W E B Griffin - Men at War 1 - The Last Heroes

by The Last Heroes(Lit)

  Thereafter (the matter of the Swede and the Foreign Service officer having come to a swift and satisfactory conclusion), von Heurten-Mitnitz possessed an uncanny knowledge of who was paying whom for what secret information. In return, Mfiller received an unexpected promotion to Sturmbannfuhrer (major, SS-SD) shortly after the invasion of the Low Countries. Their relationship was quite satisfactory.

  Max regarded his appointment to Morocco as one of his great diplomatic feats. As Foreign Ministry representative to the Francogerman armistice commission for Morocco, Max would in fact have very little to do with the armistice with France. Rather, the commission (nine senior Foreign Ministry officials and their staff) was the euphemistic title for the official body through which the French protectorate of Morocco was governed. Most important, he'd be in Morocco, and away from Berlin.

  His new post would obviously involve certain security and intelligence functions, which in turn would mean dealing with an officer of the Schutzstaffelsicherheitsdienst (SS-SD). Since not a few of the SS-SD were very dangerous indeed, Max wanted, as his liaison with the French gendannerie, an officer with whom he had a degree of mutual understanding. Within the hour he had Minler on the phone.

  W. IC. 13. Unlippl "Perhaps, Herr Sturmbannfiffirer, if your busy schedule would permit, you could spare me a few minutes of your time?" von Heurten-Mitnitz asked, "When?"

  "Are You free now?" von Heurten-Mitnitz asked. "I'm tied up now."

  "Pity. Are You free for dinner?"

  "Yes."

  "The Kempinski atseven?"

  "I'll be there." The Hotel Rempinshi Berlin, Germany 7-30 Pm., November lo, 1941

  Max von Heurten-Mitnitz and Johann Midler had roast loin of boar, Oven-roasted potatoes, and a crisp green salad, and they washed it down with Berlinerkindl, the local beer. With boar, there was Simply nothing better than a light Pi1sner beer, Von Heurten-Mitnitz told Miiller he'd been given a month to settle his affairs before going to Morocco, but thought he could leave a good deal sooner than that. "How much time will you need?" be asked.

  "I'll be ready when you are Millier said.

  Unsaid was what they both were a little afraid of: The assignment could be changed so long as they were in Berlin.

  "We'll go by air," von Heurten-Mitnitz said.

  Miffler nodded, caught the waiter's attention, and signaled for another round of Berlinerkindl, "Is there anything I should do before we go?"

  "One small thing," von Heurten-Mitnitz said. "Just before I left the office, I had a call from Richard Schnorr." He looked at Miffler to read in his face whether or not he knew the name. When he saw that Moller was fully aware that Richard Schnorr was a highly placed functionary in the headquarters offices of the National Socialist German Workers'party, he went on. "Does the name Fulmar mean anything to you?"

  "The electric company?"

  Von Heurten-Mitnitz nodded.

  "There is a son, Eric," he said, "who is in Morocco."

  "What's he doing in Morocco?"

  "He's involved with the son of the pasha of Ksar es Souk, who is believed to be moving currency and jewels illegally out of France and Morocco."

  "Interesting," Mfiller said. "And there are those who believe he is avoiding military service," von Heurten-Mitnitz said. "How does he get away with that?" Mfiller asked. "He has an American passport."

  "Legally?"

  "His mother is American. He was born there, and we are being very careful with the Americans."

  "Does he also have a Gennan passport?"

  "No. @1 "Why not?"

  "He's a very clever young man von Heurten-Mitnitz said, who realized that accepting a German passport meant accepting German nationality, and that German nationals were expected to serve the fatherland in uniform."

  "Has he lived here?"

  "Oh yes," von Heurten-Mitnitz said, chuckling. "Oh yes. He spent four years at Philip's University in Marburg as a candidate for a degree in electrical engineering. He's perfectly fluent in German; and he is tall, blond, good-looking, and rather resembles the young man on the Waffen-SS recruiting posters."

  : MULLER chuckled. "I see the problem," he said. "And the solu ,ton. Arrest him for the currency violations, bring him to German and put him in uniform."

