Hayes chuckled. “Oh, Axel, that might be the worst thing the two of you could do.”
“How do you mean?” Axel asked before taking another sip of his coffee.
“Well, if you have not defined your relationship then you are likely to see that relationship differently than she does. Thus, practically ensuring that one of you is going to get hurt. Once someone is hurt your relationship will be strained, and team unity will suffer as a result. When the team suffers, America suffers, and by extension her interests.” Hayes paused for dramatic effect before continuing. “Axel don’t you see, yours and Dawn’s relationship could be responsible for the downfall of the entire free world. But no pressure, my boy.” Hayes could not contain his laughter any longer and soon he and Axel were both laughing boisterously.
“Wow, could you explain that to Dawn please, because I fear she isn’t taking this whole thing seriously enough,” Axel said as he wiped tears of laughter from his eyes.
“Well, I wouldn’t want to oversell it,” Hayes smiled before taking another sip of his coffee. “Are you holding up okay with this whole Kammler thing?” Hayes asked changing the subject rapidly.
“Well, that was certainly a point blank question,” Axel replied.
Hayes shrugged. “I’m just worried about you Axel. I know this sort of thing has to be extremely stressful. It wasn’t very long ago that we were talking about how much you hated that the office was working with Colonel Arnulf.”
“And I was right to worry as it turns out,” Axel replied.
“That is true,” Hayes agreed.
“I mean we nearly placed that psychopath in a position to take over the entire world,” Axel said emphatically.
“Oh, don’t engage in hyperbole, Axel,” Hayes retorted. “We would have destroyed the world trying to nuke him.”
“Well that’s better,” Axel smiled.
“It doesn’t matter,” Hayes said with a wave of his hand. “You stopped him. But for the record, yes, you were correct. We should not have trusted him.”
“So, why is Kammler any different?” Axel asked.
“I’m not sure that he is,” Hayes replied. “But those in power seem to believe he is valuable enough to risk it. And they give the orders.”
“He’s a monster, Professor,” Axel said.
“Yes, I know,” Hayes replied.
“He designed the death camps that killed millions of people, for God’s sake,” Axel said, the frustration evident in his voice.
“Unfortunately we don’t always get to work with the nicest people in this business, Axel,” Hayes said. “Stalin killed some twenty million people, but he was our ally during the war.”
“This is different, though, Professor—there is no war,” Axel said.
“Oh, if only that were true, my boy, if only that were true.” Hayes cleared his throat as he decided to change the subject once again to something more pleasant. “So I was going to take Rolf to see the Christmas lights tomorrow night. Would you care to join us?”
Axel shook his head. “No, thank you, Professor. I’ve got a date with Dawn tomorrow. Still trying to bring down the free world you know.” This caused the Professor to smile.
“Well, bring her along if you like,” Hayes offered.
“Maybe next time,” Axel said. He stood and set his cup on the coffee table. “I should be going, Professor, it’s getting late.”
Hayes stood and patted Axel on the back. “I greatly enjoy our visits, Axel. I appreciate you keeping this old man company.”
Axel smiled. “If it weren’t for you and Tom, God only knows what would have happened to Rolf and me. You are as close to having a parent as I’ll ever know.” Hayes leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Axel, pulling him into a tight embrace.
“I’ll see you later, my boy,” Hayes said as he released Axel and pulled back.
Axel left, closing the door behind him, and Hayes waited until he had climbed into his car and driven away before turning off the outside lights. The Professor checked the locks on the doors, set the coffee cups in the sink for his housekeeper to clean the next day and then turned off the kitchen lights as he left the room. He walked back into the living room and stepped up to a small side table upon which laid a nondescript manila folder. Hayes flipped open the folder to see a piece of paper with a Nazi iron eagle emblazoned at the top and the word Donar printed in bold below it. German writing covered the page. Attached to the paper were pictures of a young Axel and Rolf. Hayes flipped the page again and found a black and white photograph of Brygida. He swallowed. He knew he should have told Axel. He had intended to tell him tonight, but something stopped him. He hadn’t wanted to ruin the evening. “Tonight wasn’t the right time,” he muttered to himself before closing the file and switching off the lamp.
