Blades of Winter

by G T Almasi

  “I’d say it’s whoever we’ll find at the end of this investigation.”

  “Don’t you have any guesses?”

  “Of course.”

  I waited for him to go on. Finally, I prompted him. “Well?”

  “They’re too speculative for me to say out loud.”

  “Oh, c’mon!”

  Cyrus shifted onto his side so he could see me better. “Drop it, Scarlet. Leave this to us grizzled old geezers to figure out. There are a lot of angles to consider, and it could be a lot of different people.” He rolled onto his back again. “I am sure of one thing. It’s related to the mission we’re doing.”

  “Then why aren’t they after you, too? You’re the Front Desk.”

  “I’d say it’s because you scare them more than I do.” Cyrus propped himself up on his elbow and sipped his soda. “Don’t forget, I’m only an expendable bureaucratic cog. You’re the superspy.”

  I waved my hands in frustration. “Why are you so freaking relaxed about this?”

  Cyrus looked up at the sky. “Alix, sooner or later this happens to practically everyone in our business.” He stifled a small belch, then said, “The Cuban Liberation Movement has had a price on my head since 1959. During the embargo, the Germans found out your father was the American agent who’d been kidnapping all the Reich officials. They put out a huge bounty on him. When he tried to rescue the hostages in ’67, their reward for delivering Big Bertha went through the roof.” Cyrus picked up his bag of chips and regarded it thoughtfully. “It’s actually quite a compliment.”

  I didn’t know whether to hide under my wheelchair or chuck my soda can at his head. “Cyrus, are you nuts?” I looked over both my shoulders again. “How is this a compliment?”

  “It means you’re kicking ass.” Cyrus winked at me. “Which we knew, anyway.” He explained that going after a Level is one of the most expensive things a competitor can attempt. “Honestly, Alix, don’t worry about it. I’ve planned dozens of these things, and they’re much harder than you’d think, especially when the target is a Level. For example, what’s happened to the people who have come after you?”

  “I’ve mangled the shit out of them.”

  “My point exactly.”

  I eyeballed him for a few seconds. He really didn’t look concerned, like he was only talking about a parking ticket. “Okay, Cyrus.” I shrugged and took a huge bite of my sub. “If foo fay fo.”

  Cyrus looked over at me, grinned a little, and shook his head, “Alix, don’t take such big bites. You’re gonna choke on that.”

  We chatted for a while longer as we finished eating our lunch. I asked if they’d gotten anything out of my Day Loop, but they hadn’t. The data had been too badly corrupted by the bullet circus that happened to me in Baghdad. It sounded like my verbal report still gave the Info people a lot to go on, but Cyrus made sure to drive home the importance of intel transmission. The whole time he lectured me about it I was gradually airing out a giant burp, so I just kept nodding until we both ran out of air.

  Eventually Cyrus had to get ready for a meeting. He picked me up, put me in my wheelchair, and pushed me back to the Bethesda. As we rode the elevator up to my floor, I took one of his hands in mine and held it until the doors opened. When we got back to my room, he plucked me out of my chair and gently laid me back in my bed. He smoothed my hair with his hand and said, “All right, I’ll see you later. Keep up the good work with your rehab and you’ll be back in the field before you know it.”

  “Okay,” I said. He began to walk out of my room. I called out, “Hey, Cyrus?” He turned and looked back at me. I had a little lump in my throat. After a few heartbeats I said, “Thanks for taking me to the park.”

  He smiled. “You’re welcome, kiddo.”

  The Oil Embargo and Hostage Crisis

  This dossier contains public-facing and classified information. Do not remove this file from the ExOps’ Archive.

  New York Times, January 21, 1965

  President Vows to End Segregation by Christmas

  WASHINGTON—President Richard M. Nixon began his second term yesterday by declaring war on racism in the United States. His administration has spent much political capital getting the Civil Rights Act pushed through Congress, and now he intends to give it the teeth it needs to be effective.

  “My fellow Americans,” said the president during his inauguration speech, “to quote the brave and brilliant Dr. King, ‘None of us truly have freedom until all of us have freedom.’ We must join hands and finish the work that our Great Emancipator started one hundred years ago.” After extolling the courage of those who participated in last year’s freedom rides, President Nixon leveled a challenge to our biggest ally, Greater Germany.

  “We have an opportunity to end our past hypocrisies, to achieve our true potential, and to send a message to the world. Oppression, hatred, and bigotry are not American ideals, and 1965 will be the year they are no longer American realities.”

  Over 70 percent of black children in southern states attend all-black public schools. Most of these facilities are in deplorable condition, despite postwar legislation requiring equal facilities for all publicly funded schools. While this is nowhere near the human rights violations committed by the Reich, this tragic situation has always undercut American diplomats’ attempts to persuade German officials to end Jewish slavery in their territories. “Why should we listen to the Americans?” quipped a spokesman for the German embassy here in Washington. “They still lynch their Negroes.”

  The president certainly has his work cut out for him. Jim Crow laws are deeply embedded in the cultures of the former Confederate states. Said one southern Democrat representative, “I’ll do everything in my power to preserve segregation, even if it means I have to stand in the school doorway myself.”