  "It's not so easy as that, unfortunately. No one seems to be ab to prove that he is smuggling. And if he were arrested, it would I embarrassing to both his father and the Party generally."

  "Uhhh," Moller grunted in agreement.

  "But there's more to the tale," von Heurten-Mitnitz said. "He was in Paris in August with the son of the pasha of Ksar es Soukand traveling on documents issued by the kingdom of Morocco."

  "How does he get Moroccan travel papers?"

  "Through Sidi Hassan el Ferruch," von Heurten-Mitnitz said.

  "That's the son of the pasha?"

  Von Heurten-Mitnitz nodded. "They were at school tog ther in e Switzerland, and at Philip's University."

  "Who's the pasha? Somebody important?"

  "There are two factions in Morocco," von Heurten-Mitnitz said. "The king's and the Pasha of Marrakech's. The pasha's loyalty to the king is questionable-"

  "How powerful is a pasha?" Moller interrupted him.

  "That depends on the pasha," von Heurten-Mitnitz said. "The pasha of Marrakech, Thami el Glaoui, is nearly as powerful as the king. He commands several hundred thousand tribesmen-armed tribesmen, Other pashas have only a handful."

  "And the smuggler's father?" Moller asked.

  "The pasha of Ksar es Souk," von Heurten-Mitnitz explained, commands nearly as many tribesmen as the pasha of Marrakecb. Together, they have roughly as many as the king. And they are close allies."

  "And his son is a smuggler? Why?"

  "The amount of money involved boggles the mind," von Heurten-Mitnitz said, "In wartime, it seems that people with a lot of money-Americans, South Americans, and we Germans, Mollerare willing to pay extraordinary prices for works of art. So much money is really a matter of state, rather than a mere crime." _--afta 'all @how are we supposed to stop this, right?- Moller asked. "And YOU. ans have an expression Max von Heurtcn-Mitnitz The Amenc said, fighting with one hand tied behind you.' But in this case I ne hand, I am have both of mine tied behind me. On o not to embaf- because of Baron Fulmar's son, and on the other, it is rass the Party of Morocco may have to be replaced if he possible that the king continues to prove uncooperative. If that becomes necessary, it is intended to replace him with the pasha of Marrakech. How cooperative w,ould he be if we threw the son of his ally in jail') Or executed him?

  "Then why don't we just find some other suitable pasha?" Mijiler said practically.

  "I don't think You u ould be like a holy war." nderstand the Moroccans " von 1eurten-Mitnitz said. "They'd go berserk. It w "Then you have to let this el Ferruch alone-"

  "I have been ordered to Stop the flow of gold, currency, Precious jewels, and fine art through MOFOCCOL" von 14eurten-Mitnitz said, 6 ors who believe I will be dealing with picturesque char'by superi acters in bathrobes."

  "And I was so happy when I heard I was Moller chuckled again. escaping from Berlin." g saying von Heurten-Wffie,@Vneric ans have another interestin ee lunch.1 I mitnitz said. 444Tbere's no such thing as a fr moment and then chuckled-Moller thought that over for a olution" he said. ,We could arrange "Thews one Obvious s some accidents." eurten-Mitnitz did not appear to have, heard him, von H "One that would possi-"There is one other alternative," he said. nly solve our problems with young Fulmar, but would be bly not o of value to the fatherland." Iler asked.

  ,you mean, turn him into an agent?" Md Von Heurten-Mitnitz nodded. s to the pasha of Ksar es "If we could use him to give us acces Souk, and through him to the pasha of Marrakech "Yes," Miffler said thoughtfully.

  "I don't think appealing to his patriotism would work," von Heurten-Mitnitz said. "Nor do I think he will frighten easily. We,11 have to think of something else."

  "It will work out," Mfiller said confidently. "These situations almost a
lways do, if you work hard enough."

  "And don't do anything foolish," von Heurten-Mitnitz added. "Thus it would be helpful if you can get a copy of Fulmar's d(ssier. Perhaps something of interest happened to him while he was in Marburg."

