"Roger, Spade, you have the lead." Both pilots looked around, got an all-clear from their plane captains, and looked around again.
"Spade has the lead." Jackson tripped his brakes. "Rolling now."
"h.e.l.lo, mein Schatz," mein Schatz," Manfred Fromm said to his wife. Manfred Fromm said to his wife.
Traudl rushed forward to embrace him. "Where have you been?"
"That I cannot say," Fromm replied with a knowing twinkle in his eye. He hummed a few bars from Lloyd Webber"s "Don"t Cry for Me, Argentina."
"I knew you would see," Traudl beamed at him.
"You must not talk of this." To confirm her suspicion he handed her a wad of banknotes, five packets of ten thousand D-Marks each. That should keep the mercenary b.i.t.c.h quiet and happy, That should keep the mercenary b.i.t.c.h quiet and happy, Manfred Fromm told himself. "And I will only be here overnight. I had some business to do, and of course-" Manfred Fromm told himself. "And I will only be here overnight. I had some business to do, and of course-"
"Of course, Manfred." She hugged him again, the money in her hands. "If only you had called!"
Arrangements had been absurdly easy to make. A ship outbound for Latakia, Syria, was sailing from Rotterdam in seventy hours. He and Bock had arranged for a commercial trucking company to load the machine tools into a small cargo container which would be loaded on the ship and unloaded onto a Syrian dock in six more days. It would have been faster to send the tools by air, or even by rail to a Greek or Italian port for faster transshipment by sea, but Rotterdam was the world"s busiest port, with overworked customs officials whose main task was searching for drug shipments. Sniffer dogs could go over that particular container to their hearts" content.
Fromm let his wife go into the kitchen to make coffee. It would take a few minutes, and that was all he needed. He walked down into his bas.e.m.e.nt. In the corner, as far from the water heater as was possible, was an orderly pile of lumber, on top of which were four black metal boxes. Each weighed about ten kilograms, about twenty-five pounds. Fromm carried one at a time-on the second trip, he got a pair of gloves from his bureau drawer to protect his hands-and placed them in the trunk of his rented BMW. By the time the coffee was ready, his task was complete.
"You have a fine tan," Traudl observed, carrying the tray out from the kitchen. In her mind she"d already spent about a quarter of the money her husband had given her. So Manfred had seen the light. She"d known he would, sooner or later. Better that it should be sooner. She"d be especially nice to him tonight.
"Gunther?"
Bock didn"t like leaving Fromm to his own devices, but he also had a task to perform. This was a far greater risk. It was, he told himself, a high-risk operational concept, even if the real dangers were in the planning stage, which was both an oddity and a relief.
Erwin Keitel lived on a pension, and not an especially comfortable one at that. Its necessity came from two facts. First, he was a former Lieutenant Colonel in the East German Stasi, the intelligence and counterintelligence arm of the defunct German Democratic Republic; second, he had liked his work of thirty-two years. Whereas most of his former colleagues had acknowledged the changes in their country and for the most part put their German ident.i.ty ahead of whatever ideology they"d once held-and told literally everything they knew to the Bundesnachrichtendienst Bundesnachrichtendienst-Keitel had decided that he was not going to work for capitalists. That made him one of the "politically unemployed" citizens of the united Germany. His pension was a matter of convenience. The new German government honored, after a fashion, pre-existing government obligations. It was at the least politically expedient, and what Germany now was, was a matter of daily struggling with facts that were not and could not be reconciled. It was easier to give Keitel a pension than to leave him on the official dole, which was deemed more demeaning than a pension. By the government, that is. Keitel didn"t see things quite that way. If the world made any sense at all, he thought, he would have been executed or exiled-exactly where he might have been exiled to, Keitel didn"t know. He"d begun to consider going over to the Russians-he"d had good contacts in the KGB-but that thought had died a quick death. The Soviets had washed their hands of everything to do with the DDR, fearing treachery from people whose allegiance to world socialism-or whatever the h.e.l.l the Russians stood for now, Keitel had no idea-was somewhat less than their allegiance to their new country. Keitel took his seat beside Bock"s in the corner booth of a quiet Gasthaus Gasthaus in what had formerly been East Berlin. in what had formerly been East Berlin.
"This is very dangerous, my friend."
"I am aware of that, Erwin." Bock waved for two liter gla.s.ses of beer. Service was quicker than it had been a few years before, but both men ignored that.
"I cannot tell you how I feel about what they did to Petra," Keitel said after the girl left them.
"Do you know exactly what happened?" Bock asked in a level and emotionless voice.
