Chapter Twenty-Five.

The black ZIS Government limousine swept unhindered, through the quiet streets of Moscow. The driver kept a watchful eye on the rear-view mirror, but confirmed that no-one was following. There was no reason that anyone would. The car carried false licence plates from the list of number series allocated to Government limousines attached to The Kremlin. No Militsaya or NKVD would even contemplate ever pulling over one of those. This ZIS was completely anonymous and totally untraceable. It had been used by the German Embassy for clandestine purposes around Moscow for many months without a single incident.

The occupants rode in silence. Hans von Herwarth had been shocked by the incident at Yaroslavsky Rail Terminal. He sat in the front seat and stared ahead. Karyn sat in the rear seat between the two blonde giants who regarded her with something approaching grudging admiration. She had liquidated that Untermensch with all the aplomb of a professional Schutzstaffel. She was, indeed, a classic "Deutsches Mädchen" of "Das Herrenvolk." She would make a superb candidate for the ReichsFührer's "Lebensborn" programme... "Racially pure" German girls making babies with selected SS officers to provide Nazi Germany with elite generations for decades and centuries to come.

The larger of the two... twenty-one year old SS-Scharführer Christoph Schäfer; leaned slightly closer and inhaled her perfume. Most of the women he associated with in Moscow didn't wear make-up... let alone, perfume. He let his thoughts drift as he imagined what it would be like with her; perhaps living in the ReichsFührer's planned "Die Kameradschaftssiedlung der SS"... The SS Comradeship Settlement at Krumme Lanke in the Grunewald, to the west of Berlin. She smelled good. He pictured himself in a little house surrounded by trees, with a clutch of blonde, blue-eyed children in an "Arische" Valhalla; with her... compliant and loving. His thoughts wandered as he fantasised. What did she look like, naked?'

As Schäfer dreamed his erotic dream; he could not know that fate had already decided his destiny. He would never live in his Kameradschaftssiedlung Valhalla with a beautiful, blonde "Deutsches Mädchen" of "Das Herrenvolk"; surrounded by a brood of golden kinder. He would meet his end in 1941 as an SS-Sturmbannführer of SS Das Reich Motorised Division, in the grubby little village of Nivischi, ten kilometres north-west of Smolensk, in the dismal grey of a freezing Russian dawn; crucified naked to a frozen cottage door with Russian bayonets; castrated, disembowelled, and finished off by an NKVD Siberian trooper hammering empty cartridge cases into his forehead with the butt of a Nagant revolver.

The limousine turned off Leninskiy Prospekt; and a little farther on, glided in through the gates of the German Embassy. Schäfer opened the door, climbed out, and offered his hand to Karyn. He stood back as she emerged from the car, and von Herwarth walked with her to the entrance. He ushered her into an inner salon; sat down, and commenced her de-brief. After she had related all the events... the double-crosses, and the executions; and the fact that there was an ongoing power struggle within the NKVD; von Herwarth asked if any data in keeping with the criteria specified by the Abwehr had been discovered. Karyn shook her head.

'Every piece of information gleaned from the local indigenous clans suggested that it was a natural catastrophe... just as Kulik had surmised back in 1927. The place is just a mosquito-infested wilderness. There is nothing there of the slightest Military significance to Germany.'

Hans von Herwarth sighed.

'So... just another of Himmler's crazy obsessions; and a very expensive one. He won't be very happy with the result.'

Karyn smiled.

'Not necessarily. Herr Second secretary. I do have these...'

She opened the briefcase and emptied its contents onto the couch. Sliding out the secret compartment; she emptied the Gold Chervonets coins onto the leather surface. As they lay there, gleaming in the light of the gilt bronze and opaline glass chandelier; she continued.

'These were from Sergeyev's Lubyanka Black funds. As I said; he wasn't an archaeologist at all. He was a Senior Major of State Security from the NKVD Fourth Directorate, OZNAZ; based in Vladivostok.'

Von Herwarth whistled softly through his teeth as he picked up one of the coins and studied it.

'RSFSR Ten Chervonets. Each of these is the equivalent to one hundred Gold Roubles; which in turn, are worth something like two thousand Reichsmarks at bank exchange rates, and probably five times that at Gold standard value. We must have about two hundred coins here; so it hasn't been a complete loss.'

He smiled.

'These are almost impossible to get hold of. We can make very good use of these. What's that lump of metal?'

Karyn smiled ruefully.

'It's the only item we found at Tunguska. It was in Kulik's log cabin. I thought that the ReichsFührer might like it as a souvenir.'

Von Herwarth picked it up and studied it.

'It's heavy enough to be a paperweight. What does the engraving mean?'

Karyn shrugged.

'I have no idea. It's in yet one more obscure native language... and there aren't enough separate letters to construct a "frequency analysis" method to decipher it.'

He handed it back and stood up.