***
The wind bit as it blew through Hayes’ coat. He shoved his hands into his pockets as he shivered. The cold didn’t seem to bother Rolf. The large man trudged along, smiling at all the Christmas lights and decorations. He loved Christmas.
“Look at the reindeer!” Rolf said excitedly as he pointed to a set of plastic reindeer decorating a storefront.
“Yes,” Hayes smiled. “Do you think they’ll fly us to the North Pole to visit Santa?” Hayes asked.
Rolf frowned down at him. “I know there is no such thing as Santa Claus, Professor. I haven’t believed in him in years.”
“Oh, well, then…” Hayes smiled. “I guess you don’t get presents anymore.”
“Sure I do,” Rolf replied. “Axel and Tom give me presents. The Home always has something for us. You give me presents, too.”
“Do I?” Hayes asked, teasing Rolf.
“Of course you do, don’t you remember?” Rolf asked somewhat concerned. “Last year you gave me that model plane and we put it together on New Years Eve?”
“Hmmm…” Hayes said scratching his chin as he pretended to not remember the gift. “A model plane, you say?”
“How can you not remember?” Rolf asked surprised. “Are you losing your mind?”
Hayes stopped walking and laughed out loud. “Am I losing my mind? I certainly hope not.”
“Axel says one day you’ll get too old to take care of yourself, that you might lose your mind. Then you’ll come live with me in the Home.”
Hayes raised his eyebrows as he stared at Rolf. “Is that what Axel said?”
Rolf nodded. “Don’t worry Professor, the Home isn’t too bad. It’ll be fun. We can play board games and put models together.”
“That does sound fun,” Hayes agreed with a smile. “So what do you want for Christmas this year Rolf?”
Rolf considered it for a moment. “Water rockets,” he said.
“Water rockets?” the Professor asked.
“Yeah, you fill ‘em with water, then you pump air into them and boom,” Rolf said as he clapped his hands together. “They go shooting up into space just like a real rocket.”
“All the way into space?” Hayes asked.
“Well, probably not outer space,” Rolf said. Rolf stopped and his eyes went wide. “No, how about an archery set!”
“An archery set?” Hayes asked.
“Yeah, then I can be just like Robin Hood.”
“Hmm, we’ll have to see about that,” Hayes replied.
“Then when the Nazis attack us I’ll just shoot them with my arrows,” Rolf said as he pretended to pull back a bow string and loose an arrow at imaginary Nazi soldiers.
“Nazis?” Hayes asked confused. “What Nazis?”
“Axel told me that there was another Nazi like Arnulf. Said it was Arnulf’s boss. He said he built the concentration camps where our mom was killed.”
“How do you know that your mom was killed?” Hayes asked.
Rolf shrugged. “Because she was a Jew and the Nazis killed all the Jews.”
“Well, they didn’t kill all of the Jews, Rolf, though not from a lack of trying,” Hayes explained.
“Well if the N
azis didn’t kill her, why didn’t she come get us and take us home? Where is she?” Rolf asked.
“I don’t know my boy, I don’t know,” Hayes said as he patted the large man on the arm. He breathed a sigh of relief as he noticed the National Christmas Tree, a tall evergreen that is decorated each year for Christmas. “Look at the tree Rolf,” Hayes said as he pointed.
Rolf grinned wide. “It’s so big!” he said. “It’s even bigger than the tree in the Home.”
“Yes, quite,” Hayes said with a nod.
Rolf looked down at Hayes. “Do you think my mom might have survived?” he asked, the distraction of the tree having already faded.
Hayes cleared his throat. “I don’t know, Rolf,” he said.
“I sure would love to meet her. I bet she’s real pretty. We could take her to look at the lights with us and maybe she could come live with me in the Home like you will one day.”