"The detective who ran the case visited her in prison-he did so quite often-not for interrogation. They made a conscious effort to push her over the edge. You must understand, Gunther, courage in a man or a woman is a finite quality. It was not weakness on her part. Anyone can break. It is simply a matter of time. They watched her die," the retired colonel said.
"Oh?" Bock"s face didn"t change, but his knuckles went white on the stein handle.
"There was a television camera hidden in her cell. They have her suicide on videotape. They watched her do it, and did nothing to stop her."
Bock didn"t say anything, and the room was too dim to see how pale his face went. It was as though a hot blast from a furnace swept over him, followed by one from the North Pole. He closed his eyes for a brief second to get control of himself. Petra would not have wished him to be governed by emotion at a time like this. He opened his eyes to look at his friend.
"Is that a fact?"
"I know the name of the detective. I know his address. I still have friends," Keitel a.s.sured Bock.
"Yes, Erwin, I am sure you do. I need your help to do something."
"Anything."
"You know, of course, what brought us to this."
"That depends on how you mean it," Keitel said. "The people disappointed me in the way they allowed themselves to be seduced, but the common people always lack the discipline to know what is good for them. The real cause of our national misfortune...."
"Precisely-the Americans and the Russians."
"Mein lieber Gunther, even a united Germany cannot-" even a united Germany cannot-"
"Yes, it can. If we are to remake the world into our image, Erwin, both of our oppressors must be damaged severely."
"But how?"
"There is a way. Can you believe me that much, just for now?"
Keitel drained his beer and sat back. He"d helped train Bock. At fifty-six, it was too late for him to change his ideas of the world, and he was still a fine judge of character. Bock was a man such as himself. Gunther had been a careful, ruthless, and very effective clandestine operator.
"What of our detective friend?"
Bock shook his head. "As much satisfaction as that might give me, no. This is not a time for personal revenge. We have a movement and a country to save." More than one, in fact, More than one, in fact, Bock thought, but this was not the time for that. What was taking shape in his mind was a grand stroke, a breathtaking maneuver that might-he was too intellectually honest to say Bock thought, but this was not the time for that. What was taking shape in his mind was a grand stroke, a breathtaking maneuver that might-he was too intellectually honest to say would, would, even to himself-change the world into a more malleable shape. Exactly what would happen after that, who could say? That would not matter at all if he and his friends were unable to take the first bold step. even to himself-change the world into a more malleable shape. Exactly what would happen after that, who could say? That would not matter at all if he and his friends were unable to take the first bold step.
"How long have we known each other-fifteen years, twenty?" Keitel smiled. "Aber naturlich. "Aber naturlich. Of course I can trust you." Of course I can trust you."
"How many others can we trust?"
"How many do we need?"
"No more than ten, but we will need a total of ten."
Keitel"s face went blank. Eight men we can trust absolutely Eight men we can trust absolutely ...? ...?
"That is too many for safety, Gunther. What sort of men?" Bock told him. "I know where to start. It should be possible ... men of my age ... and some younger, of your age. The physical skills you require are not difficult to obtain, but remember that much of this is beyond our control."
"As some of my friends say, that is in G.o.d"s hands," Gunther said with a smirk.
"Barbarians," Keitel snorted. "I have never liked them."
"Ja, doch, they don"t even let a man have a beer." Bock smiled. "But they are strong, Erwin, they are determined, and they are faithful to the cause." they don"t even let a man have a beer." Bock smiled. "But they are strong, Erwin, they are determined, and they are faithful to the cause."
"Whose cause is that?"
"One we both share at the moment. How much time do you need?"
"Two weeks. I can be reached-"
"No." Bock shook his head. "Too risky. Can you travel, are you being watched?"
"Watch me? All of my subordinates have changed allegiance, and the BND knows that the KGB will have nothing to do with me. They would not waste the a.s.sets to watch me. I am a gelding, you see?"
"Some gelding, Erwin." Bock handed over some cash. "We will meet in Cyprus in two weeks. Make sure you are not followed."
"I will-I do. I have not forgotten how, my friend."
Fromm awoke at dawn. He dressed at leisure, trying not to wake Traudl. She"d been more of a wife in the past twelve hours than in the preceding twelve months, and his conscience told him that their nearly failed marriage had not been entirely her fault. He was surprised to find breakfast waiting on the table for him.
"When will you be back?"
"I"m not sure. Probably several months."
"That long?"
"Mein Schatz, the reason I am there is that they need what I know, and I am being well paid." He made a mental note to have Qati send additional funds. So long as money kept coming in, she"d not be nervous. the reason I am there is that they need what I know, and I am being well paid." He made a mental note to have Qati send additional funds. So long as money kept coming in, she"d not be nervous.
