“Not all of them. His wife is still in Bregenz. Or at least she was as of this morning.”
Gudrun spoke up. “He’s right. If we stay, we either get killed or are jailed. If we flee, we might find some form of freedom where we can start over.”
Gustav sagged. He looked at the Panzerfaust that was resting against a wall. How futile it all now seemed. “I’m too old to start over and I don’t want to spend the rest of my life in jail. Or be hanged,” he said bitterly. “Anton, Gudrun, I saw the light a long time ago. Why the devil did Hitler have to invade Russia or declare war on the United States? It was madness. Who was advising him? I do not blame Hitler directly. He had to have been told that he would win. Why didn’t he simply wait a few years before taking on either nation?”
“Does that mean you will try to figure a way out of this mess? Why don’t we all flee to Switzerland?” asked Anton.
“Because,” Gustav answered, “the bastard Swiss are playing both ends against the middle. There already have been a number of attempts to cross and they have all been turned back or the people given over to Hahn and the SS. No, now is not the time to try that.”
“I understand,” said Anton, “but you will plan for it, won’t you?”
“Yes, and by the way, what does your sister think about this?”
Anton laughed. “My precious little sister is too busy screwing her brains out with that Hans Gruber boy who thinks he’s a Werewolf.”
CHAPTER 17
Brigadier General John Broome returned Tanner’s salute and waved him to a chair. “Get some coffee and have a seat. Close the door while you’re at it.”
Tanner was apprehensive. This was the first time he had had anything other than perfunctory greetings. He thought he’d done a good job for the late General Evans, but who knew what Broome might want out of him?
Tanner passed on the coffee and the general got quickly to the point. “Captain, when you first arrived and General Evans set your group up as a quasi-independent unit, I admit that I was less than thrilled. It was his prerogative, of course, but it was unusual and that offended my very orderly military mind. When I took over, I gave thought to bringing you more under the traditional structure. That would not have been a criticism. You’ve done well.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“You know what they say-if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Well, what we have here ain’t broke. I have no intentions of doing anything that would disrupt a well-running headquarters, especially with the end of the war so close, and, God, I do hope it is close. Ergo, there is no reason for a new Broome to sweep clean,” he said, laughing at his own joke. Tanner winced.
“We all hope so, sir.”
“You planning on staying in?”
“No, sir.”
“Which brings up another point. This man’s army is being emasculated by this very confusing point system that lets our best men get discharged. Experienced and qualified soldiers are being sent home and replaced by troops who don’t know how to wipe their own asses. It’s a helluva way to win a war. And the Krauts know all about it, don’t they?”
“Yes, sir. Some of the men we’ve captured were openly hoping that our army would fall apart as a result. I’ve got to admit that some of the men we’ve gotten as replacements are pretty bad.”
“Like that Oster fellow? That poor puppy shouldn’t have been in any man’s army. His draft board should all have been drafted and sent to work cleaning latrines with their teeth. I know that the point system is supposed to build morale by showing that there was an end to this long and winding road. Instead, it’s helped make the troops we have pull back and not go into combat with the efficiency and aggressiveness they used to have. I’m sure you know how many points you have.”
“Of course, sir, but they keep changing the rules. I’ll get out when they open the door and tell me to leave and go back to teaching college kids.”
“The way things are shaping up, you might have a lot of customers. I understand Truman and Marshall are thinking of having the government pay for veterans’ tuition under some kind of plan. It’s a good idea if you ask me and it will mean millions of our men and women getting an education rather than going out and looking for jobs that don’t exist. That’s what happened when the last war ended and it helped cause the Great Depression.” Broome shook his head. “Enough of a lecture from me. Get out of here and take your young lady someplace nice, if you can find one.”
Tanner was surprised that the general knew about Lena. “I guess there are no secrets in this man’s army, sir.”
“None whatsoever, Captain. It’s worse than a small town full of old ladies.”
* * *
He was only in his mid-forties but looked and felt decades older. His once decent suit and shoes were dirty and tattered and he was hungry. It was a far cry from the position of power and respect he’d held in Berlin only a few months earlier. Now, he was a fugitive and he wanted to stop running. There was, however, no place to hide. Hitler was dead and Germany was devastated. American soldiers were everywhere and didn’t even bother to glance at him with anything more than contempt.
He was in what had once been the proud city of Bonn. Now it was a ruin. It was time to stop running. His only choice was to give up.
He strode up to an American sergeant who was just standing around and taking in the desolation. “Excuse me, but can you direct me to your military intelligence?”
The sergeant laughed. “Ain’t no such thing, Mister.”
He caught the joke and smiled. “Then how about your military police?”
He was given directions to, no surprise, a former city police station. Inside, a bored MP corporal looked him over. “What can I do for you?”
He drew himself up to attention. “I would like to speak to your commanding officer. I think he will find that it is important.”
A couple of moments later, a stocky major appeared. He was not pleased at being interrupted. “So what am I going to find so important?”
“I believe you have lists of important people who have not yet been apprehended. I think it is very likely I am on those lists. I would also like to be put in touch with one of the local Alsos teams.”
The major blinked. He had orders to cooperate fully with the Alsos teams. There was one only a couple of miles away, scrounging through the ruins of some scientific facility.
The major was much friendlier now. “Who shall I say wishes to speak with them?”
“My name is Werner Heisenberg and I am a scientist, a physicist.”
* * *
“I see water.”
“Not yet,” Hummel said gently to the still confused Schubert. Every day, Schubert seemed to be getting better, if only so slightly. The bombings had not abated, but they no longer appeared to bother the mentally unbalanced man. Nor had any of them struck as closely as the one that had damaged Schubert’s mind and nearly killed them both. Hummel wondered if his friend’s periods of lucidity were because he was already at the bottom of his mind and could fall no farther.
Their trek from Innsbruck had to be almost over. Lieutenant Pfister kept telling them that Lake Constance should be visible just over the next hill, or the next one. Someday he’d be right. Someday the world would end, too, and someday pigs would fly, thought Hummel.
Their journey had been agony. They’d traveled by night and hidden as best they could during the day. It hadn’t taken long for the Americans to figure out where the troops withdrawing from the Innsbruck area were headed. The long columns of German soldiers had been bombed incessantly, leaving bloody and smoldering clumps of carnage along the trail.
American bombers dropped their loads from on high with little apparent regard for the existence of actual targets. The Americans understood that the Germans were hiding during the day and moving west at night. Thus, anything that looked like it could hide troops, like a forest, was bombed with explosives and napalm.