The Hidden Reich

Note: As this has been copied and pasted from my word processor, some under-linings and bolds are missing:)

Prologue

The woman crept down the streets of Manchester. She was in the district of Droylsden. It was a year after the Second World War. Mist hung in the air like children watching a Heinkel fly overhead. The houses either side of her were bombed down, leaving a pile of rubble in its place. Charred ash was scattered across the road. It crunched underfoot, a constant reminder of the fires which had burned the streets of Britain for many a month. Finally she reached the door. Pulling her shawl around her head she knocked tentatively. No answer. She knocked again, louder this time, her cloak blowing in the chilling breeze. The door opened. A woman with cold green eyes stood there. She beckoned mysteriously for her to come in. They were inside in a dusty passage leading to the door. It opened and they went inside. From the corner of the room came a voice,

“Good evening Mrs Flitch, how is the baby?”

“Very good, but my stomach hurts, he is coming out today, you here me!”

“Of course, Mrs Flitch. If you will lie there, I will try and get your baby out.”

“Thank you.”Mrs Flitch lay on the bed in the centre of the room, the eagle eyes of the door-woman watching her intensively. A minute later the crying began, the doctor trying to sooth her,

“It’s all right, Mrs Flitch, he’ll come!”

“But will I?”was the pained reply.

“Of course you’ll pull through, you and your baby will be alive in an hour!”assured the doctor.

The pain got worse for Mrs Flitch.

“It’s coming, arise out glorious leader’s grandson.”exclaimed the doctor. Mrs Flitch was in excruciating pain, writhing in agony on the bed. Then the baby was out. Mrs Flitch was dying, it was clear to all in the room. The doctor whispered to her,

“Name him, quickly!” And Mrs Flitch breathing her last breath said,

“Hans.” The doctor cared nothing for Mrs Flitch now, at last a new Reich would arise one day.

– – –

It was 2034. Hans Flitch was 88 years.

“We have to plan it for 2074, and by then I’ll be long gone!” he said to the doctor, a different doctor now.

“My Lord, I have found a way to postpone your death.”replied the doctor.

“Do not fool me with such twaddle doctor, my faith in you is severely diminished after the experiment with the parrots!”said Flitch angrily.

“But, My Lord, I have researched this extensively and even conducted experiments on myself with it. My Lord, if you’ll allow me,”he pointed to the door as a figure entered, “My clone!”

“This is certainly remarkable, but are you suggesting that I clone myself, I would very much like to witness the rise of the Fourth Reich. Surely I would forget everything if I was cloned?”protested Flitch.

“My Lord, it would be effectively be giving you a new body, I have found a way to transplant your brain into the new body, as well as your important organs. The rest of your body would take time to develop to normal. The process would take at least three years, but you would be able to think normally and remember all your previous body’s doings. My Lord, this is your only hope of being around when the Fourth Reich rises in 2074.”said the doctor.

“What would happen to my old body, doctor?”asked Flitch

“Err, destroyed or buried. . .your choice!”said the doctor nervously.

“How. . .delightful. When does the process start?”said Flitch.

“A week!”replied the doctor, “Maybe two, anyway, how about a demo from my clone here. Obviously it hasn’t had my brain put in it, because, I prefer my old body. It think like any normal human, it will give you an idea of the sucess of the experiment!” Flitch nodded thoughtfully and then suddenly in one quick movement punched the clone. The clone started bleeding and swung back, Flitch ducked,

“Hmm, very realistic!”he said as the clone started swearing at him. He brought out his pistol.

“Now the real test!”said Flitch. Bang bang. The bullets went through where the heart was. Blood spilled out and the clone was no more.

“Huh, I got that heart from one of the clones!”complained the doctor, “But still, it has proved that there will be no danger involves for you. When shall we start the operation?”

“Now! Have it done for Miroslav Himmler to and all the leaders of each 4^th Reich Cell. In three years time doctor, I expect to be a lot younger and have my memories about me. If not, well, Miroslav Himmler will kill you first.”

– – –

3 years later, Hans Flitch got up as a 20 year old man. He smiled and looked in the mirror. Perfect. A younger Miroslav Himmler walked up behind him. The doctor looked pleased.

“Allright?”he said.

“Oh yes, 3 years out of action hasn’t been good”replied Flitch, “But it seems to have worked. I feel fresh. Anyway, what’s been happening while I’ve been. . .away?”

The Hidden Reich

By Harry Legg

Part 1:Hitler Grandson

Chapter 1:The Battle For The Airforce Memorial

The memorial near Englefield Green had the appearance of a tranquil temple. At least it did until Hitler’s grandson Hans Flitch gathered a terrorist force in Britain. Now, it’s normally beautiful lawn was covered in barbed wire and sandbags protected the base of the building. The memorial had a ground floor with walls of white stone and a courtyard inside with pillars at the edge partly obscuring the names of countless allied air force members who had been killed in action and had no known grave. Then upwards to the north still adjoined to the courtyard was a higher sort of keep with a brilliant view of London. Twenty years ago the planes constantly flew over, taking passengers to and fro. Tall buildings had punched the sky. The island where the Magna Carta was signed could be seen clearly in the foreground. Things had changed. Half of London lay flat on the ground as the result of North Korean bombers. Heathrow airport was nearly completely gone after continued terrorist attacks. The Magna Carta was completely forgotten and the Nazis had control of half of Britain, or at least what was left of it.

The year was 2074.

The world was in turmoil. China and Russia had completely flattened each other’s countries with nuclear bombs. Japan had been hit by a wave of radiation and so had North Korea, but it didn’t matter much for them as they just invaded South Korea and avoided the sickness while making war on Britain. The middle east had been overrun by Al-Qaeda. America were about to intervene when they were suddenly swamped by two huge tidal waves. Canada saw that America were weak and decided to attack causing a huge war. Half of Africa died of starvation because their trade routes dried up leaving lands up for grabs as European countries charged in to create another pointless struggle. Recently the British Prime Minister had been killed in bombings and had been replaced by a completely incompetent man who just made things a whole lot worse. The Airforce memorial was being heavily guarded by SAS men who were trying to prevent the Nazis getting revenge. Every man stationed there was wondering what was happening elsewhere but their attention was all directed towards protecting the memorial from a terrorist attack.

Suddenly a radio crackled into life in the squad commander’s hand who had been posted at the memorial. A rather unfortunate job! He spoke sharply into it.

“Yes?” A distorted voice and gunshots in the background could be heard,

“Nazis, advancing through the village. . . up road, I being chased. . . AHHHH. . .”More gunshots closer this time. Then the radio went dead. The commander immediately knew what had happened. He pressed a button on his radio,

“Corporal Jones, take A squad to the front gate. Sergeant Jensen, load the Ak48s and watch from the keep. Sergeant Riley, take defensive positions in the garden. I’ll take my lot and blockade the door. The memorial must survive, you hear me?”

“Yes sir!”came three battle hardened voices through the radio.

Hans Flitch and his men carried sub machine guns loaded with 15 calibre bullets. They wore bullet-proof vests and a pistol hung at their sides. Flitch breathed in through his nose. Ahhh. The scent of blood wafted through his nostrils. At last. Hitler would have revenge and through his grandson. Few people knew Hitler had a grandson at the end of the second world war and they were all dead. Now everyone knew. Hans Flitch had control of half of Britain and he himself would take out the last memory of the allied victors. Banbury memorial was a heap of smoking wreckage. Tower Hill memorial had been bombed to the ground along with many others. But this time Hans Flitch had decided to lead the attack himself. And this time they were going to do it the old style way, a nice raid with a good gun-fight and memories to last Flitch a life time. He himself was going to shoot the unfortunate leader of the petty resistance. He was going to make sure every single bullet in his sub machine gun was spent. At last Britain’s era of idiotic anti-nazi prime ministers would come to an end. Hans Flitch should have been worried by the other wars in the world. But he wasn’t. Ever since World War 2 a fourth Reich had been built underground. It was about to burst out of hiding places. In Russia, Europe, even Australia and America, millions of hiding Nazis would swarm out and wipe out the memories of Winston Churchill, of Roosevelt, of Eisenhower and of De Gaulle. The world would be too busy killing each other to notice the rise of the Fourth Reich. For years and years underground in tunnels deep below the surface of the Earth an army was waiting to kill and the time was near, very near, very very near.

Flitch and his men drew near the gates of the memorial. Suddenly gun shots rang out. Around him his men began to fall.

“Withdraw!”he bellowed. The Nazis returning fire all the way ran to the trees on the far side of the road. Five of his me had died. He would have to plan his next move more carefully. He signalled to a man near him who had an AK47 slung over his back. An old make. But it would do.

“Fire!”he yelled. Fworrrrrk. Kaboom. Stone went flying everywhere. Shouting British voices could be heard from within the walls. Gun fire. The Nazis swarmed forward, guns blazing. Two of his men stormed through the gate killing half a dozen unaware SAS men. Flitch and his main body advanced to the gate only to discover that his advance party had been blown to smithereens by AK48 fire. Flitch raised his gun and fired several shots at a bush near by. A man fell sideways into view, blood seeping through his forehead.

The commander was worried. Already the Nazis had control of the garden and were destroying the memorials front end with constant heavy fire. Air Force men’s names were wiped out to be forgotten forever. Suddenly the commander watched Flitch’s men retreat apparently with Flitch but little did they know that some had stayed. Flitch and some Nazis lay unseen in a bush watching their comrades disappear through the gate. The commander had thought the Nazis were winning but as far as he was concerned the Nazis had now given up for no apparent reason. A party ensued as they assumed they had beaten the Nazis away to live another day. Flitch smiled happily. The trap was sprung. He and his 3 hand picked men sneaked in side. Bottles of wine lay around them, smashed and drunk soldiers were tottering around. One said,

“Hic, eh, ters t’ nazi!”

“Nonshunse!”his friend replied. Hans Flitch and his men mowed them down viciously. Up in the keep the commander, one of the few who wasn’t drunk and didn’t ignore the gun shots peered over the balcony. They had been tricked he realised. Hans and his men were gone but in their place were three bombs. The commander gasped. And that was the last thing he did. Boooooooom!!!!! A fireball flashed into the air. Outside the memorial Hans Flitch and his men watched the explosion gleefully. Next was control of the rubble which was London. Then he would awaken the Fourth Reich in Britain and Russia. The rest he would save as a surprise for later. The British part of the Reich he needed to suppress any rebellions and the Russian part to take out the Korean bombers who as far as he was concerned were a bunch of idiots playing games with bombs. They played no part in his plan whatsoever.

Chapter 2: Defective Agent

The Fourth Reich Cell 6-Russia

Rudolf Schneider was a secretive man.  In 2045 he had joined the 4th Reich in Russia aged 17.  Since then he had risen to second in command of the Russian Reich.  In 2049 he had witnessed a brutal murder by his superior.  Ingrid Auzen was the Czech ambassador to Russia until Miroslav Himmler the head of a terrorist movement in the same country polished him off.  Many believed Himmler was the leader of the Russian Mafiya except they overlooked the fact that he was German.  They also didn’t notice that his family tree clearly indicated that he was the grandson of Heinrich Himmler the notorious head of the dreaded SS in the time of the second world war.  Miroslav Himmler was in fact the leader of the Fourth Reich in Russia.  No one knew.  That was how secret the Reich was.  One man had been most unfortunate to cross paths with Himmler.  And that person was Ingrid Auzen.  Schneider had been assistant boy to him, carrying his weapons when he saw the murder.  That was when he started looking for a way to alert the whole world.  It had taken him time but he had found a way.  He was going to put it into action that very night.

Miroslav Himmler sat in his office deep in thought.  He had a metal desk loaded with papers in German, emails from Hans Flitch on how the British Conquest was shaping.  He had two things on his mind.  The first was how he would conquer North Korea.  Recently he had been told to surge out of the tunnels which had been his and a hundred thousand Nazis’ home.  He was to do it tomorrow.  The 23rd August.  The problem was that Russia and China had nuked each other.  Fortunately as they were in the part of Russia which stretched down the side of China they had not been affected by the original bombs but the radiation was a major problem.  They had sealed the metal door which led up to the surface through a disused quarry.  But one step outside and his men would all die.  That was why he had started the tunnel.  It would take at least two days to reach South Korea where the North Koreans were.  He was meant to emerge tomorrow.  Flitch would be furious with him but he did not care too much about this.  He cared mostly about the news that there was a spy in his network.  But he believed different.  It cannot be a spy he had told himself because No one could get in without being checked and double checked.  No.  It must be a man trying to defect with enough information to alert the world to the Hidden Reich.  There was only one way out.  Through the tunnel to South Korea.  There the spy could get a ship to Australia.  It would be hard for the spy.  But once the Nazis had conquered the Koreans he could easily escape.

