The Honor of Spies

by W. E. B. Griffin; William E. Butterworth; IV

  "Wild Bill know you're here?" Dulles asked.

  "You said don't tell him, so I didn't." Graham met Dulles's eyes, smiled, and asked, "What are we hiding from our leader?"

  He took a long, thin, black cigar from a case, then remembered his manners and offered the case to Dulles, who shook his head.

  "There's been a very interesting development," Dulles said. "What would you say, Alex, if I told you that the Germans know a great deal about the Manhattan Project?"

  "You sound surprised," Graham said.

  "A very great deal, Alex," Dulles said.

  There was a battered leather briefcase on a desk. Dulles went to it, unlocked it, matter-of-factly took a yellow-bodied thermite grenade from it, set it carefully on the desk, then went back into the briefcase and came out with a stack of eight-by-ten-inch photographs, which he handed to Graham.

  Graham read the photograph of the cover sheet carefully, then looked through the stack of photographs of the rest of the document.

  "I have no idea what I'm looking at," he confessed.

  "You know about the Manhattan Project's facility in Tennessee?"

  "Oak Ridge?"

  "Oak Ridge is Site X," Dulles said. "What this is--these are--are photographs of the weekly progress report on the four projects they're setting up there to separate enough weapons-grade uranium from uranium ore to make a weapon. Or weapons. Atomic bombs."

  "Where'd you get this report?"

  "From the Germans. Specifically, from Fregattenkapitan Otto von und zu Waching, who is Admiral Canaris's deputy."

  "Meaning the Germans have a spy--spies--in Oak Ridge?" Graham asked incredulously. "That's bad news. You haven't told Donovan?"

  "No, I haven't told Donovan."

  "Why not?"

  "The Germans don't have spies in Oak Ridge. The Russians do. The Germans apparently have people in the Kremlin. According to von und zu Waching, that's where those photos came from."

  "How long have you known about this?" Graham asked.

  "Since two o'clock this afternoon. Canaris got word to me that he thought it would be to our mutual interest if we got together with von und zu Waching--"

  " 'We'?" Graham interrupted.

  "You and me. He asked for you by name. So I sent you the 'come to Portugal very quietly' message. Canaris doesn't play games, for one thing, and for another, I really didn't want to deal with whatever this was by myself."

  "What the hell is it all about?"

  "What comes immediately to mind, obviously, is that it is not in the best interests of the German Reich for the Soviets to have an atomic bomb. Stealing the knowledge of how to make one from us is a quick way for them to get one."

  Graham nodded his agreement.

  "This is all you got from this guy? What's his name?"

  "Fregattenkapitan Otto von und zu Waching. That's all. He asked if you were coming, and when I told him you were, he 'suggested' we wait until you got here before we got into anything else."

  "Where is he now?"

  "In his room, waiting for me to call him."

  "Call him," Graham said.

  [TWO]

  "Good evening," Fregattenkapitan Otto von und zu Waching said five minutes later, with a bob of his head.

  He was in civilian clothing, a gray-striped woolen suit that looked a little too large for him, a once-white shirt--which instantly brought to Graham's mind the advertising campaign that tried to convince American housewives that the use of a certain soap powder would absolutely protect their husbands' white shirts from turning "tattletale gray" and thus suggesting they were failing to properly care for the family breadwinner--and worn-out shoes.

  The Germans are running short of soap. And material for suits. And shoes.

  It's as simple as that.

  "My name is Graham," Graham said, offering his hand.

  "Your reputation precedes you, Colonel," von und zu Waching said. "I am, as I'm sure Mr. Dulles has told you, Otto von und zu Waching, and I have the honor of being Vizeadmiral Canaris's deputy. Thank you for coming. I am sure you will feel the effort was worthwhile."

  His English was fluent, with a strong upper-class British accent.

  "Let's hope so," Graham said.

  "Would either of you be offended if I outlined my position here? Our positions here? I suggest that would be useful."

  "By all means," Dulles said.

  "I am a serving officer. Our nations are at war. I have, as has Admiral Canaris, come to the conclusion that Adolf Hitler, and most of the senior officials and military officers around him, must, in the interests of Germany, be removed from power.

