Anna found that she was holding her breath.
‘And it has to be done now, before the Russians get even closer. So tell me, what do you require to get out of Germany? Where will you go?’
‘Switzerland.’ Anna’s voice was hardly more than a whisper. She still could not believe her ears.
‘Of course. I suspect you have made contacts there from your visits in the past. So?’
Anna drew one of her long breaths. ‘Passports for myself, my maid and my driver.’
‘Who I assume are all loyal to you and no one else.’
‘I think so, sir.’
‘And if they prove false, you will know what to do with them, eh? But Anna, do try to remember that outside of the Reich people are inclined to view things differently from us. I would hate you to get yourself hanged before you have done some exploding. Anything else?’
‘A passport in the name of Anna Fehrbach, not the Countess von Widerstand. A carte blanche signed by you to get us through any checkpoints. And sufficient petrol coupons to take us to Switzerland.’
He nodded. ‘That makes sense, although how effective the coupons will be depends on the availability of petrol itself. The documentation will be with you tomorrow morning. I recommend that you lie low until then.’
‘Yes, sir. There is one thing more.’
‘Oh, yes?’
‘My parents, sir. I cannot go without them.’
‘Ah, yes. Your parents. Very good. I will provide you with passes for them as well.’
‘Thank you, sir. But I cannot do anything about them until I know where they are.’
‘Of course. Himmler’s big secret. They are at Dr Cleiner’s Training Establishment at Görzke, outside Potsdam.’
‘What?’ Anna shouted.
‘You trained there yourself, didn’t you. When was that?’
‘Seven years ago,’ Anna said absently. And they have been there since July, she thought. Virtually within touching distance.
‘Cleiner is still there. Although whether he is still churning out beautiful young women to serve the Reich I do not know. But I am sure he will be pleased to see you again.’
As I will be pleased to see him, for a last time, Anna thought. He would be number fifty-four, and hopefully her last, which would be appropriate, as he had started her on her bloodstained career in the first place. She stood up. ‘I thank you from the bottom of my heart, Herr Doctor.’ Words she had never thought she would ever use. He was the only man who had ever raped her who remained alive, and he was going to die, even if at the hands of the Russians. Or his own?
‘However, another word of advice. I think it would be unwise for you to travel as your usual flamboyant self. In fact, in view of the reported conditions out there, I would say that you should not travel as a woman at all. Go to wardrobe and have yourself fitted out as a man. As an officer in the Wehrmacht, not the SS.’
‘Yes, sir. I will take that advice.’
‘You will need documentation. I will provide that along with your other requirements.’
‘And for my maid, sir.’
‘Of course. You are taking her with you.’
‘I don’t feel that I can abandon her, sir.’
‘Very loyal of you. And your driver?’
‘He is an officer in the Luftwaffe, sir. Seconded to me for last night’s mission. I would like to retain him for the time being.’
‘You are incorrigible. However . . . I have no doubt he has his own identity cards. Tell me what else you may need?’
‘I think that is everything, sir. And now . . .’ She could not stop herself glancing at the settee. She actually felt that she owed him something more than his survival, for a little while longer.
He smiled. ‘No, Anna. Having held you naked in my arms when we were all on top of the world is an enduring memory to take to my grave. I would not like to spoil it with lachrymose farewells.’
‘Yes, sir.’ She was, actually, feeling a sudden sense of loss. She had hated this life, but it was the only life she had ever known, as an adult. And she had hated this man. But he was giving her back her life, even if not for any altruistic reasons. ‘And the Führer?’
‘I think seeing him again would be an even more unsuccessful venture. We are history, Anna. It is predatory, man-eating monsters like you who are the future.’
Well, thank you for those kind words, she thought. She turned to the door.
‘Anna!’
She paused. Had it all been a dream?
‘Will you tell anyone the location of our bullion?’
‘Do you wish me to do that, Herr Doctor?’