Chapter 3: The Intercontinental Reich

ASIS (Australian Secret Intelligence Service) HQ Sydney

Karl Johnson and his colleagues were fed up with the world.  They knew that soon someone would try to damage Australia.  Karl was the head of ASIS the secret service which dedicated all its time to protecting Australia.  Ever since the Nazis has risen in Britain he had been working on trying to figure out where other Nazis may rise up.  And then Russia and China destroyed each other for no apparent reason.  America were invaded and were hit by tidal waves and Europe started an inter continent war in Africa.  His investigations had ceased as he had attempted to check on local terrorists to see if they were inactive.  they hadn’t moved an inch.  The real reason however was that the Hidden Reich in Australia had wiped them out with spies.  Johnson slumped back in his chair exhausted.  He was trying to make head and tail of a radio message he had received from somewhere in Russia.  He played it back to himself.

“Am in Hidden Reich in Russia . . . about to make movement . . .wipe out Korea.  i must escape when . . .arrive. . .must get to Australia. . . beware hidden reich. . .bang bang!”  there had been two gun shots and then the message had ended.  They had no idea who it was from whatsoever.  As far as Johnson could tell, there was a hidden Fourth Reich everywhere including in Australia.  But he could not believe that.  People would laugh at him if he even suggested such a thing.  The Prime Minister already had a bad enough view of him enough!  The caller must have been discovered while radioing the message.  Johnson had agents now posted all over the country looking for signs of a hidden Reich.  So far nothing had been spotted.  he had decided to conduct quiet investigations.

The man who was killed in the radio recording was indeed Rudolf Schneider.  He had decided to risk a radio message to Australia.  He had got through and was just about to say Miroslav Himmler’s name was he was shot in the head twice by the very same evil man.  Himmler had smiled.  Task one complete!  He was a bit surprised by the spy’s identity.  he had expected to find a nobody.  But still, who cares. . .

_ _ _

Karl Johnson stared at the screen.  On it a map of Australia shone out at him.  he was about to go to a barbecue with his wife when he noticed a bleeping on the screen.  A radio message from Queensland.  Ah he thought, Agent 09 is calling.  he sighed.  Back news evidently.  The voice came through clearly with faint gun shots in the back ground.

“Sir quick the Nazis have emerged from an underground hideout.  They are gunning everyone down.  Brisbane had fallen.  the army are fighting back but there must be at least a million Nazis.  Sir I must go, m life is in danger!” The sound of a car engine could be heard and then nothing.  Johnson flicked a switch on his desk.

“Crawtold, the army must get fully involved, this is not a little party, this is war, get a move on.!”

“Yes Sir!”came the stout reply.  His source in Russia was right.  A hidden Reich.  He must alert America and Britain.

10 Downing Street

“Message from Runneymede sir.!”  A man in suit and tie hurried in.  “It’s bad!” he said.  The message enclosed details of the Airforce Memorial raid.  The news was inevitable but it still shocked him.  In the last twenty years the world had turned upside down.  Australia had just embarked on a huge war with the Nazis but already Brisbane had fallen.  The cricket ground there lay in ruins.  Gladstone had been bombed.  The Nazis had planned and planned for years.  Now it had happened.  And already they had control of three quarters of Britain and parts of Australia.  News was flooding in how Nazis had emerged in South Korea from a tunnel.  On the good side, America and Canada had stuck on a ceasefire and were preparing to fight any Nazis which came in their country.  The one country that could fight the Nazis didn’t have any to fight.

Shane Tedders fired a burst at the Germany flooding out of Gladstone.  Satisfied he observed four Nazis clutch various parts of their bodies and fall down.  Next to him a tank blasted a hole in the Nazi wave but it was just filled by others.  The efforts were futile.  An old fashioned bazooka ricocheted through the trees where the Australians were hiding killing dozens.  Suddenly Shane had an idea.  On the left of the Nazi advance stood a Water Bank where the citizens of Gladstone would receive their water from.  He called a couple of me and signalled to them to throw their grenades at the Water Bank.  One of them missed the target and exploded killing a Nazi, another went straight over doing no damage whatsoever.  But Shane and two others hit the target and all the Nazis turned and look.  At the distraction the Australians rained bullets down on the Nazis.  Then the water suddenly fell sideways like a tidal wave.   It engulfed the German army killing hundreds in the stampede that followed.  Then water broke the barricade that the Germans had set up.  It flooded through the gates and wipe out the entire army of Nazis apart from about 30 who turned and fled weapon less.  The Australians chased them down and killed them all and a huge cheer rose up from the soldiers.  The tide had turned, literally, the Nazis in Australia were no more.  Celebrations were sparked all over the country and Karl Johnson sat back in his chair.  He sighed.  But deep down he knew the Nazis still had a strong grip on the world.  The man who had thought of blowing up the Water Bank deserves a medal he thought.  Yes, but after that he said to himself reluctantly, it was time to call Al-Qaeda.

Chapter 4: The Bomb Maniac

Al Qaeda HQ Pakistan

Kunan Bin Izra was wanted in 28 different countries for terrorism.  He had a habit of killing colleagues when they did something wrong.  But the same could be said for when they do something right.  If Kunan saw the slightest threat from anyone he would immediately kill them and their families.  That would be the end of it.  Recently the world had got a whole lot better for him.  He had control of all the Middle East except Kazakhstan which he considered not worth anything as anyone who stepped in their got a blast of radiation.  He didn’t care about the Nazi uprising seeing as they didn’t have any nuclear bombs.  He only cared about what the Americans might do when the turmoil was over.  If it ever ended.  They might be a little bit angry about their president being assassinated in three days time.  So he decided not to admit it.  If anything it would keep the Americans busy with finding who did it.  Inevitably the conclusion would be drawn from the fact that some fake Nazis were going to be seen running from the scene.  His men never minded dying if they were caught.  Why, because if they were not caught they would be killed when they got back to the Middle East or particularly Pakistan where Kunan’s HQ was.  Life was good for him.  Only one thing bothered him.  The Australians had contacted him asking him to use their secret weapon.  The secret weapon of Al Qaeda was a bomb known as Cyclops.  It was unstoppable.  Strictly speaking it was not a bomb, but he killed it one anyway because he adored bombs.  He was a bomb maniac.  Once it had been rumoured that he had blown up an ants nest with a mine by sending an annoying cocky junior terrorist to step on it.  And then the person who spread the rumour was killed with a nano bomb.  A quite ingenious invention which he had tested on this very same man.  It sort of blew up a lung.  Not nice.  No, not nice at all.  Back to the subject of Cyclops.  How had the Australians even known.  Kunan wrote something on a strip of paper.  “Execute all personal working on the Cyclops Project”  Satisfied he called his messenger to deliver the death sentence.  Unfortunately for the messenger he was too slow and was told to take the message and be executed himself as well.  Cyclops was a ball of plasma which he could launch at any point in the world.  Then it would expand until his target surrendered as every living thing inside the plasma ball died.  Unfortunately it was not reusable.  How technology had changed since 2012 when he became part of Al Qaeda.  Once upon a time in 2066 the Americans had possessed a Cyclops.  Kunan had planted a spy in the centre where it was being produced and the spy set it off, killing over a thousand people including himself until some hero guy found a way to stop it.  The spy’s fate was like many other before him.  Kunan did not like to include how likely death was in the job description.  if they refused, he killed them.  So either way they died.  And another thing, hero guys were beginning to get on his nerves.  He killed that one too.  Such was the pleasure of life.  But would he bomb Northern England where the Nazis were?  He would think about it.  But then, no one contacted Kunan Bin Izra as an equal.  Maybe he would Cyclops Britain-the whole of it- then he would bomb Australia with normal bombs.  Happy medium.

Chapter 5: Red Alert

32 Melbourne Road Sydney

Shane Tedders was in a bad mood.  He had just received a medal for his brain display on the battlefield.  But he had been promoted in a special way.  He was now working under Karl Johnson.  The next day Tedders was to be sent to Britain by parachute to place the second part of the Cyclops bomb in Northern Britain.  Unfortunately there had to be the second part for the bomb to work as I sort of aiming device and so Tedders had been given the dangerous job.  When he landed from the parachute jump-assuming he was not seen-he would steal a Nazis uniform and plant the second half of the bomb.  Then he would have to get out somehow.  They had not told him how.  But he would figure out a way.  Al Qaeda had grudgingly agreed to activate the Cyclops bomb as the Nazis were a slight threat to them.

Over the North Sea

The Hawker Hardra 74 was the latest stealth plane make.  It was silent and it blended perfectly with the storm that was raging above the clouds of the North Sea.  Wind battered at the metal side of the plane.  Lightning slashed down below them.  They could see the rain pouring beneath them.  They were above the storm.  Then suddenly they dived downwards.  This was the signal for Shane Tedders to open the parachute door.  He had to cling on to the bar above the gaping hole into space to stop himself being sucked through too soon.  Then a red light flashed by his side.  Five seconds to jump.  Orange light.  Three seconds.  Green light.  go.  Tedders flung himself out into the freezing night air.  He had to force himself to count to ten before opening his parachute or it might catch on the plane.  Tedders could see nothing.  A thunderclap.  He opened his parachute and suddenly he was thrust upwards.  Then he came steadily down, down, down. . .

Suddenly a huge flash of lightning lit up the dense clouds!  He looked up.  And to his horror his parachute had caught fire.  Suddenly he was falling faster.  He fumbled around wildly with his hands.  Ach.  How could he slow himself down?

There was nothing he could do.  He let himself fall towards a grey surface looming up in front of him.  OOF!  He hit the ground.  He was dead.

2 Hours later

Shane opened his eyes.  Where was he?  He was not dead.  Great.  The first thing that came into his view was a yellow sign saying in German:

“Achtung, hochspannung”  which means quite simply, “attention, high voltage”.  Tedders looked around.  He could see grey walls all around him.  And then. . .  a metal reactor.  Uh oh.  Quickly he manoeuvred himself towards the wall.  Then he stopped.  Voices were only just audible on the other side of the wall.  This made his task even harder.  He had to get over the wall and almost silently at that!  For the moment however, he was safe.  As safe as you can be next to a high voltage reactor.  He used his backpack as a headrest.  Then he remembered, that inside his backpack was a map.  Quickly he located himself and stood up cautiously knowing that there were people just behind the wall.  Then it hit him!  How on earth was he meant to get up the wall, especially without making any noise?  If he jumped his fingertips might just hook themselves on the wall.  He jumped and his fingers caught the top of the wall.  he winced with the pain.  His muscles wanted to pop out of their sockets.  his legs searched franticly for footing!  There were none!  He heaved and the chest was over the wall.  he could now see to smartly dressed German soldiers talking loudly.  Trying to be as silent as possible he got his knees onto the wall.  He had done it.  Then in his excitement he slipped and slapped his hands on the wall.  The soldiers swung round.  “Feuer?”asked one.  “Nien!” the other replied aiming his sub-machine at Tedders.  He, however thought differently.  He swung his left leg into one of the guards neck and heard a familiar breaking sound and the other knocked the gun away from the conscious Nazi.  The Nazi reached for his brown leather holster as Tedders jumped off the wall and kicked him where it hurts, following up with a knee in the face.  The man was out cold!

