The dangerous 'Stone Book of Thoth' falls into Hitler's hands... scene from The Ibis Apocalypse (Anson Hunter Egyptology adventure series)

Berchtesgaden, Austrian Alps, 1939 THE REICHSFUEHRER of the SS, Himmler, made the introductions. The newly arrived German Egyptologist, ushered into Hitler’s presence, felt terror grip his heart. Suddenly he understood how the ancients felt when they found themselves in the presence of pharaoh and ‘no longer knew whether they were alive or dead’. The Fuehrer might have been dressed for a hunt or a climb in the mountains, but for the fact that he suffered from vertigo and could barely bring himself to look down at the heart-stopping views beyond the windows of his chalet. Hitler regarded the archaeologist as if fitting him to a template in his mind. Freshly returned from fieldwork in Egypt, Manfried Faltinger had come here by urgent request to see the Chancellor at his ‘Eagle's Nest’ mountain retreat at Berchtesgaden, high up in the Alps of the Austrian border. The room filled with silence like air pressure, relieved only by the ticking of a Bavarian clock that split tiny cracks in the silence. It was a surprisingly optimistic and airy room decorated by the Fuehrer himself. Arrangements of cut flowers with starbursts of edelweiss, his favourite flower, freshened the chalet and eighteenth century German furniture, his passion, glowed in the room, which included a long table cleared for the occasion. “You have brought the power of the ages with you, Herr Faltinger?” Faltinger swallowed and heard his own voice reply. “Ja, Mein Fuehrer. Paper rubbings taken by my own hand from the original Stela of Destiny.” “Reveal it.” The weasel-faced Heinrich Himmler, a devotee of the mystical and the esoteric, now gestured to the long table. Faltinger brought the clear perspex tube out from under his arm. He unscrewed the end and gently began to tip the roll of paper forward before moving towards the table. “Wait!” The Chancellor held out his hands. He wanted to receive and hold the texts himself. Hitler knew better than most men the power of a book to change the world. It was a point of pride that he had built his Berghof mountain retreat solely with money from the royalties of Mein Kampf, which at that point had already sold over four and a half million copies, but this was an imprint of the Book of Books, the stone book of Thoth. Faltinger removed the length of paper rubbings from its tube and placed it gently in the cradle of the Fuehrer’s hands. Did the paper, fine grained and smooth, give a rustling sigh? Adolf Hitler rocked the Texts of Thoth like a baby and, for a moment, his sharpened, bristled features softened into a fatherly mould. His eyes were moist when he looked up. “Who else has possessed these words?” he said hoarsely. Faltinger sensed it was no time for small gestures and associations. This was a moment of history. “The author of legend, Thoth, also Prince Khaemwaset, Rameses the Great, and possibly even Alexander the Great.” The militant prodigals of history were all men of superstition, the Egyptologist had noted. They held a profound belief in the power of fate and of mysterious forces. Men like Alexander, Napoleon and now Hitler. “You have translated it?” There was a challenge in the Chancellor’s voice, as well as eagerness. Faltinger thought he detected a note of anxiety there too. What did the leader want to hear? “I have made but a small beginning.” Hitler nodded, apparently satisfied. “You will complete the work here. As for any reference volumes you require, my pilot Hansel flies in each day and will bring them to you. The contents of the scroll must never leave Berghof.” A private aerodrome lay below the greenery of Berghof’s lawns, Faltinger had learnt. “I understand, Mein Fuerhrer.” “Thank you, Herr Faltinger. You have honoured me and glorified the Reich - and you may be certain that in return we shall both honour you greatly. For this work your destiny shall soar like the Alps.” Excerpt The Ibis Apocalypse Amazon paperback and Kindle