“The transfer? You remember everything?”
“Like I was there watching it happen. I can’t believe it really. I figured the memories would be hazy like my own, but they’re so vivid and real. Is this how you remember things?”
“It’s not a blessing. I don’t forget anything.”
Jadzia reached and took Genesis into her hands. “Listen to me,” she said. “I’m not angry with you. You’ve given me a gift. And I’m so grateful for that.” She extended her arms and Genesis lifted into the air under her own power.
She climbed a small pear tree and picked some fruit, tossing a pear to Genesis who quickly caught it and began to eat.
“So, what next?” Genesis asked.
“After we eat, I want to prevent World War II.”
Genesis was taken aback by her sudden determination and brevity. “Are you sure you feel all right? You were just in a coma for four months.”
“Actually, I feel great,” Jadzia said. “Maybe it’s because I had another decent night’s rest. Or maybe I just feel so well-protected.”
“It’s good to see you so lively.”
Jadzia climbed down from the tree, her arm cradling half a dozen pieces of fruit. She set them in a pile on the grass and devoured one in a matter of seconds. “This is pretty good.”
“Where would you like to begin?”
“Well, I thought we should start with the invasion of my country, but that will only delay the war.”
Genesis finished eating her pear and tossed the core under a bush. A squirrel quickly rushed down from a tree and absconded with it. “You’re right,” she said. “Britain and France would let Hitler get away with anything at that point.”
“That’s what we need to change then,” Jadzia said. “We need to prevent the meeting in Munich from happening.”
“I have another idea,” she mused. “Either way, we need to be careful. I recommend we first watch what happens without our intervention before making any changes.”
“But we already know what happened?”
“We know what history books say happened. I want to see what happened with my own eyes.”
“Whose mind should I transfer to?”
“Obviously we can’t ever use Hitler’s - his mind is too poisoned. I’ll need to enter the stream and find the right mind first.”
Jadzia set the fruit aside and readied herself. “Let’s go.”
A few moments later, Jadzia opened her eyes and looked around the strange room. She looked at her hands which were those of a man. A nearby mirror affirmed what she expected: she was in the body of a German officer, his uniform decorated with medals and neatly pressed. His face was weathered but still clean-shaven and his eyes hidden by the brim of his hat.
Genesis arrived a few seconds after Jadzia regained consciousness in her new body. She flew around the room, making sure it was secure from prying eyes.
“If my memory serves me correctly,” Jadzia said, “I’d say I’m in the body of Hitler’s Chief of the General Staff, Ludwig Beck.”
“The Munich Agreement hasn’t been signed yet. It won’t be for another couple of months.”
“When are we?”
“It’s May, 1938. From what I could discern, Beck is about to meet with Hitler later today.”
“Where are we?”
“In Berchtesgaden.”
“I thought I was supposed to just watch.”
“You will shortly. His assistant is coming. When he does, I’ll slip into the stream and merge your consciousness with his. He won’t know you’re there and you’ll have no control over him. It may feel like a lucid dream at first.”
“But you’ll be watching me, right?”
“Yes. You’re in no danger, but when the meeting is over, we’ll decide what to do next.”
“What about my mind? This guy is a Nazi.”
“But the link is stable. He must not be poisoned entirely.”
Just then, there was a knock at the door. Genesis disappeared, and almost instantly, Jadzia could no longer speak. She could only hear the officer’s voice.
“Come in,” Ludwig said as though coming out of a daydream.
His assistant entered and said: “Sir, the car is waiting.”
“Very well, then,” he answered and followed the assistant out the door.
Genesis was right: watching the drive to the meeting with Hitler through Ludwig Beck’s eyes felt like a dream at first. The commute was short and soon Beck was escorted into a large, well-adorned room with a dozen officials seated casually and Chancellor Hitler at a desk.
The officials remained seated as Beck entered the room. Hitler, though, was quick to greet him with a hearty hand-shake.
“Please join us,” Hitler said with a smile.
The other officers and staff members smiled and greeted Beck in their own ways, some simply nodded and smiled, others shook his hand as he sat down.
“I’d like you to explain the details of the memo you sent us,” Hitler said. “I thought you were in favor of our plan to declare war on the Czechs.”
“Of course I am,” Beck said.
“That’s not what this suggests,” another officer, Werner von Fritsch, interrupted.
“We’ve had this conversation before, Werner,” said Beck. “You know I believe that war with the Czechs is the only way to take back the Sudetenland. I just don’t believe that time is now.”
“Oh yes,” said Wilhelm Keitel, the Chief of the German High Command and Germany’s war minister. “You’ve made that quite plain when you questioned the Fuhrer last year.”
Beck ignored Keitel’s bait and turned to Hitler. “Fuhrer, I only said what I did because the facts did not support your belief that France was on the verge of a civil war.”
