'How'd I do?'he asked.
387
Thephysicist swallowed and spoke, and it occurred to Spaulding that either
he was getting used to Lyons's strained voice or Lyons's speech was
improving.
'Very ... convincing. Except for the ... sweat on your face and the
expression ... in your eyes.' Lyons smiled; then followed it instantly with
a question he took seriously. 'Is there a chance ... for the remaining
blueprints?'
David held a match to a cigarette. He inhaled the smoke, looked up at the
gently swaying curtains of an open window, then turned to the physicist. 'I
think we'd better understand one another, doctor. I don't give a goddamn
about those designs. Perhaps I should, but I don't. And if the way to get
our hands on them is to risk that trawler reaching a U-boat, it's out of
the question. As far as I'm concerned we're bringing out threequarters more
than what we've got. And that's too goddarnn much.... There's only one
thing I want: the names... I've got the evidence; now I want the names.'
'You want revenge,' said Lyons softly.
'Yesl . . . Jesusl Yes, I do!' David crushed out his barely touched
cigarette, crossed to the open window and looked out at the fields. 'I'm
sorry, I don't mean to yell at you. Or maybe I should. You heard Feld; you
saw what I brought back from Ocho Calle. You know the whole putrid ...
obscene thing.'
'I know ... the men who fly those planes. . are not responsible ... I know
I believe that ... Germany must lose this war.'
'For Christ's sake!' roared David, whirling from the window. 'You've seen!
You've got to understand!'
'Are you saying ... there's no difference? I don't believe that. ... I
don't think you believe it.'
'I don't know what I believe! ... No. I do know. I know what I object to;
because it leaves no room for belief... And I know I want those names.'
'You should have them.... Your questions are great ... moral ones. I think
they will pain you ... for years.' Lyons was finding it difflicult to
sustain his words now. 'I submit only ... no matter what has happened ...
that Asher Feld was right. This war must not be settled ... it must be
won.'
Lyons stopped talking and rubbed his throat. David walked to a table where
Lyons kept a pitcher of water and poured a glass. He carried it over to the
spent physicist and handed it to him. It occurred to David, as he
acknowledged the gesture of thanks,
388
that it was strange.... Of all men, the emaciated recluse in front of him
would profit least from the outcome of the war. Or the shortening of it. Yet
Eugene Lyons had been touched by the commitment of Asher Feld. Perhaps, in
his pain, Lyons understood the simpler issues that his own anger had
distorted.
Asher Feld. The Alvea HoteL
'Listen to me,' said Spaulding. 'If there's a chance . . . and there may
be, we'll try for the blueprints. There's a trade-off possible; a dangerous
one ... not for us, but for your friend, Asher Feld. We'll see. No
promises. The names come first. ... It's a parallel route; until I get the
names, Rhinemann has to believe I want the designs as much as he wants the
diamonds. ... We'll sec.'
The weak, erratic bell of the country telephone spun out its feeble ring.
Spaulding picked it up.
'It's Ballard,' said the voice anxiously.
'Yes, BobbyT
'I hope to Christ you're clean, because there's a lot of flak to the
contrary. I'm going on the assumption that a reasonable guy doesn't
court-martial himself into a long prison term for a few dollars.'
'A reasonable assumption. What is it? Did you get the informationT
'First things first. And the first thing is that the Fleet Marine Force
wants you dead or alive; the condition is immaterial, and I think they'd
prefer you dead.'
'They found Meehan and the driver. . .
'You bet your ass they did! After they got rolled and stripped to their
skiwies by some wandering vagos. They're mad as helll They threw out the
bullshit about not alerting the embassy that Fairfax wants you picked up.
Fairfax's incidental; they want you. Assault, theft, etcetera.'
'All right. That's to be expected.'
'Expected? Oh, you're a pistol! I don't suppose I have to tell you about
Granville. You got him burning up my dials! Washington's preparing a
top-level scramble, so I'm chained to my desk till it comes in.'
'Then he doesn't know. They're covering,' said Spaulding, annoyed.
'The hell he doesn'tt The hell they arel This radio silence; you walked
into a High Command defection I An Allied Central
389
project straight from the War Department.'
'I'll bet it's from the War Department. I can tell you which office.'
'It's true.... There's a U-boat bringing in a couple of very important
Berliners. You're out of order; it's not your action. Granville will tell
you that.'
'Horseshitl' yelled. David. 'Pure horseshitl Transparent horseshit! Ask any
network agent in Europe. You couldn't get a Breffinwrke out of any German
port I No one knows that better than me I'
'Interesting, ontologically speaking. Transparency isn't a quality one
associates . . .'
