by Geoff Fabron
"Are they what you need?" asked Katherine anxiously.
Still working his way through the papers Cornelius nodded. "Yes. Deployments, mobilisation schedules, even a signed authorisation from Godisger himself. This will be enough to make Dikouros sit up and take notice!"
Katherine picked up the sense of relief and excitement in his voice and relaxed a little herself. "Take them all," she said, "and get out of here. Take my motor carriage and get back to Minden. No. Better still get to the Rhine and over the frontier."
Cornelius thought quickly. Originally he had thought that he could take just one or two papers that might not be missed, but he feared that anything short of a complete set of plans would not convince the sceptical Dikouros. Katherine was right, he must take them all, but with the safe open, the plans stolen and her motor carriage missing would they believe that Katherine had been upstairs asleep in her room when an 'unknown' enemy agent broke in?
While he had been waiting outside he had had plenty of time to think about what he could do to protect her. He moved over to the curtains and pulled them aside.
"Where's your motor carriage, Katherine?" he asked, looking into the night.
She came over and stood in front of him. She looked and pointed to the end of the covered parking. Whilst she was doing this Cornelius removed one of the rope sashes used to tie back the curtains during the day and quickly fashioned a loop.
As he stood behind her he put his hands gently on her arms and spoke softly to her.
"Your brothers mustn't realise that you have helped me," he said as his hands slowly slid down her arms to her wrists.
"Don't worry about them," she said, unaware of what he was doing, "I'll tell them I was asleep all the time."
"I don't think that will be enough," he said and firmly crossed her wrists behind her back, deftly slipping the rope over them. He pulled the loop tight, securing her hands behind her.
"What do you think you are doing Cornelius!" she hissed angrily, trying to keep her voice down and pulling at the cord around her wrists.
Cornelius turned her round as she struggled to free herself. "I'm sorry Katherine, but this is the only solution I can think of. They must believe that I duped you, that I used our relationship to come here and steal the plans."
"No Cornelius! They'll hunt you down and kill you. They'll know it was you!"
He led her over to the couch facing the fireplace. "I can look after myself, besides my diplomatic status may still protect me," he told her. "But you're a Saxon and have no protection."
He sat her down and she did not resist as he lifted her legs onto the couch and tied her ankles with another rope sash.
"This way you can be cast as the victim." he said ignoring the dirty look she gave him. "At least you can argue that you were coerced."
"But what will happen to you?" she said, her anger replaced by concern.
Cornelius sat close to her on the couch. "I won't be able to return to Saxony," he said as he undid the sliver brooch that pinned her scarf together.
"Then when will I see you again?"
"When this is all over," he said as he removed her scarf, "I'll contact you somehow and we'll find somewhere to meet." He twisted the scarf, noticing for the first time that it was the one he had bought her as a gift in Constantinople. This wasn't the use he had envisaged for it he thought as he slipped it between her lips and knotted it firmly behind her neck.
He stroked some hair out of her face as he spoke to her. "I told you that I loved you Katherine and I meant it. I will be back for you. That's a promise."
She mumbled from behind the scarf and he leant over and kissed her forehead. He made her as comfortable as he could and then he got up and went over to the table where he quickly packed all the documents into his rucksack. He removed the key from the safe and put it in his pocket, switched off the light and left through the glass door, leaving it slightly open.
Once outside Cornelius checked that it was all clear before moving swiftly over to Katherine's motor carriage. He got in and using the spare key that she had given him earlier started the engine and drove off.
Back inside, Frederick and Franz were still up. In an attempt to build a better relationship with his younger brother, Frederick had challenged Franz to a game of chess. They were sitting in the lounge where Katherine had left them after dinner, huddled over the chess board when they heard the motor carriage drive away from the lodge.
"Who could that be?" said Frederick looking up from the board.
"Katherine's the only other person here with a motor carriage," replied Franz. "It must be her. Strange time for a drive. Perhaps she has a secret liaison with her pet Roman."
Frederick gave his younger brother a warning look but Franz left it at that. After a few moments Frederick got up. "I'll think that I'll just go and check that it was Katherine who left. The gamekeepers have reported an increase in poaching recently and whereas I don't mind them taking the odd deer or two for the pot, I would object to losing a motor carriage!"
"I'll come with you," Franz rose as well. "I could do with some fresh air."
They walked out of the main entrance and around to the garage area.
"Well our vehicles are still here," said Frederick pointing to the two motor carriages parked at one end. "And the light in Katherine's room is out, so she has either gone for a drive, or she is asleep in her room and her motor carriage has been stolen."
"She wouldn't like that" said Franz with amusement, "she really loves the freedom that..."
The smile disappeared abruptly from Franz lips as he noticed the slightly open glass door beneath Katherine's room. If it had not been so dark, Frederick would have seen his young brother turn a deathly shade of white.
"What is it?" asked Frederick.
Franz said nothing as he began to run towards the study.
