He wanted if possible to build a grand coalition, he said, so they were inviting the Social Democrats and the Free Democrats for discussions. He excluded only the Communists as a possible coalition partner. But the Communists, who now called themselves the Democratic Socialist Party, got an impressive sixteen percent of the popular vote, a development that analysts said reflected anxiety among East Germans about the impending political changes. They also ran a polished, creative campaign built around their affable new leader Gregor Gysi.
The runner up Social Democrats who had campaigned on a platform of a more measured pace toward reunification, appeared to reject de Maiziere's coalition offer, but most analysts expected an eventual compromise.
''There's a certain readiness on the Social Democratic side,'' said a respected European diplomat. ''Everyone seems to accept that the decisive decisions to alter the course of the country require a broad consensus.''
De Maiziere, Shirley thought, the only democratically elected prime minister of the German Democratic republic. As such he was the last leader of an independent East Germany. A longtime member of the East German Christian Democratic Union, de Maizière helped oust the party's pro-Communist leadership after the fall of the Berlin Wall. He was elected the party's chairman in December. In the first only free election held in East Germany de Maizière was elected to the Volkskammer. One month later he succeeded Hans Modrow as Premier and held this position from 12 April 1990.
But there were rumours that he had worked for the East German Stasi which, Shirley rather felt, would shorten his career.
The German Stasi and at least she had got one over on them when she went into East Germany to pick up what she thought would be Daniel’s body. The Stasi or Ministry for State Security and the official state security service of the German Democratic Republic, East Germany. It had been described as one of the most effective and repressive intelligence and secret police agencies to ever have existed and Shirley had experienced what they could do through Schmidt. One of its main tasks was spying on the population, mainly through a vast network of citizens turned informants, and fighting any opposition by overt and covert measures including hidden psychological destruction of dissidents. Its Hauptverwaltung Aufklärung was responsible for both espionage and for conducting covert operations in foreign countries. Under its long-time head Markus Wolf it gained a reputation as one of the most effective intelligence agencies of the Cold War.
And their repression had extended to Christians who would not give up their beliefs and who often met secretly to have services. Shirley had attended one of them at the request of Johann in 1986 which had resulted in her afterwards having to escape. Johann had to go into hiding after being caught and escaping. Their treatment of him had been brutal.
On first July 1990 the Deutsche Mark replaced the East German mark as the official currency of East Germany. The Deutsche Mark had a very high reputation among the East Germans and was considered stable. At the same time many West German laws came into force in the GDR. This created a suitable framework for a political union by diminishing the huge gap between the two existing political, social, and economic systems of the two sides.
So now they were ready for official reunification and hopefully soon the divide would be forgotten and relegated to history. How Shirley hoped so. She set down her paper as Samuel put his arms out to her and took the baby. She nuzzled into him and he giggled.
The twins were trying their hardest to walk but had not yet mastered the art. They would soon, Shirley knew, and then they would be a full time task. She had already emptied all the bottom cupboards and put dangerous items high up.
She was teaching them words in all three languages and they could say a few though most of their conversation was unintelligible. What she found fascinating was the way they talked to each other in their baby language and how they interacted. Mostly in a friendly way though sometimes they would pull each other’s hair. She looked up as the stewardess came to offer them drinks and took out bottles for the babies.
“Gin and orange?” Daniel asked as he put one to Michael’s mouth.
“Definitely.”
“Did you find anything helpful in your articles?”
“Not really.”
“You should have a snooze. You were up half the night reading.”
“How do you know that?” Shirley asked.
“Because when you’re not next to me I miss you. I went back to sleep after I spied on you. I meant to keep awake but couldn’t.”
“Lindell is sending us some information. He says he’ll fax it over. He rang while you were attending to the infants.”
“He’s over the moon at your involvement,” Daniel said.
“What’s new?” Shirley handed Michael a little cake, picked up another one and gave it to Samuel. She watched in fascination as they ate them and wished she could just be a housewife and mother.
Or did she? She would probably be bored stiff after a day as much as she loved the infants. The twins ate, drank and she put them in the double carrycot with a few blocks. Daniel began to read from a file which he took out of his briefcase.
“What are you reading?” she asked.
“It’s something Johann gave me.” He pulled up the dividing armrest and put his arm round Shirley. “Read it with me. It’s about a few of the people associated with the Stasi and what they were up to just prior to the toppling of the East German government.”
“And Schmidt was one of them.”
“Yes but not very high up. That was his dream, to be in charge. I try to remember that he is just as much a member of the human race as anyone and loved by God because of that. I’m afraid I sometimes have a bit of difficulty with it.”
“He has to respond,” Shirley said.
“Yes, I know, which doesn’t seem too likely at this moment.” Daniel pulled a sheet of paper from the file and handed it to Shirley. “Read that. It’s a dossier on Karl Marx.”
“Karl Marx? You have to be kidding.”
