Konrad remained silent as he refused to acknowledge his enemy. Instead, he tightened his grip on the Schmeisser. Its sights were trained unerringly upon the Nazi.
‘Nothing to say?’ Stahl said. ‘No triumphant speech about how you’ve saved the universe? It’s not often that a creature as low as you can claim to have robbed a god of everything he loved.’
Konrad sensed the weakness in his opponent. ‘I’ve no speech. But at least I have the satisfaction that you finally know the feeling of having everything you’ve loved brutally taken away from you.’
Now it was the turn of Stahl to remain silent.
‘You’re no longer a god – you’re just like me. Afraid, and alone,’ Konrad said. ‘That’s how it feels to live under your damned swastika!’
Only now did the Nazi react. A grimace fuelled by pure, unadulterated hatred distorted his face. It was as if the last vestiges of his human soul had disappeared in that instant. He coiled his body like a lion preparing to pounce on its prey. ‘Now you’re going to experience how it feels to die under the swastika!’ Stahl roared as he leapt at Konrad.
Konrad fired the machine-gun.
The blasts raked Stahl’s chest and face, disgorging huge rivulets of blood from the wounds. Swatted out the air by Konrad’s barrage, Stahl’s body dropped to the floor.
But the Nazi wasn’t defeated – far from it. He staggered back to his feet and motioned to attack Konrad again. He was weak, but his hatred and malice drove him on.
Konrad quickly re-aimed the machine-gun again and fired. Again more flesh and blood exploded into the air.
The second blast slowed Stahl down; however, such was his inexhaustible will to attack, his mangled body continued to plough forward. Nevertheless, Konrad kept his cool and pulled the trigger one last time. The final shot blasted away the Nazi’s gaunt face, and with it, his menace. The Nazi’s body finally slumped into the amniotic fluid.
With a huge sigh of relief, Konrad slowly lowered the smoking gun and stepped over the mutilated body, accidentally knocking Stahl’s right hand off his mutilated chest and into the blood-stained pool. For a moment, the hand remained still, but unseen by Konrad, the skin in his palm stretched, then tore open as the orb, for so long hidden within the Nazi, freed itself from the corpse. It sunk out of sight, absorbed once again by the spire. And as the unearthly object abandoned the Nazi corpse, an imperceptible rumble started to build, and build, and build.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Elsa, groggy and aching, eased herself up from the glass and gore carpet that covered the floor. She coughed as she breathed in the smoke which smelt horribly of burnt flesh. She then glanced to her side and saw Ziegler’s body next to her. He lay on his side, his back to her, motionless. Gingerly, she stood and saw a shape moving in the smoke. The dull orange glow from the fire played with the shape’s outline, distorting the silhouetted figure as it approached. For a moment she assumed it was Stahl who stood in the hellish glow, but much to her relief, it was Konrad who eventually walked into view. She ran over and embraced him.
‘I knew you’d come back,’ Elsa breathlessly said. ‘Deep down in my heart, I knew you’d return.’
Konrad forced a smile. ‘Did you ever doubt me?’
She shook her head, but at the same time she noted the almost defeated look in his eyes. He didn’t look like a man who had vanquished his enemy.
‘What’s wrong?’ she asked. ‘You’ve killed Stahl, haven’t you?’
Konrad led Elsa over to Stahl’s body. ‘See for yourself,’ he said quietly. ‘He’s quite dead.’
Elsa cautiously knelt and prodded the corpse. Turning the shattered head to one side for a better look, she quickly averted her gaze. This revulsion wasn’t at the sight of Stahl’s wounds, it was because of his eyes. They remained intact, and still shone iridescently. She glanced at Konrad and saw the worry in his eyes.
Konrad announced. ‘With all his powers he could have easily destroyed me, but in the end I won. It was too easy, and that’s what scares me.’
‘Konrad,’ Elsa said, ‘you make it sound like you’ve done something wrong. He’s dead. That’s all that matters. It’s over.’
He appeared to ignore Elsa; instead, he looked down upon his vanquished enemy and the hypnotic eyes. ‘Perhaps you’re right.’ It didn’t sound convincing.
‘What about us, Konrad?’ Elsa asked as she turned her back on the corpse. ‘What do we do now?’
Konrad gestured to the top of the funnel. ‘First, we’ll get the hell out of this damn spire, and then…’ His voice trailed off when he realised that outside this alien structure there was little hope for them. They had won their freedom, but the freedom to do what? Konrad and Elsa could return to the wreck to continue foraging for the precious food packs, but how long would that take? And apart from the problem of food and water, there was also the question of the spire’s influence upon the planet. Now that it had been robbed of its champion, would it transform the atmosphere back to its previous poisonous state and wreak its revenge upon the couple. Should he admit this uncomfortable reality to Elsa, or should he hide the truth from her.
She answered the question for him. ‘I can see the answer in your eyes, Konrad. We may not have much time together, but at least we’ll be free.’
Konrad smiled at Elsa’s fortitude, but he too recognised the sadness in her eyes. They embraced and kissed warmly. The longer they kissed, the longer the seemingly hopeless situation that lay ahead for them was kept at bay. Eventually this tender moment had to end, and so the two prisoners released each other.
‘Now that we’re the only living things on this planet,’ Konrad said, ‘I think it’s safe to assume we no longer need these.’ He pulled the redundant weapons from his shoulder, and flung the rifle and the spare grenades into the darkness.
Unfortunately, the idyllic world of Konrad and Elsa ended at that moment.
‘I never thought that over-confidence would be one of your vices, Konrad, but I’m afraid to say that stupidity always was!’
It was Ziegler’s voice which boomed from the swirling smoke and flames.
Konrad took hold of Elsa and pushed her behind him as if safeguarding her from the disembodied voice. It seemed that Ziegler had scattered himself around the darkness, the two of them forming an unholy alliance. ‘I just hope you’re prepared for the consequences of your actions, my old friend,’ he hissed.
‘Stahl was evil, the same way that this entire place is evil. You’re blind if you can’t see that too!’ Konrad defiantly shouted back.
Ziegler cackled. ‘How wrong you are, Konrad. I was once blind, but it has been lifted by this wondrous world.’
Konrad ignored his old comrade. ‘Elsa, move! Go!’ He pushed her away to safety.
‘But what about Ziegler?’ Elsa asked anxiously.
‘It’s me that he wants,’ he replied.
Elsa reluctantly ran towards the steps and climbed out of sight.
Knowing that Elsa was now out of harm’s way, Konrad called after his old friend.
‘You should come out into the open, Ziegler, and kneel before me!’
‘And why would I do that?’
‘I’ve performed an act that no human in history has ever done. I’ve murdered a god!’
Ziegler didn’t rise to the bait.
‘I’ve avenged all the prisoners who built that damned ship that brought us to this shit-hole,’ Konrad declared. ‘I’ve avenged the crew who paid with their lives for this Nazi folly, and I’ve avenged the poor creatures who that bastard experimented upon.’
‘Ha! Pride always comes before a fall, my old friend. Your new-found hubris has blinded you to the reality of this world,’ Ziegler cackled. ‘Who are you to make such blasphemous statements? No, not statements – lies!’