“I know. We've got to stop them.”
Jedediah snapped the case shut. “Right. How?”
I stood up and held the case. “Depends on where we end up. Let's wait and see what all this brings.”
“Well, what was your plan in Munich? Even if we had help.”
“I have some things with me that could take care of a lot of issues.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“I replaced the lead in this case with C4. Enough to blow up a lot of things.”
“And what did you plan on doing with it?”
“You know how to disable a helicopter?”
“You want to shut them down here?” He looked around. “In Poland?”
“Where better than where they murdered a bunch of Polish police? These guys will be in jail forever.”
“Maybe. But by the time we get to the helicopters the blades will be turning. I know how to disable them, but I'm not getting up there with spinning blades. That would disable me.”
“I'm not letting them just fly off into anonymity and hiding.”
“Then you better think of something else fast.”
“We've got to end this.”
We went down the stairs of the platform to the bus that waited to take us to the helicopters. “If your plan is to just get them arrested and slapped on the wrist in Germany, then I don't know what I'm doing here. That's not my objective. I'm here to end it. Are you not?”
“I am. But I'm not a murderer.”
“Killing in war is not murder.”
“There's no war.”
“Really? What do you think those Polish police think of that? Soldiers in Nazi uniforms with automatic rifles? Shooting the police force and blowing up their van with RPGs? That's not an act of war?”
I nodded. “It is. But it doesn't mean we can do whatever we want. We have to see how this plays out,” I said.
“Cut it as thin as you want, but we're going to have to take drastic action. Are you ready to do that? 'Cause if you're not, give me what you have and I'll do it myself.”
We climbed on to the bus and I stopped talking. Jedediah looked at me with blazing eyes. He saw the intensity of my own look and wasn't quite sure what to make of it.
As Jedediah predicted, by the time we got near the helicopters the engines were racing and the blades were turning. The three helicopters took off quickly when the last person hurried aboard. As we flew over the compound, we could see everything being dismantled. We saw Nazi soldiers removing their uniforms and leaving them on the ground. We saw others pulling motorcycles and bicycles out of hiding behind trees and riding off. The lights went out as the dark helicopters stayed low and flew north.
After fifteen minutes we passed over a small town and into a patch of vast blackness. I suddenly realized we had headed north, to the Baltic Sea, the sea north of Poland that extended past Germany to Denmark.
We stayed low. I couldn't estimate the altitude. The Polish military would certainly have radars to detect airplanes but at our altitude we were likely to evade detection. I was sure we were also EMCON, no electronic emissions at all. They couldn't be traced by the Polish Air Force or any other air defense network by their electronic signature. They'd have to find us by raw radar hits, which is nearly impossible so low over the water.
We'd been flying for an hour when I felt the nose of the helicopter come up and our forward speed slow. I tried to look out the small window next to our seat but saw nothing but darkness. The rotor grabbed more air as the slowing helicopter began to hover and descend gently. I couldn't imagine that we'd made it across the entire Baltic, to Russia or Finland. And I was quite sure we hadn't gone far enough to get back into Germany. My guess was we were still at sea.
We settled down gently, went into a short hover, and then dropped the last three or four feet. I still couldn't see what we were landing on. The weight came off the rotors, and the helicopter settled. The engine RPM decreased as the engines were shut down. Red cabin lights came on and the door to the helicopter opened into darkness. A man climbed up the steps with a flashlight and motioned for all of us to get out of the helicopter. We unbuckled, stood up, and moved to the door then down the steps. When we emerged, I saw that we were standing on the deck of a substantial ship. I looked behind us and saw the other two helicopters on their own spots, with their blades just feet apart. It was a magnificent demonstration of flying capabilities by the pilots who landed these helicopters on the ship. The ship was completely dark except for the landing area.
The landing lights went off and the regular ship's lights came on. The man with the flashlight indicated for us to follow him. He stepped inside the ship's superstructure and led us down several ladders to the main deck. We followed him down the passageway and into the ship crew's dining area. It was cramped, but all of us ultimately fit. Jedediah was right next to me and clung tightly to the case.
Eidhalt entered the room. He stood with his hands behind his back like a general waiting for his troops to be quiet. Finally everyone was quiet. He said, “I am quite sure that none of you expected to be on a ship in the Baltic when you came to my castle in Munich yesterday evening.” He smiled.
