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THE

OMEGA DECEPTION

THE

^IMEGA 'deception a novel

JOHN

F.

BAYER

Broadman

&HOLMAN Publishers Nashville, Tennessee

©

2000 by John Bayer All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN 0-7394-1179-9 Published by

Broadman

& Holman

Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee

DEDICATION

This book

is

dedicated to the

Women who

men and

gave of themselves

So a world

Might be

It is

free of tyranny.

two men

especially dedicated to

Who

fought and lived through the Horrors of

My My

father,

James

WW

II:

E. Bayer,

father-in-law,

Thank you

W.

E.

both.

and

Wynn.

—

GLOSSARY

Angermiinde

city in

northern

ASDIC—British-developed

BdU—abbreviation B-Dienst— radio

Germany

form of sonar

of Befehlshaber der Unterseeboote

intelligence service of the Kriegsmarine

Befehlshaber der Unterseeboote— Commander

Bombe—coded

text transmitted

Budapesterstrasse

—Berlin

Das Boot— German-made

Eberswald— city

in chief,

U-Boats

by B-Dienst

street leading into the Zoologischer

film

in northern

Garten

about U-Boat operations

Germany

Fuhrerprotokoll— official document issued by

Geheime Kommandosache— German

Hitler

designation for top secret

Geheime Staatspolizei— Gestapo Grossadmiral der Kriegsmarine— Grand Admiral of German Navy

Hauptmann—Luftwaffe

captain

Hauptsturmfuhrer— SS

captain

I.

G. Farbenindustire

Kaleu—diminutive

—chemical factory on the Rhine River

of Kapitanleutnant

Kapitanleutnant— Captain Kapitan zur Kiel

—port

See—Senior

city in

northern

of a U-boat

Captain in

German Navy

Germany

Kriegsmarine— German Navy Leitender Ingenieur—U-Boat engineer

THE -^AAEGA DECEPTION

VIM

Leverkusen— German was invented

in

on the Rhine

industrial city

River,

where

1938

Luftwaffe— German Oberleutnant— 1st

air force

lieutenant in

Oberleutnant zur See

Wehrmacht

—lieutenant senior grade

Operation Paukenschlag— Operation Drumbeat

OSS— Office

of Strategic Services (forerunner of the CIA)

Paulstrasse—Berlin

street

Peenemunde— German Prenzlau

—

Prinz Albrechtstrasse

Putsch— German

rocket research center in the Baltic

northern

city in

—

Germany

uprising attempted

Reich Chancellery— Hitler's

Rue de Rennes Schliissel

—

SS in Berlin

street address of

by

Hitler

Berlin headquarters

fictitious street in Lorient,

France

M— German Navy's Enigma code machine

Schutzstaffel— German SS

SOE— Special

Operations Executive. England's

Commando

unit

Store Baelt— straits off east coast of Denmark

SS-Oberstgruppenfuhrer— SS general SS-Reichsfuhrer— Commander of SS-Standartenfuhrer— SS

the SS, Heinrich

Himmler

colonel

SS-Sturmbannfuhrer— SS major SS-Unterscharfuhrer— SS 2nd

Totenkopf— SS

death's head insignia

Vergeltungswaffen—weapon

Wehrmacht— German army Wewelsburg— 17th-century

—

Wolgast

lieutenant

city in

northern

of retaliation

headquarters of SS in Westphalia

Germany near Peenemunde

Zoologischer Garten— zoological garden

in Berlin

sarin

PROLOGUE

October 9, 1942 siasconset, nantucket island The promise of winter rode on the building breeze blowing

Long

Island Sound. Already the leaves

on Nantucket

ing, displaying the vivid oranges, yellows,

orful scene belied the

trees

in

from

were chang-

and reds of autumn. The

col-

danger that lay beneath the waves of the Atlantic.

In the distance, a dark squall line raced across the

sound as Jon

McDowell leaned against the communications panel on the bridge of the 3000-ton cargo steamer

the open

window

Mary Glen. McDowell

craned his neck out

of the bridge, watching the low clouds scud across

the rapidly rising sea. Whitecaps were beginning to froth against the side of the hull.

"Rain in ten minutes," he murmured

McDowell was anxious 160-mile

trip

back

snug Cape Cod In the five

to

rental

to get

under way. The sooner he began the

lower Manhattan, the sooner he'd be back

that

McDowell had been captain of the Mary

had an opportunity

She'd been patient, but McDowell her

limits. After

her own. After

to take his wife

knew

his

house hunting.

even-tempered wife had

seven years of marriage, she wanted a house

all,

in the

he shared with his wife.

months

Glen, he'd not

to himself.

he had promised as much

when

Brooklyn Heights. McDowell knew he'd have

to

they had

to call

moved

make good on

to

that

THE ^#AAEGA DECEPTION They had found a small community church, and

promise, and soon.

McDowell knew

his wife's

involvement with the congregation was the

only thing keeping her from badgering him. Given the relative merits of house and church, he

was happy

they'd found the church

first.

McDowell peered about through the gathering gloom where four

crewmen wrestled with a hawser line.

as they struggled to release the stern

Glancing at the instrument panel, he noticed that the barometer

falling

was

through 28.78 inches of mercury and showed no sign of stopping

anytime soon. Slate black clouds gathered rapidly

He knew

his engineers

particular intensity.

The

old coal-fired boilers

The deckhands had the

stern lines loose as

onto the flying bridge. The raised his

megaphone

sailors

to

when

away from

McDowell reached

"Mary Glen

Mary

mouth and

to his

Glen.

yelled to the for-

line!"

wrapped the two-inch rope around the deck pulley and

took in the slack created slowly rotated

conditions.

McDowell walked out

raindrop reached the

first

ward deckhands. "Take-up on the bow The

darkening sky.

were temperamental under

and these were not the best of

the best of conditions,

McDowell

in the

were watching the steam pressure gauges with

navy

the

for the

the stern line

was

cut loose.

The

fantail

wharf as the bowline tightened. microphone hanging

just

over his head.

escort seven-three-two," he radioed.

"I'll

be back-

ing out in thirty seconds." "Roger,

Mary Glen" came

the immediate response. "Your

vering area has been swept, and patterns

we

maneu-

are proceeding with normal search

commencing now."

Seven-three-two was an American subchaser, an old verted minesweeper.

from Nantucket

to

It

seemed strange

Mary

to require

an

WW

I

con-

escort for the

trip

Glen 's berth at the foot of Fletcher Street in

lower Manhattan, but those were the fortunes of war, McDowell

mused. German U-boats operated

in the waters off

with impunity, and the danger was

McDowell ordered "dead repeated the order and rang

it

New

York, almost

real.

astern," listening as his quartermaster

up on the

ship's telegraph.

He watched

PROLOGUE the

3

acknowledgment as

foam surged beneath the the harbor waters.

registered

it

on the

stern as the

Mary

A shudder went through

telegraph,

and

seconds

in

Glen's twin screws roiled the old ship as

began

it

to

back away from the wooden wharf. "Release

The

bow

line!"

McDowell ordered.

line fell into the frigid Atlantic waters.

"Starboard back one-third,

port

ahead one-third," McDowell

barked.

"Aye aye, captain," the quartermaster responded, ringing the order

on the telegraph.

The ship

pirouetted, pulling to the right into deep water off the

southern coast of Nantucket. "Starboard ahead one-third." "Starboard ahead one-third," the quartermaster repeated.

"Mary Glen

clear,"

McDowell radioed as the ship took up

tion astern the converted minesweeper,

now

its

posi-

only two points off his

rusting port bow.

Jon McDowell had never become accustomed to the escort. The threat of

German U-boats was

real

enough, but he'd refused

the U.S. Navy's claims that the battered old supply ferry

ger from U-boat torpedoes.

Mary

Glenl

It

would cost

German Navy had

What was gained by

time, torpedoes,

and

to accept

was

in dan-

sinking a ship like the

fuel,

none of which the

in great supply.

McDowell ordered "half ahead" as the steamer cleared the breakwater.

The Edgartown

light

on Martha's vineyard should have been

barely visible to the north. With the squall line

moving

comforting landmark had disappeared. The wind

was

in,

even that

building

and the

chop was getting worse as McDowell guided the ship into the channel behind the navy

escort.

He wasn't looking forward

The thermometer attached thirty-one degrees for

and dropping

to the center rapidly.

It

was

to the crossing.

window

post

showed

cold for October,

even

Nantucket. He'd have freezing rain to contend with before long.

They'd been lucky on the passage from Manhattan

to Nantucket.

A

THE -0-MEGA DECEPTION

4

warm

front

freezing.

It

had

drifted north

and the temperature had remained above

appeared their luck was fading as the

freeze, coating the ship's

falling rain

Already the waves were running well over ten

know how

the

to

exposed metal surfaces.

mated that the severe weather would double didn't

began

navy

sailors

relaxed, given that the effects of

manning

McDowell

feet.

esti-

He

their transit time.

the old minesweeper ever

many

such weather were multiplied

times over on their smaller ship.

On

was

the other hand, from McDowell's perspective, the weather

a good omen where German U-boats were concerned. The bad weather

would hamper

effectiveness

their

there— far more than

it

would

—assuming

affect the

Mary

they were even out

Glen.

Barometer at 28.50. McDowell made a mental note the reading with the height of the

pounded through the whitecapped

ship

"Seven-three-two to

McDowell reached

"Mary

ton.

11

Glen,

Mary Glen,

ning a

little

Mary Glen"

for the

this

taken at the

is

little.

German Navy

This sea

to

Mary

He knew

was akin

is

that can hear us the to,

that

is."

at the gentle potshot the escort captain

Making

Glen. "Backing off, seven-three-two. that'll let

there

you boys

was no way

to tackling a

The Mary Glen was almost

that

sleep

there,"

their ninety-seven-foot

thirty times larger

to sleet

had

turns

McDowell

sailors could

wooden

roller coaster

minesweeper, and even the Glen crew would not

The freezing rain changed

up

any of those

Coney Island

run-

death up here.

kicking up. Provided they even wanted

under these conditions. In

the ride

talk but-

go ahead seven-three-two. How's the weather?"

seven knots. Hope

rest

the radio crackled.

we're going to have to back off a

McDowell grinned

taunted.

seas.

more than we thought. We're getting beat

wind

to correlate

for future reference as the

microphone and thumbed the

Besides, there's not a U-boat in the

way

for

waves

on

craft,

skates.

than the converted rest

on

this crossing.

mixed with snow. October was too

early for such conditions, but here they were.

danger of losing sight of his escort vessel

if

McDowell knew he was

the weather got

in

much worse.

PROLOGUE "Mary

5

Glen," the radio barked.

was

tiny escort

barely

"Making turns

for six knots."

making headway against the

intensifying wind.

"Turns for six knots," McDowell ordered. "This tricky,"

he muttered

going to be

is

to himself.

"Six knots, aye aye,

sir,"

the quartermaster echoed as he stole a

was

glance at his captain. In the worsening weather, six knots

s minimum

at the Glen

The steamer rose on a wave and slammed down

rose

for

a handhold.

on the next

crest.

He

into a

deep trough,

Just before

of a monster groundswell.

slamming

tiny craft

McDowell

ship.

lost sight of the escort as the

McDowell caught a glimpse of the

McDowell

nibbling

controllable steerage speed.

sending a reverberating shudder throughout the

grabbed

The

Mary

Glen

into the next trough,

making

its

way up

the face

"Those boys are living a nightmare,"

said under his breath.

He would never

denigrate the sailors

of the tiny ship again.

"Mary

Glen, we're losing sight of you. Close

it

up," the captain of

the escort radioed. "Closing to seven hundred yards,"

McDowell responded, beginning

wonder if there might be more danger in

closing too closely with the escort

than fighting the degenerating weather. "You guys must have

McDowell

radioed, trying to lighten the feeling

on

his

own

The Mary Glen rose once again on a giant

McDowell could

He

ing rain. There were no

on

weak eyes,"

bridge.

swell.

This time,

plainly see the escort less than a half-mile off his bow.

raised his binoculars,

building up

to

all

examining the subchaser through the sailors topside.

He

slant-

could clearly see the ice

the exposed surfaces of the ship, just as

it

was on

his.

All at once, his heart

Man

was

in his throat!

overboard, port side of the tiny escort! Where did he

come

from, and what was he doing?

McDowell adjusted the

binoculars, thinking his eyes

tricks

on him. No! There he was, not more than

beam

of the escort!

fifty

were playing

yards off the port

THE ^AAEGA DECEPTION

6

McDowell reached have a tle

man

microphone. "Seven-three-two, you

for the

man had lit-

overboard!" he radioed urgently, knowing the

chance in the freezing water.

Mary Glen. We

"Negative,

man

have a

don't

know what you

We

in the water. Repeat.

do not have a

We're coming about on your directions. Where

McDowell

felt

the deck

fall

man

swell,

Glen could reach the

man

McDowell began

There was no

in this weather.

It

was

left to

Mary

Glen

McDowell deshe

perately searched the rolling water for the body. There vest.

don't

in the water.

out from under him as the

life

we

your man?"

is

dove down another wave. As she rose on the next

was wearing an orange kapok

but

see,

The man

is.

way

the

Mary

the escort.

He

directing the smaller escort using his radio.

watched with rapt attention as the small ship battered

its

way

through

the turbulent seas.

McDowell

lost sight of the

waited until the

Mary

bobbing orange body and the

escort.

He

Glen came atop the next swell and scanned the

horizon. Nothing. It

would take a miracle

seemed

like

an

anything

to find

in the raging waters.

It

eternity before the escort radioed.

"Mary Glen, we have

the

man

aboard.

He

is

not,

I

repeat,

not from

either of our vessels."

McDowell could hear the bewilderment amazing that they had been able aboard. But

from?

Was

if

in the

to reach the

man's

It

was

less get

him

voice.

man, much

he was not from one of these ships, where had he come

he even alive? The

last question

was answered with

the

next transmission.

"The

man

is

dead. Repeat, the

man

is

dead.

And Mary

Glen,

you

won't believe what we've got here."

The silver

sailors

on the

escort gazed at the frozen

body before them; a

skull—the death's head insignia of the German

the corpse's black wool field cap.

eyes below

it.

The

skull

was

SS—shone

on

as lifeless as the man's

CHAPTER 1

October

12,

1942

germony's rocket development center

peenemunde,

baitic sea

Rear Admiral Karl Ddnitz, grim faced, examined the plans spread before him. His hawk-like appearance, cold blue eyes,

and economic

mannerisms conveyed a sense of urgency, an urgency which was not lost

on the two other men

in the

room. Ddnitz shuffled through the

technical papers, reading each notation, studying the data. His

mind

raced, absorbing the details, assimilating the technical difficulties along

with the

political implications

and the

saw was a new beginning, or—at "Is

military consequences.

What he

the very least— time.

such a thing possible?" he asked, a

slight tinge of

awe

in his

voice.

Wernher von Braun, the Germans' preeminent rocket reached across the desk to pick up the plans.

"May

I?"

scientist,

he asked

Ddnitz.

"By polished

all

means," the admiral

wood

surface.

replied, sliding the

papers across the

THE ^#AAEGA DECEPTION Von Braun scanned

the blueprints with a practiced eye, uncon-

sciously fingering the top button

in the

his suit coat as

Before he spoke, he shot a quick,

possibilities.

man

on

room,

who

he weighed the

wary glance

at the third

stood leaning against the far wall, but Heinrich

Himmler's impassive eyes were obscured by the glare of the lights on the lenses of his pince-nez.

Von Braun

on the desk, ran

laid the blueprints

high forehead and through his combed-back Admiral.

It's

it,"

Donitz ordered. "Immediately.

next year. The outcome of the war

weapon." Donitz went back

him could mean

life

may

and

said,

his

"Yes,

to the blueprints,

or death. His

weapon

I

must have

this before

well depend on this single

knowing

that

what

lay

mind was already developing

new

the logistics necessary for deploying the interdiction

hair,

hand over

possible."

"Then do

before

his

device as a supply-

against Russian supply lines in the Baltic states.

But there was another foe even more dangerous. Donitz envisioned the possibilities.

He

could do

it

with this weapon. He could actually attack

the mainland of the United States.

"Admiral Donitz, ..." Wernher von Braun began, hesitating as he

eyed Himmler once again. Donitz noticed von Braun 's nervous glance and his reticence.

turned and faced the

scientist.

"Please,

encouraged, "speak your mind. This

Von Braun

is

He

Herr von Braun," Donitz

the time for truth."

cleared his throat. "Admiral, forgive me, but

I

do not

believe this can be completed in such a limited time," he began. "The

plans are good ones. The theory

am

confident.

chemical,

is

sound.

It

can be done, of that

I

But there are other considerations. Metallurgical,

and mechanical problems must be overcome. Most impor-

tant are the proposed guidance systems.

tems with the necessary accuracy. not yet there.

And

for a completely

We

We

do not have any sys-

are close,

it is

true,

but

we

then tests must be conducted. The blueprint

new and

radical rocket

motor unlike

are

calls

any we have

been working on. That motor has not yet been invented. There

will

CHAPTER

9

1

we cannot

be problems

ing about the

possibly anticipate at this point.

unknown, Admiral.

It

will take

We

are talk-

a long time," von Braun

concluded.

Ddnitz turned and walked to the tiny

balcony outside von Braun's

speak

A Strait,

was

window overlooking a

"We may

office.

light rain,

began

blowing

in

from the North Sea

to pelt the balcony, pooling

U-boat

his

Back

not have the time

in

command had

down

the Kattegat

beneath the window. The

much

like

it

was

in Kiel,

1937, he'd had only thirteen U-boats with which to pro-

those had been the older, type

made them

air

begun.

war

vide naval support for Adolf Hitler's widespread, ambitious

And

you

Herr von Braun," Ddnitz said quietly.

of,

clean here in the Baltic, Donitz reflected,

where

small

II

plans.

models, whose limited range

suitable only for coastal patrol.

Now,

five

years

later,

346

U-boats stalked the Atlantic in deadly wolf packs. Most were the

advanced

VII

and prefab IX models, with more under

construction.

The

shipyards in Bremen and Hamburg, and the Germania yard in Kiel

were turning out class VIID and F models, along with the longer-range IXC, at a staggering pace.

New U-boats

were deployed every day from

the western bases along the coast of France.

The new U-boats, with ranges, could operate

their larger pressure hulls

anywhere

in the Atlantic Ocean,

and expanded from the

tip

of

South America to the southern coast of Newfoundland. The wolf packs were wreaking havoc from the western approaches of the British Isles to

the

XIV supply

Freetown on the coast of boats,

Africa.

With the addition of

dubbed milk cows, whose refueling

capabilities

provided extended coverage, Donitz's U-boats had forged an almost impenetrable barrier in the Atlantic. Operation Drumbeat, in January and February, had been an over-

whelming to just

success.

Drumbeat U-boats had ranged from Cape Hatteras

south of Newfoundland, sinking U.S. ships within sight of the

east coast.

The few

WW

I

destroyers and lightly armed, undersized

subchasers assigned the task of protecting the vulnerable cargo ships

THE -0-MEGA DECEPTION

10

had proved

Most had gone

ineffective.

to the

bottom of the ocean

along with their charges.

But in the

war

the

lately,

in the Atlantic

North Atlantic was always a

the hard lessons of experience,

change. Weather

to

and the U.S. Navy, learning

factor,

was

turning out to be a formidable foe.

new dimension

Surface radar added a

had begun

to the

war

in the Atlantic, forc-

ing U-boats to remain submerged for longer periods.

No

longer could a

U-boat commander disable a ship with one torpedo, then surface with

finish the job

deck gun, saving valuable torpedoes

its

for the

to

next

ship.

The power of the United States lay as much ple as in

industrial might.

its

sequences.

And

Donitz could see the inevitable con-

would be impossible

It

in the spirit of its peo-

destroy

to

could sap the fighting

spirit

this

the

new weapon

of the American people.

Donitz turned from the rain-streaked window.

weapon, Herr von Braun, and the Kriegsmarine for

diminish

or

Americans' awesome industrial strength, but perhaps

"We must have is

that

prepared to pay

it."

Wernher von Braun sighed. "Admiral, money, although that

is

the production center

and one

a

factor.

I

will

to the

need

it

is

not just a question of

to assign

a special team to

ordnance testing area.

have the manpower, Admiral," von Braun argued. "As stretched nearly to the breaking point.

I

it

I

is,

do not

we

are

do not think you grasp the

reality of the situation."

"Nor do

you grasp

think

I

the realities of the situation, Herr

Braun," Heinrich Himmler interjected, speaking for the

Von Braun

felt

a

chill

run

nection to the cold Baltic rain.

down

this is

not one of them.

results will

be

even

will take

is

the

way

it

for this project."

Himmler.

the SS can control, but

hard work and manpower. The

directly proportional to the

the project. That will be,

It

to face

some things

von

time.

had no con-

his neck, a chill that

He turned

"Herr Reichsfuhrer, there are

first

number of hours invested

has always been and that

is

the

way

in it

CHAPTER Himmler's

11

1

turned up in a thin smile. "You will have your

lips

man-

power, Herr von Braun. This will be a combined project of the SS and the Kriegsmarine.

We

expect expedient results."

will

Von Braun knew he'd

lost the

argument. That was the problem

with nonscientific minds; they thought genius was a commodity to be

bought and sold

an

like

wheat.

"And

the financing?"

"Joint

funding from the SS and the navy," Donitz said. "Both have

interest in the enterprise.

provide the

navy with

we've never dreamed

"And

the SS has

When

the plan

becomes a

reality,

and psychological

interdiction

it

will

possibilities

of." its

own

use for the weapon, Herr von Braun, in

conjunction with the Kriegsmarine, of course," he added, nodding

toward Donitz and smiling.

Wernher von Braun

was no dream, only a nightmare. The

desk. There ble,

shifted his attention to the blueprints

he knew. After

all,

he had the best

the island fortress of Peenemlinde,

"I

will

its

project

minds

in the world.

But even German

need men, Herr Reichsfuhrer," von Braun

said.

and money," Himmler

Oberstgruppenfuhrer von Liebeman will have overall coordination responsibility during the project.

him, and he will keep Admiral Donitz and

have

possi-

world on

limitations.

"You shall have men,

will

was

in the

his

where he had constructed the most

advanced rocket-development center genius had

scientific

on

total control of

manpower,

You

me

"SS-

command and

will report directly to

informed.

materiel,

replied.

Von Liebeman

and funding.

How

the

funds are routed in and out of Peenemiinde will not be your concern.

You

will

ment of "I

be free to devote your entire time and this

weapon," Himmler

have other

duties,

cannot be expected

ment of a

single

to

effort to the

develop-

said.

Herr Reichsfuhrer," von Braun stated

devote every minute of

my

flatly. "I

time to the develop-

weapon system when we have many such systems

under development."

^MEGA

THE

12

"You will devote your time

DECEPTION

weapon system, Herr von

to this

Braun. Not only does the future of the Third Reich depend on

opment, but so do the lives of every

Himmler

including yours,"

Von Braun

felt

assigned to the project,

said without emotion.

an involuntary muscle spasm deep

"What the Reichsfuhrer particular

man

weapon system

devel-

its

in his

saying," Donitz explained,

is

will take

abdomen.

"is

that this

precedence over anything presently

under development. The Third Reich needs time— you need time, Herr

von Braun,

may

to

develop your other systems. But time

is

something

we

not have without this particular system. I'm sure you understand

the urgency." "I

understand,

vide the

navy

"That "I

is

sir.

We

—and the SS—with the system."

community

liberty of reassigning living quarters in the

to segregate those

working on

the rest of the workers. During the development ple will be completely separated

doned

off

an area

used exclusively rity

in the rocket

for this

at all times.

There

I

your peo-

have also

cor-

to

be

that strict secu-

are, of course,

more

the progress to date."

self-satisfaction.

"Herr Reichsfuhrer, will construct

is

it

from

this project

testing,

development and research center

system. The SS will see to

measures are enforced

Himmler nodded with

and

from the others here.

adjustments to be implemented, but that

We

to pro-

commendable, Herr von Braun," Himmler smiled wanly.

have already taken the

residential

do everything within our power

will

Peenemunde

your weapon, but

Braun emphasized, not caring

is it

my will

to disguise his

responsibility, not yours.

be done

my

way," von

resentment of Himmler's

interference.

Himmler's smile disappeared. "Of course, Herr von Braun. The SS will yield to

you

will

your wishes, when possible. For the moment, however,

have

to trust

my

precautions.

Von Braun shrugged and began top.

"We

will build

have mercy on our

It is

for the

to gather the

good of the Reich." papers on the desk-

your weapon, Herr Reichsfuhrer. And souls."

may God

CHAPTER] Heinrich Himmler's face contorted as

and

his

complexion darkened.

smile he'd

worn

until

von Braun," Himmler to

remember

that."

A

now. "There hissed.

Himmler

if

tight, thin line is

"And

eyes bulged

in pain; his

replaced the benign

no God but the Third Reich, Herr

the SS

is

the soul.

clicked his heels

You

will

do well

and strode imperiously

out the door, followed shortly by Admiral Donitz.

A

flash of terror gripped

leave his office.

von Braun as he watched

the

two men

CHAPTER

2

October 15, 1942 Washington, d.c. "British? British?"