  "This is an internal matter. While on its face it is treason, that treason is limited to removing the National Socialist government--the Nazis--from power. Neither Admiral Canaris, nor myself, nor any of those associated with us are willing to betray our soldiers, airmen, or seamen by taking any action, or providing to you or anyone else any intelligence which could affect their combat efficiency and therefore place their lives in danger.

  "Is that your understanding of the situation?"

  "Frankly, Captain . . ." Graham replied, so quickly that Dulles looked at him with what could have been surprise or alarm or both. ". . . is that what I call you, 'Captain'?"

  "If it pleases you," von und zu Waching said.

  Graham went on: "You're aware, I'm sure, Captain, that we are both serving officers in the naval service of our respective nations; that the U.S. Marine Corps is part of the U.S. Navy?"

  "So I understand."

  "Well, in the United States Navy, we have a saying, and I would be surprised if there isn't a similar saying in the Kriegsmarine."

  "And that saying is?" von und zu Waching asked with a smile.

  Graham switched to German and said, rather unpleasantly, "Why don't we cut the bullshit and get down to business?"

  "I beg your pardon?"

  "There are two cold facts coloring this conversation," Graham said pointedly. "One is that you've lost the war, and you know it, and the second is that you want something from us. So why don't we stop splitting hairs about what constitutes treason and get down to what you want from us?"

  Von und zu Waching's face turned white.

  "Captain," Graham said, "I came a very long way at considerable inconvenience because I thought that Admiral Canaris had something important to say, not to listen to crap like you just mouthed."

  Von und zu Waching looked at Dulles.

  Graham snapped: "Don't look to Dulles to bring me up short, Captain. I don't work for him, and he can't order me to give you whatever it is you want from me. And you wouldn't have asked him to get me here if you could get what you want from him."

  Von und zu Waching said nothing.

  Neither did Dulles.

  "Okay, getting to the bottom line, Captain," Graham said, coldly reasonable, "why don't you tell me what it is you want from me, and what you're willing to offer in exchange?"

  "Has Mr. Dulles shown you the material from Oak Ridge?"

  "He showed me what you purport to be material from Oak Ridge," Graham said.

  "The Russians have spies in Oak Ridge and elsewhere within your Manhattan Project. I am prepared to identify them to you."

  "Come on, Captain. If you work for Canaris, you didn't get into the intelligence business last week."

  "I don't know what you mean," von und zu Waching said.

  "Okay, a couple of givens in here. Germany doesn't want the Russians to get their hands on the atomic bomb, or the details of how one makes an atom bomb."

  "I would suggest, Colonel, that keeping the Russians from getting the atomic bomb is also in the interests of the United States."

  "Well, we've found something to agree on," Graham said sarcastically. "Let's see if we can build on that. So you know there are Russian spies at Oak Ridge. Why didn't you just give their names to the FBI?"

  Von und zu Waching did not reply.

  Graham went off on a tangent: "As Admiral Canari
s's Number Two, I presume that you are privy to most of his communications with others?"

  The question surprised both Dulles and von und zu Waching.

  "I would say that I am privy to just about all," von und zu Waching said, more than a little arrogantly.

  "If I wasn't clear about this, Colonel Graham," Allen Dulles said, "I have it on good authority--from the admiral himself--that the fregattenkapitan is indeed Vice Admiral Canaris's deputy."

  I don't really know, Graham thought, if that remark was intended for von und zu Waching or me.

  Is he trying to convince von und zu Waching that he has a friend?

  No!

  What he's doing is more or less politely suggesting that he doesn't approve of the way I'm dealing with von und zu Waching.

  Allen, you're wrong!

  Von und zu Waching is a sailor, a navy officer, and I know how to deal with navy officers.

  You think like a diplomat, Allen, and a diplomat is the last thing I need right now!

  "I'm going to show you one of those communications, Captain," Graham said, "and ask you to explain what it means. If I like your answers, that means you have told me the truth. That will be another step in our blossoming relationship. Fair enough?"

