A Time To Every Purpose

by Ian Andrew

  “Not recently. No. She’s dead. As is my father. I’m an orphan just like you. The difference of course is I didn’t kill my father. The other difference is unlike Uwe Joyce, I do actually have your life in my hands.”

  Mary frowned in recognition of the phrase. “What did you say?”

  “I’ll ask the questions Mary. Now, I believe you met Heinrich yesterday?”

  “Yes,” Mary answered cautiously.

  Leigh registered the hesitancy and knew she had put Reid off balance. She also knew she would quickly try to reassert herself.

  Sure enough, Mary swallowed and spoke more firmly, “He’s cute. Did he send you? You’d make a nice couple. I would if you aren’t.”

  “I’m sure you would,” Leigh said with a layer of sarcasm. “From what I hear you’d fuck anything from boys to girls to young men to old whores. Single men, married men and of course your favourite... Your own dear father,” she watched as Mary tensed in front of her. “I heard you welcomed him into your bed because your mother was incapable.”

  Mary sprung forward off the cot with her hands raised ready to grab Leigh round the throat. Leigh in response removed her right hand from her pocket and contacted Mary’s shoulder with a handheld 200Kv Taser. Reid collapsed vertically down onto the cell floor. Leigh quickly moved to bend over her and whispered urgently, “The next time I come to see you I’m going to ask you questions. You’re going to tell me everything you told Heinrich. Mary, this is important. I’m on your side. We can get you out of here.” With that Leigh stood up and kicked Mary Reid’s prone body in the stomach before backing off into the corner of the cell. She tapped her ForeFone and called Peter Vogel to come get her.

  He had been watching and listening to the whole thing on the internal CCTV so was already halfway to the cell when his Fone buzzed. He answered it, acknowledged Leigh’s request quite breathlessly and kept running.

  ‘Silly boy,’ thought Leigh as she recharged the taser, removed a strip of sticky tape from her other pocket, taped the trigger down and then lobbed the unit up so that it contacted the CCTV camera. There was a loud static discharge followed by a very faint pop and a slight smell of smoke. The red diode on the camera mount faded to black. Leigh caught the taser unit, removed the tape and popped both back into her pockets. Peter Vogel opened the door.

  An hour later all was calmer, Reid had recovered and was handcuffed to the cot in her cell, Vogel had been reassured multiple times that Leigh was okay and Leigh was insistent that she would continue the interview.

  She walked back into the cell and Peter resecured the door and left. Leigh could sense his frustration. He knew he had screwed up. He’d tried to berate her for having a taser but as she pointed out, he hadn’t asked her to surrender any weapons.

  She simply pleaded ignorance of the rules, “Damn good job I had it on me as it turns out, wouldn’t you say Peter?”

  “Yes Ma’am,” he responded begrudgingly.

  As the cleanup of Reid had progressed Vogel discovered the camera in the cell had broken. Leigh inferred that it had probably shorted out when she tasered the prisoner and was relieved to see that Peter really didn’t know anything about electronics. He just murmured his agreement and suggested she should conduct the interview in a different location.

  “Peter, she isn’t going to be walking anywhere unaided for a while. Your men have already cleaned her up and disinfected the cell. She’s handcuffed to her cot. I don’t actually have an awful lot of time so I’ll just carry on as we are thank you. If I turn up anything of interest I shall come back later and we can record it for posterity. She seems to be conscious, alert and more importantly, back in control of her bowels.”

  “Hello Mary.”

  “Hello Leigh. Nice work.”

  “Thank you.”

  “So, who are you, what do you do and what do you want?”

  “I’m a scientist with the Reich Technical Directorate. I work on a specialist project designed to aid investigations and I want you to tell me what you told Heinrich Steinmann about the way back.”

  Mary worked the handcuffs around the cot end and managed to sit up, albeit crookedly.

  “I will if you will,” she said. “What was the earlier visit about? You could have just asked me the first time.”

  “I want to know answers but there are eyes and ears almost everywhere. I had to take care of the ones in here,” she nodded upwards at the defunct camera. “Sorry about the kick but it’s all in the misdirection.”