“Karl Marx. That’s his name. He was high up in the Stasi and as peeved as the others to lose his job when the government dissolved. He was held in high regard by his peers and was instrumental in imprisoning quite a few so called dissidents, probably in interrogating them as well. He is married but is said to have homosexual tendencies. He is particularly close to one of the blokes, Kurt Ackerman, who was part of the team who interrogated people. I think he did quite a bit of the actual interrogating. The only thing he would not do was rape women.”
“How do you know that?” Shirley asked.
“Because Schmidt took me to some interrogations, to frighten me, I rather suspect. I had to stand by and pretend I agreed with what was going on which was dreadful. I had to use all my willpower to not interfere though sometimes I was able to help afterwards by pointing the Underground in the right direction.”
“Did you see rape?” Shirley frowned.
“I was involved once. They were interrogating a woman who wouldn’t tell them anything. She was part of the Underground and had been caught trying to help someone escape. They wanted to know who else was involved but she wouldn’t tell them. I asked if I could rape her and Schmidt agreed.”
“You what!” Shirley drew away to frown at Daniel.
“I pretended to rape her and afterwards we got her and her family to the west.”
“How do you mean, you pretended? How could you pretend? Did you have to undress?”
Daniel frowned in concentration. Why had he told Shirley that? It was totally unnecessary but it was something which had worried him a few times and which he had often wanted to tell her.
“Yes. Schmidt watched.”
“I don’t like that,” Shirley said, moving away from Daniel to frown at him.
“Nor did I. You would have done the same in my position. It was the only way to stop her really being raped. She lives in Brighton now because she and her husband decided they would like to move right away.”
“I
still don’t like it. What else did you do while you were in East Berlin that I should know about?”
“Nothing like that. I wanted to tell you before but I didn’t know how to do it.”
“So why are you telling me now?” Shirley asked.
“I don’t know. I suppose because we’re talking about Kurt Ackerman and because I felt guilty.”
“So Schmidt thinks you raped someone.”
“Not now he doesn’t. He mentioned it yesterday and I told him what happened.”
“What else do you have to show me?” Shirley asked.
“Are you very upset with me?” Daniel said.
She looked at him briefly and moved back against him. “I don’t like it. Put your arm round me and remind me why I’m so stuck on you.”
“I have no idea,” he replied, obeying. “Please don’t ever stop being stuck on me. I couldn’t bear it if you did.” He pulled out another pile of papers and handed them to her. “There was an attempted coup in February,” he said.
She looked at the first page. “I didn’t know that.”
“Nobody did. It was hushed up.”
“What happened to the people who were involved and who were they?”
“They were imprisoned though maybe not all of them because there are always people who slip the net. I don’t think you would know any of them but Johann has files on them which you can see when we reach Berlin.”
“Do you know of anyone who slipped the net?” Shirley asked.
“Read that first.” Daniel watched Shirley read while he half played with the babies. He did not like her involvement, he knew, but he liked the way she approached things so methodically. If she was not his wife he would enjoy working with her but he didn’t want her in danger. He must somehow arrange it that her input was more intellectual than actually hands on. The flight passed quickly as they talked and read.
Daniel looked out of the window when they began their descent into Tegel airport, his expression pensive. Not Schönefeld airport to which he had travelled when he defected to East Germany in 1986 and even nearer to the city centre of Berlin. The walls had always disturbed him on his descent, knowing that one day he too would be separated from the west and probably unable to return for ages, if ever. Now they were still here but there were plans to demolish them and now they did not separate families anymore. Now they did not hold prisoner people who had not wanted to be in the east.
He was more than fortunate, he thought. Fortunate because he survived his time in East Germany. Fortunate because Shirley had also survived and got out before she was too badly hurt. Fortunate to now be free to do what he wanted. Fortunate to have Shirley. Fortunate to have the babies.
But what did these next few days hold for all of them and he wished he could have kept Shirley away. She should not be involved because she had been involved in far too much on account of him. They began their gradual descent, the clouds sometimes obscuring the view. Below them were fields as the clouds thinned, some houses, turbines. The clouds once again obscured the view for a few seconds. Then fields, more houses. They crossed roads and passed over tall blocks of flats.
There was a profusion of trees with houses beyond which were surrounded by more trees. More houses with some in blocks which formed grey lines. Nothing seemed to have a particular order with no obvious colour scheme except for the rows of flats which had grey roofs as they got nearer to the airport. From the air there seemed to be hundreds of them. Maybe one day he would count them, Daniel thought.
And then they moved on to fly above a wooded area which led to more flats and now they were very low. They started their descent onto the tarmac and the air hostess began to speak, first in German then in English and Daniel found he did not really notice them going from one language to another. They passed buildings, cars, planes. There were trees to the right, a road. Beyond that tall fences. They turned towards the terminal before grinding to a halt.
