Autodidact_33
Senior Member
Lone Wolf and Wild Fox
by Matthew Bissonnette
and John Windsor
Prologue: The Conquest of Earth
In August, 1939, Europe is on the verge of war. Nazi Germany, under the iron rule of Adolph Hitler, as already annexed Austria and several other small European countries. Britain and France, their people fearing another great war, have not protested this military conquest. Diplomats of Germany and the Soviet Union meet secretly and sign a treaty which would later be known as the Unholy Alliance. Hitler and Stalin have agreed to put aside their political differences and divide Europe between them, the nations which consist the Axis powers are now Imperial Japan, Mussolini's Italy, Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia. As all the military commanders of this alliance meet, they agree that the United States must not enter the war since their industrial might could prove to be a threat to Axis's ambitions to conquer the world. The gestapo abducts Elbert Einstein and forces him to build Germany the ultimate weapon which will ensure victory.
By the end of 1940, Germany has annexed France and Spain and is poised to invade Britain. The Soviet Union and Japan, dropping their prior territorial disputes, have already crushed Nationalist China. Italy armies as well as the German Rommel's tank divisions occupy North Africa. Britain, now led by Churchill, stands alone against this fearsome enemy while US president Roosevelt and most Americans are reluctant to enter a foreign war and adopt a policy of isolationism. Einstein, a prisoner, is working to build a bomb of unimaginable power, works with German physicists in a lab outside Berlin.
1941, the German Luftwaffe has bombed London and now the city is rubble though the British Royal Air Force puts of a valiant fight. But it is to no avail when the Germany Army launches a massive sea invasion and soon captures the entire British Isles; Churchill defiant to the end, is hung. Japan now has captured most of the Pacific and is on the verge of invading Australia. Axis, with a massive need for oil to fuel its war machine, has tasked the Soviet Union with capturing the massive oil deposits of the Middle East. Unbeknownst to the world, Einstein has created his bomb and it is secretly tested in a remote region of Germany. Hitler, upon seeing this, knows that the entire world is within his grasp. The Germany Navy has retrofitted several U-boats to carry a single V2 rocket which carries a nuclear warhead. The dictator waits for the moment to reveal his deadly weapon to the world.
1942, Axis has conquered all of Europe, most of Asia as well as the Middle East. African nations fall one after another to Rommel and it seems America is the force which could possible thwart Axis's ambitions of world domination. In June, Roosevelt declares wars on all the Axis powers. July 4, America's Birthday, a German u-boat surfaces near New York and launches its rocket. The city is destroyed and millions parish, then another rocket descends on Washington D.C., and the American government is decapitated. Hitler then makes a radio broadcast threatening to destroy every city in North America if the American's don't surrender. The American's, in a state of panic, formally declare defeat.
But as the world is gripped by war during these years, no one is aware of Hitler's final solution, the genocide of any people the Fuehrer considers to be unworthy of life, among people of the Jewish faith, the mentally ill and gypsies. Tens of millions parish as the world remains unaware of the mass killings.
1944, with no nation that could possibly appose Axis left, every country on Earth surrenders to the Axis powers. The leaders of Axis then carve the world up into different zones which is ruled by them separately. Germany rules west Europe, North and South America, and Africa, and Hitler creates the city of New Berlin outside the ruins of Washington D.C. From which he rules over his empire. The Soviet Union rules the Middle East and India, though Stalin is aware of Hitler's rabid anti-communism, he decides to work with the despot. Imperial Japan rules all of Asia and Australia, as well as the entire Pacific. Italy rules the nations of the Mediterranean, among them Greece.
By 1945, Axis has conquered the world and hostilities cease though revolts are heartlessly crushed all over the globe. But the odd man out in this global alliance is the Soviet Union, since the other fascist powers despise communism, and this alliance is uneasy.
So history passed for several decades. By the end of the twentieth century, Germany's space program, pioneered by Wernher Von Braun, has built a base on the moon. Hitler's thousand year Reich go on years after his death, his fascist empire now ruled by his daughter Adelheid, who holds onto power in a massive palace in New Berlin. While the media portrays life in this Reich as ideal, the people of North America and other German zones live under constant surveillance and any type of deviance from the societal norms is punished with death. The other zones of the Axis powers rule separately and seem content to mind their own business, and not interfere with each others dictatorships.
Our story begins in the year of 2012, as a young man in North America began to question the ruling authority.
Chapter One: Day In New Berlin
New Berlin was by this time a massive metropolis, giant sky scrapers reached up into the sky but among the towers where gigantic statues of figures from German history, the stone sculptors of the Teutonic Knights watched over the streets. Small, compact cars filled the roads during this summer morning as the citizens of the city went about their daily tasks. In the center of the city of the Palace of the Fuehrer, a massive castle made of white marble with flags showing the Swastika adorning the outer walls of the structure. Hanging above the side walks all over the city where the Info Screens, video monitors which displayed to the citizens of the city the endless propaganda of the Reich. Near the residential sector of the city where the majority of the populace lived in the large apartment complexes, two young men walked down a sidewalk towards the center of the city. Like everyone, they where wearing the simplistic gray clothes as everyone, required by official mandate.
Royce Edmond, an athletic young man with short brown hair and a prominent jaw, turned to his boyhood friend and asked with a slight British accent, well Wolf, excited?
Wolf Ford, also in his early twenties, was a tall, muscular man with copper hair and piercing eyes. While Royce seemed joyful and energetic, Wolf seemed more reserved and had a rather emotionless expression on his face. He just seemed to look off into the distance as they walked.
Wolf replied, what is there to be excited about Royce? Today they will decide how we will spend the rest of our lives. The powers that be will determine what profession we are best suited for, and we will do that for the rest of our lives.
Men in the North American Reich, soon after passing the age of twenty, where required to take the State Aptitude Test, a test which would show what job within the Reich a male was best suited for. There was no quitting an individuals chosen job, and if someone could not preform their chosen task would be labeled Inferior, which was a death sentence.
Royce grinned as he walked, come on, we both are strong young men, we'll either be assigned to the armed services or some other occupation for guys like us.