  Von und zu Waching nodded.

  Graham went into his briefcase, pulled out a manila envelope, and took from it two photographs of a message--obviously pages one and two of the message--which he handed to von und zu Waching.

  "May I ask what that is?" Dulles asked.

  "You may, but I'm frankly shocked that you would ask. Have you forgotten what Secretary of State Stimson said?"

  Dulles shook his head in disbelief.

  "'Gentlemen do not read each other's mail,'" von und zu Waching said, smiling after he quoted Henry Stimson's 1931 justification for shutting down the government's small--and only--cryptographic office.

  "Listen to the Captain, Allen," Graham said.

  "Would that we were all still living in such an age of innocence," von und zu Waching said.

  "Amen, brother!" Graham said.

  "Actually, I wrote this," von und zu Waching said, holding up the message. "And frankly, I'm amazed . . ."

  He stopped in midsentence.

  "That it was compromised so quickly?" Graham finished for him.

  Von und zu Waching nodded.

  "Show it to Mr. Dulles, Captain. Curiosity is about to consume him." He gave him just enough time to do so before asking, "So who's the senior officer?"

  Von und zu Waching looked into Graham's eyes for a long moment.

  "SS-Brigadefuhrer Ritter Manfred von Deitzberg," von und zu Waching said. "He is de facto, if not de jure, Himmler's deputy."

  "But he was just in Argentina--wearing the uniform of a Wehrmacht general."

  Von und zu Waching knew it was more of a question than a statement. He began: "There are three reasons why he's going to Argentina--"

  "On U-405?"

  "You even know the number?"

  "And the name of her skipper," Graham said. "Kapitanleutnant Wilhelm von Dattenberg."

  "Yes, on the U-405. For three reasons. The Bavarian corporal inquired of Himmler if the 'mechanism for the transport of senior officers' to South America was in place. The admiral told me Hitler had a half-formed idea that Il Duce, once he's freed, might be the first senior officer to seek asylum under Operation Phoenix."

  "My God! Really?" Dulles asked incredulously.

  "According to the admiral, Himmler said he had disabused the Fuhrer of that notion. But Hitler wanted to know, as I said, if the mechanism is in place."

  "I want to hear about freeing Mussolini," Graham said. "But first, let's get to the other two reasons von Deitzberg is being sent to Argentina."

  Von und zu Waching looked at him, nodded, and went on: "Himmler told Hitler that he had turned over control of U-405 to Admiral Canaris--this was not true--and that Canaris was in the process of seeing if 'the mechanism was in place'; that von Deitzberg was en route to Argentina is the test of the mechanism."

  "So von Deitzberg had to go," Graham said. "Reason Two?"

  "Himmler wants your man there, Frade, eliminated. Apparently, Cranz has been unable to accomplish this. Von Deitzberg is very good at that sort of thing. And he's close to Colonel Peron."

  "And Three?"

  "That--his connection with Peron--may be Three. But it could be something else. I just know, and the admiral agrees, that there's more to Himmler's sending von Deitzberg to Argentina than checking to see if the 'transport mechanism' works and eliminating Frade."

  "You said when Il Duce has been freed?" Dulles asked.

  "By now the Carabinieri, in whose hands the king placed him, should have moved him to a ski resort--the Campo Imperatore Hotel on the Gran Sasso--" He paused and looked between Dulles and Graham to make sure they understood him, and after they nodded he went on: "From which, in the next few days, a task force of paratroops augmented by some special SS troops will try to rescue him."

  "You're suggesting that you're not sure the operation will work?" Graham asked.

  "The admiral isn't sure, either. On one hand, the paratroops are very good, and the SS are special troops. On the other, there's a battalion of Carabinieri who are also very good."

  "Why is rescuing Mussolini so important?" Dulles wondered aloud. "There is no way he could resume power."

  "Because the Bavarian corporal thinks it is," von und zu Waching said. "Case closed."

  Dulles nodded a sad agreement.

  "Okay," Graham said. "What is it you want from me in Argentina? And what do you offer in return?"

  "Money is the primary thing I want from you," von und zu Waching said.