Helen was at the airport to meet them. She had no idea where Johann was which was not unusual, she said as they crossed the Saatwinkler Damm to go towards the centre of Berlin. Shirley pointed the water out to the babies and was not sure how much they took in. She recalled how her parents had taken her and Susan to Rome when she was about eight and the sights had not impressed her then. Her main interest had been in counting how many fiats they were passing.
Susan and Stefan were involved in an enterprise and would be away for a couple of days, Helen continued. Would Shirley, Daniel and the babies stay with Helen? She would love to have them.
“I can babysit,” she said. “And get in a bit of practice.”
“What enterprise is Susan and Stefan involved in?” Daniel asked as they drove to Helen and Johann’s house in the suburbs of Berlin.
“I’m not really sure. Humanitarian, Susan said, which could cover just about anything. Johann was verbal about you being involved in any of this, Shirley.”
Shirley smiled. “I bet he was.”
“He threatened blue murder if I have anything to do with it but I’ve been doing a bit of sleuthing on the quiet. I knew a lot of people in East Berlin when I was there so I know I can be helpful. Because Johann got out before I did he knows less and so far we havn’t had time to discuss things. I’ll show you both when you’re settled. How was your trip?”
“Okay,” Shirley replied. “It seems like coming home when we come here which is a bit strange because most times I’ve visited it hasn’t been simple at all.”
“It’s my home so I like it,” Helen said. “But I’d like to travel to a few countries soon because I was so restricted in what I did when I was trapped in East Berlin.”
And Johann was more than verbal when he arrived home later that day. Shirley should not be involved. It was too dangerous. She had her career. She was young. She had the babies of whom to think. She had gone through enough already on account of them.
“Not Daniel?” Shirley asked.
“Pardon?” Johann looked bemused.
“Hasn’t he got the babies to think of also? You’re a chauvinist. Can we please forget gender and concentrate on the job in hand, which includes Helen?”
Johann looked briefly at his wife. “I don’t want her involved in it either.”
“I do,” Shirley said. “And you need me. You need her. Daniel, tell him.”
Daniel looked at Johann. “I think we do need them,” he said. “And Shirley’s right. We are chauvinists and their input will be valuable. Maybe we should stop making remarks like she has the babies. You and I are just as responsible for them as they are and there are quite a few ladies in Intelligence. We treat them equally.”
“Too right,” Helen said.
“Wow,” Shirley said at the same time.
“We’re not emotionally involved with them.” Johann leaned across to touch Helen’s hair for a moment. “Okay then, equality.”
“Which includes letting us know what is going on,” Shirley said. “If Daniel had told me about Schmidt straight after it happened I would have been prepared. As it was things could have turned out far differently.”
“Susan and Stefan for the last few months have been building up an acquaintance with a man who was part of the government before the barriers were opened,” Johann said. “His name is Ludwig Kohli. He is a Swiss German with communist leanings and is the leader of a group who are more than upset at how things are going at the moment.”
“Is Lisette with Susan and Stefan?” Shirley asked.
“Lisette is with your parents who are staying in a hotel in Amsterdam.”
“So Susan and Stefan are expecting trouble. Mum and dad didn’t mention it when they phoned a couple of days ago.”
“Lisette only went to be with them the day before yesterday. Susan took her under a false passport in case anyone who shouldn’t know about such things took an interest. Maybe your babies should go to your parents also if you are going to be involved. I think they guess something is afoot though no-one has told them details
and I’m sure they would rather the babies were with them than here. We just can’t be too careful in view of what happened to Daniel.”
Shirley looked at Daniel. How she wished she was not involved but she would not be happy until things were settled and staying in England did not mean safety as had already been proved by what Schmidt had done. “What do you think?” she asked.
“You could stay there too,” he replied.
“No. That will draw anyone who is interested to them.”
“I could take the babies,” Helen said.
“Would you?” Shirley’s expression was eager but only for an instant. “They havn’t been away from me since they were born.”
“Go too then,” Daniel said.
“No. Won’t it be a bit dangerous for you, Helen? You’re not exactly a nonentity.”
“I’ll use a false passport too,” Helen said. “I’m a master at disguises. Just in case anyone is keeping an eye on us and I’ll come straight back. Could I go tonight?”
They really did think things were serious, Shirley thought, and were all three babies going to lose their parents? Connie would have the twins. Her mother and father would have them. But Shirley wanted to raise them herself. She wanted to be alive to do so. She went to pack what was needed for Samuel and Michael and Daniel followed her a few minutes later.
“I love them so much,” she said.
“Yes, I know.”
“Which you do too. I’m sorry. Do you think they’ll miss us?”
“They know your parents very well,” Daniel said.
“Yes. Will Helen be safe?”
“She will make sure she is.”
He wanted to apologise again for involving Shirley, Daniel thought, but they just had to get on with it and what ever he said made nothing easier. He didn’t want the babies to go either but it would probably be worse for Shirley because she had them all the time unless they were in the crèche and even then she saw them frequently.
The Berlin Vendetta: Book 3 in the series 'The Enigmatic Defection' Page 5