"It is not possible for me to join you?" Traudl asked, showing real affection for her man.
"It is no place for a woman." Which was honest enough that his conscience allowed itself to relax a little. He finished his coffee. "I must be off."
"Hurry back."
Manfred Fromm kissed his wife and walked out the door. The BMW was not affected in the least by the fifty kilos of weight in the trunk. He waved to Traudl one last time before driving off. He gave the house a final look in the mirror, thinking, correctly, that he might not see it again.
His next stop was the Karl Marx Astrophysical Inst.i.tute. The single-story buildings were already showing their neglect, and it surprised him that vandals had not broken windows. The truck was already there. Fromm used his keys to let himself into the machine shop. The tools were still there, still in hermetically sealed crates, and the crates were still marked Astrophysical Instruments. Astrophysical Instruments. It was just a matter of signing some forms he"d typed up the previous afternoon. The truck driver knew how to operate the propane-fueled forklift, and drove each crate into the container. Fromm took the batteries from the trunk of his car and set them in a final, small box, which was loaded on last. It took the driver an additional half hour to chain things down in place, and then he drove off. He and "Herr Professor Fromm" would meet again outside Rotterdam. It was just a matter of signing some forms he"d typed up the previous afternoon. The truck driver knew how to operate the propane-fueled forklift, and drove each crate into the container. Fromm took the batteries from the trunk of his car and set them in a final, small box, which was loaded on last. It took the driver an additional half hour to chain things down in place, and then he drove off. He and "Herr Professor Fromm" would meet again outside Rotterdam.
Fromm rendezvoused with Bock in Greifswald. They drove west in the latter"s car-Bock was a better driver.
"How was home?"
"Traudl liked the money a great deal," Fromm reported.
"We"ll send her more, at regular intervals ... every two weeks, I think."
"Good. I was going to ask Qati about that."
"We take care of our friends," Bock observed as they pa.s.sed over what had once been a border crossing. Now it was merely green.
"How long for the fabrication process?"
"Three months ... maybe four. We could go faster," Fromm said apologetically, "but remember that I have never actually done this with real material, only in simulation. There is absolutely no margin for error. It will be complete by the middle of January. At that point, it is yours to use." Fromm wondered, of course, what plans Bock and the others had for it, but that was not really his concern, was it? Doch. Doch.
15.
DEVELOPMENT.
Ghosn could only shake his head. He knew objectively that it resulted from the sweeping political changes in Europe, the effective elimination of borders attendant to the economic unification, the collapse of the Warsaw Pact and headlong rush to join in the new European family. Even so, the hardest part of getting these five machine tools out of Germany and into his valley had been finding a suitable truck at Latakia, and that had actually been rather difficult, since negotiating the road into where his shop lay had incomprehensibly been overlooked by everyone-including, he thought with some satisfaction, the German. Fromm was now observing closely as a gang of men labored to move the last of the five tools onto its table. Arrogant as he may have been, Fromm was an expert technologist. Even the tables had been built to exactly the right size, with ten centimeters of extra s.p.a.ce around each tool so that one could rest his notebook. The backup generators and UPSs were in place and tested. It was just a matter of getting the tools set up and fully calibrated, which would take about a week.
Bock and Qati were observing the whole procedure from the far end of the building, careful to keep out of the way.
"I have the beginnings of an operational plan," Gunther said.
"You do not intend the bomb for Israel, then?" Qati asked. He was the one who would approve or disapprove the plan. He would, however, listen to his German friend. "Can you tell me of it yet?"
"Yes." Bock did so.
"Interesting. What of security?"
"One problem is our friend Manfred-more properly, his wife. She knows his skills, and she knows he is away somewhere."
"I would have thought that killing her carries more risks than rewards."
"Ordinarily it would appear so, but all of Fromm"s fellow experts are also away-with their wives in most cases. Were she merely to disappear, it would be a.s.sumed by the neighbors that she"d joined her husband. His absence risks a comment by her, however casual it might be, that Manfred is off doing something. Someone might notice."
"Does she actually know what his former job was?"
"Manfred is very security-conscious, but we must a.s.sume that she does. What woman does not?"
"Go on," Qati said tiredly.
"Discovery of her body will force the police to search for her husband, and that is also a problem. She must disappear. Then it will seem that she has joined her husband."
"Instead of the other way around," Qati observed with a rare smile, "at the end of the project."
"Quite so."
"What sort of woman is she?"
"A shrew, a money-grabber, not a believer," Bock, an atheist, said, somewhat to Qati"s amus.e.m.e.nt.
"How will you do it?"
Bock explained briefly. "It will also validate the reliability of our people for that part of the operation. I"ll leave the details to my friends."