Deadly States (Seaforth Files by Nicholas P Clark Book 2)

by Clark, Nicholas P

  “Not at all. I understand completely. My father lost two brothers to the camps. He spent decades hunting for those responsible and he brought several of them to justice. Even when he had the men in the dock I never once got a sense that my father found any contentment. He did it because it was the just thing to do, and only for that reason. So no, I wouldn’t waste my time with such things and I certainly wouldn’t ask someone like you to help me with such a task.”

  There was a short pause. Then she smiled. It was a beaming apology that instantly disarmed Jack.

  “Now that I have promised you that my story will not contain any Nazis I start by going back on that promise. But it is only to set a context. I promise. As the war came to an end there was naturally chaos all over Europe and beyond. For every war criminal who was arrested and brought to justice, a thousand others went free. With so many people caught up in the madness of the Nazi years it was going to be an impossible task to bring everyone to justice. The trials in Nuremberg were designed to provide a bleeding world with the sense that justice and the rule of law would always triumph over evil. The trials also provided a focus for the anger of hundreds of millions. But most importantly, the trials gave the defeated German population absolution. Those Nazi leaders and high-ranking SS who went on trial knew what their final role was to be. Their sacrifice would allow thousands of others to keep their national socialist dreams alive.”

  Jack cut in as it was nothing that he had not heard a hundredtimes before.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “But this really is heading down a road that I don’t want to head down.”

  “Bear with me. I will get to the point shortly and I will prove to you how these things do matter and how they have already impacted on your life. As I was saying, thousands of unrepentant Nazis were allowed to go free. That was the compromise that the allies arrived at. Stalin wanted to round them all up and execute them; which was an idea that the Americans did not find entirely unattractive, especially if the Soviets were doing the killing, The British were having none of it. Churchill argued that kind of retribution was something that the Nazis themselves would have employed and that if they did go down that road then they would be as bad as Hitler. Perhaps on this one occasion Stalin’s madness should have been allowed to play itself out fully?

  “Anyhow, we are where we are and there is no point on dwelling too long on what ifs. From 1942 those at the highest levels in the Nazi leadership knew that Hitler was walking them into defeat. They also knew that the defeat would spell the end of Germany and they knew that there was nothing that they could do to stop that from happening. Those men were highly adaptable and many years before the end finally came they began to put in place a mechanism that would secure the ideals of National Socialism. It was a philosophy that could easily be transferred to other parts of the world—the occupations of the Second World War had shown that to be true. They knew that Germany would be occupied for decades to come and that there would be little prospect of ever rebuilding their Reich with Germany at its centre. The uniforms and flags and street violence would also be consigned to the history books. The new National Socialism would be more subtle, more powerful, and more deadly. It would infiltrate governments all over the world. It would be at the heart of big business and high finance—the plundered wealth of a continent would see to that.

  Jack once again interrupted, though this time he felt a little guilty about doing so. She was obviously a believer in this nonsense and he did not want to trample all over her beliefs.

  “Again, I have heard these stories before. I still do n’t see how any of it affects us here and now.”

  “They are not stories. You only have to read the accounts of some of the German scientists who were taken to America under Operation Paperclip. They were there to work on the American space program, with their expertise on rocket design and the like. But there were also chemists and biologists and aeronautical engineers. And almost all of those men had been identified by the Nazi leadership as potential targets for the Allies. It is true that some scientists were executed by the SS before they fell into the hands of the forced to kill themselves, but the greater go along willingly with their captives and to cooperate in every possible way. They had been briefed by the Nazis on how to use their position in their new homelands to slowly rebuild the Nazi faith. And for many, that is exactly what they did. Gone were the silly salutes and cries of heil, replaced in modern times with great corporate and political wealth. They themselves would never be fully accepted or trusted by their captors, but their children and grandchildren one day would be accepted and trusted. They would be given the same rights as every other citizen and with time the paranoia and fear that tarnished their fathers would melt away.”

  Jack smiled widely.

  “Are you seriously telling me that you believe there are thousands of would-be Nazis out there simply biding their time until it is time to rise up and restore the Third Reich?”

  “That is exactly what I’m saying. They will not drive across Europe in tanks or bomb countries into submission from the air, but they will strike again. Germany will one day be at the centre of a mighty empire, only this time it will be an economic empire, and it really will last a thousand years.”

  “I don’t see the problem with that,” Jack said. “If the German economy grows to such an extent that it becomes central to all world economics then so be it. They will have outwitted other countries and as long as it is done peacefully then what have we to complain about? We don’t scream bloody murder because the US is the world’s only economic superpower.”

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  Allies, and that others were proportion were ordered to “Don’t you seeJack? This is what we have been afraid of. Oncethey have gained supremacy they will start to interfere with the internal financial policies of sovereign nations. Once they have an influence on tax and spending in those countries they will be able to control things such as defence budgets and the amount that a country can spend on the health of its people.”