'The ReichsFührer-SS will probably find it interesting. He has a great enthusiasm for all things mystical. I'll just go and collect your other Attaché case and Reich Identity documents.'

As he turned; Karyn asked,

'Herr Second secretary; how exactly do you propose to get me back to Berlin? The flight out involved the Russian Air Force flying me from Minsk; and that arrangement is obviously now quite out of the question.'

Hans von Herwarth smiled.

'That won't be too difficult. We can fly you back to Berlin without the Russians being involved in any way. A Heinkel 111 painted in the markings of Deutsche Lufthansa; ostensibly as a civilian ten seat, passenger airliner, is being used by a clandestine reconnaissance unit based at the Lufthansa maintenance workshops at Flughafen Berlin-Staaken. This aeroplane is equipped with well-hidden cameras and extra fuel tanks; and the engines are modified to make it faster, and able to fly at higher altitudes. It has been performing... under the pretext of flying on route proving journeys; secret high-altitude reconnaissance missions over the Soviet Union since 1937.

This Heinkel is familiar to the Russians, and will therefore not raise any real suspicions if it drops into Khodynka Central Airport to refuel. I understand that it is out over the Leningrad area at the moment, and we can easily arrange for it to divert and have landing clearance here.

We can get you on board quite easily. We will submit your Diplomatic passport, which identifies you as being a Senior Administrator to The German Military Attaché in Moscow, and a suitable Letter of Recall, to the Soviet authorities as a matter of Diplomatic protocol; informing them that you are being reassigned elsewhere and replaced by another Senior administrator. You will merely be returning to Berlin having completed your Moscow posting. The Russians are very correct when it comes to Diplomacy matters. There will not be any problem.'

Karyn looked at him. Was this another of his fanciful schemes like the one about getting her out if anything went wrong, by sending in a detachment of the Bataillon Ebbinghaus special kommando to infiltrate over three thousand kilometres of Russian territory in complete secrecy to intercept and extract her?'

He saw her sceptical expression, and said,

'Help yourself to coffee. I'll just go to the wireless room and get them to contact the aeroplane to see how long they will take to divert here.'

He returned smiling, in ten minutes.

'We have contacted the Heinkel. The pilot will divert to Khodynka Central Airport and land in approximately one-and-a-half hours. The crew will get some sleep and be ready to leave for Berlin tomorrow morning. You will sleep at the Embassy tonight, Fräulein Doktor.'

Karyn was woken at a quarter-past-seven, the next morning by an Embassy maid bringing her a breakfast tray. The tray contained a typical German Frühstück... consisting of a variety of sliced cured sausage, dry-cured ham thinly sliced; cheese, a soft boiled egg with rye bread fingers; Brötchen... crusty rolls with butter, berry fruit jam, marmalade and honey; fresh fruit and coffee. They certainly lived well in the Embassy.

Having finished breakfast; she took a shower and dressed. Her clothes, which had been left at the Embassy when she commenced her journey had been laundered and hung in the dressing room. She chose the severe, but beautifully cut, black cashmere suit by Hugo Boss, and the cream silk, high-necked, tunic-style blouse that she had decided to wear that day she had flown out from Berlin. Pinning up her hair; she studied herself. A perfect, archetypal senior administrator to the German Military Attaché in Moscow on Recall. She picked up the black RF-SS Attaché case, pulled on her black gloves and went downstairs to meet von Herwarth.

He was waiting in the Embassy receiving room. He smiled;

'Good morning, Fräulein Doktor. The car is waiting.'

He led her outside, past the two blonde giants who had accompanied her from the station the previous night. As she passed them; they snapped to attention, and their right arms shot out in a perfectly synchronised Hitlergruss. She raised her right arm from the elbow in response, and quietly said.

'Dankeschön, meine Herren. Auf Wiedersehen. Heil Hitler!'

The gleaming black Mercedes Benz 540K saloon with Diplomatic plates and a little blood-red Hakenkreuz pennant fluttering gaily from a slim mast attached to the left front fender was waiting outside with its engine quietly ticking over. Von Herwarth ushered her into the plush red velvet rear seat, and sat beside her. He closed the door and rapped on the glass dividing partition for the driver to drive on.

The Mercedes cruised up Leninskiy Prospekt turning left onto Krymsky Val to cross the Krymsky Bridge. It swept on up Zubovski Boulevard past the Soviet Foreign Ministry building into Chaikovskogo; then turned left at the junction of the Boulevard Ring and Gorky Street. As the Mercedes whispered onto the long, straight Leningradsky Highway that led up to Khodynka Central Airport; von Herwarth spoke for the first time.

'Do have a pleasant flight, Fräulein Doktor. Give my regards to Berlin and let them know we are upholding the good name of the Third Reich here, in Moscow.'

Karyn nodded. What a strange thing to say; but, von Herwarth was a strange one anyway. She had thought that from the very first time she had met him. Her thoughts were dismissed as the Mercedes turned into Khodynka Central Airport, scarcely slowing as the official at the gate waved them through. Von Herwarth reached into his coat and brought out an envelope, and handed it to her.

