rapidly the right-wing and nationalist factions in the West consolidate
their power. Think about it. For twenty years the Stasi supplied the
Red Army Faction and other left-wing terrorists with guns and plastique.
Why? Just to create chaos? No. Because every time those misguided
hotheads blew up a bank or an airport lounge, the right wing in the West
hit back a little bit harder. The public reaction got a little stiffer.
I'm telling you, Hans, it's a sound strategy. Moscow has never been
more lenient than it is right now. The entire Eastern Bloc is restless.
Trouble and sedition are brewing everywhere. And East Germany is the
most independent satellite of all. The Stasi monitors everything there:
student unrest, political volatility, economic stress, plus they have
that rarest of all commodities, direct intelligence lines into Russia.
I think Der Bruderschaft-and whoever controls it-believes that a strong
enough chancellor in West Germany could seize the right opportunity and
wrench the two Germanys back together.' Hauer was breathing hard.
'And by God, they may be right.'
Hans stared, fascinated. 'Is the Stasi really as powerful as people
say? I've heard they have hundreds of informers here and in Bonn.'
Hauer chuckled. 'Hundreds? Try thousands. If I had the files from
Stasi headquarters, I could break half the political careers in West
Germany and a good many in Moscow. I mean that. Some of our most
powerful senators are actually on the Stasi payroll. Funk is just small
beer.'
Hans was shaking his head. 'Do you really believe all this?'
Hauer shrugged. 'I don't know. One minute I believe every word of it,
the next I wonder if schnapps has pickled my brain. When I stand in
those Bruderschaft meetings, I want to laugh. Funk and his rabble are
just grown-up children fantasizing about a Fourth Reich.
It's classic infantile bullshit. Germany will be united again, don't
doubt it. But not by drunk policemen or skinheads. It's the bankers
and board chairmen who'll bring it off. Men from the world your mother
worshipped. We're the richest country in Europe now, Hans, and anything
can be bought for a price. Even a united Germany.'
Hauer tugged at his mustache. 'The question is this: is there a
connection between Der Bruderschaft and those bankers and board
chairmen? And if so, what is it? How much power does Phoenix exert
over the institutions in Germany? The Stasis potential for blackmail is
formidable.
Funk's group may seem like clowns, but no matter how you look at it, the
Polizei are an arm of the state.'
Hans look confused. 'But how could all this tie in with the Spandau
papers? With Ilse?'
'Bruderschaft der Phoenix, remember? Phoenix was mentioned in the
Spandau papers, therefore it ties Funk and the Stasi to the papers.
Your hooker friend said Russians came looking for you and chased Ilse.
The Russians went on the rampage when you discovered the Spandau papers.
Do the Russians know about Phoenix? Maybe they've infiltrated Der
Bruderschaft through the Stasi. Maybe they suspect the Stasis role in a
grab for reunification. What the hell is Phoenix? A man? A group of
men? At one Bruderschaft meeting I heard Funk-who was drunk out of his
mind-babbling about how Phoenix was going to change the world, make
everything right again, clean out the Jews and the Turks once and for
all. But when I tried to pump him, Lieutenant Luhr shut him up.'
Hauer shifted in the small chair. 'Whatever Phoenix is, I'm almost
certain it's based outside Germany. About a month ago, Steuben started
noticing calls going out from Funk to different towns in South Africa. I
assumed it was more drug business, looking for new markets, et cetera.
But I don't think that anymore. Hans, I think you have dredged up
something so politically hot that we @an't even imagine it.
I hope Ilse managed to get those papers to Wolfsburg, but @hether she
did or not, we won't get out of Berlin by driving your VW through
Checkpoint Charlie. We've got to take precautions, make arrangements.
People owe me@' 'Pardon me,' said a soft voice from the shadows.
Hauer turned in his chair. Benjamin Ochs stood silhouetted against the
lighted hall door. 'Forgive me,' he said, 'but the shouting alarmed my
wife. Could I join you for a moment?' The old man shuffled into the
kitchen and took a seat at the table. He poured a brandy into one of
the unused tumblers his wife had set down earlier, drank it, then wiped
his mouth on his pajama sleeve. 'I know what you're thinking, Captain,'
he said. 'How Much did the old goat hear, yes?
Well, I'll tell you. I didn't hear everything, but I heard enough. I
wish I'd heard damned all. What I heard ... God help us.
You never said it, but I know what you were talking about. Are you
afraid to say it?'
'I'm not sure what you mean,' Hauer said.
'Nazis!' Ochs cried, his wizened head shaking. 'That's what you're
talking about. Isn't it? And not just a pack of hooligans desecrating
Jewish cemeteries. You're talking about policemen-professional men,
bankers, board chairmen!'
'You misunderstood, Herr Ochs. It's not so bad as that.'
'Captain, it's probably worse than that. Don't you know what the
Phoenix is? It's the bird that perishes in the fire only to be reborn
from its ashes.' The old tailor drew himself up to his full height.
'I am a Jew, Captain, a German Jew. Before the war there were 160,000
of us here in Berlin.
Now we are 7,000. I was not a child during the war. While you hunted
scraps in the streets, I existed in a place you cannot imagine.
Beyond hope, outside of time. I lost my entire family-parents, brother,
two sisters-at this place. While they passed into oblivion, I sewed
uniforms for the German Army. I lived while my family died. I promise
you Captain, no uniforms were ever more poorly made than those Benjamin
Ochs made for the Wehrmacht. Every bit of skill I had went into
producing a uniform that would last just long enough to get a soldier to
the frozen Russian front, then fall into pieces fit only for a shroud.'
Ochs raised his withered hand. 'If you protect such men, Captain, I
tell you now to get out of my house. Now! But if you mean to fight
them . . .
then let me help you. Tell me what you need.'
Hans sat speechless, but Hauer lost no time taking advantage of his