He continued, “Sometimes the unexpected is pleasant. I hope you find your stay on this ship exactly that. We have staterooms for each of you, sleeping in groups of two. If you would like to change out of the uniforms, we have provided additional clothing for you to use. In fact, you may discard those uniforms for now, as new ones have been sent to your home addresses. It could be somewhat inconvenient for you to be seen ashore today or tomorrow with an SS uniform on.” He chuckled and others joined in, many happy to relieve the tension.
He continued, “So what happens next? I will tell you. We are heading west in the Baltic, as an ordinary merchant ship. We look like a container ship, and we have erected large structures over the helicopters which will look from any distance of more than twenty feet like stacked containers. It will not be possible to tell that they are not, even with a very high-powered camera lens. If they have infrared, it might be more difficult, but we do not anticipate that there will be any military out here looking for us. Perhaps the police are looking for us. But that's about all. And I really doubt they're looking for a ship. We believe we are completely safe and will remain undetected. After sunrise, and the next daytime passes, you will all be taken to different locations in small but powerful boats that will meet us at a rendezvous point. Each destination will be different. Each of you will travel differently, and none of it will be traceable back to us. Some will go to Germany, some to Denmark, some all the way to Norway and even Sweden. As I told you, I have now nearly unlimited resources and want to share much of it with you in the building of the next Nazi empire. This is a small first step as we will be providing each of you with first-class tickets back to your homes when you debark from your boats.
“And now, I have a special treat.” He nodded to one of his men in the back who dimmed the lights on the mess decks. Suddenly a screen was lowered behind Eidhalt, and a video began. It was of the ceremony just completed in Poland, but from a distance. You couldn't recognize anyone in the video. The picture changed, and instead of pageantry was filled with a man fighting for his life.
I tried not to gasp. It was al-Hadi. Before anyone could say anything the room was filled with al-Hadi's screams as men off-screen dug knives into his neck and blood began to run. I watched horrified as they continued to cut. I looked away, trying to appear disinterested and trying not to throw up. I looked around the room at the faces illuminated by the light reflected off the screen.
Al-Hadi continued to scream. Several of the neo-Nazi leaders in the room smiled as they watched, a couple even cheered. Others like me looked away. I glanced at Jedediah who was watching every second of it. Al-Hadi stopped screaming and all I could hear was a gurgling and cutting. I looked at Jedediah again as I heard what sounded like a head falling to the ground. He nodded. My heart raced as I fought the impulse to imagine what it looked like on the screen.
In the dim light Eidhalt spoke again. His voice sounded different. Gruffer. Meaner. “Will anyone in the world think we are something to be trifled with after this? Will anyone dare challenge us? This is just the beginning! This man, Mohammed al-Hadi, was an al Qaeda financier! He came to Germany, to fund those who agreed with their objectives. He came to me! Because he said we shared the same objective of havoc! Of wrecking the country! He didn't know who he was dealing with. I played along. I took his moneyâlots of it. Millions of dollars. And told him we would create havoc like he had never seen. But it won't be what he hoped for. We hate him and everything he and al Qaeda stand for! And we've shown it tonight!”
There was a splattering of applause.
Eidhalt was dark and swollen. His eyes were barely perceptible in the shadows, but his teeth glistened as he contorted his face. “The world will never be the same,” he whispered. “This video will spread throughout the world like wildfire within forty-eight hours. It is our declaration. We throw down the gauntlet to al Qaeda and all of Islam who intend to destroy our countries. We will destroy them. We will destroy all of Islam. This is the beginning. Our war begins in earnest on Monday! On Monday, before midnight, as I said at the
Wolfsschanze
, I want ten thousand mosques burning. I want twenty thousand Muslim shops burned to the ground! I want the world to wake up on Tuesday to a different world!”
Many of the men nodded, although the horror of seeing the man who had been in front of them beheaded on videotape caused one or two to pause.
Eidhalt finished, “We have commissioned each of you with the
Blutfahne
, we have shown you who we are, and what we are made of, and that we are not to be trifled with or taken lightly. Return to your countries, strengthen your organizations, and begin the attacks as scheduled. You may retire to your staterooms, and each of you will be contacted and told your route, and where you will go after the rendezvous approximately eighteen hours from now. Thank you.
Sieg Heil
!”
“Sieg Heil
!
”
Everyone said back.
One of the crew approached Jedediah and me and handed us keys to our stateroom, which had the number on them. He also handed us a map of the ship so that we could find it. He said, “You should be able to find it without any difficulty. If you can't, let one of us know, and we will help you.”
I nodded.
I looked at Jedediah and said, “Let's go.”
I knew how ships were put together and how to find a stateroom. I walked right to it, used my key to open the door, and stepped inside.
