“The aircraft was armed with a twenty-millimetre, ‘Gatling’-type cannon capable of firing six thousand rounds per minute, and also carried a number of the air-to-air missiles: the ‘guided-rockets’ you’ve already seen in action. Those missiles are guided by radar, can fly twice as fast as the F-22, and can destroy an enemy aircraft many kilometres away.” Thorne took a short breath before adding: “What do you think about what I’ve just told you?”
“The specifications you’ve given me are amazing… almost incredible,” Ritter replied with a shrug, “but having seen the aircraft you’re referring to, I’m almost inclined to accept they might be true.”
“How might you have reacted, had someone told you six months ago that you’d be in combat against an aircraft like that before the end of the year?”
Ritter considered that question carefully before answering, quite rightly perceiving that the question was extremely important in some way.
“I should think I’d have thought that person either mad, or that they were trying to make a joke of me. Had I not seen undeniable evidence to the contrary, I’d think it unlikely any aircraft like that could be built… or the others I’ve seen here, for that matter.”
Bingo! Thorne thought in that moment. Like Trumbull several months before, Ritter had seized upon an understanding of temporal existence that Thorne could work with. He steeled himself and forged ahead.
“What would you think, if I told you the F-35E fighter out there and the F-22A you shot down last Saturday were both manufactured at the beginning of the Twenty-First Century… more than sixty years in your future?”
“You’re serious… that I can tell from the look on your face,” Ritter replied, choosing his words carefully as his eyes narrowed sharply. His first reaction had been to scoff at the idea, but the intent expression on Thorne’s face had given him cause to think twice. “I’ll allow you to go on… rather than to simply laugh at such a ridiculous idea.”
“This cargo plane and the tanker beside it were both built in the mid-1980s… over forty years from now. Almost everyone working at the part of the base here that was destroyed in that same air raid… myself included… are also from your future. We’ve returned from the year Two Thousand and Ten AD to make sure Germany loses the Second World War.”
“I don’t think that you can manage that, friend… not unless you have an entire geschwader of those ‘Raptors,” Ritter observed impassively. Although he mightn’t always agree with the activities carried out in the name of the Wehrmacht, he was nevertheless well aware of the his country’s incredible military might.
“As things stand at the moment, the Allies have no chance of defeating Germany any time soon, but that’s largely irrelevant at the moment. My unit — we call it ‘Hindsight’ — wasn’t the first to travel back to your time from 2010… there’s a group that’s been in Germany for some time already, helping to develop her industry and her military to the point that both are unbeatable.” He successfully hid his nervousness over asking his next question. “You’ve met Reichsmarschall Kurt Reuters perhaps…?”
“We’ve met on two occasions,” Ritter admitted with a shrug. “He seemed a brilliant, if somewhat eccentric man.”
“Wouldn’t blame him for displaying some level of eccentricity,” Thorne grinned wryly. “We’ve all gone a bit loopy with culture shock after the jump. As for his brilliance… well I’m sure, as an experienced officer, you’d understand the ‘brilliance’ of hindsight as well as any.”
“You are saying the Reichsmarschall is using knowledge of past events to ensure a German victory?” Ritter quickly picked up the direction the conversation was taking. “You’re saying Reichsmarschall Reuters is also from the future?”
In spite of the incredible nature of the Australian’s story, something indeed struck a chord within Ritter’s memory as he recalled the distinctly strange feeling that’d come over him during his first meeting with Reuters. He suddenly remembered the ‘spark’ that’d shocked them both as they had shaken hands. Did it mean something? Yet he’d also shaken hands with Max Thorne and had experienced nothing… what might the significance of that be… if anything? Another far more chilling thought suddenly came to him.
“You say this man came from the future to help Germany win the war?” He snapped sharply. “You’ve all returned after the fact to prevent this from happening…” The ramifications of it all began to truly sink in as Thorne recognised the conclusions Ritter was about to reach and again nodded silently. “None of you would be here in the first place, had Germany been the original victor… are you saying that Germany lost this war… should lose this war?”
That was a question Thorne had been preparing for, and he took it in his stride. “Not just ‘should’ lose… they bloody-well did lose! That’s a historical ‘fact’ of my era that’s now been turned completely upside down.” He saw a dozen questions immediately rise in the pilot’s eyes, but raised a hand to silence the man before he could speak. “Before you ask me anything else, I want to show you something that will answer some of your questions and probably raise a lot more… I promise you there’ll be plenty of time for answers afterward.”
Ritter took a deep breath and grudgingly obliged the request to remain silent. What Thorne was telling him was incredible — almost beyond belief, perhaps — but the sincerity the man displayed was seriously weakening his incredulity when backed up by the existence of the aircraft there at Eday.
“Are you aware of a concentration camp in Eastern Germany known as Dachau?” Thorne asked softly, a notable level of discomfort creeping back into his voice.
“I… I’ve heard vague stories,” Ritter answered with a slight falter. There’d been some rumours floating about regarding the true nature of the camp, but none had been confirmed, and it didn’t pay to go about believing such unpleasant claims without proof.
“Yes,” Thorne murmured dubiously, regarding Ritter’s suddenly-guarded expression with interest. “We spoke on that first day about things going on within Germany. Remember, I said that I might have a better idea than you regarding the true state of your country, but refused not explain? I think that it’s time I showed you what I was talking about… let me show you something that may open your eyes a little…” Thorne turned to the PC and moved the mouse on the desk beside it, causing the screensaver to disappear. He started the DVD already in the drive with a single click, and images began to flicker.
Ritter sat back in his chair, intrigued and mesmerised as the LCD screen came to life. A pale-coloured scene appeared that seemed almost black and white, depicting a large pair of gates set into an equally imposing, tower-like building while a single set of railway tracks ran through beneath those closed gates from the front of screen. The air was foggy, and it seemed as if it were a winter’s morning. The view shifted to images of guard towers and barbed wire, all overgrown and derelict, and of more abandoned railway tracks as a man’s voice began a sombre voiceover.