“No, Herr Professor Not at all.” The sergeant hastened to decline any responsibility. “I shall issue the pass on your authority, Herr Professor.”
“Very well,” Himmelmann acknowledged. “I shall be waiting.” He hung up. His role in the conspiracy to destroy the project at Haigerloch had suddenly increased enormously — and alarmingly. And not at all by his choice. He had the uncomfortable feeling of having his neck in a noose. A noose held by the hands of his colleagues — and his adversaries….
The Unterscharführer unlocked a drawer. He pulled out a pass with a broad red stripe running diagonally across it. He filled it out with Sig's name, stamped it, and entered it on his log. He handed it to Sig.
“Have Professor Himmelmann sign it,” he grumbled. “As soon as you see him.”
Sig nodded. He took the pass. He stared at it.
The Red Pass. The key to the reactor cave of Haigerloch…
He walked into the compound.
He knew the way.
7
The first green sprouts were pushing up in the people's vegetable garden in Anna Weber's back yard. The seeds had been in the ground twelve days now. The carrots seemed to be doing best, followed by the tomatoes and the cucumbers.
Inside, in Anna's shop, the light blazed and the indefatigable sewing machine whirred diligently under Anna's urging.
In the small back room, a council of war was in progress. Wanda's presence was fading and spirits were high. It had started when Sig returned to the Storp house from Haigerloch and triumphantly plunked down his trophy.
His Red Pass.
For the first time they had a real chance of success in their impossible task. The final test at Haigerloch had been scheduled for 1400 hours on April 10. They had sixty-four hours to go.
All five of them were there. All seemed imbued with new hope, except Himmelmann. To his sour cynicism had been added a glum resentment at finding himself much more deeply involved in the action than he had ever intended. And no way to get out. On the stool before them lay a gun. Oskar's Luger. The only weapon they had been able to get their hands on.
Dirk was looking at Oskar. “Five or six sticks,” he said. “That's all you can get?”
Oskar nodded. “You must understand. Any serious shortage would touch off an investigation. Dynamite allocation for railroad work is tight” He thought for a while. I can get away with eight sticks. And a few detonator caps. Enough fuse to do the job.”
“Not a hell of a lot,” said Dirk. He was disappointed. “We'll only be able to do a limited amount of damage.”
“There is another possibility,” said Oskar.
Dirk looked interested. “Shoot.”
“A Panzerfaust,” said Oskar. “Or two.” He fished out a piece of paper from his pocket. “They were distributing these at the yard yesterday. I could requisition a couple such weapons.”
Dirk took the paper. It was a handbill headed “WIE BEDIENE ICH DIE PANZERFAUST? — How Do I Use the Panzerfaust?” It had two squares with four drawings in each, one series showing how to prepare the weapon for firing, the other picturing possible positions to be taken by the operator. The instructions were simple and concise. The Panzerfaust—literally, Armored Fist — was a simple mass-produced anti-tank weapon, basically a small recoil-less gun firing a powerful, oversized bomb with a charge of three and a half pounds of high explosives. Once fired, the device was discarded. Every man, woman and child from seven to seventy was urged to use the Panzerfaust to destroy enemy tanks and trucks. The weapons were easily obtained.
Dirk nodded. “Good enough,” he said. “We can use the warheads. Get some.”
Oskar nodded.
“And don't forget the tape,” Dirk added. “Get a couple of large rolls. Ordinary electrical tape will do.”
“No trouble,” Oskar said.
“Okay.” Dirk looked at Sig “Once more over lightly,” he said. “Give us the layout” He looked at Himmelmann. “Anything you can add, do.”
“Two steel doors to the entrance bunker,” Sig began. “Two more from the bunker to the cave interior. Directly behind, a large tunnel leading straight back. Immediately inside, off this tunnel right and left, are storage rooms. Drums. Pipes. Metal racks. Crates. Then one or two cross tunnels—” He glanced at Himmelmann.
“One,” said the scientist sullenly.
“—one cross tunnel branching off to other areas. At the far end, the main tunnel forms a T. Here there is a checkpoint, constantly manned. No one except key personnel is allowed beyond that point. Not even Red Passes! The main laboratory, the pile itself and the instrumentation control room are located in this deep part of the cave.” Sig stopped.
Dirk looked at Himmelmann. “What about it, Professor?” he asked.
“You turn to the right,” Himmelmann said tonelessly. “At the T. A small side tunnel on your left leads to the reactor cave and the control room. This tunnel can be sealed off with a heavy steel door set into the rock. Much like an oversized submarine hatch. The main laboratories are opposite, on your right.”
“Beyond the steel door?” Dirk asked. “What's the layout?”
“The pile is in the large cave on the left. The instrumentation control room on the right. The pile itself is set in a deep, concrete-lined pit in the cave floor. This pit has an inside diameter of three meters — about ten feet.”
“Okay,” Dirk said. He looked at the scientist. “Your job will be to see to it that the steel hatch is left open We'll do the rest.” He looked at Sig. “You will handle the communications center,” he said. “Make the announcement on the PA system, right?”
“Right.”
Himmelmann pulled the corners of his mouth down. “That,” he said sourly, “would be extremely foolish.”
Dirk looked up sharply.
“Why?”
Himmelmann shrugged. “Simply because you would create suspicion at once,” he said. “All communications in the area, including the public-address system, are operated by the Wehrmacht Nachrichtentruppen—the Army Signal Corps troops. They use Nachrichtenhelferinnen—female Signal Corps personnel. Women! To hear a man's voice over the public-address system would be highly unusual.”
“Shit!” Dirk exclaimed in disgust. “Now you tell us!”
Gisela suddenly spoke up. “I can do it,” she said. “I can make the announcement.”
Dirk frowned. “No,” he said.
The girl looked at him. “You cannot say no,” she said earnestly. “There is no other way. I am quite able to do this thing.”
“I don't want to involve you,” Dirk said.
She looked at him, eyes big and grave. “You already have,” she said quietly. “I am part of — everything. As Otto would have wanted it.”
Dirk gazed at the girl for a brief moment. “Okay,” he said reluctantly “You will go with Sig.” He frowned. “Sig can use his pass,” he said. He looked at Oskar and Himmelmann. “He may not be able to take even an unauthorized toothpick into the place because of the checkpoint body-search. But at least he'll get in. How the hell do we get Gisela into the area?”
“In uniform,” Gisela said. “As a Wehrmachthelferin. Anna can make me a uniform. It will be easy.”
Dirk looked dubious. “I don't know,” he said. “We'll have to work something out.” He looked around the room. “That's it, then,” he said. “Sig — using his Red Pass — and Gisela take care of the communications center. Gisela makes the announcement Himmelmann leaves the steel hatch open to the inner sanctum — and Oskar and I'll do as much damage as we can with the dynamite and the Panzerfaust warheads.” He looked at Himmelmann. “What do you say, Professor? Will it work?”