The Ten Thousand

fifties. After fifty years of atoning for the sins of their fathers and living in the shadow of the Iron Curtain, the new Germans feel that it is time that they assumed their rightful place in the world as the leaders of Central Europe.'

Lewis eased back a bit in his chair and toned down his comments, but kept on the subject of Germany. 'Now I don't think we need to worry about anything as dramatic as the Fourth Reich or something like that. Still?'

'Then, Ed, you feel that the Germans will do more than they already have?'

'I don't see how they can't. They are a proud, sometimes downright arrogant people who pride themselves on their independence and culture. They defeated the Romans and survived the Thirty Years' War that left their entire country devastated and one third of their population dead. In modern history, Napoleon couldn't crush them, and they've come back from the brink of oblivion after suffering the worst military defeat in history in 1945. While we've been busy elsewhere dealing with other problems, the Germans have been pulling themselves together, working to overcome years of internal strife and the stigma of the Holocaust. They are ready, Jan, to leap back to the forefront of world politics, with a vengeance.'

'What do you think they will do?'

Lewis shook his head. 'God, I wish I knew. I doubt that they will allow us to violate the nuclear-free- Germany treaty with nothing more than a harsh public reprimand, which by the way is what Soares is trying to convince the President is exactly what the Germans will do. No, Jan, our friend the Rat has no idea what he is dealing with.' Lewis paused, looking down at his desktop for a moment. In his mind's eye, he could see the image of Soares with his pinched ratlike face that had earned him his nickname. The man, Lewis thought, was worse than an idiot. He was an idiot in an important position, which made him, in Lewis's eyes, a dangerous idiot.

Looking up at Jan, Lewis continued. 'To answer your question, I don't know for sure what the Germans will do. Unfortunately, no one here in Washington does either. The Germans are, as Elmer Fudd likes to say, 'being very, very quiet' ' Lewis paused, thought for a moment, then continued. 'Whatever it is, it will be both forceful and something that we cannot easily ignore.'

For the first time, Jan became concerned, and her voice showed it. 'Military action? Do you think the Germans will take some kind of military action?'

Again Lewis shrugged. 'Maybe. But who knows. What I do know is that it is never a good sign when two nations who have their horns locked together over an issue stop talking to each other. Why Ruff has chosen now, of all times, to refuse to be reasonable, as he always has been in the past, is beyond me. This, coupled with Ruff's statements to his own press and his failure to respond to our State Department's communiques, baffles me the most'

For a moment, both Lewis and Jan sat there in silence. Finally Lewis leaned forward and placed both hands, folded, on his desk as he flashed the best smile he could manage. 'Now, I don't mean to rush you, but I do have one more appointment this evening, and Amanda is expecting me home by seven for dinner.'

Jan looked at her watch. 'Yeah, time is sort of slipping away. I'd like to get this on the air by tonight. Okay, Ed, get yourself ready, and I'll get the crew in here to shoot'

Like all members of the German Army's 1st Parachute Division, the young soldiers of Number 2 Company, 26th Parachute Brigade considered themselves the best of the best. This, of course, was due to the efforts of their officers and sergeants, all professionals who were forever vigilant, watching, checking, and ready to correct even the slightest infraction of the regulations or slackness. They took their duties seriously. Which was probably why on the night of this operation the soldiers of Number 2 Company were so involved in their company commander's final inspection that no one noticed their brigade commander, Colonel Johann Haas, for several minutes.

As was his way, Haas had come forward alone to watch the final preparations and see his men across the line of departure when it was time. Known as the phantom, Haas made it a practice to move about in the night during exercises in the field checking on his men and ensuring that all was in order. On this night, the first time that his unit would be called on to execute the tasks it had trained long and hard for, Haas was everywhere.

When one of the sergeants noticed Haas, he passed the word to his company commander. When the word reached the young commander, he paused, men continued to complete the inspection of the weapon he held. Finished, he returned the weapon to its owner and left to present himself to Haas.

