‘I was very impressed, sir. As I told you at the time,’ she remembered.
‘Of course. Now, Anna, we have a lot to do. You have a lot to do. I am about to send you on the most important mission of your life.’
He pulled up a chair and sat before her desk, while she tried to anticipate what might be coming next. Was she going back to Sweden? That would be heavenly, whatever the risk of being torpedoed again. Certainly both his tone and his demeanour suggested that he had something very important on his mind.
‘What I am going to tell you,’ Himmler said, ‘is the most secret information you will ever receive. So listen very carefully. The unhappy fact is that the time comes to all of us, when we must look irrefutable facts in the face. As when a doctor tells you that you have a terminal illness, it is no use refusing to believe it. You must accept the situation and make the necessary plans to put what time you have left to its best possible use. So, it is a certainty that the situation cannot be saved.’
‘But . . . the Führer—’
‘The Führer knows this as well as anyone, even if he will not admit it for public consumption. We must fight to the end. But he is already making plans for that end. And the end, I can tell you, is total destruction. He told us this at a Cabinet meeting the other day. If Germany cannot win this war, he told us, then it is better that the entire country be destroyed, and everyone in it. He has instructed Speer to prepare a plan for the blowing up of every facility in the country the moment we can fight no longer. That is the destruction of every factory, every food producing plant, every electricity station, every water pumping station, every water-retaining dam, every sewerage system . . .’
He paused to stare at her, and she stared back in consternation. ‘But—’
‘I know. It is pretty apocalyptic. But that is what is going to happen, what we must prepare ourselves for.’
He continued to stare at her. What does he expect me to do, or say? she wondered.
‘But you,’ he said. ‘Your situation is different, is it not? You are not one of us. You have never been one of us. You are not even a German. And you hate us, don’t you?’
Shit, she thought; he is about to place me under arrest. She had no doubt that she could dispose of him, but not of the hundred odd members of his staff outside the door. She needed time. ‘I do not understand you, Herr Reichsführer. I have served the regime faithfully and well for six years.’
‘Because you have had no choice. Oh, come now, Anna, were it not for your parents you would have abandoned us long ago, would you not?’
Anna’s heart seemed to have slowed.
‘I am prepared to tell you where they are, Anna,’ he said. ‘And give you carte blanche to take them out of Germany, if you can. I’m afraid I cannot offer you any assistance in this, but you are a resourceful young woman, are you not?’
Am I really hearing this? she wondered. Or . . . she had no doubt that Himmler was as capable of torture, whether mental or physical, as any of the Nazi leaders.
‘But before I grant you that reward, there is a service I require of you, a service for which you are uniquely suited.’
Breath hissed through Anna’s nostrils.
‘As I have said, the Führer is determined that nothing of value in Germany will be left for the Allies or the Russians to appropriate. However, in the vaults beneath the Chancellery the entire gold reserves of the Third Reich. It weighs one hundred tons. There is a figure to conjure with, eh? One hundred tons of solid gold. That cannot be allowed to fall into enemy hands. But how does one destroy bullion? Even supposing all of Berlin was burned to the ground, with a heat so intense that the gold was all melted, it would still be there, and when the heat cooled, it would again harden. So, if it cannot be destroyed, it must be placed where it can never be found. The Führer has selected the salt mines that lie close to Eisenach, and on my recommendation he has selected you to carry out this assignment.’
Anna found that she was holding her breath.
‘Now, listen very carefully,’ Himmler said. ‘There will be a convoy of ten trucks, each carrying ten tons of gold ingots. Each truck will have a single SS driver; he will not know what he is transporting. The trucks will be driven into the shaft to the salt mines at the dead of night, and the moment they are in you will blow the entrance. You will be supplied with sufficient explosive for this purpose.’
‘The drivers—’
‘Must remain inside. Now we understand that you may need assistance to carry this out, so you will be accompanied by a squad of SD men. None of these men, either, will know what they are escorting, but they also, once the mine is sealed, must be prevented from ever revealing what happened, just in case other people draw certain conclusions.’
‘I see, sir. And then?’
‘Why, then you return here to Berlin, and I will provide you with the necessary information, as well as the necessary documentation, to get your parents out of their current place of residence and across the border to Switzerland.’
Anna supposed, as she had thought before, that she would never understand how so many men, who considered themselves intellectually superior to ordinary human beings, and who were prepared to accept her as an extraordinary human being, still could not overcome her physical appearance, that of an innocent, slightly dumb, young woman. She almost felt insulted that this man, who certainly had her complete record at his disposal, and was happy to utilize her exceptional talents, should still regard her as being as thick as two short planks. So when she had completed her assignment, just to make sure she did not immediately flee to Switzerland with the knowledge of where the gold was concealed, he would draw her back to Berlin for her parents. And then turn her loose, with the knowledge of where the gold was?
On the other hand, he still held all the high cards. Although it should be possible to adjust that.
He was studying her. ‘Can you do it?’
‘Of course I can carry out your instructions, sir. But there is one small problem. How do I get back to Berlin? It is approximately two hundred and fifty kilometres from Eisenach.’
