Top Secret Part 34

"May I ask why?"

"Yes, sir. Of course you may. Sooner or later, the Soviets are going to penetrate the monastery and/or the Pullach camp, no matter how many two-hundred-pound six-foot-tall soldiers with machine guns Cronley has guarding it."

"Colonel, are you going to answer my question?" Mattingly demanded curtly.

"That's what I'm trying to do, Colonel," Frade replied, and then went on: "If all they find is that we are employing a number of former German officers and non-coms to a.s.sist General Greene in his counterintelligence efforts, so what? Where we would be in trouble would be if they discovered-or actually tried to arrest under their Army of Occupation authority-former members of the SS whose names they know and whose arrests they have already requested. Or if they got their hands on any paperwork that could incriminate us."

He glanced at General Greene, and said: "Colonel Mattingly sent a great deal of the latter to me-Cronley carried it to Argentina-but I want to be absolutely sure he didn't miss anything."

He looked back at Mattingly: "So, to answer your question, Colonel Mattingly, what I plan to do at the monastery is get with General Gehlen and come up with a list of the ex-SS and everyone else with a n.a.z.i connection that we have to get out of the monastery and Pullach and to Argentina as soon as possible. In other words, a list of those people we really can't afford to have the Soviets catch us with, prioritized on the basis of which of them, so to speak, are the most despicable b.a.s.t.a.r.ds. They go first. Oberst Otto Niedermeyer and I have been thinking about this for some time-"

"Who?" General Greene asked.

"He was Gehlen's Number Two-"

"It's my understanding that Colonel Mannberg is Gehlen's Number Two," Mattingly said.

"Niedermeyer tells me he was," Frade replied. "And he's the officer Gehlen sent to Argentina"-Frade paused and chuckled-"doubly disguised as a Franciscan monk and then as a Hauptscharfhrer."

"I don't understand," General Greene said.

"When they got to Argentina and took off their monk's robes," Frade explained, "they identified themselves as Obersturmbannfhrer Alois Strbel and his faithful Hauptscharfhrer-"

"His faithful what?" Mrs. Greene asked.

Frade looked first at General Greene and then at Mrs. Greene before replying, "Sergeant major, Mrs. Greene."

"Go on, please, Colonel," General Greene said.

"Brilliant detective work by myself quickly discovered that Hauptscharfhrer Otto Niedermeyer was actually Colonel Niedermeyer. Gehlen apparently decided a sergeant major could nose around easier than a colonel."

"So he lied to us," Mattingly said.

"And I was shocked as you are that anyone in our business could possibly practice deception," Frade said. "But, as I was saying, Gehlen sent Niedermeyer to Argentina very early on in this process to make sure we were going to live up to our end of the bargain. He tells me he was Gehlen's Number Two, and I believe him. And I'm also convinced Niedermeyer was not a n.a.z.i-"

"Why?" Mattingly interrupted.

"Could you just take my word for that, Colonel, and let me finish?"

"Go on," Mattingly said.

"So I believe the list of the n.a.z.i and SS sc.u.m Niedermeyer gave me, again prioritized according to what kind of b.a.s.t.a.r.ds they are, is the real thing. I'd be willing to go with it as-is. But as some-including Otto Niedermeyer-have pointed out, Gehlen can be very difficult, so I am going to politely ask him to go over Niedermeyer's roster."

"I got the impression this afternoon," Mattingly said, "that Admiral Souers wants to return to Was.h.i.+ngton as soon as possible."

"He does," Frade said.

"Then wouldn't it make sense for you to give me this list of yours and have me deal with General Gehlen? There's no reason for you to have to go all the way down there. It's a four-, five-hour drive."

When Frade didn't immediately reply, Mattingly went on: "And, really, the monastery and the people there are my responsibility, aren't they?"

Frade exhaled audibly.

"Admiral Souers planned to get into all of this with you tomorrow, but it looks like I'm going to have to get into it now."

"Please do," Mattingly said, rather unpleasantly.

Frade felt everyone's eyes around the table on him.

"The reason I have to go to the monastery," Frade began, "and to have a look at the Pullach installation is because Admiral Souers has ordered me to do so. And the reason he's done that is because, for reasons of plausible deniability, he has transferred command of Operation Ost-just Ost, not the South German Industrial Development Organization-to the Special Projects Section of the Office of the Naval Attache at the U.S. emba.s.sy in Buenos Aires."