  Mfiller nodded. "I'd planned to see my family," he said. "This will give me an official reason to go to Marburg. I'll see what I can dig up. But if all else fails, Fulmar will be put on a plane, and you won't know anything about it until you hear he has returned to the fatherland."

  "I Must ask you not to do anything like that until you have discussed it with me first," von Heurten-Mitnitz said quickly. "Neither of us can afford to be sent home because we have become persona non grata with our Moroccan friends."

  Casablanca, Morocco November 28, Joel There was absolutely no doubt in the minds of the two agents of the French Sfiret6, nor of their adviser, a Sturmfuhrer of the SSSICHERHEITSDIENST, that if they could stop the American Cadillac they would find that its occupants possessed nearly three hundred thousand dollars in United States and half that much in Swiss currency. In addition, there was a small leather bag stuffed with investmentquality (that is, heavier in weight than three carats) diamonds and emeralds and comparable jewels. On the open market these were worth about as much as the Swiss and American currency combined.

  ISO OZ LAST HZROZS The problem was that the law made no prohibition against simple possession of foreign currency. Neither was the simple Possessioa of jewels illegal. Such a law would be impossible to enforce. e Sicherheitsdienst was The other problem for the Soret6 and th that one of the two young men was Sidi Hassan el Ferruch, the son of the pasha of Ksar es Souk, and the other young man was an American, Eric Fulmar, traveling on an American passport. Word had come from the Foreign Ministry on Bendlerstrasse itself that confrontations with American nationals were to be handled with the utmost discretion. Roughly translated, that meant to avoid touching Americans unless they'd been caught red-handed.

  What the Sfiret6 and Sicherheitsdienst agents wanted was to catch the two of them in the act of smuggling the money and jewels out of the country. If it was not judged wise to shoot him in the act of escaping, the American could at least be tried and jailed, pour encourager les autres, and Sidi el Ferruch could become a much more valuable chip in the never-ending game played by the Freflch with his father.

  The object, then, was to catch them.

  None of the agents believed that tonight would be the night that would happen. For one thing, el Ferruch knew the agents were on their trail, and for another-unless they had guessed very badlythe obvious destination of the two (and el Ferruch's Berber bodyguards, trailing the Cadillac in a Citro@n) was a restaurant on the Coastal Highway between Casablanca and El Jadida.

  The restaurant, Le Relaise de Pointe-Noire, sat all alone on the rocky Black Point, sixty or more feet above the crashing surf of the Atlantic. There was only one entrance to the restaurant, and there was no way to get from the restaurant down to the beach without passing through that entrance.

  The two would never transfer the money or the jewels to someone else at Le Relaise de Pointe-Noire, because that would risk having whoever they gave it to caught with it. Which meant that they intended instead to spend time on one of the chambres s@par6es W. S. S. overlooking the crashing surf, have their dinner, and then pass the evening in the company of firm-breasted and dark-eyed Moroccall ladies of the evening. Le Relaise de Pointe-Noire had the most attractive poule to be found in Morocco.

  It was raining, which meant that the two policemen who had stationed themselves where they could watch the granite outcropping on which Le Relaise de Pointe-Noire was built were going to become very wet and uncomfortable. There was no way to get a car in there, and it had to be watched, against the off chance that either el Ferruch or the American was foolish enough to try to sneak off down the beach. The third agent would go inside the restaurant to see what he could see.

  The man who went inside was the senior SORW agent, since the German could not do that without calling undue attention to himself. The SORW agent with the longest service elected to stay dry.

  He stationed himself at the upstairs bar, in a position that at]owed him to keep the corridor leading to the chambres sipa ' rees under surveillance. He ordered a glass of wine, making careful note of the price in his expense records.

  El Ferruch and the American, after an aperitif downstairs, came jauntily up the wide stairs, teasing and joking with one another. They were preceded by the maitre d'hotel, who bowed them into the private dining room. Two of el Ferruch's Berber guards stationed themselves on either side of the door.

