Alpha Threat Page 5

  Germany’s cities and towns were ravaged. Only very small portions of the countryside did not reflect the horrible effects of war. Many of the towns and cities they passed were bombed into rock and dust, utterly destroyed. Time and time again they saw hordes of German civilians fleeing the populated areas as the enemy drove closer.

  The people carried everything they considered precious, but only what they could bear. Women, children and old men trudged along roads and track sidings. As they got closer to Rostock, the results of the heavy allied bombings from 1942 and 1945 were everywhere. The central city itself was mainly rubble and looked like a ghost town.

  The Allies targeted the Heinkel Works facilities at Rostock-Marienehe specifically. They were important German aircraft production facilities and a prime bombing target. The remaining residents wandered in the rubble-filled streets. They searched for loved ones, food and shelter. The residents that could leave were gone. This was what Hitler’s dream had brought upon the people of Germany.

  Even though the weather was murky and cold, at least the air had a fresh smell. The low, gray clouds made the town seem dreary. War does strange things to people and places. Germany was a tired, beaten country. After the years of war since 1938, the bleak weather fit the mood perfectly. Rauch watched a light snow continue to fall as the train slowed and made its way through the outskirts of town and toward the waterfront. This was the first time Rauch had seen a true port city. Sure Saarbrucken, near his home, was a “port” city. But the port was on the Saar River, not the ocean.

  Even though he tried not to show it, he was very interested in all of what he was seeing. His attention was focused on what was outside of the train’s window. The train slowed down to nearly a crawl as it neared the waterfront. Even with the dank weather the town looked strangely peaceful. Even though it had been bombed extensively, Rauch could see some well-kept buildings with very little damage. This used to be a nice place to live, he thought.

  The train jolted heavily as it stopped. Rauch ceased his focus on the town itself and noticed a whirlwind of activity around the station and stopped train.

  Several officers were barking out orders and soldiers were scurrying around in all directions. Rauch heard heavy footsteps coming down the corridor of the train. Seconds later the door to the train compartment slid open and an SS captain from the station stepped into the door opening. He stood like a statue. Again he was perfectly dressed, his uniform crisp and clean. His steely eyes scanned the occupants of the compartment. Rauch and Schneider sat there not moving and stared back at the captain.

  “We have arrived at our destination. Talk to no one and follow me,” he stated coldly and succinctly. Rauch decided it was in his best interest to not make a scene with the way the SS captain had addressed a major. He was still very unsure of what was happening and who was in charge. One thing Rauch did know, however; he was not in charge. Rauch and Schneider got up, stretched for a second and followed the captain down the narrow passage to the door.

  “Maybe we can get some food while they are unloading the cargo,” asked Schneider.

  Just as Rauch was about to answer, they stepped off of the train into bedlam. Like Ohrdruf, the SS guards again surrounded the train and more trucks pulled up to the train cars.

  “Order our men to stay with the cargo,” Rauch told Schneider. “I will check in.”

  Schneider took three steps back toward the door of the railcar two cars in front of their passenger car. The SS guards blocked Schneider while other SS troops opened the railcar doors. Schneider’s men peered from the dark car.

  “Get down now!” ordered an SS leutnant. As the men jumped off of the train the leutnant turned to Schneider. “This shipment is now under my command. Take this to the stationmaster’s office. You are relieved,” barked the officer.

  Schneider took the paper from the officer and turned to see Rauch still standing where he was, staring wide-eyed at the situation. Rauch had had enough of this. He broke into a quick stride toward Schneider and the SS leutnant. Schneider’s eyes widened. He knew what was coming.

  “Leutnant, come here!” ordered Rauch. The leutnant turned immediately recognizing an SS major. But to Rauch’s amazement, the leutnant turned back to his work. Rauch was incensed. But before he could take another step, two Gestapo agents appeared out of nowhere at Rauch and Schneider’s sides. Backing them were two more SS troopers armed with machine pistols aimed at Rauch and Schneider. One of the Gestapo agents stepped directly in front of Rauch and placed his face no more than five inches from Rauch’s nose.