  “What exactly is it that you want me to do about any of this? Are we going to rob banks all over the city? How can we stop it, if indeed it needs to be stopped?”

  She sighed, despondently.

  “I fear that you are correct Jack. There is nothing that you or I can do about the economic rise of a new Germany. But there are other dangers that are more tangible and we can do something about those threats.”

  “I’m all ears.”

  “There are three major players in the world who will not buy into the rise of Germany—Russia, the UK and Israel.”

  “What about America?”

  “America has already given its approval for Germany to be at the centre of Europe’s financial operations. They are unwilling or unable to see that once Germany is in that position it will only be a matter of time until they make a move on the US economic supremacy. With America already on their side, they only need to eliminate the opposition from the others and they will once again be a global superpower. Russia is in the early stages of collapse; it is only a matter of time. The UK will never buy into a European monetary policy that would strangle the power of Westminster. And for reasons that need no explanation, my country will never submit to Germany. The UK can be isolated and squeezed by political means, but Israel will not suffer as much as we are already isolated. We believe that some of the die-hard members of the new Nazi movement want to deviate from the policy of passive takeover in order to deal a fatal blow to my country.”

  “Like a nuke??” Jack said, with alarm.

  “That is one possibility that we are looking into. If they detonate one or two nuclear devices inside our borders it will create chaos. It would not take much to incite our neighbours intoan invasion. If that

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  happens then the mass murder that started during the war would be finished today, and not a single Nazi would have to get their hands dirty doing it.”

  Jack stood up.

  “It is very clear that
you mean every word of what you are saying,” Jack began. “But surely you must see how it all sounds to me? There is simply no possibility that America would sit back and allow your country to be annihilated. It simply won’t happen. And the UK would join you in defence of your nation. An invasion simply would not happen. Not today.”

  “I know that it is a lot for you to take in Jack, but we have evidence that four nuclear weapons have already left Russia and they are on the way to the Middle East as we speak. Even if no invasion takes place, millions will be killed in the blasts and the entire region will be an irradiated no man’s land for decades to come.”

  “And what makes you think that I will be able to help you? I can’t see my government allowing me to chase after Soviet weapons across the world, not for a foreign power. It just wouldn’t happen.”

  “Your government must not know about it. At least they must not know all of what I have told you.”

  “Why not?”

  “There is some evidence that someone from the UK has been involved at every stage in this process. He is a shadowy figure and we have not been able to get as much as a photo of him. I even suspected you for a short time.”

  She smiled. Jack returned the smile, but his grin was forced and uneasy. Under normal circumstances he would have simply dismissed what she had to say as nonsense, but he knew that there was a British agent in Moscow and Jack had no idea who he was or why he was really there. He may have been nothing more than an infiltrator; but if that was the case why hadn’t Jack been told about him? There was a possibility that Jack would have run into the agent and it would have been good professional practice for London to keep him informed about such an individual. Then there was the much more plausible explanation as to what was really going on—she knew exactly who this other agent was and perhaps she had planted him there just to raise Jack’s

  levels of confusion and mistrust so that he would accept the story that she was trying to sell.

  “Even if this is all true, I don’t know what I can do to help you. All leads I had went cold when some bastard knocked me out back in Moscow. I wouldn’t know where to begin. So if you are trying to pump me for information then I am afraid you are well and truly out of luck. I have absolutely nothing to give to you.”

  “You have a lot to offer Jack. Your security services have been in place in this part of the world since the end of the war. This very city was rebuilt around those agencies. I need you because I need your contacts. And I need resources.”

  “Contacts I can understand, but why resources? I know how well your organisation is funded and my bosses would die for a similar level of funding.”

  There was a short pause.

  “What aren’t you telling me?” Jack asked.

  Another pause followed. When the real reason for her request for help finally came to him Jack couldn’t stop grinning.

  “You need me to provide you with resources because your own side won’t fund this little adventure of yours. Isn’t that right?”

  “That is not strictly true,” she snapped. “They agree with my assessment in principal but they do not want me going too far in case I upset the Russians. Theirs may be an empire in terminal decline, but even a mortally wounded dog can still bite hard until it takes its final breath.”

  “So let me get this straight,” said Jack. “Your country genuinely believes that certain individuals intent on wiping you from the face of the Earth have got their hands on the very weapons needed to carry out such a task and they don’t want to try to stop them out of fear that it would upset the Russians? I’m sorry, but that all sounds to me like a lot of horseshit. If your government really believed what you have just told me then they would have sent you all the manpower and other resources that you need. There is simply no way that they would take the chance, not with nukes involved. No way.”

  She lowered the gun and walked across the room to stand in front of Jack. The gun droppedfrom her hand ontothe bed. Shethen placed the hand which had been holding the weapon on Jack’s left shoulder.