Jedediah asked quietly, “So what's the plan?”
I shook my head, put my finger to my lips to show him what I expected from him, and said, “I'm too tired for much of anything; let's just get some sleep.” I shook my head indicating that's not what I had in mind at all. I looked around and he watched me as I held my hand to my ear and indicated that almost certainly this cabin was bugged and our conversation would be recorded. We stepped out through the door silently, and I closed it behind me. Anyone listening to the tape would assume that we had walked in, had a two-sentence conversation, and then closed the door behind us and gone to bed. If they listened carefully, they'd hear silence rather than the sounds of men undressing, but I'd hoped they wouldn't be listening for some time. We walked down the passageway. I carried the case in my hand. We turned a corner and headed outboard. We walked to the bulkhead and I stopped. I nodded to him.
“When I have a chance, I'm going to go up on deck and pull out my cell phone. I'll alert the BKA to where we are.”
“May not have the range.”
“I agree but it's worth a shot. Plus I have something else in mind.”
“What?”
“I want you to get topside and disable those helicopters. Think you can do that?”
“Don't you think they'll be guarded?”
“I doubt it. He thinks they're among friends. I think everybody is going to go to bed, get up, eat breakfast, and wait for the big rendezvous.”
“If there are any guards I can disable them in fifteen minutes.”
I nodded as I contemplated what I had in mind. I didn't know if it would work, but if it did, it would be the end of the beginning of neo-Nazism, as Churchill might have said. “Here's what we're going to do.”
By this time I knew I could count on Jedediah. They had tried to steal his soul and he was holding it against them forever. I didn't know if he had truly been “saved” as he claimed, but he sure was a different person than the one who got all those tattoos and spouted the slogans. He wanted revenge. He undoubtedly knew that the Scriptures said vengeance was God's, but he clearly thought he was the one God would use to exact that retribution.
While he headed toward the helicopters I took the suitcase and headed down the hallway. The suitcase had the Blood Flag, and in the lining underneath were fourteen bars of C4, each one inch by two inches by eleven inches wrapped tightly in thick green cellophane. This wasn't what I had thought I'd be using them for. I had thought in my super-hero mind that when the BKA closed in on the castle in Munich I could destroy some of the weapons and vehicles; but even that hadn't been all that well thought out. The BKA would almost certainly want to confiscate anything they found. Everything would be evidence. But now I was all about destruction. I couldn't even explain my expectations to myself.
I looked both ways then turned down the passageway that ran athwart ships. It would almost certainly lead to a ladder that if followed down would lead to the bilge.
I walked aimlessly like I was unable to sleep and wandering around the ship. I turned down the passageway and still saw no one. I could feel the movement of the ship under my feet. It took me back to my days in the Navy. For some reason I felt reassured by the vibrations and movement.
I found a ladder and as I turned to go down it I heard a voice behind me.
“Where are you going?” I recognized the leader of the Russian neo-Nazi group. He spoke perfect English. Kobarov was his name, as I recalled.
“For a walk. I'm like a caged animal. I need to get around some.”
“By going below?”
“I'll head up on deck in just a minute.”
“What's in the suitcase?”
“The flag.”
“Yes,” he said smiling in a way I didn't like. “I'd like to see it close up.”
“No, sorry. Not for showing any more tonight.”
“Why are you carrying it around?”
“It never leaves my sight.”
“What about your strong friend? Why couldn't you leave it with him?”
“He's snoring away in our stateroom. One of us has to stay up. I had to get away. Goodnight,” I said and turned quickly and descended the ladder, then another after that, and the one after that. I stopped, and listened, to see if he was following me. I heard nothing.
I could feel sweat forming in the small of my back. I turned away from the ladder and saw that to descend further I had to get through a closed hatch. It had a handle, like a steering wheel. It wasn't locked. I tried to turn the handle but it was frozen. Maybe dogged too tight. I put all my force into it and it finally turned. I pulled the hatch cover up, and went down into the bilge, the lowest part of the ship, separated from the ocean only by the hull. I didn't have a flashlight, but with the hatch open I could see just enough to move. A rat scurried away from me as I invaded his space. Some bilge water splashed underneath my feet. I could tell it was a single-hull ship. A double-hull ship would have presented different problems. This was an older, midsized container ship, and not well constructed.