'No jokes! My humor's strained!' And then suddenly David realized he had no
cause to yell at the cryp. Ballard's frame of reference was essentially the
same as it had been eighteen hours ago - with complications, perhaps, but
not of death and survival. Ballard did not know about the carnage at San
Tehno or the tools for Peenerntinde in Ocho Calle; and a Haganah that
reached into the most secret recesses of Military Intelligence. Nor would
he be told just now. 'I'm sorry. I've got a lot on my mind.'
'Sure, sure.' Ballard replied as if he were used to other people's tempers.
Another trait common to most cryptographers, David reflected. 'Jean said
you were hurt; fell and cut yourself pretty badly. Did somebody pushT
'It's all right. The doctor was here. . . . Did you get the information? On
Ira Barden.'
'Yeah. . . . I used straight G-2 in Washington. A dossier Teletype request
over your name. This Barden's going to know about it.'
'That's O.K. What's it sayT
'The whole darrm thing?'
'Whatever seems ... unusual. Fairfax qualifications, probably.'
'They don't use the name Fairfax. Just high-priority classification....
He's in the Reserves, not regular army. Family company's in importing.
Spent a number of years in Europe and the Middle East; speaks five
languages. . . .'
'And one of them's Hebrew,' interrupted David quietly.
'That's right. How did. . .? Never mind. He spent two years at the American
University in Beirut while his father represented the firm in the
Mediterranean areas. The company was very big in Middle East textiles.
Barden transferred to Harvard, then
390
transferred again to a small college called Brandeis.... I don't know it. He
majored in Near East studies, it says here. When he graduated he went into
the family business until the war.... I gue
ss it was the languages.'
'Thanks,' said David. 'Bum the Teletype, Bobby.'
'With pleasure.... When are you coming in? You better get here before the
FMF finds you. Jean can probably convince old Henderson to cool things
off.'
'Pretty soon. How's Jean?'
'Huh? Fine.... Scared; nervous, I guess. You'll see. She's a strong girl,
though.'
'Tell her not to worry.'
'Tell her yourself.'
'She's there with you?'
'No .Ballard drew out the word, telegraphing a note of
concern that had been absent. 'No, she's not with me. She's on
her way to see you. . .
'What?'
'The nurse. The doctor's nurse. She called about an hour ago. She said you
wanted to see Jean.' Ballard's voice suddenly became hard and loud. 'What
the hell's going on, Spaulding?'
391
41
'Surely the, man from Lisbon expected countermeasures. I'm amazed he was so
derelict.' Heinrich Stoltz conveyed his arrogance over the telephone. 'Mrs.
Cameron was a flank you took for granted, yes? A summons from a loved one is
difficult to resist, is it noff
'Where is she?'
'She is on her way to Lujin. She will be a guest at Habichtsnest. An
honored guest, I can assure you. Herr Rhinemann will be immensely pleased;
I was about to telephone him. I wanted to wait until the interception was
made.'
'You're out of line!' David said, trying to keep his voice calm. 'You're
asking for reprisals in every neutral area. Diplomatic hostages in a
neutral . . .'
'A guest,' interrupted the German with relish. 'Hardly a prize; a
step-daughter-in-law; the husband deceased. With no official status. So
complicated, these American social rituals.'
'You know what I mean! You don't need diagrams!'
'I said she was a guest! Of an eminent financier you yourself were sent to
contact . . . concerning international economic matters, I believe. A Jew
expelled from his own country, that country your enemy. I see no cause for
immediate alarm.... Although, perhaps, you should.'
There was no reason to procrastinate. Jean was no part of the barFain, no
part of the indictment. To hell with the indictmentl To hell with a
meaningless commitment! There was no meaning!
Only Jean.
392
'Call the moves,' said David.
'I was sure you'd cooperate. What difference does it make to you? Or to me,
really.... You and I, we take orders. Leave the philosophy to men of great
affairs. We survive.'
'That doesn't sound like a true believer. I was told you were a believer.'
David spoke aimlessly; he needed time, only seconds. To think.
'Strangely enough, I am. In a world that passed, I'm afraid.
Only partially in the one that's coming . . . . . The remaining
designs are at Habichtsnest. You and your aerophysicist win go
there at once. I wish to conclude our negotiations this evening.'
'Wait a minute!' David's mind raced over conjectures-his counterpart's
options. 'That's not the cleanest nest I've been in; the inhabitants leave
something to be desired.'
'So do the guests. . . .'
'Two conditions. One: I see Mrs. Cameron the minute I get there. Two: I
don't send the codes - if they're to be sent - until she's back at the
embassy. With Lyons.'
'We'll discuss these points later. There is one prior condition, however.'
Stoltz paused. 'Should you not be at Habichsnest this afternoon, you will
never see Mrs. Cameron. As you last saw her.... Habicht.snest has so many
diversions; the guests enjoy them so. Unfortunately, there have been some
frightful accidents in the past. On the river, in the pool ... on
horseback. . . .'
