recalled that Doctor Müller had told Gudrun that she’d be killed if the bunker ever came under attack. There were procedures in place to kill all the prisoners before they could be rescued. But the planners had never anticipated betrayal from the inside…
“On your feet,” she snapped, as she opened the inner door. “Can you shoot a rifle?”
Gudrun shook her head. Katherine rolled her eyes. The BDM in the west was clearly useless. A girl who couldn’t defend herself was a girl who was utterly dependent on men for her safety. Perhaps that was the point. Gudrun had practically admitted that she’d been dependent on her brother and father. Katherine shoved the pistol and two spare clips of ammunition at Gudrun, then motioned for her to get out of the cell. The remaining alarms cut off a second later.
“Your husband is attacking the Reichstag,” Katherine said. She thought fast, trying to remember the emergency procedures. If the alarms had cut off, lockdown procedures had been completed. And that meant that Holliston was in the bunker. “And we need to cut off the Führer.”
She groaned, inwardly, as she led the way out of the cell. Holliston wouldn’t have many guards with him, but the ones he did have would be fanatical. And she’d have to kill them all just to get to him. Unless there was another way…
…But what?
“The bunker has been sealed,” she added, as she struggled with the outer door. “Everyone you will meet is an enemy. Kill him before he kills you.”
She glanced back at Gudrun. She looked pale, but determined. Katherine prayed, silently, that she survived and escaped — or, if she was caught, that she died quickly. There weren’t that many men in the bunker, but they’d be trapped underground for weeks and Gudrun would be the only available woman. Karl Holliston, his mind already snapping, would probably order them to rape her in succession until she died. He no longer needed to worry about anyone else’s opinion.
“Here we go,” she said, turning back to the door. “Don’t stop for anything.”
“Send half the operators out,” Karl ordered, as he stepped into the communications room. “They are to go back to their bunks until further notice.”