Mark

lously through a stack of 8

much

expecting too

to think

Daniels repeated as he fumbled incredu-

x 10 photographs.

"I

think

we would have deduced

it's

probably

that from these

photographs."

Harlon Spencer took the photographs and perused them once again. "Yeah, well, that's not the

way Donovan

sees

it.

He

thinks

OSS

should be up to speed with their British counterparts. He has a special affinity for the

bearing on

it,

SOE. The

fact that this is

one of

theirs

either."

Daniels positioned the photos on the desktop. in a black

were

won't have any

They showed a man

SS uniform. The man's handsome features and blond hair

offset

by

his

unseeing eyes, opaque in death. Daniels secretly

wished someone had closed the dead man's eyes before the photographs had been taken. The man's uniform collar carried the two lightning runes of the SS,

and the

single square insignia of his

rank of

THE -^MEGA DECEPTION

16

me

second lieutenant. "Give

the story again," Daniels demanded,

reaching for the photos.

Spencer tossed the pictures to Daniels before resuming. "Not to

tell.

A week

much

an American escort retrieved the body

ago,

off

man had fallen overboard, either from a supply ship or another escort. When they got the man aboard, you can imagine the shock when they saw this uniform. The question Nantucket. At

first,

they thought the

remains, where did he

come from?

Certainly not from

any of the ships

involved."

"How

long had he been in the water?" Daniels asked.

"Doctors can't be certain. The water's so cold, he could have been in there

anywhere from a few hours

Which," Spencer paused

found

wrapped around

this

and wrapped wanted

for

it

around his

make

to

sure

to

his body.

"is

almost as

torso,

why

He'd hidden

someone found

And

a few days.

emphasis,

it."

if

that's not

all.

you're here. They it

in

some

he expected

oilcloth

and

to die

Spencer tossed a piece of

paper to Daniels.

Mark

Daniels, for

all

of his twenty-seven years,

best code breakers working

on Nebraska Avenue

man

Spencer hoped the young

who

he

now knew

British agent.

Daniels examined the paper once again. "To begin with, cipher, not a code.

The number sequence

not a long message. That'll "I

make

it

more

tells

us that much.

difficult to

it's

And

a

it's

break."

would have thought a short message would be

Spencer

of the

Washington.

could decode the message that had

been found on the body of the SS-Unterscharfuhrer,

had been a

was one in

easier to break,"

said, mystified.

"Nope.

A

longer message contains more sequences of repetitions.

More known combinations. The

greater the

number of combinations,

the greater the chance of finding duplicate letters.

Thus the

easier to

break the cipher." Daniels muttered to himself and continued examining the message.

From

all

Of course, that could be a

indications,

it

consisted of only three words.

false lead in itself,

but chances were

it

was

CHAPTER

a short message.

just tal

the

17

2

could even be a British cipher.

It

He made a men-

note to contact Bletchley Park, just to be on the safe side.

OSS end up with

finally

made

When

thing along to the OSS.

"And

When

they

they turned the body over to

to Fletcher Street wharf,

it

did

the body?"

"The escort accompanying the supply ferry was navy.

the Coast Guard.

"How

they found the message, they passed everyI

think they were glad to get

rid

of

it."

the British claim him?"

"They do, but

that's all

we have

so

Donovan

far.

them

hasn't told

about the message." "They'll

suspect

it's

know soon enough,"

Daniels said.

"I'll

a British cipher, and they can probably

have

to tell

me what

tell

them

I

says

it

over the phone."

Donovan won't allow

"Probably, but

ing for

you

this

There's an airplane wait-

it.

very minute. Donovan wants you in England by

tomorrow." "Wait a minute," Daniels protested.

must have suspected that

plane, he

"If

this is

Donovan arranged

a British cipher.

for a

How

long

has he known?"

We just got word

"Not long.

MI-6. Donovan's a "Obviously.

today that

of things, but

lot

When

do

I

dumb

this

guy was a member of

isn't

one of them."

leave?"

Harlon Spencer consulted his watch. "Technically, ago, but

what Donovan doesn't know won't

kill

us.

I

fifteen

minutes

have orders

to

put you on the plane personally, although without the briefing you just received. Orders are to bundle you, the photos,

England, pronto. But

I

thought you might

and the message

like to

know

off to

what's going

on."

"Thanks "Wild

for the courtesy.

Bill

cor-

Spencer smiled.

"So I've heard. Well,

be back. To

something your boss could learn."

Donovan's not the head of OSS because he follows

rect etiquette,"

I'll

It's

tell

you

let's

go.

The sooner I get

the truth, I'm a

little

to

London, the sooner

curious about this myself."

THE -^AAEGA DECEPTION

18

Spencer smiled again. "That's what makes you a good cryptoanalyst;

you're curious." "It's feline-fatal."

"Curiosity killed the cat, don't forget."

"Huh uh. Fatal

better describes

it.

Keeps us on our

"Plane's waiting," Spencer said. "If to

you crack

Nebraska Avenue using one of your own

to us.

Donovan says he wants

the cipher, call

codes. They'll pass

know what

to

toes."

it

it

it

in

along

says within thirty-six

hours."

"What makes him think

know what

it's

that important

when he

doesn't even

says?"

it

"He has a

feeling about this one,

wrong," Spencer answered. "A bad

and

feeling,"

his feelings are

seldom

he concluded.

October 16, 1942 12:01 a.m. over the north atlantic Mark

Daniels shifted his weight in the most uncomfortable seat

he'd ever sat

in.

The C-47 he traveled

between

Atlantic

St.

Johns,

in

droned over the black North

Newfoundland,

and Julianehaab,

Greenland, some fourteen hundred miles away. The last hours had

been nothing short of wretched, and the remaining hours of the to

flight

England held no promise of any improvement. Daniels twisted again, trying to get comfortable,

while

it

was

The

trip

was something

to

all

the

be endured, and

He

repositioned the leather attache case in his lap. The small

rattled,

reminding him of the importance of the three-word mes-

survived.

chain

impossible.

knowing

sage contained in the case. Tomorrow, he thought. Tomorrow,

know what

it

says.

off into a fitful sleep.

The thought comforted him some, and he

I'll

drifted

CHAPTER October

19

2

1942 nebraska avenue, Washington D.C. It

was

16,

afternoon

late

when

section at Nebraska Avenue.

the call finally arrived in the decoding

The message was simple.

To:

Donovan, OSS Headquarters

From:

Daniels, Bletchley Park

Subject:

Message, translation

Text:

Der Betrug Omega

Translation:

The Omega Deception

End message William Donovan handed the succinct transcript to Harlon Spencer.

Spencer read the message twice before looking at his boss.

"What "No

is it?"

idea,"

Spencer asked.

Donovan responded. "Nebraska Avenue says

another message from the Brits being decoded as

we

speak.

with Daniels's translation, but they sent this one on ahead.

second message

will tell

ended up floating stumped.

An

We

we

came the

why

he

get that, we're

might as well get some coffee while we're waiting."

hour

later,

a messenger delivered a two-page document that

had been received from William

North Atlantic. Until

It

Maybe

us what their agent was up to and

in the

there's

British Intelligence.

Donovan read

the message in silence before handing

Spencer. Spencer glanced at the flimsy sheet of paper

Donovan. "Something

tells

me

it

to

and looked up

at

our friends in British Intelligence

know

more than they're saying."

Donovan

sat thoughtfully for a

moment, then

always been an optimist, and there was no reason

smiled.

to

He had

change now.

"I

think our British counterparts will willingly contribute what information they

have about

"Not for their while?"

free.

this."

What

are

you going

to offer

them

to

make

it

worth

Spencer asked. He'd seen the same expression before on

the face of the irrepressible

Donovan.

THE -^AAEGA DECEPTION

20

Wild

Donovan

Bill

sat

and smiled. "I'm going

back

in his chair, his

hands behind

to offer to replace their lost

his head,

agent with one of

our best men," he answered.

"And who

is

that?"

"Michael Shaw," Donovan replied.

Spencer thought for a moment, trying to

recall the

name. There

were thousands of OSS agents roaming the earth— far too

him

to

know

the tiniest

everyone.

bell.

suggesting,

it

And

Field Operations, "I

if

seemed

Still,

the

name Michael Shaw

Shaw was logical to

he would at

least

don't recognize the name,

Donovan smiled

know

Bill,"

broadly, looking

years. "That's because he doesn't

did not ring

their best agent, as

Spencer

that, as the

remained:

—

Who was

off the cuff,

even

Director of

the name.

said Spencer.

younger than

know

he's

his almost sixty

an agent."

and on the

Michael Shaw?

for

Donovan was

OSS

Spencer smiled and shook his head. That was the

Donovan operated

many

fly.

Still,

way

Wild

Bill

the question

CHAPTER

3

October 23, 1942 missisquoi bay, Ontario came out of nowhere. No warning. No telltale bubbles or phosphorescent wake. One minute he was walking back to The silent

killer

his cabin on the British-registered Athenia,

boundfor Montreal; the

next thing he knew he wasfailing in thefrigid waters of the Atlantic,

watching as the last shadows qf the ship slipped beneath the dark surface of the ocean.

was gone. When had been no

the

time,

Barbara— the only woman he had ever loved— German torpedo ripped the Athenia

no chance

to reach her.

in two, there

As the ship sank, Shawfelt

go out of him. The water around him wasfiled with people and faming debris, the vestiges of destroyed lives and decimated the

life

memoriesfoating on the smoky waters of the Atlantic. The eerie glow of burningfuel lent an otherworldly aura

was

to the

nightmarish scene.

It

the closest thing to hell he'd ever seen.

Shaw came awake, sweat pouring from remembering where he was.

It

his body.

He

sat

up

in bed,

had been more than three years now,

THE -^AAEGA DECEPTION

22

but the vivid horror of the nightmare had not diminished.

only thing that kept Barbara alive in his memory, and he

pared to give

it

A full moon two

was

the pre-

up. At least not yet. lit

Shaw made

the interior of the cabin as

the spartan kitchen. retrieved

It

was not

It

was

sticks of split

wood and

tossed

them

way

his

was not

cold in the cabin; winter

far off.

to

He

into the cast iron

stove that dominated the small kitchen area. Embers from the banked fire

wood. The warmth began

ignited the dried

Shaw

mind racing back

shivered once, his

Barbara.

He shivered

to

fill

the small cabin.

to the night he'd lost

again, trying to shrug off the feeling of complete

despondency. He expected the nightmares, but the intrusion of the

memories

and he

in the middle of the

tried to ignore

Shaw walked tell,

day chipped

them. Usually,

to the

like

at the

now,

it

edge of his sanity

7 ,

did not work.

window. The morning would be

clear,

he could

but a building westerly wind would blow moisture in from the

Great Lakes, and cold would follow closely. supplies. Potatoes, dried beans, a

Shaw

little flour,

of bacon constituted his total stash. That, and a

never

let

quickly reviewed his

and the remains of a full tin

supply get too low. He would have

the coffee

Phillipsburg as soon as the

sun was up.

If

side

of coffee. to

head

He

into

the westerly winds contin-

ued, as expected, he would need more than

what he saw

in his cup-

boards.

Shaw poured water into He

a dented coffeepot and added the grounds.

placed the pot on the stove top and trudged back into the bedroom.

With the white brightness of the cabin, for

Shaw

pulled

on

his pants

reflected

and rummaged

a sweater. Inevitably, his thoughts

drifted

moon

filling

the small

in the dresser

back

to

drawers

September

3,

1939, the night Barbara had died, murdered by a German torpedo. Part of

him had

died that night as well. In the deepest reaches of his mind,

Shaw knew he was for his time to

just

going through the motions of

come. He'd

lost

living,

waiting

everything that ever mattered to him in

the cold depths of the Atlantic: his precious wife, his joy, his faith. All

because of the Nazis.

CHAPTER

23

3

Shaw had been happy

had secured the peace— at

Versailles

had been an attempt

Germany. The Treaty of

living in post-war

to punish,

But the treaty

least for a while.

and punish

had, to the detriment of

it

a sleeping Europe. The stringent terms of the treaty had stripped the

Germans of their

dignity,

had emerged with

and they had

The Nationalist Party

retaliated.

fanatical leader, Adolf Hitler.

its

Despite the building horror,

Shaw had been

But Shaw's happiness had had nothing

newspaper correspondent and everything

happy.

to

do with his job as a

do with Barbara. She'd

to

been with him every step of the way, supportive and loving. The two of

them had been a strong team. The

him back home were every insight as they

been

his

as

were a testimony

sounding board,

been the one

bit

who had

stories that

much

to his ability as a writer.

editor, researcher, wife,

maybe

and

Barbara had

friend.

She had

seen the rising Nazi menace and suggested that

they take a vacation back in the United States. sooner,

had distinguished

a product of her creativity and

If

only he had listened

they would have been out of harm's

way

before the

outbreak of war. Instead, his beloved Barbara had become one of the early victims of the Nazis'

Deep lived.

in his soul,

murderous rampage.

Shaw knew

was

Revenge was as strong a motive as

he would have his chance. Just he had no

on

that

idea, but

it

how

the only reason he

love.

He knew

that chance

that

still

someday

would come about,

certain.

He was counting

wool sweater over

his head, ran his

would come, he was

it.

Shaw

pulled the bulky knit

hand through

his hair to settle

its

tousled mess,

and

slipped his feet

into the boots next to the bed.

The smell of coffee

filled

the cabin.

Shaw removed the

stove top, poured the coffee into a deep settling the grounds,

which

mug

pot from the

without the preamble of

swirled in the coffee's darkness.

As he

sipped the steaming liquid, he thought about cooking breakfast but dis-

carded the idea in favor of starting for Phillipsburg. The round his island refuge

would take

five hours,

trip

from

counting the time he'd spend

THE -#AAEGA DECEPTION

24

war news out of Germany and England. News from

catching up on the the Pacific held

no

interest for him.

waking thoughts, and He'd have there

was

setting

little

He had a

enough sun, and Shaw

might be a perverted

Shaw just

carried his

beginning

to

occupy his

with the sun. In these northern latitudes

want

didn't

to get

sun and the cold temperatures that would

It

to

retribution to plan.

to get started

ness. Despite the emptiness in his soul, he vival.

war

private

but

instinct,

cup of coffee

to the

still it

ride in

had an

was

caught by the

still

there.

window where

peek through the thick pines and

on the dark-

instinct for sur-

was

the sun

leafless

hardwoods

populating the small island. Time to go. Retrieving three more far wall,

night's fire over the

mound

a manner, there would embers,

split

oak logs from

his woodpile next to the

he loaded them into the stove and shoveled ashes from

Shaw had

of dried wood. With the

still

be embers

fire

when he

banked

returned.

such

Those

long ago concluded, were not unlike the spark of

revenge that burned deep within him, banked against the day

would have the opportunity at the Third Reich

and

the barbarous SS.

Shaw

cold.

in

last

its

to kindle

it

when he

into a blazing inferno directed

black soul, represented by the Schutzstqffel, shivered again, this time not because of the

The very thought of the SS sent

ripples of

anger coursing through

his veins.

Shaw He

stepped out of the cabin and began the trek to Phillipsburg.

relished his

weekly

visits to the

of the dilapidated general store

ered boards of the store

The sky was

clear

was

Canadian town. The grizzled owner as

cold rays of sunshine poured their color.

despite his depressed state of mind, his spirits.

friendly as the

weath-

itself.

and

changing leaves, highlighting

lift

worn and

It

was a

down on

the

beautiful morning,

and the glowing leaves served

to

Then he thought of how much Barbara would have

enjoyed the beauty, and a melancholy

Shaw made

it

to

spirit settled

the dock, launched

watched as the building wind

filled

the

sail,

his

over him.

small sailboat, and

propelling the craft at a

CHAPTER

3

satisfactory rate.

Running with the wind, he

25

two hours. The return

Phillipsburg in less than

hour and twenty minutes

the general store relief.

He'd

that he

showed through

lost track of the time.

had maintained the

shore looked pretty

dying

would be against

trip

and would not be nearly as enjoyable.

the wind,

An

would make

calculated he

in the

Phillipsburg

much

later,

the weathered gray boards of

At one

correct course.

like

and Shaw heaved a sigh of

the trees

any

other.

been certain

point, he'd not

One

section of the Canadian

He had begun

to think that

Canadian wilderness would not be such a bad

was

just off his

The town was a

bow now, showing

through the

But

idea. trees.

collection of low-ceilinged log cabins scattered

about the edge of a clearing that had been formed by infrequent foot traffic.

The

single road through the area lay beneath

the winter. Before long, the bile

and truck would

in the village.

cease.

Motorized

snow would come, and Not that

was

traffic

traffic

rare,

snowpack most of by automo-

travel

was a common occurrence

and Shaw was surprised

see a green sedan parked near the store. Winter supplies,

were needed, were usually flown

by one of the bush

in

when

up

pilots

to

they in

Montreal. Cars were a strange sight in Phillipsburg.

The worn patina of the old looking for

all

was a welcome

store

the world like a friend waiting.

central location, served as church,

makeshift hotel, and store.

If

sedan suggested, he would be

Shaw mounted

there

town meeting

was a

store,

owing

The

He removed

store

to

its

place, post office,

stranger in town, as the

steps leading to the covered

porch and pushed through the door, stamping the clinging his boots.

Shaw,

in the store.

wooden plank

the

The

sight for

his sunglasses

mud

from

and looked around.

hadn't changed in the three years he'd lived on

Mississquoi Bay.

Among

its

other functions,

it

was a

Jean-Claude Richelieu, the short, rotund owner, the face of the earth

Shaw counted

was

place of refuge.

the only

man on

as a friend. There had been others,

but they had, one by one, fallen by the wayside during his long trek into the dark depression that possessed

him

like

a black demon.

THE ^AAEGA DECEPTION

26

Richelieu stood behind the counter as friend.

I

knew you would come,"

you come

today. After tonight,

would not be

woods

safe

I

will

you have what

sun shines

think. Very cold, indeed.

after the

I'm going to

Too cold

to trample the

week

friend.

me

to get

to get winter supplies. I

man

right,

ridiculously small fire."

list

glowed

Shaw handed him and worked wooden shelves

as

Shaw moved

stove's bulk.

for the invasion

Shaw went

Shaw

intelligent, inquisitive eyes.

Shaw had

there, their presence shielded

strangers.

noticed,

was an

older,

heavyset

coats.

man

The eyes of a lawyer, Shaw thought.

The other was a younger version of the older man. Each wore

heavy woolen

to the

near the heat, feeling instant ani-

by the two

of the interlopers,

at pulling

middle of the store. Chairs of vari-

in the

two men who were seated

mosity

I

Jean-Claude. Just the basics for now, please.

warm by your

by the

Am

either.

joked.

ous types and sizes were sprinkled around the stove, and

One

Be

not be back until the

will

playing the pack mule

feel like

the supplies from the sagging

failed to see

through

snow."

Jean-Claude took the

potbellied stove that

my

will need,

"And you do not

"You are always

be back next

I'll

I

right?" the gray-haired

cal

good

"It is

be very cold, and your small boat

need a few things, Jean-Claude. Enough

the next few weeks.

with

my

entered. "Ah, greeted.

of Quebec."

"I just

sure

it

Shaw owner

the portly

identi-

Both looked up as Shaw warmed himself near

the stove.

"Michael Shaw?" the older

Shaw was

surprised.

man

He looked

asked.

at the

man and

nodded, not want-

ing to be drawn into an unwanted conversation. "I'm

Mark

Bill

Daniels,"

held out his sociable type. "I

Donovan," the

Donovan

man

said, rising

didn't hear that

prefer to pick

seat. "This is

continued, indicating his partner.

hand and Shaw ignored I

from his

my own

it.

you were

friends, Mr.

"I

Donovan

heard you were not the

rude."

Donovan," Shaw

said.

CHAPTER

27

3

"Like you've already picked your enemies?"

Shaw "I

glared at the squat

man. "What's that supposed

heard you had certain enemies

and white photograph and handed particular uniform,

under

Donovan removed a black

is all."

Shaw. "Enemies

to

mean?"

who wear that

The U-boat that sank the Athenia was

believe.

I

command

direct

it

to

of the SS to strike targets of opportunity.

Civilian targets."

Shaw

accepted the photo and stared at the image, the black SS uni-

form burning into his mind. The

portrait of

a sinking Athenia flashed

through his memory. He closed his eyes against the

horrific sight. After

the scene evaporated, he returned the photo to Donovan.

"I'm sorry,"

done that

Shaw

if I'd

Donovan

said with genuine concern.

known how

it

would

looked at Donovan.

"I

"I

wouldn't have

affect you."

thought that was the idea," he

said,

not bothering to disguise his contempt.

Donovan shook

Shaw watched said.

Wild

Bill

Donovan

his head. "That's not the

the

man

way

I

operate."

with a grudging respect. "Donovan, you

Donovan?" smiled. "I've been called that.

I

don't necessarily agree

with the assessment, but that's me."

Mike Shaw

know your

"I

his heart rate increase; his senses

felt

story,

Shaw. About your time

your wife's death, and about your feelings the SS. I'm offering

you a job.

I

"I

don't

"I

"albeit

in

alive.

Germany, about

German Navy and

can promise you that you

ing directly with both those entities,

have heard

for the

came

will

be deal-

and one more you may never

of."

know what you

know you speak

you know, Mr. Donovan—"

think

perfect

German," Donovan interrupted,

with an Austrian accent. You could pass as a native. Your

grandfather and father are both from Austria. They got out, along

with you. You were a syndicated correspondent after World

and you

left

he professed

when to be.

it

became apparent

You were on

that Hitler

was not

the British ship Athenia

War

I,

the savior

when

she

THE -^AAEGA DECEPTION

28

was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat September

3,

1939.

Your wife died that night, and you disappeared from the face of the earth.

got your location from your syndicate. Friday

I

ply day. vor,

up

also

I

know you

and I'm about

you

to give

to you. Technically,

is

your resup-

hate the SS and the Nazis with equal the opportunity to strike back. But

could have you drafted into the

I

ferit's

army and

then have you assigned to OSS from there, but that would not work.

You and "I

know why."

both

I

don't believe you, Mister Donovan,"

Bill

Donovan

"In the

place,

first

my

work, what work

you

see, that's out."

Donovan "So "I

smiled.

I

I

want

an

ing like

said.

my I

syndicate does not

still

know where I am. I send

do, via courier, with

"Seems

I've

no return address. So

been caught," he

said.

would seem. What do you want?" Shaw asked.

it

suppose

"This

Shaw

glared at Shaw.

owe you an to hear,"

explanation," the head of the

Mark

said.

Daniels spoke up, his statement seem-

Donovan had remained

intrusion.

OSS

tight-lipped

about

Michael Shaw, but Daniels had bided his time, knowing an explanation

would eventually be

offered.

"An explanation would be from Daniels and back

Donovan The

Richelieu.

Shaw had "It's "I

store

simple,

He glanced

conceded, looking

to

and complicated," Donovan like

roared in mirth.

that territory

a lawyer,"

Shaw and

Shaw

"A lawyer? No.

quipped. Deceitful?

Most

defi-

territory."

would be?" Shaw continued.

my way of thinking,

The OSS."

Daniels.

said.

"Development of the most important organization least to

away

in the direction of Jean-Claude

Donovan turned back

comes with the

"And

Shaw

owner was going about the business of filling the order

thought you looked

It

nice,"

the time.

Donovan.

cleared his throat.

given him.

Donovan nitely.

to

Now was

in the world, at

Mr. Shaw. The Office of Strategic Services.

CHAPTER

Shaw nodded. a

man

that's

to

29

3

heard of the OSS," he smiled. "You can't force

"I've

be a good agent, can you, Mr. Donovan? Provided, of course,

what you had

"No, Mr. Shaw,

in mind."

But

can't.

I

I

man

can give a

the opportunity to

man who

serve his country and himself. Especially to a

has served so

expertly already." "That's

an

noise to his right drew his attention.

move

over a chair trying to

Donovan turned

Mark

Shaw

Mr. Shaw,"

it,

until Daniels

had seated

have mutual

friends."

my

at

Shaw

said, taking

himself. "As

your

story,"

Shaw

I

He

suffice to quell

"So,"

I

might add, whose name

should save that for

to see,

to find

you.

to

if

He

said to explain that he

the situation

be angry but hopes

"finding

my

had not

called

explanation will

you would have of course done

nothing to further our victory in the war I

made

effort

had you not been

a rather ambitious statement to

of field services, Mr. Daniels here. effect that

later."

won't we?"

Donovan began,

worth finding.

is

your temper."

have

"We'll

you

I

said.

me where

fully expects

a seat, then waiting

am."

we

would have never violated a confidence it.

his

you probably have guessed, we

A friend,

the world, but perhaps

"Our friend told

for

permission to

you would never have found me. As

syndicate has no idea where

"It's

me

not leave you

to continue.

"But our mutual friend does.

known around

gives

I'll

Michael Shaw.

Donovan

"Apparently. Otherwise said,

Mark.

one of the chairs surrounding the stove and waved

hands expansively, the signal "So be

Daniels had almost fallen

to Daniels. "Don't worry,

Donovan looked back sat in

A

said.

closer to the conversation.

out of this conversation, provided Mr. continue."

Donovan," Shaw

interesting statement, Mr.