‘Yes. Tell anyone, and everyone, you can think of, when you consider the time is right. It may well be a useful cachet to ensure your survival. I am launching you into space as the Angel of Doom and Destruction. The more confusion and mayhem you can cause the better. Auf wiedersehen, Anna.’
‘And to you, Herr Doctor.’ Until we meet in hell, she thought, and closed the door.
Two Can Play
Clive Bartley threw the report on Baxter’s desk. ‘The Russians are at the Oder.’ He sank into the chair; his recently healed leg was still tender.
‘You’re out of date. The Russians are across the Oder.’
‘What? But that means . . .’
‘That they have Berlin in their sights. At the moment they are north of the city. But they will soon be over in the south as well. The plan appears to be to surround and isolate the city, and then crush it and of course all the Nazis in it, out of existence.’
‘What about us? Or the Americans? Can’t we get there before them?’
‘I think we probably could have, if we’d started thinking about it a few weeks ago. But apparently the idea was not considered. I don’t know whether the decision was taken by Eisenhower himself – his hatred of the Nazis is just about paranoid – or whether the orders came from Washington, which is most likely, given Roosevelt’s apparent determination to keep Stalin happy no matter what the cost, but there it is: Berlin is being left to the Russians. The Yanks have stopped at the Elbe. Of course, one has to bear in mind that taking Berlin by storm, which is the only way it seems it is going to fall, given Hitler’s determination to fight it out, is going to cost one hell of a lot of lives. So it makes some sense to let those lives be Russian instead of ours.’
‘Billy,’ Clive said, ‘at this moment I am not interested in military or political double-talk. What about Anna?’
‘Has she been in touch?’
‘No, she has not been in touch. How the hell can she have been in touch, if she’s in Berlin? I want to know what we are going to do about her.’
Baxter began to fill his pipe, a sure sign that he anticipated a crisis. ‘If Anna is in Berlin when the Russians surround the city, there is nothing we can do about her.’
‘You mean just to write her off?’
‘I am not a magician, and neither are you. Face facts, Clive. She always was living on borrowed time. All loans have to be repaid, eventually.’
Clive kept his temper. ‘As you say, Billy, if she is in Berlin when it falls that’s probably it. But you have to admit that if anyone is going to get out of Berlin before it falls that person will be Anna. What do you think she will do then?’
‘If she has any sense, she’ll try to get to our forces.’
‘Our people are stuck in the north-west of the country. And if the Russians are across the Oder north of the city, to get to us she will have to skirt across the front of their advance.’
‘She’ll have to chance her arm.’
‘Billy, Anna has survived for seven years, as you say, on borrowed time. She hasn’t done that by chancing her arm. She has done it by taking an ice-cold look at every situation, by making instant decisions that have invariably turned out to be the right ones. To leave Berlin and attempt to make her way north-west would be the throw of a gambler. If the Russians are not yet in position south of the city, she’ll make for Switzerland, where s
he feels sure of a welcome.’
‘You mean she’ll go to this character Laurent? You could be right. Well, if she does that, and makes it, Bob’s you uncle. She can call us up and we can go and get her.’
‘I want to be there, Billy.’
‘Oh, come now. You’re starting to sound like a lovesick schoolboy. Come to think of it, you are a lovesick schoolboy. What good can you do, hanging about in Switzerland on the off chance that she might turn up? And if she does turn up, we’ve just agreed that she’s home and dry. You’re just afraid that she’ll wind up in Laurent’s bed, and discover that she likes it better than yours.’
‘Jealousy has nothing to do with it. I don’t trust the man.’
Baxter leaned back in his chair, puffing smoke. ‘Pardon my obtuseness, but didn’t you, quite without authority, second him into this business in the first place?’
‘I did that because Anna seemed to trust him absolutely. But since then . . . he agreed to send one of his people to warn Anna off Johannsson. His messenger never showed.’
‘If she was in Sweden, he must have missed her.’
‘Oh, come now, Billy, I don’t believe Laurent ever sent her the message. There was always something about him that wasn’t quite right. And we know he’s spent the last couple of years, at least, working for Himmler. Billy, you can second me to Basle. Just for a week or two. Just to make sure that if she gets to Switzerland she also gets here.’