Wolf frowned. I'm hoping for a job as either a factory laborer or a farm laborer.
Royce laughed. Well, I'm hoping for Luftwaffe myself, guys who fly up their in space get all the women.
Wolf looked up at a Info Screen hanging ominously above him. It showed the face of Adelheid Hitler as she gave her daily speech to the people of New Berlin.
The flickering image of a blonde woman in her early fifties spoke. People of New Berlin, now that I and the state are your parents who watch over you. We all must do are part to add to the glory of the Reich, do you part and you will enjoy the rewards of your labor. But be vigilant, for the Reich is threatened both by Inferiors and Sub Humans, those whose mere existence threaten our glorious empire. Report anyone who does not conform to the gestapo, and you will be rewarded with financial compensation. Now that I as your Fuehrer love you like a ever watchful mother.
Wolf stopped and looked up a the Info Screen, he grimaced and said, a ever loving mother who has any of her children who doe not measure up put to death.
Royce looked back at him. Wolf, we've been friends since we where in diapers, one of these days your aversion to authority figures is going to get you hurt.
They both began to continue walking. Wolf explained, the gestapo has eyes and ears everywhere, Royce. You can't even trust your friends these days.
Do you trust me Wolf?
Wolf nodded. You are the only person I trust. Trust is a scarce commodity in this day and age.
At the end of the street was the Ad-vocation School where they where to take their test, a single story building surrounded by small grassy lawns. A line of young men was waiting outside.
Wolf said, where is Nelson? I haven't seen him around lately, should he not be taking the test too?
Royce momentarily seemed sad. He responded with, Nelson, poor little Nelson, the gestapo picked him up last week. He was determined to be Sub Human.
Wolf seemed shocked. We've gone to school with all our lives, the guy was harmless.
Royce explained, well someone reported him to the gestapo for, how can I put this, liking to have his bread buttered on the wrong side.
I don't understand Royce.
He was, you know, liked being with men and not women.
Wolf, though never really friends with Nelson, was saddened by the news. I wonder what they did to Nelson?
Royce replied, no one knows where they take you, but I'm sure he is in a better place now.
Wolf pondered the thought that maybe it was only in the afterlife where one could be free of the Reich.
Royce then walked faster and said, come on, let us get in line.
Then he and Wolf joined the other young men in the line outside the school and waited.
It was around noon when Wolf and Royce left the school with their ad-vocation report, they and many young men eagerly opened the brown envelopes, inside was a sheet which would decide the rest of their lives.
Royce looked at his report then muttered, damn it.
Wolf asked, what did you get Royce?
I have to report to gestapo headquarters tomorrow. Guess I'm going to be one of the secret police, my test says that my high I.Q., makes me suitable for that profession.
Wolf opened his envelope and looked at his test. He read it over as Royce looked on.
So, what did you get, Royce asked.
Wolf replied, I have to report to the hydroponic farms tomorrow, says my tests indicates that I'm only suited for manual labor.
Well buddy, you got what you wanted.
Wolf looked at his friend and asked, Royce, now that you are the member of New Berlin's gestapo, will I have to choose my words carefully with you? Will you report me?
Royce slapped Wolf on the shoulder and replied, you get the friend of Royce pass, which means I will never inform on you.
Wolf said, doesn't mean much, after tomorrow I'll live in the agricultural zone of the city, I doubt I'll see you much.
Well Wolf, tonight we'll go to a Beer Hall and get drunk. Might be the last time we see each other for awhile.
Yeah, let's do that.
They where about to walk away when Wolf noticed a young woman leaving the school dressed in a gray coat and skirt, which was odd since only men where tested here. She was a young woman with shoulder length, fiery red hair with a white streak and a petite figure. She had pale skin and very deep, blue eyes which seemed to be glaring at the ground. She seemed to be walking quickly.
Upon seeing her, Wolf muttered, Lilia.
As she passed him, Wolf reached out and tapped her on the shoulder. She spun around and looked at him and, speaking with a slight Russian accent, asked, what do you want?
Wolf softly said, Lilia, its me, Wolf.
She then looked into his eyes and briefly smiled. Wolf, I can't believe its you. Its been almost seven years.
He asked, I thought your family and returned to the Soviet Zone in east Europe.
Lilia then turned away from him and began to walk down the street. She said as she left, I'm back now. Hope we meet again Wolf.
Royce then began to laugh slightly and said, is that not that Russian tart you where in love with in school?
Yeah, but I thought I would never see her again.
Royce told Wolf, listen, there is only one thing lower here then an Inferior or Sub Human, and that's a commie. The authorities just tolerate them because they don't want a war with the Soviet Zone.
Wolf said, well, she is really not political, I think she,
He was stopped mid sentence when the front doors of the school where ripped from their hinges and thrown through the air as a massive fireball bellowed out from inside, the powerful explosion knocking both Wolf and Royce off their feet. As they lay on their backs, they watched as the school was now engulfed in flames, all its windows shattered and debris everywhere.
Royce slowly got up onto his feet and said, what the hell is going on?
Wolf, still laying upon the cement sidewalk, looked at the burning building and muttered, must be some rebel group.
Royce shook his head. This is New Berlin, the safest city in the Reich.
As the sirens of ambulances and the black vans of the gestapo blared in the distance, Wolf grimly stated, I guess New Berlin isn't safe anymore.
Chapter Two: Wolf and Lilia
Night descended on the residential sector, amongst the faceless apartment complexes was the Beer Hall where people went to drink and enjoy themselves. The Beer Hall was a large, cathedral like building and laughter and voices echoed out from within.
Inside was a giant room which could fit thousands. Long tables crossed the room which people sat at as they drank from large mugs of beer, countless citizens of New Berlin sang and got drunk. Life in the Reich was harsh and the beer hall was one of the few reliefs the authorities allowed. Over the room was a huge Info Screen that was now blank. As the people engaged in merriment, Wolf and Royce sat at one end of a table and drank.
Royce picked up his mug of beer and said, OK, old friend, let's toast to our futures.
Wolf picked up his mugged and toasted. He stated, yes, to our futures.
