He was within six feet; he could hear the man’sbreathing. There was a snap beneath him. A branchThe scout turned his eyes alive in the glare of light.Converse lunged, the barrel of the gun gripped inhis hand. He crashed the steel handle into theGerman’s temple and then into his throat. The manfell backward, dazed but not unconscious; he startedto
screarn..loel sprang for his enemy’s neck and halfchoked him before bringing the steel handle downwith all his strength on the C;erman’s forehead,instantly there was an eruption of blood and crushedtissue.
Silence. No movement. Anotile’; SC’C'lltseparated from his patrol had been taken out. Andas be hac] years ago, Converse permitted himself nofeeling. it was done, and he had to go on.
The man’s dry clothes, including the dark leatherjacket, fit reasonably well. Like most small ormedium-sized commanders, LeiFhelm surroundedhimself with tall men, as much to protect himself asto proclaim his superiority over his largercompatriots.
There was also another gull; Joel struggled with the clip, removed it, and threw it along with the weapon into the woods. The bonus came with the German's billfold; it contained a sizable sum of money as well as a frayed, much stamped passport. Apparently, this trusted employee of Leifhelm traveled widely for aquitaine probably knowing nothing and being very expendable, but always available at the moment of decision. The mall shoes did not fit; they were too small. So Converseused his drenched clothing to wipe his OWI1, and the German’s dry socks helped to absorb some of the moisture of the leather inside. He covered the manwith branches and walked up the hit’ to the road.
He stayed out of sight between the trees as fivecars passed by, all sedans, all possibly belonging toErich Leifhelm. Then he saw a bright-yellowVolkswagen come into view, weaving slightly. Hestepped out and held up his hands, the gesture of aman in trouble.
The small car stopped a blond girl in thepassenger seat, the driver no more than eighteen ortwenty, another young man in back, also blond, wholooked as though he might be the girl’s brother.
“Was ist los, Opa?” asked the driver.
“I’m afraid I don’t speak German. Can you speakany English?”
“I speak some English,” said the boy in back,slurring his words. “Better than these two! All theywant to do is get to our place and make love. See! Ido speak English?”
“You certainly do, and very well, indeed. Wouldyou explain to them, please? Frankly, I’ve had a fightwith my wife
at a party down there you know, at thosecottages and I want to get back to Bonn. I'll pay you, of course.”
“Ein Streit mit seiner Frau! Er will nach Bonn. Erwind uns hezahlen.”
“Warum night? Sie hat mich halite sowieso schonzu viol gekostet,” said the driver.
“Nichtfuer was du kriegst, du Drecksack!” criedthe girl laughing.
“Get in, main Herr! We are your chauffeurs.Just pray he stays on the road, ja! What hotel areyou staying ate”
“Actually, I’d rather not go back there. I’mreally very angry. I’d like to teach her a lesson bystaying away tonight. Do you think you could findme a room? I’ll pay you even more, of course.Frankly, I’ve been drinking a bit myself.”
“Ein betrunkener Tourist! Er will ein Hotel.Fahren wir ihn ins Rosencafe?”
“sort sind mehr Nutten als der alte knocker schafft. “
We are your guides, Amerikaner, ” said theyoung man beside Converse. “We are students fromthe university who will not only find you a room,but with excellent prospects of getting back at yourwife with some pleasure! There’s also a cafe. You’llbuy us a lager or six, ja?’
“All you want. But Ed also like to make atelephone call. To the United States it’s business.Will I be able to?”
“Most everyone in Bonn speaks English. If theydon’t at this Rosbencafe, I, myself, will take care ofit Six lager th h
“Twelve, if you like.”
“Da wird es im Pissoir sine t"berschwemmunggeben!”
He knew the rate of exchange, and once insidethe raucous cafe actually a run-down bar favoredby the university crowd he counted the money hehad taken from the two Germans. It was roughlyfive hundred dollars, over three from the man onthe hill. The seedy clerk at the registration deskexplained in convoluted English that, indeed, theswitchboard could place a call to America, but itmight take several minutes. Joel left fifty dollars indeutsche marks for his youthful Good Samaritans,excused himself and headed for his room such asit was. An hour later the call came through
“Larry?”
