'That is another message which just came in from Lucy.'
'Who is this Lucy?' Zhukov asked with a hint of impatience.
'That is not your concern. The signal originates from Woodpecker, an important contact inside Hitlerite Germany. May I. assume, General…' he paused as though the rank might be of a temporary nature,
Zhukov that you send out regular patrols on the battlefront?'
Zhukov stiffened. The question was a near insult. He forced himself to conceal his indignation – to reply as though it were the most natural of questions.
'Generalissimo, I make it a point personally to ensure there are both daily and nightly patrols. They are told they need not return unless they bring in prisoners for interrogation…'
'Then tell me,' Stalin requested in his soft-spoken voice, 'do you believe that signal giving the German order of battle is to be trusted?'
They waited. The purse-lipped Beria, who had learned never to speak unless asked a direct question by Stalin, had handed the signal to Zhukov. There was something sinister in the sheer immobility of the
NKVD chief. Zhukov spoke, gazing at Stalin.
'From the latest information I have, this. signal – as regards the forward areas – is correct…'
'But the Germans could have planted a thin screen of units in those forward areas to correspond with the signal,' said Stalin.
Zhukov sighed. He hated these insidious military conferences, any summons to the Kremlin. But he was careful to suppress the sigh. It was all so typical of Stalin – trust no one! Was there the same atmosphere of intrigue at Hitler's headquarters – wherever that might be – he wondered? He refused to knuckle under completely.
'That is so,' he agreed. 'But Woodpecker's previous signals have proved astonishingly accurate – as though they were sent by someone in the Fuhrer's immediate entourage. As a soldier, you get a sixth sense about these things…'
'We will wait a little longer – see a few more of these signals before we base any operation on them.'
Stalin lowered his eyes and knocked out his pipe in a large ashtray on his desk. The embers in the crystal bowl glowed redly in the dimly-lit room. Power was still rationed in Moscow. And General Zhukov realized he had been dismissed.
As soon as he was alone with his secret police chief Stalin produced a second signal and handed it to him. He did not look at Beria when he commented.,
'That message came in from London. An English air force officer, Lindsay, has flown from North Africa to see Hitler. Churchill is up to his old tricks again, I suspect.'
'Do you mean negotiating a separate peace with the Germans?' Beria suggested cautiously after scanning the signal.
'I didn't say that, did I? We will await developments.'
It was a favourite phrase of Stalin's, expressing an attitude he always adopted until he saw which way the cat jumped. He had used the same words when in. June 1941 warnings had poured into the Kremlin from all quarters forecasting an imminent German attack.
'And if it should prove to be the case?' Beria ventured.
'Then we may have to take drastic steps, may we not?'
Two hours earlier in Lucerne, Rudolf Roessler had completed his transmission of the signal to Moscow, closed the flap concealing the transceiver, and shut the door to the cupboard inside which he stored his only reason for existence.
Even when the long-distance aerial had first been installed he had practised caution. A Swiss civilian technician had strung the wire all round the room along the top of the picture ledge. Roessler had his casual explanation ready.
'I want to listen to the British BBC overseas transmissions clearly,' he had remarked.
His wife, Anna, stood waiting for him in the doorway. She had heard the familiar slap when he had shut the cupboard door.
'I'll stay up for Masson's courier,' she suggested. 'You get to bed and try to sleep. I've made a copy of the signal. It's in this envelope. I phoned the Villa Stutz while you transmitted.'
'What should I do without you?' Roessler wondered. 'Starve!'
'It's all so crazy, this war,' Roessler continued. 'I am German. I receive signals from the anti-Nazi underground. I transmit them to Moscow. I make sure Swiss Intelligence has a copy of these signals – in accordance with our agreement for permission to operate in their country. It is crazy, is it not?'
'If you say so…'
'I receive the signals from someone right at the top, someone I feel sure I never knew – but who must be taking a terrible risk. I then transmit them from this unknown Woodpecker to the equally unknown Cossack. Is anybody out there listening? The Russians are not winning.
'We'll know when Moscow is listening,' Anna told him.
'How, I ask you…?'
'When – if – the Red Army begins to sweep across Europe. Now, for the last time, Rudolf Roessler – go to bed!'
Chapter Eleven
Heinz Kuby, the Fuhrer's double, had summoned Martin Bormann to his quarters after resting. He received his visitor dressed in Hitler's wartime uniform, dark trousers and a military-style jacket. As Bormann entered and closed the door Kuby was pacing up and down, hands clasped behind his back.
Bormann studied his creation carefully and was astounded. He felt he was in the presence of the real Fuhrer. The one-time actor's opening remark was typical of Hitler, too typical for the liking of Bormann who had been waiting for the opportunity to 'instruct' Kuby.
'The first conference went well, Bormann. You understood, of course, my tactics? I said very little and made the others report the present military situation on the Eastern front. Now, at the next meeting, I shall begin to issue orders…'
'That would be terribly dangerous.. Bormann protested. He glanced nervously round the simply- furnished room. 'I trust we are alone…'
'Of course! You imagine I did not take precautions before I summoned you here?'
Summoned. Bormann stiffened at the phraseology. He had assumed Kuby would lean heavily on him for advice in every field. Instead the man who was now Adolf Hitler was already addressing him with an air of supreme authority. Hitler continued speaking.
'The main point is I have to grasp in detail the existing military dispositions – then I can exercise supreme control…'
'Supreme control?' Bormann was stupefied. 'You have not the knowledge to direct operations involving millions of men…'
'Interrupt me once more and you will leave the room,' Hitler threatened. 'While at the Berghof I have spent all my life preparing for just this moment.' He began to wave his hands, his gestures savage to punctuate his words. 'I have studied Clausewitz, von Moltke – all the military literature I found in the library, all the books my predecessor read I have soaked up so I could repeat them backwards. You forget, Bormann, I have a most excellent memory for facts..'
'And if I do not support you?'
' Mein Fuhrer! ' the apparition hissed. 'That is how you address me in private as well as in public. You think you can denounce me? You who were responsible for bringing me to the Wolf's Lair? How long do you think you would last? Answer me that!'
'Is not someone bound to see through the impersonation?' Bormann suggested. 'Keitel? Jodl? We have successfully surmounted the first hurdle because I tampered with the generator – so it was impossible for anyone to see you clearly in the conference room. Then there are the men who visit us – Goebbels, Goering..'