  “You will step away or I will have you shot,” said the dark wiry man in the black leather long coat curtly. Without another word the two troopers placed the barrels of the MP40 submachine guns into the sides of both Rauch and Schneider. Everyone froze. After several tense but quiet seconds, the Gestapo agent spoke again.

  “Report your arrival to the stationmaster now,” he said blandly.

  Both Rauch and Schneider turned away and joined the SS captain beside the passenger car. The captain saw the entire event. The group turned and walked toward the station.

  Rauch and Schneider followed the SS captain away from the train. Rauch was mad as hell but also was smart enough to keep his mouth shut. Schneider had nearly soiled his trousers.

  “My God, sir, what is going on here?” Schneider asked Rauch, not expecting an answer. Rauch gave him none. They walked briskly behind the SS captain to the stationmaster’s office.

  Schneider could smell food cooking somewhere close. A quick glance beyond the tracks yielded a sight he had yearned for. A field kitchen had been set up and was serving several groups of troops.

  “Hurry, please,” shouted the SS captain over the din. Schneider decided he would remember the kitchen location and visit it as soon as they had time.

  They walked from the cold into a warm, busy office full of officers. Rauch looked around the room and it became clear to him that his train was not the only one bringing in cargo. Over against the far wall stood two men, unmistakably Gestapo. One was paying very close attention to the reports of the cargo delivered, looking over the shoulder of an SS colonel and writing notes to himself. It seemed that he was keeping a record for the Gestapo as well. The other man, Eric Von Leiper, another Gestapo agent, watched everything else happening in the room. Like a cobra ready to strike, Leiper stood coiled, ready to step into any situation that he thought warranted more information. Rauch decided he had had enough of the Gestapo.

  “You are from Ohrdruf?” shouted another SS colonel, waving his hand at Rauch to come over to his desk. “Bring me your orders and papers.” Rauch and Schneider both stepped over to the desk with Rauch placing the tally ticket they had received from the SS leutnant at the train with their orders on the desk in front of the colonel. The SS colonel looked at both Rauch and Schneider as if they were a nuisance. He snatched the orders up and urgently began to read them. Rauch glanced over to the Gestapo man in the black hat against the wall and got an absolute cold, searing stare. Rauch immediately looked back to the job at hand.

  “Have you checked in your cargo yet?” asked the SS officer.

  “Sir, our cargo is just being unloaded now. Here is the ticket,” answered Schneider, pointing to the ticket on the colonel’s desk, clearly trying to take the lead in the conversation from Rauch. Rauch started to get mad, but his latest experience stepped in. He decided to let Schneider take the lead. Let him be the big shot. Rauch looked away as if he was bored. He was still amazed at all of the activity swirling around this relatively small port. Even with the sun rising he could only see one small cargo ship just past the train.

  “Is there a problem here?” hissed Leiper, who had instantly appeared at Rauch’s side. “Your papers, Major,” he demanded.

  Rauch was taken aback. He not only was surprised but completely flustered that he was being checked. But he did have the good sense not to question this man in any way, especially after what happened outside. He reached into his
tunic and handed his identity papers to the man. Leiper quickly scanned the papers and jotted down Rauch’s name and information and stared intently into Rauch’s eyes.

  “Bam… Bam,” the noise of the SS colonel’s stamping of the orders broke the stare stalemate and brought Rauch’s attention back to the moment.

  “Take this back to the officer in charge of unloading your railcars. Then personally accompany the cargo to the dock master,” ordered the SS colonel. “Once the dock master accepts your cargo, you are relieved of the duty and will report back here to me.”

  “Thank you, sir,” replied Schneider.

  Great, thought Rauch; back to that bastard out there again. With that they both turned and walked out onto the platform just as their railcars were starting to be unloaded. Leiper followed them outside onto the platform and watched as they walked to their railcars. Rauch did not want to show it but he was very uneasy. He would be very relieved to be done with all of this. He had seen the Gestapo operate. He had seen seemingly innocent men taken away, never to be seen again. With his two run-ins with the Gestapo, he felt he was at his limit. He didn’t think he would survive another encounter. Rauch took a deep breath and slowly let it out. Calm down, he told himself, or you will get yourself shot.