"To what, where?" Colonel Schumann asked.

"When the OSS shut down, its a.s.sets-including me-in the Southern Cone of South America were absorbed by the Special Projects Section of the Office of the Naval Attache at the U.S. emba.s.sy in Buenos Aires. In other words, for the next sixty days, Operation Ost will be hidden there.

"That will allow General Greene and you, Colonel Mattingly, if-I actually should say 'when, inevitably'-the Soviets breach the security of the monastery or Pullach, to credibly deny you know anything about Operation Ost. All you're doing there is running a counterintelligence operation in which some former German officers and non-coms are employed."

"That makes sense," General Greene said thoughtfully. Then he chuckled. "Have a nice ride down the autobahn tomorrow, Colonel Frade. Maybe, now that you and Mattingly have kissed and made up, he'll loan you his Horch for the trip."

Frade smiled. "That would be very kind of him, but Cronley's going to fly me in his Storch."

That Mattingly was not amused was evident in his voice: "And how does Captain Cronley fit into this credible-deniability scenario?"

"In an operational sense, he will be the liaison between the monastery/Pullach, the Farben Building, and Buenos Aires."

"Who'll operate the link to Vint Hill Farms?" Major McClung asked.

"Cronley," Frade said.

Well, Cronley thought, that answers the question "Does McClung know about the Collins and the SIGABA?"

Then, without thinking about what he was doing, Cronley leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his neck. When he saw that Frade, Mattingly, and Mrs. Greene were looking askance at him, he quickly lowered his arms, s.h.i.+fted in his chair, and moved it closer to the table. Rachel's toes moved immediately to his crotch. After a moment, she withdrew, and then put her foot back on his instep.

"And I'm sure you have considered the possibility," Mattingly said sarcastically, "that when the Soviets inevitably breach the security of Kloster Grnau or Pullach, they might wish to ask Captain Cronley what he knows about Operation Ost."

"All Cronley has to do is say, 'I'm the commanding officer of the guard company. Colonel Mattingly told me I don't have the Need to Know what's going on in the compound and am not to ask.' And, as Mrs. Greene and others have pointed out, he's only a captain. Captains are unimportant."

"And you think he could handle pressure like that?" Mattingly asked. His tone made it clear that he didn't think so.

"I do. But what matters is that Admiral Souers does."

"I'm really getting tired of all this shop talk," Mrs. Greene announced. "I want to dance."

"Colonel Frade," Colonel Schumann said, "do you think it would be useful if I took a look at your security arrangements for the Pullach operation? I know McClung is going down there in the near future, and I could go with him."

"I think that's a great idea," Frade said. "And-I don't know how this fits into your schedule, Colonel Mattingly-but how about us all meeting in Munich after I deal with Gehlen?"

Before Mattingly could answer, Rachel said, "Grace, if you and I went down there with them, we could see what will have to be done for the dependent quarters before people start moving in."

"That's not a bad idea," General Greene said. "I'd like to see the Pullach compound myself."

"We could take the Blue Danube," Grace Greene said, smiling. "It has a marvelous dining car. And then we can stay at the Vier Jahreszeiten. I like the Vier Jahreszeiten. There's nothing as nice in Frankfurt."

Cronley thought both that it was the first time the general's lady had smiled since she'd walked into the dining room and also that Frade's face showed that he had no idea what the Blue Danube was.

Cronley did: Tiny Dunwiddie had told him what had happened to the private trains used by n.a.z.i bigwigs. The Army Transportation Corps had gathered them up and a.s.signed Hitler's and Goering's to Eisenhower and U.S. High Commissioner for Germany John J. McCoy.

The other super-luxury private trains had been given to General George S. Patton and other very senior American officers. Except for one. While other deserving three-star generals had been scrambling for trains for themselves, that one, Tiny had told him delightedly, had been "lost" by an old 2nd Armored "h.e.l.l on Wheels" officer in Bad Nauheim. When Major General I. D. White returned to Germany to a.s.sume command of the U.S. Constabulary, it would be "found" with Constabulary insignia painted all over it.

