RED HAZE: A Werewolf Story for the 21st Century

by Ian Redman

  Wilhelm Oratz interrupted, his voice resonating in vile hatred, “peace on behalf of religion my Fuhrer, what a pathetic joke.”

  There was muttering from around the table, everyone agreeing with Oratz’s thoughts.

  “My dear Wilhelm, as you are well aware, only the weak need religion.” All felt the menace in their Fuhrer’s voice as a sense of foreboding invaded the room. The Fuhrer’s dreams were now becoming a reality, the war to rid Europe of the Untermenschen was now well under way, but there was still so much to do. “Reports please everyone! Claude, your situation analysis will be appreciated, with a full update on tactical planning.” Von Kurst leaned back in his ornately carved wooden chair, his arms folded, his face, deadly serious.

  “Of course my Fuhrer.” Claude Bescann gazed around at his fellow members of the New Totenkopf and continued. “My friends, as you are aware, the early detonations on behalf of the European Muslim Freedom Fighters opened the world’s eyes to a new terrorist threat across Europe and now, with the success of our latest detonations, panic has started to manifest itself.” Bescann smiled and continued, “…but not only panic, for as we predicted, retribution has begun.” Bescann swivelled his own laptop to a superior viewing position for all concerned and pressed the return button. Several muted news reports were displayed to all as he continued. “What you are now viewing are downloaded scenes from various news companies’ websites. The scenes show aftermaths of reprisal attacks on Muslim and immigrant areas. These attacks have generally been attributed to what the press call, ‘criminal elements’, but let me assure you, many people are involved in these ‘revenge’ attacks, including members of the general public. Paris, Munich, Calais, London, Manchester, Rotterdam, Berlin, Antwerp and many other cities and towns across mainland Europe are seeing hostilities and hatred grow between local peoples and the Untermenschen. But this of course is not the war we fully require, not by a long way. My Fuhrer, as of now, our grenadiers are ready to commence Phase Four of Project Amen.”

  The Fuhrer spoke, “what of the proposed Marches Against Immigrants Claude, I take it the grenadiers will make the most of these…prime targets?”

  Smiles resonated from the people around the table as Bescann closed his laptop, “of course my Fuhrer. The London March scheduled for Sunday and ending in Hyde Park, is already being reconnoitred. I can assure you all, suitable locations for our devices will be found and placed,” he looked around the room, “and maximum carnage…delivered.”

  “Good! So what of the other proposed areas for these marches, namely Paris, Rotterdam and Munich?”

  “Already estimates are between twenty to forty thousand joining the demonstrations in each city.”

  “And the proposed dates for these marches?”

  “All are coinciding with the march in London, hence, Sunday.”

  “Excellent, and when can we expect the next fifty detonations to take place?”

  “My Fuhrer, the next fifty detonations will take place at staggered intervals after the initial explosions during the marches. Again, these will be mostly, how can I say, ‘soft’ targets such as shops, cafes, petrol stations etc. The psychological impact will be enormous and devastating.” Von Kurst did not reply. Bescann continued, “in conclusion my Fuhrer, I can report all grenadiers are positioned for swift and decisive action for Phase Four. They will also infiltrate marches, meetings and the like to continue sowing the seeds of hate. Please be assured my Fuhrer, our grenadier’s loyalty and honour is steadfast to our cause.”

  Von Kurst was pleased, his hardened eyes crossing quickly to Jochen Kreutz. “Jochen, I presume all our Scharfuhrers are ready to assist the grenadiers?”

  Kreutz nodded his head in anticipation of the question. “Of course my Fuhrer. We have sixty Scharfuhrers in the field, assisting the rest of the grenadiers. All are well trained in the construction of devices and covert operations. As they have already proven, our Scharfuhrers will follow further orders without hesitation.”

  “Wonderful Jochen, wonderful.” The smile on their Fuhrer’s face told all in the room everything was running according to plan. He turned to Wilhelm Oratz. “Now, Wilhelm, indulge us with your update on your proposed visit to St Petersburg!”

  “This is one of the latest photographs of Wilhelm Oratz,” said Jean-Paul, “the Sales Director and board member of Von Kurst Electronics.”