I knelt down, pulled one of the bars of C4 out of my suitcase and jammed it against the hull in the corner with the crossbeam. I inserted the detonator and attached the timer to the detonator. I turned the dial to ten minutes, and hit start. I checked my watch and noted the time. I moved over as far as I could in that compartment to the far bulkhead and did the same thing. A rat ran across my hand as I jammed the C4 into the dark corner, inserted the detonator and set the timer for nine minutes forty-five seconds. I went to the other far bulkhead in that same compartment and did the same thing, and set that timer for nine and a half minutes. I hurried up the ladder, closed the hatch, and walked down the passageway outboard looking for another hatch. I couldn't find one.
I finally found another hatch on the port side and tried to open it. It was impossible to open. It was stuck. I saw no lock, but the handle wouldn't turn. I looked around for a tool but couldn't find one. I ran back down the passageway and turned the corner and found the fire hose on the bulkhead. In the glass window was an ax. I opened the door, pulled out the ax, and ran back to the hatch. I stuck the ax head through the handles and out the other side so that it would catch the spoke of the wheeled handle, then I pulled on the ax handle. Still nothing. I sat on the floor and braced my feet against the wall and pushed with my legs as I pulled hard, and finally the wheel gave. I turned it again with the ax handle, then pulled the handle out and turned the wheel by hand. I pulled the hatch up. A horrible stench struck my nose. The smell was violent. I descended into the dark room, and slipped off the ladder, stepping onto something soft that gave way. I knelt down and reached out with my hand to feel what it was. I felt a hand and an arm. A rotting body. I wretched, and threw up. In the near complete darkness, I could barely make out six or seven bodies in varying stages of decay. Eidhalt hadn't hired a ship, he'd stolen it and killed the crew and thrown them into the bilge. I held my breath as I planted the C4 under three of the bodies. I quickly took my cell phone out of my sock and took pictures in the darkness, hoping some would turn out. The flash of the phone camera told me I'd at least get an image. I quickly set the timer on the blast. I hurried back up to the ladder and closed the hatch. I ran to the other side of the ship and found another hatch; it opened quickly. I hurried down the ladder, set three more charges, and closed the hatch. I had three charges left, and less than seven minutes. I dashed up one ladder after another until I reached the open deck inside the simulated cargo containers. I walked to the structure that held the bridge, the electronics equipment, and all the radio equipment operating the ship. I opened my cell phone and searched for coverage. No service. Had to try. I texted the photo to Alex.
I heard a voice behind me, “What are you doing?”
I turned around to see Eidhalt as I slipped the phone into my pocket. He was smoking a cigar. “What are
you
doing?” I asked back.
“Getting fresh air and smoking a fine Cuban cigar. It was quite a day.” He took a deep pull on the cigar and inhaled the smoke. He said through the smoke, “But what are you doing up here?”
“Couldn't sleep. Too much excitement.”
“What were you looking at by the bridge?”
“I thought I saw something leaking.”
“Really. A leak? Did you find anything?”
“No, it was just a stain on the deck.”
“A stain?”
“I'm sure it's fine.” He continued to stare at me, clearly not believing what I was telling him.
“I'd like you to come with me to my stateroom to discuss some things.”
“Nah, thanks. I just need to get some air.”
“No. Come to my stateroom now.”
“Actually, I'm not feeling very well. I'm a little bit seasick. And I've heard that if you stay up on deck, you are much less likely to get sick.”
“Perhaps. But you're coming to my stateroom now.” He reached into his shirt and pulled out a gun and pointed it at me. “And I think it's time that you gave me the Blood Flag.”
“So this is how it is, huh?” I kept my hands at my side, but was very conscious of the .45 in his hand. “We do everything you ask; we come over here and help you with your meeting. You feature our flag as your centerpiece and then you take it from us at gunpoint?”
“That flag is the last piece of the puzzle I have been putting together. I would offer to buy it from you, but I don't believe you'd sell it to me.”
“You're right. I wouldn't.”
“You have nowhere to go. You were never going to leave this ship with the flag. We'll just have this conversation now, earlier than I had originally planned. Come with me.”
“Who are you anyway?” I said closing the distance slightly, almost within arm's reach. “Rolf Eidhalt isn't your name. You think I wouldn't know it's an anagram used by Hitler when he was in exile? It's the letters of “Adolph Hitler” rearranged. You didn't think I'd know that?”
He smiled. “I actually hoped someone would. I chose it carefully and with pride. I knew you were smarter than the others.”
“You can't have the flag.” I could almost feel the time ticking away. I had placed one of the C4 sticks against the superstructure right behind him. If it went off we'd both be vaporized.
“Yes I can. You have nowhere to go.”