'Your Recall papers, Fräulein Doktor.'

The sleek, twin-engined Heinkel 111 was parked on the concrete hard standing with a group of Russian officials standing around smoking. Karyn noticed that two of them were wearing the distinctive blue-topped, red-banded "Furashky"... NKVD men. She saw that the aeroplane did indeed have German civilian markings; the code letters D-ACBS, and the name "Augsburg" painted in large black letters on its silver fuselage. It looked like an ordinary civilian airliner, with its shiny black engine nacelles; the word "Lufthansa" on the black-painted nose, between the top and bottom black "flashes" that tapered back towards the cockpit; and the broad red Hakenkreuzfahne stripe across its fin and rudder below the blue encircled, stylised "Crane in flight" Deutsche Lufthansa badge on the tip of the fin.

As the Mercedes glided to a halt; the group of men began walking towards the car. As they did so; the pilot started the two engines; Port engine first, with the familiar engine whine, cough, and belching blue smoke. As it roared into life; the prop-wash whipped the cloud of fuel-rich smoke back over the top surface of the wing. Satisfied; with the engine running smoothly; the pilot pressed the Starboard start button. Again, the engine whined, coughed, belched blue smoke, and roared into life, with the fresh cloud of blue smoke whipping back over the wing.

As von Herwarth helped her out of the Mercedes; the larger of the NKVD officers approached. She noticed that he wore the collar tabs of a Starshiy Major Gozbezopasnosti... a Senior Major of State Security. He came to attention in front of her, and saluted. She handed him the letter of Recall envelope and her Diplomatic passport. He studied them briefly and glanced at the black RF-SS Attaché case she was carrying. Hans von Herwarth stepped forward, and spoke to the Major;

"Sumka diplomaticheskogo kur'yera."... 'Diplomatic courier's bag.'

The Major nodded, and handed the documents back to Karyn. He smiled; an open, affable smile, took her hand, and spoke:

"Nadeyus', vy khorosho proveli vremya na nashey slavnoy Rodine, froylyayn Doktor. Zhelayu vam blagopoluchnogo puteshestviya na vashu Rodinu."…'I hope you have enjoyed your time in our Glorious Motherland, Fräulein Doktor. I wish you a safe journey to your Homeland.'

Karyn returned his smile.

"Spasibo, tovarishch. Rossiya zamechatel'naya strana... no mne pora uyezzhat'... Do svidaniya."… 'Thank you, Comrade. Russia is a wonderful country... but it's time for me to leave... Goodbye'

The big Russian grinned, and kissed her hand…

"U tebya khoroshiy russkiy!» Ty dolzhen byl byt' kubanskim kazakom! Do svidaniya!"…'Your Russian is good! You should have been a Kuban Cossack! Goodbye!'

She walked to the door entry ladder. A familiar face appeared in the doorway. Rudi Stetten; the young navigator of the Heinkel Blitz that had flown her from Berlin to Minsk, smiled brightly, and reached down to offer her his hand.

'Welcome aboard, Fräulein Doktor. I didn't think it would be you.'

Karyn smiled and accepted his outstretched hand.

'Hello, Rudi. How are you? My, you have come up in the world with a big aeroplane like this!'

He laughed.

'You don't know the half of it. Willi Hettinger is still my Kapitän. He's up front doing the Mag-drop checks. I'll tell you all about our adventures when we're airborne.'

He guided her into the fuselage and said she should choose a seat. He suggested the Starboard row. She would have a better view of Berlin from that side. She chose the seat immediately forward of the door.

The interior of the aeroplane was divided into two sections. The main passenger cabin at the rear contained six seats with fixed arm-rests; three on the port side, and two forward of the entrance door on the starboard side with a sixth seat against the rear cabin bulkhead; also on the starboard side aft of the entrance door. There was a door in the forward bulkhead which Rudi said, led to what was called a "Smoking cabin," containing four narrower seats without armrests; arranged in pairs, facing each other. Forward of that, was another bulkhead that separated the cabin from the flight deck.

The interior of the Heinkel was finished in the same decoration as the little Heinkel Blitz that she had flown out on. On her side of the cabin were three rectangular windows; two alongside each seat at shoulder height, and one in the fuselage entry door. To the left of the door in the bulkhead that separated the smoking cabin from the main cabin, was fixed a large map of Deutsche Lufthansa routes.

Each seat was supplied with a small fold-down table attached to the fuselage wall... Spaced along the cabin wall were wall-lamps with green bakelite, semi-circular shades that shone downwards… one above each seat and one on the forward bulkhead over the map. On the other side were three windows; one to each seat, and the green-shaded lamps mounted on the cabin wall; one above each seat. The fuselage sides and floor were the same beige coloured sort of checker plate which extended halfway up the cabin sides to where a metal strip separated it from the upper cabin and roof decoration, which was the same pale pink and smoky-grey, smooth marbled finish, reminiscent of the end papers of an expensive book.

