Greg Iles - The Spandau Phoenix

looking for a trick, and they know you too well. A simple check for

your war wounds would unmask any impostor." Hitler chuckled. "I'm

afraid you're almost as famous now as I am, old friend. And that's what

makes you perfect for this mission."

Hess cleared his throat. "What exactly is the mission, my Fuhrer?"

Hitler began pacing out the room. "The operation will be called

Mordred. But for the time being, the less you know the better. I only

tell you your destination now because I must know you can reach England

on the given night. Whatever @ning or navigational practice you need to

ensure success on such a flight, you must do it." Hitler stopped pacing

and looked into Hess's deep-set eyes. "Can you fly alone to England,

Rudi? Alone in the darkness?"

Hess nodded crisply. "Absolutely, my Fuhrer."

Hitler nodded. "Do you have any parachute training?"

Hess's eyes widened. "No."

Hitler clucked his tongue. "I thought not. You probably won't need it,

anyway. I'm told the Duke of Hamilton has a landing strip right beside

his castle."

Hess felt more confused than ever. "But you said that the Duke of

Hamilton was a loyal En lishman!"

Hitler smiled enigmatically. "That is quite irrelevant." His eyes

twinkled. "Do you remember The Scarlet Pimpernel, Rudi?"

Hess's heavy black eyebrows bunched in puzzlement. "I ...

I believe you showed the film here at'the Berghof, didn't you?"

"That's right, just last year. The Pimpernel was the daring English

nobleman who made fools of the French during the Reign of Terror."

"What has that to do with me?"

Hitler's eyes flashed with wicked glee. "Everything, Rudi! You know I

have always admired the English. They are fellow Aryans. They are

great empire-builders, as we Germans are. But"-Hitler stabbed a stiff

finger into the air-"they have allowed themselves to be deluded by

Churchill.

Dangerously deluded. Look what happened when I spared their pathetic

Expeditionary Force at Dunkirk! I halted Guderian's tanks, blamed the

British escape on Goring and the Luftwaffe"-Hitler's face reddened in

anger-"and then Churchill had the nerve to call Dunkirk a British

victory! The English people must be freed from the influence of that

warmonger!" cross his broad chest.

Utterly adrift, Hess folded his arms a "But this Pimpernel business, my

Fuhrer. How does it relate to me?" "Don't you see , Rudi? You're my

Scarlet Pimernel!"

Hess stepped back in disbelief.

Hitler nodded excitedly. ,yes! You are the exact opposite of what you

appear to be! Since the war heated up, everyone has written you off as

merely a loyal bureaucrat who wastes his time on Party administration.

All my officers think I've forgotten you." Hitler shook his head

bitterly. "How can they have forgotten, Rudi? From the beginning you

fought beside me, took wounds meant for me. And now, you will be the

man who receives my most sacred charge, the responsibility of the most

sensitive mission in 'the history of the Reich. Together we shall prove

yet again what fools they all are!"

Hitler's eyes went cold. "In such times as these, Rudi, we learn who

our real friends are. I'm afraid that some of our oldest and most

trusted comrades may have decided that the time has come to explore

alternatives to the road I have chosen for Germany. They seem to think

my decision to invade at Russia is a symptom Of madness. Imbeciles!

To imagine that thirst neutral I-Adolf Hitler-would invade Russia wi out

f izing England!" th th Hess looked guiltily at e floor. For the past

mon he had subscribed to the very same heresy. Yet the Fuhrer had

obviously had his own peace plan in the works all along. Of course! It

was only natural that the Fuhrer should inspire powerful allies in

England! So many questions thundered in Hess's brain that he could not

decide which to ask first.

Before he could say anything, however, Hitler transfixed him with a

zealot's stare and began to speak with quiet conviction.

"Every man has his hour, Rudi, his time upon the world's stage.

Your hour has come. Some men-men like myself-play their part in public,

like stars flashing across the sky.

Others must play their part in shadow. It is to such a role I call you

now. Take heed, old friend. There are traitors all around us. From

the moment you leave this room you will be in mortal danger.

But you are a soldier, Rudi, the embodiment of the true Nazi. I do not

exaggerate when I say that the very future of the Reich rests upon your

success!"

Hess felt his chest swell with burning pride. He did not yet understand

his role in Operation Mordred, but if the Fuhrer was ready to gamble the

future of the Reich on him, he was ready to lay down his life without

question. What German could do less?

Hess started when, after a perfunctory knock, Reichleiter Martin

Bortnann marched loudly into the salon.

"General Halder has arrived, my Fuhrer," he announced.

As a courtesy, Hitler waited for Hess to dismiss Bormann.

The thickset, unctuous Bonnann was Hess's deputy, after all.

"Dismissed!" Hess barked.

Bonnann saluted and backed reluctantly out of the salon.

Hess felt better immediately. Lately he spent most of his time in his

Munich office, and he had reluctantly come to depend more and more on

Bormann for satisfying the daily whims of the Fuhrer. Bonnann was an

able assistant, but he possessed many traits Hess detested. He was

cruel and merciless to his subordinates, yet fawning and obsequious to

his superiors. No one liked him much@xcept Hitler-but everyone

respected his proximity to the epicenter of power.

"A good man," Hitler said with some embarrassment.

"But it's not like having you around, Rudi. Not like the old days.

Remember Landsberg?"

For a moment Hess thought back to the months in Landsberg Prison, where

he had edited the manuscript of Mein Kampf while Hitler dictated it.

He_s had done his best to force the fevered ideas into intelligible

progressions of words. In those days he had been the apple of the

Fuhrer's eye. it seemed a thousand years ago now. Or it had until five

minutes ago.

"I remember," he said softly.

Hitler crossed to the fireplace, reached up to the mantel, and took down

a long manila envelope. He tapped it against the palm of his left hand.

"On this envelope, Rudi, is written the name of the man I have chosen to

help you carry your mission."

Hitler extended the envelope. Hess accepted it, and held it at belt

level while he read the large blocked letters: REINHARD HEYDRICH:

OBERGRUPPENFOHRER SD.

Hitler had written the words himself; Hess recognized the hand from the

endless nights in Landsberg.. He also recognized the name.

Heydrich was commander of the feared SD-the counter intelligence arm of

the SS-and second-incommand toSS Reichsfiihrer Himmler. Hess

half-recalled an unpleasant story he had once heard about Heydrich-a man

so ruthless that even the brutal SS had christened him the "blond

beast"-but the Fuhrer's voice broke his train of thought.

"Himmler is to know nothing of this," he said. "Heydrich keeps an

office in the Prinz-Albrechtstrasse, but you're not to deliver it

there."

"Deliver it?" Hess said incredulously.

Hitler was pacing again, faster now. He spoke as if dictating to one of

his secretaries. "As soon as you get back to Munich, wire Heydrich that

you must see him on a matter of Reich security. Include the word