  From the Voice of America broadcast of May 3, 1965

  Germany Responds to Nixon’s Call for Human Rights with Oil Embargo

  “The Greater German Foreign Trade Ministry today announced that it will cease exports of petroleum to the United States, effective immediately. The announcement makes it clear that President Nixon’s continuing charges of German human rights violations have infuriated both Chancellor Adenauer and the Reichstag. A U.S. embassy spokesman here in Berlin said: ‘If we shared a land border with them, they might have declared war instead.’

  “This oil embargo will affect Americans from all walks of life. Gasoline may quadruple in price, when it’s available at all. The higher cost of transportation and energy will impact all American industries and businesses. Increased domestic oil exploration will eventually bring some relief, but that may be years away.”

  Der Tagesspiegel [translated] 31 July 1965

  Minister’s Wife Kidnapped at Gunpoint!

  BERLIN—Marlene Höhler, wife of Foreign Trade Minister Johann Höhler, was abducted from her home this morning as she prepared to take her two children to school. The children were not taken or harmed, and their account of the event makes it clear that the operation was professionally planned and executed. This is the fifth family member of a public official to be kidnapped since the beginning of the oil embargo against the United States.

  The U.S. embassy in Berlin has issued brief statements officially condemning the abductions. Minister Höhler fired back that American agents were clearly behind the kidnapping of his wife and vowed that his ministry’s policy would never be dictated to him by terrorists.

  DATE: August 5, 1965

  TO: Front Desk, Extreme Operations Division FROM: Room 88, Hotel Zoo Berlin, Kurfürstendamm

  25, Berlin.

  SUBJECT: Operation GEMSNARE

  Sir,

  Gemsnare-6 has been plucked from her nest. Per your standing order, the Gemlets were not touched.

  —Big Bertha

  New York Times, April 3, 1966

  U.S. Ambassador to Greater Germany Taken Hostage

  BERLIN—An anti-U.S. political rally staged in front of the American embas
sy here spiraled out of control yesterday when German terrorists stormed the building and captured the ambassador and his entire staff. A report on casualties was not immediately available.

  The rally was held to protest the alleged American kidnapping of several prominent German officials and their family members. Fueled by hours of passionate speeches and heavy drinking, the crowd became violent and began pelting the embassy with bottles and rocks. At 8:05 P.M. local time, a group of paramilitary radicals led by the infamous Gudrun Ennslin broke through the embassy’s front gate and occupied the building.

  German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer refused to censure the violation of diplomatic immunity. “Now we will see if the Americans can take it as well as they dish it out,” he said, adding that he would do what he could to ensure the safety of the captives. “We are not monsters, after all.”

  Denounced in the U.S., Ennslin and her followers in the Red Army Faction have been praised by German conservatives for demonstrating “the consequences of clashing with Germany.” The headline of this morning’s edition of the far-right German tabloid Bild-Zeitung screamed “Nehman Dass!” which approximately translates to “Take That!”

  President Nixon condemned the act and vowed that he would see the situation resolved. “American citizens have inalienable rights no matter where they are,” the president declared, “and I will bring our people home safe if it’s the last thing I do.”

  Washington Post, March 29, 1967

  Failed U.S. Hostage Rescue Attempt Kills 70

  BERLIN—The German newspaper Der Tagesspiegel reported this morning that the spectacular shootout here yesterday was a failed attempt to rescue the hostages being held in the American embassy. According to the report, the embassy hostage takers came under attack from eight U.S. agents who inflicted an enormous amount of damage before they were routed by Wehrmacht helicopter gunships. Seven American agents were killed along with forty-eight Berlin policemen, three German Army helicopter pilots, and thirteen members of the Red Army Faction. One of the American agents was wounded and captured but later escaped. He apparently remains at large.

  This open violence could signal a breaking point in the Shadowstorm, which has thus far been a relatively discreet battle between the clandestine communities of the Big Four. The combined pressures of the embargo, the kidnappings, and the hostage situation have resulted in the worst diplomatic crisis since World War Two. Vice President Lodge, formerly the U.S. ambassador to Germany, had a long phone call with his friend the chancellor to head off a general mobilization. The vice president then had an equally long meeting in the Oval Office with the president and his cabinet.

  Although details of this meeting are unknown at the time of this writing, one thing is certain. Yesterday’s street battle may have been an operational disaster, but domestically it was necessary for the White House to display a show of strength before the one-year anniversary of the storming of the U.S. embassy in Berlin. Despite the mission’s lack of success, it still sends a message to the American people that President Nixon is doing all he can to resolve the hostage crisis.

  Washington Post, April 4, 1967

  Greater Germany Warns of Impending Soviet Invasion

  BERLIN—A spokesman for the Abwehr alerted the German media yesterday that his agency has collected clear evidence of a Soviet buildup all along Germany’s eastern borders. He went on to say that the KGB has increased their presence in Berlin to the point where there may be more Soviet agents in the city than German ones. Citizens were warned to report any suspicious activity immediately.