“Joel?”
“Thank God you’re there!” cried Converse in relief.
“You ll never know how I kept hoping you weren’tout of town. Getting a call through from here is abitch!’
“ I m here, said Talbot, his voice suddenly calmand in control. ”Where are you. Joel?” he askedquietly.
“Some poor excuse for a hotel in Boml. I justgot here. I didn t get the name. ”
You re in a hotel in Bonn but you don t knowwhich one?
"it doesn’t matter, Larry! Get Simon on the lineI want to talk to you both. Quickly.’
"Nathan s in court He should be back here byfour o clock our time. That’s about an hour fromnow.
“Coddamn it!”
“Take it easy, Joel. Don’t upset yourself.”
“Don’t upset. . . ? For Christ s sake, I ve beenlocked up in a stone cabin with bars in the windowsfor five days! I broke out a couple of hours ago, andran like hell through the woods with a pack of dogsand lunatics carrying guns chasing me. I spent anhour in the water damn near drowning before Icohuldd reach land without getting my head shot offand the
“ You had to what, Joel?” asked Talbot, astrange passivity in his voice ”What did you have todo?’
"Goddamn it, Larry, I may have killed a man toget out of there!’
"You had to kill someone, Joel? Why did youthink you had to do that?”
“He was waiting for me! They were searching forme! On the land, in the woods along theriverbanks he was a scout separated from hispatrol. Scouts, patrols! I had to get out, get away!And you tell me not to be upset!”
" Calm down, Joel, try to get hold of yourself….You escaped before, didn’t you? A long time ago “
"What s that got to do with anything? Conversebroke in.
“You had to kill people then, didn t you? Thosememories must always be with you
Larry, that s bullshit! Listen to me and takedown everything I say the names I give you, thefacts get it all down.
“Perhaps I should bring Janet on the line. Hershorthand
"No! Only you, no one else! They can trace people,any
one who knows anything. It’s not that complicated.Are you ready?”
“Of course.”
Joel sat down on the narrow bed and took adeep breath. “The best way to put it as it was putto me, but you don’t have to write this down, justunderstand is that they’ve come back.”
“Who?”
“The generals field marshals, admirals,colonels allies and enemies, all field and fleetcommanders and above. They’ve come togetherfrom everywhere to change things, changegovernments and laws and foreign policies, every-thing to be based on military priorities anddecisions. It’s crazy, but they could do it. We’d liveout their fantasies because they’d be in control,believing they’re right and selfless anddedicated as they’ve always believed.’
“Who are these people, Joel?”
“Yes, write this down. The organisation is calledAquitaine. It’s based on a historical theory that theregion in France once known as Aquitaine mighthave become all of Europe and by extension ascolonies the North American continent as well.”
“Whose theory?”
“It doesn’t matter, it’s just a theory. Theorganizahon was conceived by General GeorgeDelavane he was known as Mad Marcus inVietnam and I saw only a fraction of the damagethat son of a bitch did! He’s pulled in militarypersonnel from all over the place, all commanders,and they’re fanning out recruiting their own kind,fan
atics who believe as they do, that theirs is theonly way. For the past year or so they’ve beenshipping illegal weapons and armaments to terroristgroups, encouraging destabilisation wherever theycan, the ultimate purpose being that they’ll becalled in to restore order, and when they do, they’lltake over…. Five days ago I met with Delavane’skey men from France and Germany Israel andSouth Africa and, I think, possibly England.”
“You met with these people, Joel? Did theyinvite you to a meeting?”
“They thought I was one of them, that I believedin everything they stood for. You see, Larry, theydidn’t know how much I hated them. They hadn’tbeen where I’d been, hadn’t seen what I saw asyou said, years ago.”
“When you had to escape,” added Talbotsympathetical
ly. “When you had to kill people times you’ll neverforget. They must have been terrible for you.”
“Yes, they were. Goddamn it, yes! Sorry, let’s stayon course. I’m so bred still frightened, too, I think.”
“Relax, Joel.”