Baxter knocked out his pipe. ‘You do realize that we are not allied to the Swiss, and that therefore we have no clout in Switzerland? If you start throwing too much weight around, you are going to find yourself being deported and listed as persona non grata. If they don’t lock you up.’
Clive grinned. ‘I’ll keep that in mind.’
*
‘Comrade Commissar!’ Colonel Smyslov stood to attention, his eyes drifting from Tserchenko to Olga Morosova at his side. ‘Is there a problem?’
‘Should there be a problem, Comrade Colonel?’ Tserchenko stripped off his gloves; inside the small command post the heat was intense, mainly emanating from the samovar bubbling on the fire. ‘I wish to congratulate you on your rapid advance.’
‘We obeyed our orders, sir. But you do understand that this is a very exposed position.’
Tserchenko nodded. ‘Major Morosova and I will have some tea.’
Smyslov snapped his fingers and an orderly bustled.
‘You are the furthest advanced position in the Red Army, at this moment, at least down here,’ Tserchenko stated. ‘You are ten miles south-west of Berlin.’
‘Thank you, sir. But that also means that we are in constant touch with the enemy.’
Tserchenko raised his eyebrows. ‘I hear no firing.’
‘Well, it is dark. Anyway, they normally wait for us to start something. Their morale is low. And so are their ammunition reserves.’
‘Hm.’ Tserchenko sipped tea. ‘I assume you are aware that it is Marshal Zhukov’s intention to surround the city?’
‘I am, sir. That will be done within the next fortnight, as soon as we have sufficient men in place. We should be able to link up with the northern arm in a week, and then . . .’ He snapped his fingers.
‘But is there not the chance that before the encirclement is completed, some of the top Nazi leaders may leave the city and attempt to escape to the West?’
‘That is possible. But really they have nowhere to go, except to surrender to the Americans.’
‘There are certain of them that it is considered essential should be taken by us.’
Smyslov raised his eyebrows, and glanced at Olga. But she, also drinking tea, did not change expression. ‘I understood,’ the colonel said, ‘that Herr Hitler has publicly declared his intention of remaining in Berlin to the end.’
‘That may be. However, my concern is the assassin the Countess von Widerstand. You know of this woman?’
Smyslov frowned. ‘The woman from Warsaw?’
‘And several other places. Her capture is regarded as more important that that of Hitler himself.’
‘Well . . .’
‘The reason you are here this far forward, Comrade Colonel, is that we have been informed by an agent in Berlin that this criminal intends to flee the city either tonight or tomorrow. I wish you to push sufficient men forward to block all usable roads from the city in the direction of Magdeburg. According to the map, there is only one good road, anyway.’
‘But that is impossible,’ Smyslov protested. ‘I have not the men. And to send my people towards Potsdam while considerable German forces lie on our flank would be criminal. And suppose the lady goes north-west?’
‘I wish that road blocked, Comrade Commissar. The commander of the force north of the city, has already been instructed to block all roads leading in the direction of Hamburg, but our information is that she will be coming this way.’
‘And if she makes due west, for Wurttemberg, and the Americans?’
‘She will not do that,’ Tserchenko said urbanely. ‘They have promised to hand her over to us should they take her, and I have an idea that she is aware of this.’
‘The Americans are already close to Magdeburg,’ Smyslov pointed out.
‘I know that. I did not say that she will make for Magdeburg, I said that she will make in that direction, to get south of us before we encircle the city. Then she will go south-west, for Switzerland. She must be stopped before she can do that. I have given you an order, Comrade Colonel. I expect you to carry it out. Major Morosova and I will remain with you until this operation has been completed.’
*
Anna placed the large parcel and the accompanying box on the table, together with the two steel helmets. Birgit and Rudent watched her in bewilderment. ‘I should be getting back to my station, Countess,’ Rudent said. ‘I was only seconded for forty-eight hours. And that was two days ago.’