Royce looked at Wolf's somewhat somber expression and asked, what is bothering you?
Wolf shook his head. It's nothing.
Royce began to snicker. It is Lilia isn't it.
I do not want to talk about it Royce.
OK, Royce said, but be careful. With that bomb at the school today, the authorities are going to be cracking down on every group they think might be subversive. I'm sure the soviets will be near the top of the list.
Wolf looked at Royce and asked, do you think she had something to do with it?
No way, you know how all women are these days, content to make new citizens and tend to the home. I doubt she is involved.
Then the Info Screen over the room showed the face of Adelheid and she spoke firmly, everyone stopped talking and looked up.
Today in New Berlin, several explosions damaged a few government institutions and I promise quick and merciless action. For the first time in the history of New Berlin, we have a terrorist faction at large in the glorious capital of the Reich. I ask all our citizens to report anything suspicious to the gestapo, information will be rewarded. Anyone who aides these enemies will be punished severely. There is now a curfew, all citizens must be within there homes before ten o'clock. Agents of the gestapo are going to be posted in every sector. Remember, the Reich is your friend, but those whose choose to be its enemy will suffer. Good night.
Then the image of the Fuehrer vanished and the screen was blank again. Wolf look at Royce and said, well, I guess your going to have your hands full when you start your job tomorrow.
Royce replied, yeah, starting to wish I had been assigned to a farm to. Things in New Berlin are about to get paranoid, you know how it is, everyone is a suspect.
Wolf finished his beer and got up. He told Royce, well, I have to go home a pack since I'm moving to the farming sector tomorrow. Hope I see you soon Royce.
Royce raised his mug and smiled. And Wolf, watch your back. Keep your head down and you be alright.
Wolf, as he walked away, said, you know me, I like to keep out of trouble.
Then the friends parted as they where about to start their new lives the next day.
Wolf, after the age of sixteen, had been assigned a small apartment. Just a small bedroom, kitchen and bathroom. Single adult men where usually given smaller living quarters since the larger apartments where reserved for families. He was sitting on a small cot beside a window and a looked out it at the lights of downtown New Berlin in the distance, a suitcase with all his belongings in it at the foot of his bed. Wolf didn't have much to pack, just some clothes. In his hand was a photograph which he was not looking at. He then turned from the window and look at the picture which his fingers clutched.
It was a photograph of Lilia when she was younger. It had been years since he looked at it for before it had only reminded him that he would never see her again. Now, he wanted meet with her more then anything.
Wolf began to think about the past.
Wolf Ford's adolescence had been marked by tragedy. His mother had died from influenza just after he was born, his father began to fail at his assigned job since he was grief stricken. Then he was designated Inferior and the gestapo took him away when Wolf was three. Orphans in the Reich where assigned to families who requested more children. That is how Wolf came to live with the Edmond family, Royce's parents had immigrated from Britain since his father was an accomplished architect who help design several new buildings in New Berlin.
Life continued normally for Wolf as he grew up. Royce became like a brother, yet they could not be more different, since Royce was outgoing and had many friends while Wolf mostly kept to himself. In school Wolf received average grades, but he could tell that he was never destined for anything great. Long ago he accepted that only a mediocre life awaited.
Then he reached the age of fifteen. He was attending the Older Citizen School where the teenagers where educated, and it was there he first noticed Lilia Belova and from the first time seeing her was smitten. She was the daughter of a soviet diplomat who had been assigned a post in New Berlin, though the other students never bothered to hide their disdain for the Russian girl. Like Wolf, she kept to herself and did not talk to the other students. Many times during class, Wolf would quickly glance at her yet could not bring himself to approach her. They might have never spoken had it not been for the events of one particular day.
School let out and Wolf left the building, he was walking through the grassy field behind the school where the athletic games where held. He found Lilia in the middle of the field surrounded by her male classmates. They knocked her school books from her hands and called her a commie whore, then one of the boys knocked her to the ground. He then raised his fist, ready to strike her.
Wolf, driven to do something, ran into the boy and knocked him over as Lilia watched. The other students in the group tried to fight Wolf, but even then he was big and strong, and he beat them off. Finally they all ran away while Wolf looked down at Lilia. She seemed upset and did not look at him, she got up and said that she didn't need help from some Reich stooge. Wolf picked up her books and handed them to her, he told her that he was not like the other students. Though at first she seemed reluctant to associate with him, she finally thanked him for the help.
Over the next few years Wolf and Lilia grew closer. He became her protector, the other student's didn't bother Lilia when he was around and they spent much time together. Though from the beginning Wolf could tell that she had a lot of contempt for the Reich, also she seemed to try and distance herself from him. She told him many times that they where just friends, and that they could never be anything else. Wolf though, had long before fallen in love with her but his nature never let him tell her. Finally one day, he went to the apartment where her family lived and was going to tell her everything.
When he knocked on the door she opened it and stood there, she seemed sad and on the verge of tears. She told him that her father had been recalled to the Soviet Zone and that she would have to leave, never to return. Wolf, to stubborn to admit that he was devastated, simply said goodbye. But before she closed the door she suddenly kissed then said he would always be her Lone Wolf, and she said she knew that he would always protector.
Wolf, afterward, never felt as alone as he did then. He came to the realization that Lilia was the only thing in life that mattered to him. Now that she was gone, it felt like there was no point to going on.
Wolf spent the next years alone aside for his foster brother Royce. As he grew older, he tried to forget Lilia and go on with his life; over time he began to put away her memory.
Until today.
Wolf looked at Lilia's picture then sighed heavily. Tomorrow he would start the job he would do for the rest of his life, at up till that moment he wanted nothing else then to live a quiet, dull existence. But now, he wanted to see her more then anything else.
He lay down in bed and fell asleep, his last thought before slumber though was of Lilia.
Chapter Three: Wolf's Precarious Position
September in New Berlin. It was a warm autumn the day Wolf was called into the office of his manager Farm Tower Eight. To the northern end of the city was where the hydroponic farms where located in the agriculture district. Within giant cylinder like buildings which reached far up into the sky, gigantic vegetable crops where grown without the need for soil. The glass shell of the towers revealed the abundance of plant life inside. Within these farms, New Berlin could grow all the food they needed to sustain themselves.