  “Wow, who’s the chick?” Nick Lucas, with a broad smile on his face, examined the large, clear image on the main Communications Room screen. So too, did his colleagues.

  Jean-Paul continued, “the two people with him are Otto Von Kurst, the Chairman and Managing Director of VKE and Doctor Lana Franke. She is supposedly Otto Von Kurst’s mistress and is also a board member of VKE.”

  “Wow,” exclaimed Nick, “I don’t blame him, she is one beautiful lady.”

  Ash Piper looked appreciatingly at the woman in the photograph. The fact she positively radiated sensuality was not lost on him either.

  “The photograph was taken at the Berlin Philharmonic Hall, just over two months ago. This was a charity event to raise money for a new ‘Special Needs’ School in Berlin. Apparently Von Kurst gives a great deal to charities when he can.”

  “What, like terrorist charities?” said Piper, sarcastically.

  “Jean-Paul,” Colonel Mann’s tone was blunt, “enhance the photograph around the collar line of Wilhelm Oratz.”

  “Certainly sir.” The photographic image grew in size.

  “There it is,” said Piper, “you can just make out the purple colouring, slightly above his collar line.”

  For Commander Maurice Hertschell, the enlarged image was enough. “Nick, how are you doing with the warehouse information?”

  “I’m still on it sir, I will let you know as soon as I’ve hacked in and pulled the info.”

  “Good, I will be in my office. Colonel, Sergeant, Doctor, if you please.”

  Charles Mann briskly followed CEATA’s Commander in Chief as Jeanette Descard walked over to Piper. She leaned close and whispered in his ear. “I read your thoughts just then Sergeant, the look on your face gave them away.”

  Piper pulled back and smiled. “Jealousy will get you everywhere Doctor Descard, that is, if you want it to?”

  Wilhelm Oratz was in his element. He was proud of his planning. The original meeting with the Fuhrer’s old friend, Vitali Menkov had gone well, very well indeed. From that meeting, many months ago, the New Totenkopf’s links with the Russian Mafia had been confirmed and secured.

  “As you are all aware,” Oratz began, “with the confirmation date set for The Festival of Peace, my return visit to St Petersburg is now of steadfast importance. Therefore I fly out next Monday, onboard the VKE Learjet, staying for three nights at the Grand Hotel Europe, to meet once again with Vitali Menkov. The cover for my visit is the initial planning for our new microchip technology centre in St Petersburg itself. The Russian press have been notified, along with many press agencies across Europe.” There was a distinct look of unparalleled interest from the listeners around the table as Wilhelm Oratz’s plans unfolded. “The more Press coverage generated around myself and Vitali during the visit, the better, especially in the latter stages, for this will help to cover my flight back to Dusseldorf with the minimum of fuss at customs. The reason for this is quite simple,” Oratz ceased talking. He waited, just for a few seconds then continued, “at first sight, the official, business like briefcase I will be bringing back from St Petersburg will look inconspicuous enough, however, unbeknown to Russian and German customs and their beloved x-ray security machines, below the briefcase’s main compartment will be a small, but highly effective nuclear device, waiting to be primed for detonation.” A stunned silence fell across the room, for no one except Otto Von Kurst knew of this part of Project Amen. “The briefcase itself, which is an exact copy of my own, will be stored in the VKE Learjet’s main luggage compartment, giving easier access through security. Vitali assures me the inner layer of the case w
here the device will be stored, is impervious to any current airport security scanning equipment. Apparently, the Russian SVR have been using this type of deception for some time now.” Again Oratz paused, his self-righteous look of achievement returning. “From then on, once back in Germany, the case stays by my side and will travel with me on proposed sales visits to our various factories.” Oratz looked around at the stunned faces sitting at the marble table. “The yield of the nuclear briefcase bomb should be approximately twenty kilotons…” a look of dark retribution lay fixedly on Oratz’s face, “…this will easily be enough for our purpose.”

  Jurgen Falck interrupted, his tone belying a hint of mirth, “Wilhelm, this device and obviously the date for the festival, I take it these coincide with a visit to VKE’s Rome factory?”

