in and out of port, estimated factory capacities, things like that. But
I always believed the time would come when his group could do some real
damage.' Heydrich held up his arms in admiration. 'In Plan Mordred, my
Fuhrer, you have created the perfect opportunity to exploit their
special talents! Remember, these men are combat veterans trained by the
British Army!'
'And this Helmut,' Hitler said, his voice tremulous, 'you believe he can
talk these Englishmen into carrying out our will?'
'He already has,' Heydrich said exuberantly. 'In small ways, of course.
A bit of sabotage in the munitions factories, improper packing of ships
in London. But with the right cover story-' Hitler silenced Heydrich
with a stab of his right hand. I 'Why haven't these men been recalled
to duty in the British Army?' I Heydrich faltered a little.
'When I said they were wounded, my Fuhrer, I meant it. In Helmut's
signals, he refers to his unit as the Verwunden Brigade-the Wounded
Brigade. One of the men has only one leg, another has but one hand.
One man is internally damaged. Helmut himself has only one eye.
He lost the other at Guemica.'
Hitler's mouth fell open. 'What! You speak of cripples?
A one-eyed man leading a rabble of cripples against the British security
services? How can they possibly do what is necessary to carry out your
plan!'
'They can do it,' Heydrich said evenly. 'Helmut is the most remarkable
agent I have ever come across. But you I pinpointed the problem with
your very first question, my Fuhrer. How do we get Helmut's Verwunden
Brigade to assassinate Churchill and the king at the place and time of
our choosing?'
'Just as I said!'
Heydrich's face assumed a surgeon's impassivity. 'As I said before,
motivation is not a problem. These men believe that Churchill is
dragging the English working class into yet another worldwide slaughter
for capitalist greed. They've already proved their sympathies by
sabotaging the British war effort, albeit in small ways, and they
certainly have no moral compunction against killing. No, my Fuhrer, the
problem is one of authority. These men idolize Helmut, but Helmut alone
simply hasn't the authority to order an action on that arty execuscale.
Not even Britain's National Communist Party could order the
assassination of a head of state-much less two. An order like that must
originate'-Heydrich looked Hitler dead in the eye-'from Moscow.'
'Then we are lost!' Hitler bellowed, leaping to his feet. 'I told you
about my Rumanian oil fields! How can I possibly persuade Stalin to
mount an operation like this? That crafty old bear would immediately
guess our true intent!'
'You need not persuade Stalin of anything,' said Heydrich. 'I've solved
the problem already. That is what took me two months, my Fuhrer,
solving problems like this.
But I have the answers with me tonight. All of them.'
,I'm tired of this game, Heydrich! Get to the point!'
The young SD chieftain nodded slowly. 'MY Fuhrer, do you remember a
@Russian nwned ZinovievT' Hitler knitted his brow. 'The Bolshevik
leader of 1917?'
'No.' Heydrich cracked a reptilian smile. 'A Russian as opposite from
a Bolshevik as any man could be- He was captain in the Okhrana, the
tsar's secret POlice.@ Hitler tugged at his forelock. His eyes darted
around die ry here but at Heydrich. The fire had teahouse, looking eve
w died, but neither man noticed. Finally Hitler sat down again,
perching on the edge of the leather easy chair. 'Proceed,' he said.
As trim and hard as a rapier, Reinhard Heydrich stood before the most
powerful man on earth and outlined the plan that would place him first
in the line of succession to the black throne of the Nazi empire.
With each new revelation, his voice rose in excitement, and Hitler-,
spellbound, followed him up the scale.
'And the genius of the concept,' Heydrich exulted, with the duill of
consummation, ,the -beauty of it, is that England will not simply be
neutralized, it will join us in our war against Russia! Think of it!
Paralyzed by grief, the British people will cry out to their new leaders
for guidance, and they will be told by those leaders-your men-to do
exactly what they so desire to do-take revenge on the godless enemy ! On
Russia, the cradle of assassins! And to do that they must reach out to
you! Barbarossa will become an Aryan crusade!'
Hitler's facial muscles had seized into an almost catatonic spasm.
His right hand shook as if from palsy. The genius of Heydrich's plan
had burst into his brain with the brilliance of a dying star. All his
life Hitler had fed upon the intellects of more timid men, seizing upon
their revolutionary ideas and charging forward without looking back.
Now-given Heydrich's plan like a gift from heaven itself-he reveled in
the knowledge that he would once again beat all the odds, once again
prove himself right and all his generals wrong!
This certainty coursed through his veins like a blast of morphine.
Visions of conquest flashed behind his eyes: the Kremlin, shattered and
smoldering in black ashes; tall young Germans tilling the great fields
of the Ukraine; German ships sailing forth from Odessa and Archangel 'I
see it!' Hitler cried. 'I see it all now!' @e' scurried around the
table like a human lightning rod attempting to discharge itself 'It can
work! Churchill is going to die!'
'And the king!' Heydrich added euphorically. 'My Fuhrer, Helmut
assures me that it can be done. Zinoviev is already preparing for the
mission!'
'My God,' Hitler murmured, suddenly mortified. 'How do you communicate
with Helmut?'
'I don't. It's always been a one-way conduit. 'Because of that@'
'Yes?'
'I had to send a man into England with a message.'
' What? '
'I take full responsibility, my Fuhrer. I felt that this mission was
simply too important to risk by using radio communications.
I trust no one. I never even contacted Lord Granville.'
'And what if your messenger had been captured?'
'He wasn't.'
