Ch 7
Stephanie was sitting in the barracks when Dr. Erskine came in.
"Can't sleep?" he asked.
"I got the jitters, I guess." Stephanie replied.
"Me, too." Dr. Erskine said with a laugh as he put the wine glasses down on the trunk.
Then Stephanie asked Erskine the one question she had always had ever since she was picked by Erskine.
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Just one?"
"Why me?"
"I suppose that is the only question that matters."
Then Erskine was going to tell his story as he showed her the label of the bottle. "This is from Augsburg. My city. So many people forget that the first country the Nazis invaded was their own. You know, after the last war, my people struggled. They felt weak. They felt small. And then Hitler comes along with the marching and the big show and the flags. And he hears of me. My work. And he finds me. And he says, "You." He says, "You will make us strong." Well, I am not interested."
Erskine put the bottle back down before he continued.
"So he sends the head of Hydra, his research division. A brilliant scientist by the name of Johann Schmidt. Now, Schmidt is a member of the inner circle. And he is ambitious. He and Hitler share a passion for occult power and Teutonic myth. Hitler uses his fantasies to inspire his followers. But for Schmidt, it is not fantasy. For him, it is real. He has become convinced that there is a great power hidden in the earth, left here by the gods, waiting to be seized by a superior man. So when he hears about my formula and what it can do, he cannot resist. Schmidt must become that superior man."
Stephanie listened in surprise. All this time, Allies were rushing to make a Super-Soldier and yet the Nazis had already made their own. "Did it make him stronger?" she asked.
"Yes." Erskine said after a pause. "But there were other effects. The serum was not ready. But more important, the man. The serum amplifies everything that is inside, so good becomes great. Bad becomes worse. This is why you were chosen. Because a strong man who has known power all his life may lose respect for that power, but a woman knows the value of strength. And knows compassion."
"Thanks. I think." Stephanie replied.
"Whatever happens tomorrow, you must promise me one thing. That you will stay who you are. Not a perfect soldier, but a good woman."
"To the little guys."
They toasted and they were going to drink but then Erskine remembered something, then stopped her.
"No, no. Wait, wait. What I am doing? No, you have procedure tomorrow. No fluids.
"All right. We'll drink it after."
"No, I don't have procedure tomorrow. Drink it after? I drink it now."
Meanwhile, in the snowy Swips Alps mountains, Red Skull had returned to his Hydra base and Dr. Armin Zola was working on inventions powered by the Tesseract and he told him that he found Erskine.
"You disapprove." Red Skull said after seeing the frown on Zola's face.
"I just don't see why you need concern yourself." Zola replied with skepticism. I can't imagine he will succeed. Again."
"His serum is the Allies' only defense against this power we now possess. If we take it away from them, then our victory is assured." Red Skull explained.
"Shall I give the order?"
"It has been given."
"Good."
Zola was about to walk off when he was called back.
"Dr. Zola!"
Red Skull then showed him a painting.
"What do you think?"
"A masterpiece."