  "Money is usually the last thing mentioned," Graham said. "After you convince the other fellow that he really wants what you're selling, then you tell him how much it costs. What are you going to give me for my money?"

  "Abwehr Ost," von und zu Waching said. "Files, dossiers, analyses, even agents in place. How much would you like to have that?"

  "We have a saying, Captain, that when something sounds too good to be true, it usually is," Graham said. "The first thing that comes to mind is: 'How could he possibly deliver on that?' And the second is: 'Why would he want to?' "

  "Oberstleutnant Gehlen . . . you know of whom I speak?"

  Graham nodded. "He runs Abwehr Ost for Admiral Canaris. I've always wondered why he's only a lieutenant colonel."

  "To keep him from Hitler's attention," von und zu Waching said. "He met the Fuhrer for the first time a week or so ago."

  "Okay," Graham said. "I can understand that."

  "Oberstleutnant Gehlen wants three things," von und zu Waching went on carefully. "In the following order: To protect the families of his officers and men. To protect, insofar as this may be possible, the lives of his officers and men and agents and assets in place in the Soviet Union."

  Graham nodded, grunted, and said, "That's two things."

  "You very possibly won't like his third."

  "We won't know until you tell me, will we?"

  "Gehlen feels it would be a shame--worse, criminal, even sinful--if all the knowledge of Abwehr Ost, acquired at such great effort and the cost of so many lives, should be flushed down the toilet when Soviet tanks roll down the Unter den Linden."

  "What would he like to see happen to it?" Dulles asked softly.

  "He believes that his intelligence would be useful, even the determining factor, in defeating the Soviet Union when, inevitably, there is war between the United States and the Soviet Union."

  "And do you believe that war is inevitable between the United States and our Soviet allies?" Dulles pursued.

  Von und zu Waching took a moment before replying: "I would say that it is inevitable unless the United States develops and produces atomic weapons before the Soviet Union does and demonstrates its willingness to use them."

  "Even against Germany?" Graham asked.

  Von und zu Waching didn't reply to the qu
estion. Graham decided not to push him.

  "The Russians are, of course, aware of Gehlen," von und zu Waching said, "and almost certainly have the names of his important people on their Order of Battle charts. Probably, they have the names of everyone connected with Abwehr Ost down to the last obergefreiter and female civilian typist. It follows that if we have penetrated them, they have penetrated us."

  "Yeah," Graham thought aloud.

  "But they don't--self-evidently--know the identities of Gehlen's people in the Kremlin. They will want those names. We would, and I suggest you would, under the same circumstances. The difference being that we would not torture the wives and children of their officers to get that information."

  "You think the Russians would torture women and children?" Dulles asked softly.

  "Probably with about as much enthusiasm as the SS does when they have a Russian woman or child in their hands," von und zu Waching said.

  "What do you want from me?" Graham asked. "I don't seem to be getting an answer."

  "Gehlen wants to set up an operation something like Phoenix for his people," von und zu Waching said. "What he wants to do immediately is send one of his officers to Argentina to see what has to be done. That's why I said he needs--I suppose I mean we need--money. Abwehr doesn't have warehouses full of no-longer-needed gold wedding rings, dental prostheses, and eyeglass frames that can be turned into cash."

  "You don't think that anyone would notice that one of Gehlen's officers--and he would have to be one of his senior officers--was suddenly no longer around?" Graham asked.

  "The officer Gehlen has in mind--a major--will ostensibly give his life for the Fatherland on the Eastern Front. We can get him as far as here, or Madrid, one or the other, with identity credentials that should get him past the border guards."

  "And from here, or Madrid, to Buenos Aires?"

  "That you'd have to arrange," von und zu Waching said.

  "And what do we get?" Graham asked.

  "Eventually everything, and that includes Oberstleutnant Gehlen and myself. And possibly even the admiral. Immediately, we will give you the names of the people the Soviets have at Oak Ridge, Los Alamos, the University of California at Berkeley, and elsewhere. There are eleven names in all. More will be furnished when they turn up, as I'm sure they will. Stalin wants your bomb and is working hard to get it."