Tedders looked around.  The reactors walls were behind him.  Then, all he could see was rows upon rows of army barracks.  He wondered how many soldiers wasted their lives in their.  He hated the Nazis.  They had destroyed countries and killed thousands, and if planting a bomb would get rid of them, then he would do it.  Even if Al-Qaeda were involved.  According to his map, if he walked down the path between the barracks, he would see the main complex of this Nazi camp.  But that would mean getting through the barracks without being seen.  He quickly sprinted to the nearest wall and listened intently for noises inside.  He estimated that each building contained four Nazis.  This meant that he had to do it quickly and get out, though how he didn’t know.  He could hear two men talking inside.  He moved on cautiously levelling his sub-machine gun that he had taken from the Nazi at the door.  He was about ten buildings through when one of the doors further down opened.  He darted into cover and listened as one said,

“. . .Yes, I heard they found Arnold and Franz out cold by the reactor, they are considering raising a full scale alarm!”  This was said in German but Tedders knew little enough to get the general idea.  He was now being searched for.  The men walked away and disappeared from view.  He carried on his systematic walk, checking that no-one was about to come out of a building before passing on.  Then he heard a shout,

“Achtung!”  He turned round to see a Nazi ponting at him about 60 metres away.  A bullet whined over his head sending concrete fragments everywhere.  Tedders darted in between two buildings and ran as fast as he could.  He distinctively could hear boots on the rough ground maybe only 30 metres away.  Wow, they’re fast.  Onwards he went until he found an empty building.  There were four bunks and he rolled under one.  Footsteps grew closer and then slowly further away.  Tedders held his breath, his heart pumping wildly.  Surely they could hear it.  but no, the danger had passed.  He was safe for now.  He pulled out his map and consulted it carefully.  The target building was nearer than he had expected.  It should be just round the next corner.  He was just about to get up and go when he heard casual voices in German at the door.

“We have to get our guns and join the search, apparently he was seen around here. . .”  the door opened and four Nazis hurried in.  Tedders squeezed into the far corner of the bed, praying that they would not see him.  They all grabbed their guns except one who said,

“Achtung!”  It appeared that he had lost his gun.  “Ug, I remember,”he said, also in German, “My gun is gone, it must be under my bed..”Tedders heart stopped, he lay perfectly still wishing the ground would swallow him up.

“Ah don’t worry,” replied one,” it’s here,”he handed the searcher his gun.  Tedders’ heart started beating again.  Phew.  All of the Nazis left.

Chapter 6: Fooled Them

—

“They have stopped the general alarm, the target seems to have got away!”

“Good!” came the reply. (Note )German language sometimes spoken.

The door opened and the men were gone.  Hans Flitch paced nervously around his room.  The two senior Nazis he had just spoken to obviously were very power-hungry.  He thought he was lucky to escape alive from the meeting.  Maybe his fears were misplaced.  However, the danger seemed to have passed.  All the same, he reckoned he had better keep an eye on things.  At least the alert in the North Base (his one of four main bases) had ended.  He was in the West Base and worried about the situation.  They didn’t exactly have proof of how the man had got in, but then again they had know idea how he got out either.  Von Schlitcht seemed pretty certain but Colonel Hans-Marsh was looking unsure.  Suddenly, an idea popped into his head.  Bingo!  He had it.  At each of his four bases were heat sensors.  They could be set to count the number of people in a specific area.  He picked up a security line phone which got him through to each base in no more than 10 seconds.  He dialled a single digit: 4!  This got him the radio control of the North Base.  A voice crackled through back to him.

“North Base, radio here, please state rank and purpose!”  Hans Flitch impatiently replied,

“Commander and Supreme Nazi, Fuhrer of the Fourth Reich, now get my your Commander and on the double.”

He heard a garbled frightened reply,

“Yes sir, right away!”  Twenty or so seconds later he could hear the voice of the North Base Commander,

“Sir?”  Flitch hurriedly explained,

“I have a feeling the intruder is still in your base, search immediately with high intensity heat sensors. . .”

“But sir, we have searched the whole. . .”

“DO IT!”  Hans yelled into the phone.

“Yes sir!” came the scared stammered reply.  Flitch slammed the phone down.  If the intruder was still around it meant danger and he suspected that this danger may force him to surrender, depending on what it was.  It was imperative that the business was cleared up once and for all.

Ten minuted later a voice came through,

“Sir, we have counted the number of people in the North Base.  It seems that there are one too many people there!   We have also located the target, heading towards the North gate”there was panic in the man’s voice.

“Find and destroy, repeat, ‘find and destroy’, if he is left alive I will skin you alive, the whole mangy lot of you. . .!”Flitch replied.  The radio conversation ended.  Doubts flooded into his mind, what was the intruder doing, did he need him alive, had he made a mistake of ordering his termination.  And what if the man had completed his objectives?

Chapter 7: Back To Haunt You

– – –

Tedders knew he had been discovered for the second time, how he did not know, but we he did know was simple.  Run.  he had planted the first half of the bomb and was now seeking a way out.  From sneaking around he had noticed an armoured jeep near a gate at the North of the base.  He headed for there as quickly as possible, his gun out in front of him.  Suddenly a man came around the corner.  Pangatactatac.  He wasn’t taking chances.  He as a person, hated killing, but he had done it so many times.  The man fell dead at his feet and he carried on sprinting in the same direction.  He swung round the corner, and there it was.  In front of him was a big open concrete space with four armoured vehicles in the centre.  However, his troubles were not over.  Two guards turned and started shooting at him as he dived for cover behind a Jeep.  He noticed that this vehicle had a small machine-gun fixed to the door.  He reckoned he could fire and drive.  But how could he get in, without being shot.  Then suddenly, his trouble doubled as four or so Nazis appeared behind him and took aim.  He had just enough time to squeeze under the car, before the ground where he had just been, was eaten up by bullets.  Tedders was now being shot at from two directions.  Sparks fizzed around him.  Slowly and steadily, he poked the sub-machine gun’s nozzle out from under the car and pulled the trigger and held it down.  Two screams met his ears and he observed two Nazis diving for cover, leaving a couple of dead bodies behind them.  Tedders rolled out from under the car and keeping his head down, vaulted into the jeep.  The seconds that it took for the Nazis who had escaped his fire to take aim, were enough to enable him to swivel the machine-gun turret.  He blasted rounds and rounds at the men on either side.  And they fell all around him.  He screamed with joy as he revved the engine sending it gathering pace as it neared the gate.  It was a flimsy gate but he knew it would take some power to smash it.  He reached maximum speed and felt his hair blow into the face.  Wind rushed around as Nazis watched either injured or just stunned by what was taking place.  He crunched through the gate.  HE WAS ALIVE!  On he drove, out onto a road which led to the coast.  He was free.  But behind him, three Jeeps came, faster, faster, faster and bullets rang out. They pinged against the bodywork of the vehicle, completely harmless. Tedders looked around, he grabbed a grenade and pulled the pin out. He lobbed it behind him. BOOM. Two of his pursuers went up in smoke. And to put the cherry on top, the other enemy crashed into the wreckage of his comrades and the whole scenario ended in a big ball of flames. Tedders observed this through his wing mirror. He smiled. But Karl Johnson would never get to congratulate him. Tedders had had enough of battles, he was going to join his friends at the in the incredibly top secret COLON-X group. He had been linked to this group. It was a mixture of Countries Secret Service, defectors or people who wanted the world to return to normal. As far as the ASIS were concerned, he had completed his mission but had died in doing so. The Nazis were going to get justice.

– – –

“A shame!”said Karl Johnson.  “That Tedders chap was a valuable man! Assuming he’s dead. We observed a wreckage of three armoured vehicles. He is dead unfortunately. But still, at least he did his job!”  He was talking to his second in command,  Mitchell Henry.

“Shall I contact Al-Qaeda now sir?”he asked.

“Yes, it is time for Shane Tedders to be avenged.  Also, send a message to the North Base of those dirty, flea-ridden Nazis and tell them to surrender or they will all be annihilated.”

Chapter 8: The Unstoppable Cyclops

– – –

Kunan Bin Izra pressed the red button on his desk.  He then spoke calmly into a microphone which slid into view,

“Activate Cyclops 1 and prepare Cyclops 2 for action.  If we do not get the money from the Aussies we must destroy their nation.  I think it is safe to say we will get out money.”  the voice on the other end of the phone confirmed the activation of Cyclops 1 and the preparation of Cyclops 2.  Bin Izra slumped back in his chair.  Finally, some action and the wiping out of the Nazis.  They had, at first, not been a threat, but they had started to irritate him when one of agents in Britain was killed.  he knew he was the most powerful man in the world.  He just had not started to show it yet.  But he was about to.  In fact, right then, in the North Base, twenty men had died already.

– – –

Franz Zelt heard an odd beeping sound outside.  It had started about ten seconds ago and now a strange bubble was expanding towards him.  He backed off.  The rest of the men in the control centre he was in, pushed their chairs away and rushed to the exit.  They were assuming the worst.  They called to him, but he stood firm as the bubble drew closer, larger.  Suddenly, a rat ran out from under a table, into the bubble!  It was dead, instantly.  Zelt realised what it was.  But it was too late.  He was wedged between a table and the bubble.  The bubble lurched through his body.  His heart stopped beating suddenly, and he was dead.  He felt onto the table and rolled over while the bubble moved over the rest of the building.  But he had landed on the RED ALERT button.  A loud whooping sound filled the whole North Base.  The Commander, who had been having a cup of tea and a slice of Sauerkraut, sloshed the drink down his front.  A red alert.  The highest alert, only used for critical situations.  Suddenly he heard a commotion outside.  He got up and pulled out his pistol.  He heard voices,

“Commander, there is some bubble, killing everyone!”  the door swung open.  The Commander reacted with ridicule,

“What kind of cock and bull story is this?  Some bubble, killing everyone.  Absurd!”

“But sir, the message we got earlier, the threat, this is it!” the men cried.

“Insubordination, nonsense, a bubble killing people, raving ma. . .”  he stopped.  The men in front of him fell dead on the floor and a bubble advanced towards him.  Helplessly he fired at the bubble, but to no avail.  He was dead, before he knew it.  No one escaped the North Base.

– – –

“That should do it!”  Kunan Bin Izra stopped the Cyclops bomb.  It faded into nothing.  He had just watched the bubble making speedy progress after an armoured vehicle, trying to escape the base.  It had been swallowed up.  The vehicle exploded and was no more.

Karl Johnson, smiled grimly as he too watched the death of the last Nazi in the North Base.  He switched the screen off.  Justice.  Now, the next stage.  He would send a message to Hans Flitch, pretending he had planted Cyclops bombs in every base.  He typed the message in and sent it.  He felt immensely pleased, the tide was battering at the Nazi defences now.

Chapter 9: In The Shadow Of The Bismarck

4 years later: 2078

The Bismarck 2 and Von Austel coasted serenely through the water around the southern coast of Australia.  Its high-plasma cannons swivelled to face the oncoming row of Australian Battleships approaching, all armed with 20-inch shells.  The latest standard: or so they thought. . .

– – –

The Nazis were all but lost.  The Australians had control over Britain after kicking out the Nazis and replacing the helpless British.  Al Qaeda and Karl Johnson had formed a powerful alliance and had crushed resistance all over the world.  The stage of the world was as followed.

Asia, was out of use because of nuclear fallout.  Al Qaeda had control of the Middle East and the whole of Africa after an endless struggle with European countries.  America and Canada had formed a powerful alliance and had shut themselves off from the world.  Australia had the whole of Europe, including Britain and the most of Australasia and Japan.  The main forces were America, Australia and the Nazis.  But, no one, apart from the Australians and the English, specifically knew of the Alliance between the two cricket rival nations.  In 2076, Australia had forced the Nazis out of Britain and into hiding in small parts of Russia.  Hans Flitch was re-gathering strength while the Australians and Al Qaeda secured parts of the world.  At that point Britain was weak, but independent.  Then, overnight, everything changed.  The Australians declared war and in one swift fake battle took control of Britain.  But the alliance the two had, had to remain secret in order to kill two birds with one stone.  Al-Qaeda and the Nazis.  The plan was for the Australians to cement themselves in with the Middle Eastern terrorists and then strike them when they were closest of friends.  So far, this was working, or so they thought.  Two problems.  One was the Nazis.  They were still alive and kicking, though weaker.  The second was, the terrorists had something up their sleeves.  They suspected the Australians might break away and destroy them.  So, they took the necessary precaution, and planted Cyclops bombs in every major city in Australia, and one in Java, just to make sure of surrender, if needed.  The Australians found a Cyclops bomb and realised, but there was nothing they could do about it.  If they attacked Al Qaeda, the other bombs would be activated.  Also, they absolutely could not risk fighting tow nations at once.  So they left it at that.  Everyone was in the dark.

