by Ward Wagher
“Was I pushing him that hard? He really did not get angry until no one else in the room supported him.”
“With Himmler it is always wise to leave him a way to retreat gracefully.”
“And we are backing him into a corner,” Schloss said. “I understand.”
He looked around the table at the other leaders. “We will want to be very careful.”
Ribbentrop cleared his throat. “Very well. If it is the will of this room, I will direct the negotiations with the Americans. But I am not optimistic on how they will respond.”
“Just do the best you can,” Schloss replied.
“Next item,” Hess said. “Herr Goebbels desired to discuss my recent speech.” He blushed slightly.
“What do you have in mind?” Schloss asked, looking at the propaganda minister.
“I did not realize the Deputy Fuhrer was such an accomplished speaker. I believe we can take advantage of this.”
“Explain,” Goering said.
“The people respond to the leaders who can get in front of them and speak convincingly. I think we should consider having Herr Hess make a circuit of Germany and give speeches. It would reinforce our legitimacy.”
Schloss looked over at Hess. “Do you have a problem with this?”
“No. I am happy to help in any way I can. But please do not expect me to speak extemporaneously.”
Schloss looked at Goebbels. “Are your people capable of putting together a group of speeches that won't make Herr Hess look like an idiot?”
“I believe we might accomplish that,” Goebbels responded dryly.
“Anyone else have objections?”
No one spoke, so Schloss continued. “I'll let you two make the arrangements. I think it's a good idea if Rudolf is comfortable with it.”
The two men nodded.
“Next item,” Hess said. “Herr Himmler wished to advise us on the progress of the Final Solution.”
Schloss felt a prickling along his spine. “And he is not here. I think we can safely postpone that item until our next meeting. What's next.”
“That concludes the agenda,” Hess replied.
“Very well,” Schloss said. “I need to make another trip to Munich.”
“How is the party organization doing there now?” Goering asked.
“I have the former regional leader keeping an eye on things. But there were reasons for retiring him last year. We are going to need a replacement soon. I do not have time to fly down there every other week.”
“Perhaps you should spend an extra day there to relax,” Goering suggested.
Schloss looked the the expression on his face and wondered how much he knew. And he wished he knew more about the flame-haired woman in Munich.
“If there is nothing else, let us adjourn.”
Rainer waited outside the conference room as they walked through the doors. Hess handed the notes to him, and Rainer thanked him. Schloss waited as the others walked ahead, then looked at Rainer.
“Nothing of significance occurred after you left,” Schloss said. “I told the group I was planning to visit Munich again.”
“Himmler said nothing as he walked to his car,” Rainer said.
“Is our man placed highly enough to hear if Himmler has plans for us?”
Rainer rocked his head from side to side. “I am not sure. If it were a large scale operation, yes. If he initiates a small team, maybe.”
“You heard nothing about the attempt the other night.”
“I would have told you, Herr Partieleiter.”
“Forgive me,” Schloss said. “I know you would. This just makes me nervous.”
“And you plan to travel to Munich again?”
“I think we should. Do you have any candidates for the Gauleiter?”
“The list is on your desk. Margrethe finished typing it this morning.”
“Then let's review it together before we travel down there.”
“And you are going to take an extra day to relax,” Rainer stated.
Schloss had started walking, but stopped again.
“Why does everyone insist I need rest?”
“Tell me honestly how you feel, Herr Partieleiter.”
“I am exhausted.” He held up a finger to forestall Rainre. “But everyone else is as well. Let's get things settled down a little more, and I will then take a vacation.”
“In other words, there is no time off in the immediate future.”
“That's about it, Karl. I mean, how could I?”
“You must pace yourself. Go to Munich. Take a day to walk in the mountains. Visit a friend.”
“Let's go, Karl.”
Schloss walked towards the elevator leaving a frustrated Karl Rainer in his wake.
The ride back to party headquarters took longer on this afternoon. The traffic seemed unusually heavy even for Berlin. The traffic officer at an intersection attempted to move things along so the party leader’s entourage could pass through the intersection. The guard in the front passenger seat looked out his window and began chuckling.
Schloss glanced out to see what held the guard’s attention. A nicely dressed woman was on her knees on the sidewalk with four SS officers surrounding her. Apparently they were forcing her to scrub chalk marks from the sidewalk. One of the SS had unbuttoned his fly and was urinating on the sidewalk and on the woman. The others were laughing.
Schloss's driver snorted. “Verdammt Jew. Good enough for her.”
Schloss was beginning to reach for the door handle when Rainer reached out to restrain him. At the same time, he barked at the driver and the guard in the front seat.
“Pay attention to your jobs! We have already had one attempt on the partieleiter. You might already be dead.”
The two men in the front seat jumped and then began scanning the environs. Then the traffic began moving again, and Schloss's convoy moved through the intersection. Schloss grimaced and shook his head. They arrived at the party headquarters without further incident.
Schloss walked into his office and stepped behind the desk. He turned to Rainer.
