Before anyone could answer the Englishman's comment, the SS colonel returned and smartly clicked his polished heels together and half bowed. Behind him stood a short man in a gray, very plain uniform. He was hatless and his hair had been oiled so heavily that it shone brightly under the harsh bulbs hanging from the cement ceiling. Behind him was a skinny soul who had the face of a ferret. This man was of course recognizable not only to the visitors in the room but to most people the world over. Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's Minister of Propaganda, was sneering at the men before him.
'I must know what it is you are here to see the fuhrer about,' he demanded, looking from one face to the other. His eyes lingered upon the countenance of Dolyevski a moment longer than on the American, the Brit, or the German.
The smell of cologne was thick in the air and radiated from Goebbels, but it was the underlying smell of sweat and fear that was sickening above all else.
'We are not here to talk with the likes of you, Heir Minister, but must speak with that fool you call--'
The Englishman held a hand up to the American's face to silence him.
'Our business is with your fuhrer, no one else,' Smythe said, shooting Tomlinson a withering look.
Goebbels looked at the American with disdain.
'This man will take you to him,' he said as he stepped aside, the movement hampered by his clubfoot. 'But make no mistake: your business here will change nothing.'
The four representatives of the Coalition exchanged amused looks.
'My name is Boorman. Will you gentlemen follow me, please.' He gestured for the men to follow him.
The two secretaries outside the single door looked as if it were a normal workday. They did not flinch when a woman located somewhere in the labyrinthe depths of the bunker screamed. Both secretaries looked up, not with smiles but with nods at Boorman.
'You may go right in. He is very pleased the representatives of the Coalition have arrived,' said Traudle Junge, the younger of the two secretaries.
The American looked at the not-too-bad-looking woman for a moment and smiled. She just stared at him until he became self-conscious and followed the others.
Before Boorman had a chance to open the thick door, another woman opened it, hurried out, and smiled as she passed the five men. Her blond hair was perfectly coiffed and her makeup was impeccable.
'Excuse me, gentlemen,' she said as she fluttered her thick lashes and moved off to confer with Hitler's secretaries. Eva Braun did not give the visitors so much as a curious second look.
The four men entered the antechamber of Hitler's personal quarters. They smelled fresh flowers and the ghostly remains of Ms. Braun's perfume as they stood rigidly before a man who was ghostly white and as frail as a man twenty years beyond his age.
'You gentlemen have five minutes to state your business. The furher has a defense meeting with his generals at that time,' Boorman stated flatly.
Smythe almost laughed at the statement. He felt as if he had stepped into the antechamber of the Mad Hatter instead of the leader of the Third Reich.
Hitler was using his right hand to write something; he kept his left hand out of sight. The glasses he wore looked bent and out of shape. Finally, he looked up with medicinally dilated eyes, dead eyes, the eyes of the insane.
'Why would traitors to my reich show themselves here?' he asked quietly as he removed his glasses, but refused to look at the four men.
'The Coalition Council is aware of your plans to escape this bunker; we have also come into intelligence that you and your people plan to make for the Argentine coast. We are here to tell you that this thing
Hitler closed his eyes and allowed his right hand to disappear under his desk to still the left hand and arm, which shook uncontrollably.
The German guest spoke up. 'The Coalition has ordered that you remain here.' He reached into his pocket, pulled out a large box, and placed it on Hitler's desk. 'The contents of this box are far more lethal and will end this fiasco with more assurance than anything that quack doctor of yours may prescribe. Since you will not be taking your U-boat cruise to the Americas, you are to take your life within twenty-four hours of this meeting, or the Soviet army will take you as prisoner, a sentence that many in the Coalition insist upon anyway. Some believe these pills are too easy.'
'You failed me in not ... not--'
'What the furher is trying to say is, if you had delivered upon your promise of the Atlantean Key and the bulk of the tectonic sciences, the reich would still be intact,' Boorman said as he stood angrily.
Smythe ignored the man behind him.
'Herr Hitler, you failed the Coalition five years ago when you disobeyed your orders and attacked Poland, bringing about war with the western powers, thus ending the subtleties of the Coalition plan. Did you think this deed would deserve the reward of the Atlantean sciences? We will just wait for another opportunity; maybe one will arise a little west of Germany next time.' Smythe lightly slid the box toward Hitler. 'After all, we have all the time in the world. Now, it's either this,' he tapped the box, 'or you will take the risk of being placed on display in Red Square like the animal you are. It's your choice.'
With those final words, the four men turned and left.
As the door closed behind the representatives of the Juliai Coalition, little did Adolph Hitler know that planning was already under way for another attempt to consolidate Juliai power and race policies throughout the world. Only this time the Coalition would eliminate the need for a host country altogether to achieve their aims, and soon an all-out attempt would be made to secure the final piece of their plans by having the weapon of the Ancients at its disposal.
The darkness Germany experienced in 1945 was nothing compared to the utter blackness that was about to set in almost seventy years later.
The red banner with the golden eagle minus the swastika would be unfurled in a new world.
PART ONE
THOR'S HAMMER
As Thor raised his hammer with a mighty bellow for Germanic sake, he brought it down with a curse and roar and the world did but shake.
--GERMANIC TOME FROM THE EARLY DAYS OF THE THIRD REICH
1
The scene shifted to a stock shot of the empty and barren wheat fields of the Ukraine.