Chapter 10: The Dawn Of Plasma

– – –

Back in the present the era of new weapons were beginning.  Starting with the Cyclops bomb, a huge plasma ball, the latest being the plasma cannons fitted on the Bismarck.  As they came within firing distance of the Australian ships, the plasma cannons had been shooting for ten seconds.  A thousand or so metres away, balls of flame erupted from the ships and three went down without shooting.  Still, ten remained.  Half of them were on fire and out of control, with only some in tact.  then the Von Austel’s plasma cannons fired.  The other ships didn’t stand a chance.

Hans Flitch rubbed his hands together with glee.  His two finest secret weapons were unleashed.  His warships were now sailing full pelt, back to his base-in Magadan-in the North East of Russia.  But, why were they sailing back?  Because of the following:

Flitch stared up into the roof of the domed building.  Three pointed warheads were attached to a launching mechanism.  He looked at the screen.  The glowing green screen showed a map of the world with all the major cities labelled.  He pressed his finger down on Canberra.  Then on Washington D.C.  And finally on New York.  Now, you may be thinking these are normal nukes.  Well, fortunately your wrong.  These were plasma bombs, big on destruction and absolutely no radiation.

Yes, you will get to read about an even bigger bang than even a nuclear bomb.  Flitch pressed the red “fire” button.  The ceiling opened, and the air of a world, which will never be the same again, flooded in.  The missiles rocketed into the sky.  Flitch smiled.  Tomorrow, he would be the world’s most powerful man.

If you like disasters, read my next book, you will NOT be disappointed.  Do you like New York Yankees stadium?  I certainly hope not.  Because it will not be there soon.

THE END OF PART 1

Part 2:Three Races United

Chapter 1: The Sons Of The Dragon

Kayato Asuko jumped out through the debris of the falling apart tunnel.  She gasped.  Around her, New York lay in shreds.  Her home, if she could call it one was obliterated.  She was dressed in a black Karate-like suit and he hair lay untidily down her back.  There was enough dust on her to keep her warm.  She looked like a ghost.  but she was alive.  Just minutes earlier a voice had boomed through the streets as she was weaving between the crowds of people, being chased by an angry shopkeeper whom she had stolen from.  It had said,

“Warning, Warning, unidentified missile approaching New York.  Everyone take cover.”  Everyone started screaming.  Some dashed for cover.  But only she and the rest of the Sons of the Dragon had sufficient cover.  She had tore back to the tunnel and had been about to warn the other Ninjas when she remembered.  They were out on a mission for an Australian who had called earlier.  She as the youngest, aged 16 was left behind with Old Kanu Sun.  She had unfortunately died of a heart attack from the shock.  Asuko was on her own.  She was still too stunned to move, taking in the surroundings.  She had to get out of New York.  She set off at a running pace.

An hour later, she was still running.  This time on the decimated road that lead out of New York.  This was what her training had done to her.  An impeccably fit girl, with fighting abilities better than any black belt.  The Karate-like suit she was wearing was actually  the highest grade of Jujitsu, the most lethal martial art known to man-kind.  All was quiet for several minutes.  Then suddenly a siren came into hearing.  A fleet of fire engines roared down the stricken road, slowing down to get round or over different obstacles.  Then they saw her.  The doors of one engine opened and two firemen jumped out,

“Hey, a surviour!”

“Yeah, there were none in Washington I hear.”

“Not half!”came the reply.

“Apparently Canberra, in Australia got it.  Must have been those frigging Nazis in Russia or where ever they’ve holed themselves up.”

“Yeah but why us. . .”

“Ahem!”Asuko got their attention.

“Yeah, what?  Oh yeah, we gotta take any survivors to Pennslyvania!”

“Heck, that’s a long drive, suppose the police have to check them for radiation or whatever.”  Two words in that sentence made Asuko’s heart go cold.  Police.  She was the youngest most wanted criminals in new York.  Suicide to go to the police.  Radiation.  Help.

“Ach, you fool, it’s not radioactive, got a Geiger counter ‘ere.”  He held it up to Asuko.  “See, nothing, codswallop what ya said.”

Asuko was relived but she remembered the police bit.  Time to get out of here.  She walked forward and jabbed the two arguing men in the neck.  They were out before they hit the ground.  The other firemen saw this and shouted,

“Get ‘er, what is she doing?”  Two firemen jumped at her.  She was already in the abandoned fire engine.  The two men collided.  Asuko grinned and reversed into the vehicles behind her, barging her way out.  She was stuck.  She opened the door and jumped.  Over the heads of her adversaries and through the window of another fire engine.  She reversed again, the men still screaming at her.  Then she was away.  The vehicle swung round battering the other fire engines.  A water tank burst.  Liquid flooded out on top of a firemen attempting to stop her.  Asuko pushed on the accelerator and gathered speed.  Time to go to Pennslyvania, to Harrisburg, not to the police but to her cousin, Achunko Asuko.  Behind her two fire engines were turning to chase her, but her vehicle was faster, because of the loss of weight.  However they were gaining on her.  She was on on a long stretch of road.  She secured the steering wheel and climbed steadily out of the window, her hair slapping against the side of the fire engine.  She reached for her shoe and opened a secret compartment.  Out came a knife.  Then aiming at the second water tank she hurled it straight at it.  Poing.  It had stuck fast, but had not punctured the tank.  She noticed a bend coming up.  Into the cabin she climbed again, observing the fire engines behind her gathering speed.  One of them had given up and tuned back.  Adrenaline rushed through her as the engine drew alongside her.  The fire man yelled above the wind,

“Who are you?  Stop!”  Asuko looked around for options.  There were none.  She was just about to swerve to the left when she heard a faint “pop” sound out side.  The fireman’s face turned into astonishment.  It was like he had seen a ghost.  A spurt of water powered into his face.  He screamed and let go of the steering wheel.  The fire engine turned awkwardly left.  It erupted in a ball of fire on a field of barley and rye.  Onwards to Harrisburg.

Chapter 2: Ejector Seat

The flight from Kansas to Washington D.C. was usually uneventful. The air hostess was preparing herself for another boring flight to Washington, helping passengers put their luggage on the plane. She observed a muscular teenager arrive, with barely any suitcases or anything. Eyeing him longingly she showed him his seat at the foreground of the plane’s 400 seats.

However, there was more to this guy than met the eye. One: he carried a Sig Sauer in a hidden right-hand pocket. Two: he carried information of the exact location of the Nazis secret Russian location. Three: he knew that the Nazis last Fourth Reich cell was about to break out in Europe. Four: he was the youngest operative for Colon-X. Colon-X was a secret service of all countries looking to overthrow the Nazis by secret-works, not all out wars. They had recently received a huge boost by gaining Shane Tedders. He was a valuable man and had lots of information on what Australia were planning to do to the Nazis next. If they could co-ordinate what they did and what the Australians did perfectly, the Nazis would crumble rapidly.

Another thing the hostess didn’t know that she would be dead by the end of the day.

The plane sped down the runway and into the air. Its motors propelling it higher until it hit cloud cover. Later, they were flying into Washington D.C. Airport controlled airspace when the Captain received an urgent message from the airport control tower. He looked at it alarmed and to the surprise of his co-pilot and the passengers and not least the hostess who fell over with a tray of drinks, he yanked the steering wheel to the right. The plane veered round into the other direction.

In the passengers compartment the hostess was trying to calm everyone down. Then a voice came in to hearing,

“This is your pilot speaking. I am sorry to have to report that an unidentified missile is due to strike Washington D.C. In a minute. We have been ordered to turn back. There is a high likelihood that we shall be consumed by the blast. Long live the president!” The plane erupted into screams and shouts. The muscular sixteen-year-old barged his way through the crowd of people milling about in the main aisle, the hostess trying to control them in vain. His name was Jack Wright and he doubted that the president would live long after the missile struck. Suddenly a huge noise filled his ears as the missile hit Washington! Plasma shock-wave after shock-wave flattened buildings upon buildings. Jack felt the plane lurch, even though they were miles away from the blast. Or so he thought. The wind had hit them, then came the shock-wave. It smashed into the plane and caused the whole of the outer plane to catch fire. The cockpit where the pilot was, was burnt out apart from the seats which was slightly singed. Wind was rushing in from every angle. A man flew out of the cockpit into the open air, never to be seen again. The plane dipped downwards throwing more passengers out of the window to their deaths. Now on a course to the ground the plane was going faster, helped tremendously by gravity. Then Jack Wright noticed it. On the metal panel that he was clinging onto, hung a parachute. It was half open but he reckoned he could easily jump with it. Tightening the buttons on his coat and securing the documents in his pockets he unwound the parachute. As soon as he let go of his handhold he flew into the air. The plane continued on its ascent as he Jack Wright descended safely to the ground. BOOM! The plane, or what was left of it, blew up as it smacked the ground. 403 people had died in just ten minutes. This war was getting worse. The sooner he got the documents to Colon-X, the sooner the Nazis were gone and the sooner the whole palaver ended and people stopped dying. However, he was not as safe as he thought he was. Around him, fires blazed and the heat was almost unbearable! He was stuck in a ring of fire, a ring which was closing in on him. Suddenly he heard a chugging of a helicopter above him and the end of a rope ladder landed on his shoulder. He looked up astonished to see Shane Tedders face smiling down at him.

“C’mon, grab hold, we knew you’d make it!” Jack Wright was hauled to safety as the ground he had been occupying was swallowed up with flames.

Chapter 3: Swim For Your Life

His pursuer was gaining on him and he knew it. His name was Karl Warne. He avoided an obstacle in the water and dived for the depths. Suddenly a shadow overwhelmed him. He was caught!

“Got you Karl!”shouted his friend Giorgio triumphantly, “Gottcha and you know it, hahah!”

“All right, all right, you win.” Karl Warne was dressed in a bathing suit and he was extremely muscular. He is was 15 and his appearance was powerful and striking. He was the under-15 Australian Swimming Champion, and catching him for quite an achievement. The obstacle I referred to was in fact an annoyed fat lady, clearly startled by the chase around her. She was now waddle-swimming through the water towards them,

“Uh-oh. . .” mimed Giorgio. She burst into flow:

“Young vagabonds,”heads turned, “Going helter-skelter around the Sydney Swimming Pool-I’ll have you know, I sponsored them- like raving lunatics. Unless this very roof falls on my head, I swear that I’ll get you kicked out of this pool. . .”then a voice boomed above them,

“This is the swimming pool manager, I am sorry to have to tell you that an unidentified missile had been sighted targeting Sydney. This may be the last thing I’ll ever say, so I want to wish you all good luck. Fighters are trying to shoot down the missile, however I have to tell you that the same had happened to both Washington D.C. And new York. The end is nigh. Goodbye.” The swimming pool turned into a big screaming sound as babies started to cry and men comforted their sobbing sweethearts. Then an explosion. And a split second later the roof fell in. Karl grabbed Giorgio’s hand and pulled him under the water as a shock-wave destroyed Sydney’s largest swimming pool. The roof had well and truly fallen in and as he and Giorgio attempted to get their bearings they observed the fat woman getting thwacked on the head with a piece of metal. He was tempted to laugh when he realised that there was blood streaming out of her head. She was dead, and so was everyone else in the Swimming Pool apart from them it seemed. That included his mother. He choked back tears as he and Giorgio rapidly swam for the surface avoiding metal floating to the bottom of the pool. He silently swore to himself that he would get revenge for his Mum. But now was not the time for sentimentality. He pulled Giorgio to the edge of the pool and they heaved themselves up onto the side. As Giorgio did this he put his hand on a piece of metal ceiling. He swore viciously and slid back into the pool, shocked. Karl pulled him out.

“That was ho. . .” Then he stopped and took in the surroundings. The whole complex was a heap of smouldering ashes. They stood up, astounded. Surely the world had just ended. Then Karl remembered the speech from the Swimming Poll manager. In Washington AND New York. He gulped and took it in. Everything he loved and knew was gone. All he had ever aspired to do, like swim at the Olympics was a thing of the past now. He and Giorgio sprinted to the smouldering doorway and out into the open. He wretched and threw up as he saw a rotting dead body to his left. He tried to breath in fresh air but all he got was a lungful of smoke. The air was stiflingly hot, almost unbearable.