Hitler wasted little time on thinking of a response. “You’re entitled to your opinion, Ludwig. But your calculations are childish.”
“We need the Sudetenland, Fuhrer, I agree,” Beck said. “But we should not use it as an excuse for war. Germany is not ready. To the French, an attack on the Czechs will be a matter of honor. They already have the strongest army in Europe. We shouldn’t give the French people an excuse to band together.”
Walther von Brauchitsch, the head of the Wehrmacht, cleared his throat and said: “I agree with Herr Ludwig. The Wehrmacht is not as strong as she was before the Great War. War right now would be premature.”
Keitel interrupted again. “Fuhrer,” he said, “you yourself said last year that we need both Austria and Czechoslovakia for Lebensraum. I can’t think of a better time than now.”
Hitler sat against his desk. “I know what I said,” he began. “We do need to act quickly, but I don’t want to war with Britain and France – those hate-inspired antagonists – just yet. The key is to plunder those lands without letting these small wars escalate out of control. Our economy is too fragile. We will need to deal with the English and French eventually; no doubt within a few years. But we’re falling behind them, gentlemen; both are already well-armed. But they need to respect our place in Europe too, and to that end, war must begin sooner than later.”
“As I said in the memo, my Lord,” Beck said, “I agree that Czechoslovakia’s existence is intolerable. They are a threat to Germany and must be eliminated, by war, if necessary. I only beg that Germany wait until the Wehrmacht is prepared. I also ask that you reconsider my suggestions for reorganizing the hierarchy.”
Keitel rolled his eyes, a cue Hitler noticed but did not address.
“Thank you for coming,” Hitler said, after which the room cleared out. As it did, he said: “Ludwig, stay, please.”
Once the room was empty, Hitler approached Beck and reached for his hand. “I have always respected you, Ludwig. You’ve supported the Nazi party for years and I know you are wise.”
“Thank you, Fuhrer,” Ludwig said.
“But you are still imprisoned in the idea of the hundred-thousand-man army - those old men who led Germany to its downfall so many
years ago.”
“I just don’t want my Fuhrer to get caught in a larger war. There is too much to contend with.”
“And what would you have me do?” Hitler responded. His temper began to rise.
“Fuhrer, your advisors are wrong. Keitel wants war at any cost. The radicals in the party are miscalculating our odds. Please, consider my suggestions to reorganize the advisory leadership. The anarchy in the military will only get worse and the fate of the Wehrmacht will be too grim to imagine.”
Hitler stepped back and said nothing as he weighed Beck’s words.
Beck continued speaking carefully. “If we risk a long war, and we lose, the consequences will be worse than Versailles.”
Hitler spun around in a rage. “I won’t let that happen! We’ve worked too hard to show the British they can’t demean us any longer!”
“Yes, Fuhrer,” he said. “What of the meeting I suggested?”
“You’d have me play the diplomat?” Hitler sneered.
“Of course not. As I said last year, we must lay the political ground work first. I can think of no better way than to meet with Chamberlain himself. The British Prime Minister wants to avoid war. Let him argue with the Czechs for you, Fuhrer. Meanwhile, you can prepare the military if he fails.”
“That won’t stop me,” Hitler replied.
“Nor should it, Fuhrer. We just need more time.”
Hitler looked down at the floor then turned around and went to a window. He stared at the ground below for some time before facing Beck, who remained at attention. “You may go, Ludwig.”
The Fuhrer’s tone was decisive and Ludwig did not risk angering him. He immediately left Hitler alone and said nothing to anyone as he returned to his office.
Before Ludwig Beck was far from his meeting with Hitler, the young Polish girl who inhabited his mind disappeared, restored to the naked shell left behind in a grassy clearing in western Canada. Once in the comfort of her own skin, Jadzia took a deep breath and stretched her limbs in all directions, excited to be in a youthful body that was not sluggish and aged like the German officer's.
Genesis returned to the clearing a few seconds later. “I think we have our mark,” she said. “He is already against the war; he just needs a little coaxing.”
“Yes,” Jadzia replied, “but he still favors war. If he has his way, war will only be delayed. That’s not what we’re going for.”
“You have to remember something: the longer the war takes to start, the more time the other nations have to prepare. If the war begins late enough, it may not be nearly as destructive. Remember, war is already going on in China. We’re trying to prevent it from going global.”
“I suppose you’re right. What do we do now?”
“Well,” Genesis said, “Ludwig Beck has a friend in the head of the Wehrmacht, the German army. History says that Beck tried to convince the other Generals to resign so Hitler would abandon his plans. That may be the best time for us to intervene.”
“But if they don’t resign as before, then the Munich Agreement will still occur.”
“Yes,” Genesis said. “We need to make sure the British don’t appease Hitler this time. Would you like to rest before we go?”
