said Altmillier.
'You are jackals,' added Rhinemann, 'who fight as traitors fight and
dishonor your houses. I say this to you both. For both to hear. Now, as you
say, colonel, we shall get on with it.,
Stoltz took Lyons below to the manicured lawn by the pool. There, at a
large, round table, a Rhinemann guard stood with a metal attach6 case in
his hand. Lyons sat down, his back to the balcony; the guard lifted the
case onto the table.
'Open it,' commanded Erich Rhinemann from above.
The guard did so; Lyons took out the plans and spread them on the table.
Altmaller spoke. 'Remain with him, Stoltz.'
Stoltz looked up, bewildered. However, he did not speak. He walked to the
edge of the pool and sat in a deck chair, his eyes fixed on Lyons.
AltmUller turned to Jean. 'May I have a word with the colonel, please?'
Jean looked at Spaulding. She took her hand from his and walked to the far
end of the balcony. Rhinemann remained in the center, staring down at
Lyons.
'For both our sakes,' said Altmtlller, 'I think you should tell me what
happened in San Telmo.'
David watched the German closely. Altmfiller was not lying; he was not
trying to trap him. He did not know about the Haganah. About Asher Feld. It
was Spaulding's only chance.
'Gestapo.'said David, giving the lie the simplicity of conviction.
'Impossible!' Altmfiller spat out the word. 'You know that's impossible! I
am here!'
'I've dealt with the Gestapo - in various forms - for nearly four years. I
know the enemy.... Grant me that much credit.'
'You're wrong! There's no possible way!'
'You've spent too much time in the ministry, not enough in the field. Do
you want a professional analysis?'
'What is iff
396
David leaned against the railing. 'You've been had.'
' What?'
'Just as I've been had. By those who employ our considerable talents. In
Berlin and Washington. There's a remarkable coincidence,too.... They both
have the same initials.... A.S.'
Altmifller stared at Spaulding, his blue eyes penetrating, his mouth parted
slightly - in disbelief. He spoke the name under his breath.
-Albert Speer. . .
-Alan Swanson.' countered David softly.
'It can't be,' said Altmfiller with less conviction than he wished to
muster. 'He doesn't know. . . .'
'Don't go into the field without some advanced training. You won't last....
Why do you think I offered to make a deal with RhinemannT
Altmaller was listening but not listening. He took his eyes from Spaulding,
seemingly consumed with the pieces of an incredible puzzle. 'If what you
say is true - and by no means do I agree - the codes would not be sent, the
transfer aborted. There would be no radio silence; your fleet cruising,
radar and aircraft in 6peration. Everything lost!'
David folded his arms in front of him. It was the moment when the lie would
either be bought or rejected out of hand. He knew it; he felt as he had
felt scores of times in the north country when the lie was the keystone.
'Your side plays rougher than mine. It goes with the New Order. My people
won't kill me; they just want to make sure I don't know anything. All they
care about are those designs.... With you it's different. Your people keep
their options open.'
David stopped and smiled at Rhinemann, who had turned from his sentry
position by the balcony and was looking at them. Altmijller kept his eyes
on Spaulding . . . the inexperienced .runner' being taught, thought David.
'And in your judgment, what are these optionsT
'A couple I can think of,' replied Spaulding. 'Immobilize me, force in
another code man at the last minute, substitute faulty blueprints; or get
the diamonds out from Ocho Calle some other way than by water - difficult
with those crates, but not impossible.'
'Then why should I not let these options be exercised? You tempt me.9
Spaulding had been glancing up, at nothing. Suddenly he
397
turned and looked at AltmOller. 'Don't ever go into the field; you won't
last a day. Stay at your ministry.'
'What does that meanr
'Any alternate strategy used, you're dead. You're a liability now. You
"dealt" with the enemy. Speer knows it, the Gestapo knows it. Your only
chance is to use what you know. Just like me. Youfor your life; me for a
great deal of money. Christ knows the aircraft companies will make a pile;
I deserve some of it.'
AltmOller took two steps to the railing and stood alongside David, looking
down at the distant river below. 'It's an so pointless.'
'Not when you think about it,' said Spaulding. 'Something for nothing never
is in this business!
David, staring straight ahead, could feel AltmOller's eyes abruptly on him.
He could sense the new thought coming into focus in Altmaller's mind.
'Your generosity may be your undoing, colonel.... We can still have
something for nothing. And 1, a hero's medal from the Reich. We have you.
Mrs. Cameron. The physicist's expendable, I'm sure. . . . You will send the
codes. You were willing to negotiate for money. Surely you'll negotiate for
your lives.'
Like Altmaller, David stared straight ahead when he replied. His arms still
folded, he was irritatingly relaxed, as he knew he had to be. 'Those
negotiations have been concluded. If Lyons approves the blueprints, I'll
send the codes when he and Mrs. Cameron are back at the embassy. Not
before.'