What was left of the first-cla.s.s cars and the best dining cars had been formed into trains and put into Army service between the six hubs of American forces in Europe-Paris, France; Berlin, Frankfurt, and Munich in Occupied Germany; and Salzburg and Vienna in "liberated" Austria.

The ParisFrankfurt luxury train was dubbed the Main-Siener, making reference to the rivers that flowed through those cities, and the Berlin-Frankfurt-Munich-Vienna train the Blue Danube.

"Then it's settled," Frade said. "We'll all meet in Munich the day after tomorrow."

I'll be d.a.m.ned, he did know what the Blue Danube was!

No. He just decided that if Mrs. Greene wanted to "take the Blue Danube," whatever it is, she was unstoppable.

"And now," Frade announced, "because Captain Cronley and I are going flying as the rooster crows tomorrow morning, I must beg that we be excused from this charming company."

Before Cronley could stand, Rachel's foot gave his instep a final caress, and when he shook her hand to say good night, she said, "Well, I guess we'll see each other soon."

[ TWO ].

As they entered the lobby, Clete said, "Don't even look at the bar. We have more to talk about."

"Oh, boy, do we."

"What's that mean?"

"Wait until we're someplace no one can hear us."

- When they were in Clete's room, he pointed to an armchair and then the bottle of Dewar's.

"Sit," he ordered. "And go easy on that."

"Yes, sir, Colonel, sir."

Clete smiled tolerantly.

"You ever notice, Jimmy, that when you really need a drink you can't have one? G.o.d knows, after that G.o.dd.a.m.ned dinner we're both ent.i.tled to drain the bottle."

Clete went to his luggage and pulled out a zippered leather envelope. He took from it an inch-thick sheath of papers, walked to Jimmy, and handed it to him.

"Sign where indicated."

"What the h.e.l.l is this, Clete?"

"On top is what they call a Limited Power of Attorney. It gives former Kapitn zur See Karl Bolt.i.tz of the Kriegsmarine the necessary authority to do all that he has to do to manage certain property of yours in Midland County, Texas."

"What the h.e.l.l are you talking about? My father has my power of attorney to run all the property I own."

"I know. But as soon as the probate judge of Midland County, Texas, is satisfied that you were in fact married to the former Marjorie Ann Howell, you'll own a lot more."

Jimmy looked at him for a long time before replying, his voice on the edge of breaking, "I don't think I ever knew it was 'Marjorie Ann.'"

"It was. And under the laws of the Sovereign State of Texas, upon the demise of the said Marjorie Ann Howell Cronley, all of her property pa.s.sed to her lawful husband, one James Davenport Cronley Junior."

"Oh, s.h.i.+t!"

"Said property-the details are in those papers-includes two sections of land, including the mineral rights thereto, in Midland County, plus some cash in the First National Bank of Midland, including about two hundred and sixteen thousand dollars, representing her most recent quarterly dividend from the Howell Petroleum Corporation. And of course her Howell Petroleum stock. And some more. It's all in there."

"I don't want any of it," Jimmy said.

"You don't have any choice."

"Oh, G.o.d!"

"When the Old Man handed this to me, he said to tell you two things."

"Really?"

"He said to tell you that everyone who matters knows you'd much rather have the Squirt and two dollars than this inheritance, but that's the way the ball has bounced. And he said to tell you never to forget that for every dollar a rich man has, there are at least three dishonest sonsofb.i.t.c.hes plotting to steal it from him."

Jimmy wiped a tear from his cheek with a knuckle.

"That sounds like the Old Man," he said, his voice breaking. Then he said, "Where does Bolt.i.tz fit in all this?"

"Very neatly. For one thing, he's about to be your brother-in-law."

"He's going to marry Beth?"

Frade nodded.

"Yeah. You saw them. We can't keep throwing cold water on them."

Jimmy laughed.

"The Old Man told Beth they should take a page from you and the Squirt and elope. I thought Mom was going to kill him. What they'll probably do is have a quiet wedding in Midland, and f.u.c.k what people say. Or a big one in Argentina-that's what Dorotea was trying to sell when I left. Anyway, he's going to be family, and since he's out of a job, there being no demand for U-boat skippers, he's going to need one. The Old Man is impressed with him and he told me-privately-that he's thinking of putting him in charge of his tanker operations.