Interlude 1: The Fuhrer Gave Two Options

There is a knock at the door. A woman gets up to open it. "Just wait Lucia, I will get it. I have been expecting company."

At the dining room table sat a man in an olive military uniform. The uniform had red collar patches with an insignia on both sides. The shoulders had two straps on it that looked like braids with two crossed batons on each strap. His cap was grey in color with a black brim. On the front of the cap are two insignias. The first is an eagle with its wings spread wide while it is sitting on a swastika. This insignia was also on the right side of his uniform.

He slowly got up and went to the door. He walked with a limp from an old gunshot in his thigh. Before he opened the door he looked to his family and smiled. Then he opened the door to two men in uniforms.

"Good morning Generals. What can I do for you? We have some more breakfast that was not eaten, just in case we had visitors."

"No, we are quite fine, are we not General Wilhelm?" said one of the men.

"Oh yes, we are, but we do have to talk with you Mr. Rommel. We would like to do this in private of course. State secrets and all."

"Well, we can go to my office on the second floor."

"That will be fine." said General Wilhelm.

They then followed Rommel up to his office. When they got in the office, they all sat down and the other General removed a few papers from the inside of his uniform along with a pill. Wilhelm took out a Walther P-38 pistol and laid it on his lap at the same time.

The unnamed General began to speak, "We are on an errand for the Fuhrer today, Rommel. You see, while interrogating several of the conspirators who planned to kill our great Fuhrer, your name came up several times. You have also been sighted with multiple of these traitors before and after the assassination attempt. This is quite substantial evidence to the People's Court, but our gracious Fuhrer has given you two options. Firstly, kill yourself to save your family and your reputation from the courts or we can haul you to Berlin with your family to stand trial for your crimes against the Fatherland."

Rommel thought on this for a while. "Ernst you know what this will mean for me right?"

"Yes Mr. Rommel, it would seem your life in the Fatherland is over no matter what. The peace you sought over what felt like lifetimes now ends with you committing suicide… or you face the judgement of the courts with your family."

"si deus vult then I will take the pill. Just let me say goodbye first."

The Generals look at each other then nod their heads in approval to Mr. Rommel's request.

"You have ten minutes." said General Wilhelm. With that said the Generals get up and leave the office. They walk downstairs to tell Rommel's family to visit him in the office. They then go outside to wait in the Horch 853 staff car with their driver.

As Rommel waits for his family to ascend the stairs to visit him, he thinks on his past. He thought on all that he had accomplished and on all that he had failed. "There are no more tricks, no more traps, and no more restarts. Today I die for good," he thought to himself. Two faces flashed through his head. One was of Prussian royalty while the other was a Northern Chinese man in older garb and armor. "Ah those were the great years. I was Great like the Sun."

His family opened the door and woke him from his thoughts. He looked at the clock seeing he only had nine minutes left spent all the time he had with them. He told them about what the Generals were here for and gave them several contacts of people who would help them if they needed it. He spent whatever little time he had left with them holding his wife and encouraging his son.

With his time now gone he walked out of the house towards the staff car. He saluted the driver and nodded towards the Generals. "I am ready to go, and my ten minutes is up."

"You're making the right choice Rommel," said General Ernst. "All of us old dogs need to go at some point."

"You are right, but it hurts."

"It'll never stop till we do," said Ernst.

Wilhelm opened the back door for Rommel. Rommel stepped in slowly making sure not to aggravate his scarred thigh. Ernst got in the seat next to Rommel and Wilhelm took the passenger seat. The driver started the car and drove towards town. The ride was silent and Rommel just looked at the scenery one last time, soaking in the beautiful country side. The driver went past the town and Rommel looked back reading the sign of the town. It read 'Herrlingen.' He then thought, "Goodbye Herrlingen, goodbye Fatherland, goodbye my love, and goodbye my travels."

They rode for several more minutes till they were out in the deep forests. "This is the place driver," said Ernst. The driver pulled to the side of the road and parked.

"Wilhelm, stay here with Rommel and entrust him with his assignment, while the driver and I take a walk."

"Yes sir."

Ernst and the driver then go for a walk to avoid the gruesome sight to follow. Without words General Wilhelm hands Rommel a small pill that he takes. Rommel stares at it for a few moments and then puts it into his mouth. He then with reluctance bites into this pill, releasing the contents of the pill into his mouth. With this pill ruptured his fate is sealed. The next moments of his quickly fading life will be painful, but it will be quick.

So, he thinks about his wife and family. The ones who were able to make him love again.

Ernst returns five minutes later without the driver.

"How did it go Wilhelm?"

"He took it. How's the driver?"

"What driver? Now let's get this hero to a hospital so we can get the autopsy done."

"What about his family?"

"Wilhelm, if something happened to his family, his strange death would then not be so strange. Now hurry up and drive." Ernst gets into the vehicle and they drive off to the nearest hospital.

***

These Interludes will be mostly chapter long stories about historical figures that are life travelers.