Origins: The Reich (24 page)

“I’ve already secured General Fromm’s loyalties to this endeavor months ago.  To date he’s been a central figure in crafting this plan.  I don’t see why he would stop now,” Gallono said to a wide-eyed Colonel Stauffenberg.  “Right now the conspiracy is only the two of us.  I can’t do much from here and Fromm is watched too closely to do much either.  We need someone in Berlin recruiting others and coordinating efforts.  What do you say, Colonel, are you that man?  Can you still serve Germany?”

“Yes sir, I am.”

It had been
over a year since Gallono’s conversation with Colonel Stauffenberg in that tiny hospital room in North Africa.  Much had changed between then and the present.  With the allies successfully establishing a beachhead in Normandy, and Soviet forces pressing in from the east, support for their plot now ran wide and deep across the armed services thanks to the colonel’s efforts, but was it enough?

Today was the day that question would get answered.  Stauffenberg was attending a planning meeting with Hitler in his ‘Wolf’s Lair’ command bunker in eastern Poland.  Gallono awaited word of the results while visiting his wife and son in the village of Herrlingen, just south of Stuttgart in southern Germany.

With any luck, at this very moment Stauffenberg would be making up an excuse to use the washroom.  There he would use a pair of pliers to crush the end of a pencil detonator and jam it into a block of plastic explosives.  The detonator consisted of a thin copper tube containing copper chloride that would take about ten minutes to eat through the wiring holding back the firing pin.

Stauffenberg would then place the primed bomb inside his briefcase, reenter the conference room and set the briefcase beneath the table as close to Hitler as possible.  After a few minutes, the colonel would receive a planned telephone call and leave the room once more.  As soon as the bomb went off an activation message would go out over the public radio frequencies stating, ‘The Führer Adolf Hitler is dead!  A treacherous group of party leaders has attempted to exploit the situation by attacking our embattled soldiers from the rear in order to seize power for themselves.’

This would prompt General Fromm to activate Operation Valkyrie and wrest power away from the Nazis.  It was so simple, so elegant, and yet so very dangerous to all those involved.  If the bomb was armed incorrectly or misplaced and failed to kill Hitler, the reprisals would be severe and wide sweeping.  This is what prompted Gallono to take time away from the western front to visit his family.

Even though Hastelloy himself had married Mosa all those years ago back in the Egyptian desert, the captain had long discouraged the crew from becoming romantically involved with the Sigma species.  He felt it would develop complicating attachments that could get in the way of the crew performing their missions on this planet.  Plus, Hastelloy assured them all that the pain of outliving a loved one was an excruciating experience to be avoided at all cost.

For the longest time, Gallono found Hastelloy’s discouraging words on the matter unnecessary; there was no attraction whatsoever.  Preferences do change over time, particularly with a mate like Lucie.  Besides his otherworldly origins, she understood everything that made Gallono the man he was and embraced it all: both the good and bad.  She was a once in an entire existence match for him and their son, Manfred, only strengthened their bond.  They were a dedicated, inseparable family unit, and he would do whatever it took to provide for their safety short of betraying Hastelloy’s orders.

Gallono passed the time by playing a game of chess with Manfred in the dining room while the radio played classical music at a low volume in the background.  The fifteen year old was more or less wiping the board with him, taking unbridled delight in his advantaged position against one of Germany’s most distinguished military strategists. 

Manfred was a solid chess player, but the fact that Gallono was losing spoke volumes about his level of distraction.  Too much time had passed.  He should have heard something by now either confirming the mission’s success or warning him of its failure.  The game progressed a few more moves as Manfred managed to back Gallono’s king into a corner, when a gentle knock came at the front door.

Gallono tipped backwards onto the rear legs of his chair and careened his neck around the corner to view Lucie speaking with three uniformed Nazi officers: two generals he recognized from Hitler’s headquarters, and Tomal.

Lucie became visibly despondent and was led away in silent sobs by one of the officers.  Gallono watched Tomal’s head slowly rotate to meet his gaze, and the despicable man’s eyes said it all. 
You.  Are.  Mine.

Tomal approached the dining room with his lackey in tow while holding his carnivorous stare.  Gallono set his chair back on all fours and deflated into the seat cushion; Stauffenberg had failed.

