Despite Hagen's claim that Hitler wanted to see Sankt immediately he had now spent several days in Berlin without seeing the man. Instead he had been brought to a dingy little room full of Gestapo thugs with questions for him. So many questions. What had he discovered and when. Who knew what and for how long. When Sankt failed to answer as quickly or thoroughly as his captors wanted they were not shy about using their fists to encourage him. Still he had been able to keep back most of the important things. How long he would be able to maintain his silence was questionable. Between his captors and the sound of bombs exploding above the city Sankt had barely slept since he arrived. Finally he was making progress, though whether it was progress towards anywhere he wanted to be was yet to be seen.
It was still dark out when they had dragged Sankt from his cell and into a waiting car. Speeding through the streets of Berlin he could barely see what state the city was in. They parked in a lot adjacent to the Reich Chancellery and made their way underground. He knew these tunnels and who would be waiting in the bunker below, passed the well manned checkpoints and reinforced doors. So the group that awaited him when he was finally brought to his well lit and finely appointed destination was of little surprise. Sankt was sat down in a chair facing the rest, one man staring defiantly at a semi-circle of the most powerful men in Germany.
Rat-faced Goebbels shared a sofa with Speer alongside one wall. Opposite them was the idiotic Himmler next to an apathetic looking Guderian. That raised Sankt's hopes. If anyone could understand his motives it would be Guderian. The man's writing on armoured tactics had been the inspiration for most of Sankt's own work on ubermensch tactics. Guderian looked less than happy that he had been dragged in here to mingle with this riff-raff, which could only help Sankt's case. Bohrmann was standing to the right of the Leader like a child not straying too far from his mother. Facing Sankt directly, seated behind a heavy oak desk, was Hitler.
A lesser man might have been intimidated by the cold stares being directed at him but Sankt was no such man. With the exception of Guderian and perhaps Speer he regarded each of these men as a fool or an imbecile in their own way. They had already managed to piss away most of Germany's strength. Without his discovery they would likely end up looking down the barrel of a gun or at a hangman's noose. Keeping his silence for now Sankt waited for one of them to make the first move. He would remind them all in good time how much they owed him.
"I gave you everything that you asked for. Even when others were calling for your head for wasting those resources I allowed you to carry on. And this, this is how I am repaid?" Hitler began quietly but his voice quickly rose to a shout. It was clear that he would be wasting no time in getting to the point. Not that he had much time left to waste. "You have had these weapons for months, almost a year, and you chose to do nothing! All the while Germany, my Germany, was torn to shreds by our enemies!"
Once Sankt had been enthralled by Hitler's speeches, marvelling at their clarity of purpose. Hearing the Leader speak now he could hardly remember why he had been so impressed. Even though the war had obviously unsettled the man's nerves it was now clear that the foundation had been anything but firm. At their last encounter Sankt had considered that Hitler was becoming unhinged. Now he looked and sounded far worse. It confirmed to Sankt that he had made the correct decision. Germany needed strong leadership and anyone could see that Hitler was no longer capable of providing it, if he had ever been able to.
"The weapons needed to be tested and allowed to mature. Even now the Battleships are hardly halfway to their full potential. I needed to be sure that they were ready before allowing them onto the battlefield." Sankt kept a level tone as he spoke. Let them see him as a reasonable man next to Hitler's ranting. Even the lapdogs among the group would turn vicious once they smelled blood coming from the Leader.
"You 'needed?' You needed to obey your orders! It was not your decision to make!" Hitler slammed his palm onto the table. Everyone's attention was on him. Time for Sankt to make his move.
"How many of our soldiers have you sacrificed on foolish ventures? Had I revealed the ubermensch before they were properly prepared then they would have been little more than another casualty of your ineptitude," Watching Hitler's face turn even darker with rage Sankt moved on to addressing the other men. "Surely you can all see the wisdom in this? Would any of you want to be responsible for wasting the advantage that will win us the war?"