I

think

it

you were the best agent we had

my

director

was something in the

to the

OSS. Of course,

he was somewhat dismayed. Mr. Daniels has never heard of you.

THE ^AAEGA DECEPTION

30

That's not the case, of course, with our other friends across the Atlantic."

Mark

moved forward

Daniels

least his rendition of

Shaw

it,

was

sure

what he was about

"My

information, as

free to dispute

anything

I

I

crossed his legs, the

warmth was welcome. He Bill

Donovan.

Shaw, adjusted his

to

say—is

and

chair,

—and here, Mr. Shaw,

understand

might

He

hear from

to

Donovan glanced from Daniels began.

story, or at

fascinating.

waited for Donovan to continue.

heat from the stove soaking into him. The

was not

Donovan's

in his chair.

it

that although

feel

you were, and

are,

a legitimate correspondent for an American newspaper syndicate,

you

are

much

controlled

more. While your professional

by the newspaper syndicate, and your

personality,

Here

interest.

That

clature of the business.

Mark

Daniels Sir

I

control field agents.

"So

the central

Shaw

for

your

it is.

must At

say.

were

way

was

offices

the tale.

story,"

Shaw It

is

it

Shaw?"

father

who

actually

began the

between the Shaw family and MI-6.

put. Living in Europe, to information,

you

Mr.

replied.

was your

relationship

natural progression for

direct con-

true."

and Mansfield Smith-Cummings, the

your father access

was your

was my understanding."

Navy

friends. 'A long-time British it

London

your

The chief of MI-6 does not customarily

least that

To continue.

somewhat informal Your father

for

to respond, to refute the

Sinclair, before his death,

smiled thinly. "Normally that

is

another side to your

your de facto control

"But 'normal' does not apply to you, does "This

seemingly be

wise to use the nomen-

was completely absorbed by

Hugh

A bit unusual, Shaw

may

said nothing.

"Admiral trol.

is

it is

came from

Donovan paused, waiting

Shaw

claim.

there

think

to say,

is

time on the European continent of MI-6."

I

life

and

connection,'

in

and he

to join

first

Germany

director of MI-6, I

believe,

in particular,

judiciously used

your father

is

in his

it.

It

the

gave

was a

endeavors with

MI-6. But you went a step further. You actually were trained in

all

the

CHAPTER nasty

31

3

nuances so necessary

little

with British code devices,

a British agent. You are familiar

to

field craft,

and such.

you

In short,

are

an

agent in waiting. I'm here to end that waiting, Michael Shaw. The rest is

up

to

you."

'TT1

have

about

to think

some other commitments

I

it,"

have

Shaw here.

said after a pause. "There are

doubt

I

I

can do what

it is

you

want of me." Jean-Claude Richelieu approached the small group carrying a

wooden box

of supplies.

"I

mean

don't

to interrupt,

my

friend,"

he

began, directing his attention toward Shaw, "but you must do what this

man

wants. Forgive me, gentlemen, for listening to your conver-

you

sation, but, as

"Quite

see,

it is

a small store.

I

could not help myself."

Donovan answered.

all right,"

Richelieu turned his attention back to Shaw. "Michael, self

have

told

me what

at the evil that

how he

is

in

your

heart.

has taken over in Europe.

hates the

evil.

You have no

desire to strike at the heart of evil in

bidding and

The two

rid

Of your I

have

It is

yourself of the torment within

back

desire to strike told

you of God and

interest in God, but

Germany.

you your-

I

know

of the

possible to do God's

you

same

at the

are not mutually exclusive." Jean-Claude paused.

time.

"You must

go," he whispered.

Michael at first

meet

Shaw

buried his face in his hands.

thought the

theirs,

"When

man was

when he

I

need

to leave?"

to Daniels

time. "Immediately, Mr.

Shaw

raised his face to

asked.

and the younger man spoke

Shaw.

We

have a deadline which

approaching. Events are happening quickly.

November

Daniels

he was dry-eyed. will

Donovan looked first

crying, but

Donovan and

9.

We want you

for the is

in Berlin

Your journey begins there."

Shaw's face twisted

in hatred.

"I'll

fast

be there," he said simply.

by

CHAPTER

4 October 24, 1942

peenemunde,

baltic sea

The cold rays of winter sunlight breaking through the gray overcast did nothing to

warm Wernher von

Braun's mood.

He gazed

at the

barren yard outside his window. There had been an early winter surge,

and the weather was verging on the unbearable. Von Braun couldn't help but compare his

mood

to the

chilling cold that painted his office ice,

von Braun was sweating. He glanced once again out

wanting his

grayness of the day. Despite the

windows with geometric

life.

for all the

He

world

be free of the nightmare that had invaded

to

leafed through the papers littering his desk

his colleague, Kurt Daluege,

"These calculations are

who was correct,

"Yes, Herr

I

errors.

von Braun.

I

my

friend?"

at

von Braun asked. His

to control his voice.

have gone over them repeatedly.

Perhaps you can detect any error

have become too

and glanced

across from him.

concern was evident despite his attempt

no

patterns of

the window,

familiar with the data."

I

I

can find

might have overlooked.

THE ^AAEGA DECEPTION

34

Von Braun sighed as he reviewed obvious mistake.

It

was not

there.

another severe night. thing he

knew

He

as the

pear.

He knew

back

to the

was

this,"

have

feel

right.

to

possible.

along with the SS, would disap-

Von Braun

forced his attention

is

—no, demanded—

wanted

I

Oberstgrupenfuhrer von Liebman. Ddnitz will

be informed."

"Forgive me, Herr I

Project,

he began, "what

to report this to

also

snowfall, a prelude, he knew, to

be possible within the assigned time frame.

for this project will not

have

out the window,

across the desk.

"According to

will

an

shifted uneasily in his chair, wishing that this

Omega

neither

man

He glanced again

new

watching the beginning of a

the calculations, searching for

von Braun, but

this

.

.

have never before seen a request

.

this

for

.

.

.

project does not

such a motor.

If

were

I

to speculate. ..."

Von Braun held up for either of us. will

be

his hand.

"Do not speculate,

We do what we are

told

and hope

utilized in other directions. Until then,

Kurt.

that

he

hope that that

"I

will

will

be a defense should

it

But you should

know

efforts

it

was

his fears

he

become necessary,"

said, regret evident in his voice. "I will, of course,

efforts.

not be good

we work for Germany."

Kurt Daluege nodded his understanding, but voiced.

It

someday our

continue

my

that the atmosphere in the rocket engine

research and development center does not go well with the black uni-

forms so

much

in evidence."

Von Braun understood.

It

was

the

same throughout

Peenemunde complex. The black uniforms of

the

the SS dominated the

rocket engine center as well as the test sites to the west, the housing units to the south,

having

its

own

and the

was

itself,

problems with the SS.

What von Braun— as

technical

—had feared had become

ity

capricious

camp. The Wehrmacht,

military

hands of the

head of the German research

reality.

Peenemunde was

facil-

falling into the

Schutzstaffel.

They had gained a foothold with the

installation of General

Liebman, the de facto head of Omega. In the beginning

it

was

to

von

have

CHAPTER

4

been nothing more than a supervisory

had quickly

position, but that

changed when Heinrich Himmler moved greater numbers of SS troops

Now, as von Braun

into the Baltic complex.

reflected,

he realized

how

completely Himmler, through von Liebman, controlled the develop-

ment of what he

called the

Omega

System.

The Omega System was not simply a new weapons system, but a completely tactical

new

concept in waging war, involving not only the use of

weapons

in

a strategic

warfare. But, as he pondered tried

but the introduction of psychological

the concept

during the last great war. To a degree,

tually the tactics tional warfare.

had

failed,

by

was not

had worked

it

theoretical scientist,

was not

had been

to

conven-

this time.

interested in or

new weapon

system. But he,

Kurt Daluege, could and had speculated. Several possibilities

existed, but the only

one that encompassed

all

Daluege's concern. myself.

When

having on

I

"I will

speak

to

this project,

he

than

Von Braun smiled in his heart:

coincide. theless,

It

made

as

little

"I

to the

replied,

speak

first

more committed

is

good of Germany."

Daluege had just said what he had

The goals of the SS and Germany did not always that

coalition

had become apparent but was, never-

But what

to voice.

still

bothered von Braun the

between the SS and the Kriegsmarine. That

sense as anything else that

you gone from here so.

using von Braun's

believe the SS

"Be careful yourself. Such words, could see

men

will listen."

ruefully.

was something

dangerous

most was the

addressing

Oberstgrupenfuhrer von Liebman

to

demonstrate his concern.

to the Reichsfuhrer-SS

known

finally said,

States.

point out the detrimental effect the presence of his

"Be careful, Wernher," Daluege

name

the ramifications being

system always came up the same: the United

"Leave the SS to me, Kurt," von Braun

to

It

then, but even-

which had forced Germany back

the possible targets for the

built into the

is

so new.

Von Braun wondered what would happen

Von Braun, as a restricted like

role,

it,

And I need you

if

was going

spoken outside

in short order.

in the

on.

It is

motor shop."

this office,

extremely dangerous

THE ^0-AAEGA DECEPTION

36

Kurt Daluege grinned.

"If

I

did not

know

better,

I

would think you

are interested only in getting this rocket off the ground."

"I'm a scientist, Kurt. Nothing more. fecting

my

ideas

"Even science

Then

against humanity, Wernher.

And

justice will

the only standard

should

we must

we

lose.

Von Braun

interested only in per-

when used

nothing more than a tool of the

it is

and science

create a danger-

be only a function of the powerful. Power

by which

have the power, the stances,

am

sake will be no defense

for science's

leaders, the politically powerful. Politics

ous mix.

I

and designs."

this

war

be judged. The winner

will

.

.

.

this

.

.

.

will

Under these circum-

loser will be powerless.

we do

win. There will be no defense for what

This

is

here

holocaust will bury us in that case."

listened intently to his friend

and fellow

scientist.

Such

—

thoughts had also intruded his mind tions that offered

disturbing, malignant rumina-

no answer. As he listened

to Daluege,

something

about what his friend said made sense. There was another aspect, however, that

left

would turn out

to

him

The word

cold.

had chosen, he

his friend

feared,

be apocalyptic: holocaust.

Daluege stood to leave. He had seen the look in von Braun's gentle

eyes, the look that sought justification

where there was none. He

gathered his notes and diagrams, bundling them under his arm as he

moved toward

the door.

"Don't underestimate

does not yet have the

von Liebman

political

likes of the Reichsfuhrer-SS.

prowess necessary

He can be no

Von Braun watched Daluege left.

Von Braun

felt

would be cold

this year, colder

more weeks, winter would as isolated

by the

exit the office, the

window an

strike

torturous

with

compete with the

to

solace in this situation."

the weight of the silence as

the solitude. Outside the Baltic

or Himmler. Befehlshaber Donitz

early

it

door closing as he

closed in

snow began

on him

falling.

than normal. Before too full fury.

in

The

many

Peenemunde would be

German winter as von Braun now

felt.

CHAPTER

5

november

1942

1,

bletchley park, buckinghamshire Michael Shaw's mind reeled from the events of the past week.

he thought about

it,

been expected,

had been

exploits with

it

the meeting with Wild

Bill

Donovan had not only

Donovan's

inevitable.

When

recitation of

Shaw's

MI-6 had been almost comical. The reaction of Mark

Daniels had been extremely amusing.

What had

not been such a

flight

of fantasy had been the intervening seven days since the meeting.

Shaw had accepted the assignment Donovan had offered, demanding only sketchy information up front. The details would be later.

In a whirlwind of activity,

Shaw had accompanied Donovan and

Daniels back to Washington. That of three days.

It

filled in

trip

alone had taken the better part

had been somewhat of a

surprise, but a British

Lancaster bomber had been waiting to ferry him across the North Atlantic to

London. He'd been assigned berthing on

been immediately thrust three years earlier.

into the

arrival

harrowing world he had

and had

left

behind

THE -^AAEGA DECEPTION

38

known

Station X,

officially

as the Government Code and Cipher

was not

School, the British decoding section of British Intelligence,

Michael

Shaw remembered. He

had, of course,

known

had the opportunity

located at Bletchley Park, but until now, he'd not to visit.

made

All his previous contacts had been

as

was

the station

via radio or courier.

The main building was a stone and timber mansion northwest of

London

seemed

that

incongruity

was

rather ostentatious for

its

the motley collection of white clapboard buildings

which reminded Shaw of

located behind the mansion,

Oklahoma dust bowl during

seen of the

purpose. Adding to the

Temporary wooden steps led

the

pictures he'd

Depression years.

into the elongated buildings. Inside, a

seriousness permeated the air like an uneasy cloud.

When Shaw had come away with

he'd

been briefed

at

OSS headquarters

the feeling that the

in

Washington,

men and women

sequestered

within the brick walls on Nebraska Avenue were playing an engrossing

game. But here

at Bletchley Park,

perhaps because

it

was

narrow hallway

closer to the actual war, every face in the

that

reflected a

Shaw

deadly earnestness. Following the directions he'd been given,

soon came

a sparsely furnished reception area at the end of the

to

Shaw?"

"Captain

wooden The right

said the

young man seated behind a

scarred

title

captain caught

Shaw

off guard,

and he

away. He'd been assigned the rank of captain

some perverse

didn't respond

Army

in the U.S.

regulation within the OSS, but this

was

time he'd been addressed as such. "Captain Shaw?" the

man

hall.

desk.

to satisfy first

much

the

young

repeated.

"I'm Shaw," he answered.

"The major

soon as you

Shaw

is

waiting for you, Captain.

arrived. Follow

fell

into step

whether the young merely a

He

said to

man

in as

me, please."

behind the dark-haired

civilian dressed

show you

could

up

tell

clerk.

He wondered

that he, Michael Jason Shaw,

in the

was

uniform of an army captain. By

Shaw's reasoning, his uneasiness had

to

be apparent. The clerk

CHAPTER

39

5

stopped in front of an unmarked door and knocked. Without waiting for

a reply, he entered, holding the door for Shaw. "This

Captain Shaw," the clerk informed the secretary seated

is

behind another battered wooden desk. The secretary nodded, and the clerk proceeded to a door behind the desk.

Shaw

noticed that the outer office

No

sonal paraphernalia.

pictures

was devoid

on the

walls,

any type of

of

by the

desk. Aside from the straight-backed chair occupied

and the desk, the only other

wooden bench along

A

ally sterile.

The

the side wall.

opened the

was a room

secretary

room was a

work, function-

for

presence.

second door,

this time

Shaw heard

the muffled reply,

young man

into the room,

waiting for a

and the

clerk

door.

As Shaw followed

muted

It

of furniture in the

room where pleasure knew no

clerk tapped lightly at the

response before entering.

to see

article

the

an elegant contrast

to the outer office.

he was surprised

The walls were painted a

blue, accented in a darker, richer tone. Polished

gleamed between the vibrant colors of an assortment of

oak

flooring

oriental area

rugs. English watercolors, mostly landscapes in shades of gray

muted

blues,

nice patina

hung on

the walls.

by the many

visitors

The

furniture

who had

was

leather,

one

Shaw

who had

of his father.

for

suddenly occurred

ever meant anything to him

His father had died while in

It

Shaw was

worn

passed through the

during the last four years. The smell of rich tobacco

reminding

was

to

filled

a return

trip to

who

out her adult

life,

and to

a

office

the office,

Shaw that every-

dead.

covering the

political climate

prewar Germany. The message from his mother had come too

his mother,

per-

no photographs on the

the States to attend the funeral.

late

A few months later,

had suffered a series of respiratory ailments throughsimply gave up on

living.

The

doctor's report said she

had died of unknown causes, but Shaw now understood the

debilitat-

ing emptiness that followed the death of a spouse, and her death

no longer a mystery

to him;

he understood more than he cared

was

to. Still

he wondered whether his presence would have made a difference.

THE -^AAEGA DECEPTION

40

Again he'd been unable

forced his attention

balding pulled

man who

sat

Shaw was

"Please

sit

away from

pate.

Shaw

to the

Shaw had

folder," the

Shaw

felt

his

said,

motioning

was

cool

and

soft.

major requested, not bothering

himself blush

was

to the chair

peruse the

to

The weariness

resting

on

to

look up.

when he

realized that his eyes

his chest.

He had almost gone

head and handed the

instinctively to adjust the old

brown

thick,

as he took the envelope with his

file

were closed to sleep.

replied with typical British decoleft

hand. His right hand

meerschaum between

his teeth.

moved

He

deftly

the sealed envelope with a burnished brass letter opener

each of the forms contained in the

Shaw

waited,

amused

seemed

file,

that his

to find

He

to the major.

removed the contents. As he methodically worked

British officer

reg-

battled since leaving home swept over him.

"Your

his chin

rose

commando

in a British

major continued

into the chair as the

"Thank you, Captain," the major

slit

and back

familiar with the regiment.

papers in front of him. The leather

rum

1939,

emblems on the major's uni-

noticed the

and membership

down, Captain," the major

Shaw eased

shook

his brooding

3,

from the desk.

directly across

and

September

to the events of

behind the large desk in front of him. The major

form, indicating his rank

that

because the note from

after his mother's burial.

on a well-worn meerschaum pipe as a blue cloud of smoke

above his balding

iment.

weeks

until

mind could wander

Before his

Shaw

to attend the funeral,

had not arrived

the coroner

life

his

way

and

through

he puffed absently on his

pipe.

could be as interesting as the

it.

"Good," the major muttered. "Very good, indeed," he repeated and

looked at Shaw. "You speak perfect German, Captain?"

"With an Austrian accent, yes, but

fluently,"

Shaw answered

in

proper Austrian German.

"Very good. Where you are going, your German will be put to the test.

But that won't be new

to you," the

major

said,

"You've been there before and done an excellent job."

looking up.

CHAPTER

41

5

"And where

Shaw

Major?"

that be,

will

asked,

ignoring the

commendation.

The major smiled. "At

this

moment,

Captain, I'm not at liberty to

say."

"When

will

you be

at liberty to

say?"

The major met Shaw's gaze with a determined time, Captain," he

stare. "All in

good

answered with no warmth. "Now," the major began

again, pushing the

file

"what do you know of a place

to the side,

called

Wewelsburg?" "Only that

a castle of some

it's

Westphalia. Near Paderborn.

It

sort,

in

was rumored

to

mountains of

the

be the ..."

thought for a moment, "for lack of a better description, the

Shaw

spiritual

headquarters of the Schutzstaffel."

The major laughed, a

toward the

Shaw

religious, shall

instantly

we

that,

I

say, in

expect.

your

file."

in the

forms that

Whatever they were, he'd considered

since that September night in 1939.

"You would be well-advised, Major,

you

dencies, as

call

them, on

my

part.

The major read Shaw's reaction ing comment, tion of

noted your tendency

I

wondered what was contained

reflected his religious tendencies.

them dead

bone-chilling chortle that shocked

cold,

Shaw. "Yes. You would say

I

to forget

"Oh,

perfectly.

assure you, Captain; but enough.

Wewelsburg

is

any

religious ten-

That was a long time ago." it's

only a pass-

And your

probably closer to the truth than what most of

us in British Intelligence care to ascribe to the hellish place.

you

say, the spiritual headquarters of the SS.

the place.

And

.

.

.

,"

uncomfortably in his

Wewelsburg

is

descrip-

We've yet

the major noticed that chair.

"Don't worry,

not your assigned mission.

I

Shaw was Captain,

It is,

as

to penetrate

shifting

infiltrating

asked simply

to deter-

mine your knowledge of the SS." "It's

not, I'm sure,

"You are quite background

may

what

it

will

be after you are through with me."

correct, Captain," the

be an

major

replied.

asset in this situation, though."

"Your religious

THE -0-MEGA DECEPTION

42

Shaw knew what

the

gious, he realized. But

It

had been a natural

father

had been

had been

it

encumbrance he'd seen

man was

old-line

German

in

which he'd been

way

that September night,

had had no reason

had termed

his father

most had

At times he

workings of a

the Holy Spirit he'd once the

until

from the truth he'd

he envisaged

how

the

deep in his soul, with a pang of cer-

still felt

But he could not attribute the feeling

spirit.

known

so well. But

how

this

would apply

to to

German SS was beyond him. major

"Collins," the

him

it,

And Shaw,

had died within him as surely as the three people he loved

died.

tainty, the

it.

to stray

learned as a child. Now, as he thought about Trinity

raised. His

Protestant. "Strictness tempered with

compassion" was the

Holy

reli-

people considered to be religious.

home

result of the

He had been

part of his being, not the tacked-on

many

in so

talking about.

"Would you

to the office.

please.

Would you

"Tea will be

cup of

like

fine,

coffee, but

addressing the clerk

said,

tea,

Captain?" he asked Shaw.

else,

Shaw

escorted

and me some

fetch the captain

anything

Major,"

who had

He would have

replied.

preferred a

he knew that such a luxury was impossible.

"Tea, then, Collins, for two.

Now, Captain,

let

us begin."

The bald major rearranged the forms and papers on the desktop

and then, with more formality than Shaw deemed necessary, began. "Does the date November 9 mean anything major asked, his tone changing from congenial to

to

you, Captain?" the

to formal. "In relation

Germany?" "It's

eight days from today

Shaw answered, "That

he recalled from some of his research.

reciting facts

correct, Captain.

is

By

beginning of Hitler's power. ure, at least

and the date of the Munich putsch, 1923,"

if

one considers

its

For

far as

it

goes,

it

was

the

was a

fail-

it

original objective."

German

shouldn't have worked,"

"And, as

practical purposes,

most standards, the putsch

"To create disarray within the

A bluff that

all

political parties of that day.

Shaw

didn't work.

added.

What

the National Socialist Party into the limelight of

it

did do

German

was

to bring

politics. Until

CHAPTER November

the

43

5

debacle, Hitler's party

was nothing more than a

gathering of Bavarians. But from the debris of the putsch

local

was born

the

Frontbann."

"The emergency formation," "I

am

impressed, Captain.

emergency formation.

German Hitler

Men

Shaw

You

translated.

are indeed well-informed. Yes, the

from the SA, the Free Corps, and the North

National-Socialists joined the

new

organization, providing

with an even larger base from which to work."

"Forgive me, Major, but we're talking ancient history here.

has

this to

What

do with me?"

The major smiled again

just as the

door opened and Collins deliv-

ered a silver tea service with two cups and saucers. Both until the tea

was served and

my

waited

may

find a

had gone.

the clerk

"Bear with me, Captain," the major continued. "You note of logic in

men

madness."

Shaw nodded. "The

now

defunct SA, renamed the Frontbann, which never had

more than two thousand men, suddenly jumped

to

over thirty thousand."

"But the Frontbann never had anything to do with the SS. Not directly,

anyway."

"That

is true,

that

November 9

War

Ministry,

ing.

The German

Captain. But the beginning of the date. Hitler

where some of

and

end

his cronies finally

Hitler's

men were

is

dated from

marched on the

occupying the build-

police overreacted, resulting in the death of sixteen

National Socialists and three

German policemen.

Nazi party were arrested.

would have been a devastating blow

It

most organizations. For Adolf "Forgive me,

Hitler,

Major—" Shaw

it

was

All the leaders of the to

the perfect springboard."

started to interrupt, but the major

held up his hand.

"The

point, Captain, is that

on the calendar be

for the Nazis.

specific, before that date."

"Why?"

November 9

is

And we want you

more than in

just a date

Germany, Berlin

to

THE -^AAEGA DECEPTION

44

It

was a

knew deep again

if

simple question with a complex answer. The British major

in his soul that

Michael

Shaw might never see

he accepted the assignment he was about

major also

knew

be offered. The

to

was

that withholding certain information

the success of the mission. Consequently, he

Shaw

apprehension as he prepared to send

felt

the free world

essential to

a certain amount of

into the lion's den.

With a measured calmness, the major began, "The Nazis have an scheduled for the ninth at 10 p.m."

initiation rite

Shaw

sat forward in his chair, his tea forgotten.

word

the back of his neck stand up at the

"What kind of

"An

initiation?"

initiation into the

Shaw

He

felt

the hair

on

initiation.

asked.

Men

Order of Nordic

of the Third Reich," the

major answered.

Shaw ring to

it.

felt

his breath catch in his throat.

"And we're

talking about

.

"The Schutzstaffel. The SS. You

.

.

The name had an ominous

?" he asked.

be present at the SS initiation

will

next Monday, Captain."

Shaw

felt

his pulse accelerate; his heart

cavity with alarming intensity. For the office,

Shaw was unable

his chest

time since entering the

to speak.

"One of the reasons I'm interested because of what you

thumped against

first

in

your

religious

will find inside the SS. Heinrich

background

Himmler has

is

cre-

ated a mirror image of most religious orientations. You will find an organization dedicated to the evils of the Nazi party, and the only

chance you have of understanding

this

abomination

is

to relate

religious experience. For those in the SS, the organization ior.

Himmler has touched every

imperative that

an SS man's

facet of

you understand

this

is

it

a

the sav-

existence.

because understanding

to

It is

may

be

the only edge you'll have."

Shaw This

sat back, expelling breath

was not what he'd

expected.

It

he did not

was

envisioned, and this major had yet to

a part of the

far

tell

realize

more

he was holding.

diabolical

than he'd

him why he was becoming

most fiendish organization ever

created.