“Sure. Where was I?” Converse rubbed his eyes.“Oh, yes, I remember. They got information on me,information from my service record, my status as aPOW, which wasn’t actually part of the record, butthey got it and they found out what and who I was.They heard the words that told them how much Ihated them, hated what Delavane had done whatthey all had done. They drugged me, got whateverthey could and threw me into a Godforsaken stonehouse set in the middle of the woods above theRhine. While under the chemicals I must have toldthem everything I knew “
“Chemicals?” asked Talbot, obviously neverhaving heard the term.
Amytols, Pentothals, scopolamine. I’ve been theroute, Larry. I’ve been there and back.”
"You have? Where?”
In the camps. It’s immaterial.”
“I’m not sure it is.”
“It is! The point is they found out what I know.That means they’ll move up their schedule.”
“Schedule?”
“We’re in the countdown. Now! Two weeks, threeweeks, four at the outside! No one knows how orwhere or what the targets are, but there’ll beeruptions of violence and terrorism all over theplace, giving them the excuse to move in and takeover. “Accumulation,’ ”rapid acceleration,’ those werethe words they used! Right now in NorthernIreland everything’s blown apart, nothing butchaos whole armored divisions are moving in. Theydid it, Larry! It’s a test, a trial run for them! I’mgoing to give you the names.” Converse did so bothsurprised and annoyed that Talbot did not react toany of the men of Aquitaine. “Have you got them?”
“Yes, I have.”
“Those are the salient facts and the names I canvouch for. There’s a lot more people in the StateDepartment and the Pentagon, but the lists are inmy briefcase and it’s been stolen, or hiddensomewhere. I’ll get some rest and start writing outeverything I know, then call you in the morning. Ihave to get out of here. I’m going to need help.”
“I agree, so may I talk now?” said the lawyer inNew York in that odd flat voice. “First, where areyou, Joel? Look on the phone or read the print onan ashtray or check the desk; there must bestationery.”
“There’s no desk and the ashtrays are chippedglass. . . . Wait a minute, I picked up some matchesfrom the bar when I bought cigarettes.” Conversereached into the pocket of the leather jacket andpulled out the book of matches. “Here it is.Riesendrinks. "
Look below that. My German is limited, but Ithink it means big drinks’ or something.’
“Oh? Then it must be this. "Rosencafe.’”
“That sounds more like it. Spell it for me, Joel.”
Converse did, an undefined feeling disturbinghim. “Have you got it?” he asked. “Here’s atelephone number.” Joel read off the numbersprinted on the cover.
“Good, that’s splendid,” said Talbot. “But beforeyou get off the line and I know you need restbadly I have a couple of questions.”
“I would hope to hell you do!”
“When we spoke after that man was hurt inParis, after that fight you saw in the alley, you toldme you were in Amsterdam. You said you weregoing to Hy back to Paris and see Rene, straighteneverything out. Why didn’t you, Joel?”
“For Cod’s sake, Larry, I just told you what I’vebeen through! It took every minute I had to setthings up. I was going after these people thisgoddamned Aquitaine and it could only be doneone way. I had to work myself in, I couldn’t wastetime!”
“That man died. Did you have anything to do withhis
“Christ, yes, I killed him! He tried to stop me,they all tried to stop me! They found me inCopenhagen and had me followed. They werewaiting for me at the airport here. It was a trap!”
“To stop you from reaching these men, thesegenerals and field marshals?”
“Yes!”
“Yet you just told me these same men invitedyou to meet with them.”
“I’ll spell it all out for you in the morning,” saidConverse wearily, the tension of the lasthours days culminating in exhaustion and awracking headache. “By then I’ll have ev
erything down on paper, but you may have to comeover here to get it and me. The main thing is we’rein touch. You’ve got the names, the overview, andyou know where I am. Talk with Nathan, think abouteverything I’ve said and the three of us will figureout what to do. We have contacts in Washington, butwe’ll have to be careful. We don’t know who’s withwhom. But there’s a plus here. Some of the materialI have I had could only have come from peopledown there. One view is that I was set in motion bythem, that men I don’t know are watching everymove I make because I’m doing what they can’t do.”
“By yourself,” said Talbot, agreeing. “WithoutWashington’s help. Without their help.”