No one answered him. They could barely even look at him. It seemed that they were still more supportive of Hitler than Sankt would have thought. Finally Guderian broke the silence, much to Sankt's relief.
"You swore an oath of loyalty to the Leader. Keeping this discovery from him was a violation of that oath. Not only have you besmirched your own honour but that of the whole Wehrmacht." Every word that came out of Guderian's mouth was like a blow. This was nothing like how he had envisioned it. How could Guderian of all people not see the truth of Sankt's words?
"Yes! Exactly!" Hitler barely waited for Guderian to finish speaking before beginning again. "So as of this moment you are stripped of your rank. There is no place for a traitor like yourself in my army!"
After all that he had endured getting here Guderian's words had chipped away almost all of Sankt's calm. What Hitler said finally shattered it. Sankt shot up out of his chair, the guards forcing him to the ground before he could take a step.
"Cowards! All of you! You would rather follow this fool into oblivion than risk reaching for true greatness. You are the true traitors here and history will remember it!" Sankt managed to say before he was struck across the face by one of the men holding him down.
"As a traitor," Hitler acted as if nothing had been said in the interim. "You will be executed at the soonest opportunity. After you have told us every last thing that you held back all this time! Get him out of here!"
One flick of the Fuhrer's hand and Sankt found himself being dragged out of the room, off towards what was certain to be a grisly fate. Bloodied as he was Sankt continued to shout denouncements at the group, hardly deterred by the repeated blows of the guards. Once the door to the room was shut again the group inside watched Hitler closely to gauge his mood. There was a look of satisfaction on his face. No one spoke until the sound of Sankt's yelling faded away.
"Colonel Hagen has arrived with the confiscated materials from the project camp and is sorting through them as we speak. We will compare what they say to what we get from Sankt's interrogation to see if he is trying to hold anything back.." Guderian was the first one to speak, getting a nod of approval from a much calmer Hitler.
"Good. How long until the last Battleship arrives?"
"She should be here within the next few hours. Even without her presence Strasbourg is now completely under the control of our forces. So far the Allies have only retreated further and made no moves towards counterattacking. There were no ubermensch casualties and even among the regular troops casualties were surprisingly low." All good news so far as Guderian was concerned. It seemed to undercut Sankt's claims that the ubermensch had not been ready to see use in the field.
"I want to inspect them later today. Have a lunch prepared," Hitler ordered. As usual it was unclear exactly who was expected to see it happen. "General, you may return to your duties for now."
Leaving the rest of the group behind Guderian could not help but feel that this did not bode well for the future. Politics had never been his strength but he knew when he was being cut out of the loop. Every man in that room only cared for securing as much power as he could get and if even half of what was said about these ubermensch was true they might be the greatest source of power in existence. Sankt had believed that he was a good liar but in the end he had been transparent. Whoever ended up with the loyalty of the ubermensch, especially the Battleships, would have the world handed to them on a plate. Any fool could see that Sankt must have thought that he could seize control somehow. For his part Guderian thought about the estate he had been given, now behind Soviet lines in Poland. Soon enough it would be German soil once more and there was the opportunity to greatly expand it. He just needed to take care not to end up like the soon to be departed Sankt. Too much ambition was usually deadly.
For now Guderian was content to sit and see how things played out. The special payments were still making their way into his accounts so he had little to complain about there. Sankt's adjutant had been brought in to give a presentation on just what could be expected from the project. He had only met the tall, steely-eyed woman once so far and truth be told she did intimidate him. Her loyalty was still uncertain but from what Hagen had been able to discern she was cooperative and truthful. More than could be said of her former employer. It was hard to see a path to victory with the way things were but Guderian was willing to give a listen. Maybe Sankt really had discovered a miracle.
For the first time in days Klaudia allowed herself to relax. A proper bath in an actual bathtub with steaming hot water and good soap had helped immensely. The first tub full had turned black just cleaning off her legs and feet, the second had done the same for the rest of her. Now she was content to just soak for a little while. If only the tub was large enough that she could actually stretch out and fully enjoy it. Given what she had seen on her way to Berlin Klaudia was not inclined to complain about anything. She had far more than most did these days.
