Top Secret Part 11

"Sir, I had the honor of serving in Baron von Wachtstein's squadron in the defense of Berlin."

Well, that should be recommendation enough, but as soon as I get back to Kloster Grnau, I'll get on the radio and ask ole Hansel about him.

"Schrder, I may have use for you and your men," Cronley said. "But before I can offer you the job, you'll have to be vetted by another officer. What I propose to do now, with Colonel Wilson's permission, is take you to see him."

"Kurt," Wilson said, "I've explained our pay arrangements. Cronley is willing to do the same."

"Yes, sir. May I ask where we'll be going?"

"No," Cronley said simply.

"We'll be going in the Storch?"

"Yes."

"Excuse me, but how can I fly you anywhere if I don't know where we're going?"

"I will be flying the Storch," Cronley said. "Why don't you top off the tanks while I have a final word with Colonel Wilson?"

"Yes, sir."

"And while you're at it, put two or three jerry cans of avgas in the backseat."

"Yes, sir."

- "Jim, who was that Luftwaffe hero you brought up?" Wilson said when they were alone. "Or is that cla.s.sified?"

"Yes, sir, probably. I met him in Argentina. Good guy. He's now flying South American Airways Constellations between here and Germany. I'm going to check out Schrder with him and an officer back at Kloster Grnau."

"And the name of this other officer? Or is that cla.s.sified, too?"

"That's probably cla.s.sified, too, sir. Will you settle for 'a former senior officer of Abwehr Ost'?"

"That's likely Oberst Ludwig Mannberg. Or maybe General Gehlen himself."

When Cronley didn't reply, Wilson added, "Apropos of nothing, I was the aerial taxi driver who flew Major Wallace to accept General Gehlen's surrender."

Cronley nodded. "That being the case, sir, I'm going to run Schrder past Mannberg first, and then maybe past the general, too."

"You're good, Cronley. I now understand why Mattingly put you in charge of Kloster Grnau."

"He put me in charge because he had no one else, sir, and because the guy who should be running it, Tiny, pa.s.sed up a commission for the good of the service."

"Modesty becomes you, but that's not the way it was. What I said before, that you're good, was a sincere compliment. Now comes the fatherly advice of a senior officer, welcome or not."

"Yes, sir?"

"Prefacing this with the immodest announcement that I am, by thirteen months, the senior officer of the Cla.s.s of 1940-in other words, I got my silver oak leaves thirteen months before the second guy in 'forty got his-and thus know what I'm talking about . . ."

He stopped, collected his thoughts, and then went on: "The disadvantages of getting rank and or authority and responsibility before your peers get it are that it (a) goes to your head, and (b) makes people jealous, which (c) causes them to try like h.e.l.l to knock you back to their level by fair and-more often-foul means.

"The advantages of getting rank, et cetera, mean that you can do things for the good of the service that otherwise you could not do. And that's what we professional soldiers are supposed to do, isn't it? Make contributions to the good of the service? Lecture over."

"Thank you, sir," Cronley said softly.

"Get out of here, Cronley. Hie thee to thy monastery!"

Cronley came to attention and saluted crisply. Wilson returned it as crisply. Cronley executed an about-face movement and marched to the office door.

[ TWO ].

Kloster Grnau Schollbrunn, Bavaria American Zone of Occupation, Germany 1235 29 October 1945 Two machine gun jeeps were blocking the road, and Cronley had to make two low-level pa.s.ses over what was to be his runway-very low and very slow pa.s.ses, with the window open so they could see his face-before the jeeps started up and moved out of the way.

He put the Storch down smoothly, taxied to the end of the "runway," and shut down the engine.

"It would appear that I have cheated death once again," he said to Schrder.

Schrder's expression did not change.

"May I ask where we are?" Schrder said.

"No."

Tiny walked toward the airplane. Cronley made a slight hand signal to him, which he hoped would make Dunwiddie salute him and-more important-play the respectful role of a non-com dealing with an officer.

Dunwiddie understood. He saluted crisply and Cronley returned it.

"Two things, Sergeant," Cronley ordered. "Have your men push the aircraft off the strip, and then have them put a tarpaulin over it. And then get someone to escort this gentleman while he's here."

"Yes, sir," Dunwiddie said, and gestured for one of the jeeps to come to them.

When the jeep stopped before him, Dunwiddie pointed to the machine gunner, a corporal, and ordered: "You will escort this gentleman until you are relieved."

"You got it, First Sergeant."

Dunwiddie pointed to the driver.

"You go to the barracks and get enough men to push this airplane up beside the chapel. Then put a tarp over it so it'll be hard to see from the air."

The jeep driver, a sergeant, nodded, and the moment the corporal had tied down his Browning and jumped free of the jeep, turned it around and drove off.

"You can get out now, Herr Schrder," Cronley said in German.

They set out for the headquarters building, Cronley and Dunwiddie walking side by side. Schrder walked behind them as the corporal, now cradling a Thompson submachine gun like a hunter's shotgun, followed him.