“Where now?”gasped Giorgio.

“Out of here!”Karl panted in a reply. They ran on for ages, past heaps of charred stone houses, past the corner shop they knew so well, then to his house. They stopped. Giorgio glanced guiltily at Karl. His parents were on holiday. Karl’s Mum was not so lucky. He had already lost his Dad, fighting against the Nazis. Surely not his Mother too. But it did indeed seem to be the case. Karl pushed his way down the garden path and smashed his foot through the door. And there to his immense surprise was his Mum, live as life itself.

“KARL!”his Mum screamed happily at his,”You’re alive, oh my gosh!” They rushed to each other and embraced and exchanged kisses.

“How did you survive Mum? Karl asked perplexed but nevertheless overjoyed.

“Ah, I was in the kitchen when I heard the radio say,

‘Missile approaching’ and whatnot! Me being sensible Mum, didn’t panic but legged it to the basement. Clever old me!”She smiled, “and more importantly, how did you and Giorgio survive?” Karl looked awkwardly at his best friend, as he had been forgotten in the latter conversation.

“Ah, pot luck, dived under the water, though it got mighty hot around there, didn’t it Giorgio?”

“It certainly did!”replied Giorgio rubbing his burnt hand.

“Oh Giorgio, let me look at that!”cried Karl’s mother shocked. “Oh gosh, that looks nasty. Two ticks!” She rushed off through a battered doorway and fetched a piece of cloth from a decimated armchair. She wrapped it tightly around the burn and tied it off with a tight knot. “That should help!”

“Thanks!”said Giorgio, gratefully but obviously embarrassed. “That feels a lot better!”

“Now, time to find hel. . .!”Karl’s mother started and then stopped. They could hear a chugging noise above their heads, quite clearly. Instinctively, they rushed out of the house and waved into the sky hollering,

“Help, help!” Then they stopped as Karl motioned for them to be quiet. Above them on a rope ladder hanging on a helicopter stood a man in combat clothes hanging next to someone Karl knew quite well. It was Shane Tedders.

“Shane?”queried Karl.

“That’s me, sorry to here about your Dad, now get on board before the authorities come, time to move it to the Pacific Ocean!”Seeing the surprised looked on all three faces he said,

“I’ll explain on the way!”

roof falls on my head, I swear that I’ll get you kicked out of this pool. . .” Then a voice boomed above them,

“This is the swimming pool manager, I am sorry to have to tell you that an unidentified missile has been sighted targeting Canberra. This may be the last thing I’ll ever say, so I want to wish you all good luck. Fighters are trying to shoot down the missile, however I have to tell you that the same had happened to both Washington D.C. And new York. The end is nigh. Goodbye.” The swimming pool turned into a big screaming sound as babies started to cry and men comforted their sobbing sweethearts. Then an explosion. And a split second later the roof fell in. Karl grabbed Giorgio’s hand and pulled him under the water as a shock-wave destroyed Sydney’s largest swimming pool. The roof had well and truly fallen in and as he and Giorgio attempted to get their bearings they observed the fat woman getting thwacked on the head with a piece of metal. He was tempted to laugh, when he realised that there was blood streaming out of her head. She was dead, and so was everyone else in Canberra apart from them it seemed. That included his mother. He choked back tears as he and Giorgio rapidly swam for the surface avoiding metal floating to the bottom of the pool. He silently swore to himself that he would get revenge for his Mum. But now was not the time for sentimentality. He pulled Giorgio to the edge of the pool and they heaved themselves up onto the side. As Giorgio did this he put his hand on a piece of metal ceiling. He swore viciously and slid back into the pool, shocked. Karl pulled him out.

“That was ho. . .” Then he stopped and took in the surroundings. The whole complex was a heap of smouldering ashes. They stood up, astounded. Surely the world had just ended. Then Karl remembered the speech from the Swimming Pool manager. In Washington AND New York. He gulped and took it in. Everything he loved and knew was gone. All he had ever aspired to do, like swim at the Olympics was a thing of the past now. He and Giorgio sprinted to the smouldering doorway and out into the open. He wretched and threw up as he saw a bloody dead body to his left. He tried to breath in fresh air but all he got was a lungful of smoke. The air was stiflingly hot, almost unbearable.

“Where now?”gasped Giorgio.

“Out of here!”Karl panted in a reply. They ran on for ages, past heaps of charred stone houses, past the corner shop they knew so well, then to his house. They stopped. Giorgio glanced guiltily at Karl. His parents were on holiday. Karl’s Mum was not so lucky. He had already lost his Dad, fighting against the Nazis. Surely not his Mother too. But it did indeed seem to be the case. Karl pushed his way down the garden path and smashed his foot through the door. And there to his immense surprise was his Mum, live as life itself.

“KARL!”his Mum screamed happily at his,”You’re alive, oh my gosh!” They rushed to each other and embraced and exchanged kisses.

“How did you survive Mum? Karl asked perplexed but nevertheless overjoyed.

“Ah, I was in the kitchen when I heard the radio say,

‘Missile approaching’ and whatnot! Me being sensible Mum, didn’t panic but legged it to the basement. Clever old me!”She smiled, “and more importantly, how did you and Giorgio survive?” Karl looked awkwardly at his best friend, as he had been forgotten in the latter conversation.

“Ah, pot luck, dived under the water, though it got mighty hot around there, didn’t it Giorgio?”

“It certainly did!”replied Giorgio rubbing his burnt hand.

“Oh Giorgio, let me look at that!”cried Karl’s mother shocked. “Oh gosh, that looks nasty. Two ticks!” She rushed off through a battered doorway and fetched a piece of cloth from a decimated armchair. She wrapped it tightly around the burn and tied it off with a tight knot. “That should help!”

“Thanks!”said Giorgio, gratefully but obviously embarrassed. “That feels a lot better!”

“Now, time to find hel. . .!”Karl’s mother started and then stopped. They could hear a chugging noise above their heads, quite clearly. Instinctively, they rushed out of the house and waved into the sky hollering,

“Help, help!” Then they stopped as Karl motioned for them to be quiet. Above them on a rope ladder hanging on a helicopter stood a man in combat clothes hanging next to someone Karl knew quite well. It was Shane Tedders.

“Shane?”queried Karl.

“That’s me, sorry to here about your Dad, now get on board before the authorities come, time to move it to the Pacific Ocean!”Seeing the surprised looked on all three faces he said,

“I’ll explain on the way!”

Chapter 4:Four Heroes United

In the middle of the Pacific Ocean, stands the world’s most secret, underwater base ever and probably the most advanced as well. It was a kind of bubble on a huge metal stand bolted to the seabed. It was the HQ of Colon-X and its appearance was of one of the most high-tech bases you can find. The bubble itself was not see-through and there were no obvious entrances but it looked like a solid grey ball on a huge metal pole. The thing is, it was not as harmless as it seemed. If it came under attack which was very likely it would just be one flick of a switch which would activate about a thousand plasma cannons which would unfold out of the greyness. But nor was the complex small. It was probably the height of fifty football stadiums and as wide as twenty pitches. It was huge. It housed half a million operatives and was expanding by the day as more dissatisfied people were selected from the ranks of normal people. There were about a hundred floors in the complex, twenty of which were the homes to all who were part of Colon-X. The other eighty were a mixture of things. Some were training floors, other executive offices and still others, where people behind desks sat analysing or planning operations that were being planned for that. In the dead centre of the bubble was the head of Colon-X’s quarters. His name was Sam Chandra and was a very secretive man, no wives, no nothing. Some families lived together. The whole building was a great mixture of different languages, races, skills, colours, style and made the place an exiting place to be. It was also the home of many grave news pieces. Telling of how the world got worse. If there were disasters, like the plasma bombs, huge meetings would be called to brief people on new lines of work which may occur as a result of the disaster. The only unsymmetrical part of the building was the chute that led off to the right of the bubble, towards a black metal submarine bay. This was the way they got food. Every week, a submarine would be sent to get food from illicit sources or the subs would be used as a way of getting outside news or scouting or even for taking operatives to their mission. Another way of going somewhere from the bubble would be by plane. When Colon-X made sure no one was anywhere nearby, they would sometimes let a plane fly out through the top of the bubble.

This was the new life that Shane Tedders, Giorgio, Karl and his Mum had to adapt to. Karl’s Mum had got a job in the communications office while Karl, Giorgio and Jack Wright their new friend were trained for a special mission. When they found out the mission they were surprised. Jack had brought information on the next uprising of the Fourth Reich. All over Europe. They had to find the Reich, infiltrate it and stop the Reich from posing a threat by the time the 15th of October came, the scheduled date of the the latest emerging of the Reich. How four people, he Karl, Giorgio, Jack and Shane were going to disable a Reich he did not know. But he knew that they had dismantled his life, so they were going to get justice at last. From three kids and a man, he thought unsurely.

As Karl walked alongside Giorgio towards the lunch area on the SHOOTING FLOOR he thought about how sceptical of Colon-X he had been at first. Why had he and Giorgio, (he suspected just himself, his best friend was lazy) been selected for some secret service. He knew the world was bad, but surely not this bad. However, when he looked at the world map, he saw all the markers of where the main powers were. He was convinced. The world really was that bad after all.

The shooting had been difficult. He had kept missing and the instructor had got a bit annoyed and threatened to kill him. Hopefully this was a joke. A week ago he had been a normal boy, as normal as you could get in the current world, and a week on he was learning to shoot a rifle. Crazy.

Chapter 5: Nazis in Harrisburg

Harrisburg

Kayato Asuko peered cautiously round the corner. She breathed a sigh of relief. She was in the main street of Harrisburg. Asuko had seen enough of the large town to know it’s obliviousness of the war. The street was wide and on either side of a large bustling pavement, were shops of all kind. Her cousin, Achunko, owned a pub down here, she knew that much. But there were about five pubs in view. Asuko also knew that he would not be behind the bar most of the times. He was the manager and part of something else that Asuko did not know about. All she knew was, that it meant Achunko was often away in some far off place in the world. He was likely not to be at home.

Asuko entered the first pub carefully, she knew the atmosphere of many American public houses.

“Hey, we don’t serve little kids in here, now get out!” a man from the bar yelled above the noise and a thick layer of smoke. Asuko hesitated before moving out, which was lucky because a machete intended for her thudded into the wall ahead of her. She quickly darted out of the door again. Yes, she could take anyone in there, but getting into a fight could seriously jeopardize finding her cousin. The next two pubs she tried were more civil and she inquired of her cousin. One man said his cousin was in the Angry Squid hotel across the busy road. Just as she was turning to go, the man leapt up from his seat and grabbed her by the neck,

“Now you pay me! Or die!” he breathed in her face, pulling out a knife. The barman shouted,

“No, you stop, none of that in here!” he was running to the table. THUNK. The knife hit the man in the chest. He fell over clasping his chest.

“Money, little girl, or you get it!”

“I don’t have. . .”Gun fire. Tactactactactactac the man was thrown against the wall. A man appeared at the door,

“Come ‘ere Kayato!” It was Achunko. How pleased was she to see him. They hugged and then stopped. Eyes were staring at them from all around the room. The barman was recovering from his small knife wound, he looked up and said,

“Guns in my bar? What the. . .”

“I do believe it is my bar!” came a voice from the stairs on their right. A man was pointing a gun at them. Achunko’s finger tightened on the trigger of his machine-pistol.

“Don’t try anything Achunko” he said as a door at the back was kicked open. A uniformed man stood there with an assault rifle. And behind them in the doorway was yet another uniformed gunman. Then suddenly, a couple of the customers at the bar drew guns. They pushed the innocent customers into the corner.

“Oh deary me, has dear Achunko of Colon-X walked straight into a trap? I do believe he has!” he laughed an evil laugh and then said,

“Do you see what my friends are wearing on their arms, oh yes, a swastika!” he smiled and carried on,

“I wonder how we shall needle the location of the Colon-X secret base out of you Achunko, will you need a bit of persuasion? Now, drop the gun, or Kayato gets it!” Obediently the gun clattered to the ground.

– – –

Kayato and Achunko stood rooted to the spot as the chief Nazi boasted triumphantly at how they had fallen into his trap. But Achunko had not been listening. He whispered in Kayato’s ear.