  “You don’t look like a manipulative bitch, do you?”

  “No Mary, I guess I don’t. But looks can be, and if you work at them often enough are, deceiving.”

  “You said you could get me out of here?”

  “Yes I did. But that all depends on what happens when Heinrich gets back from Berlin. Honestly, if they walk in and haul you out then that’s it. But if things are delayed then yes, I think we can get you out of here.”

  “And why would you do that Leigh? What would possess you to help and assist an enemy of the Reich?”

  “Are you familiar with the writings of Chanakya?”

  “Not unless he writes military handbooks, murder mystery novels or soft erotica?”

  Leigh couldn’t help but smile quizzically, “No, not quite. He was an Indian author who wrote about statecraft a while ago. He basically said the enemy of my enemy is my friend. But a lot more eloquently.”

  “Naughty naughty Leigh. I could have you arrested for that.”

  “Yeah! And who the fuck’s going to believe a two-bit whore who previously tried to throttle me and I had to taser? Let’s not forget, you also murdered a Reichsminister and that I’m a valued scientist.”

  “Okay, okay, take it easy. Shit you’ve got a temper,” Mary leant back away from her as much as the handcuffs would allow.

  Leigh spoke in a thoroughly calm and measured tone, “No actually I haven’t Mary. But it’s important you understand that I really am a manipulative bitch. I’ll use any method at my disposal to protect myself. The good news is that if I decide to side with you then you get all the benefits of my protection. Clear?”

  “Clear,” Mary shrugged, “you win.”

  “Good. Now, tell me what you told Heinrich.”

  “It’s not that earth shattering. You’ll be pissed.”

  “I’ll judge. Come on.”

  Mary straightened up as best she could and stared hard at Leigh before she spoke, “I don’t want to die. This might not be enough for you to help me.”

  “True, but if you don’t tell me I can guarantee it won’t be enough. I’m your last chance Mary.”

  The two women looked hard at each other across a gap of a metre and a lifetime of difference. Yet Leigh could also recognise a woman who had hidden her past behind a mask. In the end Mary shook her head a little and began.

  “We’re screwed Leigh. We have no chance of changing the regime. I didn’t even know the regime was broken before this week. But there are people out there who do realise that this isn’t the way things are meant to be. Problem is they’re Turners. Do you know what their central tenet is?”

  “Yes, of course. Everyone does.”

  “Exactly. Everyone does. Turn the other cheek. Be kind and loving. Even if I taser you, get up and thank me and be my forgiving friend. That’s the problem. All fine if everybody plays by the same rules. Bit of a shit if Hitler comes along and exterminates millions. So what I said to Heinrich was simple. If this regime continues for another generation or two there’ll be no one left but us. We’ll eventually eradicate the Spanish and the Italians and the Japanese. We only tolerated them because we didn’t have enough citizens of the Reich to occupy everywhere. But when we do it’ll be the Reich’s world. Dictatorial, authoritarian, complete, global. If you aren’t built like an Aryan then you’ll be removed from the gene pool.”

  “How does this come to a way back?”

  “We forget that all of this came about because of one man. One man united a
ll the peoples of the world in harmony.”

  Leigh almost interrupted to say Jesus was no ordinary man but instead held her tongue and let Mary continue.

  “He ripped up the old world order. But that was the problem. Before his time there was discord and inter-tribal and inter-faith violence and struggle. It was brutal but it meant no one took complete control. There was a strength and an edge to the old God that departed when the Turner belief became all powerful. The really old prophecies were fulfilled and they brought peace on earth. They called it Pax in Terra. The whole world pendulum swung to peace and reconciliation. Why should we have been surprised that it eventually swung in the opposite direction?”

  Leigh was watching her carefully and could only see a lucid and focussed individual totally in charge of her faculties. How could Heinrich have thought she was crazy? Yet this was the same women Leigh had watched cold-bloodily lean forward and blow her lover’s brains out.