CHAPTER "You

will

have a couple of days here

you with

iarize

you contact good

stead.

at Bletchley.

and procedures you

certain codes

see

you can use a

Shaw nodded

We

use

will

Your previous training and experience

us. I

45

5

will famil-

when and

if

put you in

will

key."

affirmation.

"I

send about seventeen words and

receive twenty-five. I'm out of practice, though."

The

British

major made a notation on a piece of paper in front of

him, and smiled. "Not what

nothing at

all.

And you

hoped

I'd

of course, but better than

for,

have the opportunity

will

to practice in the

coming days."

Shaw "You your

stared into his half-empty teacup.

France by

will enter

way

to Berlin

by

You

train.

Shaw's head jerked up

way

of the northern coast and

make

are expected."

at the statement, surprise

showing on

his

face. "I

know you've been

told

him

in Berlin.

Shaw shook this 'second

That

his

man

head

man' might

in

man

found off Nantucket.

made arrangements

Prior to his death, our agent join

about the

will

for

be you, only you

amazement. "Has

it

will

man

to

be alone."

occurred to

you

that

also be facing certain death? Given the

cumstances of your agent's death, compromise

Shaw

a second

cir-

almost certain,"

is

argued.

"We

don't think so. The information

consumption. Our

man was

was passed along only

for

our

not actually working in the section where

he obtained the information." "I

to

don't

buy

that,"

Shaw

snapped. "Sounds

like

you're sending

almost certain death. Imprisonment as a spy, at the very

What's so important that such a

The major cleared is classified,

his throat.

one

is

at

"What I'm about

Pennsylvania Avenue.

10 Downing

The

least.

must be taken?"

your eyes only. Three copies

in this office;

something."

risk

me

exist.

Street,

limited

I

to

tell

you, Captain,

have one copy here

and the

distribution

third

is

should

at tell

1600

you

^MEGA

THE

4 6

Shaw nodded

and waited

slightly

for the

"We have a name—Omega, one dead out of Germany, none of which intelligence people, here

same

must never allow in

any of the

tures

to

and across the pond,

be used. As

I

reports, just allusions

come from some

major

agent,

to continue.

and numerous

conclusive in and of

is

The Germans are about

conclusion.

DECEPTION

Our best

come up with

the

produce a weapon that

to

said, there is

and

all

itself.

reports

no

we

definitive material

conjectures. But those conjec-

of our best people. Unfortunately, none of those

people has the necessary requisites to penetrate to the heart of the project, to

where we believe the main systems

"Where

"A the

is

Shaw asked

that?"

fishing village

named Peenemunde,

main development area

"What

"We

classes,

will

be developed."

wearily. in the Baltic, believed to

for particular classes of

be

weapons."

Major?"

don't know, Captain Shaw.

obtain information on the place. So

and troop movement information "None conclusive,

We

far,

have been doing our best

we have

to

only scattered reports

in the Baltic."

right?"

"Exactly," the major answered. "According to our information, the

Sturmbannfuhrer you are

detachment

at

to replace is to be assigned to the defense

Peenemunde. About

this

we

are certain.

chance we've been waiting on. This has been a year.

We

cannot

let

that, disrupt the plans that "If this

has been

have had someone

Someone

have been

in the

else in

other than me.

I

works

mind

was

might add, that he

He was

will

for

almost at

laid."

for

almost a year, then you must

to take the

Sturmbannfuhrer's place.

man was prepared Unfortunately, we discovered,

the assignment.

works

the one

an unrelated agent

recruited just over a

"Quite true, Captain. Our

problem.

in the

the death of one agent,

It's

week

to carry

ago."

through on

quite accidentally

I

be unable to continue due to a chronic health

willing, but the

prime minister put the bash on

it.

You

replacement as long ago as midsummer. You might

were considered

for

say you are the

first

alternate."

CHAPTER "And

47

5

man. Where

the original

is

he?"

"Here in England, where he will remain until cluded.

You can

having even the "Since

it's

con-

from your vantage point, the inadvisability of

see,

possibility of

my

this operation is

that

life

compromise."

would be compromised,

I

would have

to

agree with you."

"Good. Then

let

France and travel by

move

us

on.

rail to Berlin,

of the SS Totenkopf division, your the

same

the

men

was

division, in records

with

You

be landing in the north of

will

where you

new

will

We

unit.

be met by members

have another agent

in

and personnel. You must understand that

whom you will be dealing are true SS members. They

able only to verify your existence to them.

Our agent

think they are

will

meeting another true SS man. With our agent in place, we've been able to

have you assigned

to

Peenemiinde,

Sturmbannfuhrer. You will never reasons. After the

know who

ceremony on November

replacing that agent

9,

which you

leged to attend as an SS-Sturmbannfuhrer,

Peenemiinde, where you will be a

the is,

you

field officer in

original

for security

will

be

privi-

transfer

will

to

the garrison there,

assigned to base security."

"And from "From

there?"

there,

it's

up

to you.

We

need

to

concerning a special weapon have any

know whether

validity.

That

the rumors

will

be your

assignment. Find out about that weapon."

"The problem as

I

see

it,

then,"

Shaw

to the front of his chair, "is to distinguish

began, moving once again

between what

is

being pro-

duced there as a normal course of development and what, thing,

is

if

any-

being produced as a specific weapon with a specific target in

mind." "I

major I

know

it

sounds nebulous, but

said, getting up,

suggest you get to

it.

"you have

that's

about

—

Captain.

Now," the

Should you have any problems, please, do not

me know. I'm sure we can iron may how do you Yanks say—pop up."

hesitate to let

it,

a lot to learn in your few days here.

out any rough spots that

THE ^AAEGA DECEPTION

48

"Thank you, Major," Shaw answered, following the major's example it

and

"But

rising.

you know, wouldn't

rather difficult to let "Yes,

know your name. That would make

don't even

I

it?"

would, Captain. Good luck," the major

it

said, escorting

Shaw

from the room.

The same

clerk, Collins,

emerged from the

office.

was waiting on

"Strange man,"

the bench

Shaw

when Shaw toward

said, pointing

the major's office.

"Follow me, Captain. The encoding offices are in another building."

Shaw irritating

fell

into step

behind

as the major's. Somewhere, deep in his soul, he

a long forgotten emotion coming to

stirring of

told himself, realization.

him.

It

Collins, finding the clerk's reticence as

would be

life.

first

No, not emotion, he

made ready

spirit.

moved back behind

gone, the major

gathering the papers as he

the

realization that a spirit lived deep within

interesting to learn the nature of that

Shaw was

After

The

felt

to leave.

the desk,

The door opened with-

out preamble and the major looked up.

"How

did

it

goT

the

new man

asked.

"As well as could be expected,

"How much "Not as

did

much

as

Shaw would have for the

moment,

you have

we

much

noticing the discord he forget

you do not

"Quite

him?"

sir.

I

have the

feeling that Captain is

content,

game."

Shaw had just vacated and

to the displeasure of the major.

was about

to

produce

said,

lit

a nox-

The man,

"Excuse me, Major.

like cigars."

all right, sir."

"Is that

"Yes,

the major answered.

have asked more questions but

sat in the chair

ious smelling cigar,

I

tell

thought,

liked to

to play the

The new man

to

sir,"

the file?"

sir,"

the major answered, handing the thick manila folder

across the desk.

The man took the seal

was

file,

the one broken,

noting with satisfaction that the original

and not a

duplicate.

CHAPTER "I

him

told

49

5

there were three such

"Good. Telling him that this

files,

file is

rather than only two."

restricted to the president of the

United States and the prime minister of England might have had an adverse effect on our Captain Shaw." it

it

"Major, let

you

has on me,

"Like

"Like

has on

me

sir,"

the major quipped.

of us, Major," the

clarify this situation, if

have

did not

all

to tell

remains

sir.

intact.

You

Not even

you as sir.

I

know

its

Thank you

file.

That

on

that section

contents."

for

your cooperation realize,

I

in this matter.

might be able

to

to that particular information."

Perhaps."

"Good day, Major," the man "Sir,"

section of this

that correct?"

Is

Someday, maybe sooner than any of us

"Yes,

I

will notice that the inner seal

"Very well, Major.

enlighten

man said, rising to leave. am to understand that

may.

him about the black

information remains restricted? "Quite,

I

said, leaving the office.

the major saluted.

The man walked out

into the cold rain pelting

back would be bothersome, bothersome and

cold.

It

down. The drive

was

little

enough

hardship, he knew. Others, perhaps this very night, were dying for their island fortress, their

the ride back to 10

England. The least he could do

Downing

Street in the cold.

Winston Churchill tucked the into the waiting car.

Shaw, he pondered

file

into his briefcase

Where do they come for

a

was endure

moment

from, these

men

and climbed like

Michael

before the stone fortress of Bletchley

Park disappeared in the growing gloom.

CHAPTER

6

november

1942 (orient, france The Flotilla

1

,62

1

2,

-ton

U-3009

lolled gently in the rising tide of the

Second

U-boat base in Lorient, France, on the Bay of Biscay. From his

vantage point in sub bay B3, Guy La Forche eyed the dark, cylindrical shape with a mixture of awe and disgust. U-3009 had arrived, along with an exact duplicate, Modifications on the type

La Forche 's task was external ballast tanks of

U-3021, more than two months ago.

XXI U-boats had begun immediately. to

weld reinforcement seams along the

U-302 1 The tanks were .

large,

situated outside the

pressure hull, straddling the center portion of the boat like a saddle

on

a horse. These tanks were not an integral part of the pressurized sys-

tem of the U-boat but were used sary, the

submarine's

to crash dive the boat.

commander could

fill

When

neces-

the tanks with seawater,

producing massive negative buoyancy in seconds. The U-boat would quickly sink due to the weight of the water ingested tanks.

Once

at

by the

ballast

the required depth, the tanks would be blown empty by

THE -#/V\EGA DECEPTION

52

air pressure,

and the boat maintained

in a state of negative

using a combination of diving planes and forward motion,

an airplane

buoyancy

much

like

flying level at altitude.

La Forche had recognized immediately that both U-3009 and

U-302 1 had been modified were isolated from the

in

such a

series of pipes

way

that the

main

ballast tanks

and valves that would normally

allow them to be used for crash diving the boat.

La Forche checked an annotated blueprint before welding rod into

handle. With a practiced

its

flipped his protective face

inserting a thick

movement

mask down and touched

smooth metal of U-302 1 He .

instantly picked

of his head, he the rod to the

up the white-hot bead

through the dark glass of his welding mask. Even with the main ballast

tanks isolated from the other systems, the welding was

Whatever these tanks were intended

to carry,

it

critical.

would not be seawater.

Consequently, a pressure differential would likely exist between the

surrounding ocean and the interior of the tanks. The deeper the U-boat dove, the greater that differential would be. Unless every

seam was

flawlessly welded, the tanks could rupture at depth.

La Forche slapped a fresh rod He'd been welding

steel hulls

years. His fellow welders

a baby's

bottle.

shipyards, he

into his holder with confident ease.

on seagoing vessels

for

more than

But not only was he the best welder

was

also

thirty

would say he could weld the nipple back on

one of the staunchest resistance

in the Lorient

fighters in all

of occupied France.

La Forche hated the Germans with a passion hot enough steel.

And

he'd killed his

fair share.

count. With his welding prowess, he

where not tor ical

to weld,

would ever

So many,

knew

and he could cover

to

weld

in fact, that he'd lost

exactly where to weld

his trail so well that

detect the one, possibly fatal,

flaw he'd

left

and

no inspec-

along a

crit-

seam.

The Frenchman changed rods again and continued

saw movement out

his work.

He

of the corner of his eye, around the edge of the

welding helmet, and smiled

to himself. Karl

Schneider

was coming.

CHAPTER

53

6

Schneider wore the oblong identification badge of the Geheime Staatspolizei with pride. affiliation

He

power afforded him by

reveled in the

with the Gestapo, the Nazis' secret state police.

his

And he

despised the French.

La Forche approached.

game

felt

the vibrations through the steel hull as Schneider

He smiled

again.

He was one

of the few

who

enjoyed the

that Schneider played with every worker in the yard.

He loved

he liked

to tell his

to exploit the

friends,

Gestapo agent's arrogance. "After

"arrogance

all,"

nothing more than ignorance

is

Schneider had taken ignorance to a

new

matured."

level of perfection.

"Herr La Forche," Schneider called from a distance, not wanting to get too close to the sparks flying from La Forche 's welding rod.

La Forche ignored the Gestapo agent, smiling his

mask

all

into the darkness of

the while.

"Herr La Forche," Schneider repeated, louder this time, with obvi-

ous indignation. "Herr Schneider," La Forche acknowledged, speaking into his welding helmet and continuing to weld. "What can the French do

for

the Gestapo today?" "Inspection," Schneider said.

"Indeed,"

La Forche

replied.

"And who will conduct this

Schneider flushed at the obvious insult to his

inspection?"

abilities. '7 will

con-

duct the inspection, Herr La Forche," he said angrily. "Oh, of course, Herr Schneider,

motioned

to Schneider, "inspect to

tance, please let

me know," La

how

desire. If I

can be of assis-

La Forche removed

his welding

and stepped away from the bead on which he'd been working.

The Gestapo agent moved to

of me. Please," La Forche

Forche added in a sweet, solicitous tone

that further angered the Gestapo agent.

visor

silly

your heart's

a natural

color,

but

it

was

in for a closer look. still

The weld had cooled

blazing hot. Schneider put out his

hand.

La Forche 's

first instinct

was

to stop the

German from touching

the

hot metal, but he kept silent and watched with amusement as

THE -^AAEGA DECEPTION

54

Schneider ran his hand over the weld. The German immediately jerked his

hand away, but not before

his nostrils

the acrid smell of burned flesh reached

and a howl of pain came from the agent.

Master race indeed, he chuckled

to himself.

Schneider rubbed his damaged hand. Already blisters were begin-

ning to form. He was furious, an anger which he

La Forche's

"Why

did

you not tell me

inspecting.

A

I

it

was probably a

was not watching which weld

natural mistake,

Schneider fumed. "Not natural at fact,

directed in

weld was hot?" he almost screamed.

that

"Forgive me, Herr Schneider, but

you were

now

direction.

was

it

not?"

La Forche. As a matter of

all,

deliberate attempt to discredit

and

injure

a

mem-

ber of the Gestapo."

"Not at

all,

Herr Schneider," La Forche denied. "Forgive

oversight. Next time

I

will

U-3021 and onto

"And

for

my

be more observant."

"See that you are," Schneider said as he walked of

me

down

the long hull

the quay.

the inspection, Herr Schneider.

It

was

satisfactory?"

Schneider turned as he set foot on the wharf. "Commendable, as always, Herr La Forche. Keep

that way."

it

La Forche almost laughed out

loud.

He'd intentionally

left

a bub-

ble in the weld, a defect so obvious, so potentially destructive to a sub-

marine

hull, that

anyone remotely

familiar with the requirements for a

knows

less

La Forche thought

dis-

pressure hull would notice the defect at once. Schneider

about welding than gustedly, as he

myJive -year-old daughter,

went back

his arrogance, Schneider lives

than

all

to his welding.

had probably

But then, that was good. In

cost

more German

sailors their

the Allies' antisubmarine warfare ships.

"Another inspection?"

La Forche looked up

into

Rousseau, and grinned. "Right. his

hand through

to the

I

the

face

of his

thought Schneider was going

bone. I've never seen a

ignorant and happy to be so."

foreman,

man

Charles to

burn

so absolutely

CHAPTER "He

55

6

a dangerous man, Guy. More so because of his ignorance.

is

Always remember

that.

Not

all

Gestapo are

like Schneider.

Most

are ex-

policemen. They are professional and thorough. You would do well not to

antagonize them. Tread "I will,

lightly,

my

friend."

Charles."

"And," Rousseau added, "that bubble in your

examine

last

weld

not

will

should they choose to

fool the real inspectors of the security forces, it."

La Forche laughed deeply. "Then said, picking

I

do better

shall

up another rod and donning

this time,"

he

welding helmet.

his

La Forche began again with the seam he'd ruined

intentionally to

teach Schneider a lesson. Unfortunately, this particular Gestapo agent

never seemed to learn his lesson very well. La Forche glanced again at the

U-3009 along

the far quay.

a simple operation.

It

The modification of U-3009 had been

had required nothing more than sealing rest of the

subma-

had simply been

isolated

plumbing that afforded interconnection with the rine's internal

from the last

systems. The

rest of the boat.

tanks

was not

ballast tanks

Whatever would

exotic, but

was,

it

off the

fill

now independent bal-

the

for all its calculated

commonness,

nonetheless a mystery.

The work on U-302 1 on the other hand, could best be described ,

as a transformation.

As soon

as the submarine

support the outer hull while the water

erected to

was pumped from

the dock.

Then an army of yard workers had attacked removing everything that gave the submarine file.

The conning tower

cover, periscopes,

yielded to cutting torches

and

had entered the dry

wood had been

docks two months ago, large pyramids of

the boat in a frenzy,

its familiar,

and

large wrenches.

radio antennas

hull to be

removed, exposing

had

Meanwhile, another

crew of workers had secured the necessary systems the pressure hull

sinister pro-

to allow the outer

underneath

to the

mas-

ter planer's knife.

The work had gone complete.

Then

the

quickly, taking

work had turned

little

strange.

more than two weeks The carbon

to

steel ballast

THE -0-AAEGA DECEPTION

56

assembly— the same tanks

that

completely removed from U-302

had

had been 1

.

isolated

Most of the

on U-3009—were

interior

plumbing had

be rerouted, which had taken almost a month. The procedure

to

was akin

to relocating

and rerouting every blood vessel

in the

human

body. After the pipe

been

work had been completed, a type

installed directly onto the pressure hull

had been removed. The as secret as

worker

it

had been a

entire process

of insulation had

where the

ballast tanks

secret operation, or

could be in an open dry dock, which meant that every

in the

yard

After the

new

knew what was happening. pipes

and

insulation were installed,

new

ballast

tanks had arrived in the train yard. They had been painted to look

more or ity

less like the original

carbon

steel ones,

but La Forche's curios-

had been piqued.

One night

at quitting time,

La Forche's

ridden his instincts for self-preservation.

had walked past the new from

all

had over-

inquisitive nature

On

his

way

to the gate,

he

ballast tanks, his knife held low, out of sight

but the most astute observer. He'd scratched the paint

away

as he passed and been rewarded with the bright shine of the underlying metal. At

first

he had thought the tanks were nothing more than

standard issue, but with a layer of chrome applied, possibly as an experiment. But

later,

as he and the other shift workers talked

he'd concluded that the tanks must be

commodity

made

ble to conceal

unit

over,

of stainless steel, a rare

in the Third Reich.

La Forche decided that anything the Nazis had gone

leaders.

it

must be important enough

to

such trou-

to report to the resistance

That night, he had risked a radio transmission on his hidden

and had sent the information along. Since that night, he'd logged no less than a dozen reports on the

progress of the

U-302 1. He'd

reported the stainless steel connections,

the additional insulation, the special, noncorrosive valves,

unusual pressure gauges of the

new

tanks.

that directly

and the

monitored the internal pressure

C HAPT

E

R

6

Clearly, these

mundane

new

seawater.

He

tanks were never meant to be flooded with still

had no idea what the tanks would

carry,

but he was certain he had the attention of his friends across the English Channel.

La Forche raised light of day.

his visor

and examined

his latest

weld

in the cold

He'd removed and rewelded the bubble that had been so

obvious to Rousseau and invisible to Schneider. For a fleeting moment,

he considered allowing another bubble rectly, that

the

sailed

seam, but deduced, cor-

U-302 1 would be inspected as no other submarine had

been before. The U-302 1 would put

had ever

in the

to sea

with the tightest seams that

from the Lorient yard.

La Forche dropped the

and began packing up

his

last bit of

equipment

used welding rod from his holder to

move

to

another

job.

Maybe, he hoped, the information he'd supplied would shed some light

on the mysterious,

stainless steel ballast of the U-boat.

Guy La Forche had no

idea the maelstrom his reports

ated in his English cousins across the Channel.

had gener-

CHAPTER

7

thursday, november the english channel

A

series of

1942

5,

waves broke over

the

bow

of the fishing vessel, slow-

ing her progress and drenching the decks as

plowed through the

it

rough waters of the English Channel. As the worn vessel,

ago stripped away by the battering seas, worked French coast at eight knots, every

seemed impervious

to the

numbing

man on

cold

its

its

paint long

way toward

the

board, except for one,

and bone-chilling

spray.

Michael Shaw, his clothing dry beneath layers of stained oilskins,

scanned the

far

horizon for a glimpse of his destination, the French

port city of Le Havre. He'd been told that he

would be transported

to

France on a fishing boat to begin his trek to Berlin via French and

German

rail,

but no one had mentioned that he would be delivered into

France's largest seaport in broad daylight.

operation

was

through with sitting in

a

crazy.

it. It

warm

And he was even

Whoever had planned crazier for agreeing to

had sounded reasonable, even office

logical,

this

go

when he was

reviewing options. But now, amid the angry

^MEGA

THE

60

waves and gray

skies, all

DECEPTION

he could think was that fools rush

in

where

angels fear to tread.

The

British agents

who had

Brest. In fact, the

course, they

people.

the best hiding place

He had boat he

to

the docks,

His

remove were

working

real

They had a

papers

smuggle commodities

to

that the old saying

admit that the plan was elegant in

Havre. Once the boat

their boat.

was

to

Of

into

true that

out in the open.

is

was on was a

fishermen.

Shaw hoped

mission had

for his

known from Bremerhaven

Germans had even stopped searching

had never used the vessel

Germany—only

him

briefed

assured him that these fishermen were

full

was

load of fish to

in port,

his oilskins, in

all

trawler,

order,

sell

when

Shaw would

and head

its

simplicity.

and the crew were

The

actual

they reached Le

simply

slip

away from

for the nearest train station.

and he was,

after

all,

an SS-

Sturmbannfuhrer. He should have no problems.

The

forty-foot

wooden

Shaw and

craft

slammed down

causing him to

into a shallow

spill

the last of his coffee.

The shattered wave flew over the gunwales

in a fine spray that

trough, rattling

clung to every exposed surface.

Shaw

noticed that

some of

the

spray was beginning to freeze on the small cabin and the tackle that littered

every open space on deck. He thought about Canada and the

coming winter

there.

It

to believe that barely

would have been a

fine season.

It

was hard

two weeks ago he had been comfortably

secluded in his cabin on Missisquoi Bay.

Now

his entire world

had

changed.

Shaw had begun

the crossing in the boat's tiny galley, protected

from the elements. But an unidentifiable feeling had overwhelmed him, and he had fled onto the open deck, preferring the icy winds and freezing rain to the claustrophobic confines of the galley. After check-

ing his outer clothing to

make

sure the oilskins were secure, he

moved

forward, toward the rise in the deck that began about fifteen feet aft of the bow. After almost slipping overboard twice, he reached the forward

hatch in the center of the forward deck.

CHAPTER

61

7

The wind was whipping the tops of the higher waves that blew over the freeboard, combining with the

beginning

to

and coating men and gear

fall,

increasing layer of

ice.

and

crackling from his clothing tering light

He

that

the bow. The ice

deck in a spray of

falling to the

was

with an ever

glit-

reminded him of the cut glass of an expensive chandelier.

could hear the drone and feel the heavy vibrations of the diesel

engine below deck as winds.

A man

strained against the current

it

he was within

Gregor Strasser.

sel's skipper,

five feet,

Shaw waited

Shaw

started

recognized the ves-

for the short,

A thin layer of ice clung to Strasser's

tain to reach him. filled his

and the prevailing

emerged from the galley and

clad in oilskins

When

toward him.

and

snow

alike

Shaw moved back from

into a froth

muscular cap-

outer garments

ragged beard with crystals.

"Maybe an

hour," Strasser shouted above the wind, cupping his

hands so Shaw could hear him.

Shaw nodded "You can

his understanding.

warm

Strasser said in

yourself in the cabin, Herr Sturmbannfuhrer,"

German, addressing Shaw by

his

SS rank.

Shaw was temporarily taken aback by the greeting, though he had been instructed accustomed "I'll

flawless "It's

to

to

become

to his rank.

stay out here,

if

you

don't mind, Kapitan,"

Shaw answered

in

German.

below

freezing,

"Thank you wanting

speak only German on the crossing and

my

friend."

for providing

to discuss his real

adequate clothing,"

Shaw

shouted, not

reason for not remaining in the boat's

galley.

"As you wish, Sturmbannfuhrer."

"Thank you," Shaw "Sturmbannfuhrer.

Shaw cocked

his

replied.

A word of advice."

head

to

show

that he

was

listening to the skipper.

"An SS-Sturmbannfuhrer would never thank me. feeling of superiority over their

conquered foes."

It's

part of their

THE -0-AAEGA DECEPTION

62

"I

remember,"

shall

Shaw

headed back

Shaw

better,"

is

warmth and

to the

more

replied

The captain smiled. "That

curtly

than he'd intended.

he said as he turned and

protection of the small cabin.

retraced his steps back toward the bow, taking care not to

slip

on the

ice.

It

icy

deck

was a good

would terminate

now

coated with more than half an inch of solid

thing,

in

Shaw

channel crossing

reflected, that the

an hour or

Any

less.

longer and the small boat

might capsize from the sheer weight of ice accumulating on the superstructures

and the mast, he thought.