The parts of the country that she had passed through looked much like the inside of her head felt. Everything was in disarray and hope was in short supply. Towns seemed to barely be in working order with every train station flooded with people searching for someplace safer to ride out the rest of the war. Others moved along the roads, rarely in vehicles and most often on foot. Apparently people had begun to flee from the east of Germany to the west so that they could surrender to the Americans rather than the Soviets when defeat inevitably came. Remembering what Werner had told her about the war in the east Klaudia considered that to be a wise decision. One that would likely be unnecessary now but a wise decision all the same.
As much as she would have loved to lay there for the rest of the day Klaudia reluctantly pulled herself out of the tub. Her presence was demanded elsewhere. Drying off her upper body she let her feet rest in the water for a bit longer while turning her attention to her hair. It had been neglected for too long during all of her running around. Getting all of the tangles out had only required the destruction of a few combs. Putting it back into a neat braid Klaudia took a look at herself in the mirror. A touch of makeup and she might actually pass for a normal person again. So long as one ignored her height.
A new uniform had been prepared for her. It was identical to the ones that she had worn in the camp save that the canvas had been hastily dyed black. Klaudia could smell it from across the room and hoped that it had dried properly. Having finally gotten clean again she was in no hurry to get dye smudges all over her skin. Thankfully it had and soon enough Klaudia was putting the last finishing touches on her appearance. Someone had left a pair of earrings for her but when she tried to put them on she discovered that the holes for her piercings had begun to grow over. The steel pin of the earring was no match for the toughness of her skin or the strength of her fingers and Klaudia ended up flattening the whole thing. Tossing it down onto the counter Klaudia just shook her head. So much for the illusion of normalcy.
Outside her minders were eagerly waiting for her to emerge. They had had been as amazed as everyone else at her appearance at first but now they impatiently rushed her along. However strong Klaudia might be she was still only one soldier, one that was late for an audience with the Leader himself. She was lead outside to the car that would take her to the Chancellery. Crammed into the back seat there was little to do but look at what had become of Germany's capital.
She had been to Berlin a few times before and Klaudia had foolishly believed that the capital might have been spared some of the chaos that was running rampant through the rest of the country. Looking out the window dashed that hope as the damage the city had endured was plain to see. Nowhere seemed to have been safe from the bombings. Even here in the heart of the city there was still rubble from collapsed buildings waiting to be cleared away. Seeing this senseless destruction helped to reignite Klaudia's rage. Every weapon needed ammunition and this would be hers.
Arriving at the Chancellery building Klaudia felt apprehension for the first time in months. Like every other woman her age she had been a member of the League of German Girls and she had even volunteered to continue on as part of the Faith and Beauty Society. Never one to make friends easily those rallies and retreats had been a comfort to her. Her parents had disapproved of course but they had done that for almost everything in Klaudia's life. Once she had been at one of the Leader's speeches and she remembered the feeling of that day well. A whole crowd thousands strong all focused on one man, completely in harmony with him and one another. Today he would be right in front of her. If only Leon could have been here to share the experience. He would have been ecstatic.
A few people were waiting inside the entrance hall, two of which Klaudia recognized right away. They were the only two people in the world like her after all. Werner, black hair matching his uniform, stood apart from the others with his arms crossed. Markus was bent over listening intently to a pinch-faced older woman in a dated dress. Oddly enough this was one of the few times that the young blonde man did not have an idiotic grin on his face. His mouth even hung open a bit until the older woman reached over and forced it shut with her fingertip. Very strange. As soon as Werner noticed Klaudia he walked over, looking glad to see her.
"I see that you're still standing. Thank god for that." Werner said quietly. The way he jerked his head slightly towards Markus explained why he was so happy to see her. Had their situations been reversed Klaudia would not have wanted to be stuck relying on the boy.
"Well, we can't die so I might as well live." Klaudia responded. Macabre as it might be it was the truth. Her little excursion outside of Strasbourg had proved that.