“No, I’ll be fine. We can rest when the war never happened.”
In a magnificent display of blue light, the two women vanished.
An instant later, Jadzia was back in the body of Ludwig Beck. He was seated in his chair at a desk when she assumed control of him. She stood up and walked around, acclimating to the old man’s body again. Less than ten seconds later, Genesis appeared.
“This isn’t so bad, I suppose,” Jadzia said as she stumbled around the room desperately trying to walk like a man. “Of course, I prefer my own body - even if it doesn’t have clothes.”
“I would think you’d be getting used to it by now,” said Genesis.
“Being naked or in a man’s body?”
“Both.” Jadzia finally found her stride and walked around the office a few times, practicing her gait.
Genesis stood on Beck’s desk, gently sipping some tea from his cup. “So here’s the plan,” she began. “Von Brauchitsch isn’t far off. We’re still a couple of weeks away from the Munich meeting, but we need someone who will side with us. Hitler is giving a speech to the Generals later today where he hopes to prove that Beck is wrong.”
“What day is it, August 10?”
“It is. Remember: if we fail, Beck will resign a week from now and the only way he’ll be able to regain favor with Hitler is by calling the summit to Munich. If that happens, we’ll need to get to Chamberlain somehow.”
“He’s too weak-minded,” Jadzia answered. “And if we use his mind, I can’t suddenly contradict him entirely, can I?”
“You could, but it’s always easier to use a mind that is already leaning in the direction you need to push. If Munich happens, we’ll have to get to everyone involved - Chamberlain, Daladier, even Mussolini if we have to. To do that, you’ll be switching minds back and forth and I don’t know how well that will work. Hopefully, we won’t need to go down that road.”
There came a knock at the door. Genesis ducked into a drawer in the desk and Jadzia answered the door.
“Herr Beck,” von Brauchitsch said. “You called?”
“Yes,” ‘Beck’ answered. “Thank you for responding, Walther. Please, come in.”
Walther von Brauchitsch entered the room and promptly sat in the chair in front of Beck’s desk. Jadzia circled the desk and sat, forcing the old man’s body to smile as she did so. “I think you know the reason I asked you to come here,” she said.
“Yes, I think I do,” Walther affirmed. “I’m just not sure what you would like me to do about the current situation.”
“We’re in the same position, Walther. The Fuhrer is going to choose war, no matter what we do it seems, but we need to stave off its culmination as long as we can.”
“What do you think I can do?”
“You’re Chief of the German Army, for God’s sake! You don’t think that position carries influence?”
“It might, Ludwig. But it also carries with it a responsibility - to do as the Fuhrer demands.”
Jadzia rolled Beck’s eyes. “You know better than anyone that the fall of Austria and Czechoslovakia will only provoke the British and French to hit us with everything they’ve got. And they will not hit the SS, Walther, but the Wehrmacht - your men.”
“Yes, and I’ve made known my position against the annexation clear, even to the Fuhrer himself. Beyond that, what can I do?”
‘Beck’ leaned across the desk and paused before responding. A moment later, Jadzia said: “I’ve already spoken with the General Staff regarding the facts. I’ve asked them to resign if Hitler proceeds with invasion. If the military stands as one against war, the Fuhrer will get the message - and be forced to accept our position. From what I can gather, the General Staff is on the fence; they need a gentle nudge. You can provide that.”
“I think you overestimate my ability to persuade.”
“Perhaps,” Jadzia said. “But they know I’m right, Walther. They just need another voice.”
Von Brauchitsch shifted his weight in his seat. His stoic expression was etched as in stone, but emotion began to show. He covered his mouth with his hand to cover the change in countenance. After an uncomfortable moment of silence, he said: “The SS has too much control. I fear they wish to take over the Wehrmacht, and this worries me. But the Fuhrer...” he paused. “I’m afraid I cannot take sides in this debate.”
Jadzia slouched in the realization that von Brauchitsch was going to need harder persuasion. Then Jadzia remembered a detail from the history books that might prove useful. “Does this have something to do with your wife?”
Walther’s expression changed immediately to fury, as he jumped to his feet and leaned over the desk, inches from Beck’s face. “How do you know about that?” he demanded, pounding the surface of the desk.
&nb
sp; Jadzia remained calm. “It doesn’t matter how I know, Walther. But I suppose I can see why taking action might make you feel as though you are betraying the Fuhrer.”
“How is what you’re asking not an act of betrayal?” Walther shouted. “What you’re suggesting is nothing less than a putsch!”
“Not at all. I want Hitler to stay in power,” she forced the words out of Beck’s mouth. “I just believe that war at this time is a bad idea. And I meant no disrespect to Charlotte, your wife. Personally, I find her more agreeable than Elizabeth, if you don’t mind my saying so.”
The Great Altruist Page 7