“Close the door, Karl.”
The adjutant eased the door shut and turned to Schloss.
“Thank you for your sanity this afternoon, Karl. Much as I wanted to, it would have been very bad if I had interrupted those pig-dogs on the sidewalk. That poor woman.”
“Will we have an opportunity to stop this madness with the Jews?” he asked.
Schloss shook his head. “If we cannot stop it, there is little point in anything else we may do.”
# # #
July 3, 1941, 8 PM
Schloss Residence, Berlin
“You should take an extra day while you are in Munich, Herr Schloss” Frau Marsden said.
“What is this?”
“You are obviously exhausted. You must pace yourself.”
“Is there an echo in here?” Schloss asked.
“What do you mean?”
“You are saying exactly the same things Karl told... has Karl been talking to you?”
“I do not know what you are talking about,” the old lady said.
“I don't understand why everyone seems to have appointed themselves as my keepers. And you are laughing at me.”
“I am not, Herr Schloss. It is my job to manage the household for you, and watch the children. If you collapse from overwork, who will take care of the family? You have, yourself, told me the times are dangerous. When you are tired, your judgment may be suspect. You need your wits about you.”
Frau Marsden stepped closer to him and poked him in the chest as she spoke.
“Your problem, Herr Schloss, is that you do not listen when people give you wise advice. God brought you into this world for a purpose. It matters not whether you personally understand this. The purpose still stands. And you need to managed yourself better.”
Rather than being annoyed, Schloss looked into her eyes and was frightened.
“Okay, okay. Go ahead and p
ack for an extra day. I will go walking in the mountains.”
“I have already done so, Herr Schloss,” she said smugly.
Schloss muttered several curses under his breath as he started to turn away.
“And Herr Schloss?”
“Yes, yes, what is it, Frau Marsden?” he snapped.
“You should consider moving Frau Badhoff to Berlin.”
“Who told you about her?” he demanded.
“Why you did,” she said. And she marched out of the room.
As usual her footsteps made the house shiver. And Schloss shivered, too.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
July 5, 1941, 9AM
Bavarian Alps, south of Munich
There was something subliminally intoxicating about the feel of rushing wind, Schloss thought to himself as the open topped Mercedes touring car wound its way into the Bavarian Alps. And the scenery was magnificent. Schloss had toured the area the summer after finishing school – this was about 1965. It was disconcerting to see the same places, but now forty years in the past.
Two Nazi party security guards were in the front seat. Another car with two more guards preceded them, and one followed. Schloss accepted that they were necessary, but still did not like it. And Rainer had insisted. Rainer himself had stayed in Munich to struggle with the inevitable mess created by Georg Zindenfel. At least the Gauleiter was honest.
Schloss had his arm draped over seat back and around Gisela's shoulders. He looked over at her and she smiled warmly at him. He smiled back, then looked ahead again. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes, and tried to sort out his feelings for the beautiful red-haired woman. There was no question he was strongly attracted to her physically. And it seemed those feelings were mutual. He was also surprised at how comfortable he was around her, on this second visit. Of course, the Alter-Schloss had known her for nearly three years.
“What are you thinking, Darling?” she asked.
He caught a whiff of tobacco smoke and opened his eyes as a stream of smoke and cigarette ashes blew back on him.
“Cramer, do you mind?” he shouted.
The guard in the front passenger seat was apparently enjoying the ride, and had leaned back to light a cigarette.
“Oh! I am sorry, Herr Partieleiter.” He immediately stubbed the cigarette on on the top of the door and tossed it out. “I did not think.”
“I think you should be paying attention to your job, Cramer,” he snapped. “You are not on vacation.”
“Yes, of course, Herr Partieleiter.”
The man straightened up in his seat and looked straight ahead. Schloss looked over at the woman and rolled his eyes. She looked down and shielded her mouth so that her broad grin wasn't visible from the front seat. Schloss just shook his head.
“Now, where were we?” he said.
“I was asking you what you were thinking.”
Schloss leaned his head back again. “I was thinking about the future.”
“What do you see?”
“At one time I thought that if I could make the decisions about the future of the Fatherland I could avoid a lot of certain disasters.”
“You told me that one time, Hennie.” Her voice, though pitched high, was clear and pleasant to listen to. “You also mentioned the old proverb about needing to beware of dreams come true.”
Schloss snorted and nodded. “I did say that one time, didn't I?”
Her laugh was like silver bells. “I believe you have said it often. Tell me, did you have dreams about me?”
He cocked his head as he smiled at her. “No. You are very much in the present, and very real.”
She squeezed his hand and looked out to the side at the spectacular view. Whenever they were close to one-another, her hand invariably found his. Even as they lay intertwined in bed, she wanted his hand in hers. The three cars rolled through a small village. The people watched as the procession passed by, obviously wondering who the very important people were. She studied the buildings and then the small garden plots of the land holders. She turned back to study Schloss.
“You have changed,” she said suddenly.