Wolf sat in a chair his manager's office, the manager sat behind his desk and seemed to be sizing Wolf up. The office was on the top floor of the tower and a window to the south showed New Berlin miles away.
His manager, a slightly obese man with a thinning hairline name Mr. White, asked, well Mr. Ford, do you know why I called you here?
Wolf replied, I'm sure you are about to tell me.
Mr. White explained, you have been here two months, and I am beginning to have concerns about you.
Wolf frowned. I meet my quota every day, I show up to work on time, I do my job as required.
Mr. White swiveled around in his chair and looked out the window, his back to Wolf. The manager said, I'm not questioning your competence, I question though if you truly are suited for this job.
What do you mean?
Mr. White snorted then said, To be honest, here in the agricultural sector, we don't get assigned the Reich's best or brightest. Honestly, we get the people who aren't suited for anything better. You do your job, but some of your fellow farmers here in Tower Eight say that you are a reclusive man who makes no attempt to get to know his fellow workers.
Wolf looked to the floor. I guess I'm not a sociable guy. But I will do what's required of me.
Mr. White turned and was looking at Wolf again, he said, Ford, some of your fellow workers say that they are uncomfortable working with you. You seem to not fit in here as a farm laborer.
Wolf looked his his manager and said, I was assigned this job, I really don't have any options.
Mr. White told Wolf, maybe in youth, the Reich can forgive someone who doesn't try to conform and fit in. But now that you are an adult, you must know that the system will now be much harder on people who don't try to get in line. I don't care if you meet quota Ford, if I fire you there are thousands ready to take your place.
Wolf became concerned and raised his voice. If you do that, I will be registered as an Inferior.
Mr. White smiled. Yes, and you know what happens then. You'll disappear, never to be seen again. During my time in this position, I have had dozens fired. One of the perks of the job.
Wolf pleaded mutely, give me one more chance, please.
Mr. White nodded then said, I'll give you a week to become a well oiled cog in the machine of Tower Eight. Try to fraternize with your fellow workers, make a effort to fit in. If you don't, expect the gestapo to knock on your door soon.
Wolf said to the manager, I will try to fit in better.
But even as he said it, Wolf knew that it was a lie. All his life he felt like he had never been able to fit in anywhere. He was content with occupying the lowest rung of the social ladder in the Reich, but now he realized that he might not be able to do that. He came to the realization that soon he would be a Inferior and thus denied the right to live.
Mr. White ordered, now get up and go tend to your crop. You have a week, you better shape up Ford.
Wolf got up. Thank you Mr. White.
As Wolf left the office, he felt unsure about what the future would bring.
Night.
Wolf had been assigned a small living domicile in the agricultural sector. Between the towers where thousands of small, plastic cubes which served as the living quarters of the farm laborers. Inside was just one room with a stove, toilet, refrigerator, bed as well as a small shower to bath in. The walls where sterile white and the whole room seemed rather antiseptic.
Wolf lay in his bed, looking at the picture of Lilia. He was worried that soon he would be dealt with, the same way as all non conformists. They would come for him in the night, no one knew what happened next, but everyone knew that soon after you would be dead. But at that moment, he wanted to speak with Lilia more then anything. But New Berlin was a city of over twenty million people, finding a single person seemed like a fruitless task.
But Wolf suddenly thought of how he might find her. He did not know what his future held for him, but he decided if this was possibly the end for him, then he would speak to Lilia once more.
The headquarters of the New Berlin gestapo was a glass office building near the city center, a few blocks from the Fuehrer's palace. It was Sunday, the only day of the week the laborers of the city had off from work; the only ones who worked this day where the agents of the gestapo.
Inside where offices, as well as the holding cells in the basement. On the first floor was the small office of Royce Edmond. He sat at his desk, wearing the black uniform of the gestapo; a prominent swastika on the chest. On the desk was a computer which was unused. He was reading reports, and did not notice as Wolf walked in.
Wolf asked, Royce, got a minute?
Royce, startled, looked up; but upon seeing Wolf and smiled and said, of course I have a minute, where practically brothers aren't we?
Wolf approached the desk then looked around the room. I thought you would have a nicer office.
I'm knew, but already I got a reputation here, they say I'm headed for bigger things if I play my cards right. How is life in farmer trade?
Wolf replied, going as well as can be expected.
Well, so what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?
Royce, Wolf said, I need your help.
I'm always happy to help. What do you need?
Wolf explained, I want to see Lilia. I was hoping you could help me find her.
Royce grimaced. Wolf, what makes you think I could help you find her?
Royce, no one comes in or out of New Berlin without the gestapo knowing. She must of filed a travel permit before coming here, you can't go anywhere without one. Could you just check the files and see if you can find anything.
Royce leaned back in his chair. I'll do it Wolf, but only because we are close. But a friendly warning, ever since those bombings the gestapo has been tightening security all over the city. I know you have a thing for Lilia, but she is a Russian, with all this going on associating with a Red might get you into hot water. I don't want you to end up in some mess that I won't be able to bust you out off.
Wolf told Royce, I just want to talk with her, that is it.
Royce then started punching keys on the computer's keyboard but muttered as he typed, over nine million women in this city, and you happen to have a thing for some Soviet dame.
Wolf slightly smiled. Royce, this is not the first time I've been in your debt.
Royce then looked at the computer monitor. She filed a travel permit in May, she left Leningrad had listed her residence in district zero. Seems the Reich approved the permit because she is supposed to work as a interpreter for some government department. I print out the address.
Wolf nodded. OK, I appreciate it.
Royce then looked directly at Wolf. Be careful, if she is involved in this terrorist situation, promise that you'll tell me.
Wolf said, I know her, she would never be involved in something like that.
Royce laughed. You have not seen her in years, who knows what happened to her in the Soviet Zone. Just be bloody careful.
Royce handed Wolf a sheet with Lilia's address on it. Wolf turned to leave but said before going out the door, thanks Royce.