Himmler raised his eyebrows. ‘You have been to Eisenach before?’
‘No, sir, I have not.’
‘Then how do you know it is two hundred and fifty kilometres from Berlin?’
‘I saw it once on a map, and observed the distance.’
‘And you remembered it?’
‘Well, of course, sir.’
Himmler regarded her for several seconds. Then he said, ‘You will return in your command car. I will provide you with sufficient gasoline coupons and authorization as an officer in the SD to cover your journey.’
‘Yes, sir. But who will drive the command car?’
‘Why, you will, you silly girl.’
‘I do not know how to drive, sir.’
‘What? You are a woman of unlimited talent, with the most remarkable memory I have ever known, and you do not know how to drive a car?’
‘The SS training school I attended, while they taught me all of the skills they considered I should know, did not consider that I would ever need to drive a car, myself.’
‘Good God! I assume that was Dr Cleiner?’
‘It was, sir.’
‘Well, well. The man is an idiot. And now . . .’ He checked what he was going to say.
‘Sir?’ A sudden wave of inspiration whistled through Anna’s mind.
‘It is not important. Well, you will have to keep one of your escorts alive to bring you back.’
‘That might be difficult, sir. If this man has seen me dispose of his colleagues . . .’
‘So tell me how you intend to handle it? I am sure you already have a solution.’
‘I would like to take someone who is devoted to me, who I can trust absolutely to do anything I wish.’
‘I see. And who is this personal paragon?’
‘A Luftwaffe officer.’
‘One of your lovers, I presume.’
‘He would like to be
, sir.’
‘And you understand that when he returns you to Berlin he will have to be disposed of?’
‘I understand that, sir.’
‘I sometimes wonder if you have a heart in there, Anna. Or a lump of ice. Very well. You may recruit your ill-fated lover. The operation is to be carried out next week.’
The Break
‘Countess?’ Joachim Rudent stood in the doorway of Anna’s office.
‘Captain. How good to see you again. Come in. Close the door and sit down.’
Rudent advanced, cautiously, sat before her desk.
‘You were going to call me,’ Anna reminded him.
He flushed. ‘I did not feel I could presume.’
‘You presumed to make advances to my sister.’
The flush deepened. ‘Yes. But, well . . .’
‘Are you afraid of me?’
He licked his lips. ‘You are . . . well, I am only a pilot in the Luftwaffe. And you . . .’
‘I am a woman, to whom you have already been of great assistance. And now you are here.’
‘I was told to report here for a special assignment.’
‘That is correct. I wish you to accompany me on a mission.’
‘You wish it?’
‘I am acting with the authority of the Reichsführer. As I always do. He told me to recruit someone I could trust absolutely. I selected you.’
‘Well, Countess, I am very flattered. I am to fly you somewhere?’
‘You are to drive me somewhere.’
‘Drive?’
‘You do drive a car?’
‘Yes, I do. But I do not own one.’
‘The car will be provided. Now I want you to listen very carefully. This is top secret. We are going to carry out a most important mission for the Reich. I am not going to tell you what it is at this time, but I will require your instant and unquestioning obedience to every command I give, and equally, your instant and unquestioning support in everything I do or require you to do. Will you do this?’
He swallowed. ‘If you require it, Countess.’
‘I do require it. Now, we leave tomorrow morning. The assignment will only take one day. But I would like you to spend tonight in my apartment downstairs.’
‘Countess?’
Anna smiled at him. ‘I think we need to get to know each other.’
*
Easy to say that she needed to use every weapon she possessed to ensure his support. But was she also offering him a farewell gift? She hoped it would not come to that, but for the moment she could only play it by ear. She had already made up her mind how she was going to handle this situation, although it was a disturbing thought that it had to involve the deaths of at least ten more men. But they were SS, she reminded herself.
For seven years, all but, she had been the slave of this ghastly regime. Now they were setting up to dispose of her. She had no intention of allowing that to happen, but she also wished to take her revenge on them . . . and, if everything went according to the plan that had started to take shape in her brain from the moment Himmler had given her her instructions, to take care of her future. But she couldn’t do it on her own, mainly because of that fatal weakness in her training, which was something she simply had to rectify, if she could ever find the time.
But meanwhile, one hundred tons of gold! She had no idea of current prices, but she reckoned it could not be less than fifty million dollars. Ten per cent of fifty million . . .
She sent for the necessary guidebooks, and spent two hours studying the Erfurt district, committing to memory every facet of the country around Eisenach, and more particularly the various properties of the two rivers, the Horsel and the Nesse, at the confluence of which the city was situated, and at last finding what she was looking for. She marked it on the largest scale map she possessed, and stowed it in her shoulder bag for the time being; she did not think that the bag itself would be appropriate on this mission. It would be the most desperate, and because of the odds involved, the most dangerous plan she had ever undertaken . . . but she would have the advantage of surprise, and, she hoped, the support of Rudent.
*
Anna looked at her watch, and nudged the man. ‘Anna,’ he murmured as he woke up. ‘Oh, Anna, Anna. Is this real?’