Reaching into his jacket Werner pulled his hand out and held it towards Klaudia. In his palm was her wedding ring, still attached to its chain. "I thought that you would want this when you returned. Just remember that there are things worth living for."
"Thank you Werner. For everything," Klaudia took the necklace and put it back on. It was not a subject that she wanted to dwell on so she began to look around. "I thought that I was running late but it looks like we are just standing around anyways."
"I have never been to a single official function that started on time. It seems that the higher up you go the less people are able to check their watches." Werner's comment carried further than he had intended, as the woman beside Markus glared over at them and sniffed loudly. As a nervous looking Markus tried to usher his companion further away Klaudia was able to make out what the woman was saying to him.
"This is to be your support? Some halfwit common soldier and an up jumped hussy? Just what has our nation descended to if this is all that we have left to defend it."
The sheer vitriol in the stranger's voice was enough to take Klaudia aback. She was not even angered by the comments as she watched Markus pleadingly move the woman towards the far side of the room. Looking at Werner she did not even have to vocalize the question in her mind. Just who was that woman?
"Now you too have had the pleasure of meeting Mrs Wilhemina Jung, the answer to every question that I have ever had about Markus. Don't let her get under your skin, she has already made a number of colourful comments about how most everything is wrong in the world." Werner looked upwards as if beseeching the heavens for patience.
Having lived in close quarters to Markus at the camp Klaudia could see the difference in his behaviour. Generally he was either arrogant or servile depending on if he though whoever he was addressing outranked him. In neither case was he actually loyal, with perhaps the exception of the Leader. Watching him with his mother was the first time that Klaudia could say that she had ever seen him show genuine deference to someone. If anything he seemed frightened around his mother. That certainly would explain why he treated others with such cruelty when he thought he could get away with it.
"They apparently wanted to bring all of our families in for this but mine all passed years ago and they couldn't find yours." Werner watched for Klaudia's reaction.
It was for the best that they had been unable to drag her father and mother here, or even her sisters. Not only did Klaudia think that she would have been unable having to handle a sudden reunion with them this would have been the worst place in the world to bring her father. In his opinion Hitler and the Nazis were little more than a bunch of pagans running around destroying Christian decency in Germany. His frequent and vocal outbursts had caused enough trouble in Dresden with the authorities and he would have been too proud to hold his tongue here.
Before they could discuss things further the door at the end of the room opened. Through it came the distinct figure of Joseph Goebbels. Werner motioned for Klaudia to follow him as he went to line up alongside Markus. Reaching them Goebbels stood there without speaking, looking over each of them in turn. Finally he motioned for Klaudia to switch places so that she was standing directly beside Markus before inspecting them once more.
"Good Aryan features on the two of you, I can work with that. Not a slight against yourself," Goebbels said in a placating manner towards Werner. "But there are certain appearances that we need to keep up. We'll need to have you all fitted for proper uniforms. Her hair needs to be lighter to match his. Won't matter much for the posters but it will on film. This practically writes itself. 'The emergence of superior beings from the superior race.'"
Having her appearance picked apart was a distinctly unpleasant experience. Klaudia noticed that Goebbels lingered in front of her for longer than the others before moving on to Markus's mother.
"Mrs Jung, I must say that it is a delight to have you. The ride into Berlin was pleasant I hope?"
"It was, Mr Goebbels." The woman actually smiled as Goebbels kissed her hand. This must have been the type of treatment that she expected.
"I had wanted to bring some of all of your loved ones to Berlin to share in this momentous occasion but Mrs Jung was the only one to be found in time. That and I understand that some of you have lost people recently. You have my condolences." Goebbels nodded towards Klaudia before his smile reappeared and he lead them all back through the door that he had come through.
Her first encounter with someone who really mattered and Klaudia was already terribly uncomfortable. Hopefully meeting the Leader would be enough to dispel the bad taste that Goebbels had left in her mouth. Dealing with Sankt had been tiring enough, she did not need others trying her patience. Finally Goebbels led them to a well guarded set of double doors. The soldiers opened them and the Battleships ducked through into the room beyond.