Hayes wiped the tears from his eyes. “Perhaps, Rolf,” he said as he patted the large man on the arm. “Perhaps she will.”
***
Dawn sipped from her mug of cold beer as she watched Axel struggle to crack the crawfish from its shell with an amused smile upon her face. “Do you need some help with that?” she asked.
Axel shook his head. “No, I’ve got it,” he replied as he finally pulled some meat out and stuffed it into his mouth.
“They’re good right?” Dawn asked as she watched him chew the crawfish and swallow.
“Yes, very tasty,” Axel said. “A lot of work though.” He reached forward and pulled another crawfish out of the metal bucket.
Dawn laughed. “Yeah they are,” she agreed. “I can’t believe you’ve never had crawfish.”
“Really?” he asked. “I can’t believe you have. I mean D.C. isn’t New Orleans.”
Dawn shrugged. Axel glanced around the restaurant as he broke the next crawfish open and noticed he was in the vast racial minority. “It’s a black thing, huh?” he asked.
Dawn laughed so hard she had to cover her mouth. “Yeah, you know, we make you white people think that we only eat fried chicken so that we can keep the crawfish all to ourselves,” she said flashing him a bright smile before popping a crawfish into her mouth.
“Yeah, I can understand that. Jews do the same thing,” he said.
“Really?” she asked as she tilted her head.
“Of course. We make all the Christian kids feel bad because neither Santa Claus nor the Easter Bunny come to visit us.” He leaned in close as if conveying a state secret as Dawn took a sip from her mug. “In reality, the Passover Kangaroo brings us ten times the amount of candy that the stupid Easter Bunny brings you guys.”
Dawn almost choked as she laughed, trying to prevent the beer from shooting out of her nose.
“Are you alright?” Axel asked with a chuckle.
She composed herself and reached for another crawfish. “Are you Jewish? I mean I know your mother was a Jewish woman, but do you really consider yourself Jewish?”
“Are you asking if I am a practicing Jew?” he asked.
“Yeah, I guess so,” she replied with a smile.
“No, not really. I mean I dabbled with it when I was younger and had become old enough to ask where I came from and wanted to get back to my roots. I even had the Professor take me to synagogue once.”
“So what happened?” Dawn asked.
“My goodness, it was boring,” he laughed. “I remember him asking me if we were going back next week and I didn’t want to say no and then have him think that I wasn’t interested in my culture or religion or whatever. So as I was mulling over what to say, the Professor said ‘I was thinking of going fishing next Saturday, but if you’d rather go back to church I’ll be happy to take you.’ It was a no brainer at that point. I would much rather go fishing.”
“Wow, you guys are pretty close, huh?” Dawn asked.
“Yeah, I mean, the Professor and Tom are the closest thing Rolf and I have to family,” he said. Then added, “And you.”
Dawn smiled at him and set down the crawfish she was holding. She reached for her beer and brought it to her lips taking a big swallow. She set it down and stared at Axel for a moment.
“What?” he asked.
“I feel like you guys are family, too,” Dawn said. “We’ve gotten really close really fast over the last few months.”
“Yeah, surviving extermination by Nazi-bots together will do that,” Axel said before drinking a swallow of beer.
She reached over and placed a hand on his arm. “You are one of the best friends I’ve ever had. I feel so comfortable with you, like I can just be myself. That’s not always easy in the line of work we’re in.”
“I know it’s not and…” he began but she cut him off.
“Axel, please let me finish,” she said.
“Okay,” he said softly.
“I mean what are we doing?” she asked. “Clearly there is an attraction between us. And we are really good in bed together.”
“Agreed,” Axel said, causing her to smile.
“But I worry that we might be jeopardizing something else by being romantically involved. Something bigger. Do you understand?” she asked.
Axel nodded. “Yes,” he said. “You always say you can’t read my mind, but I know that’s a lie.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“Last night the Professor suggested we have this conversation.”
“Oh?” Dawn asked.