“Run, head to 24 Pelican Street, go!” Kayato did not look to happy to leave him but she was used to surviving on her own. She dashed for the door and ran out into the street. Behind her she could hear shouting,

“Stop her!” But Kayato melted like butter into the thick crowd. She darted right down a road, then left and finally lay panting inside a dense bush. She had easily lost her pursuers. Now, 24 Pelican Street. Where on Earth was that? She sighed and lay down her head. She would think about that tomorrow. She was soon asleep.

Chapter 6: Hanover and Fitzgerald

Karl, Giorgio, Jack and Shane all disguised as American tourists pushed their way through the crowd of passengers from the air-plane. It was hot for Berlin and signs of their war with France were evident. They had been fighting over Kenya but called a cease-fire when the Nazi situation became a real threat to them. However their borders were heavily guarded and you could see armed soldiers in twos wherever you went. But finding the Nazis was even harder. As the day went on they had searched an old house but the only thing they found was a couple of mouldy boxes. They had retired to separate hotels. Karl and Giorgio together and Jack and Shane in a hotel 30 minutes away from their counter-parts.

The next day in Berlin dawned bright and apparently jovial. That morning a news broadcast had declared that there were no Nazis in Germany. However, Karl and Giorgio did not agree with that. The previous night they had been tipped off by a mysterious man that some illicit activity was occurring in an old abandoned mine. They were going to investigate and find out the truth. Then, Jack and Shane would follow on an hour after down a different mineshaft if Karl and Giorgio had not returned. Giorgio was not too pleased with this as Jack and Shane got to relax for an hour or so:

“Why do you get to rest? We found out about the mine, so why don’t you go there and take your fair share of business?” Karl looked annoyed at this considering that he had started the conversation and prised out the information that night. He did sometimes wonder about Giorgio. He was a good person, but always quite lazy. His fitness had increased and his general all-round effort had gone up but inside he was the same person Karl had known a year ago, slopping about in Maths classes. Shane spoke firmly to Giorgio,

“Listen, we can easily tell Sam Chandra, and he can get you a job cleaning bins back at HQ!” Giorgio shut up at this and changed the subject to equipment,

“So, what d’we take then. Our guns of course. . .”

“Nope.”said Jack. “We don’t want you starting a fire-fight with Nazis armed with machine-guns.”Even Karl looked annoyed at this,

“What? No guns? What if they shoot at us anyway, they’ll batter us.”he ranted and then calming down. “Surely we’ll have something to protect ourselves with!” Shane hastily replied,

“Oh yes, don’t worry you’ll both have a stun grenade, a smoke grenade and a knife!”

“What about a real grenade which kills?”then he stopped looking apologetically at Shane, “sorry, I was getting carried away, it’s just. . .!”

“Don’t worry Karl, and you too Giorgio, everyone feels snappy and nervous before their first mission. But what you have to realise is that these are real soldiers we’re up against, even if it ends up being a boring old mine, you will one day have to fight them. You have to be cautious. Not marching into their HQ with all guns blazing, ok?” he paused, letting his words sink in and then carried on. “Right. You’ll have a torch, a grappling hook and a . . . “

“A grappling hook? What on Earth is the point. . .?”Karl frowned at Giorgio who had just said this, signalling to him to shut up. Shane continued outlining the mission:

“Just find out if the Nazis are there and take a look at their numbers and then be back here in an hour. If you aren’t back or haven’t called us in an hour we will come in for you, understood?” Karl and Giorgio nodded. “Let’s go then, remember, you’re only kids still, and personally I think putting you in on this mission is a bad idea, but Sam didn’t think so, evidently!”

When they reached a mile from the mine they stopped. They could not afford to be heard approaching their destination as there could well be guards. Karl and Giorgio got out and Jack said,

“We’ll be here, just be back here in an hour or call us, or we’ll come in!” Karl and Giorgio sprinted over the hilly grassy ground and dived to the ground at the top a mound. Karl whispered to Giorgio,

“Ok, get the night visions out!”he was referring to the infra-red goggles they both had. The Sun was setting and darkness was starting to creep up around them. Karl wondered what the Nazis would be like. Would they even be there? And if not where were they? He felt a shiver tingle down his spine. He was rushed out of his thought by a nudge from Giorgio.

“I can see the entrance to the mine. There doesn’t appear to be anyone there!”he said.

“All-right, let’s move on!”replied Karl, automatically taking charge. They ran over the grass, both grateful for their night-vision goggles. About a hundred metres from the mine they found the last mound before the entrance. The entrance was not a shaft but a simply constructed big hole with wooden supports forming the frame. They advanced towards it with a feeling of dread upon them. What would they find through the entrance? Both of them turned on their torches illuminating the door. And at last they were in. Flashing light on the wall, perhaps a little to openly, they tiptoed forward. They seemed to be in a sort of passage. At one point they passed a door on which was written: HANOVER AND FITZGERALD. They decided to move on and check the rest of the passage. Their conclusion on the sign was that it was simply the old company who used to operate in this mine. Onwards they trod and at last they could noises and see a fairly dim light ahead of them. At this Giorgio fearfully switched off his torch. Karl, however, being more methodical, brought out his communicator and tapped in a message which read:

Light seen at end of passage. Voices as well. Will investigate. K&G.

Karl and Giorgio carried on walking, ever aware that at any moment they might be discovered. The noise, got louder, voices in German could be recognised, and the light was brighter. Then they found themselves on a balcony about 20 metres wide with metal steps running down on their right to a smaller balcony which then went on to the floor. Karl and Giorgio dropped flat to the floor and crept to the edge. Peering over the top they could see thousands of men below in a huge open space, marching around, doing weapons practice. To their right was a guarded area behind which a man sat facing away from them, writing. The noise was horrendous. A horrible smell of blood and sweat wafted up to them forcing them to gag. Karl had his communicator out and had already written:

Thousands of Nazis training. Army. Huge hidden area. Will investigate. Need more time. Half hour xtra needed. K&G.

Then a bell rang loudly and suddenly everyone stopped working. Karl and Giorgio thought they had been discovered. But fortunately it appeared to be a break. The men headed for a double door at each side of the training area. Karl whispered to Giorgio:

“Look, now’s our chance to take a look around. Even the guy over there has gone!”he pointed at the now empty desk. Giorgio looked doubtful at this suggestion.

“What if we’re discovered?”he said fearfully.

“There is always a risk. If we never take risks, we’ll never get anywhere!”replied Karl who was already sprinting down the steps. They got a closer look at some of the weapons. Giorgio foolishly picked a gun up and pointed it at the wall and squeezed the trigger. No noise came out but a jet of light which lit up the wall and then burned a huge hole in it.

“Put that down, you fool!”said Karl angrily. He was about to have a go at Giorgio more when voices could be heard from the huge double doors.

Chapter 7: A Bit Of Both Kinds Of Luck

“Quick!”said Karl looking around. “Hide!” he and Giorgio dived behind some boxes and nestled themselves in the centre of them. Within a minute the whole massive training complex was full. Karl and Giorgio lay fearfully with the enemy within metres of them. They estimated that the training area was at least 3000 metres wide and a mile long. Then their hearts skipped a beat when they heard someone say in German,

“Ich erhalte eine neue Gewehr aus jenen Kästen heraus, hat ein Idiot ein Loch in der Wand und herauf die ganze Munition benutzt gesprengt.” Karl and Giorgio spoke German perfectly as that was one of the things they had been trained to do back at Colon-X HQ. What the Nazi had said was,

“I will get a new gun out of those boxes, an idiot has blasted a hole in the wall and used up all the ammunition.” Hearts in their mouth, Karl and Giorgio tried to stay hidden around the boxes. They wished the ground would just swallow them up. The Nazi, sweating heavily, opened the box and pulled out a gun. Thankfully for Karl and Giorgio, he did not see them and went back to his training. They heaved a huge sigh of relief. Karl, keeping his body low managed to send a garbled message to Jack and Shane.

Nearly got caught. Safe for now. If not out in hour and half come in and rescue. K&G.

Karl and Giorgio lay waiting for an hour and finally the men took another break. Quickly, when everyone had gone they rushed from their hiding places feeling extremely bad with their pins and needles. Up the stairs to the first balcony they rushed when they heard a shout.

“Achtung!”It was the man behind the desk, evidently the leader. A bullet whizzed past their heads and pinged into the rock above them. They were now on the main balcony heading for the door which would take them to the passage which led to the open air and hopefully safety. The man behind the desk had hit an alarm and a klaxon wailed overhead. Terrified they tore down the corridor. They could hear people running after them. Down the passage they ran , the end was now in sight. But then an unfortunate thing happened. Giorgio tripped and they lost valuable time getting up. Then to crown their bad-luck the door which they had ignored earlier swung open and a Nazi cradling a gun stood over them. He hit out at them but Karl jumped up and kicked him in the chest. But the Nazi was strong and barely felt it. He grabbed him and Giorgio at the same time and shoved them violently backwards into the wall. Their other pursuers caught up with them and stun darts hit them both. Everything went black. . .

– – –

Shane and Jack lowered themselves cautiously down the mine shaft. They knew that Karl and Giorgio had been captured or something else terrible had gone wrong. No voices could be heard as they dropped to the floor. They seemed to be in a big stone floor. Opposite them was a balcony. The very same balcony on which Karl and Giorgio had stood only hours before. The whole training area was uncannily empty. Shane and Jack rather foolishly walked out unto the middle. They stood there for a moment pondering over where everyone was. They suddenly a voice said very calmly from behind them:

“Good evening, I assume you are friends of the two boys who so stupidly came marauding round our base? They assured us that they had friends who would get them out. We took them word for word and naturally waited for you to come for them.”

Chapter 8:Last Man Standing

“Could we have been so stupid?”thought Jack. The stupidity of their actions sunk in. In the message that had been sent to them by Karl and Giorgio it had stated thousands of Nazis. As he and Shane turned round they noticed soldiers on the balcony. A trap. A man surrounded by troops was marching towards them. It was the man who had spoken to them. Shane gripped his AK48. Pitiful laughter from the chief Nazi.

“Hahahaha, oh you think you can shoot two thousand men single-handed?” As if to prove his point he fired a round from his pistol at the floor. “Come now, let us be reasonable. I just want to know who you are. . .”

“Oh yeah!”said Shane sarcastically, “and just let us go afterwards I suppose?” The chief however did not seem fazed at this, instead he merely nodded and said,

“Well, I didn’t ask you to come here did I? Anyway, let’s go somewhere slightly more private!” He glared at his men who obviously were petrified of him.

They were led through the doors into a sort of prison block which consisted of a few rooms with narrow beds. As they roughly were pushed into one they noticed Karl and Giorgio in another room. They looked fine apart from a massive bruise Karl was sporting on his left cheek. Shane and Jack expected to be interrogated but instead they were left alone in their cells.

It was night time in the underground base but everywhere still seemed functional. The Nazis were preparing for something. Karl, Giorgio, Jack and Shane discovered they could communicate without the guard noticing by tapping on the walls using Morse code. A plan of escape had been constructed using this way of talking to each other. At 10 O’clock they were going to put it into action.

It was time. Giorgio stuck his fingers down his throat and puked all over the door. The guard looked round in alarm and swung open the door.

“Vot ist the matter?”he asked Karl.

“My friend is sick!”was the reply.

“I go get doctor!”said the guard.

“No you won’t!”

“Vot!”the guard turned round again and was met with a strong uppercut which sent him flying into the far wall. The guard outside Shane and Jack’s cell looked round in surprise but the only words he could get out were:

“Ach. . .!” before a running Giorgio crashed into him. Karl grabbed the first fallen guard’s gun and mowed down the guard at the door of the prison block. He unlocked the door of Shane and Jack’s cell and they all acquired guns. But before they got there the door slammed against the wall and machine gun fire ricocheted all around them. Diving for cover in the cells around them they returned fire quickly forcing the German to retreat. A couple of bodies lay on the floor blocking door. Suddenly a grenade bounced through the door. It blew up and thick smoke started to envelope the room.