Rudi Stetten pulled up the entry ladder and closed the fuselage door. He smiled as he passed Karyn, and made his way to the fight deck; closing the bulkhead door behind him. She heard the engines rev up as Willi Hettinger cleared the fuel-rich mix, and felt the Heinkel start to move. Glancing out of the window, she saw von Herwarth climb back into the Embassy Mercedes, and as the group of officials turned away; the big NKVD Major saluted, and then waved, as the Heinkel turned out onto the taxi-way. She raised her hand in reply as he disappeared from her view.

Willi Hettinger waited for the green light from Khodynka Central Airport control tower, with the engines idling as the Heinkel sat at the threshold of the runway. He glanced across his instruments. All OK. He was keen to be off. If the Russians discovered the secrets of Heinkel 111, "Augsburg" there would be all hell to pay. There had already been an embarrassing incident with one of the sister aeroplanes. Heinkel 111, D-AXAV, "Köln" was written off following a crash inside Russia, in February, while on a "Route proving journey;" but the time the Russians became aware of what the aeroplane was actually up to; they could only effectively make a minor Diplomatic protest. There... at last! The green light. He pushed the throttles forward and the Heinkel began to gather speed down the runway.

Heinkel 111, D-ACBS, "Augsburg" held a secret. She was attached to the clandestine Rowehl unit formed in 1937. This unit operated from Berlin-Staaken, flying high-level reconnaissance flights over Russia and the Baltic coast up to Leningrad. She was equipped with hidden cameras under the "Smoking cabin," which, in the Heinkel 111's military form would become the bomb bay. The RLM had specified that the separating interior bulkheads between the "cabins" must remain in order to facilitate conversion of the aircraft into a bomber role; hence the two cabins. She also had long-range fuel tanks and up-rated engines which allowed her to reach altitudes of about 13,000 metres... far beyond interception height of Russian fighters.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Operating directly under the orders of Göring; Hauptmann Rowehl was permitted to hand-pick his crews from the Deutsche Lufthansa airline, and operate under the guise of being a part of "Hansa-Luftbild, GmbH"... a legitimate subsidiary of Lufthansa; a company carrying out aerial photography.

As the Heinkel lifted off the runway; Willi Hettinger gave a sigh of relief. He was getting too bloody old for all this cloak and dagger nonsense. He gently milked up the flaps and turned the Heinkel's nose into the south-west. Sixteen-hundred kilometres to fly; about four hours flying at a good altitude on seventy-five-percent boost.

Rudi had charted his heading as two hundred and sixty degrees magnetic to Vilnius; then two-hundred-and-forty degrees on down to the cruciform-shaped railway junction north of Rastenburg; and on across the Danzig corridor at Marienburg. Once beyond Marienburg; it would be an easy turn onto two hundred and thirty degrees, and straight down to Berlin. He glanced at the thirty-six hour Junghans Blindfluguhr chronometer mounted in the centre of an extended bracket behind his control column yoke… the minute hand was just coming up to 09.00am. With a following wind, he would make Berlin Staaken in time to get some lunch from the canteen.

He moved the throttles to full climb power and eased the control column yoke back. The altimeter pointer began to creep up; as did the attitude indicator. He scanned the skies. Nothing but fluffy, cumulus clouds. It looked as if it was going to be a good flight.

In the passenger cabin; Karyn was watching the ground diminishing as the aeroplane climbed higher and higher. A faint, white fluffy condensation trail was beginning to form a little way behind the wing trailing edge. They must be getting much higher. As she was watching the landmarks begin to smudge into a featureless green expanse; Rudi came through the bulkhead door with two cups and a "Thermos" vacuum flask. He sat in the opposite seat; unscrewed the metal cap and removed the cork stopper. A wonderful aroma of German coffee filled the cabin. He smiled;

'Real German coffee. It's "Eduscho" brand; the one that Lufthansa serves on all its passenger routes. Would you like a cup?'

Karyn smiled.

'Oh, yes please. That would be lovely. I haven't had any decent coffee since I left Berlin.'

As Rudi was carefully pouring her a cup, she asked him,

'How long have you been on these flights, Rudi?'

He handed her the steaming cup, and smiled self-consciously.

'This is only my second trip. Willi and I were only seconded to the Staaken flight a month ago. But it's great; so different from crewing the old single-engined "Blitz." They call this aeroplane a "Doppel-Blitz"... "Double Lightning," because she looks like the old single-engined Blitz's big sister. The only thing is, that there is no smoking allowed. It's because of the high oxygen content of the pressurisation system. That's why we can fly so high; but please don't ask me what we are doing out here. It's all very Hush-Hush.'

He grinned excitedly.

