A thousand suns

As he walked towards the hangar door he passed by the truck that had recently arrived, guarded by the SS men. Inside, he presumed, must be the weapon, the bomb that Rall had only talked about once or twice since their first meeting. The Major had been surprisingly vague on the weapon itself, while being so specific on all the other details of the operation. It was a ‘new technology’ was all Rall had been prepared to offer up to Max. Perhaps that was all the Major knew. The Major had been refreshingly candid about everything so far. He suspected that if Rall knew any more about the bomb, he would have told them.

As he approached the truck, the guards warily drew up their guns and watched him carefully as he passed by and headed towards the hangar doors. Max let himself out through a small hatch door and nodded to the guard standing outside.

He wasn’t in the mood to make small talk and so he wandered a few dozen yards away from the hangar, across the pitted concrete and grass tufts towards the sandbagged roof of another empty and unused bunker. He sat down heavily and watched the sky to the north flicker and listened to the distant rumble of his country being torn apart.

In about seven or eight hours they would finally be airborne and on their way. It would take at least that long for the engineers to construct an appropriate holding cradle for the weapon. He knew his boys, Schroder and his pilots would all be keen to count those hours down as quickly as possible.

It was the waiting that was the killer.

He pulled out the packet of Russian cigarettes from his breast pocket only to find that it was empty. There weren’t so many left now. Rall had done a great job getting in the supplies he had, but there hadn’t been any more, and the stash of cigarettes, along with the coffee, was all but exhausted. He decided to try his luck and see if he could find any remaining packets that might have been left in the canteen. The next few hours were going to drag, much more so without some smokes.

‘As far as I know, his removal from this operation is nothing to do with the weapon, Major,’ Hauser answered testily. ‘You have to understand, things are becoming difficult for the Fuhrer. He has been let down by many of the other ministers. They are betraying him. If I’m honest, I suspect Speer is one of them. He has deserted him, fled Berlin.’

Major Rall studied Hauser in silence. The man was lying to him. It was apparent in his demeanour, the way he was holding himself, in his voice. The man was an appalling liar.

‘Doctor Hauser, since being called in to work on this project, I have struggled to obtain any meaningful information about this weapon from you. It has been difficult to plan, not knowing the weight or size of this weapon. What is more, the answers I have received from you via Speer’s office about the damage potential and blast radius have been vague and inconsistent. So now I hear that Speer has been removed from his role at this late stage, all this fills me with concern.’

Hauser attempted a consoling smile. ‘And you have done a commendable job, Major, with the limited resources at your disposal.’

‘You are evading the point. Speer was concerned about the technology of the weapon, this he made known to me. And now I find he has been replaced at this late hour. I respectfully ask that you be honest with me.’

Hauser’s smile faded, his patience finally reaching its limit. ‘You were charged with planning a way to deploy the weapon over New York, and my responsibility has been to produce the weapon. It is not your business to know how this weapon works — ’

‘It is my business to know everything about this operation!’ the Major snapped. ‘In the absence of the Armaments Minister, I am the senior military authority, and that means you will — ’

‘Ahhh, I wondered when it would come to this,’ replied Hauser quietly. ‘Major, things have changed,’ he continued, producing a piece of paper from inside his coat. ‘Hitler sends you his gratitude for everything you have done thus far. But he has entrusted it to me to ensure that this operation is concluded in a satisfactory manner.’

He handed the paper to Rall, who studied the brief handwritten order with a growing sense of disbelief and anger.

‘As you can see, he has authorised me to act directly on his behalf. On this matter, there is no one with greater authority than myself, other than the Fuhrer, of course. That means, Major, I do not have to explain to you anything at all.’

The hastily scribbled order and the signature were unmistakable. Hauser was right. With this kind of authority, albeit temporarily assigned, Hauser could have him dragged out and shot on a whim. And, of course, the Doctor had been careful enough to bring with him from the bunker half a dozen soldiers.

Leibstandarte.

Knowing Hauser was working on Hitler’s direct orders, they would follow any instructions he gave without hesitation.