“Gas, quick to the door!” Guns blazing they rushed through the door. Taken by surprise the Nazis panicked and flooded out into the training area scattering fellow soldiers. Charging forward the four of them, Shane, Jack, Karl and Giorgio fired and fired setting off grenades causing chaos among the Nazis. Then a huge bomb went off covering the training ground in smoke. Heading for the balcony they thought they were through. But then two things happened. Random machine-gun fire ripped Jack’s legs apart causing him to be immobilised, the Nazi chief appeared and shot Shane through the heart killing him instantly. Karl could not believe what was happening.

“Noooooooo!”he screamed. Two friends he had grown to trust and love had been taken away from him. Thirsty for revenge he hurled himself at the laughing Chief. They struggled with each other and then: BANG! Giorgio who had been yelling for him to escape with him had shot the Nazi dead. The havoc they had caused behind them was slowly clearing. The balcony had collapsed around them and the only place they could go was into the Chief’s office. Behind them bullets whizzed after them but they had just managed to get out the other side of the office into the weapons storage room. Climbing over boxes they headed for a door to the right of the room. If it did not get them out it would mean their certain death. Nazis were pouring after them. Just as they opened their last resort the door in which they had just entered the room blew open. Then Karl’s heart jumped. It was the passage leading to the outside world. The door through which their captors had emerged during their last escape attempt. They got through the door just in time as bullets marked the spot they had been in a second ago. Sprinting out of the mine they ran until they got to the jeep. No Nazis had followed them. But Karl’s heart wrenched as he thought of his friends who had died. Giorgio started the engine and they headed. To the town. They impatiently queued through the traffic jams of Berlin until they got to their hotel. They had to contact Colon-X before the Nazis moved out of their hidden base. Rushing up to their room they pushed open the door. Fumbling around for the radio transmitter Giorgio said to Karl who had just entered the room,

“Must call HQ. . .!” And they were the last words he said. BOOM! The radio blew up shredding Giorgio apart. Karl watched in horror and then succumbed to unconscious as a piece metal hit him in the head. On the streets of Berlin however, tanks had just rolled into the city. The Fourth Reich had control of Berlin in minutes.

Chapter 9:The Berlin Resistance

As the news filtered through to Kunan Bin Izra he chucked the cigarette he had been smoking away. So, Berlin had fallen. Well, it was time to call Herr Braun. Yes, soon that mongrel Flitch would be no more and the false alliance he had with Australia would be a thing of the past.

– – –

Karl woke up. His vision was blurry. Two figures, he could make that much out. Over the next minutes his sight was restored.

“Hello?”came a voice from a woman in a white coat. “How are you?” Then a man in khaki said,

“Hello. I am Major Jap Stan of the Berlin resistance. Berlin fell hours ago. The German army couldn’t do a thing. The Nazis had equipment unbelievably technologically advanced. We formed a resistance as soon as the Nazis were sighted. We believe Hans Flitch himself is here.” Karl spoke for the first time,

“There was another boy with me.”

“Sorry, he was dead when we found you. We ran through houses asking people to join the resistance, until we came to you, only got about ten members though.”he smiled anxiously. But Karl was not listening any more. Once again his vision had gone blurry. Giorgio, gone for ever, his best friend in all the happy days of his life in Australia. How had they even known the hotel where he was staying. Revenge. That was what he wanted. He wanted to see Hans Flitch machine-gunned to pieces, shredded. His sight clearing, he jumped out of bed. Then noticing how dingy it was he said,

“Where are we?” The nurse, trying to get him back into bed, replied,

“An underground base of about three rooms. We’d been planning this for ages, suspecting the Nazis to rise in their ‘home town’.”

“The exit to this place leads to this lady’s house’s cellar. They, the Nazis I mean, have no clue that she is involved! Filled in Major Jap Stan. “Seeing as you’re so eager to hurt the Nazis, why not come with me and Herr Vaughan here.” He pointed to a muscular man in the door. ‘Herr Vaughan’ advance towards the boy, looking as if he was going to punch Karl. Actually he was offering his hand for a shake.

“Oh!”said Karl, “Sorry!” the huge man scowled back at him.

“Yes anyway,”said Stan in a bright voice, “we leave right away, time to wreak havoc around Berlin. We received a message from the Australians and their allies. They’re mounting an attack within the hour. So, it’s in and out back here ASAP, understand. Lay your bombs and scarper!”

Soon, after about forty minutes, the three of them were back at the underground base.

“We planted bombs on all the anti aircraft guns didn’t we?”said Stan as he sunk into a mouldy arm chair.

“Yeah!”replied Vaughan. “It’s about time to set ’em off. Wait, is that aircraft I hear?!”

“Uh-oh!”was all Karl could say.

“The bombs! Activate them!”shouted Stan as the planes zoomed over head. Bombs activated came a cry from the next room.

“Outside everyone quick!”as they heard explosions coming from their charges they had set.

Within a minute they were watching explosions from the Australian bombs lighting up the sky above the Nazi’s command centre.

“They’re using the new Helga-F-50. Berlin will fall in no time!”shouted Vaughan gleefully. People were in the streets watching joyfully. Then something awful happened. Some sort of gigantic turret was rising up out of the ground about fifty metres away. The house it had been under was literally thrown to the side. People started screaming as the turret opened fire. It was a plasma gun. The Australian planes were engulfed in plasma. Only fragments fell to Earth of the planes because most had been burnt to a crisp. The turret lowered back into the ground and a metal casing slid over the broken soil. The owner of the smashed up house was distraught. But no one cared about her, only the monstrosity of the weapon. It was unstoppable. Those planes had no chance.

Chapter 10:Traitor In The Ranks

Hans Flitch sat in thought in his base at Magadan. He was perfectly safe here. No one knew where he was. However, he did not feel safe. Yes, his troops had conquered Berlin but something told him it was all too good to last. His soldiers all thought the war was going well. Quite simply, it was not. All he had were remnants in Korea, Miroslav Himmler was not too happy to go on another offensive after the failure in Australia, and the last Hidden Reich cell which could emerge from America if he wanted but he knew the Americans could destroy them. They were better spent rounding up secret service agents. They had caught one recently as a matter of fact . The American Reich was the smallest cell, containing only 3000 men. Not nearly enough for anything useful, apart from the science section they had. It boasted the most prolific scientists in the world and they were cooking something up for him. However, it was not an offensive weapon but an escape route. They were designing a space shuttle. If everything failed then he would hop over to America unseen and head for the moon. The shuttle would contain enough space to contain the whole American Reich. He was hoping that he would not have to resort to flying to the moon. But then again it would be a good place to plan his operations.

– – –

Precisely 4340 miles away Franz Hanover and Gordon Fitzgerald were deep in conversation with Heinrich Braun.

“Listen, we only need to assume control. The troops are completely on our side!”said Hanover.

“Yes, but have you forgotten spies may exist. Flitch may already know. . .”protested Braun.

“What about those friends you’ve got in the Middle East, eh? We are completely in control. Nothing can stop us. If Flitch knows, then who cares. What can he do. Move his whole army out of Magadan?”said Fitzgerald.

“You know perfectly well he’s got nukes. . .”explained Braun but was cut off by an angry Hanover:

“Our plasma cannons can easily deal with them, we can shoot ’em down half a continent before they get here.”

“Ok, ok, but we have to keep this secret until Al Qaeda scrap their alliance with the Aussies. Agreed?”

Hanover and Fitzgerald nodded. Then they could get rid of this stupid man.

– – –

Kayato knocked cautiously on the door of 24 Pelican Street. It had a shabby appearance which reminded her of her old grandmother’s house in New York. The door swung open and a man with a scowl on his face stood imposingly on the doorway.

“Er, hello!” The man briefly stared her in the eye and then slammed the door in her face. Kayato had had enough. She jumped and karate kicked the door with all her might. It flew open hitting the retreating figure of the unfriendly man.

“Kayato Asuko.”said Asuko with an air of let me in or I’ll bash your face in. The man, at the sound of Asuko, looked intrigued and beckoned her inside, checking that no one from the street was watching. Still he had not said a single word. Kayato followed him carefully. They passed two empty cobwebby rooms in the dimly lit house before coming to a metal door. The man tapped on the door in a particular rhythm. At first there was no answer. Then the words,

“Enter operative!” He swung the door open. Suddenly they were in a bright homely looking room. Three men sat slouching on sofas with magazines sprawled on their laps.

“Well, well, well, what ‘ave we ‘ere?”said a burly looking fellow who most likely was the leader. The door-man went over to him and whispered something in his ear.

“Ah-ha!”said the leader in a loud voice causing Kayato to jump.

“What news of Achunko?”he asked.

“Er, well, I was looking for him in a bar and some guy threw a machete at me. Achunko arrived bang on time and well. . .shot him.”The leader shook his head at this. Kayato continued. “Then a Nazi guy appeared and captured him. Achunko told me to run and. . .well, I did.” the leader swore viciously.

“Great!”he said sarcastically. “I suppose they’ve taken him to the warehouse on Pilano Road. The place where we’ve been trying to find proof that the Nazis are using it as a base, and haven’t!” Everyone looked expectantly at him. Then he continued: “So, Guy and Ray, tomorrow night we go in and get ‘im out!”

“But boss, how’d’ya know he’s in there?”questioned one of them.

“Yeah!”agreed the other.

“Jus’a feeling boys. Now get prepared for t’night! Kayato, you’d better get some sleep, ‘cos you’re comin’ t’night.” explained the leader. Just as everyone were getting up t leave Kayato piped up:

“Er, who are you?”

“Colon-X, secret international service, looking to beat the Nazis by foul play instead of straight battles. An’ that’s all ya need t’ know. Right, food then bed. Then we go get Achunko back!”

Chapter 11:Friends Reunited

Jack had been in his cell for days. The underground base had been used scarcely after they had taken over Berlin. A few hours ago he had heard sounds of bombing and then a horrible noise and then silence. He had lost the use of both of his legs. His life was agony. Had Karl and the others got out alive? Then suddenly he heard the sound of keys on the door. He swivelled round on his wooden bed to look at the door. There, at the door, keys in hand stood Karl and Major Jap Stan.

“Karl!”Jack said in a croaky voice. “You’re alive. Where’re Shane and Giorgio?”

“Dead.”was the sad reply.

“What?”said Jack disbelievingly. “Them, dead?”

“Yes, the Nazi chief got Shane and a planted bomb at the hotel did for Giorgio!”said Karl

“I know the name of that blasted chief. Heinrich Braun I think it was. I hate ‘im.”said Jack

“Quick, we must get out. There aren’t many Nazis around at the moment. Look I have Jack’s wheelchair.”warned Stan. “Oh yeah,”he said to Jack, “I’m Major Jap Stan of the Berlin Resistance.”

They wheeled Jack out of the prison cell. A guard appeared but Stan dealt with him with a pistol fitted with a silencer. They were now in the training area.

“Why’s there no one around?”inquired Karl of Jack.

“I think they’re planning to attack the rest of Germany. They’re mostly on the ground. WAIT, DUCK!”he shouted. Karl and Stan threw themselves to the floor as a bullet whistled overhead. It was the Nazi chief, Heinrich Braun. A well aimed shot from Stan hit him in the thigh. They did not have enough time to finish him off and had to get into the passage leading to the outside world. As they got into a car outside Braun pressed a button on his desk and operated the outside cameras then hesaid into the intercom which connected to all his troops,

“Stop occupants of red Volkswagen, SD45 E45W!”and then he passed out.

The red Volkswagen raced through the city wheels squealing as they screeched round bends. The Nazis were after them, machine-guns pinged bullets off the armoured car. In the back Karl returned fire. One of their pursuers’ engine blew up causing their fellow motorbikes to crash into a wall. Thinking the danger had passed, Karl lowered his gun and shouted above the wind,

“Head for the main road out of here, we have to get to the airport at Hamburg!” Then, out of no where a tank appeared and opened fire. Luckily for the occupants of the target, they managed to swerve away. Round the tank they went and finally they came to a road block.

“Great!”muttered Jack as they crashed through the barrier. Bullets chased them down the road but to no avail. They were on their way to Hamburg, which was in the control of Australia. There, they could make contact with Colon-X.