As they approached the building, Cronley saw General Reinhard Gehlen and Oberst Ludwig Mannberg standing just outside. That made moot the question he had had in his mind about how he was going to get one or the other of them out of the mess in order to explain the situation.

Cronley also saw on Schrder's face that he recognized one of them. Or both.

"Good afternoon, Herr Cronley," Gehlen said courteously.

"I hope my arrival didn't disturb your lunch, sir."

"It did, but the sound of a Storch coming in here caused my curiosity to overwhelm my hunger." He looked closely at Schrder. "We know one another, don't we?"

Schrder snapped to rigid attention, clicked his heels, bobbed his head, and said, "Herr General, I had the honor of flying the general on many occasions. In Poland and the East, Herr General."

"I thought you looked familiar," Gehlen said. "Schrder, isn't it?"

Schrder bobbed his head and clicked his heels again.

"Herr General, I am flattered that the general remembers."

"We don't do that here, Schrder," Mannberg said. "The war is over and we are no longer in military service."

"Jawohl, Herr Oberst."

"And," Mannberg added, drily sarcastic, "it would follow that since we are no longer in military service, neither do we have military rank."

"Corporal, take our guest around the corner, please," Cronley said, "while I have a word with these gentlemen."

Schrder went around the corner of the building with the corporal three steps behind him.

Gehlen looked expectantly at Cronley to see what he wanted.

"General, how would you feel about Schrder joining us here?"

"In connection with that Storch he just flew in here, you mean?"

Cronley nodded.

"The Storch, and another one, is now ours," he said.

"I think he could prove quite useful. But I suspect you have some doubt?"

"Yes, sir. You think he can be trusted?"

"Oh, yes."

"Could you tell me why?"

"Because right now he's wondering whether he's going to be put to work, or be shot for having seen too much," Gehlen explained.

Cronley thought there was a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

"Exactly what has he seen?"

"Mannberg and myself," Gehlen said, more than a little condescendingly.

Cronley felt a wave of anger rise. He recognized it and waited until he felt he had it under control before he replied.

"General, keeping in mind that three days ago I was a second lieutenant, you're going to have to have a little patience when I ask what you and Oberst Mannberg, with your far greater experience, consider to be dumb questions."

"The general meant no disrespect, Hauptman Cronley," Mannberg said.

"Actually, quite the opposite, Hauptman Cronley," Gehlen said. "My problem with you is that I've seen-and I mean seen here, not what you did in Argentina, but that also obviously applies-what a competent intelligence officer you are, and I sometimes forget there probably are . . . how do I say this? . . . certain gaps in your professional experience."

"My professional experience can be written inside a matchbook cover with a thick grease pencil," Cronley said. "And the gaps in it make a hole somewhat larger than the Grand Canyon. And I think you both are fully aware of that."

Mannberg laughed.

"Is something funny?" Cronley snapped.

"Yes," Mannberg said. "That colorful expression of annoyance, I'm afraid, did not translate very well into German."

"I was speaking German?" Cronley blurted.

So I didn't have my temper firmly in hand.

"You sounded like a Strasbourger on his fourth liter of beer," Mannberg said.

"That's bad."

"But you made your point," Gehlen said, "and it was taken, Hauptman Cronley. I apologize for not understanding. You were-as you should have been-concerned that taking Schrder here might pose security problems. When I so quickly suggested I didn't think it would be a problem, you wondered-as you should have-how quickly I had made that decision. I thought it should have been obvious to you. My mistake. One of the gaps in your experience is that you have had no experience in the East."

By East he means Russia.

Why are these guys so reluctant to say Russia?

Gehlen met his eyes a long moment, then went on: "Let me tell you what it was like in the East when Schrder was flying me and Mannberg around at the front. It was understood that under no circ.u.mstances could we fall into the hands of the Red Army. Specifically, Schrder knew that when we took off, there was an explosive charge aboard the Storch that I would detonate, or he would, if it appeared there was any chance at all that we were going to go down behind the Red Army's lines.

"Even after the flight, or flights, Schrder understood that it was unacceptable for him to be captured with knowledge of the location of any Abwehr Ost detachment or the like. He gave his word as an officer to die honorably by his own hand in that circ.u.mstance."

"Jesus Christ!" Cronley said softly.

"When you brought him here, and he saw Mannberg and me, he naturally a.s.sumed the same security protocol would be in place here. And I'm sure he knows the Red Army is looking for any former member of Abwehr Ost.

"Schrder knew the moment we saw and recognized one another that he would not be allowed to leave in possession of such intelligence. I had those facts, plus my knowledge that he was a courageous and trustworthy officer-as well as a very good pilot-in mind when I made what appeared to you to be a casual decision about whether he would be useful here."

Gehlen let that sink in a moment, and after Cronley nodded, went on: "My mistake, Hauptman Cronley, was to forget about those gaps in your experience, and again, for that I apologize."