'I want every double shot immediately!' he cried. 'Such a risk cannot
be tolerated!'
Heydrich replied very softly. 'MY Fuhrer, perhaps YOu might reconsider?
Our political doubles represent a tremendous investment of time and
resources. I believe they will ar with Russia. You prove invaluable to
us in the coming w could remove the danger simply by placing them under
my direct command.'
Hitler's black eyes bored relentlessly into Heydrich's face, probing for
disloyalty- After a full minute of silence, he said, ,Permission
granted.' Then he added, 'For now.'
tar ri I tu an tried Heydrich s ed in surp se as Hit er med d hu uP the
frozen path. 'MY Fuhrer!' he calledhastening up the slope after him.
'Nothing can stop us now! Failure is not a possibility!'
Hitler paused twenty meters from the Berghof- In a flat
6 pie d,
voice suddenly drained of anger, he said, 'I am ase Heydrich.
When Barbarossa is completed, I shall not forget you. Once Russia's
vast lands lie under our control, I will need a man of iron to rule
her-a Reich-protector I can trustAre you that man, Heydrich?'
'As you command, my Fuhrer!'
Without a word Hitler turned and marched up the steps to the Berghof
Heydrich stood motionless in the snow. The promise of a
Reich-Protectorship made his heart pound, but a darker dread still ate
at his confidence. in the face of Hitler's wrath, he had quailed from
voicing his deepest doubt about Plan Mordred-his nagging suspicion that
the Fuhrer's English 'sympathizers'-whoever they might be-were actually
I ure Germany into a for Britain nation, any human effort.
But w] it? The game had to be played sure that his part ran smoothly.
From this moment forward, Heydrich existed almost without sleep, without
food. The Fuhrer had extended the light of power to him, and he moved
through his days like he was sworn to a holy quest. His allies in that
quest were an embittered Russian expatriate, and ' a one-eyed German
agent living in the heart of beleaguered London. All @ lived only that
a fat English warrior and a shy English king might die.
In Hitler's small study on the second floor of the Berghof, Rudolf Hess
anxiously awaited his Fuhrer. Dressed in his gray uniform, he sat
behind a desk littered with architectural plans and sketches. Most of
the sketches were by Hitler; Hess recognized the cramped, untutored
style. The building plans, though, had been drafted by Albert Speer.
Stronglined and well-proportioned, the great avenue of the Fuhrer's new
Berlin stretched across the desk like a blueprint of the future.
The magnificent Imperial Palace, the Triumphal Arch that would dwarf the
one in Paris@l seemed the natural fruit of the labor of the new Reich, a
mighty city built to endure for a thousand years. Or so it see@ed on
those happier occasions when Hess had studied these plans in the past.
He would never look at them in quite the same way again.
The Party and the Reich that he had once viewed as a united force-an
unstoppable juggernaut destined for immortality-he now saw as a fragile
alliance of ambitious men held together only by their common fear of
Adolf Hitler. Since Hess's momentous meeting with the Fuhrer in
January, both Heinrich Himmler and Hermann Goring had deduced the real
reason for Hess's training flights. At Gestapo headquarters in Berlin,
Hess had conducted a conversation with Reichsfiihrer Himmler that could
only be described as a war of nerves.
The smell of treason had hung in the room like cordite. As the two men
spoke in measured tones, Hess had realized that Himmler's office was, in
every sense of the word, a battlefield. In the narrow confines of four
walls, words became bullets, names flashed like tracers, and the
silences were mined as lethally as the sands around Tobruk. Himmler had
claimed that the British would never make peace with Hitler, but might
make peace with Germany if he himself sat in the seat of power.
Then-as Hess's rage boiled over-Himmler had disguised his power grab by
claiming it would be a mere strategy to trick the British into making
peace. Hess had not been fooled. Behind Himmler's bland face and
pince-nez glasses, Hess had glimpsed a power lust more sickening than
the greed of any Jew. He had left the Prinz-Albrechtstrasse with no
doubt that Heinrich Himmler was a traitor. Goring had been very
different, if The conversation wi only in terms of style. Himmler had
begun his interrogation on an obscure pretext, and arrived at his main
point only after circumlocuting a veritable maze of half-truths and
theolike the fighter nes- Goring charged in with guns blazing, ace he
was. in substance, however, Goring's assessment of the British position
had been remarkably close to Himmler's-no peace with Germany, ever.
Unlike Himmler, though, the corpulent Luftwaffe chief had not suggested
treason. Hess recalled Goring's last words with grudging admiration: If
the Fuhrer wants to invade Russia now, it is our duty to stand by him to
the end, whether the reward be ambrosia or cyanide.
It's war now, Hess, war to the bloody end!
Yet Goring's opinion of Germany's future had been plain to see.
He had pronounced Hess's intended peace mission to England suicidal,
then declared that if HitIfr attacked Russia before finishing Britain,
all was lost. Hess thanked God that
nded on
the @iihrer was in good health. If the future depe men like Himmler and
Goring, the Fatherland was indeed lost.
'Rudi?' said a soft voice. e doorway of the Hess turned quickly.
Silhouetted in the study, Adolf Hitler stood watching him intently.
Hess tried to read the black eyes, but they were, as ever, inscrutable.
Regarding Hess from the door, Hitler felt a strange, almost paternal
sadness. Hess's broad shoulders, strong jaw, and high Aryan forehead
fanned the flames of pride in his breast. The resolute eyes looked back
at him with a frankness that seemed to say, 'I am ready for anything!
Command and I shall obey!'
But was Hess ready for anything? Was he ready for Plan Mordred?
Explaining the operational details of the mission would be easy.
Hess would admire the plan for its boldness and intricacy. Technical
details fascinated him. But the rest'My Fuhrer,' Hess said abruptly, 'I
am curious about something. It's been two weeks since I informed you of
Reichsfiihrer Himmler's seditious conversation, yet nothing seems to