  “Remember Leigh, all of that era of history fell apart because of one man as well. War and desperation consuming the whole world. When I spoke to Heinrich I told him I’d prefer we went back to a balance between the two. I’d settle for some peace and some war. No more extremes. I told him I had read some old, ancient books. There was one called Ecclesiastes. It said there should be a time of war. But to do that we’d need a strong God to believe in. We’d need faiths that have mettle in their doctrine. That’ll inspire people to pick up weapons and fight back. I want a vengeful God. That’s what I meant by going back to the old ways.”

  “That’s it?’ Leigh was deflated.

  “I told you. It isn’t exactly rocket science.”

  “Is that all you told Heinrich?”

  “Pretty much.”

  “Look Mary, pretty much won’t do. You need to tell me everything you told him.”

  “That was it. I mean, I said I’d killed Uwe as the first step, you know, to show it was possible to fight back. I had seriously begun to consider being a sort of avenging angel but that plan didn’t last long. I still don’t get how they caught me so damn quickly, but they did. Anyway, the point is, imagine if the millions of Turners that are still out there fought back. They’d sweep the Reich away.”

  “But Turners won’t fight Mary!” Leigh was exasperated.

  “I know Leigh, I know. That’s why we need new religions or more religions.” Mary’s voice had risen.

  “And that is frankly bloody ridiculous. We can’t just start a new religion and wind the clock back two thousand years.” Leigh’s voice was also on the rise.

  “You don’t think I realise that. You don’t think I said the same to your fucking boyfriend Heinrich?” Mary was shouting now.

  “He’s not my boyfriend and frankly if that’s your great plan and that’s what got him excited I wonder for his fucking sanity.” Leigh almost spat the words.

  “Well maybe he just fancied being in my company. Maybe it was me that got him excited.” Mary smirked as she yelled it at Leigh.

  “Oh go FUCK yourself!” Leigh stood and watched as Mary brought her legs up in defence. For a moment there was silence. Leigh could feel the redness of her own face and realised that she had her fists clenched.

  Mary spoke quietly, “Yeah, right. He’s not your boyfriend.”

  Leigh almost laughed. She smirked and relaxed her fists. “I’m sorry. But seriously, forming a new religion? That was your plan?”

  “No Leigh,” Mary sighed. “I didn’t have a plan. And yes you’re right; we can’t start a new religion. The only people in this whole sorry world that are inclined to be religious already believe in Turner pacifism. Like I said to Heinrich, it’d be a different world if Jesus hadn’t killed off faith.”

  “That makes no sense. Turners have the ultimate faith.”

  “No they don’t. Or rather, yes they do.” Mary paused and Leigh gave her a look of frustrated annoyance.

  “Well go on.”

  “They have belief. They believe entirely. There’s no faith required.”

  “I don’t understand you.” Leigh sat back down in the metal chair.

  “It’s not difficult; no need for faith means no room for manoeuvre. That’s why the religions united and no one dissented. You don’t argue about something that’s a belief.” She raised her shackled hands as high as they would go, “I am handcuffed, yes or no? The answer’s yes. I love being handcuffed? Maybe yes, maybe no and we could argue about that. Jesus left no room for manoeuvre. Everyone believed in him because of what he did and what he said. Plain and simple acts of wonder and plain and simple speeches of certainty.”

  “So what’s your answer to all of this?”

  “I told you, I don’t have one. I just know that it’s a shame Jesus was so good at his job.”

  “Yeah, but what would you expect of a Messiah?” Leigh’s voice was flat and she felt entirely deflated.

  “Ha, that’s funny. That’s exactly what Heinrich said.” Mary chuckled. “I said that if he’d been a little more messy and a little less Messiah we’d be better off.” She laughed again.

  “Yeah, and what did Heinrich say to that?” Leigh had heard enough. She stood up and began to turn toward the cell door.

  “Not much really. I think he said, ‘it’s a pity someone couldn’t go back and tell him not to be so efficient’.”

  Leigh sat back down.

  Chapter 39

  Heinrich sanitized the room before leaving it to have lunch with Jutta and Albrecht. Afterwards he went back and worked solidly, eventually emerging from the SAR at 17:40 Berlin time.

