A thousand suns

The light went out, and Max heard the door creak as it opened.

‘Inside, quickly.’

Hostner ushered them through, and once inside they heard the door slam behind them.

A dim ceiling light came on, a single bulb illuminating a featureless concrete corridor. Hostner held out a hand to Max. ‘Sorry for bundling you out like that. I just wanted to get you men inside before any of their planes spotted the torch. They own the sky now.’

‘What’s this all about?’

‘I’m sorry. You’ll be seeing Major Rall soon. He will explain it all.’

‘Then at least tell me where the hell we are.’

‘Ulmsruhe, several hours south of Stuttgart.’

‘Where are we going?’

‘I have orders to take you to Major Rall immediately, sir.’

Max followed the man along the concrete corridor to a set of steps that took them downwards.

‘What is this place, Leutnant?’

‘A regional intelligence post. Well, it used to be until it was abandoned last week. Major Rall appropriated it a couple of days ago. So you’ll have to excuse us if it looks a little messy.’

The steps descended into another featureless corridor. Several doors opened on to it. The SS Leutnant led them down the corridor towards a door at the end. They passed a room filled with banks of radios, and in the middle of the room was a metal crate full of ashes; the brown, unburned corners of papers still smouldered. The floor around it was littered with boxes full of documents waiting to be destroyed, but forgotten in the haste of departure. The Leutnant followed Max’s gaze. ‘When we’re done here, we’ll finish the job.’

He gestured towards another open door off the corridor. ‘Canteen. Your men can help themselves to some food. I believe we even have some coffee too.’

Max nodded to Pieter. ‘Go on. I’ll be back shortly.’

Pieter led Hans and Stef in and they proceeded directly towards a steaming steel urn.

The SS Leutnant tipped his head towards the door at the end of the corridor. ‘Come, please. Major Rall is waiting for you.’

‘Don’t forget to leave me a bit, lads,’ said Max as he watched his men eagerly helping themselves to the coffee and opening several tins of pork.

Max fell in behind the Leutnant as he eagerly proceeded the last few yards down the corridor to the door and knocked gently on it.

‘Major Rall?’

Max heard a muffled voice from beyond the door. ‘Come in.’

Leutnant Hostner opened the door and gestured for Max to enter. He closed the door behind him, leaving Max alone in the room with Major Rall.

The room was a small, windowless, concrete cell. The walls had at one time been painted a dull ‘waiting room’ green. Scuffmarks and scrapes on the walls indicated this room had once contained a lot more furniture. Now a single desk and two chairs stood in the middle, and a solitary filing cabinet in a corner made the room feel a lot bigger than it was.

Major Rall stood beside the desk. He was a man of average build and height, but his face was instantly striking because of a burn scar that stretched from below his collar, up and across the left side of his face to his hairline. His left ear was little more than a hole with a small rib of skin around it, and his left eye glistened with excess moisture. Rall, it seemed, had made no concessions to his disfigurement and quite happily boasted a well-maintained moustache that disintegrated as it crossed his lip towards the scar tissue on the left.

Max was relieved that Major Rall wore a Luftwaffe uniform.

Rall picked up a manila file from his desk and opened it.

‘Oberleutnant Maximilian Kleinmann?’

‘Yes, sir,’ answered Max.

‘Hmmm… you’ve served for the last two years on the eastern front, before that in France. You earned an Iron Cross, followed by a Knight’s Cross. It looks like I chose well.’

Max spoke up. ‘Permission to speak freely, sir?’

Rall smiled. ‘Yes, of course.’

‘My men and myself have been brought here and no information has been given to us. We have no idea what this is all about, sir.’

‘No, that’s quite right. Those were my orders… I’m sorry about that. It was a precautionary measure in case you were intercepted on the way here.’

Rall gestured towards the seat nearest Max. ‘Please, make yourself comfortable. Would you like something to drink, a coffee perhaps?’

Max nodded eagerly as he settled down into the seat and Rall walked stiffly across to the door, opened it and quietly ordered a coffee. He returned to the table and perched informally on the edge.

‘Nothing quite as satisfying as having an officer of the SS wait on you, is there?’ Rall smiled conspiratorially.

‘Never had the pleasure, Major.’

Rall took a deep breath. ‘Right.’ The small talk was over. ‘I was passed your name by your previous commanding officer, Major Schendtler. You — and your crew — have a very impressive service record. You came highly recommended.’

‘Thank you, sir.’