ruBracks, Nazis, the Death of the Universe & Everything (The Parallel-Multiverse Book 1) by Ward Wagher

Author:Ward Wagher [Wagher, Ward]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Paris Mountain Press
Published: 2018-04-19T04:00:00+00:00

INTERLUDE 4

January 18, 1960; 4 AM

Chancellor Bunker

North of Berlin

Greater German Reich

Heinrich Schloss opened his eyes to a pounding headache. He was lying on the floor of the Chancellor Bunker. Debris lay on the floor along the hallway where pieces of concrete had dislodged from the ceiling. Stratified layers of dust hung in the air – the ventilation system apparently not running. Red emergency lights gave the bunker a macabre appearance. The floor heaved again in concert with a long drawn out rumble, and more bits of the ceiling pattered to the floor. Okay, that one was not as close.

He dragged himself to his feet, his head pounding like the blacksmith’s hammer. He turned around to return to his private apartment and check on Hanalore. He was confronted with a wall of rubble where the ceiling had caved in.

“Hanalore!” he shouted. “Hanalore, are you well?”

There was no answer. He began frantically pulling at the debris to gain an opening into the room. He continued shouting her name in his panic. He clawed at the concrete and dirt. There was no time. He had to rescue his wife.

Schloss’s efforts came to an abrupt halt as the dust cleared enough for him to see a human foot protruding from a mound of steel and concrete. The foot was wearing a red shoe. Hanalore’s red shoe. He was reminded of how much she had loved that pair of red shoes. And now that did not matter anymore. Nothing mattered very much anymore.

Schloss stumbled along the hallway towards the control center. The door was jammed and he finally grabbed the edges of the door and wrenched it open. The control center was still intact, though much of the equipment no longer functioned. General Roettiger turned as Schloss walked in.

“Are you injured, Herr Reichschancellor?” he asked.

“Part of the bunker collapsed,” Schloss said. “My wife...” and he shook his head.

The general sighed deeply. “Our emergency generators did not fire up, so we are on battery power. We still have contact with Valkyrie II.

Schloss shook himself. The nation still existed, and he had his duties. He would allow his grief later.

“Do you have a status report, Herr General?”

“Valkyrie is transmitting its observations. From the radar tracks we observed here before the strike, we surmise the anti-rockets stopped about forty percent of the American rockets.”

“That low?”

“That is rather better than we predicted. The American anti-rockets were less effective. As far as we can ascertain, the United States is no longer a functioning entity. We also managed to stop their Strategic Air Command cold.”

“What about their second strike?”

“As far we know,” Roettiger continued, “the Americans did not know we had our own attack U-Boats following their rocket submarines. As soon as the attack orders went out, our U-Boat commanders were instructed to attack and destroy the American boats. I believe we have sufficient anti-rockets to stop a small second strike.”

“And are our rocket U-Boats safe?” Schloss asked.

The general gave him a thin smile. “That remains to be seen, doesn’t it? My personal opinion is that our U-Boat fleet is largely intact.

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