A voice suddenly sounded behind Stahl. ‘Do you think the legend is true?’
Stahl whipped his head towards the voice and found that he was face to face with one of the very men whose statue stood in the ministry’s hall. The man was Otto Richter, the first man on Mars. Long retired from exploring the cosmos, Richter now headed the Space Ministry, yet another bureaucrat in this great city of bureaucrats. Even though Stahl instantly recognised him, it was still a shock to see Richter in the flesh, and not as the heroic astronaut of his memories. Richter was no longer the young and virile figure depicted in the marble and gold. He was now an elderly man, well into his nineties and he stood stooped before the young Nazi, supporting himself with an ebony walking stick. His body may have aged, but the old astronaut’s eyes shone as brightly as the countless military decorations that adorned his uniform. And his voice, as Stahl could testify, remained strong and commanding. To Stahl it was still the voice of a hero.
‘The legend?’ asked Stahl nervously.
Richter smiled as he pointed a bony finger towards the distant statue. ‘Have you never heard of the legend that surrounds that glorious statue of our beloved Lord and saviour?’
‘I can’t say that I have, Herr Richter,’ Stahl replied. ‘To tell you the truth I’ve only ever seen it once before when I was a child. I’ve never been to the capital since. My duties ever since have kept me far from here in the East. It’s a beautiful monument, never the less.’
‘Indeed it is, Stahl.’ Richter said. ‘The legend I spoke of says that the statue will come alive if the Reich is ever threatened and destroy our enemies.’
Stahl gazed at the monument and wondered if the legend was true. He imagined the rocky deity stepping from the plinth and smiting countless enemy warriors with a single blow. Richter correctly sensed what Stahl was thinking.
‘Tell me, do you think that inert piece of rock out there can really come alive? Do you think that it can be possessed by the spirit of the Almighty Führer?’
‘It would be an incredible miracle if it was ever to come to pass, but anything is possible if it has been imbued with the power of the Überführer,’ Stahl answered. ‘Is it not written that the power of the Überführer’s will was overwhelming. Countries, empires, even continents bowed to its power. Therefore, if the Überführer willed that statue to come alive, it would happen. If he willed the sun to stop rising, it would happen. He may have left this earthly realm decades ago, but his spirit is still alive in all of us.’
‘This talk of the spirit reminds me of the stories that surround the holy blood-banner,’ Richter smiled.
The artefact Richter spoke of was a simple swastika flag that had been carried in Munich during the Nazis’ first attempt to seize power in 1923. When they were stopped by force by the police that day, several Nazis were shot, including the man who held the banner. His blood, along with that of his fellow Nazi martyrs, had soaked into the flag, transforming it into a potent and powerful relic. Indeed, it was a tradition during the years that followed for other Nazi banners and decorations to be blessed by this relic, its power transferred by the Überführer himself as he held the holy banner and decoration together. In fact, most items associated with the early days of the Reich possessed supernatural reverence in the eyes of Stahl and his fellow countrymen. But what made the blood-banner so unique amongst the Nazi relics was that it was the first.
‘I remember when I was asked to attend a ceremony at the Reich Chancellery just before my own mission to Mars all those years ago. The banner was brought out before my companions and I in a large case. In those days it was kept under lock and key in the Party headquarters, and not where it is now in its own shrine in the Führer’s palace. What struck me the most was the silence that settled over everybody who attended that ceremony when the case was opened and the banner itself was displayed. And then I had to kiss it,’ Richter’s voice turned breathless at this point. ‘I felt the power surge through me as my lips touched it. It was as if the hand of the Überführer and all those martyrs were upon my shoulder, and at that moment I knew that I would succeed in my mission and return from Mars safely.’
Stahl could have listened to Richter all day, but he had to change the subject. He turned his gaze towards the frail Nazi. ‘With all due respect, may I ask why I was brought all the way here from Hitlerstadt? It wasn’t for a religious debate, was it?’
Richter smiled and shook his head. ‘No. I do ramble these days, but you’re right, Stahl. You were brought here to the ministry because the Party has a new task for you.’
‘Have I done something wrong?’
Again Richter shook his head. ‘No. You’ve done quite the opposite. You’ll be going somewhere even more challenging than those featureless steppes you call home. The place you’ll be going to is somewhere where the skills and experience that you’ve gathered taming that unforgiving territory will be greatly required and appreciated.’
‘Men like me are always in great demand in the East.’ Stahl gestured to the cityscape outside. ‘I would be wasted in this capital. Bureaucracy dulls the senses.’
‘You sound to me like you’re a wolf confronted with the prospect of being tamed. Have no fear, domesticity doesn’t await you. But you must understand, Stahl, you leaving the Eastern territories is not a request; it is an order. An order direct from the Führer’s palace.’
‘I understand, Herr Richter,’ Stahl said, stiffening his shoulders to attention.
Richter moved away from the window and shuffled towards a holographic projector in the centre of the room.
‘The Reich is overcrowded. The need for lebensraum has once again become our major concern. When we last confronted this issue it was solved by our Great Crusade in the East. We could continue our march eastward, but it has been decided that we will follow a more imaginative path to salvation. Therefore, the Führer, in his wisdom, has tasked the Space Ministry with solving this problem. We have decades of experience colonising the Moon and the other worlds, including my beloved Mars. He has envisioned the Reich stretching beyond these worlds and into the stars themselves. He sees the Fatherland being as infinite and endless as the universe itself. This glorious task will be long and arduous, and I have no doubt that there will be sacrifices along the way, but they will still have to be made if we are to ultimately succeed, and you will be there from the outset, Stahl.’
Richter then activated the projector. A high-resolution image of a lush planet appeared above the two Nazis. Stahl slowly circled the hologram. He gazed at the white clouds which progressed across the globe as information such as atmosphere’s oxygen content, wind speeds and air temperature appeared next to it.
‘Beautiful, isn’t it,’ Richter said proudly.
Stahl nodded in agreement.
‘Our lunar observatory first located this world ten years ago, but it was only last year that its life-sustaining qualities were discovered. Strangely this was around the same time that our beloved Führer formulated our policy to colonise the stars.’ A wistful smile filled Richter’s face as he stared beyond the hologram. ‘If was as if destiny was preparing the way for us.’