Lying on the couch Katherine heard the running feet approaching and the window door being flung open. At first she thought that Cornelius had come back but then a light was switched on and she heard Franz cry out.
"NO!" It was an animal like scream in its intensity. A cry of anger and disbelief.
Remembering the role in which Cornelius had cast her, Katherine began to wriggle on the couch and to struggle against the rope sashes that bound her. She started to produce muffled noises from behind the scarf that gagged her but Franz seemed to be mesmerised by the sight of the empty safe. It was Frederick, who had followed Franz in who noticed Katherine.
He went straight over to her, ignoring Franz who was feeling the inside of the safe in a futile attempt to disprove what his eyes told him. Sitting beside her just as Cornelius had a few minutes before, Frederick gently removed the scarf from her mouth.
"What's happened? What's going on here?" he demanded, as he untied Katherine's hands.
"The plans are gone!" screamed Franz. He turned away from the empty safe and turned on Katherine.
"You little fool!" he yelled at her. "It was your Roman wasn't it! He took them!"
Franz took a step towards her and Katherine feared that he was going to strike her, such was the look of anger in his eyes. Frederick stood up and placed himself between them.
"Will somebody please tell me what is going on here!" he shouted in exasperation. "Who tied Katherine up and what plans are missing?" Frederick looked from Franz to Katherine, his face pleading for an explanation.
“Cornelius arranged to meet me here,” said Katherine quietly, averting her eyes from brothers. “I thought the lodge would be empty and that we could... be alone.”
“And then!” Snapped Franz.
“After I let him in he tied me up and opened the safe”. Katherine did not dwell on how Cornelius had managed to gain access to the safe trusting that her brothers would assume safe cracking would be a core skill for a spy, which Franz would now believe he was. “I heard him remove some papers from the safe and then leave.”
“Our plans....”
“WHAT PLANS!” shouted F
rederick, now both angry and exasperated.
Franz was visibly shaking with anger as he spoke to his brother through clenched teeth.
"The plans for our attack on the Empire. That Roman took them. How he knew they were here I don't know, but now he's got them!"
"What attack on the Empire? No war plans have been authorised by the council."
"You didn't think that we would miss an opportunity like this did you," sneered Franz. "The King knows what we are doing and has approved it all. Everything is in place. It only needs his final go ahead."
"You're mad," said Frederick horrified at what he had just heard. "Another war won't solve anything!"
Franz ignored him and walked over to the desk where he picked up the ear piece to the telephone. "He can't have gone far”, he said as he dialled. "If we can stop him getting back to Minden or across the Rhine we can still retain the element of surprise."
He stopped dialling and looked over towards Katherine. She was sitting up and massaging her wrists. "I don't suppose he mentioned which direction he was taking?" he asked sarcastically.
Katherine did not say anything, but shook her head. She had not said a word since Frederick had released her. Franz resumed dialling and then waited impatiently for somebody to answer. When he finally got a reply he identified himself and spat out a series of orders and instructions.
When he had finished he replaced the telephone and moved over to where Frederick was sitting with Katherine, comforting her. Having done something, Franz felt more in control of himself.
"I've arranged for roadblocks to be placed on all the main roads leading to Minden and to the Rhine crossings, and for the embassy to be cordoned off," he informed Frederick. "That should stop him. Now I must go and see General Godisger and inform him of this ... incident."
He left the room without looking at Katherine or saying a word to her. She began to cry on Frederick's shoulder.
"My poor little Katherine," he spoke to her in the soothing way that he had used when she was small and had come to her big brother when she had hurt herself. For Katherine he felt sorrow. For Franz, Cornelius and himself he felt anger. Anger at Franz for the war he was planning, anger at Cornelius for using and hurting Katherine and most of all anger at himself for introducing Katherine to that swine in the first place.
Katherine sobbed quietly. She cried as a release from the tension and stress that she had been under since leaving Minden.
And she cried for Cornelius, afraid that he would not make good his escape from Saxony.
Chapter Twelve
27th July 1920
Saxony
Just before dawn Cornelius was about forty miles from the bridge over the Rhine to Colonia Agrippina. He noticed that the fuel gauge was on empty. Not wishing to run out of petrol and draw attention to himself he stopped at a small village garage just as the sun was beginning to appear through the trees.
The garage had not yet opened so Cornelius waited patiently, keeping an eye on the rucksack on the seat beside him. Fifteen minutes later another motor carriage, this one made in the Empire pulled into the garage from the direction of the frontier. A large overweight man in business dress got out and looked around at the deserted garage in obvious disgust before noticing Cornelius and coming over to him.
Cornelius slid back the window and smiled as the man approached.
"What time does this garage open?" the man asked slowly in very bad German.
"I'm afraid I don't know," replied Cornelius in faultless Latin, "I've only just arrived myself."
"A fellow Roman!" exclaimed the man with a sigh of relief, "I was beginning to think that I was the only one left in Saxony."
