The 34th Degree

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Von Berg was in his study, gathering his papers, when the first payload hit the hillside, rocking the palace and sending the portrait of King Ludwig II crashing to the floor. Then Franz burst in and cried, “The Allies, sir! They’re attacking!”

Von Berg ran to the window in alarm. The gigantic belly of a B-24 bomber streaked by as it came up the hillside, barely clearing the palace. A second explosion followed, shattering the window and sending von Berg diving for cover.

“Herr Oberstgruppenfuhrer!” Franz ran over to help von Berg up from the floor. “Are you all right?”

Von Berg brushed the splinters of glass from his uniform and noticed blood on his silk handkerchief. “Just a few scratches, Franz.”

“But how did they find us?”

“Andros, of course.”

“What do we do now?”

Von Berg turned to the blown-out window. The curtains were twisting in the breeze coming through the gaping hole. He could hear the island’s air raid sirens blaring and the rumble of his antiaircraft batteries shooting fire into the skies outside.

“We’re obviously not flying out of here,” von Berg said. “Our only way out is aboard the Nausicaa. Let’s get down to the loading bay before we find ourselves surrounded by enemy paratroopers.”

They opened the bookcase and hurried into the secret elevator and began their harrowing descent into the quaking mountain. At the bottom of the shaft, the doors parted to reveal the Nausicaa in her cave, the throbbing diesel engines screaming to leave.

The submarine’s crew was lined up on deck, loading the Flammenschwert device with the help of a hydraulic hoist. Myers was on the bridge, anxious to leave as he watched the atomic bomb sink below deck through the forward torpedo-loading hatch. Then he saw von Berg. “General.”

“How are we doing, Kapitanleutnant?” Von Berg climbed up the conning tower and stood next to him.

“Once the bomb is chained and secured, we can move out,” Myers replied. “About two more minutes.”

Von Berg turned to Franz. “I’m going below to check on Aphrodite. You stay here. I want you to man the guns, because once we emerge from the tunnel, we’re easy prey for aircraft until we dive. And stop anybody who wants to ride with us out of here. We can’t afford the excess weight.”

Franz nodded quickly and stepped behind the 37mm gun on the after-extension of the small deck behind the conning tower. Then he trained it on the loading dock as von Berg climbed down the Nausicaa ’s hatch.