Moving

Shaw

further forward,

strained to catch a glimpse of light

from the shore. Despite the assurances of British Intelligence and the

was nervous.

captain of the fishing vessel, he

He was the

bow

back

just

rose,

about to give up

when a

pinpoint of light appeared as

then plunged forward and down, the fishing boat falling

into a trough.

"That

is

Shaw

whirled in surprise.

it,

Sturmbannfuhrer," the captain said.

returned to his side.

He hadn't

He took a deep

had

breath to compose himself, hop-

how jumpy

ing the sailor hadn't noticed

noticed that the captain

he was.

"France." "Yes, Sturmbannfuhrer, France," the captain said. "It's

hard to believe

being challenged,"

"A German hours.

We

We

customers.

will

sail into

Le Havre without

has been shadowing us

in radio contact

up and down the

We

be able to

remarked.

patrol boat

have been

sell fish

we

Shaw

coast.

have become a

for the past

with them. They

know

two

us well.

The Germans are some of our best

fixture to

be ignored, and the Germans

have become complacent." "'Woe

to

out realizing "I

them

that are at ease in Zion,'"

Shaw

said out loud with-

it.

beg your pardon?"

Shaw

raised his voice over the crashing ocean waters

background noise of the boat's

diesel.

"'Woe

to

them

and the

that are at ease

"

CHAPTER Shaw

in Zion,'"

63

7

repeated loudly enough to be heard, shocked by his

words, and the context.

The captain stared

at

Shaw.

you a

"Are

man,

religious

Sturmbannfiihrer? "I

don't know, Captain. No. Not now. Once, yes,

I

suppose

was.

I

But that died a long time ago."

The captain nodded ocean,

I

think.

Many

his understanding. "It is the

times

I

even taught school. But

I

returned, she

her,

was here

I

left her.

was a

I

always returned

I

for

me.

I

was

same with

farmer, a mechanic, once

to the sea.

the one

And each

not the other

way

at the captain but didn't reply.

around."

He wasn't

he'd quoted the verse from the Book of Amos, or even

"We

why

sure

how

he had

it.

are a strange

lot,

we humans,

Sturmbannfuhrer," the captain

continued. "We're content most of the time to forget about

we have need Shaw

time

who always abandoned

Shaw nodded remembered

the

God

until

of him."

continued to stare at the approaching coast. "Are you a

reli-

gious man, Captain?" Strasser smiled. "Every fisherman

one

way "You

"We will

or another."

may are

be

right, Captain."

coming up on the

first light,

not be long now. Please join

The shipping the

mouth

tap

on

beam

Sturmbannfuhrer. In

is religious,

of the

traffic

me

the entrance to the harbor.

at the

helm

for the rest of the trip."

increased dramatically as they approached

harbor— mostly German naval

his shoulder

and turned as

of the fishing boat.

A

vessels.

Shaw

felt

a

Strasser pointed off the starboard

one-hundred-foot German patrol boat

passed within two hundred feet and

Shaw

realized that

boat that had been monitoring them. Strasser

was

continued past them into the harbor.

Shaw made

more observant. Such oversight

in

enemy

to

mind once

killed.

It

The verse from Amos came

right.

it

was

The

the

patrol

a mental note to be

territory could get

again:

"Woe

to

him

them

THE ^-AAEGA DECEPTION

64

that are at ease in Zion.

"

For some inexplicable reason,

Shaw

felt

better.

Strasser craft of the

arriving

maneuvered the

fishing boat

German navy and

among

the larger, deadlier

the other commercial vessels that were

and departing the French

Within twenty minutes, he had

port.

expertly steered the fishing boat alongside a civilian dock connected to

a military dock on the seaward

To Shaw's

side.

would have been

preferable to

quay on the other

side of the harbor, far

way

of thinking,

dock further down, along the

away from

the

it

civilian

German navy.

But once again, Captain Strasser was two steps ahead of him.

"No one coming out of the very closely," Strasser

said, as

military side in uniform gets checked if

reading Shaw's mind. "The civilian

checkpoints are more thorough. The Germans are so arrogant as to think they cannot be infiltrated through the military establishment here in port.

Shaw heavy and

We

felt

have landed dozens of agents because of

the deep-throated

pilings of the wharf.

thump as

this."

the boat's hull contacted the

Crew members rushed

to secure the

bow

stern lines of the fishing vessel.

"Come with me,"

Shaw

followed the bearded captain as they climbed onto the dock.

Already a ragged

formed

to

Strasser said to Shaw.

military personnel

of sailors, soldiers, and

line

purchase the

fish carried in the

pushed

their

way to

some

civilians

had

hold of the boat. Uniformed

the front of the line. Here,

away

from the open sea, the temperature was more moderate. The snow had ceased,

and a gentle

rain

fell.

The crew members were beginning els

and baskets as Shaw

to off-load the fish

with shov-

and Strasser stepped onto the docks.

"Strasser!" a voice called.

Strasser

and Shaw turned

to see a

German naval

ing, wearing the uniform of a sublieutenant.

tense as the bearded

young

officer

"Zapp," Strasser greeted the "Strasser,

drew

officer.

Shaw

officer felt

approach-

his

stomach

near.

"How

are things in the Reich?"

shut up, will you?" Zapp ordered benignly as he

CHAPTER

65

7

approached. "The French are hard enough to get along with without

you

stirring things up."

Strasser laughed,

the

man "I

fell

and Shaw was amazed

need something

long enough for

me

for tonight," said

Maybe a good

"My

wife

is

my back

on

her mind off this place

German would complain about French cooking and

"Zapp, only a

fish, Strasser,"

head

German

the

Strasser reached into "I

Zapp.

fish will take

have a nap."

to

food," Strasser said, shaking his

dock.

which

into his role.

about the food here.

"A

at the ease with

in

mock

disgust.

insisted.

one of the baskets of

fish that

think this will satisfy your wife. Please take

it

now

lined the

my

with

com-

pliments," Strasser added.

"Thank you,

Strasser.

I

Zapp

shall,"

replied as

he turned

to

walk

away.

Shaw the

"You to

stood in wonder at the exchange. Not once, in

German

see,

buy these

you.

I

officer

will

my

fish,

was

near,

friend.

had he so much as glanced

Complacent.

you can blend

in

that a

am," said

Strasser.

the time

Shaw.

crowd has gathered

and be on your way. Good luck

pray for your success."

"So you are a religious man," "I

Now

all

at

Shaw

said.

to

CHAPTER

8

november ss

5, 1942 headquarters, berlln

Heinrich Himmler breathed slowly, deliberately, trying to regain his composure. His

ing and relaxing.

hands were working

bridge of his nose

and cleaned them with a handkerchief before

man

ing to face the

at his sides, alternately flex-

He reached up and removed the pince-nez from the turn-

occupying the chair opposite the Reichsfiihrer's

desk.

Reinhard Gluecks, Himmler 's deputy assistant sat calmly, the

for internal affairs,

ends of his long fingers touching, waiting

for

Himmler

to control himself.

Himmler turned ing. "I

to Gluecks, replacing the pince-nez before speak-

can see your point, Reinhard," Himmler

of action

would not be wise

"But this course

at this particular time. There are too

contingencies to account for in this latest

we would meet

said.

effort.

I

great resistance from Admirals Raeder

No," Himmler continued,

"I

do not think

it

many

can assure you that

wise at

and Donitz.

this time."

^MEGA

THE

68

DECEPTION

"Herr Reichsfuhrer," Gluecks began, "we have a great opportunity

many Jews. The Americans

here to eliminate

we

both

know who

the real

enemy

manner and high-pitched voice he always referred Reichsfuhrer, as

to

He knew

is."

we

fight,

that his controlled

Himmler. Not to mention that

irritated

Himmler had

ordered.

to Gluecks.

The

was a mixed

assistant

Gluecks was everything the perfect SS

man

should be.

Tall,

bless-

blond,

Nordic, his bright blue eyes possessed a piercing quality about that

unnerved Himmler. In

was head

but

Himmler as Herr Reichsfuhrer, and not simply

Himmler turned back ing.

are the ones

them

addition, Gluecks 's brother, Richard Gluecks,

of the concentration

camp

inspectorate,

and even though

both brothers reported directly to him, Himmler didn't trust either one.

And both It

Glueckses were

Perhaps dangerously

intelligent.

was almost more than Himmler could

stature,

tolerate.

so.

Himmler's short

coupled with his unathletic build and rounded features, pre-

sented a less than desirable image of the head of the SS. But Himmler

had

realized early

on

Whereas Himmler was

politically astute,

the infrastructure of the

down

like

with the

German empire and

Party to best advantage, Gluecks perfectionist

man

that he needed a

was

to the smallest detail.

Reinhard Gluecks.

ability to

consummate

the

manipulate

the National Socialist organizer, a

Gluecks reminded Himmler of

another Reinhard: Reinhard Heydrich, the assassinated ex-head of the Gestapo. Himmler had

many

of the

felt

equally uncomfortable around Heydrich, for

same reasons he

reminded of his

Reinhard

own

disliked Gluecks.

He

did not like to be

fallibility.

Gluecks,

like

Heydrich

before

him,

hated

the

Kriegsmarine, though not for the same reasons Heydrich had. Whereas

Heydrich 's hatred had stemmed from his broken naval Gluecks 's disdain

was

directed at the rising star of the Kriegsmarine,

Admiral Karl Donitz. Or

to

be more

specific, the

Gluecks had never revealed to anyone just ran, but to that end,

change

to the

career,

family of the admiral.

how

deeply his loathing

he had proposed developing the operational

Omega system

at

Peenemiinde.

CHAPTER

69

8

"Yes, yes, Reinhard.

you have a

agree that

I

valid point concern-

ing the Jews, but the agreements have been made, the process begun.

We

will retain the earlier proposals as

after

we have

they are and possibly talk again

seen the results."

Gluecks smiled. Himmler, he knew, was always the same. The

man life.

make a

could not

On

decision

were necessary

if it

the other hand, he, Reinhard Gluecks,

the heart of

most

to

had the

save his

ability to cut to

situations, properly identify the problem,

gate corrective measures.

He grudgingly admitted

have had the opportunities he'd had were

it

that he

at a later date. In the

to express his

meantime,

it

would be

and

not for Himmler's contin-

"As

Second

to

He

other.

wishes concerning

Omega

interesting to see the inter-

play he had initiated between the SS and the Kriegsmarine.

he knew, be a

insti-

would never

ued confidence. Each man, Gluecks admitted, needed the

would have another chance

own

It

would,

test of wills.

another matter, Reichsfuhrer, our agents in Lorient at the

Flotilla

U-Boat base

tell

me

that the refitting of the

U-3021 has neared completion. That

is

U-3009 and

ahead of schedule."

Himmler, satisfied to change the topic and pleased that Gluecks

had dropped the that morning. to Gluecks.

Herr, located

He

"Read

an operational

report he'd read earlier

quickly reviewed the short document and handed this,

it

Gluecks," he ordered as he handed the paper to

his assistant.

Gluecks took the paper, quickly consuming the contents.

was

finished, he casually flipped the report

When

he

on the desktop. "They

don't suspect anything?"

"No. Not

if

you can

"They're true.

even Donitz "It is

will

I

can

believe the reports," feel

it.

Himmler

said.

This strike will be of a magnitude that

not expect."

a matter which must remain within the confines of the SS,"

Himmler warned.

"After

describe to the Fuhrer

days of greatest need."

we have

how

the SS

achieved our objective,

came

to the aid of the

we

will

Reich in

its

THE -^AAEGA DECEPTION

70

Gluecks controlled his response to Himmler's words. Himmler lived in the past as self as

much

an avenging medieval knight coming

in distress. Gluecks, it

as in the present. Likely as not,

was.

it

inside of the concentration

any

a damsel

for exactly

what

would mean power and influence within an

invincible Reich. If they failed,

see. In

to the rescue of

on the other hand, saw the ploy

successful,

If

Himmler saw him-

could well

it

camps

that

case, the unfolding events

mean they would

Himmler was so proud would prove

see the to over-

interesting.

"What about the U-135?" Gluecks asked. Himmler

fidgeted in his chair. He'd

hoped Gluecks would not ask

about the third submarine. But, characteristic of Gluecks, he never

anything

left

to chance.

"There have been some problems with the dinate the activity of so varied

a set of blueprints

refit. It is difficult

to coor-

an assortment of units. The engineers sent

to the shipyard

which proved untenable. The shipyard

personnel told the engineers to redraw the specifications. Somewhere in the process of sending the blueprints back to receive

a

set,

and

forth, the

engineers failed

and, not knowing that the shipyard had requested certain

changes, continued to work based on an incorrect set of blueprints. time and tempers. The shipyard has the correct set

now and

tells

It

cost

us that

they will meet their time constraints." After explaining the situation to Gluecks,

Himmler

felt

a flush of embarrassment. He'd been explaining a

situation to a subordinate in to

much

the

same manner of a new

lieutenant

a commanding general. That Gluecks had accepted the explanation in

much

the

manner of a general

receiving a report from a lieutenant did not

serve to mitigate Himmler's embarrassment. "It is

good, Reichsruhrer," Gluecks said, leaving the Herr off yet

again in an attempt to placate his boss. "Yes,"

Himmler responded.

"I

wish

I

could be there to see the

destruction in person."

"That would not be advisable. There are too

much chance is

for

the place to be

something

when

this

to

many

variables, too

go wrong. No, Reichsruhrer. Germany

weapon

is

unleashed."

CHAPTER Himmler

71

8

felt

an immediate sense of dread

voiced the possibility of

failure,

which Himmler,

allow his mind to consider. Nothing must go

had

grip him. Gluecks

had refused

himself,

wrong with

to

the operation.

But hearing Gluecks's matter-of-fact concern was rather unsettling. Gluecks rose to leave. "Heir Reichsfuhrer,

Himmler watched

"

he saluted sharply.

blond assistant leave the

his

office.

time since the inception of Omega, Hienrich Himmler ure a possibility?

needed time mation.

It

And

should

it fail,

to think, to rationally

what would

cate himself from

Omega

should

Himmler rose and walked

moment what

Commander

be named Grand Admiral

He

infor-

to link the fortunes of

become a

was

thinking.

in Chief of

of the

Himmler wondered what

have on Omega.

new

Omega. But

it

plan to extri-

reality.

to the window, wondering at that

Befehlshaber Donitz

Donitz, currently the

January.

failure

fail-

this

He would now need a

too late to worry about that.

Was

his response be?

the SS, along with the Kriegsmarine, to the success of

was

first

felt fear.

and calmly analyze

might have been an error of judgment

For the

Rumor had

that

U-boat operations, was

German Navy, perhaps effect, if

it

to

as early as

any, that promotion would

CHAPTER

9

november

1942

5,

kernevel, trance For the second time in thirty minutes, Admiral Karl Ddnitz found himself counting the small sailboats riding at anchor in the northern

waters of the Bay of Biscay. Behind him, his staff continued to pore

over the large grid

map

that covered the far wall.

Each

grid defined

an

operating area from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the south Atlantic

and around the

tips

of South America and Africa. Each grid block con-

tained a two-letter designator, it

turned to the block designated "CA." Donitz

that to

and Donitz could hear the discussion as

CA was

knew without

the sector covering the area north of

Cape Hatteras on the east coast of the United

The

five-story stone chateau in

chief of U-boat operations

was

near the harbor entrance.

looking

City

down

States.

his office as

commander

in

located provided Donitz with a clear

view of the mouth of the harbor Donitz could see the U-boat pens

which

New York

at Lorient.

down

From

his

vantage point,

the coast at Pointe de

Keroman

THE ^0-AAEGA DECEPTION

74

Again Donitz caught himself counting the small harbor sailboats outside his window.

He turned

assembled

to the

staff clustered

around

the map.

Captain Emil Kurtz, Donitz's chief of points of wolf-pack operations in block

operations

staff,

CA

was

explaining the finer

to Captain Ulrich Folkers,

Captain Karl Latislaus, intelligence; Senior Captain

officer;

Paul Hoffman, navigation; and SS Colonel Franz Loosen, Gestapo.

"Each block,

in this case

numbered from one

CA,

is

divided into nine additional blocks

to nine," Kurtz explained for the benefit of

staff.

Loosen,

and newest member of the senior

the senior Gestapo agent at Kernevel

"Each block, one through nine,

is

divided once again into nine

more, giving us a two-letter and two-number designator for any single patrol area."

Kurtz waited until he

directly affiliated

"Given lies in

that

Loosen understood the

had opposed divulging such information

concept. Kurtz

to brief the

was convinced

to

anyone not

with U-boat operations, but Donitz had ordered him

new Gestapo

officer.

this designating

scheme," Kurtz continued,

"New York

City

the area designated CA-24."

Franz Loosen moved closer to the plastic-covered map, visualizing with the aid of the lines on the

he was aware that the other with impatience, he didn't

map what

Kurtz had just explained.

officers in the

show

it.

room were

staring at

If

him

After several minutes, Loosen

backed away from the map and nodded.

"I

understand, Kapitan."

Kurtz sighed impatiently. The chief of staff was not sure he agreed

with the assessment of the other staff members, that Loosen was an imbecile. While ing,

it

was

true that the Gestapo agent could be exasperat-

Kurtz suspected the

a natural

fact.

He

show

of incompetence

did not trust Loosen.

Loosen knew he was not held the room. After

was more a cover than

all,

club at this level. But

of Standartenfuhrer

in

high regard by the other

men

in

he wasn't navy, and "navy" was a very exclusive

Loosen was

far

on the basis of

from stupid. He'd earned the rank his brains

and

wit, not

with his

CHAPTER money,

so

like

many

around him into a tools that efied

75

9

other senior SS men. His ploy of lulling others

false

sense of superiority

had served him

well.

It

was one

of the operational

apparently worked, even in the rar-

atmosphere of the Kriegsmarine high command, although he sus-

pected that Kurtz

knew more about him than he would have

wished.

"Gentlemen," Admiral Ddnitz interrupted as he rejoined the group.

"We have another

operation

The group turned

we

should talk about."

their attention to the admiral, grateful to

be done

with the tedious briefing of Franz Loosen.

moved

Ddnitz

were trying staff far

to the

to decide

huge map on the

what he wanted

to

wall, staring at

do with

it.

it

as

He turned

if

he

to the

and began, "Operation Paukenschlag was a success, gentlemen,

beyond what we here

BdU had

at

expected."

Kurtz and the others nodded their understanding. Only Loosen had

not been a part of the planning and implementation of the U-boat campaign,

known

to the English

"Pardon me, Admiral. course, but

I

could provide

am me

I

and Americans as Operation Drumbeat.

have heard of Operation Paukenschlag, of

not sure what

encompassed. Perhaps your

it

with the pertinent details after the briefing."

Donitz stared at Loosen. He'd never heard an SS

Keep an eye on

this.

will provide

this one, Donitz

you with

warned

man

operate like

himself. "Kapitan Kurtz

that information, Standartenfuhrer. But for

only important that you

it is

staff

know

that

Drumbeat was the

first

now

U-boat

operation into American waters off the east coast of the United States.

The exact but suffice

figures will be supplied in the material from Kapitan Kurtz, it

to

say that American losses

to

our U-boats were in the

millions of tons."

Donitz stopped for a moment, letting the significance of his words sink

in.

Even he had been shocked

to learn the ease

U-boats could strike American and sight of the Empire State Building.

complacency within Donitz.

It

was

as

their if

own

with which his

British shipping literally within

At

first,

the Americans' apparent

waters had both infuriated and pleased

they were

saying that their shores were

THE ^AAEGA DECEPTION

76

invulnerable to the might of the Third Reich. lions of tons of shipping

now lay on

As a consequence,

mil-

the shallow shelf off the east coast

of the United States, from Boston to Miami.

When

the U-boats began to sink shipping in massive quantities,

the British Admiralty offered the Americans the use of British sub-

chasers and destroyers for antisubmarine service. The Americans had refused, but

mounting losses eventually forced them

adopt different

to

strategies.

Now

was

Donitz

facing properly escorted convoys,

huge move-

ments of ships screened by warships, whose only purpose was

Materiel

Donitz

And

aboard the Liberty ships.

tect the valuable cargo

began arriving

in

knew he would have

change

to

was working.

it

England with maddening his tactics to

to pro-

regularity,

and

meet the new

threat of the convoys.

Even seas,

Americans responded

after the

they

continued

allow

to

single

on the open

to the threat

warships

and unescorted

freighters to operate within sight of land.

Donitz needed desperately to reduce the number of screening vessels available for

more

freighters.

convoy

duty. That

Omega would

"Gentlemen,

A

we

Omega

their

own

shores.

He was about

to his senior staff.

will discuss

Operation

Omega now."

subdued murmur went through the room. As senior

bers, they

to sink

be the operation to demonstrate to the

Americans the necessity of protecting to reveal the details of

would be the only way

staff

mem-

understood the purpose of Omega, but they had never

before heard the

details.

Indeed,

some

staff

members questioned

whether the operation would ever be developed. Donitz pulled a thick

file

from his valise— the words, Geheime

Kommandosache

(Top

began the

hoping his feeling of reticence did not show on his

briefing,

Secret)

emblazoned on the outside— and

face. If

Franz Loosen noticed anything unusual

demeanor, he did not show

it.

He

in

Admiral Donitz 's

listened intently as Donitz began, his

CHAPTER

9

ears perked for

any

77

indication,

gesting that Donitz had that Heinrich It

quickly

any

somehow

Himmler had

clue,

any scrap of information sug-

discovered the enhanced capabilities

ordered.

became evident

that the office of

BdU had no knowledge

of Omega's true capabilities. Loosen relaxed, feeling

knowledge.

smug

in his

CHAPTER

10 november

7

1942

,

nancy, trance As

the military troop train rumbled to a halt, Michael

awake, surprised that he'd been able

crowded

train.

He was amazed

to sleep

Shaw jerked

on the overheated, over-

that the trip to this point

had been so

effortless.

Thie to Strasser's word, there had been no check on the military side of Le Havre harbor.

simply walked

Shaw had disembarked with

away from

the crowd that

the rest of the crew

had gathered

to pick

over the

fresh catch of Atlantic fish. Feeling almost ridiculous, he'd strode

the long quay, found a warehouse

filled

and

down

with military wares destined for

Belgium and the Netherlands, surreptitiously used the chaos within the place to

shuck

in the pale

made

his diesel-stained oilskins,

and walked from the building

gray tunic of an SS-Sturmbannfuhrer. For a moment, as he

the outward transition from

seaman

to

SS major, a feeling of

boding—almost terror—had seized him. For a if

his

body and soul had been confiscated

split

second,

by some

Shaw

fore-

felt

as

powerful, unseen,

THE -^AAEGA DECEPTION malevolent

with an appetite only for

force,

uniform, the

aluminum Totenkopf

(skull

As he'd assembled

evil.

and crossed bones)

caught his eye, the death's head grin on the skull a

what he was

spiritual confrontation

and Shaw had boarded the Out of

Paris.

train

headed

was

this

Paris,

train

reminder of

had been the only one so

with his bag and had headed for

he'd had no trouble booking passage on a troop

for Strasbourg,

by way of Nancy.

the safest route to take,

require only

had

fighting.

But that almost far,

chilling

insignia

his

if it

It

had been decided

that

could be done. The route would

one border crossing, as opposed

to multiple crossings for

other routes through Belgium, and therefore offered a reduced risk of

exposure.

Shaw was beginning tion for efficiency.

and had yet

to

wonder about

He'd been traveling

to be challenged by so

the

famous German reputa-

for

more than twelve hours

now

much

as a train conductor.

Raising up in his seat, he kneaded the stiffness from his back as best he could with his balled

fist.

Although he'd

he'd been hibernating for three months. His

a shave, and the gray SS uniform

A few hours back, Chatons-sur-Marne. side,

even

the train

mouth was

bomb

dry,

more

like

he needed

had crossed the Meusse River south of beauty of the country-

at the

He wondered,

on

as the train rumbled

deeper into the German-occupied lands, what the Allied forces ever

it felt

was rumpled.

Shaw had marveled

in the midst of war.

slept,

it

would be

this deeply into France.

his surprise, that the possibility bothered him.

He

like

found,

should

much

to

The sudden surge of

emotion had come as a surprise. Nothing had so affected him since that night in 1939. He'd been in France

and Germany many

and there was something of a homecoming

was

different

was

the absence of Barbara.

flavor to this return.

Shaw

times,

What

quickly subdued the

pain produced by the thought of his dead wife.

Snow began valley

where the

to fall outside the

train

coach window. Here in the deeper

was waiting

Paris to pass, the temperature

was

for

just

a troop transport headed

above

freezing,

for

and the snow

CHAPTER was melting

The car

Shaw

it fell.

which Shaw was

two—the

into a space for

man. After

attempted to force their

had

him

suited

seat next to

served him well as he traveled,

Hauptmann

Shaw was

cers,

French

orders

it

occupied by

realized that

felt

the

window

On one level,

it

was

that

the SS uni-

a strange detachment. While

him

it

too.