'The best part is; the Boss says that I'm good enough with my navigation to be transferred to a special unit called the Hanseatische Fliegerschule e.V, based at Fassberg in Lower Saxony. It's a proper Luftwaffe unit that they say will become a crack Kampfgeschwader bomber squadron. All the navigators will start with Unteroffizier ranks. It's quite an honour for a lowly Lufthansa navigator.'

Karyn smiled, as she sipped the coffee.

'I wouldn't dream of asking, Rudi. How long is the flight likely to take?'

He glanced at the big Fliegerchronograph on his wrist.

'We should be landing at Staaken in about three hours, Fräulein Doktor.'

He glanced out of the cabin window. They were above the scattered, cumulus clouds, and the condensation trails streaming back from the engine nacelles were thick and white. He stood up and replaced the stopper and cap of the vacuum bottle before handing it to Karyn.

'We are at our course altitude. There won't be much for you to see from up here. We carry newspapers as part of our deception, just in case the Russians decide to check us out. I'll get them for you. They will help to pass the time.'

He disappeared through the forward bulkhead door; re-appearing in a few moments with a pile of folded newspapers which he gave to her. She thanked him, as with another shy smile, he left her to return to the flight deck.

She unfolded the newspapers. As expected, most were Nazi publications: Der Völkischer Beobachter, Der Angriff; and even Streicher's venomous Der Stürmer. The others were likely to be less-tainted with propaganda... Die Vossische Zeitung; Die Kreuzzeitung; and even the anti-fascist, pro-communist Arbeiter-Illustrierte-Zeitung.

It was irrelevant which one she chose to read. All the newspapers were published on the same day and all the headlines were basically the same. The American President Roosevelt had appealed for peace directly to Hitler and President Beneš of Czechoslovakia, as a result of the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain meeting with Hitler in Berchtesgaden on 15th September and agreeing to the cession of the Sudetenland, with immediate military occupation of the territories; giving the Czechoslovak army no time to adapt any of their defence measures to the new borders.On September 29th, Hitler, The French President, Daladier and Chamberlain had met in Munich and negotiated an Agreement accepting the immediate occupation of the Sudetenland.On September 30th… today; Chamberlain and Hitler would sign a peace declaration in Munich.

The newspaper reportage continued; hysterically condemning the English politician Churchill as a "Warmonger" and a "Tool of the Jews" for daring to refuse to ignore Hitler's rise to power, and consistently warning the British Government of the supposed dangers posed by Nazi Germany.What Karyn found much more sinister than this vehement propaganda, was the gathering momentum of the persecution of the Jewish population. Der Völkischer Beobachter was exhorting that, in keeping with the incidents following the Anschluss, where Austrians had forced Jewish men and women to scrub the streets with small brushes and the womens' fur coats; the same should be seen to be done on the streets of Berlin. It also reported that Jews were forbidden to attend public cultural events, and that several prominent Berlin Jews had been beaten up for daring to attend a function at the Kroll Oper.Karyn gave a small involuntary shiver. The memory of the prison transport bound for the Gulag that she had seen at Danilov flooded back. She had thought then; the Nazis didn't actually ship whole groups of people off to God only knows where... not yet; and surely they never would; because the German people would never stand for it.Now; she wasn't quite so sure. What was happening to Germany? An uninvited memory of something her old professor back at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität in Frankfurt-am-Main had once said regarding the 1933 Book-burning in Der Opernplatz in Berlin, crept into her thoughts.

He had remarked that one of the books burned was Heinrich Heine's 1821 play "Almansor." One of its most famous lines was: "Dort, wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man am Ende auch Menschen"… "Where they burn books, they will ultimately also burn people."Was this line merely referring to the burning of the Muslim Koran by the Christian Inquisition in Spain?... or a remarkably chilling prophecy of what would eventually happen in Germany? She shivered again, and put down the newspapers. She poured another cup of the delicious coffee, and gazed out of the window; trying to shut her misgivings out of her thoughts.The drone of the engines and the lack of visual references caused her to begin to doze. She was brought back to reality by Rudi gently shaking her by the shoulder.'Fräulein Doktor; we are coming in over the Havel. We shall be landing in ten minutes. Please fasten your seat harness.'She gazed at him sleepily.'Oh, sorry Rudi; I must have nodded off. What time is it?'He glanced at his trusty old Fliegerchronograph.'12.52pm, Fräulein Doktor. Right on time! Have another coffee; that will brighten you up. We've sent a wireless message for a car to be ready to take you into Berlin. It should be waiting for you when we land.'He waited patiently while she drank the last of the coffee; then checking her harness; smiled, and returned to the flight deck.

She looked out of the window. The Havel came into view; slipping below the starboard wing. From up here; to Karyn, the shimmering expanse of water resembled the shape of a woman in a nightdress. Scharfe Lanke was her head; Stössensee was her outstretched arm pointing towards the complex of Siemens AG plants in Siemensstadt on Nonnendamm Allee in Spandau; and the Havel itself, was her flowing body outline. Although Karyn could never know it; a few years later; the Royal Air Force and American Bomber crews would think exactly the same thing as they used the outstretched arm of "The Lady in the Nightdress" as a reference point to line up on their targets of the Siemens factories complex.

