“Large shipments of Mercury are being requested for the project, but instead of saying it is Mercury, something is being added to call it Xerium 525. And he has a name.”
Goebbels stood up excitedly. “A name? Who?” This was the information Goebbels had been waiting for – if he had a name of a person involved in the project, he could get into the project. It was the only way in compartmentalized Nazi Germany to find out what was going on in sensitive projects outside of your own. You had to know someone in it. No information was ever released through official channels for everything first went through Adolf Hitler, allowing him to micro-manage every aspect of the German military, scientists, rocket development – life.
This however, was one project the Führer had no idea on. Hitler was unaware due to the skill of those who worked on and the man who developed the project.
“Jakob Sporrenberg.”
Chapter 18 – The Flight
Ewa was now the one touched that such an effort would be made to find something about her. One of Karl Ernst Krafft’s stature and reputation going the hospital she was born to find her birth time so he could make her horoscope chart overwhelmed her. She wondered if even her family members would make the effort – or think of it – as no one knew her exact birth time.
“Karle Ernst… do you…?”
The loud ring of the room’s telephone suddenly interrupted her question if Karl Ernst really loved her. This would have to be brought up another time.
“Hello?”
“Herr Krafft?”
“Yes.”
“This is the front desk. You asked to be notified should we receive word from your wife.”
“Did they find her?” Krafft crashed down to his real life on earth. “Did she call?”
“She did not call. She is here in the lobby now. She asked if you were in and is on her way up right now.”
Krafft felt a twinge of horror in his stomach and throat. He managed to shout out, “Thank-you!” into the receiver and slammed it down, missing the phone hook cradle.
“It’s Elaine! She’s back! She’s here!!! Now!!!” Karl Ernst jumped up to get into his clothes. The fear of Elaine seeing Ewa in bed swept over him, completely covering any joy of finding out she was safe and had returned. He never before had an affair before and did not know how to handle his present situation – or his feelings.
Ewa was still sitting on the bed.
“Get up! Get up! We have to hide you… or get you out of here!”
Ewa got up and went for her clothes. Actually this is exactly what Fesel had planed for, arranging for Ewa and Krafft to be together this afternoon. Elaine would return to the hotel room to see Karl Ernst and Ewa in bed. Ewa had even pulled the drapes halfway open and crack the window, a signal to Fesel they were in fact in bed. This was the moment when the Governor General would deliver Elaine, who was being kept in a car until Ewa gave her signal.
Fesel, however, did not take into account that Krafft would ignore his repeated advice of ‘We will take care of everything’. Krafft had informed the hotel desk as well as the Berlin police to be on the lookout for Elaine and contact him should she turn up.
“Quick! In here!” Ewa was partly dressed, but Krafft figured she could finish dressing in the closet. His worst nightmare now was Elaine opening the door at this moment and see Ewa as she was. “Quickly! Quickly!”
This was also Ewa’s first experience in having the third party of a triangle return unexpectedly. Fesel did not inform Ewa that Elaine was to walk in. She thought she was there to comfort Krafft since Elaine was missing. She now realized she was being set up as well.
“What should I do?”
“Stay in here.” Krafft was pushing her into the closet. “When we leave, of if I can get her into the bathroom, then sneak out!”
“Yes, but what if…?” Ewa whispered as she was trying to maintain her balance while being shoved in the luxurious space.
The rattling of the hotel room door handle turning froze the throats of both Ewa and Karl Ernst in fear. As the closet door clicked shut, Karl Ernst turned to see the hotel door open.
Standing in the doorway was Elaine. Upset, dirty, hair frayed and wearing the same clothes he last saw her in as he and Fesel drove off to Warsaw. The bags under her terror ridden eyes suggested more than a lack of sleep – she appeared to have been drugged.
“Karl Ernst!” Elaine screamed.
Maxi wrote down Gunter – July 2 at 14:00 on a small scrap of paper while speaking about food and showed it to Stephan, then to Eva-Marie. ‘Gunter’ was the codename for the German High Command building.
“Seems logical our friend would want to take an out-of-town hardware salesman to the biggest hardware warehouse in Berlin.” Stephan said, then taking a short sip of tea. He was speaking in code as the best place to attempt a rescue of Captain Payne. “I think it would be a better opportunity in trying to see him when he leaves the hotel. How many neighbors can we round up to get uncle Manfred out of Berlin?”
“Four.” Maxi answered, meaning four cars, four drivers, and four gunmen.
Stephan had long ago created plans for escape from the Gestapo hotel, the main municipal and the three district jails of Berlin, however never thought he’d see the day any of these designs would be executed. He also sized up 8 holding areas in Berlin that have, at one time or another, held hundreds of friends he knew who dared speak out against the Third Reich, or who happened to be born with the wrong last name. His dream was to one day send out a signal to all of his friends and colleagues who worked in these places as repairmen, cleaning ladies, and even night watchmen – to set everyone free.
Now he would have to pull all his people together for the rescue of a stranger – a foreigner at that – and this won’t be a dream, but for real. “We may need one more car, in case we need a reserve.” Stephan was not speaking code. He was beginning to tire and turned to Eva-Marie. “I think we ought to close now. It’s pretty slow here, and we have a lot to do.”
Eva-Marie nodded and began the ritual of closing shop.
The three walked out together and Eva-Marie locked the door behind them. Once in Maxi’s Taxi, Stephan continued the checklist for the plan, but did not speak in code since there was no one else on the street. Code was necessary in Stephan’s shop. Even though the store was in the basement, there were four apartments surrounding it as well as those who lived above. Since they could hear these neighbors talking, shouting and fighting from time to time, it was clear the neighbors could hear them as well – especially if their ears were up against the wall.
“I need a car that can be abandoned and that can’t be traced, for this will be the one we will put Payne in, which will more than likely be the one see by witnesses.”
Stephan did not know Payne’s last name or his rank of Captain. Only that he was the most important person the British had sent into Germany who had been caught.