He heard the approaching footsteps come to a stop behind his chair.  After releasing a regret filled sigh, he reached out with his right hand and tipped his king onto its side, signaling his resignation of the game.  He then extended an open palm across the board toward Manfred, “Well played.  Now go keep your mother company out back while I speak with these fine gentlemen.”

Manfred knew nothing of the day’s failed assassination attempt on Hitler, but his fifteen years of age gave him ample experience in reading body language.  These men behind his father were not friends, and this might be the last time he ever saw him again.  That being the case, he did not celebrate his victory. 

Instead, Manfred took Gallono’s outstretched hand.  He shook it for a moment, but when tears started forming in the corner of his eyes, he pulled himself in for a crushing embrace.  “I love you, father.  No matter what, I will always love and be proud of you.”

Gallono breathed deep trying to take in every sensation the moment had to offer: the warmth of Manfred’s touch, the sound of his breathing, the smell of his hair.  All too quickly, the moment had to end.  Gallono levered his son to his feet and sent him on his way with a reassuring pat on the shoulder then cheek.  Once Manfred exited the room, Gallono rose to his feet and turned to face the consequences of his actions at the hands of Tomal.

Behind them, six Gestapo officers armed with submachine guns stepped into the dining room to lend much needed muscle to the arresting general’s words.  “Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, you’ve been named as a conspirator in the assassination attempt on the Führer earlier today.  We are here to place you under arrest.”

“How much earlier today?” Gallono asked.

“It happened an hour ago.”

Gallono could not help but crack a sideways grin while staring directly at Tomal.  “My, my, that certainly is some quick investigative work, gentlemen.  Some might say too quick to even be credible.”

“Your opinion on the matter is irrelevant.  You are hereby placed under arrest for treason,” Tomal’s companion countered and motioned for his Gestapo horde to execute the order.

“No I’m not, and here’s why,” Gallono stated in a forceful enough tone to halt the armed soldiers mid stride.  “First of all, none of you in this room are physically capable of placing me under arrest if I decided to resist.  Second, if Hitler brands me as a traitor it will cause too much damage to morale on the home front.  Plus, you have no proof.  Now with that settled why don’t you scurry on back to Berlin and practice your salutes with each other for when Hitler returns.”

“That is your Führer!” the enraged officer declared while taking a threatening step toward Gallono.  Tomal placed a halting hand on the man’s chest before he could make much progress.

“Handcuff him to his chair, then leave us and wait outside,” Tomal ordered.  Once done and only the two of them remained in the room, Gallono was the first to speak.

“Do your little lap dogs outside also hump your leg when you order them to?” Gallono snickered, and continued in a relaxed manner.  “What are you doing, Tomal?  Hitler can’t afford to kill me, so this must be coming from you.  Do I need to remind you that we are, for all intents and purposes, immortal?  What do you gain here?  More importantly, you’re going against Hastelloy’s orders; how does all of this benefit our mission?”

“I’m protecting our mission from Hastelloy and his Jew followers,” Tomal insisted in a level tone.  “Don’t you see it?  His dirty Jews have their hands in everything: business, banking, and government the world over.  He is trying to covertly take over this planet for his own personal gain.”

Gallono pursed his lips upon hearing the unexpected justification for Tomal’s actions.  “That’s insane.  If that were truly the captain’s end goal, why wouldn’t he just open up the Nexus and arm them all with advanced weaponry?”

“Because none of us would follow him,” Tomal countered and continued with a look of desperation in his eyes.  “To accomplish his goal, Hastelloy has to use the people he enslaved to his will back in Egypt.  It has taken me until now to establish a position where I can finally strike at his secret army of followers. 

“All of Germany now hates the Jews to the point I can carry out the final solution.  It is all because of Hitler and our Nazi party’s hold over Germany, so I can’t have you blowing him up and ruining my plans.  Therefore, I need to either bring you away from Hastelloy and over to my side, or get you out of the way.  Which is it going to be?”

“Tomal, it’s happening again,” Gallono cautioned with genuine concern in his eyes.  “Your mind is seeing conspiracies where none exist.”