‘You have been seconded again,’ Anna told him. ‘To act as my driver, on another important mission.’ He gazed at her, wide-eyed, and she smiled at him. Was it really going to happen? She still felt she was dreaming, that she would suddenly wake up and find that none of it was real. But . . . ‘I am expecting some documents,’ she said.
‘Oh, yes, Countess,’ Birgit said. ‘This envelope came for you an hour ago.’
It was a large manila. Anna sat at the table and emptied the contents, heart pounding. But it was all there. Petrol coupons, an open pass, requiring her to be given, in the name of the Reich, any assistance she might require, a letter, signed by Goebbels himself, releasing Johann and Jane Fehrbach into her custody, a passport in her real name, and a military identification wallet in the name of Major Wolfgang Schmidt. ‘How frighteningly original. But you, Birgit, are to be Corporal Hans Schweiger.’
‘Countess?’
‘We leave as soon as it is dark,’ she announced. ‘But first of all, we must try on some clothes.’ She undid the string and opened the parcel. ‘This is for you, Birgit. I hope it fits.’
‘But that is a uniform,’ Birgit said. ‘A man’s uniform!’ She was scandalized.
Anna opened the box and took out a pair of boots. ‘These may be a little large, but we will stuff them with paper. Now this belt and holster, there is no need to worry about it. You will not be required actually to fire the gun.’
‘I cannot wear those, Countess. I mean—’
‘Our superiors feel it would be unsafe for us to risk the open road as women. So you either wear these or you stay here.’
Birgit bit her lip.
‘But you may pack a valise with a change of our own clothes so that we may resume being women as soon as it is safe to do so.’
‘Am I allowed to enquire where we are going, Countess?’ Rudent asked.
‘I don’t see why I am required at all,’ Birgit grumbled. ‘I would prefer to remain here.’
I am trying to save your life, you silly woman, Anna thought. But she knew she had to be careful. Rudent might have been utterly seduce
d when actually in bed with her, and Birgit was used to obeying her without question, but they were both fanatical Nazis. Their weakness, and her strength, was that they thought she was also. ‘We are going to the SS training camp outside Görzke,’ she said. ‘To pick up someone who is waiting there for us, and escort her back to Berlin. Please do not ask me who this person is. We are undertaking it at the command of the Führer.’
She could almost see their brains tumbling; they were both thinking of Eva Braun.
‘So you see, Birgit, that she will need a lady’s maid. You will have to do for both of us. Now try the uniform.’
There was no further demur. Anna tried hers as well, tucking her hair up under the steel helmet.
‘You make the prettiest major I have ever seen, Countess,’ Rudent commented.
‘You say the sweetest things.’ There was no full length mirror but she held her hand mirror at every possible angle. ‘It’s not too bad a fit. Birgit, you look absolutely delicious. If I was homosexual I could have you in bed in a moment.’
‘My hat is too big,’ the maid protested. ‘I can hardly see.’
It certainly came right over her ears. ‘Well, you only need to put it on when we are in company. Now Joachim, kindly remember at all times that I am Herr Major and Birgit is Corporal Schweiger.’ She was feeling almost hysterical with excitement, and looked at her watch. ‘There is another hour to darkness. Prepare a meal, Birgit, and we will open that last bottle of champagne.’
There were still decisions to be made. Obviously her fur would have to be abandoned, which was a shame, although the bullet hole had ruined it in any event. But her jewellery . . . Wehrmacht majors did not wear rings or earrings. But she was not abandoning her most precious possessions. There was a cartridge pouch on her belt. In this she placed her gold bar earrings and her ruby solitaire, nestling them in the midst of the bullets. No one was going to see inside her tunic much less her shirt, so she left her crucifix and watch in place. She put her spare magazine in her tunic pocket.
They sat down to their meal, even Birgit in a good humour at the idea of getting out of Berlin, if only, as she supposed, for a few hours, and on such an important mission. They were drinking champagne when there was a knock on the door.
Angel of Doom (Anna Fehrback Book 5) Page 25