Munich, Herr Sturmbannfuhrer?" the

for

asked.

and no one had

police,

men

overflow conditions, no one

inexplicably bothered

temporarily shaken

the train for hours

as four

Shaw was

seat next to him.

when he

just fine, but

"You are headed

many

when Shaw took

fill

that, despite the

way into the

form that kept everyone away, he'd

Luftwaffe

as

The aviator had been seated when Shaw had

officer.

boarded. The train had just begun to seat next to the

was crowded. Although every

riding

was occupied— some with

train

a single Luftwaffe

could see the distant mountains

around and through the higher valleys.

line that traced

in

on the

crammed

81

as quickly as

and the snow

seat

10

by the

said a

question. He'd been riding

word

to

him. The control

offi-

travel papers

and

and Gestapo agents checking

had each time passed him

by.

Only the Gestapo agents had nod-

ded a passing acknowledgment. The Luftwaffe Hauptmann had occupied the seat next to

him

for

more than twelve hours but until now had

said nothing.

Shaw

recovered

and turned

the

to

aviator.

Hauptmann," Shaw answered, wishing immediately the sign of respect

The Luftwaffe this direction,

to travel

and simply pilot

man Hauptmann.

it

to

Shaw.

"Why

not have been quicker

through Belgium?" if I

could have boarded a

available for a soldier going "Yes,

Shaw prove

that he'd dropped

nodded once, then turned again

Herr Sturmbannfuhrer? Would

"Quicker perhaps,

minor

called the

Herr

"Berlin,

I

see," the pilot

on

train,

but none

was

leave."

remarked and returned

to his silence.

mentally chastised himself for breaking SS protocol. Even a

slip like referring to fatal.

He would have

the Luftwaffe to

be more

Hauptmann

careful.

as Herr could

THE -^AAEGA DECEPTION

8 2

Shaw began deeper into the

workmen,

diers, the

this day.

to notice

German

an almost

the ordinary citizen of

They were,

for the

most

Shaw scanned whelming emotion

human

beings

present, he decided.

was

Some, from the

sol-

traveling

him-

like

comprehension and

the faces in the coach. Resignation

registering in their eyes,

The

their

—the

France—who were

part, ordinary

beyond

forced into circumstances

self,

moved

sinister feeling as the train

empire. He'd been watching the people

control.

the over-

gaze

spiritless

were past resignation.

feeling of a malicious spirit strengthened with each mile trav-

The physical world outside the window was a thing of beauty and

eled.

order.

The snow continued

in the

mountains. As the train passed

Shaw

through the picture-perfect villages of western France, almost believe

The

shrill

it

was another

place

and

could

time.

whistle of the engine shattered his meditation.

out the window, out into the darkening evening with

its

He looked

purple-tinted

long shadows. The clickety-clack of the wheels over track joints

changed, and

Shaw found

In minutes, the train

Woe

to

himself staring into the Rhine River valley.

would cross the border from France

them that are at ease

Shaw watched

Germany.

in Zion.

the darkness settle over the land as the train rum-

bled into the heart of the Third Reich. the darkness

into

was more

He could not be

certain

whether

physical or spiritual.

After the train cleared the checkpoint at the border, the journey

became a

was

train

series of stops, ID checks,

and tedium-producing

The

repeatedly shunted onto sidetracks to allow higher priority

troop carriers to pass. Shaw's ID, orders,

checked and rechecked. Had he that

delays.

Germany was not a

for

and

travel papers

were

one moment entertained the idea

police state, the thought

soon vanished

endless questions and examinations by control officers.

By

reached Berlin in the early morning hours of November

8,

in the

the time he

Shaw had

become short-tempered and curt to the point of rudeness. To his surprise,

he discovered that such abrupt behavior was expected of an

SS-Sturmbannfuhrer.

CHAPTER

83

10

The orders he

carried with his other travel permits

tion papers directed

him

in

stomach was churning and

Germany, but

sequestered,

it

was

as

if

state

When Shaw mind

racing.

when he was

He was back

in this hotel, in this place. for

It

anyone. He was one

alone.

After situating himself in a third-story room,

out the door

entered the

disparate elements of his being, long

he would have wished

and he knew he was

person,

his

had suddenly merged here

was not a mental

identifica-

number 23 Wilhemstrasse, a renovated

to

hotel being used for transiting SS officers. building, his

and

Shaw was walking

hailed from the desk.

"You are Sturmbannfuhrer Schmidt?" the clerk inquired. "Yes,

I

am

Sturmbannfuhrer Schmidt."

"A message tioning

it

"No

you, Sturmbannfuhrer. Forgive

Shaw

He was

replied.

instructed to

in front of the hotel

meet a

certain Hauptsturmfuhrer

on the morning of the eleventh. Upon

him

to the correct

portation for his trip to Peenemiinde. Until then,

tion

Berlin.

Of course, he already had orders

ceremony on the following

Shaw

still

to Berlin.

been sent

mode

of trans-

Shaw was

to attend the

receiv-

free to

SS

initia-

night.

marveled at the efficiency shown in getting him into

Germany. Someone had gone it

men-

for not

Opening the message, he read the con-

ing Shaw's orders, Hoss would direct

roam

me

earlier."

matter,"

tents carefully.

Hoss

for

Now

to do.

all

he had

Shaw had

he had anticipated.

to

to

a

lot

of trouble to

make

do was remain alive

a feeling that

to

would be more

sure he

made

do what he'd difficult

than

CHAPTER

11

november 9, 1942 berlin, germany The scene outside the Reich Chancellery building provoked a sense of dread and awe. Ten thousand Hitler youth, resplendent in their black-shirted SS uniforms, light

came from

filled

the square in the darkness. The only

the flickering flames of a thousand torches. Small

glints of light reflected

from the polished black helmets worn by the

youth, ten thousand pinpricks of light in a sea of darkness. Red banners adorned with black swastikas ringed the assembly. The massive

columns of the Chancellery building were each standing twenty

feet

backlit

by the same

torches,

high and measuring five feet across. To

Michael Shaw, they appeared as a thousand Olympic flames reaching into the night sky.

As he scanned flames,

Shaw

felt

the sea of

young

faces

lit

by the

shoulders. He'd agreed to fight the SS, not out of

of

good against

lurid

sacramental

the increasing weight of responsibility settle onto his

evil,

some boyhood notion

nor even a sense of duty, but from a motive of

^MEGA

THE

86

simple revenge. The SS, along with the Barbara.

He would

them.

kill

It

was

he needed. He had

Donovan

to

admit

willing,

But as

Shaw

even

was a

it

It

killed

was not a grand

motive, and that

had taken that

it

visit

was

from William

from that morning on, he had been

to rekindle his hatred, but

more than

German navy, had

that simple.

motive, not even a complicated one, but all

DECEPTION

eager, to enter

Germany.

witnessed the surreal baptism of German youth into

the Nazi cause, he suddenly

knew he was

out of his league. He'd over-

stepped his bounds; he'd entered a world of evil and darkness beyond

anything he'd ever imagined. through him

like

as quickly, the his heart.

an

chill

arctic

was

He suddenly

on God when Barbara is

our only true

me

times.

rassed, but

an involuntary shudder pass

wind blowing through

realized that he'd died. In theface

refuge,

he said

in their eyes.

of depravity

to turn his

of such unspeakable

evil,

back

God

to himself.

down

to

keep you

his cheeks.

At

in

in sight

anger at all

he was embar-

first

looked around, he saw that others also had tears

But those tears

Shaw

in the depths of

mefor walking awayfrom you

tears flowed freely

when he

his soul. Then, just

warmth

been wrong

do what must be done and

to

Hot

felt

replaced by a strange

Lord, he prayedjfr/gzW

Help

Shaw

spilled

could see and

out of a deep darkness— a depth

feel.

Loudspeakers perched high above the crowd boomed out the

words of Heinrich Himmler as he commenced the

Shaw

felt

the press of evil settle

on the gathering

darkness rising from the earth to envelop

At the microphone, Himmler thousand voices responded

recited

all

surreal ceremony.

a great cloud of

like

who drew

near.

memorized questions. Ten

in unison, creating

an

eerie,

unearthly

rhythm.

Shaw knew

that the questions

and answers were a brainwashing

technique designed by Himmler to eliminate the need for the novice Nazis to think on their own. listened to the

Shaw

felt

the hair

on

his

neck

rise

as he

mesmerizing cadence of question and response.

The tone of Himmler's voice suddenly changed from cheerleading

CHAPTER

11

questioner to serious teacher as he began to speak of honor,

and German national

Shaw

pride.

an ever-increasing weight of horror

felt

fidelity,

settle

over the

black-thronged crowd. The flickering torch flames were having their intended hypnotic

coupled with the carefully orchestrated dron-

effect,

ing of the Reichsfuhrer's voice.

Shaw found

himself reviewing the

words of the oath of allegiance that each of these young men would recite

on

when

April 20, Hitler's birthday,

members of

they became full-fledged

the SS.

Ichs schwore Dir, Adolf Hitler,

Als Fuhrer und Kanzler des

Deutschen Reiches Treue

und

Tapferkeit.

Ich gelobe Dir

und den von

Dir bestimmten Vorgesetzten

Gehorsam bis

in

den

So wahr mir Gott

I

swear

German ors

to thee

Adolf Hitler, as Leader and Chancellor of the

and bravery.

Reich, loyalty

whom

Tod,

helfe.

I

vow

to the superi-

thou shalt appoint, obedience unto death, so help

and perceptions, spawned words

in hell

me

brain, a whirlwind of

The phrases tumbled through Shaw's

rized the

and

to thee,

and nurtured by

evil.

He'd

God.

words

memo-

as part of his training, but they'd left a foul taste in his

mouth even as he'd rehearsed them. Out of the corner of his eye, Shaw noticed that the SS to

him was looking

had been shaking

him

at

his

curiously.

head with disgust

Gathering his wits about him, "Reichsfuhrer Himmler

my

heart."

hear,

The

and turned

With a

officer

is

Shaw

start

at the

officer

next

he realized that he

words of the SS oath.

turned to the officer and said,

such a powerful speaker; he always moves

nodded, said something that

his attention

back

to the

ceremony.

Shaw

couldn't

^MEGA

THE

88

Shaw

breathed a sigh of

ever distasteful

it

might

relief

DECEPTION

and reminded himself that—how-

be—he must play

the role of Sturmbannfuhrer

Schmidt without any further mistakes. Just then, the noise in the plaza rose to a thunderous crescendo as the

Without hesitation, Shaw threw his

ceremony came

right

arm

to

into the air

the chorus of roaring voices. "Heil Hitler! Heil Hitler!"

its

climax.

and joined

CHAPTER

12 november 10, 1942 kiel, germany Harsh blue-white submarine bays

light

in the

like gigantic birds

compressed

tions.

So

many

the

damp

concrete walls of the cavernous

Deutsche Werke yard. Massive cranes loomed

of prey over the ships at the edges of the dry docks.

Giant butyl rubber hoses, ried

lit

air,

fuel,

some more than and water

six inches in diameter, car-

for the various shipyard opera-

black rubber lines snaked across the docks that they

presented a hazard to walking. Explosions of white light flashed as

welders worked on the

many

ships

and submarines. The noise was

deafening. Air-powered hammers, saws, rivet guns, grinders, and paint rigs joined in a deafening chorus.

Submarine captain Giinther Mohr stepped from the Number 8 streetcar from Kiel, grateful to be free of the strident, raucous chatter of the

at least to the

shipyard workers

who

rode the trolley.

seven different languages

Deutsche Werke

yard,

in the short ride

He had counted from his house

and he much preferred the

metallic

THE ^0-MEGA DECEPTION

9

cacophony of the shipyard

human

the discordant clash of

to

voices.

As he

strode purposefully through the gates,

Mohr saw

U-boat

his

engineer, lieutenant senior grade Otto Reinertsen, standing off to the

had overseen the work on U-135

side waiting for him. Reinertsen

the past three months,

and

his vigilance

had spent the bulk of

Usedom,

of

island

Peenemtinde.

the

at

largely accounted for the

who had assumed command

progress to date. Captain Mohr, in early October,

had

his time since

German research

What he had seen

there

had

for

of

U-135

on the Balkan

center

chilled his

known

bones

as

to the

marrow. Reinertsen

saluted

Mohr approached, and Mohr

as

was something

consciously responded. Saluting patrol,

that

and submarine crew members, including the

self-

was not done on captains,

some-

times overlooked the standard military protocol. "LI,"

"A

Mohr began, "How

fine boat,

is

the boat?"

Herr Kaleu," Reinertsen answered, using the short-

ened form of Mohr's rank, "but some strange modifications. I'm ous about our next

patrol."

Mohr nodded. He had been

own

discretion,

friend.

He knew

curi-

authorized to share information at his

and he had pondered how much that the master engineer

to tell his trusted

would sooner or

later figure

out the purpose of the framing and hydraulics being installed on their

submarine. "It is

stranger than

you can know,

Otto,"

Mohr remarked

as the

two men walked across the shipyard. "How goes the work?" "If

you mean, how

equipment, then

ified

what

I

have

to

are

we coming with

all is well.

If,

the installation of the spec-

on the other hand, you're asking

think about the equipment being attached to our boat, then

say

it is

a particularly egregious task

Mohr laughed

at

his

Li's

astute

"Monstrous might be a better description,

we

perform."

assessment of the I

think. That

pass both the equipment and your sentiments."

I

project.

would encom-

CHAPTER

12

91

mouth and whispered

Reinertsen covered his tone behind his hand.

"I

we have been

to the shipyard gossip.

And, as you no doubt are aware, directing the work.

a conspiratorial

think, Herr Kaleu, that this refit

thing to do with the rumors

been listening

in

hearing

Some

we have a

of

The crew has

lately.

it is

has some-

very interesting. five

men

They don't do any of the work, but they have

their

noses in every phase, as

if

we were

special

crew of

building a delicate watch, not a

frame for a submarine."

As they neared sub bay A- 7, Mohr could ing used to maintain secrecy during the ble

amid

five

refit,

see the tent-like cover-

as

if

secrecy were possi-

thousand workers.

The U-135 was completely hidden beneath the dark lights

shone from beneath the pavilion, lending an

fabric. Electric

air of

secrecy and

excitement to the proceedings. Arc welders flashed blue and white as the framing

was attached

Mohr and

U-135.

to

showed

Reinertsen

their

identification

badges and

entered the highly restricted area near the submarine. To Mohr,

looked as it,

split

it

if

some

gigantic

hand had taken an

lengthwise, and affixed

it

miniaturized

to the aft portion of the sub.

The U-135 was a 1,120-ton type IXC speed, she

oil derrick,

boat.

At emergency flank

had a surface speed of slightly above eighteen knots, and a

submerged speed of 7.3 knots. With

all

the scrap iron attached to the

deck of the boat, however, Mohr calculated that he'd be lucky four knots

it

submerged out of the

to get

boat.

Of course, Mohr reminded himself, submerged speed was not the

most important

factor.

The boat would go down only

in response to a

clearly defined threat. He'd always thought that the U-boat should be

called a submersible, rather

than a submarine. The term submarine

suggested a craft that could operate indefinitely underwater. mersible,

on the other hand, was simply a boat

temporarily as

U-boat faced

did.

needed—which Mohr

to fire torpedoes,

A

sub-

go down

believed better described

Most skippers submerged only

and used the deck gun

that could

what a

then sur-

to finish the job. Virtually all transit

was

THE ^AAEGA DECEPTION

92

accomplished on the surface. With a submerged endurance of about

one hour

maximum

at

water when

travel

Mohr and

speed,

made no sense

to travel

under the

possible.

Reinertsen skirted the welding platforms rigged to the

side of the sub,

walked along the

evaluate the contraption that "It's

it

on the surface was

fringe of the dry dock,

was growing from

and

tried to

the deck.

something new, yes, Herr Kaleu?" Reinertsen asked. new,

"It is

LI.

New and

deadly,

our leaders are to be believed."

if

Reinertsen glanced at his captain from the corner of his eye. Only

a

man

of Mohr's reputation

or veracity of the

German

and

ability

leadership.

would dare

to question the logic

Mohr was one

of the best U-boat

captains in a group of perhaps a dozen or so superior officers.

Even

so,

such talk was dangerous.

Born

manded

in the Baltic port of

type

II

Danzig

Mohr had

1910,

in

first

com-

boats on coastal patrols, graduated to type VII boats

during Operation Drumbeat, and had finally been assigned to U-135.

He wore

the Knight's Cross with

Oak Leaves

for his valiant efforts dur-

ing the campaign in the Caribbean. Reinertsen had sailed with

Mohr since

the early days,

and he

appreci-

ated the captain's ability to retreat as well as attack.

Mohr

unnecessary chances, but when he moved in

he usually scored.

"How much

for the

kill,

Mohr asked

longer do you think, LI?"

didn't take

as he circum-

navigated the steel vessel. "One, als

maybe two months, Herr

Kaleu.

and you have maybe three months

Add two weeks

total.

for sea

tri-

Three and a half if we run

into problems."

Mohr that

stopped, rubbed his chin,

two months,

forUsedom

LI.

There

will

and turned

be no sea

trials.

to Reinertsen.

In

"Make

two months, we

sail

Island."

Reinertsen's eyes were wide with disbelief. "Kapitanleutnant, that is

impossible," he said in astonishment. "Without sea

be certain what

will

happen with the boat

would be foolhardy and possibly deadly

trials,

we cannot

in this configuration.

to sail

without

trials."

It

CHAPTER "We can

93

12

boat on the

test the stability of the

way

trials

with only the framework aboard will be of

Mohr

replied,

using Reinertsen's

engineer. "There will be here.

It

will

first

an addition

be of more value to

name

to this

know

in

an

to

little

Usedom. Sea value, Otto,"

effort to reassure the

spiderweb of steel

we have

the handling properties after

we

have taken on our cargo." Mohr crossed the wooden walkway leading deck of the U-boat, climbed the conning tower, and slipped

to the

down

the open hatch.

Reinertsen watched his the steel monster. His it

commander disappear

mind was

reeling with

possible that the shipyard rumors

not be

so.

into the

bowels of

what he'd just heard. Was

were true? God, he thought,

let it

CHAPTER

13 november, 1942

peenemunde, germany The Polish work crew struggled with the crosscut saws and heavy, double-bladed axes. The pine trees that covered the eastern portion of

Usedom

Island offered

little

protection from the elements as the

men

cleared a corridor for the final approach of the road connecting Ahlbeck

with Swine munde, the easternmost village on the island. Though they

were sturdy

men— fishermen and laborers accustomed to the biting cold

and blowing wind— and dressed trousers of dense peasant fabric

deterioration, the brutal, chilling

The

fishing village of

in

and

heavy

clothing, with shirts

and

tattered jackets in various stages of

wind

limited their effectiveness.

Peenemunde

lay almost thirty miles to the

northwest, but not even the distance, the terrible weather, and the thick pine forest could muffle the strange noises that filtered

from the German research

The

first

center.

indication that something

Peenemunde were

down

Today was no exception. odd was again happening

the vibrations that reached the Polish

work

at

party.

^MEGA

THE

96

DECEPTION

Walter Kolinsky had heard the sound before, but he stopped chopping

and

nevertheless, leaving his axe in the tree,

sounds

quality about

it,

like

listened to the bizarre

The sound had an ethereal

that floated out over the Baltic.

a group of angels descending on a beating of

wings. The sound came and went, an alternating beat of intense, harsh

sound followed by an exquisite the

work

party, causing

The pulsing sound swept over

quiet.

some of

the

men

to stop their tasks

and look

out to sea; but most had heard the sound before and didn't even slow

work

their

pace.

Kolinsky had heard the sound

was

the youngest

member

this particular group. older,

times before. At forty-six, he

work party but

He had managed

had been conscripted

rugged island work

of the

many

into the

to

the senior

when

remain

German Army

to join the Polish Resistance.

retained as the foreman of the for getting the job done.

or

member

of

many

others,

had forsaken the

Kolinsky had been

work party because he had a

The Pole knew he had a knack

reputation

for getting the

most out of the old men who made up the work crew, while watching over them carefully. in the

the

name

manual

He was not a man

of the Third Reich. There were no labor jobs of

Usedom

Walter Kolinsky was also a if

to sacrifice his

what he suspected was

true,

Island,

member

own countrymen

more young men

to

work

and the Germans needed him.

and

of the Polish Resistance,

he knew he could do more

to expel the

Nazis from his native Poland by working on the island rather than on the mainland.

The sound suddenly ceased

altogether,

and Kolinsky checked

his

watch. Almost sixty seconds this time, he noted. Longer than the last time.

It

might be information worth setting up his tiny radio

work, he would transmit what he'd heard to a contact occupied Denmark. The contact would see

made

its

way

to

it

in

for.

After

German-

that the information

across the English Channel to a radio operator some-

where northwest of London. Kolinsky had no idea who had the responsibility for collating the information

not

all

in vain.

he sent, but he hoped

it

was

CHAPTER He'd

chopping

just returned to his

his thoughts. This

was

97

13

when another sound

was a new sound, a

penetrated

constant, piercing thunder that

work team, but palpable— almost

not only audible to the

like

standing on the train tracks and waiting as a huge steam engine bore

down on noise

you. To Kolinsky,

was

it

meant

was producing

that whatever

the

closer than the earlier, pulsating sound.

new sound had

Kolinsky surveyed his work crew, noting that the

drawn every man from

his

on most of

For Kolinsky,

their faces.

was coming

to

work and produced a look it

sounded as

if

of bewilderment the entire world

a blundering, crashing, climactic end. He'd forgotten to

look at his watch as

was

his

custom whenever he heard a new sound

emanating from the northeastern portion of the

island.

He

did so now,

estimating that he'd been thirty seconds tardy in noting the time. He'd

add that itoring

thirty

seconds to the duration of the sound he was

now mon-

and transmit the information about the new sound along with

that of the

first.

The sound ceased, leaving checked the time. Almost

in

its

wake

a deathly

Baltic

Kolinsky

In those five minutes, the

five minutes.

sound had climbed over the

stillness.

and almost disappeared. Certainly

whatever was making the constant sound he'd

just

heard was not the

same thing as what had produced the pulsating sound

that

had

lasted

only a minute.

men were

Then, just as the ing,

going back

man

a flash streaked into the sky in the east. Each

the sound yet again. The

them. This time they

same thunderous wave

knew

Island, just to the east of

the origin, for

it

was

object as

it

rose, slowly at

first,

maybe

large as

men

fifteen miles

some of

of noise swept over rising

It

looked

stood. Kolinsky

from the

object.

first

from Usedom

impression of the

no more than

then, after

onds, with the speed of a bullet. post from where the

turned toward

where they worked.

Walter Kolinsky would later recount his

ten,

chopping and saw-

to their

like

five or six sec-

a white and black fence

knew

that they were perhaps

That meant

it

was probably

as

the thirty- or forty-foot pine trees they were cutting.

THE ^AAEGA DECEPTION

98

Its

white— made

it

clearly visible against the

After six seconds,

white-hot

fire

it

accelerated at

ical

dark gray of the winter sky.

an unbelievable

rate, riding

a

tail

of

into the high clouds before disappearing into the Baltic.

The noise had been of the

pattern— alternating boxes of black and

black-and-white

frightening, soul-wrenching.

work team stood as

if

paying homage

god, their eyes turned skyward,

to

some

The twenty men great,

awed expressions

mytholog-

plastered across

unbelieving faces.

There was no doubt now, Kolinsky knew, that he'd identified one source of sound.

It

had

just

flown into the heavens, destination

unknown. This evening's transmission would cause a

was

stir,

wherever

it

received.

Walter Kolinsky, his eyes

wondered

still

for the first time if the

ultimate weapon.

glued to the

trail

Germans had

taken by the rocket,

finally

developed the

CHAPTER

14 november 10, 1942 wolgast, germany There was

little

for

Michael

toward Wolgast, pushing northern

its

Germany toward

its

Shaw

way

do as the train droned steadily

destination near the Baltic Sea.

The 125-mile trek from Berlin before crossing the narrow strait to plished with typical

to

through the forested countryside in

German

to Wolgast, the terminal village

Usedom

efficiency.

Island,

had been accom-

The towns of Eberswald,

Angermunde, and Prenzlau, normally scheduled stops along the had been bypassed by the military-only been both physical and he was being sent to

spiritual.

battle.

train.

And

the journey

Shaw had no doubt now

line,

had

of the evil

The evidence was everywhere around him.

Uniforms of the Wehrmacht, the Luftwaffe, the Kriegsmarine, and, perhaps the most diabolical of

all,

the Schutzstaffel—the

rounded him. He had become more aware of his

own

SS—sur-

vulnerability as

he moved north, toward Peenemunde and the mystery that had presented

itself

through British Intelligence and the floating body of the

THE ^0-AAEGA DECEPTION

100

He was

SS-clad British agent.

less confident

he'd accepted the assignment. writer,

battle ent.

and

in the

But

was

it

—was—a

He had been

manner of many an MI- 6

had been a war of

it

man on

vices.

compared

Shaw had been

It

to the rest of the

differ-

for

the senior

extolling the

German uniformed

ser-

agreement with the man.

cordial in his

The colonel was headed

Shaw had

seat,

Shaw was

The colonel had been arrogantly

the train.

virtues of the SS as

agent, a warrior. But his

fewer than a dozen were SS. Except

train,

a

now.

an SS-Standartenfuhrer occupying the next SS

when

journalist,

and knowledge. This was

intelligence

too late to think about

Of the troops on the

than he had been

and the submarine base

for Kiel

man

feigned disinterest as the

there,

and

talked about his assignment.

was, the colonel admitted surreptitiously, a secret assignment worthy

only of the SS. His orders had come directly from Reichsfuhrer

Himmler himself with the admonition of

silence.