“That’s right. They can’t show themselves; theyhave to stay in the background until I bring outsomething concrete. That was the plan. When youand Nathan talk, if you have questions call me. I’mjust going to lie down for an hour or so anyway.”
“I’ve got another question now, if you don’t mind.You know Interpol has an international warrant foryou.”
“I do.”
“And the American embassy is looking for you.”
“I know that, too.”
“I was told that word reached you to come intothe embassy.”
“You were told?”
“Why haven’t you done it, Joel?”
“Jesus, I can’t! Don’t you think I would if I could? The place is crawling with Delavane’s people. Well,that’s an exaggeration, but I know of three. I sawthem.”
“It’s my understanding that AmbassadorPeregrine himself got word to you, guaranteeing youprotection, confidentiality. Wasn’t that enough?”
“Your understanding . . .” The answer is no!Peregrine hasn’t any idea what he’s got inside thatplace. Or maybe he does. I saw Leifhelm’s car gothrough those gates like he had a lifetime pass. Atthree o’clock in the morning. Leifhelm’s a Nazi,Larry, he’s never been anything else! So what doesthat make Peregrine?”
“Come on, Joel. You’re maligning a man byimplication who doesn’t deserve it. Walter Peregrinewas one of the heroes of Bastogne. His command atthe Battle of the Bulge is
a legend of the war. And he was a reserve officer,not part of the regular Army. I doubt that Nazis arehis favorite guests. "
“His command? Another commander? Thenmaybe he knows exactly what he s got in thatembassy!”
“That’s not fair. His outspoken criticisms of thePentagon are a documented part of his postwarcareer. He’s called them megalomaniacs with toodamn much money feeding their egos at thetaxpayers’ expense. No, you’re not being fair, Joel.I think you should listen to him. Call him on thephone, talk to him.”
“ Not being fairy” said Converse softly, theundefined feel”ng coming Into focus, now awarning. Wait a minute! You’re the one who’s notbeing fair. I was told’. . . it’s my understanding?’What oracle have you been in touch with? Who’simparting these pearls of wisdom about me? Onwhat basis and where
from?”
“All right, Joel, all right, calm down. Yes, I havetalked to people people who want to help you. Aman is dead in Paris, and now you say there’sanother in Bonn. You talk of scouts and patrols andthose horrible chemicals, and how you ran throughthe woods and had to hide in the river. Don t youunderstand, son? Nobody’s blaming you or evenholding you responsible. Something happened;you’re living it all over again.”
“My God!” broke in Converse, stunned. "Youdon’t believe a word I’ve said!”
You believe it, and that s all that matters. I sawmy share in North Africa and Italy, but nothing tocompare with what you went through later. Youhave a deep, understandable hatred for war and allthings military. You wouldn’t be human if youdidn’t, not with the suffering you experienced andthe terrible things you endured.”
"Larry, everything I’ve told you is true!”
Fine, splendid. Then reach Peregrine go to theembassy and tell them. They’ll listen to you. He’lllisten.”
Are you denser than I think?,’ shouted Joel. I just told you, I can t! I’d never get to see Peregrine!I’d get my head blown away!’
"I spoke to your wife sorry, your ex-wife. Shesaid you’d have these moments at night….”
“”You spoke to Val? You brought her into this!Christ, are you out of your mind ? Don’t you knowthey trace everyone
down ? It was right under your nose, counselor!LucasAnstett Stay away from her! Stay away orI’ll I’ll “
“You’ll what, son?” asked Talbot quietly. “Kiln’ me,too?”
“Oh, Jesus”
"Do as I say, Joel. Call Peregrine. Everything wilt beall
Suddenly Converse heard an odd sound over theline, odd in context but one he had heard hundredsof times before. It was a short buzz, barely significantbut there was significance to it. It was LawrenceTalbot’s courteous signal to his secretary to comeinto his office and pick up a revised letter or acorrected brief or a dictation tape. Joel knew what itwas now. The address of a seedy hotel in Bonn.
“All right, Larry,” he said, feigning an exhaustionthat was all too real. “I’m so damned tired. Let me liedown for a while and maybe I will call the embassy.Maybe I should get in touch with Peregrine.Everything’s so confused.”
The Aquaintaine Progession Page 40