On the flight deck Willi was starting to make his descent. Rudi was watching for the landmarks as they came onto the circuit of Flughafen Staaken. They were just coming over the little hamlet of Engelfeld, and the little agricultural village of Seeburg was dead ahead. As Seeburg floated under the Heinkel's nose, Willi began turning to starboard at the eastern edge of the wooded military grounds of the Army Riding and Driving school at Krampnitz. Now, they were onto the base leg and lining up with the twelve-hundred-metre runway. Three kilometres out; and Rudi called,'OK; a hundred and six point seven degrees magnetic. Commit to final approach. Execute!'Willi eased the control yoke a little to starboard as the compass needle swung gently onto the final approach heading. The altimeter was winding down, the climb and descent meter needle was at the figure two on the instrument dial. Willi lowered flaps and began to ease the throttles back. The Heinkel drifted down. Wheels down!

The green fields were beginning to rush under the nose. OK; Heerstrasse coming up fast and there was the threshold of runway One Zero-Two-Eight. He glanced at the airspeed indicator... ninety knots; a little too hot. He eased the throttles back a fraction. The pointer dropped to seventy-eight knots indicated. Better!As he came in over the threshold, Willi held her speed until the wheels touched. This was to avoid a tendency by the Heinkel to drop a wing, especially on the port side... and a ground loop on home turf would be just too embarrassing. Here comes the runway crossover. Speed... forty-three knots; throttles shut. Start braking.With her propellers windmilling, Heinkel "Augsburg" rumbled onto the concrete apron at the runway end, Two-Eight. Not counting the perimeter track there were four exit taxi-ways that fanned out in a forty-five-degree arc. Willi glanced out of the cockpit windows. There! An official-looking black Mercedes parked at the side of his home hangar. That must be the car for the Fräulein Doktor. Pushing the throttles forward; he turned the Heinkel onto the northernmost exit of the apron and taxied up to the front of the hangar, past the last remaining, gigantic Zeppelin shed.Willi braked the Heinkel to a standstill on the concrete apron outside the northernmost hanger, behind which, the huge gas holder still brooded rustily; a survivor from the days when it contained the gas produced by the adjacent gas factory for filling the gas cells of the Zeppelins which were originally built in the other long-since demolished giant sheds. He allowed the engines to run for a few minutes to purge the cylinders; then shut them down. Rudi came back into the passenger cabin and retrieved Karyn's suitcase from the luggage locker in the rear bulkhead. He opened the cabin door and put down the ladder for her alight from the aeroplane. Jumping down onto the concrete, he held out his hand to steady her as she alighted.Picking up her suitcase; he escorted her to the Mercedes, where the driver, a young, black-uniformed SS-Sturmmann was waiting.

Turning to Rudi; she pressed two of the Gold Chervonets coins she had retained, into his hand.'A souvenir of Russia for you. Thank you for looking after me, Rudi. Take care; Auf Wiedersehen.'

He smiled shyly.

'My pleasure, Fräulein Doktor. Vielen Danke! Auf Wiedersehen.'

The young SS-Sturmmann stepped forward.'Fräulein Doktor von Seringen? The ReichsFührer is expecting you. We must go now.'Karyn nodded and climbed into the rear seat of the Mercedes. The SS-Sturmmann placed her suitcase onto the front passenger seat; climbed into the driving seat and started the engine. As the Mercedes whispered away from the hangar, they had already hitched a tow bar to the Heinkel and were manoeuvring her into the hangar in readiness to discover what secrets her covert cameras held.The Mercedes crossed the aerodrome and turned onto the exit road past the three-storey, rectangular control tower with the elegant, typically Art-Deco curved front wall, and cruised towards the guard checkpoint. The barrier was instantly raised as it approached, and the guards snapped to attention as the car turned out onto Heerstrasse and headed east through Wilhelmstadt towards Pichelsdorf.

The roads were fairly clear and the driver made good time down to Scharfe Lanke and the Heerstrassenbrücke over Der Stössensee. As usual, Scharfe Lanke was alive with little boats as the Berliners enjoyed the last of the summer.As the Mercedes continued down through Schotz-platz and into An der Heerstrasse; Karyn noticed that there were many more blood-red Hakenkreuz flags and banners fluttering from the buildings than there had been, the last time she had been in Berlin. On a more ominous note; she also saw that many shops had crudely daubed Stars of David and the word "Jude" painted on their windows. To her left; she noticed that the Reichssportsfeld and the Olympic stadium were bedecked with Hakenkreuz flags as the Mercedes swept up Kaiserdamm to the broad, open Adolf Hitler Platz. Almost every building around the Platz was displaying a Hakenkreuz flag or banner.