'You'll send them when I order you to.' Altmifller was finding it difficult
to keep his voice low. Rhinemarm looked over again but made no move to
interfere. Spaulding understood. Rhinemann was toying with his jackals.
'Sorry to disappoint you,' said David.
'Then extremely unpleasant things will happen. To Mrs. Cameron first.'
'Give it up.' David sighed. 'Play by the original rules. You haven't a
chance.'
'You talk confidently for a man alone.'
Spaulding pushed himself off the railing and turned, facing the German. He
spoke barely above a whisper. 'You really are a goddamned fool. You
wouldn't last an hour in Lisbon.... Do you think I drove in here without
any backups? Do you think Rhinemann expected me to? ... We men in the field
are very
398
cautious, very cowardly; were not heroic at all. We don't blow up buildings
if there's a chance we'll still be inside. We won't destroy an enemy bridge
unless there's another way back to our side.'
'You are alone. There are no bridges left for you!'
David looked at Altmilller as if appraising a bad cut of meat, then glanced
at his watch. 'Your Stolz was a fool. If I don't make a call within fifteen
minutes, there'll be a lot of busy telephones resulting in God knows how
many very official automobiles driving out to Lujin. I'm a military attach6
stationed at the American embassy. I accompanied the ambassador's daughter
to Lujin. That's enough.'
'That's preposterous! This is a neutral city. Rhinemann would. . .'
'Rhinemann would open the gates an
d throw the jackals out,' interrupted
Spaulding quietly and very calmly. 'We're liabilities both of us.
"Tortugas" could blow up in his postwar face. Hes not going to allow that.
Whatever he thinks of the systems, yours or mine, it doesn't matter. Only
one thing matters to him: the cause of Erich Rhinemann.... I thought you
knew that. You picked him.'
Altmaller was breathing steadily, a bit too deeply, thought David. He was
imposing a control on himself and he was only barely succeeding.
'You ... have made arrangements to send the codes? From hereT
The lie was bought. The keystone was now in place.
'The rules are back in force. Radio and radar silence. No air strikes on
surfacing submarines. No interception of trawlers ... under Paraguayan
flags entering the coastal zones. We both win.... Which do you want,
jackalT
AltmUller turned back to the railing and placed his hands on the marble
top. His fingers were rigid against the stone. The tailored folds of his
white Palm Beach suit were starchly immobile. He looked down at the river
and spoke.
'The rules of "Tortugas" are reinstated.'
'I have a telephone call to make.' said David.
'I expected you would,' replied Rhinemann, looking contemptuously at Franz
AltmUller. 'I have no stomach for an embassy kidnapping. It serves no one.'
399
'Don't be too harsh,' said Spaulding agreeably. 'It got me here in record
time.'
'Make your call.' Rhinemann pointed to a telephone on a table next to the
archway. 'Your conversation will be amplified, of course.'
'Of course,' answered David, walking to the phone.
'Radio room. . . 'came the words from the unseen speakers.
'This is Lieutenant Colonel Spaulding, military attach6,' said David,
interrupting Ballard's words.
There was the slightest pause before Ballard replied.
'Yes, sir, Colonel Spaulding?'
'I issued a directive of inquiry prior to my conference this afternoon. You
may void it now.'
'Yes, sir.... Very good, sir.'
'May I speak with the head cryptographer, please? A Mr. Ballard, I believe!
'I'm ... Ballard, sir.'
'Sorry,' said David curtly, 'I didn't recognize you, Ballard. Be ready to
send out the sealed code schedules I prepared for you. The green envelope;
open it and familiarize yourself with the progressions. When I give you the
word, I want it transmitted immediately. On a black-drape priority!
'What ... sirT
'My authorization is black drape, Ballard. It's in the lex, so clear all
scrambler channels. You'll get no flak with that priority. 19H call you
back.'
Yes, sir. . . .'
David hung up, hoping to Christ that Ballard was as good at his job as
David thought he was. Or as good at parlour games as Henderson Granville
thought he was.
'You're very efficient,' said Rhinemann.
'I try to be,' said David.
Ballard stared at the telephone. What was Spaulding trying to tell him?
Obviously that Jean was all right; that he and Lyons were all right, too.
At least for the time being.
Be ready to send out the sealed code schedules Iprepared...
David had not prepared any codes. He had. Spaulding had memorized the
progressions, that was true, but only as a contingency.
What goddamned green envelope?
400
There was no envelope, red, blue or green I
What the bell was that nonsense ... black-drape priority?
What was a black drape? It didn't make sense I
But it was a key.
It's In the lex....
Lex.... Lexicon. The Lexicon of Cryptography!
Black drape.... He recalled something ... something very obscure, way in
the past. Black drape was a very old term, long obsolete. But it meant
something.
Ballard got out of his swivel chair and went to the bookshelf on the other
side of the small radio room. He had not looked at The Lexicon of
Cryptography in years. It was a useless, and, academic tome.... Obsolete.