  Otto Von Kurst burst into laughter, “very observant Jurgen, very observant!”

  “Indeed so my friend. To coincide with this pathetic, Festival…” Oratz sarcastically spat the word out, “…I will be staying at the Grand Hotel Parco dei Principi, which is literally a stone’s throw away from the Vatican. On the Friday before the festival begins I will be visiting our Rome factory and offices for a sales meeting with Mister Bertulusi and his senior staff, as cover of course.”

  “Brilliant,” whispered Kempler.

  “Nothing short of genius,” muttered Jochen Kreutz.

  “Of course I will be making sales visits to our Munich and Zurich factories before flying to Rome. As I have already stated, the case will be with me at all times until the weekend of the festival, where it will then be placed in the hotel’s safety deposit area, until my…proposed return for another sales meeting, two weeks later! Of course, in reality, I have no intention of returning…to an irradiated wasteland!”

  There was laughter around the room, Von Kurst enjoying everyone’s reactions to the plan being revealed by his close friend. “Please, continue Wilhelm,” he said, his face aglow with wicked mirth.

  “The device will be primed for detonation at two p.m. on the Sunday afternoon, just as the Pontiff…God bless him,” more laughter, “…will deliver his speech and blessing to the faithful. Ten minutes before detonation, phone calls will take place from the European Muslim Freedom Fighters, not only to the main Italian newspapers, but also to various press agencies across Europe, inciting hatred once again. The detonation will then incinerate the Pontiff, thousands of innocent people…” Oratz paused again, his eyes full of venomous hatred, the others listening with bated breath, “and most importantly …the very heart of the Roman Catholic religion.”

  “From what we can see in this report,” Maurice Hertschell, now sat in his office, spoke quietly to Charles Mann, Piper and Descard, “this Oratz character first met Otto Von Kurst in 1973 at Dresden University of Technology. It seems their friendship is very strong.”

  “Oratz has appeared on television many times sir,” Jeanette Descard continued the discussion, “he is very well known in business circles. The man is a millionaire, but from what I can gather from his profile, and what I have seen and read of him in newspapers and magazines he seems to be a loner, apart from his friendship with Von Kurst.”

  There was no reply, the Commander being in deep thought. He turned to Piper.

  “Sergeant, what are your thoughts so far?”

  Piper put his copy of Jean-Paul’s report on the coffee table in front of him and folded his arms. “Sir, first of all we need to see what’s going in and out of that warehouse. Yes, there’s plenty of activity down there and all seems normal, but Building Four needs to be investigated much more thoroughly.”

  “I agree,” Hertschell replied. There was a knock at the door, “come!”

  Nick Lucas gingerly stepped in. “Commander, Colonel, I’ve hacked in to the mainframe of the warehouse facility and checked on the security systems, I’ve also obtained a copy of the daily traffic roster for the next three days.” Hurriedly, the young Canadian walked across the room and handed out a copy to each member of staff.

  “Well done Nick,” said the Colonel, “take a seat.” Nick did so, the office falling quiet as they began reading the information.

  “These are your standard export/ import shipments,” said Piper, “transistors, wires, various films used for microchip production,” he turned over a page, “wiring boards, and machinery parts.” He threw the roster on the table. “There’s nothing there Commander, they’re standard comings and goings, everything I would expect from a microchip manufacturer.”

  Maurice Hertschell nodded his head slowly, “yes, I agree.”

  Colonel Mann continued, “Nick, what are your thoughts on the warehouse security system?”

  “There are three systems in total sir, as we originally summarised during the satellite recon. The systems used for buildings one to three are pretty standard, along with the security guards and the usual surveillance cameras positioned at different locations, however…” Nick paused for dramatic effect, which irritated Charles Mann.

  “Carry on Nick, if you please.”

  “Well sir, the system used inside Building Four, is, well, how can I put it…a right bitch!”

  “Charming,” replied Jeanette.