The Mercedes continued on along Kaiserdamm through the elegant architecture of Charlottenburg to Sophie-Charlotte Platz and on into Bismarckstrasse. The SS-Sturmmann indicated the elegant streetlamps that lined the broad avenue.'These lamps have been designed by Generalbauinspektor für die Reichshauptstadt Speer, himself; Fräulein Doktor. They will line the entire length of the avenue and continue right up Charlottenburger Chaussee to the Brandenburger Tor. There are over four hundred of them. It is the beginning of the Führer's Grand design for Germania.'Karyn nodded. The "Speerleuchten" were indeed elegant; a slender pillar with a cruciform top bearing two opaque glass cylinders, each topped with a round-finialed cover. They began a little way past the huge Deutsches Opernhaus at Bismarckstrasse 34-37, and stretched away into the distance. The Mercedes swept on up to der Platz am Knie road junction and across into Berliner Strasse. Again she saw the anti-Jewish slogans daubed on shop windows, and wondered if her thoughts during the aeroplane flight were indeed correct.

Passing the grand, neo-classical edifice of the Charlottenburg Technische Hochschule; the Mercedes crossed the Charlottenburger Brücke flanked by the two mighty pillared structures of the Charlottenburger Tor; and there! The biggest surprise of all. A structure that appeared to be a half-constructed version of the Siegessäule thrusting out of the centre of Charlottenburger Chaussee! The last time Karyn had been in Berlin; it had been located in the centre of Königsplatz; between the Reichstag and the Kroll Oper! The SS-Sturmmann said that Speer had ordered it moved to the Grosser Stern; a traffic roundabout where Charlottenburger Chaussee intersected with five merging roads. The diameter of Grosser Stern had been tripled; and Speer had constructed four small guard houses marking the circle's periphery. This too, was part of the great plan for Germania.

The Mercedes negotiated Grosser Stern and continued east along Charlottenburger Chaussee towards the Brandenburger Tor. The SS Driver explained that he was taking this route to avoid Potsdamer Platz which would be choked with traffic at this time of day. That could only mean one thing. The audience with Himmler was to take place at Prinz-Albrecht-Strasse. But would it be the SS Headquarters at the old Hotel Prinz Albrecht; or the Gestapo Headquarters next door... the notorious Prinz-Albrecht-Strasse 8? The very name gave most Berliners an uneasy feeling.

The Mercedes swept through the central roadway under the towering Brandenburger Tor and turned right, off Parisier Platz into Wilhelmstrasse. The last time Karyn had been here was the night they drove her to the Hotel Kaiserhof after her first meeting with Himmler. Now, in daylight she could see the buildings properly. On the corner of Wilhelmstrasse and Unter den linden was the Hotel Adlon. The Government Quarter buildings lined both sides of the street. The Reichpresident's Palace, the Old Chancellery; various Ministries, the massive, still-unfinished New Reich Chancellery on the corner of Wilhelmstrasse and Voss Strasse; the Hotel Kaiserhof where she had stayed, on the wide expanse of Wilhelmplatz. Then came the massive limestone edifice of Göring's Reichsluftfahrtministerium; a building as grandiose as its master's ego. It ran the full length of the block between Prinz-Albrecht-Strasse and Leipziger Strasse. The immediate impression Karyn had of it was that it was typical National Socialist "Intimidation" architecture.

The Mercedes turned right into Prinz-Albrecht-Strasse and pulled into the kerb a little way down the street outside the old Hotel Prinz-Albrecht-Strasse 9. The SS-Sturmmann escorted her into the main hall and announced her arrival to the duty SS-Hauptsturmführer at the reception desk. He picked up his telephone and gave a curt order. He then asked Karyn to sit and wait. The main hall walls were hung with Hakenkreuz and SS cipher flags; paintings of Hitler and Himmler, and marble busts of the SS hierarchy.

After a few minutes a very elegant SS-Untersturmführer complete with dress Aiguillette came down the wide, sweeping staircase to escort her to Himmler. She was shown into a great, sepulchral office on the second floor. Himmler sat behind a vast mahogany desk that dominated the centre of the room. A large oil painting of Hitler scowled down from the wall. Himmler wore a grey civilian suit with his kleine Goldene Ehrenzeichen der NSDAP"… the small, Party "Golden Honour" Badge pinned to his black necktie... which, if it was at all possible; made him look even more sinister than if he had been in uniform. He rose as she entered, and indicated with an extended hand, that she should sit in the baroque chair in front of his desk. He smiled; but, again, his eyes were cold and expressionless.

'Welcome back to Berlin, Fräulein Doktor von Seringen. Was your expedition a success?'

Karyn paused briefly before she replied. How should she answer his question? She decided to tell him the blunt truth.

