the Valhalla Exchange (v5) Read Online Free PDF

Fegelein's compliments. We're here to escort you to the Fuhrer's headquarters.'
    'We'll be with you in a minute.' The sergeant doubled away and Ritter turned to Rosch. 'A strange game we play.'
    'Here at the end of things, you mean?' Rosch smiled. 'At least I'm getting out. My orders are to turn round as soon as possible and take fifty wounded with me from the Charite Hospital, but you, my friend. You, I fear, will find it rather more difficult to leave Berlin.'
    'My grandmother was a good Catholic. She taught me to believe in miracles.' Ritter held out his hand. 'Good luck.'
    'And to you.' Rosch ducked instinctively as another of the heavy 17.5 shells screamed overhead. 'You'll need it.'
    The field car turned out of the Wilhelmplatz and into Vosstrasse and the bulk of the Reich Chancellery rose before them. It was a sorry sight, battered and defaced by the bombardment, and every so often another shell screamed in to further the work of destruction. The streets were deserted, piled high with rubble so that the driver had to pick his way with care.
    'Good God,' Hoffer said. 'No one could function in such a shambles. It's impossible.'
    'Underneath,' the police sergeant told him. 'Thirty metres of concrete between those Russian shells and the Fuhrer's bunker. Nothing can reach him down there.'
    'Nothing?' Ritter thought. 'Can it be truly possible this clown realizes what he is saying or is he as touched by madness as his masters?'
    The car ramp was wrecked, but there was still room to take the field car inside. As they stopped, an SS sentry moved out of the gloom. The sergeant waved him away and turned to Ritter. 'If you will follow me, please. First, we must report to Major-General Mohnke.'
    Ritter removed his leather military greatcoat and handed it to Hoffer. Underneath, the black Panzer uniform was immaculate, the decorations gleamed. He adjusted his gloves. The sergeant was considerably impressed and drew himself stiffly to attention as if aware that this was a game they shared and eager to play his part.
    'If the Sturmbannfuhrer is ready?'
    Ritter nodded, the sergeant moved off briskly and they followed him down through a dark passage with concrete walls that sweated moisture in the dim light. Soldiers crouched in every available inch of space, many of them sleeping, mainly SS from the looks of things. Some glanced up with weary, lacklustre eyes that showed no surprise, even at Ritter's bandbox appearance.
    When they talked, their voices were low and subdued and the main sound seemed to be the monotonous hum of the dynamos and the whirring of the electric fans in the ventilation system. Occasionally, there was the faintest of tremors as the earth shook high above them and the air was musty and unpleasant, tainted with sulphur.
    Major-General Mohnke's office was as uninviting as everything else Ritter had seen on his way down through the labyrinth of passageways. Small and spartan with the usual concrete walls, too small even for the desk and chair and the half a dozen officers it contained when they arrived. Mohnke was an SS Brigadefuhrer who was now commander of the Adolf Hitler Volunteer Corps, a force of 2,000 supposedly hand-picked men who were to form the final ring of defence around the Chancellery.
    He paused in full flight as the immaculate Ritter entered the room. Everyone turned, the sergeant saluted and placed Ritter's orders on the desk. Mohnke looked at them briefly, his eyes lit up and he leaned across the table, hand outstretched.
    'My dear Ritter, what a pleasure to meet you.' He reached for the telephone and said to the others, 'Sturmbannfuhrer Ritter, gentlemen, hero of that incredible exploit near Innsbruck that I was telling you about.'
    Most of them made appropriate noises, one or two shook hands, others reached out to touch him as if for good luck. It was a slightly unnerving experience and he was glad when Mohnke replaced the receiver and said, 'General Fegelein tells me the Fuhrer wishes to see you