  Nick looked embarrassed, “sorry Doctor, but it is! The location of Building Four at the rear of the facility puts it well behind the other three. Of course this means a great many of Von Kurst’s employees don’t even get a view of shipments being driven in and out of this area, which is perfect if Oratz is involved with hiding something in there.” Nick turned and looked around; making sure everyone was paying attention. “Another interesting fact is the main ‘one way’ system for heavy goods vehicles to manoeuvre around the various loading bays is cleverly designed, and doesn’t come close to Building Four. However as we have seen, there is a driveway which is currently closed off, this is between Buildings Two and Three and leads directly to the loading bay at Building Four.”

  “Interesting,” whispered Piper, “so what about the actual system then Nick, what sort of problems would it cause me?” Piper’s colleagues stared at him. His question had taken them all by surprise. It was now obvious what CEATA’s new field agent was thinking.

  “Infra-red sensors are laid out across all the main area inside Building Four, and there are surveillance cameras positioned all over the place and…get this,” Nick looked excited as he rolled open a large photograph. “I ran another infra-red satellite scan and a general hi-res photo scan over the main roofing of the facility,” he ran his right index finger across the dramatic photograph of the entire warehouse complex. “Look at these small bumps…on the roofing itself.” All left their chairs as Nick looked grim faced.

  “Pressure pads?” asked Piper.

  “That’s exactly what I thought Ash. The security system across the whole of this massive roofing area is very, very professional, in fact…it’s a nightmare.”

  “But could you help me gain entry into Building Four?”

  Nick fell silent, his gaze moving from Piper to Commander Hertschell, who nodded his head in acceptance of Piper’s question.

  “Err, yeah, I suppose so, but believe me Ash, once inside the facility you’ll have to work closely with me, to within seconds as I shut down each individual sector…and I mean seconds!”

  “Agreed,” Piper quickly stood up and faced the Commander. “Sir, I would like to request a HALO drop in the vicinity of the VKE warehouse facility. I need to see what’s going on in Building Four.”

  “Agreed Sergeant, and the sooner the better.”

  EPILOGUE

  INFILTRATION

  “In conclusion, please accept my thanks to you all.” Otto Von Kurst pulled his chair back from the round table and smiled, “dinner is served at eight thirty in the main hall. In the meantime, I have some urgent VKE business to attend to. Phase Four of Project Amen is now well under way, let us all,” he paused, “pray…for its success.”

  There was muffled laughter from the senior hierarchy of the New Totenkopf, apart f
rom Wilhelm Oratz, whose gaze was firmly fixed on Lana Franke. She had been overly quiet during the meeting he thought, I wonder if Otto had noticed?

  “Here we have an overhead view of the Von Kurst Electronics warehouse facility,” Nick Lucas walked away from the photograph lit up on the blue screen behind him. In the dimmed light his glasses reflected the glare of the projection system in the CEATA Operations Room. He turned to a small control panel and pressed a button. As he did so, faint red horizontal lines glowed within the area of Building Four.

  The infra-red security system!

  CEATA’s senior command team, now seated in front of the screen looked on as Nick picked up a laser pointer and switched it on. He continued his report, “as far as I can ascertain, the only way for Sergeant Piper to infiltrate the facility, and of course Building Four is by scaling the perimeter wall to the rear…here!” The red dot of the laser pointer slowly circled the outline of a thick concrete wall at the rear of the warehousing complex. “From our previous satellite analysis, I estimate this wall to be approximately eight metres high, so one of our standard grapple devices can be used.”

  “Agreed.” Ash Piper, his mind alert and gearing into overdrive, was happy to be going back into the field again, and this time there was a great deal at stake. Thoughtfully Piper, like his colleagues continued to listen carefully to Nick, who for the most part of this dangerous mission, would be the CEATA field agent’s secondary eyes and ears. He smiled inwardly, knowing that even with his own incredible, heightened senses, Nick’s observations and instructions would be of great use during this important covert operation.

  “Now, when I say you must do exactly what I tell you within a second of my instructions, then I mean EXACTLY that Sergeant. Do I make myself quite clear on this matter, and especially when you are inside Building Four?” Nick had everyone’s attention, not least so Commander Hertschell who was very impressed with the way the young Canadian was chairing the operational meeting. “Once inside Building Four,” he continued, “I will close down each zone of the infra-red alarm system. This will then give you free movement, under my control.”