She flew a Norwegian flag now, with only the documentation and letters of authorisation Fuchs carried signed by The Führer himself ensuring the ship hadn’t been mistakenly impounded the moment it had entered port. As the French authorities in charge weren’t privy to German intelligence and had been given no information regarding the growing hunt for the Kormoran, no one on the island had any idea of the vessel’s true identity. It was a fortunate situation for HSK Kormoran and her crew, as they’d definitely have been taken under guard had it been known.
There were indeed coded words of authorisation that should have preceded any legitimate transmission intended for Fuchs’ ears, but none of those warnings and requests to come about had contained them. Only one message – sent separate to the others two days earlier – had given the RFR officer any inkling as to what was going on back at home.
Herr Hegel is ill.
Those four, simple words, sent from another of the remaining Directors, told Fuchs everything he needed to know. Those four words told him quite categorically that the German High Command had uncovered the real purpose of their mission and that Wilhelm Hegel was in fact dead, almost certainly at the order of Kurt Reuters. It had been a sad moment – Fuchs had considered Hegel a good friend – but he still had his orders and he knew how important they were. Their mission would proceed regardless.
“We have our orders to carry out, as does out our Japanese ally here. Each of us contributes after our own fashion.” He mellowed slightly then, knowing full well that the captain’s patience was wearing thin out of the admirable desire for an opportunity to engage the enemy in direct combat. “Do not worry, my friend… your men will get their chance for glory soon enough, but I assure you what we do now is vital to the ongoing survival of the Reich…!”
“Of course, Gerhard, of course…” Detmers acceded, feeling far more dubious about that claim than he outwardly displayed.
They pair stood there in silence for another moment or two as Theodor Detmers watched Japanese sailors securing the crate properly to the rear deck of the Haguro and covered it with several large, presumably waterproof tarpaulins. It seemed they were in a hurry to depart, for there was smoke already rising from the cruiser’s stacks, the thickness and force of it as it poured out into the sky a good indication that her boilers were at close to full power.
A strong gust of cool morning air surged through the open windows of Kormoran’s bridge, strong enough to blow off the cap of one of the officers on watch. Off to the north, the horizon was crowded with dark clouds that flickered and glowed with the flash of occasional lightning.
“A wind of change, perhaps…” Fuchs suggested, recalling momentarily a favourite musical band from his Realtime years “…and bringing a storm, it seems…”
“Indeed…” Korvettenkapitän Theodor Detmers replied after a moment’s thought, nodding slowly as he too turned his gaze in that direction. In his wildest nightmares, the Kormoran’s captain could never have conceived the magnitude of the storm about to be unleashed around the entire world as a result of the heavy, leaden crate now fixed to that Japanese cruiser’s deck.
To be continued…
Authors Note:
“Those who cannot remember the past are destined to repeat it…”
George Santayana (1863-1952)
I love history. Full stop… (Dare I say it…?) period…
Probably a little bit of Captain Obvious in that statement considering the subject matter I choose to write about, but I’m throwing it out there all the same. History of all ages and eras, but particularly modern history… say… from the Industrial Revolution onward, if you wanted to pin me down on a particular part of it.
I don’t know much about Santayana, but I firmly believe the truth in the saying above. The history of the human race is replete with the repeated mistakes of those too proud, arrogant, ignorant or just plain stupid to learn the lessons of history… individuals upon whom fate, destiny or whatever else you want to call it was often forced to revisit those same hard, painful and often rather terminal lessons, unfortunately usually only after far too many innocent people had already lost their lives as a result.
I’ve read somewhere that the main theme of my Empires Lost series – the winning of the Second World War by Nazi Germany – is, along with the victory of the Confederacy during the American War Between the States, the most written about subject in the entire genre of Alternate History. If this is true then that doesn’t surprise me. The mistakes made by the Nazis – and Hitler particularly – that lost Germany the war are some of the truly great ‘what-ifs’ ever not to come to fruition (and thankfully so).
A thousand non-fiction works could be written on the subject, and I don’t doubt that thousands have been. I have my own theories and ideas about the subject, obviously, and I’ve used the medium of these novels to espouse them to whoever has been gracious to give my meagre offerings their consideration… if I’ve been able to bring the reader some enjoyment into the bargain then so much the better.
But down to the more serious stuff...
The characters depicted in this novel are fictional: their words and actions are all creations of the author’s imagination. No doubt the reader will recognise some of those names mentioned within, and there may or may not be others that aren’t recognised that are also figures from 20th Century history. I’ll leave it to the reader to decide which are real or are instead wholly creations of the author’s own devising, however as mentioned above, the actions and words of all characters depicted in the following pages are all fictional.
There’s no Junction Hotel near the Railway Station at Tocumwal, Victoria however in the pleasantly unlikely event a local resident were to read this novel, I’ve no doubt they might find the description of the area around the northern end of Bridge Street familiar enough. I’ve no knowledge of the history of real hotels in the area, and both the pub depicted in my novel and the actions surrounding it are completely fictional.
With regard to my depiction of Indigenous Australians in this novel, I’d be the first to admit that I’m no expert on the matter of the Stolen Generation or related subjects, nor would I presume to claim otherwise. I felt however that I couldn’t write a historically accurate work set in regional Australia of the 1940s without at least giving the subject some consideration; to ignore it would’ve been dishonest at the very least. I have no doubt what I’ve depicted herein is tame compared to what may have been a reality to many Indigenous Australians living through those times. I have tried to be accurate with historical facts wherever possible, and if there are any errors in what I’ve written then I humbly give my apologies.
In the same way, my fleeting references to the Islamic faith in one particular section of the book have been meant in good faith (no pun intended), and if the depictions shown therein – particularly the prayer scene in the aircraft hold – seem stupid or do not ring true to anyone of the Islamic faith reading this work the, I again humbly apologise and extend an open offer for anyone to make contact and correct me… I would be more than happy to offer a legitimate correction in a second edition should the need arise.
On a different note, it was sadly remiss of me to omit from the first book in this series my unreserved thanks and appreciation for the unending love and support of my family – my beautiful wife and daughter – who have willingly suffered through many long evenings and weekends without my presence while I worked on completing this novel. Without their help and forbearance, this work would never have been completed.
Thanks to the great singer/songwriter, Eric Bogle for very kindly giving his permission for the reproduction of lyrics for his songs within the pages of this novel.
Thanks also to Chad E. “Hoot” Gibson, MMRO Communications Manager at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, for the provision of some excellent detail regarding aspects of the flight operations of the C-5M Super Galaxy, allowing me (hopefully) to provide that little bit of extra authenticity during some of the scenes involvi
ng this aircraft.
And finally, last but most definitely not least, thanks to my friends and all those who have bought my novels and to the encouragement and support I’ve received in the wonderful reviews and kind words you’ve posted via social media and elsewhere. Thanks to Ryan, Pete, Kev and Gordy, Bern, Joel, Jimmy, Sean (for his incredibly heartfelt review) and a so many others who have waited so patiently for this sequel to be completed… I hope it’s all been worth the wait for you. This book was far too long coming… I promise you’ll not have to wait so long for the next.
Regards
Charles
Sydney, Australia
January, 2015
Winds of Change (Empires Lost Book 2) Page 114