Radl introduced himself and Devlin, and Colonel Steiner welcomed them with considerable charm.
"And now, what can w
e do for you?" he asked."I should like to talk to you privately, on a matter of great urgency," said Radl.
Steiner led Devlin and Radl to a private room, where he read the files Radl handed him.
"Colonel Radl?" Steiner said when he had finished. "You're serious, I assume?"
Radl showed Steiner Hitler's letter. "Colonel Steiner," he said, "you are a German soldier. This is a direct order from the Fuhrer himself."
"You seem to have forgotten," Steiner told him, "that I'm officially disgraced, under sentence of death. Anyway, I don't like Adolf Hitler. He has a loud voice and bad breath."
Radl ignored this remark. "We must fight."
"We can's win."
"But we can force them to a settlement."
"And taking Churchill would help?" Steiner said with obvious disbelief.
"It would show them we still had teeth. Or perhaps you don't think it could be done?"
"I don't see why not," Steiner said calmly.
"The whole thing could go like a Swiss watch. But that isn't the point."
"What is?" demanded Radl, annoyed now. "Steiner, you and your men are dead if you stay here. Thirty-one of you two months ago. How many left? Fifteen? You owe it to your men, to yourself, to take this last chance to live."
"Or to die in Enaland instead."
"But you said it could go like a Swiss watch."
"And the terrible thing about those," Devlin put in, "is that if anything goes wrong with the tiniest part, the whole thing stops working."
Steiner said, "Well put, Mr Devlin. Tell me something. Why are you going?"
"Simple," Devlin said. "Because it's there. I'm the last of the great adventurers."
"Excellent," Steiner laughed. "That I can accept. To play the game. The greatest game of all." He turned to Radl. "All right. I'll put it to the men. But if you think getting Churchill will help Germany, you'll believe anything. I'll tell you what this affair, even if it's successful, will achieve. Nothing!"
When the three men went back into the public room, one of Steiner's men, Hans Altmann, was playing the piano and singing. The rest were crowded round him, drinking and laughing.
Steiner quieted his men with a raised hand. "Steady, now, there's something to discuss."
Everyone was silent. "It's simple," Steiner told them. "There's a chance to get out of here."
"Doing what, Herr Colonel?" Altmann asked.
"What you were trained to do."
"You mean we'll be jumping again?"
"Exactly. But only those who are willing. It's a personal decision for each of you."
"Russia, Herr Colonel?"
Steiner shook his head. "Somewhere no German soldier has ever fought. How many of you speak English?" he said softly.
There was an astonished silence. "You must be joking," Lieutenant Ritter Neumann said.
"I've never been more serious. This is top secret, naturally. In five weeks' time we'd parachute by night into England. If all went well we'd leave by E-boat the following night."
"And if not?" Neumann asked.
"You'd be dead, naturally, so it wouldn't matter." He looked round. "Anything else?"
"Can we be told the purpose?" Altmann asked.
"I'm afraid not."
"Well...." Altmann looked round the room. "If we go, we might die. If we stay here we die for certain. That's enough for me. If you go, we go."
"I agree," Ritter Neumann echoed.
Every man in the room said the same. For a long moment Steiner searched into some dark, secret place in his own mind. Then he said, "So be it. How about a drink now?"
Glasses were filled and Hans Altmann sat down again at the piano. "What shall we sing?"
Steiner spoke first. "Alles ist verruckt."
There was a sudden silence. Altmann looked at him, worried. "You're sure?"
"Highly suitable," Steiner said. "Believe me."
Hans Altmann began the sad song known to every man who had served in the Winter War.
What are we doing here? What is it all about?
Alles ist verruckt. Everything's crazy. Everything's gone to hell.
There were tears in his eyes now. Suddenly everyone was singing, slow and deep: Steiner, Neumann, all of them - even Radl.
Devlin looked from one face to the other. "Am I crazy or are they?" he whispered.
There was fog on the island next morning. Instead of flying, Radl and Devlin had to return to the mainland by E-boat.
As Radl looked around the boat, he remarked that it was very difficult from other E-boats.
Koenig, the commander, smiled. "But this isn't an E-boat, Herr Colonel. It's only classed as one."
"Then what is it?" Radl demanded.
"It's a Royal Navy gun boat, captured from the British. Very useful: we still have the Royal Navy flag. If a British ship comes in sight we raise the flag and move on. No trouble at all."
Radl felt the cold finger of excitement moving inside him again. "What are all those wires?"
"They are for S-phone, a radio for two-way voice communication between a moving ship and an agent on land. Far better than anything we have."
This was just the boat Radl needed to bring Steiner and his men back after the raid. He showed Koenig the Fuhrer's letter and told him that he was now under Radl's orders.
"You are to await my instructions at Landsvoort, on the North Dutch Coast. Do you know the area?"
"Like the back of my hand, Herr Colonel."
"Excellent." Radl added to himself, "It marches." His stomach was hollow with excitement.
As soon as they arrived in Berlin, Radl and Devlin were sent for to Prinz Albrechtstrasse.
"Watch your tongue," said Radl as they entered Himmler's office. "And let me do the talking."
Himmler was again seated behind his desk.
"You've done well, Radl," he said. "I'm more than pleased with the way things are progressing. But there seems to me one weakness in Steiner's group. Four or five of the men, according to your report, speak some English. But only Steiner can pass as an Englishman. This isn't enough. He needs someone else of similar ability."
"But there are very few people like Steiner."
"I think I have a solution for you," Himmler said. "Have you heard of the British Free Corps? They are Englishman taken into our army from prisoner-of-war-camps. The SS is responsible for them." Himmler opened a file and took out a card. "Most of them are dishonest, but they have their uses. This man, for instance. Harvey Preston had been an actor, and had been imprisoned for theft. When war began he had joined the army, and had been captured. In prison camp he informed on five escape attempts. The last time, his fellow-prisoners found out. To avoid their anger he joined the Free Corps.
Radl handed Devlin the card, then turned to Himmler. "You want Steiner to take this creature? But Steiner and his men are soldiers, Herr Reichsfuhrer. Can you see Preston fitting in, taking orders?"
"He will do as he is told," Himmler said. "And he will be useful. We'll have him in."
Himmler rang a bell. A moment later Preston entered and gave the Nazi Party greeting.
He was a tall, handsome young man in a beautifully tailored grey uniform. On his cap was the death's head of the SS; on his left sleeve was sewn the British flag, the Union Jack.
"Very pretty," Devlin said, so softly that only Radl heard.
Himmler made the introductions, then said to Preston: "From the papers I gave you to study, you will know the part each of these gentlemen plays in the affair in hand. And you understand what is required of you?"
Preston was clearly ill at ease. He said carefully, "Do I understand that Colonel Radl is looking for men interested in serving on this mission?"
"You talk of "interested"?" Himmler cut in. "I see only an act of sacred duty. Have you not sworn to serve the Fuhrer and the State?"
Preston stood stiffly to atte
ntion. "Yes, Herr Reichsfuhrer.""Then nothing more need be said. you are from this moment under the orders of Colonel Radl."
"As you say, Herr Reichsfuhrer."
"Where the hell did they find him?" Devlin asked when he was alone with Radl. "Himmler must have gone quite mad."
"God knows," Radl said. "There's some sense in the idea of another officer who is obviously English. But this Preston? A second-rate actor, a criminal, a man who has lived most of his life in some make-believe world of his own."
"And we're stuck with him," Devlin said. "I wonder what Steiner will make of it?"
"He'll manage. Men like Steiner always do."
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