He raised his handgun, which gave me the one second I needed. I grabbed his right wrist with my right hand and pushed his arm away from me. I leaned back and stomped on the outside of his right knee, smashing it to the deck and ripping tendons. He cried out in pain as I took both hands and twisted the weapon in his hand. He had to let go or his hand would break. I took his weapon and put it in my belt.
“Your time is over.” I brought my right foot up sharply and kicked him in the face. He fell over on the deck as I sprinted toward the back of the ship. The best I could tell the large tent-like covering that made the ship look like a container ship had only two openings, one forward near where we'd been standing and one in the stern. I ran to the stern, found the flap in the heavy fabric, pulled them apart, and dove off the ship into the black sea below. The deck was fairly high off the water and I would have preferred to have jumped feet first, but didn't want to take the additional time.
I wished it even more when I hit the water. I had over rotated and landed nearly flat on my back. It knocked the breath out of me as I sank into the water. I held my breath and tried to maintain my consciousness while evaluating whether I had broken my back. I didn't go too deep because of the flatness of my entry, and I was soon back on the surface. I gasped for breath and began treading water. I took my shoes off and let them drop into the Baltic. I was in the process of removing my pants when I heard a voice.
“You okay?” It was Jedediah rowing one of the lifeboats from the ship.
“Yeah,” I said, breathing hard. “I thought I broke my back.”
“That was some exit. I thought you'd be a little more cautious.”
“Eidhalt found me planting C4 by the superstructure. He was holding me at gunpoint.”
“Shit. What happened?”
“I grabbed his gun and smashed his knee and ran for the back. Here I am. Thanks for picking me up.”
“You get the charges set?”
“Yeah.” I looked at my watch. “One minute.”
Jedediah rowed away from the ship as the ship steamed away at eight or nine knots. I waited. I thought of everything that had transpired, everything I had done, every place I had been. Everything since the summer in France, which now seemed so long ago.
I stared at the ship as it got smaller. I was beginning to wonder if I had set the charges right, when I heard the first one go off. I expected a sound like a crack or a loud bang, but instead it was a muffled whoompf followed in rapid succession by several other explosions. Some loud, some muffled, but now cascading over each other as the shockwaves rolled over us. Suddenly, more lights came on and the ship stopped dead in the water. I thought I saw the bow come up, and then I saw the frame that held the tent-like superstructure painted to resemble containers collapse. The bow of the ship was pointing upward in a sick broken way. The ship's back had broken. The stern now pointed upwards and raced the bow to the sky. Jedediah continued to row slowly as we watched the ship sink. From the first explosion until the ship vanished was less than four minutes.
Jedediah said, “Nice job setting those charges. Are you a secret ordnance guy or something?”
“Just went low and stayed by the waterline. You get a big enough rupture the ship just can't stay afloat. All the damage control in the world won't help you.”
“I've never seen a ship sink before,” Jedediah said.
I listened to the lifeboat cut through the flat Baltic and stared in the direction of the ship. “I found a bunch of rotting bodies. Ship's crew I'd bet. I got a couple of photos, but my phone is now soaked. I tried to text one to Alex. I think Eidhalt stole the ship and murdered the crew in cold blood.”
“Guess he got what was coming to him.”
“We'll need to keep rowing to make sure we don't run into any of their lifeboats.”
“Nothing to worry about there.”
I turned and looked at Jedediah behind me. “Meaning?”
“I disabled some of their lifeboats, and locked the others to the deck with steel cables.”
I stared at him in the dark and he stared back at me. I saw no remorse. “They don't have lifeboats?”
He shook his head slowly with satisfaction.
“We've got to go get the survivors!” I moved toward Jedediah who held tight to the oars. I knew I couldn't wrest them out of his hands.
“Not a chance. They are a bunch of murderers.”
“Yeah but we're not. I didn't come here to kill anybody. I just wanted them floating out there, so the German Navy or Polish Navy or whoever could pick them up and put them in prison. We have them for even more murders with the ship's crew. Turn around!” I stood in the bobbing lifeboat.
Jedediah continued to row slowly. I heard the slap of the oars against the water. He said, “This is
exactly
what you wanted since the day we met. You just needed me around so you could tell yourself it was all my doing.”
I scoured the water for survivors. I listened for cries. Nothing. I sat down.
He kept rowing, then asked, “What happened to the flag?”
“I wrapped it around one of the bricks of C4.”
“Gone forever,” he said with satisfaction. He rowed in silence, then said, “Your father will be proud.”