Shaw acknowledged. "The Reichsfuhrer

"Yes,"

pursuit of security. Silence

is

a

weapon

"It is

up

to those of

correct in his

as surely as bombs, airplanes,

and tanks," Shaw continued, making reference rounding them.

is

us in the SS

to the troops sur-

to

be vigilant in car-

rying out his orders." "I

agree," the colonel answered. "That

submarine which

is,

at this

is

why

I

cannot speak of the

moment, being prepared

for

a special

assignment as directed by Himmler himself."

Shaw Shaw

felt

a prickle along his spine. The SS colonel leaned closer;

followed

suit,

moving toward

the

man, one superior human

being to another. "There

is

only one," the SS colonel whispered. "One U-boat with

the capability of changing the

war in

the Atlantic. Donitz has requested

such a boat, such a weapon, and Kiel refinements, certain alterations,

if

is

you

to provide will.

it,

but with certain

Alterations ordered

by

Himmler."

Shaw wondered

if

the colonel

would be so brazen as

to refer to

Admiral Donitz simply as Donitz were the admiral himself present.

CHAPTER

14

He doubted

But the

it.

101

man was

speaking of things better

unsaid, better relegated to the lips of others.

A

left

U-boat with a spe-

cial capability.

Fascinating!

Frightening!

The colonel was proud, arrogant, and

stupid.

To speak of such

would not be

things to another person, even another SS member, acceptable in the corridors of SS power.

sudden death. But Shaw needed colonel

had

said that

"Colonel. for Kiel.

Why

made no

What you say on

quicker to go by

way

of

The colonel leaned

The

On

the contrary,

know

interesting.

could

mean

But you say you are headed

Would

Hamburg and then closer, I

it

certain things. Things the

sense.

this train? This direction?

would," he agreed. "But too."

is

to

it

not be easier and

north?"

maintaining his posture of secrecy.

"It

have an assignment on the island of Usedom

Colonel's eyes darted

around him quickly, scanning the faces

of the other soldiers in the crowded coach. Satisfied, he continued.

"There

a

is

fishing

Peenemlinde.

man

said,

Shaw

that

on the northern

no longer a

is

stomach

his

felt

tighten, his

quietly, "there are

mouth go

have been prepared

for

two submarines

island.

dry.

in the

an important mission.

plements the mission of the U-boat at

This

of the

fishing village, Sturmbannfuhrer," the

a connection between Peenemunde and

he said

Shaw

tip

obviously pleased with himself and his knowledge.

"There that,"

It is

village

Kiel.

More than

pens at Lorient

A mission that com-

Kiel."

tried to control his racing pulse, his thoughts, his conjectures.

man knew much,

perhaps even what

How, Shaw marveled, had had so obvious a

fool

intruded. Perhaps,

this colonel

Shaw had come

to learn.

Why A thought

come by such information?

been entrusted with such information?

Shaw realized, he knew why such a man was

in

such

a position. "Colonel,"

Shaw

began, continuing the clandestine nature of the

conversation, "you are very well-informed.

You must have the ear of

THE -^AAEGA DECEPTION

102

the Reichsfuhrer himself."

Shaw hoped

the flattery

would open up

another avenue of information. "I

Shaw the

was a banker

before the SS," the colonel said, confirming

Our—

thought. "One of only a handful of non-Jewish bankers.

German

people's

—economic condition

practices of Jewish bankers. But

Shaw

"Of course,"

you know

due

is

what

to the policies

and

that, of course."

agreed, detesting the

same

realizing at the

lie,

time that he had correctly assessed the colonel's stature. "After

I

was

by

fired

my bosses,

That was

to

it!

have the money and me," the colonel said proudly.

He should have known. The

way

bought his

admitted to being a

into the ranks of the SS. thief.

No

What mattered was

used by the SS

to perpetuate the

It

was not a new

departing post-

WW

I

man had

liter-

matter that the

man

ignorant

No

matter that he had proven he could not

be trusted. No!

to

can truthfully say

I

I

was overjoyed

ally

joined the SS.

been my salvation. had enough money, money stolen my Jewish bankers, to purchase a commission in the SS. Himmler

that the SS has

from

I

the money, funds

story to Shaw. He'd seen

Germany.

which could be

nightmare of the Death's Head.

Men

enough of

men

of wealth,

it

before

of power, anxious

maintain their status, had used their wealth and prestige to obtain

commissions

Himmler's fledgling SS. Himmler and the National

needed money, and the affluent needed

Socialists

mind

in

that true alliances were forged

coalitions.

Never

between men of conscience, not

purchased as marketable commodities; they had paid into the coffers

oftheSS.

And

in

some

cases, the result

of fatuous buffoons,

men such

colonel talking about U-boats island mystery

had been power placed

as the SS colonel next to Shaw.

—one

at Kiel,

Were they connected? Did one augment

train

hands

two

at Lorient.

A

And an

on Peenemunde.

answer was yes. The

The

in the

was

foolish

man had

slowing, and the

said as

the other?

The obvious

much.

men on

board began milling

Shaw

peered out the frosted

around, confusion painted on their faces.

CHAPTER

103

14

A light snow was

window.

falling.

The

north had taken them into

trip

the colder reaches of northern Germany, into the forests.

were passing more

But there was no terminal. No see.

No

and

leafless

The pine

trees

slowly, the train halting. station.

Not one that Shaw could

signs of civilization intruded on the landscape of evergreens

The

hardwoods and desolate snow.

and airmen peered out the windows, won-

soldiers, sailors,

dering about the unauthorized stop.

Shaw checked

his watch.

Twenty

minutes before their scheduled arrival at Wolgast.

When

it

came, the attack was sudden and deadly!

The shots came aboard the

train.

in volleys, barrages of lead reaching the

men

The sound of machine guns penetrated the closed

environment of the coach where Shaw rode. Splinters of damaged

wood

flew in large slivers across the coach, themselves almost as

lethal as the bullets.

Men

screamed.

Chaos reigned.

Death intruded! The

fatal

salvos continued, ripping at the interior of the coaches,

tearing at the bodies of the

men

wounded

fumbled with the weapons they

All

in the first assault

had been unloaded

returning

fire

trapped inside. Those soldiers not

The only

for the train ride.

rifles

carried.

capable of

were carried by the outside guards, two per coach. Six

coaches. Twelve guards.

Seven of them had

onslaught. The others desperately returned

fire

fallen

in the

initial

in the direction of the

unseen enemy.

The carnage continued, screams closed quarters.

Bodies

weapons continued

Shaw dove

fell

like

to rake the

for the floor.

escalating,

and amplified

coaches with unerring accuracy.

He landed on a

Wehrmacht, the three half chevrons on the

Hauptgefreiter of the

soldier's sleeve already dis-

appearing in the blood that soaked his uniform. intake of breath.

in the

matchsticks as the large caliber

Shaw

felt

a sharp

^MEGA

THE

104

DECEPTION

The noise was deafening! Horrifying! The scene was from a nightmare, a grisly replay of

all

the horror

Shaw had seen

The glass from the windows was transformed invisible knives flying

through the

into lethal shards,

by

propelled

air,

1939.

in

bullets fired

by

unseen hands.

Shaw

from the barrage of

bullets;

he marveled that he was

noted a change of pitch in some of the of the few remaining guards

heavy

away

crawled toward the exit at the far end of the coach

caliber

made a

firing.

the floor as he

alive.

still

made

his

He

lighter caliber rifles

distinctly higher pitch

machine guns roaring from the

Shaw hugged

The

than the

forest.

way

The

to the door.

train

remained stationary.

Why was

the engineer not

moving?

Dead, perhaps. Or part of the ambush. Either option either equally fatal. For in place,

a

static killing

Shaw

whatever the reason, the ground, a death

fire

had been

silenced.

The men who

died in a hail of steel-jacketed bullets,

He reached

remained locked

Wehrmacht

carried

such

rifles.

rifles

had

Shaw knew. The dead lay every-

the door at the end of the coach.

Shaw was covered

sense,

trap.

could no longer hear the high pitch of the

The return

where.

train

made

in blood.

The gunfire now sounded as

if it

was coming from

further

down

the tracks, toward the engine.

Shaw grasped the landing,

still

the door handle

crouched,

still

door.

Moving onto

first to

the east, try-

and opened the

vigilant,

he looked

ing to locate the source of the assault.

He allowed himself a caused the death of the time.

It

had been

short smile. Efficiency. That

train.

German

efficiency.

at this spot exactly

The

is

train

what had

had run on

on schedule. And the men

behind the machine guns had used that efficiency against the

Germans.

The staccato bark of the machine guns began again. Shaw

realized

they had been reloading. He scrambled from the landing, his

feet

CHAPTER slipping in the

105

14

newly

fallen

snow

as he landed; he hit the ground hard,

roiling involuntarily, out of control.

The machine guns continued

men

were destroyed, the were fleeing the

Shaw wood

deadly onslaught; the coaches

within mangled. Others had escaped and

ground, seeking shelter in the nearby

forest.

bolted for the tree line, seeking the refuge of the solid hard-

trunks.

He reached to,

killing

their

A

stray bullet kicked

the tree line

and

up the snow beside him as he

scurried behind the

first

large tree

ran.

he came

throwing himself prone on the ground.

Why?

He'd escaped the destruction, the death.

and

failed.

Some

—he could see them deeper

as he had. He, along with others,

dead or dying on the

floor of the

Others had tried

in the forest

had made

passenger

it,

while

—had escaped

still

others lay

car.

Voices.

Shouts.

Commands! They were coming. The men behind the guns were

finished; their

deed completed. Death had been doled out in a wholesale manner.

Shaw

could hear the animated chatter of the

Shaw this

realized

he was thinking of the

deed as the enemy. In

all

killers.

men who had

likelihood, they

were

perpetrated

allies, friends.

But he could not take a chance. He would have to remain in character.

might save.

He was die in

And

seek his

SS.

It

had not occurred

Germany

at the

to

him

that as

an SS member he

hands of the very people he had come

then he realized he was here to assuage his

own

own

to

feelings,

revenge.

The voices were louder now. The gunfire had ceased, leaving behind

it

a

stillness,

a quiet so profound that

Shaw

beating beneath the uniform tunic he wore.

"Check the

Shaw

cars," a voice ordered.

realized the

man was

The Polish Resistance. Partisans!

speaking Polish.

could hear his heart

THE -^AAEGA DECEPTION

106

Boots crunched in the

moved

snow only yards from where he

Shaw moved

deliberately, purposefully.

seeking

protection like a child behind

its

"They are dead.

lay;

they

behind the

tree,

father's legs.

its

on the

All dead!" a partisan

"Those that did not run

yelled.

farther

far side of the train

scared chickens," he added

like

humorously. "Be certain," another voice instructed.

"Do not

ity.

A new defined as

let

any of the vermin

sound

filled

drew

nearer,

it

the cold

was

It

the voice of author-

live."

air,

softly at

coming from the

first,

then louder, more

direction of the next village.

Vehicles!

Vehicles with troops!

"A

patrol!

Shaw

From Wolgast!" a

partisan screamed.

listened to the scramble of

men

as they sought traction in

the snow. The partisans were escaping, running for their lives, their killing

done

for the day.

The sound of the

patrol

grew louder as

it

approached the carnage

of the train. Several vehicles braked to a halt short of the train's engine.

German

soldiers scrambled

from the

cars,

weapons

at the

ready.

"We have done our work an

aside, the

Shaw

man

this day," the

close to

still

where Shaw

peered from behind the

no approaching

outside of the coaches as

if

ing cars of certain death.

Shaw guessed

ties. It

was hard

to

tell

lay.

The man was examining the

tree.

there were

bass voice said, almost as

his

through the rough clothing of a peasant

The man turned one

last time before fleeing,

But

marred the

for the scar that

patrol,

left side

no

rac-

age to be in the mid-for-

and Shaw saw

laborer.

his face.

of the man's cheek, he

was

handsome, of rugged Polish ancestry. Then the man was gone, running with the rest as the German patrol closed on the

Shaw emerged from behind

the tree as the

first

killers.

of three tracked

troop carriers pulled to a stop. The carriers had flanked the train,

approaching from the

forest.

Gray uniformed Wehrmacht

soldiers

CHAPTER spilled

from the

107

14

carriers, rifles ready,

not realizing the magnitude of the

slaughter they would find.

A Wehrmacht

commanding

Oberleutnant

the patrol

saw Shaw. He

approached, fear clearly showing in his eyes.

Was

Shaw

the uniform he wore or his failure to save the train,

it

wondered, that produced such a look of

terror

on the young

officer's

Probably both.

face.

"Herr Sturmbannfuhrer," the Oberleutnant fumbled for words.

"What has happened here?" "Ambush, Oberleutnant. That much should be coaches for any afraid the

There are others in the

living.

men who

this particular train

forest.

did this were ruthlessly efficient.

would be

clear.

Check the

Help them. I'm

As

if

they

knew

at this particular spot at this particular

time."

The Oberleutnant swallowed hard. Shaw's statement had sounded like

an accusation. The he had

sibility;

train's security

Shaw toned down

troops.

Shaw moved

riding.

He

the Oberleutnant's respon-

officer

known

entered the

would happen."

this

nodded and scurried away

to the entrance of the

The

same door he'd escaped through and was met

ting with the holes. aisle.

SS

men he now

side of the

He stepped over and

recognized,

officer

Shaw's

to

one

could see several large first

in the process.

surely killed

Shaw had

the

The

side, his

wounds

volley

still

caliber bullet

oozed blood. The

from the

bullets that killed the

man

sit-

body blown toward the

that

full force

his seat.

Shaw had been

SS colonel was pockmarked with large

had taken the

life

moving toward

coach next to the seat where

The colonel was slumped

Shaw

to direct his

coach in which he'd been

with a slaughter of unbelievable proportions.

around bodies of

final.

"Help those you can,

his accusatory tone.

Oberleutnant. You could not have

The Wehrmacht

was

Recriminations would be swift and

failed.

side,

saving

man would have

not been seated next to the window.

Blood was everywhere. Wehrmacht soldiers from the patrol were scouring each coach, pulling those

who were

still

living

from beneath

THE -0-AAEGA DECEPTION

108

the dead. Corpses were carried outside to be identified. Gray, black,

snowbank

blue uniforms dotted the

guns had performed

Shaw

their

bloody task.

Wehrmacht Oberleutnant stumble from

noticed the

and

below where the machine

just

growing phalanx of dead and

fall

knees at the edge of the

to his

the for-

He vomited.

est.

Even the Nazis have

Shaw

their limits,

Then he remem-

thought.

bered the reports of torture and torment that had come from concentration

the it

camps, and

Shaw

felt

no sympathy

Shaw tugged and

pulled at the

body on the

His bag

floor.

just as a soldier "Is that his,

officer.

until

and Shaw

the seat

he had

retrieved

colonel's body.

Herr Sturmbannfuhrer?" the soldier asked respectfully.

Shaw answered.

"Mine,"

was beneath

removed the

young

for the

body of the SS colonel

"That

is

his,"

Shaw

said, pointing to

another, almost identical bag.

"Perhaps

know

his

I

might have

it.

To aid in identification,

Unless you

sir.

name."

"No ... no

don't

I

know

his

name. We'd

just

"The bag, then, Herr Sturmbannfuhrer. This

Shaw passed

the

bag

to the soldier,

met on

is

this train."

a horrible day."

wondering as he did so what

kind of person talked to another for hours without ever knowing his

name.

Shaw shook back

to the

himself from his abstract musings, forcing his mind

world before him. He looked around the coach; most of the

bodies were gone.

He could hear

the

moaning and

wounded. Shaw examined the bag; there was one its side.

One

bullet out of

cries

of the

neat, clean hole in

thousands had found the bag.

It

could have

been worse, he thought.

Shaw opened

the bag

and checked the contents. The

unimportant; they could be replaced.

came upon

another, smaller bag. This

and assorted

toiletries.

A

from

bag.

He dug through

splinter

Shaw

its

clothes were

the bag until he

bag held a shoe brush,

polish,

pulled the shoe brush from the smaller

wooden handle dug deep

into his flesh.

He

CHAPTER

109

14

turned the brush over. The single bullet had pierced the dle,

destroying

A

its utility.

small object,

its

But that was not

function destroyed

round, gleamed from the interior of the

avenue

all.

by the impact of the heavy

wooden

handle.

components he had smuggled

instantly that the radio

via the shoe brush were

now

useless.

wooden han-

He would have

Shaw knew

into

Germany

to find

another

to contact British Intelligence.

He'd made

it

to the right place at the right time.

The conversation

with the SS colonel, although obtuse, confirmed in his mind that something

was happening. Something

And

Michael

Shaw

could

tell

fearful, dreadful.

no one.

CHAPTER

15 november

1942 buckinghamshire, engiand 10,

Malcolm Stanley had only one job as he Park: intercept the daily key

sat in

Hut 8

at Bletchley

coming from B-Dienst, the radio

gence service of the Kriegsmarine

intelli-

—the German Navy. Upon intercept-

ing the daily transmission, Stanley fed the six-letter

bombe—-the coded

text—and a probable

clear text, into the proto-computers

Hut

tested millions of possible permutations against

8.

The machines

the clear text, deciphering the daily

key

in as

little

housed

in

as ten to twelve

minutes.

With the daily key deciphered,

it

was

entered into the

German

Navy's version of the Enigma, Germany's secret code machine. Unlike the

Wehrmacht

version, the Kriegsmarine version used six rotating

drums instead of

five,

giving the navy version several million more

permutations for every character. Early on,

it

had become

clear that the only

German Navy's transmissions

successfully

way

would be

to

decode the

to acquire

an

THE ^-AAEGA DECEPTION

112

had a Wehrmacht version, but

actual Enigma. Bletchley Park already it

was

useless for decoding Kriegsmarine messages.

When

the

U-109 was captured

the U-boat radio operator

tence of the

had

also

in

May

1941, the Enigma used by

been captured. Since then, the

navy Enigma had been one

exis-

of the most closely guarded

secrets in British Intelligence circles.

A total was

of five people

knew

the lowest ranking

man

knowledge. After

all,

the machine existed. Malcolm Stanley to

be blessed

—or

cursed—with

this

he and two others were the ones actually receiv-

ing the daily key and doing the

Enigma and decoding

work

to

decode

it,

the daily radio traffic of the

entering

it

into the

German Navy.

Stanley had no doubt that others suspected the existence of the

machine.

It

was only

to the British

reroute

logical,

given the accuracy of the data being sent

Navy's Submarine Tracking Room, allowing them

to

convoys away from and around German wolf packs stalking

the North Atlantic.

Stanley typed the coded daily key into the proto-computer and

switched on the machine. The noise was almost unbearable as thou-

sands of mechanical relays, switches, and contacts set about the daily code that

to

break

would render the German Navy's Enigma impotent

another twenty-four hour period.

for yet

As

the

machine whirled and clanked and whined, Stanley poured

himself a cup of steaming tea from the small ceramic pot his mother

had given him years ago.

It

was one

of the pleasures he allowed him-

while on duty; the tea calmed his nerves and

self

in his

own

Station

eyes,

X was

With

more productive as a

little

his tea

more than a

end.

his

at least

cryptologist. Otherwise,

life

at

grind.

poured and the permutations flowing through the sys-

tem that would shortly

away from

made him,

spit

out the decoded daily key, Stanley pushed

desk and rubbed his eyes. His watch was nearing

He would be

its

able to crawl into his clean bed in the village of

Buckingham and snooze away

the next twelve hours. There

ing the whirling machine next to

him could do

to stop that.

was noth-

CHAPTER He

113

15

thought.

The deciphered

key came up almost

daily

instantly.

Never happened that bloodyJast, Stanley thought, as he wrote the key onto his pad

and entered

window. Each of the

six characters acted as a further decoding

the

Enigma

for the day.

the inner secrets of the

it

into the

Enigma's six character key

The Enigma was ready once again

key

for

to reveal

German Navy.

Almost as quickly as the key had come up, the radio began receive the

of hundreds of messages the Kriegsmarine

first

transmit on this day.

It

was God's will— that

was

Kriegsmarine radio ple of

luck—later

on, Stanley

would say

first

message was actually received by as forty radio operators assigned to

traffic in

Hut

8,

it

could have been as long as a cou-

hours before the incoming message would have been entered

into the

Enigma.

Such was not the case on

this day.

Stanley wrote the characters on a pad as he received them.

he was finished, the coded message looked ters,

it

many

the

Stanley himself. With as

just

to

would

like

When

a jumble of German

let-

arranged in word blocks with no meaning. Stanley entered the coded words into the Enigma,

much

like

typing

a normal message; almost immediately the message began to appear.

Date: November 13, From: To:

1942

Joint Command BdU and SS

Commanding Officers, U-3009 and U-3021

Subject:

Begin

Initiation of Omega

immediate

directives

operations

issued

in

concerning

accordance

Operation

with

Omega.

Stop.

moment

Stanley stared at the message for a Auxiliary Directives

found the numbered

book from the directive,

shelf.

and read

before pulling his

He opened

it.

the thin volume,

THE -^AAEGA DECEPTION

114

6-7.43.

Dir.

"Omega"

messages— Special

radio

messages keyed with code name "Omega"

radio

distribution.

NORMAL DISTRIBUTION. Upon receipt of such messages, at the

bottom

is to

All

ARE NOT FOR the

number

be called within ten minutes, the contents of the

message read verbatim, and the physical message destroyed dance with BI Directive 1254.3. Failure

in accor-

to follow these directions will

result in disciplinary actions against the radio operator, the cryptologist,

and supervisor as a

military court martial

Stanley stared awestruck at the directive.

number

picked up the phone, dialed the

at the

may

direct.

When

he recovered, he

bottom of the

directive,

and waited. The phone rang only once before being answered on the other end. The cryptologist could hear the whirring

and

clicking that

indicated a secure phone. "Directives Desk," the voice said.

Stanley sibility

was not

of the

what

certain

Omega messages,

He'd been briefed on the pos-

to do.

but he'd never considered that he'd

ever receive one.

As a

military court martial

The words stuck

in his

"One moment," the voice with the

may direct.

mind. "Omega message," Stanley

said.

replied mechanically, then, "go

ahead

Omega message."

Stanley read the message exactly as the Enigma had decoded

it.

His palms were sweating despite the cold air that blew in and around the poorly lapped outer siding

As a

on Hut

military court martial

8.

may direct.

"Bloody wonder," Stanley muttered as he waited response from the Directives Desk. is

the Directives

his supervisor,

Navy Enigma

As a

And

that

for

a further

was another thing— what

Desk? He'd never heard of it. He made a note

one of the three cryptologists existed.

military court martial

Maybe he wouldn't

ask.

may direct.

who knew

the

to

ask

German

CHAPTER

"Your message is

115

15

is

received. Your authorization to destroy

your copy

Oscar-23." With that the connection was broken. Stanley stared for a

Oscar

.

.

.

Oscar ...

is/or Stanley

He

lifted

lukewarm

is

moment

at the authorization

for Oscar,

is

for

Oscar ...

—Oscar-23.

is for

Omega.

Omega! felt

head whirled

his breath suspended; his

the cup of tea he'd not finished earlier liquid.

grandchildren.

message turn

Someday, he knew,

He touched a match to

this

to the

in a

gray mist.

and sipped the

would be a story

to tell his

paper and watched the coded

ash before his eyes. He recorded the incident

daily log, finished the tea,

and glanced

more minutes and he could head

at the clock

for his

on the

wall.

in the

Seven

flat.

The man behind the voice who had received the Omega transmit

made a

notation on the face of the document that

only copy of the message in existence. placed the numbered message in his head.

He would not want

was thankful

that burden lay

its

now

He opened a

represented the file

folder

and

proper place, in order, and shook

this responsibility

hanging over him. He

on the shoulders of another.

CHAPTER

16 november 11, 1942 peenemunde, germany Michael

Shaw

leaned back in the

chair,

weariness, the memories of blood and death smell the sticky odor of the spilled blood

a gesture of still

fresh.

futility

He

could

and still

which had flowed over and

through the floorboards of the train coach, staining the ground

below—the

stench of death.

Death, on the scale he'd witnessed, had been one of his desires for

who'd

the people quick, too

killed Barbara. Merciful

was

too good, too

said, as

he recalled the

death

humane. He'd wanted revenge.

Retribution.

Vengeance

is

mine

.

.

.

"... and I'm your instrument,"

Shaw had

Bible verse.

But death on the scale he had witnessed was unacceptable.

been a massacre. The screams and moans of dying his ears; the smells

still

men

still

It

had

echoed in

assaulted his nostrils; thtfeeling of death clung

THE -^MEGA DECEPTION

118

to

him

like

a cloying perfume.

He had not

but he'd formed a bond with the ble,

was

but the bond

there.

men on

it

It

until

it

how he might

was

over,

seemed impossi-

At one point when he'd been

ground, he'd been calculating

killing

realized

the train.

fleeing the

save others. They

had been soldiers—boys really—and they were the enemy, but he'd a sense of loss at their death.

still felt

Shaw

Wehrmacht

site

soldiers methodically cleared

long into the night as the

each coach of the dead and

dying and administered medical treatment

to the

wounded.