  The waiters and wine stewards began serving the dinner. Toward the end, two Moroccan women appeared, robed, their faces masked, and entered the chambre s,@paree. The Sflret6 man wondered if they were as beautiful as they were said to be, and as skilled in mysterious erotic techniques as legend had it. He knew for a fact that they shaved their crotches. Moroccan men were repelled by pubic hair.

  Inside the room, Sidi el Ferruch and the blond American were nearly naked. Meanwhile el Ferruch's huge Senegalese took the women to one side, holding their arms so firrnly in his massive J, hands that they carried dark bruises for weeks. If either of them ever n said a word about what they saw in the chambre s@parje, he war ed them, he would slice off their breasts and send them to their fami-Ties. Ropes were produced, attached to radiators, and then released out the open windows. There was a rope apiece for each of the men, and one for the small, heavy oilskin package of currency. Once they were in the water, the American would tow the money while the jewels were strapped to the lithe, muscular, practically hairless body of Sidi Hassan el Ferruch. Neither wore any swimming costume.

  Fulmar was a better swimmer then el Ferruch, and perfectly capable of handling both the currency and the jewels, but Sidi Hassan el Ferruch insisted on joining him. There was not only greater safety that way, but the boatmen they were meeting would also afterward return to Safi (the village where they made their home) and report that Sheikh Sidi Hassan el Ferruch had swum through the surf at Pointe-Noire. There would be a very nice increase in Sheikh Sidi Hassan el Ferruch's reputation as a result. And in due course other heroic tales and legends. The reward Sidi expected to find as a consequence of tonight's escapades, in other words, had little to do with any increases these would add to his wealth.

  Unlike his friend, however, Eric wanted money-and lots of it. But he, too, was grinning like Errol Flynn as the two of them swung down their ropes. Getting the money was necessary, but the adventure of getting it was supreme delight.

  But the trick was getting into the water. Dropping into the surf, YOU ran the risk of being captured by a wave and smashed against the rock. The trick, which they had practiced down the coast, was to lower oneself onto the rock as a wave receded, then immediately dive into the next wave. If that was done property, there was sufficient force in the dive to carry the diver far enough away from the rock not to be smashed against it.

  Coming in was less risky. You just waited until a wave receded, then swam quickly to the rock before another crashed, and scampered up the rope out of the way of the next one.

  Beyond the surf, there was only one danger: missing the boats three hundred meters offshore. If there were no boats, Fulmarjok d during dinner in Le Relaise de Pointe-Noire, some fisherman's wife walking the beach the next morning would find a surprising gift from Allah.

  Twenty minutes after entering the water, Fulmar and then el Ferruch heard the steady slapping of an oar against the water and swam toward the sound. Fulmar was first to find it. He was hauled aboard the black, low-slung, fifteen-foot fisherman's dory and wrapped in blankets before el Fertuch's hand appeared on the rail and he too was hauled in.

  It took them almost ten minutes-longer than they expectedbefore they had stopped shivering and were prepared to reenter the water. Going back was easier, because the lights of Le Relaise de Pointe-Noire were a target, because they would now be carried in by the very strong tide
s.

  An hour after they first entered the water, they were back on the rock, and the fisherman's dory had almost made its rendezvous with its mother ship, a forty-foot single-sailed fishing dhow. The dhow would sail fifteen miles due west into the Atlantic and rendezvous with an Argentine steamer bound for Buenos Aires, The dhow would then cast its nets for the rest of the night and then return to Safi, where the crew would rejoin their friends, laugh and joke and relate the story of how Sheikh Sidi Hassan el Ferruch had swum through the surf at Pointe-Noire and again made fools of the French and the Germans.

  When the two naked, shivering men climbed through the windows of the chambre s@parje, the enormous Senegalese immediately coiled the ropes, and the Moroccan women wrapped them inside blankets. Later the very exciting-looking blond one drank from a bottle of French cognac, then reclined on a chaise longue. One of the women rubbed his legs and back with towels, and then looked down at himself, his front. He stopped shivering, sat up, closed his eyes, and laughed. She laughed too, and gently-but very cautiously-let her finerience his luxurious mat of light golden hair. She was not gers exp used to hair so bright.