He introduced himself as Julius Valeria, a sales representative for an engineering firm in Lutetia. Cornelius listened politely to his catalogue of complaints about how bad things had become since the new trade laws were introduced. He was only half listening, nodding his head every now and then when Valeria mentioned being held up at a road block. He then gave the corpulent businessman his full attention.
"What road block?" demanded Cornelius.
"About five miles back," said Valeria, slightly taken aback by the sharp tone, "It was just being set up, I didn't have much of a problem, but those heading for Colonia Agrippina were being checked. I saw a motor carriage just like yours’ being virtually disassembled."
"What were they looking for?" asked Cornelius with a sinking feeling in his stomach.
"No idea," said Valeria, "but they were certainly very thorough, and none too gentle either. Not surprising when they have the army instead of the police manning the road blocks."
Cornelius thought quickly. It was possible that they were looking for somebody else, but that was unlikely as they were only interested in those going towards the frontier and judging by what Valeria had said they were concentrating on Imperial citizens. Even though he was driving a Saxon made vehicle and dressed like a local, there was no way that he could pass himself off as a Saxon. He would have to find another way across the Rhine.
A man in grease stained overalls opened the doors to the garage workshop and walked over to the two vehicles parked next to the fuel pumps.
"At last," said Valeria. "Now we can fill up and be on our way."
"You go first," said Cornelius needing time to think, "I'll be stuck at the road block anyway."
Valeria thanked him and began to give instructions to the bemused Saxon attendant in his broken German.
Cornelius took out a map of the area and began to look for an alternate way across the frontier. He found a minor road that forked off the main route a couple of miles out of town and then ran parallel to the river. The distance between the road and the river was over thirty miles. It was hilly and heavily wooded with a railway track through it connecting the major Rhine cities, and some unpaved dirt tracks to service the small communities in the area. He decided to take one of these tracks to the Rhine and then cross by boat.
While the garage owner filled up Katherine's motor carriage, Cornelius took the rucksack and went over to one of the village shops that had just opened. There he bought some bread rolls, dried sausage, tinned soup and bottled water. Returning to the garage he paid for the petrol and drove off, hoping that he would not meet a road block before the turn off.
Saxon Staff School
Count Godisger sat behind his desk, staring silently at Franz Maleric standing at attention in front of him. Maleric had informed him of the theft of the plans and the actions that he had taken to apprehend Cornelius. Fully expecting to receive the full fury of Godisger's anger Franz had resigned himself to enduring a withering indictment of his shortcomings as an officer. But it did not happen. Instead the general just sat behind his desk, his face drained of colour and with an expression that Franz had never seen before. At first he could not place it, but then realised that it was fear.
The 'ice general' rarely showed any sort of emotion, except anger, yet here he was looking like he had seen a ghost. Why? Franz had been the one who had lost the plans.
Then Franz understood. His plan for defeating the imperial armies was the fulfilment of the dream that he had had for thirty years, revenge for the defeat three decades ago which had decimated Godisger's generation. Now it looked like that dream was fading away. Another chance may never present itself. He was scared that he had missed his chance.
Franz saw an opportunity to salvage something from the night’s fiasco and possibly turn it to his advantage.
"Despite this setback," he said choosing his words with care, "I believe that we can still proceed with our attack, although it will need to be brought forward."
"What!" exclaimed Godisger. "With the Romans in possession of our plans. Are you mad Maleric!"
"The 'Romans' do not have the plans sir," explained Franz in a slightly condescending tone. "Only 'a Roman', who is still in Saxony, cut off from his embassy and with the frontier sealed. Also, he only got the operational plans covering the mobilisation and
deployments. The strategic plan on how we would destroy the Roman army on the Rhine was not in the safe. "
He began to speak with more confidence when he saw that he had Godisger's attention and his idea began to clarify in his mind. "If we strike now we still have the element of surprise! Even if they eventually get their hands on the stolen plans it does not reveal everything."
They looked at each other and Franz could see the general struggling with the decision before him. It was a choice between two fears - the fear of condemning another generation to die in a fruitless war or the fear of missing his opportunity for revenge. When he finally spoke, Franz knew that he had won.
"Are you certain that the spy has not crossed the Rhine?"
"Absolutely. The frontier was alerted within an hour of the plans being taken, and the embassy is surrounded by a regiment from the Minden garrison."
"What about the movement of equipment into the staging areas?"
"We have 90% of the arms and supplies in place already." It was closer to 70%, but Franz told the general what he wanted to hear.
"And the advance teams?"
They can be across the Rhine and on the way to their objectives within 24 hours." Most of them anyway, Franz admitted to himself. In actual fact about a quarter of them were still forming along the eastern frontier and would need at least three days to re-deploy across Saxony to the west.
Godisger continued to stare at Franz. The colour had returned to his cheeks but the determination and decisiveness that Franz had admired so much was gone.