There was the Leader standing beside a large table talking with another man. From what Klaudia could see the entirety of the tabletop was taken up by a set of model buildings, long columned halls and great soaring domes. Noticing them the Leader approached smiling broadly.
"Look at you!" The joy in Hitler's voice was like that of a child receiving a new toy. "Siegmund, Siegfried, Sieglinde! My Battleships, my vengeance!"
Inside Klaudia let out a groan. Of all the things that he could have kept from Sankt the Leader had chosen to keep those ridiculous names. During operations Werner was to be called Siegmund, Markus Siegfried and herself Sieglinde. That she shared a name with a woman who had poisoned her own husband made Klaudia suspect that it had been a sly insult on Sankt's part.
Beside her Werner and Markus raised their arms in salute, with Klaudia joining them after a moment. She would have to get Werner to give her a quick overview of military protocol, seeing as Sankt had never seen fit to. Much like Goebbels had the Leader walked back and forth in front of them, studying their faces. His gaze did not linger on any of them for too long. Finally he waved for them to take their places on the couches arranged around the room.
"You three," Hitler began breathlessly as servants brought trays into the room. "Are to be the head of the spear that will once and for all destroy the Judeo-Bolshevik menace and their puppets. The Soviets, the British, the Americans. With your power we will win this war and ensure the thousand year Reich! No, the eternal Reich!"
Trays were placed beside them all, bearing sandwiches and coffee for Hitler and the other humans and bowls of glucose paste for the Battleships. At first Klaudia let hers sit, waiting for Hitler to pause so that they could begin the lunch. Minutes soon passed and it became all too apparent that he had no intention of stopping any time soon. Following the lead of Goebbels, who had begun to take polite bites from his sandwich, Klaudia quietly picked up her bowl and took the occasional spoonful while listening to the Leader continue.
"Their armies will be wiped away like dust in the wind! Let Stalin press forward thinking that we are weak, that will be his undoing!"
Carefully looking to her sides when she could Klaudia glanced at the expressions of her fellow Battleships. Markus was hardly a surprise. He had not even touched his bowl so far as he was too busy leaning forward, eagerly hanging on the Leader's every word. The smile that was spreading across the boy's face was an unpleasant one that betrayed the little sadists inner thoughts. Beside him his mother nodded along, grim satisfaction painted across her face. Werner was completely the opposite. He did not show even the slightest hint of emotion. Neither pleased or displeased he sat there perfectly still with his hands resting in his lap. Another one of the man's little mysteries.
The longer that Hitler spoke the more that Klaudia found herself disappointed. His speech was hardly coherent as he frequently switched topics. As he went on she also could see that his hands, which he had kept carefully folded at the beginning, were trembling now. Almost as if he could not help it. All in all it was a far cry from the man she remembered watching years before, much less the image she had built up in her head. He still had fire in his voice but it seemed like the war had taken the same toll on him as it had on all of them. For some reason Klaudia had assumed that he would have been beyond that, reigning over them untouchable. Seeing Hitler before her all she could think of was how small he looked. Like a normal man.
Whenever Hitler stopped to take a breath Klaudia could hear the faint ticking of the clock on the mantelpiece. For all that the Leader spoke about taking vengeance there was apparently no need to hurry in his mind as he continued on and on. Unable to keep track of just what he was saying Klaudia found her thoughts drifting to Leon.
Would he have been disappointed upon meeting the Leader? No matter what he thought he would have sat attentively at least. Klaudia knew that she should as well. She was a weapon now. It hardly mattered what she thought about her leaders, she just needed to follow their orders. Still as time dragged on she found it harder to pay attention as daydreams took over her mind. Leon sitting beside her, his hand reassuringly placed on her thigh. Her own hand ventured to the cushion of the couch beside her, where his leg should have been. Thinking about her dead husband Klaudia was content to sit there and nod along. Certainly they would put her to use soon enough.