The Valhalla Exchange - Jack Higgins [38]
Strasser stopped firing and jumped down. 'It's time I was away. I'll take Schultz's Mercedes.'
'And me?'
'I suggest you wait here till eleven o'clock. Start back to the bunker then. You should arrive around midnight, allowing for the state of the streets.'
'Dangerous times,' Bormann said. 'An artillery shell, a piece of shrapnel, a stray bullet, not to mention the possibility of running into a Russian patrol.'
'Like the Fuhrer, I walk with the certainty of a sleepwalker,' Strasser said. 'I wear invisible armour, believing completely that nothing will happen to me - to either of us. A great deal depends on us, my friend. The future of many people.'
'I know.'
Strasser smiled. 'I must go now.'
He crossed to the open Mercedes tourer and climbed behind the wheel. As he started the engine, Bormann picked up a Schmeisser and hurried across to him. 'Take this.'
'No thanks, I won't need it,' Strasser said, and he drove away up into the darkness of the ramp.
Ritter was squatting on the ground, his back against the wall, Schmeisser across his knees. His eyes were closed, but he wasn't really asleep and heard the sound of the approaching vehicle as soon as Hoffer, who was on guard.
'Major!' Hoffer called.
'I know,' Ritter said.
He stood beside the sergeant-major listening, and Berger joined them. 'It isn't a tank anyway.'
'No, some sort of car,' Ritter said.
It braked to a halt outside, and steps approached. The three men waited quietly in the darkness, there was a pause, a slight, eerie creaking and then the judas gate opened. Ritter and Berger flashed their torches at the same moment and picked Strasser out of the darkness.
'Herr Strasser,' Berger said cheerfully. 'We were just getting ready to go into blazing action. Why can't you whistle a few bars of "Deutschland Uber Alies" or something?'
'If you could get the doors open I have a Mercedes outside that would probably be better under cover. We don't want to attract any unwelcome attention.'
Hoffer said, 'My God, it's the -'
Strasser turned towards them. He looked directly at Ritter and said calmly, 'Strasser - the name is Heinrich Strasser. I'm here to act on behalf of the Head of the Party Chancellory in the matter you already know of. You were expecting me, Major?'
'Oh, yes,' Ritter said. 'You were expected.' He turned to Hoffer as Berger opened the garage doors. 'Bring in Herr Strasser's car for him, Erich.'
Strasser put an arm around Berger's shoulders. 'Have we got any chance of getting away with this thing?'
'I don't see why not,' Berger told him. 'To try such a thing at all at this stage is something they won't even be considering. At least, that's what I'm counting on.'
They moved towards the Storch, talking in low tones. Hoffer drove the Mercedes into the garage and Ritter closed the doors again.
The sergeant-major whispered, 'But that man isn't Herr Strasser. It's the Reichsleiter himself. What's going on here?'
'I know, Erich, and Berger said they hadn't met, when it's obvious they know each other very well indeed.'
'So Berger knows who he really is?'
'And who would that be, Erich?' Ritter put a cigarette in his mouth. 'Martin Bormann or Heinrich Strasser - what's in a name, and if he prefers one to the other, who are we to argue?'
'Major Ritter,' Strasser called. 'One moment, if you don't mind.' They crossed to the plane and Strasser looked at his watch. 'Nine o'clock now. Captain Berger thinks we should leave around midnight.'
'So I understand,' Ritter said. 'What about take-off? I mean, it will be pitch dark, unless they send bombers over and start a few more fires, that is.'
'When we go, we go very fast,' Berger said. 'I've got a case of parachute flares in the Storch. I'll start the engine, and the moment I'm ready to go, I'd like you to fire the first one. After the first hundred yards, another. We might even need a third, I'm not sure. You'll be able to fire the pistol quite easily through the side-window.'
'During the actual take-off period then we will be considerably exposed,' Strasser