  Jutta bounced across the main Library floor to him. “Wow, that was a shift and a half. You can still put the hours in can’t you? Find what you came for?” she bubbled.

  “Yes, yes and believe it or not, yes.” he looked down at her and winked.

  She blushed and once again slipped her arm into his. “Come have a drink, you must be parched.”

  Heinrich, Jutta and Albrecht spent another half hour catching up over coffee before he got up to take his leave.

  “Can’t you stay for another evening Heinrich? We could grab a meal. There are some fantastic restaurants not a stone’s throw away.”

  “Oh Jutta, I really would love to. Seriously, I really would but I’m under orders of the Reichsführer-SS himself to be back in London as soon as possible.” He watched the brightness leave her eyes. “What if I promise that the next time I’m coming to Berlin I ring you and we set up a date?” and he saw the sparkle return. She smiled such a wide smile and nodded. He knew what he was doing and he knew it was quite mean. Despite her zealousness she still had emotions and he knew he was playing with them. They said their goodbyes; he shook Albrecht’s hand and kissed Jutta on the cheek. As he turned to leave she called him and he turned back. She was holding a perfect straight-arm salute. Her tattoo clearly visible on her wrist, he couldn’t help but read the last two words, One Leader.

  “Heil Hitler!” she called.

  He returned the salute and made his way out. If his research proved to be correct he would likely never see either of them again.

  Heinrich’s trip back was just as swift and luxurious as his trip out had been but this time the steward poured him a beer. He managed to drink half of it before his lack of sleep over the previous few days caught up with him.

  With the saved hour on the return journey Heinrich was entering his apartment on Gloucester Place by 21:00. He dropped his bag in the bedroom and unbuttoned his dress uniform jacket. Carefully he unbuttoned his shirt and slipped out the pages of notes that he had compiled in the SAR. Placing them under a pile of clothes in a drawer was not the most secure hiding spot but he doubted he was going to get raided. He made his way back into the kitchen and poured himself a generous shot of bourbon. As the bite of the alcohol kicked in he rang Leigh.

  “Hi.”

  “Hi. Are you back?”

  “Yeah. Just got in. Listen, I know I’d offered to maybe have a meal but can we pass until tomorrow?”
r />   “You’re knackered aren’t you?”

  “Ah, I love that you use olde English words and yes, absolutely. Do you mind?”

  “No Heinrich, not at all. Did you have a productive trip?”

  “Yes, very good. How was your day?”

  “Oh just playing with my little toys as usual. Although some new possibilities seem to be revealing themselves. They’re intriguing but of no real use. To be honest with you I’m slightly disappointed. The person who suggested them should have known better. Maybe I’ll try to explain it to you tomorrow in work?”

  “Sounds good. I’ll see you in the morning and thanks for allowing me to slide on dinner.”

  “Bye Heinrich.”

  The only difference with this call was that both ends of it were monitored in the UK SigInt centre. The result was much the same. In two separate rooms operators logged the call details. Almost simultaneously but entirely independent of each other they punched a key marking it as Routine Traffic, ‘No Further Analysis Required’.

  Despite his tiredness Heinrich spent long hours of the night lying awake, thinking of what he would have to do in the morning.

  Not too far away in her own apartment, Leigh also lay awake. Her mind had logically run all the scenarios that she could come up with. Each terrified her and disappointed her in equal measure. It was insane and uncontrollable and completely impossible. There was no proof or rational reason to think it would work and even if it did there was no way to make it happen. Yet as she lay awake into the small hours of the morning the ideas and images of a world without the peaceful union of the Turner Church played through her mind.

  She knew the history of the Old Book. The wars and factions, the killing and fighting. Could she really leave the world to that? But what if the Reich could be stopped? What if the ultimate evil befalling humanity could be bought off? At a cost of pain and death but ultimately allowing the good of the human race to win through. She knew her reality. Even if she did what she could and it went wrong, how much worse could it be? What could be achieved and what would it mean even to attempt it? Perhaps this was the time and the place that she had been destined for. She just wasn’t sure if she had the courage to try.