It was on the top shelf with the other useless reference books and, like
the others, had gathered dust.
He found the term on page 71. It was a single paragraph sandwiched between
equally meaningless paragraphs. But it had meaning now.
'The Black Drape, otherwise known as Schwarzes Tuch, for it was first
employed by the German Imperial Army in 1916, is an entrapment device. It
is hazardous for it cannot be repeated in a sector twice. It is a signal to
proceed with a code, activating a given set of arrangements with intent to
terminate, canceling said arrangements. The termination factor is expressed
in minutes, specifically numbered. As a practice, it was abandoned in 1917
for it nullified . . .'
Proceed ... with intent to terminate.
Ballard closed the book and returned to his chair in front of the dials.
Lyons kept turning the pages of the designs back and forth as if
double-checking his calculations. Rhinemann caRed down twice from the
balcony, inquiring if there were problems. Twice Lyons turned in his chair
and shook his head. Stoltz remained in the deck chair by the pool, smoking
cigarettes. AltmWler talked briefly with Rhinemann, the conversation
obviously unsatisfactory to both. Altindlier returned to the chair by the
glasstopped table and leafed through a Buenos Aires newspaper.
David and Jean remained at the far end of the terrace, talking quietly.
Every once in a while Spaulding let his voice carry across; if AltmQUer
listened, he heard references to New York,
40.1
to architectural firms, to vague postwar plans. Lovers' plans.
But these references were non sequiturs.
'At the Alvea Hotel,' said David softly, holding Jean's hand, 'there's a
man registered under the name of E. Pace. E. Pace. His real name is Asher
Feld. Identify yourself as the contact from me
. and a Fairfax agent named Barden. Ira Barden. Nothing else. Yeil him I'm
calling his ... priorities. In precisely two hours from ... the minute you
telephone from the embassy.... I nwan the mmute, Jean, he'll understand. .
.
Only once did Jean Cameron gasp, an intake of breath that caused David to
glare at her and press her hand. She covered her shock with artificial
laughter.
Altmiffler looked up from the newspaper. Contempt was in his eyes; beyond
the contempt, and also obvious, was his anger.
Lyons got up from the chair and stretched his emaciated frame. He had spent
three hours and ten minutes at the table; he turned and looked up at the
balcony. At Spaulding.
He nodded.
'Good,' said Rhinemann, crossing to Franz AltmWer. 'We'll proceed. It will
be dark soon; we'll conclude everything by early morning. No more delay I
Stoltz! Kommen Sie her I Bringen Sie &e Aktenmappe!'
Stoltz went to the table and began replacing the pages in the attach6 case.
David took Jean's arm and guided her towards Rhinemann and Altmifller. The
Nazi spoke.
'The plans comprise four hundred and sixty-odd pages of causal data and
progressive equations. No man can retain s
uch information; the absence of
any part renders the designs useless. As soon as you contact the
cryptographer and relay the codes, Mrs. Cameron and the physicist are free
to leave.'
'I'm sorry,' said Spaulding. 'My agreement was to send the codes when they
were back at the embassy. That's the way it has to be.'
'Surely,' interjected Rhinemann angrily, 'you don't think I would permit .
. .'
'No, I don't,' broke in David. 'But I'm not sure what you can control
outside the gates of Habichtsnest. This way, I know you'll try harder.'
402
42
It was an hour and thirty-one minutes before the telephone rang. Nine
fifteen, exactly. The sun had descended behind the Lujin hills; the lights
along the distant riverbank ffickered in the enveloping darkness.
Rhinemann picked up the receiver, listened and nodded to David.
Spaulding got out of his chair and crossed to the financier, taking the
receiver. Rhinemann flicked a switch on the wall. The speakers were
activated.
'We're here, David.' Jean's words were amplified on the terrace.
Tine,' answered Spaulding. 'No problems thenT
'Not really. After five miles or so I thought Doctor Lyons was going to be
sick. They drove so fast. . .
After ... five ....
Asher ... Feld ....
Jean had done it!
'But he's all right now?'
'He's resting. It'll take some time before he feels himself. . .
Time.
Jean had given Asher Feld the precise time.
'All right .... I
'Genug! Genug!'said AltmOller,s tanding by the balcony.'That's enough. You
have your proof; they are there. The codesl'
403
David looked over at the Nazi. It was an unhurried look, no at all
accommodating.
'Yes?'
'You're in the radio room?'
'Yes.'
'Let me speak to that Ballard fellow.'
'Here he is.'
Ballard's voice was impersonal, efficient. 'Colonel Spaulding?'
'Ballard, have you cleared all scrambler channels?'
'Yes, sir. Along with your priority. The drape's confirmed, sir.'
'Very good. Stand by for my call. It shouldn't be more than a few minutes.'
David quickly hung up the phone.
'What are you doing?l'yelled Altmilller furiously. 'The codesl Send them I'
Robert Ludlum - Rhineman Exchange.txt Page 49