Eric looked at his fiancé with growing pride. She was much stronger than he had imagined, and he liked it. He looked back at Kammler. “Colonel, you would be better off going through the war crimes trial I am sure they have ready for you.”
Kammler turned beet red. His temper, usually controlled, was about to break. His hand began inching toward his service revolver. Eric saw it and moved between Kammler and Anna. There was the slamming of a door and Colonel Müller walked across the facility and up to the general.
“The countdown has started Herr General. The doctor is asking for your presence,” he said.
Kammler suddenly calmed. His hand returned to his side. What she said or thought didn’t matter. This was his sworn duty and he would fulfill it to his last breath. “We shall see,” he said dismissively. “I think you will find people are more the same than you realize. Most people will rally around the most powerful, the strongest, or the best leaders. The masses rarely strike out on their own. In any case, tomorrow will begin a whole new world and your kind will simply have to follow along.” Kammler motioned to two young men standing near a tunnel entrance carrying rifles. The two men came up quickly and came to attention.
“Take these two to my office and hold them there until I send for them. If they try anything, you are to shoot them both,” he said firmly. He looked at Eric, “And thank you for remodeling my home. It’s a shame you will have to leave it.”
Kammler watched as a very angry, but dejected couple was prodded away at gunpoint by the two men. They would probably be shot anyway, he thought. At least I will have my house back. He turned and followed the Colonel back to the control room.
Fredrich couldn’t believe his luck. Since arriving that evening and seeing the whole complex for the first time, he had been in a panic. Somehow he needed the chance to contact the authorities and shut the place down, but he was almost constantly watched. Now he and Otto were leading these two people back into the tunnel system, out of sight of the rest. Halfway down the hall he motioned to Otto, “I’ll stop at the armory and get us two pistols and plenty of ammunition. I will meet you in the General’s office,” he said in a whisper as they walked along.
As they passed the armory, Fredrich paused and went in. He was gathering the ammunition when he saw Johann pass by the door, following the others. He knew something bad was about to happen and quickly gathered the remaining equipment and eased out the door and down the corridor.
Otto had the two stop at the door and go in. The general’s office was sparse. There were two chairs, a desk under a lamp and a work table to one side. A photo of Hitler was behind the table, but there were two other very nice paintings on another wall. Eric and Anna entered the room and turned to face the young man who had escorted them in. They watched as he looked outside the room and then closed the door. Otto lowered the rifle and moved toward them.
“We need to get you two out of here. The general isn’t bluffing. We found out tonight he is really going to launch those things,” Otto said.
Eric and Anna seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. Their jailer had just turned into a savior. Eric was the first to react.
“If I can get back to the house we can phone.”
Otto shrugged. “The telephones are sometimes listened to. But if we can get back up there they may be too busy to notice. My friend is getting us a couple of pistols. When he gets back we should be better off.”
Eric nodded. “There may be some men on the way. Inspector Dresner of the police said he was coming.”
“Good, then we need to get back to the house as quickly as possible,” said Otto as the door banged open.
Johann stood in the door with a pistol in his hand. “I knew you were a traitor to our cause. The General will be very pleased when he finds I stopped you from betraying his plans.”
“Johann, you need to back away,” said Otto.
“Not this time,” said Johann. “You have done a lot to discredit me with the Colonel and the General. Now they will see who the most loyal Party member is. They say blood strengthens the heart. Maybe I should start with yours,” Johann said as he aimed the pistol at Otto’s chest.
There was a crack from in the hall as a rifle butt slammed into the back of Johann’s skull and crushed it inward. Johann’s eyes drifted upward as his body slumped downward. His pistol clattered out of his hands and onto the stone floor. The others watched in amazement as Fredrich stepped around the corner of the door sill and looked at Johann’s body as it bled onto the stone. “You will not be hurting anyone,” he said with contempt. He turned to the others. “We need to get moving,” he said.
The four quickly ran along the deserted hallway and up the flights of stairs. As they passed through the cellar, Fredrich took the time to close the door and the cask covering, then prop a chair on it so it would not open.
Entering the main part of the house, they found Helga tied tightly to a chair. A dishrag was tied around her face and a cloth gag was in her mouth. The four quickly began untying her. Once the cloth was removed she let out a whimper. “Eric! Anna! I thought I would not see you again,” she cried out.
“It was close Frau Hufham. These two rescued us and brought us back. We need to call Rolf,” Anna said.
At that time Dresner and his men came crashing through the front door and into the house. Almost immediately they were pointing their weapons at Fredrich and Otto, who threw their weapons down and held up their hands.
“Hold on!” cried Eric. “These two are helping us escape! Herr Dresner, there is a vast complex under this house and they are planning to launch missiles!”
“I know,” Dresner said as they lowered their weapons. He turned to Fredrich. “Is it a General Kammler and a Colonel Müller?”
Fredrich nodded. “I do not know it all, but this is something planned for a long time. My father says it was since the end of the war. I didn’t know what it was until tonight. Neither did Otto,” he said pointing to his friend.
“Never mind that now. We have to find a way to stop them. What if we turned off their power?” Dresner asked.
“My father has the duty of running a diesel generator. They probably have that running,” Otto said.
Dresner thought a moment. “That means they have backup electricity so we can’t go that route. I guess that means we must weed them out the hard way.”
“There’s another way. There is an armory down there. If they have more of those anti-tank weapons I can fix it so those missiles won’t be going anywhere,” said Eric.
“What? By blowing them up? You would kill everyone down there including yourself,” said Betz, standing nearby.
“No, I don’t plan on getting myself fried. But if we can find those weapons I can guarantee they won’t go anywhere,” Eric said confidently.
“Where is this armory? Can you take us back there?” Dresner asked Fredrich.
“Ja, I can do this,” said Fredrich.
Dresner turned to his men. “It looks like we will be going underground like we did in some of the mines. Everyone be on alert. For those who don’t have weapons, it looks like we can get you some.” He turned to Fredrich. “What is your name, young man?”