Greg Iles - Black Cross

Stern was nodding excitedly. “At least that would let us save all the women, yes? Maybe even the few men—”

McConnell held up his hand. “There’s another concern here. These time limits I’m giving you are for total oxygen depletion. That means death . Before that there would be episodes of hysteria, fainting, possibly some violence. You’re talking about terrified women and children packed inside a sealed chamber, probably without lights. They could be tearing out each other’s eyes after an hour, trampling the children, God knows what. You understand?”

“You’re saying don’t increase the numbers at all?”

“I’m saying we should count that oxygen bottle as a reserve. There’s no guarantee we can even get it into the E-Block. On top of that, these people may have to stay inside the chamber three or four hours before it’s safe to come out.”

Stern nodded in resignation.

“Can we even get the E-Block open?” McConnell asked.

“It’s always open,” Anna said. “Who would want to go inside it?”

“Point taken. Okay, Jonas, I think you should go back in right now, tonight. You’ve got about three hours of darkness left. Talk to your father, explain the situation, tell him to start slipping people into the E-Block just before dawn. That’s when we’ll attack.”

Stern laughed. “Doctor, you may know chemistry, but you know nothing about military tactics.” He sat down at the table and picked up McConnell’s pencil. “What do you think is going to happen after this attack of ours? Where are these women and children going to go?”

“Where were they going to go if we saved them all? This isn’t Hollywood, Stern. We can give those people a fighting chance. That’s more than what they have now. Maybe they can make a run for Poland, try to reach the Resistance.”

“You obviously don’t know that half the Polish resistance groups will kill a Jew as quickly as a Nazi will.”

“Goddamn it, Stern—”

“No, you’re right, Doctor. They’ll have to try for Poland. But they can’t do that in the daylight. Women and children in stolen SS trucks crossing fifty miles of Nazi Germany by day? You’re crazy! I don’t fancy trying to find our British submarine in the daylight myself. Also, if I sneak back into the camp tonight — which might not be so easy, considering what Fräulein Kaas just did there — I’ve got damn little time to convince my father or those women to condemn their friends to death, then sneak out of the camp, up the hill, and send down the gas.” Stern tossed the pencil on the table. “No, it’s got to be tomorrow night.” He turned to Anna. “What time is the final roll call?”

“Seven p.m.”

“Then we’ll attack at eight. The confusion will be much greater for the SS at night, and we’ll have hours of darkness to escape.”

“You realize that tomorrow night will be the fourth night we’ve been here,” McConnell reminded him. “If we don’t make it to the submarine by dawn the next day, it won’t be there.”

“We’ll make it.”

“And what about the gas? It could be degrading into harmless chemicals right now. And the reprisals. What if they shoot ten more people tomorrow? What about your—”

Stern slapped the table. “Shut up, goddamn you! I’ve made my decision. If you’d ever seen unarmed people hunted down by troops in the daylight, you’d know why.”

McConnell hesitated, but reluctantly nodded his assent. “We’ll just have to pray Schörner doesn’t close the net on us by tomorrow night,” he said. “But what about Anna? She can’t go back into Totenhausen after what she did tonight.”

Anna closed her eyes. “If I don’t, they’ll know something’s wrong.”

“They already know! They must. You killed Miklos and kept them from interrogating him.”

“Maybe they don’t know that,” said Stern. “The SS had already roughed him up. She told the guard Wojik’s heart was weak. Maybe they think he just died.”

“I’ve also got to get that oxygen bottle into the E-Block,” Anna reminded them.

McConnell started to argue further, but she cut him off by asking Stern a question. “Do you think your father will consent to go into the E-Block?”

“With the way the numbers have worked out, I very much doubt it.” Stern stood up and leaned against the stove for warmth.

“You must persuade him. Perhaps he would agree to lead the women and children to Poland?”

“He might. I’ve got all day tomorrow to think of something.” Stern snapped his fingers. “There is one thing I can do tonight, though.” He walked around the table and disappeared through the cellar door.

Anna took McConnell’s hand under the table and squeezed it. “You are a strange man,” she said.

Stern came back up the stairs carrying his leather bag.

“What’s that for?” asked McConnell.

“The two cylinders we were going to put in the SS bomb shelter. If we’re going back to the original plan, we need every ounce of gas we can get for the attack, yes? I’m going to drag those two cylinders as close as possible to the camp fence. With the plastic explosive and time pencil fuses from Achnacarry, I can set charges on the cylinder heads and time them to coincide with the attack. Eight o’clock.”

“I completely forgot!” said McConnell, feeling like an idiot. “You’re right. We’re going to need the highest saturation we can get at ground level. I’ll come with you.”

Anna squeezed his hand painfully under the table.

“No point in both of us risking capture,” said Stern, slinging the strap of the bag over his shoulder. “I can drag the cylinders myself.”

McConnell thought about it, then acquiesced. “Just don’t get caught,” he said. “I couldn’t climb that pylon in a week.”

Stern grinned, surprising both Anna and McConnell. “You could if you had to, Doctor. But don’t worry about it. We’re due some good luck.” He picked up his Schmeisser and moved toward the foyer. At the door, he looked back and caught McConnell’s eye, beckoning him to follow.

“What is it?” McConnell asked, pulling the front door closed after them.

“The SS may come for her,” Stern said. “Frankly, it worries me that they haven’t come yet.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying you should wait for me in the cellar. She should stay upstairs. If they come, and she goes with them voluntarily, they might not search the house.”

“I’m not an idiot, Stern.”

“I know that. But you . . . her. I’m not blind. All I’m saying is that now is not the time.”

It irritated McConnell that Stern had seen through him so easily. “There may not be any other time,” he said.

Stern shrugged. “Do what you have to. But if they do come here — and they don’t find you — take the spikes from the cellar, climb the hill, and go up that pylon. When you get to the top, tie yourself on with your toggle rope and wait for me as long as you can.” He laughed. “McShane was right about those ropes after all, wasn’t he? Anyway, you’ll be in the treetops, but you’ll be able to see the camp road. If it looks like Schörner’s men are coming up the hill for you, send down the gas. It’s set up so a child could do it. After you’ve done it, forget about me, forget about her, and try to reach the coast. You just might get out alive.”

McConnell was shaking his head, but Stern said, “If it comes to that point, Doctor, she and I are dead already.”

Stern held out his hand for the first time since McConnell had known him.

McConnell took it.

“It’s less than twenty-four hours,” Stern said, squeezing his hand. “What can happen in a day?”

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