  This dire news comes less than a week after Berlin was rocked by a bloody street battle around the American embassy. This event marked a new low in German-American relations and no doubt served as the impetus for Russia’s latest aggressive maneuvers. Despite the charged anti-American rhetoric flying around the Reich, the chancellor and the Reichstag have so far decided to maintain their alliance with the U.S. while Germany faces such an immediate threat from the Soviet Union.

  DATE: April 7, 1967

  TO: Office of the Director, Extreme Operations Division

  FROM: Front Desk, German Section, Extreme

  Operations Division

  SUBJECT: Disciplinary recommendation for Big Bertha

  Sir,

  As you are no doubt aware, Big Bertha walked into ExOps headquarters this morning. This agent went missing in the aftermath of our failed hostage rescue attempt last week. He was smuggled out of Europe by members of an underground organization that fights for the release of Germany’s Jewish slaves. It seems that Big Bertha had already established ties with this group, the Circle of Zion, during his missions in Greater Germany.

  I strongly recommend an official review of Big Bertha’s conduct during this ongoing crisis. His recklessness has only strained our deteriorating relationship with Greater Germany. He has been acting on his own initiative, and I feel that he has been found sorely lacking in proper judgment.

  —Jakob Fredericks

  Front Desk, German Section

  DATE: April 7, 1967

  TO: Front Desk, German Section, Extreme Operations

  Division

  FROM: Office of the Director, Extreme Operations

  Division

  SUBJECT: RE: Disciplinary recommendation for Big Bertha

  Fredericks,

  We need an official review of one of our agents like we need a third tit. We’re on the bubble, Jakob, and we must present a successful face. You will award Big Bertha the enclosed commendation for valor and promote him to Level 18.

  You will also select a senior field team to send to Germany’s eastern frontier, where they will be attached to a special Gestapo force that is infiltrating Russia to undermine the alleged impending invasion. This will provide us with intelligence about the situation in that region, plus it will act as a good faith gesture toward our understandably upset cousins across the pond.

  —William Colby

  Director, ExOps

  PS: Make a big deal about this. I want to hear the members of the Covert Affairs Committee applauding Big Bertha from my desk.

  DATE: June 18, 1967

  TO: Senator Goldwater

  FROM: The Office of the President of the United States

  Subject: Third term as president

  Barry,

  The reversal of the 22nd Amendment is a crucial step toward maintaining steady leadership for our nation during this time of crisis. This critical piece of legislation would not have passed without your enthusiastic assistance.

  I hope I can rely on your continued support while I begin the campaign for my third term, and when I’m reelected in 1968, you can be sure that there will be a place for you in my cabinet. If we are still suffering from the Germans’ oil embargo and the hostage crisis, I will need your help to teach those “supermen” a lesson.

  —Dick Nixon

  New York Times, November 4, 1968

  Hostages Released, Oil Embargo Finally Ends

  WASHINGTON—White House Press Secretary George Christian reported yesterday that German Chancellor Adenauer has convinced the Red Army Faction to release the American hostages held in Berlin since April of 1966. Mr. Christian also revealed that the German Foreign Trade Ministry will lift their four-year embargo on petroleum shipments to the United States.

  The embargo and hostage crisis strained Pan-Atlantic diplomatic relations to—and sometimes beyond—the breaking point. Although the situation seemed intractable, both governments repeatedly stated that they did not want war. The drain on resources and political capital was considerable, especially with the perception that Russia and China were waiting to claim whatever was left after the United States and Germany finished wearing each other down.

  Mr. Christian spoke to this idea when he said, “The Germans have gotten as weary of all this as we have.” Since the embargo began four years ago, a brutal undercover war has raged between German and American intelligence agents. Bombings, kidnappings, and shooto
uts have shattered the peace of Berlin, Paris, London, New York, Washington, and many other German and American cities.

  The hostage situation at the American embassy in Berlin led to one of the most high-profile moments of the Shadowstorm when eight U.S. commandos attempted to rescue the hostages by force. Over seventy people lost their lives, including seven of the assailants. The eighth commando escaped and returned to the United States.

  The timing of this announcement couldn’t be worse for the Democratic nominee, Lyndon Johnson. The election is only four days away, and the president’s approval ratings will certainly get a significant boost. With the repeal of the 22nd Amendment it would seem that nothing can keep President Nixon from a third term in the White House.

  CHAPTER 22

  THREE WEEKS LATER, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 5:15 P.M. EST MANHATTAN’S GREENWICH VILLAGE, NEW YORK CITY, USA

  The rabble on Bleecker Street is the usual bubbling stew of hornswogglers and desperadoes, but today there’s an extra pinch of menace. After you’ve been in the field for a while, you can feel when you’re being followed. It’s sort of a tingling sensation I get. Patrick feels it, too. He comms with his Information Coordinator to confirm that whoever is shadowing us isn’t a friendly.

  I try to look backward by examining the reflections in the store windows. I can’t see who’s following, but I do see the two of us. Trick is dressed in white Chuck Taylor sneakers, blue jeans, and a dark blue windbreaker. I’m wearing black Jack Purcell sneakers, black cargo pants, and my birthday present from Cleo: a baby-soft maroon leather jacket with black and white stripes down the sleeves. It’s the best present ever, and I’ve worn it every day since she gave it to me a month ago.