'I regret, Herr ReichsFührer; the whole "Operation Thunderweapon" that you so carefully orchestrated was nothing but a subterfuge hatched by Yezhov to enhance his standing with his Masters. The Russian archaeologist Sergeyev I was to work with; was actually an NKVD operative from some covert Directorate called OZNAZ. He attempted to kill me out in the swamps, but only managed to wound me in the arm. Unfortunately, my notes were lost during the struggle, but I managed to shoot, and kill him.

Before he unmasked himself; we established that there was nothing of any Military significance out there. Our research confirmed that the 1908 explosion was, as Kulik concluded; a natural catastrophe. I suspect that Yezhov engineered the whole thing to his advantage in the hope that we might have found more examples of a curious metal Kulik discovered on his second expedition. This could well have had a Military significance. Kulik reported that he could not cut it in any way with the tools of the time. I think the Russians wanted to establish if such a metal could be used for advanced weapons. Unfortunately, we found nothing... which is why I think Sergeyev then acted.'

Himmler was listening intently.

'But why should Yezhov go to all this trouble, Fräulein Doktor?'

She leaned forward.

'Sergeyev said that Yezhov's star is waning. It is expected that he will be replaced in the near future, Herr ReichsFührer.'

Himmler actually gave what appeared to be a genuine smile.

'So, the little Untermensch shit has finally overstepped the mark! Sehr Gut! Did the assassin Sergeyev mention who was replacing Yezhov?'

Karyn nodded.

'Yes, Herr ReichsFührer; a man named Beria.'

Himmler's smile vanished. His thin lips twisted with contempt. He almost spat the words out...

'Beria? The Georgian Judenscheisse is being raised to People's Commissar for Internal Affairs?'

Karyn nodded.

'Yes, Herr ReichsFührer; Sergeyev said that he has just been appointed head of the Main Administration of State Security... the GUGB; and is expected to replace Yezhov before Christmas.'

Himmler smiled again... a predatory smile.

'You have done well, my dear Fräulein Doktor von Seringen. This information will be of great interest to SS-Gruppenführer Heydrich. Now, could you let me have the documents we supplied to you?'

Karyn placed the SS-RF Attaché case on Himmler's desk and opened the flap. She withdrew the documents and handed them to him. He merely extracted the Führerbefehl... the Führer Directive and the Gestapo pass and returned the remaining documents to her. He smiled thinly.

'You may retain these. They may be of use to you in the future.'

She replaced them in the Attaché case and withdrew the five brown-paper-wrapped tubes bearing the circular seal of the Reichsbank, which contained the Prussian Twenty Mark Gold pieces he had issued to her before she departed for Tempelhof. She also brought out the remainder of the Reichsbank currency notes he had issued as incidental expenses. She laid them in the desk before him.

Himmler smiled again... an almost benevolent smile. He pushed one tube and the currency notes back across the desk.

'You may retain these as a token of our appreciation for your services to The Fatherland.'

Karyn stared at him.

'Are you sure, Herr ReichsFührer? It is extremely generous.'

Himmler nodded, and gave Karyn what might be construed as a benevolent smile; except that Himmler was physically incapable of being truly benevolent.

'Further; we have arranged for all the garments from the dressing room of the Kaiserhof apartment to be packed into a steamer trunk and delivered to the Hotel Adlon, which is where you will remain while we find you an apartment in Berlin. They are now your property.'

Karyn was taken aback.

'But why, Herr ReichsFührer? I live in Frankfurt-am-Main.'

Himmler rested his chin on his hands. His eyes were, again, expressionless.

'It is our intention to have you attached to the Deutsches Ahnenerbe. Your capacity for achievement in your field will be of great advantage to them.'

Karyn was astonished at this decision. Every archaeologist in Germany would fight tooth and nail for the chance to be in the Ahnenerbe; and here it was being handed to her on a plate. She needed time to absorb this. She needed a diversion. She reached into the Attaché case and withdrew the metal artefact; placing it carefully on Himmler's desk. She smiled, faintly. He gazed impassively at her waiting for her answer.

'Herr ReichsFührer; we discovered this object in Kulik's hut at Tunguska. I thought it would serve as a souvenir for you.'

Himmler picked it up and studied it intently.

'Can you decipher the inscription, Fräulein Doktor?'

She shook her head, sadly.

'It could take years, Herr ReichsFührer. There are not enough individual letters to even contemplate a frequency analysis, and the script is completely different to the ancient volumes. I merely thought it might be of interest to you.'

Himmler nodded sagely.

'Yes; you have done well. It is a fascinating object. Perhaps, our SS Occult consultant... SS-Brigadeführer Wiligut may be able to shed some light upon it. Thank you so very much, my dear Fräulein Doktor von Seringen; it was very thoughtful of you.'

He placed the artefact in a drawer and studied her again.

'Now I shall order a car to take you to the Adlon. Welcome back to Berlin.'

As the Mercedes sped back along Wilhelmstrasse; Karyn wondered just what Himmler and his cranky sidekicks at the Deutsches Ahnenerbe had in mind for her, next time.