In the moonlight that filtered through the pine trees and fell on Haas and the company commander, it was difficult to tell the difference between the two men. Except for the fact that the company commander wore his helmet while Haas, despite the cold, wore his maroon beret, the two men were dressed and armed identically. Even the close-cropped hair and stern no-nonsense expression that masked both men's faces as they spoke looked alike. This was due in a large part to the habit young commanders had of emulating their senior commanders. Commanders throughout history have always provided the role model for their subordinates. Those subordinates were expected to watch and learn so that one day they could assume positions of greater authority when their commander either moved on to other assignments during peacetime or, in time of war, became a casualty. The commander, as part of his duty, was held responsible for providing the best possible example in everything he did, in thought, word, and deed. This, however, was more difficult than one would imagine, as Haas was finding out that night He especially had difficulty controlling his thoughts.

The shock of seeing the Chancellor's own military aide, Colonel Hans Rasper, at the headquarters of the 26th Parachute Brigade bearing sealed orders for Haas could not match his shock when he saw what those orders were. For the longest time, as Kasper spoke, Haas could not help but wonder if this was not some kind of test, a hypothetical drill to test his loyalty or the readiness of his unit to respond to unplanned emergencies. Even after he convinced himself that Kasper was serious, that this was real, Haas still had difficulty accepting it. Still, he did not allow those doubts to interfere with the performance of his duties. The orders all appeared to be authentic. The verification, which Kasper offered, checked out. All was in order. So Haas hid his personal fears and doubts behind his commander's mask and prepared his unit to execute their assigned duties as ordered.

In those few moments before midnight, with less than two minutes to go before those orders became a reality, Haas still was unable to quiet the apprehensions he felt. Though attired alike, the thoughts that ran through the minds of the two commanders facing each other were worlds apart. The company commander's mind was cluttered with all the very real and necessary practical matters that need to be considered when hurling over one hundred men into combat. Enemy dispositions and weapons, tactics and maneuvers necessary to overcome or neutralize them, the effectiveness and readiness of his own weapons, coordination for support of his unit by other elements involved in the assault, as well as numerous other considerations were of paramount concern to the company commander.

Haas, however, saw beyond the immediate operation. As a graduate of the famous Kriegsakademie and an officer impatiently awaiting his reassignment to General Staff duty, Haas could not easily push aside the possible worldwide political effects of what his unit was about to do. The other European powers, especially the French and Poles, would react. And the Americans, with forces actually deployed throughout Germany, would not simply roll over and accept the German action, no matter how just or reasonable their demands. The Americans, he knew, viewed international law as an instrument to be applied when it served them, and ignored when it didn't.

Then there was his friendship with the Americans themselves. Even as he stood there listening to his company commander review his preparations to assault an American installation, Haas wore the American airborne wings he had been awarded after three grueling weeks of training in the hot Georgia sun. Many of his fondest memories as a soldier were of when he served side by side with the people he had now been ordered to attack, an attack he still felt was wrong.

But what was he to do? That, in the end, was the great dilemma that tore at his mind. According to the Bundeswehr's own interpretation of an officer's duty, Haas was obligated to conduct himself in accordance with his conscience. If given an order that he felt was morally wrong, it was not only his right but his duty to refuse to obey it. When the Bundeswehr was formed in 1955, the old Prussian tradition of moral choice when deciding right from wrong became a critical piece of an officer's selection and training. Throughout his military education, the July 20th plotters who had attempted to assassinate Hitler were used as examples of officers who refused to go against their conscience. As he stood mere half listening to his subordinate, the words of one instructor kept ringing in Haas's ears, almost as if they had just been spoken. 'While loyalty to your nation is, and should always be, uppermost in your mind, you must never forget that morality and conscience must be your final guide, the decisive element when deciding right from wrong.'

Yet such theories, Haas thought, seemed out of place here on this cold and bitter night He had no one to