‘Don’t you like reality? It’s time to get up. I am going to bathe, then we must move.’
He watched her go into the bathroom, then got out of bed himself. Anna had opened the inner door and summoned Birgit, and a few minutes later the maid brought in two steaming mugs of ersatz coffee, giving a little curtsey as she encountered the half-naked pilot.
‘Birgit, Joachim,’ Anna said from the tub.
‘Good morning, sir.’
Rudent had met her the previous evening, but he was still embarrassed.
Anna emerged from the bathroom, towelling. ‘The captain and I will be leaving shortly, Birgit, and we will be gone all day. But hopefully we will be back this evening. Have you been upstairs this morning?’
‘Yes, Countess. To see if there was any milk.’
‘And I gather there wasn’t. What about the weather?’
‘It is snowing, Countess.’
‘Shit!’ She put on her red woollen dress – in view of what the day seemed certain to hold it was an appropriate colour – pulled on a pair of fur-lined boots, added her sable and her fur hat, pulled on her gloves. The sable had two very deep pockets. She had already requisitioned a second pistol from the armoury; into this she screwed her silencer, and it and a spare magazine she placed in the left-hand pocket. Her other pistol, again with a spare magazine, she placed in her right-hand pocket, together with her map.
Rudent watched her with sombre eyes. She smiled at him. ‘You will remember what I require.’
‘Yes.’
‘Then remember also that not to do so could cost you your life.’
*
It was just seven, and utterly dark as well as near freezing, and as Birgit had warned, snowing quite heavily. A car was waiting to drive them to the Chancellery, through streets freshly cratered from the visit of the RAF during the night. In the yard the ten trucks waited in an orderly row, their drivers walking up and down and slapping their gloves together.
Also waiting were three SD men, in plain clothes but armed with tommy guns. The men clicked to attention as Anna got out to inspect them. ‘You have brought the explosives?’
‘In the boot, Countess.’
‘And you know how to set the charges?’ She looked from face to face.
‘I am a demolitions expert,’ one said proudly.
‘Excellent. Well then . . .’
‘We are not quite ready, Countess.’
‘There is no time to waste. We have a long way to go.’
‘We must wait for our commander.’
‘What commander? I am in charge of this assignment.’
‘But I have been placed in command of this detail, Countess,’ Werter said, leaving the building to join them.
‘You?’ A combination of irritation and concern flooded her brain. ‘I was not informed of this.’
‘I believe it was a last-minute decision by the Reichsführer. It is to make sure that your orders are obeyed.’
‘I see. Well, you will have to wait while I check this out.’
‘With respect, Countess, I should tell you that the Reichsführer left Berlin last night.’
‘To go where?’
‘I do not know, Countess. I believe he was driving north, to see conditions up there for himself.’
He is going to meet Bernadotte, she realized. Without breathing a word to me, the bastard! Which once again raised the question of how much he trusted her, if at all. And he would trust her less than ever once Bernadotte outlined his terms for helping him. But of course, the fact that Werter of all people had been detailed to accompany her on this mission, merely confirmed that he intended it to be terminal.
Well, she thought, handling this particular problem was someth
ing she had always intended to do. ‘In that case, Herr Werter, the sooner we complete this mission the better. You know where we are going?’
‘No, Countess, I do not. I was told you would inform me of our destination.’
What a devious, twisted world is this Nazi Germany, she thought. Himmler did not seem to be able to bring himself to trust anyone. ‘So, do you know what is in these trucks?’
‘No, Countess. I am hoping you will tell me that also.’
‘It is probably better for you not to know. As for where we are going, I will show you. Captain Rudent and I will lead the way. You will come with us, Herr Werter. The trucks will follow, and I wish the guards to bring up the rear.’
He hesitated, then clicked his heels.
*
The roads were in such a state it was impossible to proceed faster than twenty kilometres an hour, thus when they stopped for lunch at one they had only reached Wittenberg.
Anna was aware that both her companions were consumed with curiosity, but as she had intended, neither dared pursue the matter in front of the other. Werter did venture, ‘Are we bound for Austria, Countess?’
‘Not so far,’ Anna assured him. ‘We shall be at our destination by dusk.’
But soon after they resumed their journey they had to stop and take shelter in a small wood as a squadron of American bombers droned overhead. ‘Bastards,’ Rudent commented.
It was already dusk when they reached the Horsel River, winding through the north-western foothills of the Thuringer Wald. Anna studied her map by the light of her torch; in the distance she could make out the high tower of the Wartburg, on its hill above the city, so that even if she could not identify many landmarks, she knew where she was.
‘Eisenach!’ Werter said. ‘The salt mines!’
‘That is very perceptive of you,’ Anna agreed.
They drove for a further hour behind dipped headlights; it had become very dark. Werter had clearly been brooding on their destination, and now the mine buildings, long abandoned, were in sight in the gloom. He looked over his shoulder at the trucks lumbering along behind. ‘You mean this stuff is dangerous?’
‘It is most certainly dangerous in the wrong hands. Now, Herr Werter, you understand that this is a top secret exercise?’
Angel of Doom (Anna Fehrback Book 5) Page 23