The foreman gave them a road map and filled the FMF automobile's gas tank
with fuel from the ranch pump. Spaulding removed the orange medallions from
the bumpers and blurred the numbers of the license plates by chipping away
at the paint until the Is looked like 7s, and 3s like 8s. Then he smashed
the ornament off the tip of the hood, slapped black paint overi the grill
and removed all four hubcaps. Finally, he took a sledgehammer and, to the
amazement of the silent gaucho, he crashed it into the side door panels,
trunk and roof of the car.
When he had finished, the automobile from Fleet Marine Force looked like
any number of back-country wrecks.
They drove out the road to the primitive highway by the telephone junction
box and turned east toward Buenos Aires. Spaulding pressed the accelerator;
the vibrations caused the loose metal to rattle throughout the car. Lyons
held the unfolded map on his knees; if it was correct, they could reach the
LujAn
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district without traveling the major highways, reducing the chances of
discovery by the FMF patrols that were surely out by now.
The goddamned irony of itl thought David. Safety ... safety for Jean, for
him, too, really ... lay in contact with the same enemy he had fought so
viciously for over three years. An enemy made an ally by incredible events
... treasons taking place in Washington and Berlin.
What had Stoltz said? Leave the philosophy to men of great affairs.
Meaning and no meaning at all.
David nearly missed the half-concealed entrance to Habichtsnest. He was
approaching it from the opposite direction on the lonely stretch of road he
had traveled only once, and at night. What caused him to slow down and look
to his left, spotting the break in the woods, were sets of black tire marks
on the light surface of the entrance. They had not been there long enough
to be erased by the hot sun or succeeding traffic. And Spaulding recalled
the words of the guard on the pier in Ocho Calle.
... There is a lot of shouting.
David could visualize Rhinemann screaming his orders, causing a column of
racing Bentleys and Packards to come screeching out of the hidden road from
Habichtsnest on its way to a quiet street in San Telmo.
And no doubt later - in the predawn hours - other automobiles, more
sweating, frightened henchmen - racing to the small isolated peninsula that
was Ocho Calle.
With a certain professional pride, Spaulding reflected that he had
interdicted well.
Both enemies. All enemies.
A vague plan was coming into focus, but only the outlines. So much depended
on what faced them at Habichtsnest.
And the soft-spoken words of hatred uttered by Asher Feld.
The guards in their paramilitary uniforms leveled their rifles at the
approaching automobile. Others held dogs that were straining at leashes,
teeth bared, barking viciously. The man behind the electric gate shouted
orders to those in front; four guards ran to the car and yanked the smashed
panels open. Spaulding and Lyons got out; they were pushed against the FMF
394
vehicle and searched.
David kept turning his head, looking at the extended fence beyond both
sides of the gate. He estimated the height and the tensile strength of the
links, the points of electrical contact between the thick-pol
ed sections.
The angles of direction.
It was part of his plan.
Jean ran to him from across the terraced balcony. He held her, silently,
for several moments. It was a brief span of sanity and he was grateful for
it.
Rhinemann stood at the railing twenty feet away, Stoltz at his side.
Rhinemann's narrow eyes stared at David from out of the folds of suntanned
flesh. The look was one of despised respect, and David knew it.
There was a third man. A tall, blond-haired man in a white Palm Beach suit
seated at a glass-topped table. Spaulding did not know him.
'David, David. What have I done?'Jean would not let him go; he stroked her
soft brown hair, replying quietly.
'Saved my life among other things .....
'The Third Reich has extraordinarily thorough surveillance, Mrs. Cameron,'
interrupted Stoltz, smiling. 'We keep watch on all Jews. Especially
professional men. We knew you were friendly with the doctor in Palermo; and
that the colonel was wounded. It was all quite simple!
'Does your surveillance of Jews include the man beside you?' asked
Spaulding in a monotone.
Stoltz paled slightly, his glance shifting unobtrusively from Rhinemann to
the blond-haired man in the chair. 'Heff Rhinemann understands my meaning.
I speak 'pragmatically; of the necessary observation of hostile elements!
'Yes, I remember,' said David, releasing Jean, putting his arm around her
shoulders. 'You were very clear yesterday about the regrettable necessity
of certain practicalities. I'm sorry you missed the lecture, Rhinemann. It
concerned the concentration of Jewish money.... We're here. Let's get on
with it.'
Rhinemann stepped away from the railing. 'We shall. But first, so the ...
circle is complete, I wish to present to you an acquaintance who has flown
in from Berlin. By way of neutral passage, of course. I want you to have
the opportunity of knowing you dealdirectly with him. The exchange is more
genuine this way.'
395
Spaulding looked over at the blond-haired man in the white Palm Beach suit.
Their eyes locked.
'Franz AltmUller, Ministry of Armaments. Berlin,' said David.
'Colonel David Spaulding. Fairfax. Late of Portugal. The man in Lisbon,'
Robert Ludlum - Rhineman Exchange.txt Page 48