  Rauch and Schneider walked over to the first car and watched as the crates, all one hundred and eight were off-loaded and placed on several iron-wheeled carts for the hundred yard trip over to the docks. The men strained with each crate. Again Rauch noted that these mysterious crates had to be very heavy. What was in those crates?

  Once the crates were loaded onto the carts the cargo was covered with a heavy tarp and manhandled down past the station and around the corner to the docks. SS guards were everywhere. As they rounded the station, Rauch saw the submarines for the first time. There were at least twelve tied up side by side and end to end down the docks nearest to the train station. Steady streams of men were loading boxes similar to the ones they had ferried here onto the U-boats. Dwarfed by the cargo ship, neither Rauch nor Schneider had seen the U-boats when they got off of the train. U-boats, thought Rauch. This was the first time he had ever seen one.

  Suddenly horror overcame him. What if he was expected to accompany the crates onto the U-boats? Holy shit, not that! He wanted nothing to do with going onto a submarine. Surely that was not their plan. He tried to put it out of his mind and focused on getting his cargo to the destination.

  The cart caravan slowed as it crossed a short section of a cobblestone street. The iron wheels of the carts with the heavy loads were giving the soldiers fits crossing the street. It was then that one of the heavy crates shifted. One soldier tried to catch it but the momentum was too much. It fell off of the cart from under the tarp, crashing down on top of the soldier. He screamed with pain as the crate snapped his leg immediately, bending it in a most unnatural position. Even with crushing the man’s leg, the crate hit the cobblestones and smashed a corner of the crate. Within seconds, the SS guards swarmed the crate, totally disregarding the man writhing in pain. As some of the other men tried to help the injured man, the SS shoved them away as other guards jumped into the fray with submachine guns aimed at the men. Additional SS troops jumped in to cover the smashed crate with another tarp.

  Rauch was amazed at the speed of the SS. It seemed that they were expecting something like this to happen. They were instantly all around the crate like a swarm of bees. Then he saw why. It all became very clear to him. Everything fell into place, the trucks, the secrecy, the bunker, the SS, the heavy crates; it all made sense. For clearly visible between the legs of the SS guards in a crease between two tarps were several metal bars. As he stood there, even more SS appeared from nowhere and physically pushed everyone back as other guards raced in with more tarps and tools to cover the spilled cargo and repair the crates.

  Gold! The cargo was gold. Rauch stepped back away from the carts and stood staring at the submarines. Ahhh…thought Rauch. The gold was going on the submarines and being taken to somewhere far from here. But taken where?

  “Sir, did you…”

  “Yes, Schneider,” said Rauch as he placed his hand on Schneider’s arm to calm him. “I see it; yet I don’t see it. It’s not our affair, Leutnant. We have a job to do. We must get that cargo delivered to the dock and get the hell out of here.”

  “Yes, sir,” acknowledged Schneider as they both watched the SS move everyone away and seal off the area before they repacked and repaired the crate to place it back on the cart.

  Once all of the carts reached the docks, Schneider marched up to the SS officer manning the dock beside the submarines.

  “I am Oberleutnant Schneider reporting for Major Rauch. We have one hundred eight crates to deliver.”

  “Very well, Schneider. Are all crates accounted for?” he asked pointedly.

  “Yes, sir, all accounted for, sir!” belted Schneider. “But I would prefer that you verify our count.”

  The SS officer snapped his head around looking Schneider square in the eyes.

  “Is there a reason you cannot vouch for your cargo, Oberleutnant?” quizzed the SS officer.

  “No, sir, I just thought…”

  “Oberleutnant, we will confirm all shipments, not just yours,” the SS officer said condescendingly. “All shipments will be verified and accounted for before being loaded. You are personally responsible for any losses. Personally responsible, is that clear?” hissed the SS officer staring directly into Schneider’s eyes. “If any cargo is missing, you will be shot!”