Anytime Wolf.
by Matthew Bissonnette
and John Windsor
Prologue: The Conquest of Earth
In August, 1939, Europe is on the verge of war. Nazi Germany, under the iron rule of Adolph Hitler, as already annexed Austria and several other small European countries. Britain and France, their people fearing another great war, have not protested this military conquest. Diplomats of Germany and the Soviet Union meet secretly and sign a treaty which would later be known as the Unholy Alliance. Hitler and Stalin have agreed to put aside their political differences and divide Europe between them, the nations which consist the Axis powers are now Imperial Japan, Mussolini's Italy, Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia. As all the military commanders of this alliance meet, they agree that the United States must not enter the war since their industrial might could prove to be a threat to Axis's ambitions to conquer the world. The gestapo abducts Elbert Einstein and forces him to build Germany the ultimate weapon which will ensure victory.
By the end of 1940, Germany has annexed France and Spain and is poised to invade Britain. The Soviet Union and Japan, dropping their prior territorial disputes, have already crushed Nationalist China. Italy armies as well as the German Rommel's tank divisions occupy North Africa. Britain, now led by Churchill, stands alone against this fearsome enemy while US president Roosevelt and most Americans are reluctant to enter a foreign war and adopt a policy of isolationism. Einstein, a prisoner, is working to build a bomb of unimaginable power, works with German physicists in a lab outside Berlin.
1941, the German Luftwaffe has bombed London and now the city is rubble though the British Royal Air Force puts of a valiant fight. But it is to no avail when the Germany Army launches a massive sea invasion and soon captures the entire British Isles; Churchill defiant to the end, is hung. Japan now has captured most of the Pacific and is on the verge of invading Australia. Axis, with a massive need for oil to fuel its war machine, has tasked the Soviet Union with capturing the massive oil deposits of the Middle East. Unbeknownst to the world, Einstein has created his bomb and it is secretly tested in a remote region of Germany. Hitler, upon seeing this, knows that the entire world is within his grasp. The Germany Navy has retrofitted several U-boats to carry a single V2 rocket which carries a nuclear warhead. The dictator waits for the moment to reveal his deadly weapon to the world.
1942, Axis has conquered all of Europe, most of Asia as well as the Middle East. African nations fall one after another to Rommel and it seems America is the force which could possible thwart Axis's ambitions of world domination. In June, Roosevelt declares wars on all the Axis powers. July 4, America's Birthday, a German u-boat surfaces near New York and launches its rocket. The city is destroyed and millions parish, then another rocket descends on Washington D.C., and the American government is decapitated. Hitler then makes a radio broadcast threatening to destroy every city in North America if the American's don't surrender. The American's, in a state of panic, formally declare defeat.
But as the world is gripped by war during these years, no one is aware of Hitler's final solution, the genocide of any people the Fuehrer considers to be unworthy of life, among people of the Jewish faith, the mentally ill and gypsies. Tens of millions parish as the world remains unaware of the mass killings.
1944, with no nation that could possibly appose Axis left, every country on Earth surrenders to the Axis powers. The leaders of Axis then carve the world up into different zones which is ruled by them separately. Germany rules west Europe, North and South America, and Africa, and Hitler creates the city of New Berlin outside the ruins of Washington D.C. From which he rules over his empire. The Soviet Union rules the Middle East and India, though Stalin is aware of Hitler's rabid anti-communism, he decides to work with the despot. Imperial Japan rules all of Asia and Australia, as well as the entire Pacific. Italy rules the nations of the Mediterranean, among them Greece.
By 1945, Axis has conquered the world and hostilities cease though revolts are heartlessly crushed all over the globe. But the odd man out in this global alliance is the Soviet Union, since the other fascist powers despise communism, and this alliance is uneasy.
So history passed for several decades. By the end of the twentieth century, Germany's space program, pioneered by Wernher Von Braun, has built a base on the moon. Hitler's thousand year Reich go on years after his death, his fascist empire now ruled by his daughter Adelheid, who holds onto power in a massive palace in New Berlin. While the media portrays life in this Reich as ideal, the people of North America and other German zones live under constant surveillance and any type of deviance from the societal norms is punished with death. The other zones of the Axis powers rule separately and seem content to mind their own business, and not interfere with each others dictatorships.
Our story begins in the year of 2012, as a young man in North America began to question the ruling authority.
Chapter One: Day In New Berlin
New Berlin was by this time a massive metropolis, giant sky scrapers reached up into the sky but among the towers where gigantic statues of figures from German history, the stone sculptors of the Teutonic Knights watched over the streets. Small, compact cars filled the roads during this summer morning as the citizens of the city went about their daily tasks. In the center of the city of the Palace of the Fuehrer, a massive castle made of white marble with flags showing the Swastika adorning the outer walls of the structure. Hanging above the side walks all over the city where the Info Screens, video monitors which displayed to the citizens of the city the endless propaganda of the Reich. Near the residential sector of the city where the majority of the populace lived in the large apartment complexes, two young men walked down a sidewalk towards the center of the city. Like everyone, they where wearing the simplistic gray clothes as everyone, required by official mandate.
Royce Edmond, an athletic young man with short brown hair and a prominent jaw, turned to his boyhood friend and asked with a slight British accent, well Wolf, excited?
Wolf Ford, also in his early twenties, was a tall, muscular man with copper hair and piercing eyes. While Royce seemed joyful and energetic, Wolf seemed more reserved and had a rather emotionless expression on his face. He just seemed to look off into the distance as they walked.
Wolf replied, what is there to be excited about Royce? Today they will decide how we will spend the rest of our lives. The powers that be will determine what profession we are best suited for, and we will do that for the rest of our lives.
Men in the North American Reich, soon after passing the age of twenty, where required to take the State Aptitude Test, a test which would show what job within the Reich a male was best suited for. There was no quitting an individuals chosen job, and if someone could not preform their chosen task would be labeled Inferior, which was a death sentence.
Royce grinned as he walked, come on, we both are strong young men, we'll either be assigned to the armed services or some other occupation for guys like us.