“It does exist,” Tomal shouted with his emotional state coming unhinged.  “He spent a lifetime with them in the desert.  That is more than enough time to set himself up as a living God to them.”

“Why did he encourage the spread of Christianity then?” Gallono countered.  “By your logic, that order deprived Hastelloy from billions of potential followers.”

“To throw me off his trail,” Tomal countered with a wild glow about his face and eyes.

Gallono shook his head out of both pity and anger.  “This ‘Final Solution’ you speak of, is that related to the camps I keep hearing about in Poland?”

Upon mention of the camps, Tomal began cackling with delight.  “Yes.  Hastelloy’s followers are being exterminated day and night in the cleansing fires of my furnace houses.  I am wiping his secret army out by the millions.”

“My God, Tomal, you’re talking about women and children; innocent civilians all of them.”

“Innocents?” Tomal bellowed angrily, but soon returned to his cackling lunacy.  “I think not.  Now, what is your answer, Commander Gallono?  Will you join me in my noble quest to overthrow Hastelloy and restore order to our mission on this planet?”

“Never,” Gallono hissed.  “I will never turn against Captain Hastelloy, least of all to follow a vile creation like you.  Arrest me and let the public spectacle begin.”

Having his offer so thoroughly rejected snapped Tomal out of his laughter.  “I don’t think you want me to do that.  Hitler has already set up his People’s Court, which will of course be a kangaroo court that always decides in favor of the prosecution to arrive at the presubscribed verdict of death.”

“To quote your words back at the Eagle’s Nest, ‘so what’?  Death is nothing to us.”

“This is the first time I’ve heard of you taking a family during our time on this planet.  I can only imagine how precious they are to you, especially that fine young man I saw leave this dining room earlier.”

Upon hearing the thinly veiled threat, Gallono, for the first time in his existence, felt the ice-cold gush of real fear fill his veins.  His own death would mean he could never see or spend time with Lucie or Manfred again.  He could only just bear that thought, but the notion of them being killed along with him was unbearable; unthinkable.

“Oh yes.  They both would stand trial, face public disgrace, and then execution right along with you,” Tomal confirmed.  “So you have a very important choice to make.  You can be selfish and put them through the People’s Court, or choose to commit suicide quietly.  That way they can live out the rest of their days off your military pension payment.”

“Suicide?” Gallono gasped.  “No, here’s how it will work.  If you leave them be, I’ll let you shoot me right here.  You can tell the rest of Germany I died in combat or something.”

“No, not for you,” Tomal said sharply.  “During our time on this planet you’ve taken every opportunity to insult me, hit me, or generally humiliate me.  Now I get to return the favor.  I am going to watch the ‘oh so honorable’ Gallono commit the ultimate act of dishonor for a Novi by ending his own life.”

“I won’t do it.  Never.”

“Then say goodbye to little Manfred and Lucie.  Dying the long, drawn out death of a traitor will not be pleasant for them,” Tomal cautioned, almost causing Gallono to lose his lunch.

“Of course there is always an easier way,” Tomal added with an outstretched palm containing a capsule of cyanide.  “Take it, its painless I hear.”

Gallono could barely think straight with his adrenaline pumping with such violence through his body.  He could not kill Tomal, they would still execute his family.  Breaking free and running would net the same result.  The only option available to him was to swallow Tomal’s capsule and accept his dishonor.  If Hastelloy could find a way to live with it, Gallono was certain he could as well.  He may have been rationalizing things in his mind, but at the moment, he saw an undeniable nobility in accepting suicide to safeguard his family.

“Fine,” Gallono heard himself say.  “You win.  I’ll do it, but not here.  Not where they will see the end result.”

At that moment a sickening smile grew broad and bright across Tomal’s face.  “Have it your way.  Come with me and we’ll take you outside the village so that you may disgrace yourself in private.”

Tomal unfastened Gallono’s shackles and led him by the arm toward the front door of the house.  He looked toward the kitchen and locked eyes with his beloved Lucie.  Their connection ran deep enough that no words needed saying.  There was a hallway and two rooms between them, but Gallono felt her loving embrace one last time through her eyes.  They held strong and gave him strength to walk out the front door without regret.  He was doing it for her and that was more than enough.