  “Believe me Jack; I would not put myself through this humiliation if I was not desperate. There are some within Mossad who do believe me. Moves are taking place under the radar to shift some agents from other parts of Europe to help me, but as this has to be done in a very hush hush way it will take time. And time is something that we don’t have. You have seen for yourself how easy it is for weapons of mass destruction to be bought on the black market. You understand better than my superiors what is at stake. They fight this war from behind desks; you live on the battlefield.”

  “I’m sorry, I really am. Believe me, I have been in a similar position many times—those in charge deciding what is best from the comfort and safety of their offices in Whitehall while ignoring my advice from out in the field. But in the end it is their call. Right or wrong I have to follow orders. There is simply no chance in hell that I would ever be allowed to team up with an agent from a foreign power, especially in pursuit of a threat that her own government doesn’t believe exists. I’m sorry, but it just can’t happen.”

  She pulled her hand away from his shoulder and then she scooped up her gun from the bed.

  “I understand Jack. If I were in your position I would probably make the same call. I will leave you in peace and wish you every success here in Berlin.”

  She walked over to the door to the room and opened it. Once in the doorway she turned to face Jack one last time.

  “If I am successful Jack then a great tragedy will have been avoided. If I am not successful will you be able to live with the guilt that you could have prevented the deaths of millions of innocent people? And remember also, they have brought Russia to her knees; they are about to do the same to my country. That means you are next, Jack. I wish you all the luck in the world with that.”

  There was mild anger in her tone as she said those last words. Jack did not get a chance to respond. The door closed and she was gone. Jack went to the window and he looked out over the city once again. It was crazy. It was professional suicide. However, it was something that he simply had to do. He picked up his jacket and a pair of gloves from a chair next to his bed and then he left the room. He caught up with her on the street outside the hotel. She smiled warmly when she saw him approach.

  “Who said the British were stubborn?” she said.

  “Don’t get too cocky. I still haven’t fully committed myself to this madness. It would take very little to send me back up those stairs to the warmth and comfort of my bedroom.”

  The words were just out of Jack’s mouth when a massive fireball exploded above their heads. Glass and mortar rained down on the street and only just missed them. Jack cautiously looked up. The glass doors leading out to the balcony of his room were gone and large flames were lashing out from the room as if tasting the cold night air. He turned to make sure she was uninjured. Not only was she uninjured but she was grinning, sheepishly. Jack immediately realised why.

  “You did that!” he snapped.

  “Sorry, but I couldn’t leave any loose ends. You know how it is? No hard feelings?”

  “If I had said no you would have killed me!?”

  “Pretty much. Though if you now want to say no I will understand. By the looks of it your room is certainly warm, though I’m not so sure about how comfortable it is.”

  Jack paused through stunned exasperation. It was several moments before he regained his composure enough to speak.

  “Let’s get the hell out of here before the cops show up,” Jack said. “The Red Army will probably have one or two questions for us as well, if they catch up with us. I really don’t feel like spending a few years in a Siberian prison, do you?”

  “Jack, you worry too much.”

  “You blew up my hotel room!!!”

  Jack took her by the arm and led her down the street in a hurry.

  As first dates went it was certainly one for the books. And it was their first date. Jack always knew that if his war weary
old self was ever going to fall for a woman then she was really going to have to move heaven and earth to make that happen. In less than twenty minutes she had done all that, and a lot more besides.

  Their first stop was Moscow. When it came to telling lies, espe

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  cially lies to his masters back in London, Jack always kept it simple. He sent a message back to London through the embassy. The message could not have been simpler or more ambiguous—following a lead. Going dark.

  Their next stop was Northern Turkey. There was a long established arms route from Russia to the North of Turkey and if anyone was going to try to shift a cargo as complex as four nukes then that was the most likely route they would take. Although NATO still had a presence in Turkey its role had been confined to barracks for most of the eighties and nineties. The missiles stationed in Northern Turkey and permanently pointed at Moscow were a much more effective deterrent than a million-man army lining the border. It was also much safer for the soldiers to remain in one or two heavily fortified positions as there was still some fairly radical opposition to NATO being in the country from nationalist elements.

  The town of Erzurum was the main hub for the distribution of illegal weapons from Russia. The trail ran down the coast of Georgia and into the North of Turkey for much of the eighties, but as Georgia began to find her own feet as a nation the country began to tighten up on the trade. In reality it meant that the smugglers had to pay higher bribes to customs officials and the local police, who in some cases even went as far as providing an escort through their region. As the middle class in Georgia grew larger and more affluent they developed a voice of their own and that voice demanded an end to corruption. There was too much money to be made for the trade across Georgia to be ended completely, but it was becoming a lot more difficult. There were even some rumours that the smugglers were hiring USSR submarines to avoid Georgia altogether. At that time in that part of the world, Jack would not have been surprised if such a scheme was in place.