Wolf frowned. I'm hoping for a job as either a factory laborer or a farm laborer.
Royce laughed. Well, I'm hoping for Luftwaffe myself, guys who fly up their in space get all the women.
Wolf looked up at a Info Screen hanging ominously above him. It showed the face of Adelheid Hitler as she gave her daily speech to the people of New Berlin.
The flickering image of a blonde woman in her early fifties spoke. People of New Berlin, now that I and the state are your parents who watch over you. We all must do are part to add to the glory of the Reich, do you part and you will enjoy the rewards of your labor. But be vigilant, for the Reich is threatened both by Inferiors and Sub Humans, those whose mere existence threaten our glorious empire. Report anyone who does not conform to the gestapo, and you will be rewarded with financial compensation. Now that I as your Fuehrer love you like a ever watchful mother.
Wolf stopped and looked up a the Info Screen, he grimaced and said, a ever loving mother who has any of her children who doe not measure up put to death.
Royce looked back at him. Wolf, we've been friends since we where in diapers, one of these days your aversion to authority figures is going to get you hurt.
They both began to continue walking. Wolf explained, the gestapo has eyes and ears everywhere, Royce. You can't even trust your friends these days.
Do you trust me Wolf?
Wolf nodded. You are the only person I trust. Trust is a scarce commodity in this day and age.
At the end of the street was the Ad-vocation School where they where to take their test, a single story building surrounded by small grassy lawns. A line of young men was waiting outside.
Wolf said, where is Nelson? I haven't seen him around lately, should he not be taking the test too?
Royce momentarily seemed sad. He responded with, Nelson, poor little Nelson, the gestapo picked him up last week. He was determined to be Sub Human.
Wolf seemed shocked. We've gone to school with all our lives, the guy was harmless.
Royce explained, well someone reported him to the gestapo for, how can I put this, liking to have his bread buttered on the wrong side.
I don't understand Royce.
He was, you know, liked being with men and not women.
Wolf, though never really friends with Nelson, was saddened by the news. I wonder what they did to Nelson?
Royce replied, no one knows where they take you, but I'm sure he is in a better place now.
Wolf pondered the thought that maybe it was only in the afterlife where one could be free of the Reich.
Royce then walked faster and said, come on, let us get in line.
Then he and Wolf joined the other young men in the line outside the school and waited.
It was around noon when Wolf and Royce left the school with their ad-vocation report, they and many young men eagerly opened the brown envelopes, inside was a sheet which would decide the rest of their lives.
Royce looked at his report then muttered, damn it.
Wolf asked, what did you get Royce?
I have to report to gestapo headquarters tomorrow. Guess I'm going to be one of the secret police, my test says that my high I.Q., makes me suitable for that profession.
Wolf opened his envelope and looked at his test. He read it over as Royce looked on.
So, what did you get, Royce asked.
Wolf replied, I have to report to the hydroponic farms tomorrow, says my tests indicates that I'm only suited for manual labor.
Well buddy, you got what you wanted.
Wolf looked at his friend and asked, Royce, now that you are the member of New Berlin's gestapo, will I have to choose my words carefully with you? Will you report me?
Royce slapped Wolf on the shoulder and replied, you get the friend of Royce pass, which means I will never inform on you.
Wolf said, doesn't mean much, after tomorrow I'll live in the agricultural zone of the city, I doubt I'll see you much.
Well Wolf, tonight we'll go to a Beer Hall and get drunk. Might be the last time we see each other for awhile.
Yeah, let's do that.
They where about to walk away when Wolf noticed a young woman leaving the school dressed in a gray coat and skirt, which was odd since only men where tested here. She was a young woman with shoulder length, fiery red hair with a white streak and a petite figure. She had pale skin and very deep, blue eyes which seemed to be glaring at the ground. She seemed to be walking quickly.
Upon seeing her, Wolf muttered, Lilia.
As she passed him, Wolf reached out and tapped her on the shoulder. She spun around and looked at him and, speaking with a slight Russian accent, asked, what do you want?
Wolf softly said, Lilia, its me, Wolf.
She then looked into his eyes and briefly smiled. Wolf, I can't believe its you. Its been almost seven years.
He asked, I thought your family and returned to the Soviet Zone in east Europe.
Lilia then turned away from him and began to walk down the street. She said as she left, I'm back now. Hope we meet again Wolf.
Royce then began to laugh slightly and said, is that not that Russian tart you where in love with in school?
Yeah, but I thought I would never see her again.
Royce told Wolf, listen, there is only one thing lower here then an Inferior or Sub Human, and that's a commie. The authorities just tolerate them because they don't want a war with the Soviet Zone.
Wolf said, well, she is really not political, I think she,
He was stopped mid sentence when the front doors of the school where ripped from their hinges and thrown through the air as a massive fireball bellowed out from inside, the powerful explosion knocking both Wolf and Royce off their feet. As they lay on their backs, they watched as the school was now engulfed in flames, all its windows shattered and debris everywhere.
Royce slowly got up onto his feet and said, what the hell is going on?
Wolf, still laying upon the cement sidewalk, looked at the burning building and muttered, must be some rebel group.
Royce shook his head. This is New Berlin, the safest city in the Reich.
As the sirens of ambulances and the black vans of the gestapo blared in the distance, Wolf grimly stated, I guess New Berlin isn't safe anymore.
Chapter Two: Wolf and Lilia
Night descended on the residential sector, amongst the faceless apartment complexes was the Beer Hall where people went to drink and enjoy themselves. The Beer Hall was a large, cathedral like building and laughter and voices echoed out from within.
Inside was a giant room which could fit thousands. Long tables crossed the room which people sat at as they drank from large mugs of beer, countless citizens of New Berlin sang and got drunk. Life in the Reich was harsh and the beer hall was one of the few reliefs the authorities allowed. Over the room was a huge Info Screen that was now blank. As the people engaged in merriment, Wolf and Royce sat at one end of a table and drank.
Royce picked up his mug of beer and said, OK, old friend, let's toast to our futures.
Wolf picked up his mugged and toasted. He stated, yes, to our futures.
