“While I am pleased to hear of progress,” Himmler conceded finally, “We must do better. We must strive for 100 percent capability. I ask that you conceive of an accelerated plan and submit it to my office by the end of January.”
“Yes, Reichsfuhrer.”
“And one other thing. We are never to speak of Karl Landsteiner in public again. Please make a note of it.”
Wolf leaned to whisper in his friend’s ear. “Who is Landsteiner?”
Lang shrugged. “Does it matter? We’ll never hear his name mentioned again.”
Attendants with white gloves pushed the room’s massive double doors open. While Himmler was ushered away to more pressing business, Professor Hahn collected the burned Parvo 100 and carried it offstage. Non-Ahnenerbe personnel were summarily dismissed from the room, reducing the head count to Wolf, Lang, Nagel and a handful of academics who had worn their SS dress uniforms for the occasion.
“Mr. Wolf,” a voice intoned. He turned and saw Dr. Seiler, whom he had last seen fleeing Notre Dame with the reliquary of the Holy Crown. He looked less impressive in his ill-fitting tunic. “Sebastian Wolf, isn’t it?”
“Yes sir.”
“I see congratulations are in order.” He pointed to the Wound Badge pinned to Wolf’s tunic. “Your mother will be proud.”
“Indeed,” Wolf said agreeably, although the truth was exactly the opposite. His mother had sacrificed everything — including her principles — to get him into the Reich School so that he might sit out the war within the safe confines of an Ahnenerbe research lab. He would have to hide the badge on his next trip home.
Waiters rolled in a pair of wheeled tables bearing hot coffee and an assortment of sausages and pastries. At the professor’s urging, Wolf populated a plate with a few items, but could not force himself to eat. There had been far too much blood this morning — talk of it, and spilling of it — to whet his appetite.
“You are no doubt wondering about the fate of the so-called Holy Crown,” Seiler began, speaking between bites. In his obsession with the Holy Ossuary, Wolf had nearly forgotten about the priceless relic that had been taken from Notre Dame. “It was immediately taken to the University of Leipzig for analysis. It has been determined that the thrushes were of the species known as Zizyphus Spine Christi, which is native to the Palestine region and is found in Jerusalem itself. The plant produces crooked branches, with thorns growing in pairs. The Zizyphus strain was actually mentioned in the second century references to the Crown, when it was purportedly kept at Mount Zion. Incidentally, this also matches the strain from a thorn that was retrieved from Trier Cathedral. From an anthropological perspective, the prospect of reuniting the Holy Crown with its original thorns is quite thrilling.”
Wolf had to admit that there was something thrilling about this. The notion of using science to learn more knowledge about the life and death of Jesus was actually quite breathtaking. But he was equally distraught at the prospect of a spiritual object being analyzed in Seiler’s laboratory. And he liked the thought of the crown ending up in Himmler’s private museum even less.
*
Nagel ordered the staff to seal the doors. All chatter abruptly ended. The commandant climbed the steps to the stage, went to the wall and slid back a piece of wood paneling, revealing an enormous map of Western Europe. The occupied countries — Austria, Poland, France, Norway, Finland, Morocco, Tunisia, Romania, Belgium and many others — were colored with a swastika background.
“Please make yourself comfortable,” Nagel announced. “First, we will start with introductions.” He turned to his left and regarded a lanky, bearded SS officer with three silver pips on his collar. “Our esteemed colleague, Hauptsturmfuhrer Bruno Fleischer.”
Dr. Fleischer needed no introduction. He was the most famous racial anthropologist in Germany. He was an excellent marksman, and had filled half of Berlin’s Ethnology Museum with taxidermy and pelts from his own gun. More recently, he had become a leading authority in the identification of ethnic groups through cranial examination.
Next, Nagel pointed to a rumpled-looking man in a brown bow tie. “And this is Paul Ritter, Dr. Hahn’s colleague from the university. He is a partner in the Germany Society for Blood Group Research.”
Nagel then gestured to Seiler, who was still grazing at a refreshment table, stuffing himself with Bavarian sausage. “I think we all know the Professor. Although the broadness of Dr. Seiler’s expertise boggles the mind, he serves us here today as an expert in Christian antiquities and belief systems.”
“And last but not least,” Nagel said, nodding in the direction of the front row, “These two fresh-faced squad leaders are Wolf and Lang. They both participated in the liberation of the Holy Crown at Notre Dame. And despite their rank, they have witnessed firsthand what happens to those who do not keep state secrets in confidence. We can therefore speak freely in front of them. Professor Seiler, would you please frame our discussion?”
Dr. Seiler swallowed his last bite and emitted a small burp before straightening himself to address the others. “This concerns national security at the highest level. The genesis of this mission was four years ago, when my companion and I uncovered evidence of a possible rift in the ancient Roman Empire between the descendants of Romans of Nordic descent and local Semites.”
“Let me guess,” Fleischer laughed in a booming voice as he poured himself a cup of coffee. “This concerns the so-called Aryan Jesus?”
“Yes,” Nagel confirmed. “Precisely.”
“Another of Himmler’s little fantasies,” Fleischer snorted.
Wolf found Fleischer’s insolence shocking. As if mocking Himmler wasn’t enough, Nagel significantly outranked Fleischer. Perhaps, Wolf surmised, the academic nature of the Ahnenerbe allowed for more professional latitude. After all, the Ahnenerbe was powered by civilian brainpower. Although Fleischer and the others wore black SS uniforms, they were more professor than soldier.
“Please hold all comments,” Nagel sniped. “Our time is extremely limited.”
“As I was saying,” Seiler continued, “My historical curiosity coincided with a practical need for the Fatherland to increase our oil supplies for the war effort. On this premise we were able to secure funding from the Ahnenerbe for an expedition to Iraq and Turkey, while Reichsmarschall Goring paid for the rest out of his own pocket.”
“A true patriot,” Nagel noted.
“Yes,” Seiler agreed before continuing. “To summarize a very long adventure, our research provided some evidence that, due to the aforementioned conflict within the Roman Empire, the areas of Galilee and Nazareth had been dominated by the descendants of Nordic tribes at least two generations prior to the birth of Jesus Christ.”
“And what proof do we have?” Ritter said in a tone that was only slightly less acerbic than Fleischer’s had been.
“Clues within ancient literature that have recently been translated into German for the first time.”
“And we’re just to take your word for this?”
“We also discovered sites dating back centuries before Christ where Nordic runes were present. The findings were published in the Ahnenerbe Journal of Indo-Germanic Studies.”
“Riveting I’m sure.”
Seiler pushed his glasses higher on his nose. “In recent months we have realized the need to acquire and study Christian artifacts to validate these theories. For example, at the time of Christ, it was common to keep tokens from the body. Locks of hair, sponges used to wash the body and so forth.”
“Would you agree,” Nagel cut in, “that our recent military victories have helped this effort considerably?”
“Unquestionably. For example, we recently came into possession of a purported vial of Christ’s blood from a cathedral in occupied Bruges. As legend has it, the blood was drawn from Jesus’ body by Joseph of Arimethea and was later kept in Constantinople.”