  “Yes, sir,” answered Schneider, clearly surprised, deciding less said, the better. He was clearly rocked by the intenseness of the SS officer’s response and stare.

  As each crate came off of the carts and was stacked neatly on the dock, Schneider continued his count, stopping only when his count reached one hundred eight and there were no more. Schneider sighed with relief. Thank God there was nothing missing! The SS officer finished his count, verified his numbers and recorded the numbers on his forms. He rechecked his figures and handed his clipboard with the forms to Schneider.

  “All is correct, Oberleutnant,” snapped the SS officer. “Did you think you had lost something?” he said cracking a snide smile. “Sign here, please.” He handed Schneider a pen.

  “No, sir,” answered Schneider with a new sense of courage, convinced that everything was in order.

  Schneider looked over the forms, noted there was no mention of the cargo within the crates and signed the forms. As he handed the clipboard and pen back, the officer barked out an order to load the crates into the second submarine. Schneider watched as the submarine commander checked the officer’s records against his. With all seeming correct, the sub commander turned to his second in command and ordered the crates placed on board.

  “Are we finished here?” asked Rauch, standing behind Schneider.

  “Yes,” said Schneider as he watched the first crate disappear below the deck, “we are finished.” He was clearly relieved.

  At that moment the SS officer marched over to the two officers watching the loading. The Gestapo agent appeared again just a few feet away.

  “You two,” barked the SS officer as he pointed to Rauch and Schneider. “Gather your troops in this truck and report to this barracks for further orders.” He handed Schneider a small piece of official looking paper with a map and directions to a location several miles inland.

  “Yes, sir,” saluted Schneider as he took the paper and turned to Rauch.

  “We were expected to check back in at the station,” stated Rauch, reaching for the paper.

  “There is no need for that,” barked Leiper, stepping forward. “Do you have a problem with your orders, Major?”

  “No, sir, but the SS colonel in charge expects us to report back to him,” explained Schneider, trying to be helpful.

  “I am in charge here. Make no mistake about that! Carry out your orders, Oberleutnant,” stated Leiper matter-of-factly in a chilling voice, all the time sta
ring directly at Rauch. His eyes were daring Rauch to speak.

  Schneider snapped to attention and saluted the agent. Rauch stood there still staring at the agent, all the while biting his tongue.

  “Yes, sir!”

  Leiper nodded, slowly turned and began to walk away, pretending to forget about them, all the while paying particular attention to their next steps.

  “I wonder what is next,” Schneider said, turning to Rauch.

  “I have no idea, but I think a nice hot meal and a bed would be in order,” answered Rauch. “Let’s get the troops together and get out of here.” He was in no mood to discuss everything that had occurred. Rauch was seething but dared not to show it. Leiper was still watching.

  Rauch and Schneider walked over to the truck. As he reached for the door handle, Rauch noticed another SS officer that looked very familiar.

  “Max?” Rauch shouted. The SS officer turned with a scowl on his face until he recognized Rauch.

  “Reinhardt, how are you?” he asked, switching his clipboard to his left hand before extending his right for a handshake. “What are you doing here? I thought you were back in Berlin sucking up to the higher-ups!”

  Rauch answered smiling. “Not me. We had special orders to transport some cargo up here,” Rauch said as he waved his gloves in his hand back toward the docks, “but it looks like this is some kind of Gestapo operation.”

  Rauch’s friend’s face went dour and his eyes raced around making certain no one was close.

  Maximillian Docher was a friend of Rauch’s. They had served together about six months ago back at SS headquarters in Erfurt. While they had not been close friends, they had shared a small house with two other officers. They knew each other very well after living together for several months. Both were good officers that had come up through the ranks. Both were very well respected by their superiors.

  Max’s large smile had faded fast. Even Rauch could see that something was very wrong.

  “What do you know about all of this?” asked Rauch. “All we have seen is truck after truck unloading cargo into these submarines. All hush, hush. This must be damned important. Would you like a cigarette?”