Royce looked at Wolf's somewhat somber expression and asked, what is bothering you?
Wolf shook his head. It's nothing.
Royce began to snicker. It is Lilia isn't it.
I do not want to talk about it Royce.
OK, Royce said, but be careful. With that bomb at the school today, the authorities are going to be cracking down on every group they think might be subversive. I'm sure the soviets will be near the top of the list.
Wolf looked at Royce and asked, do you think she had something to do with it?
No way, you know how all women are these days, content to make new citizens and tend to the home. I doubt she is involved.
Then the Info Screen over the room showed the face of Adelheid and she spoke firmly, everyone stopped talking and looked up.
Today in New Berlin, several explosions damaged a few government institutions and I promise quick and merciless action. For the first time in the history of New Berlin, we have a terrorist faction at large in the glorious capital of the Reich. I ask all our citizens to report anything suspicious to the gestapo, information will be rewarded. Anyone who aides these enemies will be punished severely. There is now a curfew, all citizens must be within there homes before ten o'clock. Agents of the gestapo are going to be posted in every sector. Remember, the Reich is your friend, but those whose choose to be its enemy will suffer. Good night.
Then the image of the Fuehrer vanished and the screen was blank again. Wolf look at Royce and said, well, I guess your going to have your hands full when you start your job tomorrow.
Royce replied, yeah, starting to wish I had been assigned to a farm to. Things in New Berlin are about to get paranoid, you know how it is, everyone is a suspect.
Wolf finished his beer and got up. He told Royce, well, I have to go home a pack since I'm moving to the farming sector tomorrow. Hope I see you soon Royce.
Royce raised his mug and smiled. And Wolf, watch your back. Keep your head down and you be alright.
Wolf, as he walked away, said, you know me, I like to keep out of trouble.
Then the friends parted as they where about to start their new lives the next day.
Wolf, after the age of sixteen, had been assigned a small apartment. Just a small bedroom, kitchen and bathroom. Single adult men where usually given smaller living quarters since the larger apartments where reserved for families. He was sitting on a small cot beside a window and a looked out it at the lights of downtown New Berlin in the distance, a suitcase with all his belongings in it at the foot of his bed. Wolf didn't have much to pack, just some clothes. In his hand was a photograph which he was not looking at. He then turned from the window and look at the picture which his fingers clutched.
It was a photograph of Lilia when she was younger. It had been years since he looked at it for before it had only reminded him that he would never see her again. Now, he wanted meet with her more then anything.
Wolf began to think about the past.
Wolf Ford's adolescence had been marked by tragedy. His mother had died from influenza just after he was born, his father began to fail at his assigned job since he was grief stricken. Then he was designated Inferior and the gestapo took him away when Wolf was three. Orphans in the Reich where assigned to families who requested more children. That is how Wolf came to live with the Edmond family, Royce's parents had immigrated from Britain since his father was an accomplished architect who help design several new buildings in New Berlin.
Life continued normally for Wolf as he grew up. Royce became like a brother, yet they could not be more different, since Royce was outgoing and had many friends while Wolf mostly kept to himself. In school Wolf received average grades, but he could tell that he was never destined for anything great. Long ago he accepted that only a mediocre life awaited.
Then he reached the age of fifteen. He was attending the Older Citizen School where the teenagers where educated, and it was there he first noticed Lilia Belova and from the first time seeing her was smitten. She was the daughter of a soviet diplomat who had been assigned a post in New Berlin, though the other students never bothered to hide their disdain for the Russian girl. Like Wolf, she kept to herself and did not talk to the other students. Many times during class, Wolf would quickly glance at her yet could not bring himself to approach her. They might have never spoken had it not been for the events of one particular day.
School let out and Wolf left the building, he was walking through the grassy field behind the school where the athletic games where held. He found Lilia in the middle of the field surrounded by her male classmates. They knocked her school books from her hands and called her a commie whore, then one of the boys knocked her to the ground. He then raised his fist, ready to strike her.
Wolf, driven to do something, ran into the boy and knocked him over as Lilia watched. The other students in the group tried to fight Wolf, but even then he was big and strong, and he beat them off. Finally they all ran away while Wolf looked down at Lilia. She seemed upset and did not look at him, she got up and said that she didn't need help from some Reich stooge. Wolf picked up her books and handed them to her, he told her that he was not like the other students. Though at first she seemed reluctant to associate with him, she finally thanked him for the help.
Over the next few years Wolf and Lilia grew closer. He became her protector, the other student's didn't bother Lilia when he was around and they spent much time together. Though from the beginning Wolf could tell that she had a lot of contempt for the Reich, also she seemed to try and distance herself from him. She told him many times that they where just friends, and that they could never be anything else. Wolf though, had long before fallen in love with her but his nature never let him tell her. Finally one day, he went to the apartment where her family lived and was going to tell her everything.
When he knocked on the door she opened it and stood there, she seemed sad and on the verge of tears. She told him that her father had been recalled to the Soviet Zone and that she would have to leave, never to return. Wolf, to stubborn to admit that he was devastated, simply said goodbye. But before she closed the door she suddenly kissed then said he would always be her Lone Wolf, and she said she knew that he would always protector.
Wolf, afterward, never felt as alone as he did then. He came to the realization that Lilia was the only thing in life that mattered to him. Now that she was gone, it felt like there was no point to going on.
Wolf spent the next years alone aside for his foster brother Royce. As he grew older, he tried to forget Lilia and go on with his life; over time he began to put away her memory.
Until today.
Wolf looked at Lilia's picture then sighed heavily. Tomorrow he would start the job he would do for the rest of his life, at up till that moment he wanted nothing else then to live a quiet, dull existence. But now, he wanted to see her more then anything else.
He lay down in bed and fell asleep, his last thought before slumber though was of Lilia.
Chapter Three: Wolf's Precarious Position
September in New Berlin. It was a warm autumn the day Wolf was called into the office of his manager Farm Tower Eight. To the northern end of the city was where the hydroponic farms where located in the agriculture district. Within giant cylinder like buildings which reached far up into the sky, gigantic vegetable crops where grown without the need for soil. The glass shell of the towers revealed the abundance of plant life inside. Within these farms, New Berlin could grow all the food they needed to sustain themselves.