Chapter 12:Mutiny

The Von Austel and the Bismarck coasted serenely through the waters of the Pacific Ocean. Their giant plasma cannons glistened in the midday sun. No battle ships dared oppose them. Earlier that week they had obliterated a coastal town of Australia. Then it all went wrong. The captain of the Bismarck was alerted by his second in command that an urgent message from HQ in Magadan had been received. When he heard the message his heart stopped for a second. The message ran like this,

“Urgent. Return to base. Berlin cell have rebelled. They are sending plasma wielding planes to deal with you. Al-Qaeda are with the Berlin cell. Hans Flitch.”

The captain hurried to the bridge to see the Von Austel turning to a new course, heading back to Magadan. The captain shouted orders for the Bismarck to turn around. Then suddenly he knew something was wrong. As a mere precaution, both the ships had their gun turrets out but he noticed that the Von Austel’s turrets were swivelling towards them. The Captain yelled:

“Quick, evasive manoeuvre, 180 degrees left. All gun stations engage enemy Von Austel.”

The crew looked bewildered for a moment and then they got down to work. But the Von Austel’s turrets were in firing position and suddenly they let off a blast at the main gun turret of the Bismarck. It destroyed it completely and now only two smaller turrets were left. Then the captain understood. The Von Austel’s captain was with the rebel Berlin cell. Quickly he sent a message to HQ at Magadan to warn them. Then all the plasma cannons aboard the Von Austel opened fire. The Bismarck was no more.

Deep below the ocean in Colon-X communications room was in turmoil.

“Am I believing what I am seeing?”said Sam Chandra amazed. “The Krauts just blasted their best warship out of the water. What on. . .”

“Sir!”interrupted the urgent voice of a radio operator. “We have picked up a message from Australia to America. It says:”she then began to read:

“President O’Neil. We regret to inform you that Al-Qaeda have joined sides with a rebel Nazi cell. Hans Flitch has been rendered nearly powerless as his funding from the company ‘Hanover and Fitzgerald’ has ceased. We implore you to help. You may know that they have planted Cyclops bombs all over Australia and in the Philippines. They will activate them should we not surrender. We are going to surrender. I beg you, fight them.”

Chapter 13: The Big Man’s Son

It was night time as Kayato, Bob Newman (the leader), Guy and Ray stealthily crept threw the night towards the warehouse. It was situated a mile out of Harrisburg in a sort of country lane. It was a moonless night and the greyness of the building was intensified. It looked in many ways like a normal house except that all the windows had lights on and one had metal bars stopping any access to that particular room. After hours of observation they had decided that the time was ripe to get Achunko back. They assumed he was the inhabitant of the barred up room. Just ten minutes earlier, ten or so men had left the drive of the warehouse. The garden which ran all around the warehouse was a dense mixture of shrubs and trees. It was perfect cover for any assault on the building. They had decided to attack the building with a diversion. Guy and ray would hurl grenades at the opposite end of the house to where Achumko was. They would also use a machine-gun to distract the guards. This would happen while Kayato and Newman climbed up the window and removed the bars enabling them to escape with Achunko.

At 5 past 1 Kayato and Newman scaled the wall and hung on ropes underneath the window where Achunko was. Then they checked that no one was in the room before pinning a note to the window describing to Achunko what would happen. But unfortunately for them CCTV cameras spotted the note and the guards inside knew what would happen.

Jarken Flitch, the son of Hans was in charge of the warehouse. On seeing the CCTV footage he said,

“Jones, get the heck down there and see to it that those men hidden in the gardens are disposed off. I will deal with our visitors myself.” A minute later when Ray and Guy threw their first grenades, riflemen on the roof opened fire instantly killing Gus. Ray however blasted the rooftop with machine-gun fire. Meanwhile Kayato and Bob smashed the window and jumped in.

“Achunko!”cried Kayato joyfully.

“Kayato, how good to see you. I take it, that the noise over there,”he pointed out of the window, “is Ray and Guy’s doing?”said Achunko

“Oh yes, who else would?”said Newman. Then a voice spoke from the door:

“Yes, I would dearly love to know who else is in Colon-X.”They all turned to see Jarken Flitch holding a STEN sub machine-gun. “Sorry to spoil the family reunion! And, ah, it is little Kayato Asuko, how good to see you, ah wait a sec!” Jones had just run in breathless,

“Got them sir, both of ’em, lying dead on the ground, see, us American mercenaries aren’t so bad!”

“Traitor!”yelled Newman.

“Huh, gotta be on the right side when it comes to war, but, lost all m’ men I did, hope you pay me well!”responded Jones.

“Oh, sorry, a little inconvenience occurred today on the subject of your payment.”said Jarken.

“Oh, an’ what was that then?”queried Jones suspiciously.

“Oops, my mistake, it hasn’t happened yet!”then Jarken shot Jones through the head. “Never pays to be a traitor, does it?”he said to his prisoners. “Oh yes, please be so kind as to put that nasty ickle pistol away, don’t want to hurt anyone, do we? I’m on my own in this house, you see, don’t wanna take any risks!”he said with a sickly smile, watching his enemies guns being placed on the bed. “Right, down the stairs.” With the three of them in front, they walked down the drive towards the road. “A few of my friends should be here soon. The ones I believe you saw leaving.”Thump!A figure emerged from the bushes and hit Jarken over the head, rendering him unconscious.

“Ray!”exclaimed Kayato, “We thought you were dead!”

“Ah, Guy got killed, poor man, and I started a machine-gun battle with ’em, ’till I was near the end o’ my bullets. Problem was, there was only one of ’em left, but he was willing to sit there all night , so I played dead and he went away to hsi boss thinking I’m dead, anyway: well, well, well, we’ve got Flitch’s son ‘ere, should be fine picking to bargin with, ‘specially with the rest o’ the world being under the Nazis and those Al-Qaeda, knew we should never of trusted’em.”said Ray excited at his catch.

“Quick, guys, I can hear those Nazis Jarken was on about a minute ago. Let’s get into the house and find some weapons.”

“’Thinking lady!”said Newman as they hurried into the house.

As a car stopped at the drive and 10 men all armed with sub machine-guns got out, the others had holed themselves up in two windows facing the drive. Kayato and Achunko in one and Newman and Ray in the other. Jarken Flitch was bound and gagged under the bed in the Asuko’s room.

As soon as the Nazis realised something was wrong they loaded their weapons. Jarken was meant to meet them outside the gate. So, naturally they decided to check the house. Kayato and the others did not want a huge fire fight so they had decided not to blast them while they were still in the garden but to pick them off as they came into the rooms. Kayato, in her room could hear the Nazis searching other rooms. Then suddenly gun shots. Newman’s room had been searched and the intruders repelled viciously by the pair of defenders. However the remaining 8 or so decided to grenade the room. An urgent radio message from Ray signified this. Kayato knew she had to do something. Searching her room hurriedly she found a coil of rope. She told her idea to Achunko who agreed. Then she radioed Newman, explaining it. Leaning out of the window she threw one end of the rope to Ray, who caught it and tied it taught. Suddenly an explosion rocked the house. Ray had started climbing the tight rope along to Kayato but he had thought of a better idea. He dropped onto the lower window sill and onto the ground. Then, cradling his gun he ran inside. Meanwhile, Newman’s door had blasted open. Kayato knew it was too late for him. Fierce gunning could be heard and then silence. Thud. Kayato looked out of the window and saw Newman on the grass dead with a pool of blood draining into the ground. Then suddenly everything happened at once. A police van drew in through the drive and twenty or so officers ran into the house guns at the ready. Achunko grabbed Kayato and they rushed out of the door. Across the landing they could see the Nazis. Down the stairs were the police. Then everyone had had enough of creeping around and every gun started firing. Achunko took a shot to the shoulder. Kayato killed at least three Nazis while the police hid behind cover, cowardly blasting the staircase apart. The air filled with smoke. Achunko and Kayato slid down a drain pipe into the garden where they found a startled Ray.

“What on Earth happened in. . .?”Bang. A shot form the window. It hit Ray in the arm, who screamed in pain. There, in the window was a police officer, shouting hands up. They all dropped their guns.

“Stay there and lie down!” they lay down as the officer trained his gun on them. Then something odd happened. There was a strange whistling noise and then the police officer fell backwards into the room.

“Darts never fail!”said Ray, revealing an anaesthetic dart shooter on his arm. Gunshots were still being heard from the house.

“To the car, quick!”said Achunko. As the car drove away from the gun fight which was still raging they noticed headlights in the distance. Parking the car in the shadows they hid behind a bush and watched the vehicle get closer and closer. It was obviously in some state of emergency. Two armoured jeeps with mounted machine-guns whizzed past. They did not notice the poorly concealed car lurking in the shadows. In an hour or so they were back in the shabby house stuffing themselves with food hungrily.

“We’ve gotta be back in the Pacific by tomorrow. A plane will come and pick us up to take us back to HQ. Gosh I need a break. Turn the radio on Kayato!”said Achunko, “it was certainly a pity to lose Bob and Guy!” The radio crackled into life.

“. . .speed limits are down to 50km on highway 30. Last night, police raided a house a mile away from Harrisburg after reports of gunshots from local residents. A fierce gun battle ensued. Radio Harrisburg are sorry to have to report that 5 police officers died and 3 are critically injured with 7 sporting minor injuries. The police were attacked by Nazis who are suspected to be part of a wider movement who. . .”Ray turned the radio off and said,

“Huh, who cares, did you know they identified Jarken Flitch correctly. The FBI are chuffed I expect. Hey, ‘Chunk old boy, d’ya reckon we’ll ever get the world back from Al Qaeda and the Nazis. You can’t tell whose side anyone’s on. There’s the Flitch Nazis, the Berlin Nazis and blimming Al-Qaeda. Anyway, all Colon-X operatives are being recalled to base for a briefing on what they call the final mission. They think we can finish the Nazis off with one swipe. I think it’ll be the Heinrich bloke who gets the chop first!”

“What d’ya mean?”said Achunko lazily.

“Isn’t it obvious? We’re gonna assassinate Braun first, then Flitch and finally Kunan Bin Izra.”said Ray excitedly.

“You really think that would be possible?”started Kayato. “Listen, everywhere apart from America is in Nazi or Al-Qaeda’s hands bar the few European countries that are still resisting. Africa is run by Bin Izra as is the Middle East. Europe is a gonna. Australia too. I can’t see what anyone can do about it. Everyone’s got hard feeling for the Aussies anyway, ‘cos they invaded Britain. The only way I can see of us getting the world back to normal is by turning the Nazis against Al Qaeda and eventually they’ll kill each other off.”

“Everyone, you forget that Hans Flitch is hiding somewhere cooking his evil plans up and that there is a high chance that there is an American Reich which was being led by Jarken Flitch. No where is safe. They could nuke us. Even use those plasma bombs again. But I don’t think they want to. They want complete control over the world. A world that has people.”

“True!”admitted Ray. “Everything hangs in the balance. We have to do this final mission in good time or America will fall. They can’t hold out for ever. The final assault on the US hasn’t started yet. They have prepared every kind of defence they can think of. But in time, America will fall, unless we hit ’em hard soon”!

“Well said!”agreed Achunko.

“Mmm. . .”mumbled Kayato thoughtfully.

– – –

Hans Flitch was in North America. In the Chichuahuan Desert to be precise. He was at the rocket site. He had earlier that week received intelligence telling him that the Von Austel was planning to attack and destroy Magadan with its long range plasma cannons. With the change of sides of the Von Austel came the Berlin cell’s knowing of the location of his secret base. It was only a matter of time before they came and dealt with him. He had no defence suitable to destroy the Von Austel and so he had decided to take flight rather than fight in a futile way. The planning of Operation Crater had been difficult. How were you meant to build the world’s biggest space shuttle without being desert. For this reason he had created an underground base in the middle of a huge desert. He had created the shuttle to supply for 3000 men for 10 years. Hopefully by then he would be sufficiently powerful enough to return to the Earth and conquer it again. Yes, it may be a far-fetched way to go into hiding but it was fool proof. No one would try and get him off the moon because of the defences he would build. To have enough food in one place for 3000 men for 10 years is quite a remarkable achievement but to build a big enough space shuttle was extraordinary. In 5 minutes, half the Chichuahuan Desert would open up and a shuttle the size of Chicago would fly into the air and out into space.

5 minutes later the space shuttle lifted off for the moon. Radios went crazy reporting it. Special newspapers were published. Hans Flitch had left the Earth.

End of Part 2

Part 3 is being written at the moment 🙂