subjects.'
Hitler sat still as stone. 'Explain.'
Heydrich frowned. 'That is all, my Fuhrer. That is the key.
The men who carry out the assassinations must be British subjects-of
course I mean British communists.'
Hitler ground his teeth slowly. 'Are you about to tell me, Herr
Obergruppenfiihrer, that you have devised a way to get Stalin to order
his English cadres to execute Churchill and the king at the time and
place of our choosing?'
'No, my Fuhrer 'I hope not!' Hitler shook his hand in the air.
'It's all I can do to keep Stalin out of my Rumanian oil fields!
For a while you were making sense, Now ... w@ shall see.'
Heydrich squinted with a gambler's concentration. 'What I propose, my
Fuhrer is not really so far from what you just suggested.
But before I can give you the mechanics, I must explain a little recent
history.
I The idea of playing history pupil did not please Hitler, but he held a
fitful silence while Heydrich laid the foundations of his plan.
'Do you recall the communist takeover of Bavaria in 1919, my Fuhrer?
Specifically Munich?'
Hitler scowled. 'I fought in it, you fool. With Hess at my side I
battled in the streets, and Hess with only his tattered old uniform for
clothing!'
'Of course, my Fuhrer!' Heydrich said quickly. 'Yes ...
well, during the final Friekorps assault on the Hauptbanhof-where the
communists chose to make their final stand-we had a man inside the
building.'
'We?' Hitler said disparagingly.
'The Friekorps, my Fuhrer.'
'I thought the communists in the Hauptbanhof were wiped out to a man.'
'The real communists were. It was a massacre. But one Friekorps spy-a
loyal young German who provided critical information during the
crisis-managed to escape. With Friekorps help, of course. His name was
Heimut Steuer, and he became known among the communists as the 'Survivor
of Munich. ' '
'And what has this Helmut got to do with your plan?'
'Everything. But these early details are important.9' Heydrich smoothed
his thinning blond hair. 'After the Party began to assert itself in
Germany under your inspired leadership, it was decided in the interests
of security to infiltrate informers into the communist cadres of our
past and probable future enemies-England and France. The agents were
sent into whatever countries their language abilities suited them for.
It was a primitive program, but quite remarkable considering the state
of our security services at the time. A few men were sent to Paris, a
few to Marseilles. Those who had no second language stayed in Germany.
And a very few were sent to England. Four went to Manchester and Leeds
to work in the mills, three to the mines around Newcastle.
Helmut Steuer, however, was a unique case. He had a fair grasp of
French, but his real gift was English. He'd worked the Rhine packets on
the English runs for most of his life and spoke the language like a
London dockworker. With little else but a prayer, Helmut was sent to
London.
'Being something of a communist hero after Muhich, Helmut was welcomed
into the London cadres with open arms. They considered him a great
fugitive-a celebrity of sorts. He worked the docks for a few years,
always doing his bit for the Party, selling the Daily Worker like a good
Bolshevik, but never doing quite enough to bring the British police down
on him. He wasn't really much use to us at that point, but he was
ordered to stay- He had possibilities.'
Heydrich felt himself coming into stride. He clearly had the Fuhrer's
attention now.
@n in 1936, Heimut did something crazy. He packed a suitcase and set
out for Spain with the English communists who went to fight in the
International Brigades. And stmgely enough! my Fain, that,s when he
became a real owt. He drove an ambulance for the RePublican lo@ all the
while passing information to FranCO's fascists and our Condor Legion. No
one knew why he was doing it-he hadn't been ordered to-but I believe
that he simply acted out of patriotism. He was a loyal German; he saw
the Reich supporting Franco; so he did what he could from the POsition
he was in.
,An excellent man!' Hitler cried. 'Why have I not heard of him
before?' ,m not sure, my Famr,' Heydrich said smugly. - Perhaps
Reichsfiihrer Himmler never considered Helmut's reports important enough
to bring to Your attention-'
'Ridiculous! I need men with initiative! Like the English commandos!
This Heimut sounds like just that type of man!'
'He is better than that, my Fuhrer. After the Spanish War, Helmut
returned to England in disfavor with the British government, but an even
greater hero to the British communists.
It was then that I suggested the idealwhich now makes Plan Mordred
possible.'
Hitler's eyes glowed with anticipation.
'I instructed Helmut to organize his own group Of COMmunist activist'and
case d isolate them from the local Party cadres. You know the standard
communist procedure: they organize small groups called cells, which are
subordinate to various committees and finally the national party
executive. Anyway, Helmut did as I asked, and out of genius or by
accident he hit upon a remarkable ideaIn short order he welded together
a small, highly committed group of combat veterans, all rabid
communists, all of whom had been wounded either in the Great War or in
Spain.'
Heydrich tilted his narrow head forward. 'Can you imagine the value of
this group, my Fuhrer? While they appeared to be merely a handful of
the thousands of English patriots who'd barely survived the Great War,
in reality they were dedicated radicals, men so violently disillusioned
with their government that they would strike at its foundations whenever
they got the chance!'
Hitler sat spellbound; Heydrich breathed harder.
'Helmut started small. He reported the movements of the British Fleet