Wolf sat in a chair his manager's office, the manager sat behind his desk and seemed to be sizing Wolf up. The office was on the top floor of the tower and a window to the south showed New Berlin miles away.
His manager, a slightly obese man with a thinning hairline name Mr. White, asked, well Mr. Ford, do you know why I called you here?
Wolf replied, I'm sure you are about to tell me.
Mr. White explained, you have been here two months, and I am beginning to have concerns about you.
Wolf frowned. I meet my quota every day, I show up to work on time, I do my job as required.
Mr. White swiveled around in his chair and looked out the window, his back to Wolf. The manager said, I'm not questioning your competence, I question though if you truly are suited for this job.
What do you mean?
Mr. White snorted then said, To be honest, here in the agricultural sector, we don't get assigned the Reich's best or brightest. Honestly, we get the people who aren't suited for anything better. You do your job, but some of your fellow farmers here in Tower Eight say that you are a reclusive man who makes no attempt to get to know his fellow workers.
Wolf looked to the floor. I guess I'm not a sociable guy. But I will do what's required of me.
Mr. White turned and was looking at Wolf again, he said, Ford, some of your fellow workers say that they are uncomfortable working with you. You seem to not fit in here as a farm laborer.
Wolf looked his his manager and said, I was assigned this job, I really don't have any options.
Mr. White told Wolf, maybe in youth, the Reich can forgive someone who doesn't try to conform and fit in. But now that you are an adult, you must know that the system will now be much harder on people who don't try to get in line. I don't care if you meet quota Ford, if I fire you there are thousands ready to take your place.
Wolf became concerned and raised his voice. If you do that, I will be registered as an Inferior.
Mr. White smiled. Yes, and you know what happens then. You'll disappear, never to be seen again. During my time in this position, I have had dozens fired. One of the perks of the job.
Wolf pleaded mutely, give me one more chance, please.
Mr. White nodded then said, I'll give you a week to become a well oiled cog in the machine of Tower Eight. Try to fraternize with your fellow workers, make a effort to fit in. If you don't, expect the gestapo to knock on your door soon.
Wolf said to the manager, I will try to fit in better.
But even as he said it, Wolf knew that it was a lie. All his life he felt like he had never been able to fit in anywhere. He was content with occupying the lowest rung of the social ladder in the Reich, but now he realized that he might not be able to do that. He came to the realization that soon he would be a Inferior and thus denied the right to live.
Mr. White ordered, now get up and go tend to your crop. You have a week, you better shape up Ford.
Wolf got up. Thank you Mr. White.
As Wolf left the office, he felt unsure about what the future would bring.
Night.
Wolf had been assigned a small living domicile in the agricultural sector. Between the towers where thousands of small, plastic cubes which served as the living quarters of the farm laborers. Inside was just one room with a stove, toilet, refrigerator, bed as well as a small shower to bath in. The walls where sterile white and the whole room seemed rather antiseptic.
Wolf lay in his bed, looking at the picture of Lilia. He was worried that soon he would be dealt with, the same way as all non conformists. They would come for him in the night, no one knew what happened next, but everyone knew that soon after you would be dead. But at that moment, he wanted to speak with Lilia more then anything. But New Berlin was a city of over twenty million people, finding a single person seemed like a fruitless task.
But Wolf suddenly thought of how he might find her. He did not know what his future held for him, but he decided if this was possibly the end for him, then he would speak to Lilia once more.
The headquarters of the New Berlin gestapo was a glass office building near the city center, a few blocks from the Fuehrer's palace. It was Sunday, the only day of the week the laborers of the city had off from work; the only ones who worked this day where the agents of the gestapo.
Inside where offices, as well as the holding cells in the basement. On the first floor was the small office of Royce Edmond. He sat at his desk, wearing the black uniform of the gestapo; a prominent swastika on the chest. On the desk was a computer which was unused. He was reading reports, and did not notice as Wolf walked in.
Wolf asked, Royce, got a minute?
Royce, startled, looked up; but upon seeing Wolf and smiled and said, of course I have a minute, where practically brothers aren't we?
Wolf approached the desk then looked around the room. I thought you would have a nicer office.
I'm knew, but already I got a reputation here, they say I'm headed for bigger things if I play my cards right. How is life in farmer trade?
Wolf replied, going as well as can be expected.
Well, so what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?
Royce, Wolf said, I need your help.
I'm always happy to help. What do you need?
Wolf explained, I want to see Lilia. I was hoping you could help me find her.
Royce grimaced. Wolf, what makes you think I could help you find her?
Royce, no one comes in or out of New Berlin without the gestapo knowing. She must of filed a travel permit before coming here, you can't go anywhere without one. Could you just check the files and see if you can find anything.
Royce leaned back in his chair. I'll do it Wolf, but only because we are close. But a friendly warning, ever since those bombings the gestapo has been tightening security all over the city. I know you have a thing for Lilia, but she is a Russian, with all this going on associating with a Red might get you into hot water. I don't want you to end up in some mess that I won't be able to bust you out off.
Wolf told Royce, I just want to talk with her, that is it.
Royce then started punching keys on the computer's keyboard but muttered as he typed, over nine million women in this city, and you happen to have a thing for some Soviet dame.
Wolf slightly smiled. Royce, this is not the first time I've been in your debt.
Royce then looked at the computer monitor. She filed a travel permit in May, she left Leningrad had listed her residence in district zero. Seems the Reich approved the permit because she is supposed to work as a interpreter for some government department. I print out the address.
Wolf nodded. OK, I appreciate it.
Royce then looked directly at Wolf. Be careful, if she is involved in this terrorist situation, promise that you'll tell me.
Wolf said, I know her, she would never be involved in something like that.
Royce laughed. You have not seen her in years, who knows what happened to her in the Soviet Zone. Just be bloody careful.
Royce handed Wolf a sheet with Lilia's address on it. Wolf turned to leave but said before going out the door, thanks Royce.
Anytime Wolf.