“In what way?” he asked. What have I done to give myself away? he asked himself.
“I don't know exactly. You are just as driven as before Hannelore died. But... I don't know. Before it was like you were driven by your demons. Now you just seem confident. Maybe relaxed.”
Okay, she feels it. Nothing I can do except maybe give her an explanation she can hold on to. “My sister and brother-in-law recently returned to Berlin from Argentina. I took them to visit Hannelore's grave. We had the children with us, and I think it reopened the wound.”
“I don't know how you handle it. When my Willem was killed, I thought I would die too. It was like part of my life was snuffed out like a candle.”
“As I stood there holding my weeping children, I thought about what I had lost,” Schloss said. “But I also thought about what I had gained. No one could replace Hannelore, but....”
“I know what you mean.” She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “You are special Heinrich. You did not try to replace Willem in my affections. But life goes on, and we have each other.”
And whatever am I going to do with you, Frau Badhoff? Schloss thought.
“What is it, Hennie?” she asked.
He shook his head. This woman is altogether too good at reading me. “I don't know. So much has happened so quickly.”
“It is good for you to get away for a while.”
Schloss laughed. “People keep telling me that. I think I'm just as glad they down-checked the airplane and we don't have to leave until Monday. This will give us two days in the mountains.”
“And we will relax.”
He nodded. “And we will relax.”
The chalet Schloss had secured for the weekend was was a mile along a winding path from the road. It would have been difficult for the cars in the winter, but fine in summer. The fir trees and hardwoods gave the place a secluded air, and looked inviting.
“This is simply delightful,” Gisela exclaimed as she climbed out of the car. “I cannot wait to see the house.”
The driver grabbed their luggage and led the way to the house, Gisela following. Schloss remained at the car to assist with the other stuff. Packed in the trunk of the chase car was the radio gear required for immediate contact with Berlin. He suspected one of the guards would be climbing a nearby tree to string the antenna.
Schloss reached into the trunk of the car to grab another box. As he slid the heavy wooden box out he read the legend on the front:: Enigma. And he swore out loud.
“What is it, Herr Partieleiter?”
Thinking quickly, he shook his hand. “I got a splinter off the box.” He made a show of studying his finger and acting as though he had pulled the sliver out.
“Here, let me carry that, Herr Partieleiter. It is rather heavy.”
Feeling slightly foolish, Schloss allowed the guard to carry the box containing the Enigma device. And he continued to curse himself mentally. This was one of the keys to Germany having lost the war in his other time line. He had initiated action on fixing the coding issues, and then forgotten about it in the rush of other things needing attention.
The Poles had succeeded in decoding much, though by no means all of the German message traffic during the 1930's. When the Germans had enhanced their equipment shortly before the beginning of the war, the Poles were no longer able to decode the messages. So they had then turned their research over to the British, who were able to develop a highly successful program of intercepting and decoding a significant amount of German signal traffic.
The British Ultra project was widely credited for winning the war for the allies. Schloss was not so sure, but it was clear that it significantly shortened the war for England. And there was no doubt, however, that this was the most successful operation of the war for either side. And Schloss had completely forgotten about it. Something had to be done.
When he stepped into the chalet, Gisela swept up to him. “What a wonderful place, Hennie.” She kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you for bringing me here. I am so looking forward to our weekend together.”
Schloss felt oddly pleased that she was so happy about things. He initially wasn't sure he would be able to put up with the woman all weekend. But he had discovered on the ride down from Munich that she was very intelligent, and a good conversationalist.
“Wilfred is making a little luncheon for us, Darling,” she said. “I thought maybe we could eat, and then go for a walk.”
He was still thinking about the Enigma coding machine and had to pull himself back into the present. “Yes. I think that would be a good idea. I certainly need the fresh air, and I will enjoy the walk with you.”
She grabbed his hands and pulled him across the room. “May we eat on the porch, Hennie? It is so beautiful outside.”
He chuckled. “Of course we may, Schatzi.” Her childlike delight in the surroundings charmed him.
She stopped suddenly. “You have never called me that before.” Then she threw her arms around him.
He found himself enjoying the closeness of her embrace, and wondered what possessed him to escalate things like that. The last thing he needed was a mistress – or something more if he heeded Frau Marsden's obvious hints. Yet, it seemed to him that today's time spent with the woman had uncovered an aching hole in his life he had never before noticed. What was happening to him?
They sat across from one another at the small round table on the porch as they ate the roasted pork loin and mustard sandwiches. The roasted potatoes and cabbage completed the meal. Gisela pointed out details of the trees and the birds – she seemed very knowledgeable. And Schloss found himself distracted, first of all over his feelings for the woman, and then what to do about the German coding systems.
“You're distracted again, Darling,” she said. “Was it something I said?”
“No,” he said with a smile as he shook his head. “I cannot seem to switch off my mind. And, honestly, I am distracted by how beautiful you are.”
What is wrong with you, Heinrich? he yelled to himself. Don't say things like that. You don't know what you really feel.