“Yeah, he thinks being romantically involved with a fellow agent has the potential to be dangerous to team unity.”
Dawn nodded. “It could,” she agreed.
“So just friends?” Axel asked.
Dawn nodded. “I think that would be best,” she said.
Axel frowned. “So can we have one more romp in the sheets for old times sake?” he asked.
Dawn tried not to smile as she stared at him. “I really want to,” she said as she burst out laughing. “But that’s probably not a good idea.”
“Damn I hate dating women that think things through,” Axel said.
“Well, now you will be free to find you some bimbo,” Dawn.
Axel stopped and looked at her lovingly. “Thanks Dawn, you always have a knack for pointing out the bright side.”
“Jerk!” Dawn laughed as she threw a crawfish shell at him.
Chapter 6
Prague, Czechoslovakia
The heels of Alena’s shoes clacked on the stones of the bridge as she and a male companion in a brown suit crossed over the Vltava River which ran through the center of Prague. Charles Bridge was a beautiful structure, completed in the fifteenth century to connect the “Old Town” with the city’s castle. The bridge was adorned with numerous statues overlooking the river as if sentinels. As one of Prague’s most well-known landmarks, the bridge attracted hundreds of sightseers, but that was not the reason Alena and her companion were there.
Alois puffed a cigarette as they strolled along the bridge. He was a member of the Czechoslovakian State Security Office, the political police force that had formed in Czechoslovakia following its “liberation” from the Germans by Soviet forces and its subsequent conversion to Communism in 1945.
Alois was a true blooded Communist who, like his father before him, believed a global workers’ revolution was the only way to liberate the people of the world from the tyrannical rule of the fascists and their capitalist benefactors.
The State Security Officer had been contacted by a Czechoslovakian bureaucrat who claimed he had names of government officials and military officers who were planning to turn the government against the Communist Party beginning as early as the following year. The contact refused to give the list of names to Alois and demanded to speak to someone from the Kremlin. However, since he was not a particularly high ranking member of government, the KGB was ordered to vet him before a member of the Soviet government would speak to him. The Centre assigned Alena, sending her to Prague to make contact with
Alois and from there meet his informant in the Czechoslovakian government.
The informant swore he was being followed and that there were fascist spies everywhere. Instead of just meeting at the State Security Office as Alois had proposed, he demanded that the meeting be more cloak and daggerish. Alois blamed this on the proliferation of Western spy novels and movies. However, he agreed to make contact on the Charles Bridge which would not only allow security officers to watch everyone who walked past, but also was closed to motor vehicles, thus making security significantly easier.
Alena agreed with Alois’ selection of Charles Bridge for meeting the informant. The State Security Office stationed two men at each end of the bridge and Alena and Alois strolled casually down the structure to meet their contact.
They found him halfway down the bridge leaning against the gray stone walls, smoking a cigarette as he stared out over the river. The small man in round wire framed glasses did not seem to notice them approach and leapt, startled when Alois spoke.
“Marek,” Alois said and the small man spun, facing the two of them wide-eyed. He stared at them for a moment as if he had no idea who they were or what they wanted. Alois glanced briefly at Alena before continuing. “You wanted to meet someone from Moscow,” he said before nodding to Alena. “I have brought someone.”
Alena flashed a friendly smile as she stepped forward. “Hello, Marek, my name is Alena,” she said as she extended a hand.
Marek looked at her hand as if it were a snake. “Are you trying to get me killed?” he asked as he turned away from them, his eyes scanning the area for anyone watching.
“Marek, I can assure you, that you are quite safe. No matter what you might think, the Party still has things well in control and my men are stationed at either side of the bridge. I think you might be overly paranoid.”
The small man nodded. “Perhaps you are right, comrade,” he said and then turned back to look at Alois. “But even if I am paranoid, that doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get me.” He then turned to look Alena up and down. “You are from the Kremlin?” he asked. Alena shook her head.
Flight of the Valkyrie Page 6