Contrary to the Polish partisan's declaration that

men had

were dead, more

in shock; they'd

of the train, and Ftihrer.

it

the vermin

all

lived through the hail of high-caliber death

than had died. Most, once

around

death coaches, had wandered

free of the

seen battle

was not

for the first time

from the

by

the glorious victory promised

Now Shaw

last night.

their

sat in the office of SS-

Oberstgruppenfuhrer von Liebeman, the SS control officer on

and the

installation

known

Liebeman's adjutant, Oberfuhrer folders

interior

Disillusionment had followed in the footsteps of defeat.

But that had been

Island

would

shifted in the chair, seeking comfort, a comfort that

not come. He'd remained at the massacre

Shaw had

Security

delivered

upon

to

Shaw

Usedom

as Peenemunde.

Diels, casually flipped

Von

through the

Peenemunde.

his belated arrival at

had been impressive, bordering on oppressive, the SS and

Wehrmacht guards almost

gleeful in following their procedures.

With

the in-processing finished,

Shaw had been

billet

in the

officers' barracks.

But sleep had been elusive.

With the morning, he'd reported

now

assigned a temporary

to

von Liebeman's

office,

and

he watched the lean-faced Diels as he perused the documents.

Shaw wondered

if

the documentation,

the Oberfuhrer's scrutiny.

most of

Then he dismissed

ined the papers himself, comparing them to

Germany on

his leaving;

it

was

it

forged,

would stand

the thought. He'd

exam-

some he'd taken out

impossible to

tell

between the authentic and forged. Nevertheless, Shaw begin to race as Diels continued to examine the papers.

of

the difference felt

his pulse

CHAPTER Shaw

119

16

noticed Diels's furtive glance in his direction;

Shaw remained

erect in the chair, at seated attention.

"Impressive, Sturmbannfuhrer," Diels said, not looking up.

"Thank you, Oberfuhrer," Shaw responded. "You have given

all

the information about last night's attack to the

interrogation squad?"

"Yes

sir,

German

typical

Shaw snapped back

Oberfuhrer,"

who

did this, they will wish they

When we

Shaw wondered how out by Poles, but

Shaw

the

had never been the sons of

if

had been

allies,

It

it

even

"You

side of his face.

men

But those

occurred to

men

of death

fighting Nazi tyranny as he was,

was gone if

will

this

and

morning. He would not give up those par-

he knew every name and every

be assigned

face.

to the security division at the

Sturmbannfuhrer. The work goes well there, but

motor shop,

not quite where

it is

should be," Diels said, closing the packet of information

given him. "Von Liebeman and

back

carried

he'd experienced a fleeting pang of sympathy for those soldiers

last night,

tisans,

had been

the attack

mention that the apparent leader of the

had a scar down the

last night

man knew

wasn't important at the moment.

it

that he'd also failed to

partisans

it

catch the parti-

women."

Polish

even

what he hoped was

succinctness.

"Very well. Nasty business, last night.

sans

in

I

arms behind

in his chair, his

Shaw had

suspect sabotage." Diels leaned his head. "The motors being

developed there should have been finished months ago. They

We

should be on the test stands this very minute.

thwarted at every turn. feres

It

will

be your job to see that no one inter-

with the progress in that shop. Also to

teurs, malingerers,

have been

and Jews that

ferret

are aiding in the

out any sabo-

slowdown

that

is

taking place there." "If

I

may, Oberfuhrer," Shaw began.

nature of the

be to

my

work going on

advantage

to

in the

shop?

understand what

"Is It

it

permissible to ask the

seems

it is

to

me

I'm looking

that for."

it

would

^MEGA

THE

120

Diels leaned forward

me

are telling

that

DECEPTION

and eyed Shaw through narrowing

lids.

you have been sent here and have not been

"You

briefed

on the work that goes on here?" "Yes,

sir,

I

am," Shaw

replied,

a

trickle of

Had something been overlooked?

throat.

A

nervousness tickling his

missing

bit

of vital infor-

mation he should have had? "Good! Very good, Sturmbannfuhrer! You were to be told nothing.

Those were the

orders.

man

Every

here on this installation

here for

is

the duration of the project. Himmler's orders. After the task

we

pleted,

we remain

be reassigned, but for now,

will

com-

is

here as the eyes

and ears of the Riechsfuhrer."

"And

the Fuhrer,"

Shaw

included.

"Of course, and the Fuhrer. That goes without saying. But you

know

should

word

is

law.

And

word comes from

his

understand,"

"I

Shaw

said.

as Diels spoke of the SS as

"As

to

if it

what goes on here

tion to answer.

will

I

answer

tains to the SS." Diels rose

back.

come from Himmler. For

that our orders

Shaw knew

it

He

the Fuhrer."

could feel the hate building in him

were the

at

living church of God.

Peenemunde, that

in general

from his

the SS man, his

terms

chair, his

first,

is

a

ques-

difficult

and then as

it

per-

hands clasped behind

his

the ploy, the superior teaching the inferior; the mas-

ter to the student.

"Peenemunde

"What

is

a research and development

the Reich does here

is

facility," Diels

began.

invent weapons never before dreamed of

bombs

in this world. Rockets, in a word. Flying

untold destruction on distant targets. The proof of

capable of raining

German

superiority,

a superiority that will be proved to the world on foreign shores." "England,"

"England

Shaw

.

.

.

supplied in a whisper.

and

others," Diels said after a short hesitation.

"Germans, true Germans, are the most advanced people on the face of the earth.

We are destined to rule the lands.

the areas

we now

tries,

and those

I

say lands, because

I

include

own, France, the lowlands, the Scandinavian coun-

to

the east. Russia will very soon

fall

under our

CHAPTER influence.

121

16

Soon we

be embarking on even greater acquisitions.

will

weapons we

Greater endeavors. These

of tomorrow.

Of

had

all

They

build today will bring us the lands

are simply the verification that

on our

side."

of the SS,

God

certainly never played a pivotal role in their beliefs. But here stood

Nazis.

to the specifics of

man

is

new motor

marveled. will

be

new

a completely

for

have been completed.

project

ensure that the work

Interference from groups bent

You

halting the work.

Shaw

faith,

developed and finished within the next few weeks.

The rudiments of the to

be on the side of the

your position, Sturmbannfuhrer, you

in charge of seeing that the

weapon

class of

to

was an ironic— and perverted— twist on

It

"As

you

is

Shaw had heard about and knew

the things

an SS-Oberfuhrer declaring the support of God

the

God

will

It

remains but

done without outside

is

for

interference.

on detaining, delaying, or completely

have

full

authority to use whatever

mea-

sures necessary to complete your task."

Shaw absorbed weapon I

need

are

to

Diels project

is

we

the

know what

I'm looking

walked back around

provide security

already two major rocket projects the V-2 are in the works. is

much more

version of the V-2.

using

older,

not a propulsion engineer.

desk and returned

his

We

It

is

underway

The V-l

sophisticated,

for

will

to

at this time.

air

and

soon be ready

for testing.

more complex. The V-5

is

The

a smaller

have already launched a number of the V-5s

much more

One which

will

saltwater."

"To be carried onboard ships?"

The Oberfuhrer returned

Shaw

quizzed, his curiosity stimulated.

to his chair

hands once again behind

across his face.

to

The V-l and

modified motors. But for our purposes, a

withstand sea

"The

be the V-5. There are

powerful, specially designed motor will be needed.

his

to his seat.

which you are

power a new form of rocket. The

designation has already been made.

V-2

am

for."

the motor that will

is

I

The motor construction

ultra-secure.

"What type of

then asked,

information,

talking about here, sir?

and pushed back

in his chair,

his head, a smile of satisfaction splayed

THE ^AAEGA DECEPTION

122

"No, Sturmbannfuhrer. Not to be carried on ships. To be launched

from U-boats!"

Shaw

controlled the sharp intake of breath he

of the U-boat-launched

devastation and havoc to coastal towns and

would be possible inland up

tions

bombs

Flying

for

felt

at the

mention

weapon system. Such a weapon would Supply

cities.

bring

line disrup-

to the limits of the rocket's range.

which no countermeasures existed or could

exist.

Supersonic death carried on the winds of German genius. see

"I

dream,

BdU

you

we can

Donitz

is

Do not be. We

are surprised. build. This

anxious

to

a

is

new

Germans. What

are

we can

concept, to be sure, but one that

have as soon as

possible."

"Admiral Donitz? U-boats?"

"The project

initially

was

his idea.

He was

of Soviet supply lines in the Baltic States. the

weapons

ter,

much more

in time for that purpose, but Donitz

Shaw's mind raced!

What was

to

have

possible to

has determined a bet-

sophisticated use for the system.

them against the United

He

plans to launch

States." It

was obscene! Insane!

be gained by attacking the U.S. lands that could be

reached by a U-boat rocket?

bound

interested in interdiction

was not

It

to result? If the idea

Why

had come from

Hitler or

could understand better, but coming from Donitz, "Please pardon the curiosity, Oberfuhrer. strategic thinker in this matter, but

the U.S. in this manner.

What

were

risk the civilian casualties that

it

I

it

Himmler, then he

made no

realize that

I

seems counterproductive

is it

sense.

am

not a

to attack

that Admiral Donitz expects to

achieve from such a mission?" Diels smiled condescendingly. "No, gic thinker, Sturmbannfuhrer.

explained to

me by

desk,

moving

wood

surface.

But

I

you

are not

will explain the

much

of a strate-

problem as

it

was

the admiral." Diels repositioned himself behind his

closer to the desk

and

resting his elbows

on the glowing

"Last year, Operation Drumbeat fought the Americans in their

own

backyard. Donitz's U-boats sank thousands of tons of shipping within

CHAPTER sight of shore. It

was a

123

16

The U.S. chose not

slaughter.

Diels rose again,

Not unlike

to protect those ships close to shore.

last night

on the

train,

He ignored Shaw. Shaw was

against the back wall.

"The Americans have learned some things are

now

American and

at routing

in the interim.

their

They

They

are

and convoy maintenance. The

British destroyers provide shielding for the

have updated

British

say."

thankful.

protecting single ships within sight of their coast.

becoming very adept

The

you might

and poured himself a drink from the makeshift bar

convoys.

ASDIC. The self-defense capabilities

and the navies have temporarily halted

of the merchant marines

our interdiction attempts on the open seas. Whole convoys escape

without damage. All because the Americans are learning

how

to

wage war." paused

Diels

for a

moment; Shaw watched the man move about

the room.

"Admiral

American

and

Donitz

believes

ability to escort

military bases.

It

Kriegsmarine

the

can hamper the

convoys by attacking the U.S. coastal

cities

more

ship-

would

force the

Americans

to assign

ping to protect the bases and the people. There would be an outcry

from the populace California.

convoy

tect the U.S. coast. to

duties.

Men and

snow

front.

to that. Ships

materiel

happening

It is

would have

would be ordered

in

be

to

to pro-

Convoys would go unprotected, allowing our other

again gain the upper hand in the Atlantic."

Shaw was sweating now, light

on the home

The Japanese have seen

pulled from

U-boats

for protection

that

despite the coolness of the office

was once again

falling

and the

and blowing against the

office

window. It

made

"With

sense!

this

Heaven

forbid!

new weapon,

It

made

perfect sense!

a single wolf pack of five U-boats will be

able to effectively neutralize the abilities of hundreds of ships. Escorts, destroyers, subchasers,

all

would be reassigned. Donitz has

called

the ultimate deception. With these rockets, the U-boats will attack

and down the east

coast.

The Americans

will

know

the

it

up

war has come

THE ^AAEGA DECEPTION

124

to

them from

three thousand miles away.

They

demand

will

protection!

Security will be uppermost in every mind! Chaos will reign!"

Shaw's head swam. His eyes, once focused intently on drifted to the ceiling, his concentration destroyed, his

Was

possible?

it

mind

Diels,

now

in turmoil.

The answer was "yes"!

Unthinkable!

"And I'm

be in charge of getting the motor ready for the

to

system?"

"You have that

privilege,

Sturmbannfuhrer. See that

it is

done.

We

do not have much time." Time!

That was

opment

it!

further,

A time

constraint existed!

tion link with Bletchley Park

"...

is

ment process

Shaw

said, realizing

a scientist

is

section.

you know what "I'm not sure are SS.

You

You

civilian in charge.

"We

relay the information.

he'd missed

Sturmbannfuhrer, that the

development

if

and

Kurt Daluege."

"Excuse me?" "I said,

I

will

will

named

man

say

this.

"Sir,

need

to

are the rulers.

Shaw

Kurt Daluege

not acceptable.

in

work

is

the

but not too closely,

closely,

Remember

fate

I

that.

ultimate

stress the ultimate

when

that?"

that stood in the

way

could await him should he

He would

You have

see

Germany and

of the motor devel-

fail.

And

failure

understand completely,

sir,"

Shaw

was

the SS reduced to ashes in

attempt to avenge his wife's death. For that, he'd have to remain "I

motor

the

answered. He'd just been given permission to

eliminate anyone or anything

opment. The same

charge of the develop-

do, Oberfuhrer."

We

sir,"

of the briefing.

mean."

I

Do you understand

yes

in

some

be the SS representative. Daluege

authority in the motor development section. I

he could delay the devel-

If

then he'd have time to establish another communica-

an

alive.

affirmed, rising to leave.

"One more thing you should know, Sturmbannfuhrer. This rocket will

be

built. It will

be mounted on a submarine and sailed to the east

CHAPTER

125

16

What even

coast of the United States.

know

is

warhead

that the

explosive.

It

be something

Shaw

felt

radiated out

heavy.

to see,

as

if

and

of Peenemiinde do not

not be the conventional ton of high

than the death camps are to the Jews.'

It

will

assure you."

a horse had kicked him in the stomach. The pain

into his limbs. His breathing

He wondered

He moved toward

I

men

words of the SS-Riechsfuhrer, 'more deadly

will be, in the

to the people of the U.S.

will

the

for

a

moment

the door

if

was

short, his

arms

the effects were obvious to Diels.

and away from the

terrible revelation

he'd

just heard.

He knew he now had another assignment.

What was to

the

warhead

to

be?

What was

be compared with the death of thousands.

agated such madness?

so deadly, so obscene as

What kind

of

mind prop-

CHAPTER

17 november

1942

11,

ieverkusen, germany Located on the east bank of the Rhine River, the colossal manufacturing

complex of I.

G.

Farben Industrie gave no outward indication

of the horror produced within

its

Leverkusen, nestled between the north,

tomed

was

walls.

Bonn

to the

south and Dusseldorf to

actually a suburb of Cologne. The population, accus-

to the smells

and odors of the

industrialized

Ruhr

region,

went

about their labors in the shadow of the great factory— if not in ignorance, at least in apathy.

The valley

to the

across the Rhine.

west was

flat,

rising as

it

progressed eastward

Through the huge, metal-framed windows of

I.

G.

Farben, Reinhard Gluecks watched the Rhine flow past the manufacturing giant's headquarters. Gluecks, fully

an

athlete in his

own

right, wist-

envisioned himself rowing the river— single sculls were his

choice. Then, as

if

the passing fancy

the notion were a sin against the SS, he banished

and turned

to the task at

hand.

THE ^AAEGA DECEPTION

128

"The demonstration went well, said,

one white-clad

trust?"

I

scientist

uncomfortable with Gluecks's silence.

went very

"It

upon

answered

well," Gluecks

gaze

succinctly, his

still

the flowing waters of the Rhine.

"It

everything

is

indicated

I

Reichsfuhrer?"

the

to

man

the

continued.

Reinhard Gluecks turned his

view and trained

on the

his ice-blue eyes

The white-coated man his

classic nordic features

felt

an involuntary tremor streak through

body as the cold eyes of the SS man After a

momentary

silence,

on him.

fell

Gluecks said, his cruel smile a delicate

slash across his face as he spoke, will

from the river

scientist.

"It is

as

you

said.

The Reichsfuhrer

be well pleased. Well pleased, indeed."

The

"When can as his

been holding.

scientist released the breath he'd

the

mind raced

.

.

.

product be ready?" Gluecks asked, hesitating

to define

what

it

was he was

The

talking about.

truth

was, there really was no adequate description. "It

takes very

little

time to conform the

.

.

.

product to the neces-

"We can have

sary configuration," the scientist explained.

ready

it

within twenty-four hours of your notification. Will that be sufficient?"

Gluecks smiled again, this time expansively, putting the scientist

"That will be more than

at ease.

Himmler

shame

that

that

it

you have done is all

and probably the

all

sufficient.

I

will report to Reichsfuhrer

that he has asked,

so secret at the

Fiihrer himself,

moment. would

I

and more.

It is

have no doubt that

like to

reward you

for

a

he,

your

loyalty to the Third Reich."

The

scientist smiled, relaxing.

undertaking. The product it

was

intended.

haunted the nights and

But

it

was

Men had

It

had been a long and dangerous

finished, perfected for the use for

which

died in the process. Cruel, ugly deaths that

scientist, thrusting their terrible realities into his sleeping

waking moments.

was over now. Terminated.

cation of the theory.

The

practical.

All that

was

left

was

the appli-

The practicum. There could be no

CHAPTER doubt as

129

17

but the scientist justified himself under the

to that application,

mantle of

scientific

achievement.

strategists— those for

whom

He was

the theorist. Others were the

was

application

everything.

cation far exceeded the standard morality of mankind,

argue? In Germany these days, there

was

little

And

who was

was

that

appli-

if

he

to

either stan-

dard or moral.

"Thank you

been a ghastly business,

away from

tainers

I'm

That

is

here.

not convinced

still

this. I

I

be glad

will

when

I

But

for the best.

it is

has

can ship the con-

have had second thoughts about

it is

It

this facet.

for the Fatherland.

enough."

"As

it

should be," Gluecks acknowledged, listening not only to the

words of the

scientist,

victions. "This

possible.

is,

full

but the tenor of his voice, the tone of his con-

of course, to remain classified at the highest level

Only you, your workers, Reichsfuhrer Himmler, myself, and

of course, the Flihrer,

ing

words. They are most appreciated.

for those

know

of

well that Adolf Hitler

guilt at the

lie.

"It is

months. The Reich

its

existence," Gluecks admitted,

knew nothing

imperative that

will see that

you

of the plan,

remain so

it

and

know-

feeling

for the

no

next few

receive your just reward.

You can

be proud of what you have accomplished here," Gluecks finished, then uncharacteristically slapped the scientist

The

on the back.

scientist felt pride welling within

that outstripped the clinging guilt he

felt

him, a surge of nationalism

at

having invented the horror

resting before him. "I

must go," Gluecks

he told the reward.

scientist.

said.

"We

will

be in touch with you shortly,"

And, Gluecks thought wryly, you will receiveyour

The same fate that awaits every participant

nightmare.

in

this

CHAPTER

18 november 27, 1942 peenemunde, germany Sunlight streamed into the elongated

paned windows center.

It

cover of foot

was

the

Usedom

on the

He was

first

land in the

amazed

secret rocket base.

the multi-

and development

natural light to penetrate the oppressive cloud

two weeks since Michael Shaw had

Island in the

spit of still

room through

lining the rocket engine research

at

how

easily

he had penetrated the

ultra-

The papers he'd been furnished, he decided, were

not forgeries, not in the real sense of the word. The papers had

from Berlin, from SS headquarters, just as any other SS

They were only forgery for the

man known

Shaw warned Woe

to

in the sense of the

as Schmidt here on

and the

name

printed

Usedom

officer's

come had.

on the papers,

Island did not exist.

himself repeatedly to avoid becoming complacent.

them that are at ease

Shaw had been ticular

set

Baltic.

in Zion.

familiarizing himself with the

rest of the

huge

installation as

motor shop

in par-

he had opportunity. The

THE -0-MEGA DECEPTION

132

installation

was huge, and two weeks had only provided a

to explore.

But he had discovered most of what was going on here at

Peenemiinde, and

mass

was an

terrified

him.

It

destruction of people,

any

people. Civilian, military,

it

limited time

installation dedicated to the it

made no

difference.

Shaw snapped

out of his ruminations and concentrated on his cur-

rent situation.

The rocket engine research center was a narrow hallway-like structure;

workbenches stood

in the center of the

of rocket motors cluttering the benches. Fully

motors lined the

With

intestines.

far wall, their ducts

and

partially

assembled

and tubes appearing

like

metal

massive framework and upright stance, the

their

motors were almost four meters to the ceiling.

room, various pieces

tall,

reaching one-third the distance

High above on the opposite

wall, a catwalk stretched

the length of the building, offering a vantage point for the officials

who were

and held the necessary

curious

clearance. There

were not

many.

room from one

Straddling the

side to the other, another catwalk,

complete with heavy-duty block and tackle to motors, sat on steel

"I"

beam

facilitate

entire distance of the research center

shaded incandescent bulbs cast a

on

slightly

steel tracks.

sunshine in two weeks, Michael for

Green metal-

yellow glow over the room

during cloudy and nighttime hours. But today, with the

the exposed

moving the

runners. The walk could traverse the

Shaw knew

there

first

glimpse of

would be no need

lighting.

Two weeks! It

seemed more

like

a year. Fifteen days had passed since he'd met

Kurt Daluege, the civilian in charge of the rocket engine center—the

motor shop, as

it

was

called

by the workers.

Then, as he'd shaken hands with the sharp-eyed Daluege,

had had a

feeling,

in the hate

Shaw

a sensation, about the man.

It

had been

Shaw

in his eyes,

could see flowing from them in waves as the

stared at the black uniform

and the

silver

death's head on Shaw's

man cap.

CHAPTER Shaw made seemed

An

133

18

a mental note to switch back to the

gray tunic.

field

It

less intimidating to those outside the SS. ally.

A friend, Shaw thought,

thought occurred to him.

Maybe

though he was not sure

slowdown

the

in the

why

the

motor shop was

not due to outside interference but to a master plan conceived and executed within the very pinnacle of the research center's brain

trust.

Perhaps Daluege was the source of the backlog.

Shaw had watched, research. It

Above

waited, examining the shop, the motors, the

he kept an eye on Kurt Daluege.

all,

had taken the

full

two weeks

for

Shaw

to

be certain, but he was

convinced. There had been no overt tampering, no obvious malfeasance, only the assurance that Daluege

was not what

the Nazis

thought him to be.

Shaw had been impressed with sight of the rocket

prospects of

its

the man's intelligence,

awed

at the

motor Daluege was developing, frightened by the

use.

He'd never considered the

possibility that

such a

thing could exist.

Daluege had explained the theory patiently, demonstrating the various sections of the motor, explaining problems. In

could sense the pride with which the

Daluege could produce a motor just hand. Whether

it

man

all

of

it,

Shaw

worked. He was convinced

like the

one needed

for the job at

would come about was a question Shaw could not

answer. "It's

a controlled explosion," Daluege explained, describing what

happened when the alcohol and the

liquid

oxygen came

in contact

within the rocket motor burn chamber. "There's no other describe

it.

We

control

it

by the amount of

way

to

fuel released into the

chamber."

Daluege and

Shaw were

standing in the motor shop.

Men

all

about

were working feverishly on the refinements and corrections Daluege

had issued

in the latest set of blueprints.

groaned, lathes

Giant milling machines

hummed, and workers shunted between

assembled motors and workbenches.

partially

THE ^AAEGA DECEPTION

134

"Sounds simple enough," Shaw remarked,

his voice slightly raised

over the din created by the workers in the shop, knowing the conde-

scending remark would spark a conversation.

"Sounds simple, yes," Daluege sider the

and

changing

We

pressures.

velocity

up

enough

we must

Shaw laughed

me

con-

speed.

account the constantly changing

Most of the

deal with.

rocket's speed

is

achieved

4

is

tremendous. The G' forces are a

It is

hard to get the leaders here to

Herr Sturmbannfuhrer, you would be good

our situation?"

to explain

looking to

to take into

that. Perhaps,

we have to

and with that the changing temperatures

The acceleration

in thirty seconds.

understand

have

maximum

to

problem that

altitude

replied testily. "But

at the thought. "I don't think

for explanations.

I

think he

is

von Liebeman

is

interested only in

results."

As they watched, tem moved along

the huge overhead catwalk with

its railings,

Shaw and Daluege watched

heading

for

its

crane sys-

a partially assembled motor.

as the workers secured the twelve-foot

framing and high-temperature piping assembly to the crane,

and transported tion of

German

it

to

moving

that

is

size

is

the difficult part right now," Daluege contin-

into the shop. "To enclose the

impervious to saltwater

and weight since

to get the

it,

efficiency.

"The encasement ued,

lifted

another portion of the shop, another demonstra-

same

is

a

motor within a casement

We are restricted by Now we must find a way

difficult task.

this latest modification.

thrust from a smaller motor,

one which

will

fit

into the

waterproof casing." "I

sympathize with your predicament, Kurt,"

we must have or

you and "I

I

this

motor out and on the

may no

do not think

test

Shaw answered.

"But

stand within the week,

longer be here."

it is

possible," Kurt Daluege said, shaking his head,

a strange sadness in his voice.

"Pray that scientist.

it

is,"

Shaw

responded, hoping for a response from the

CHAPTER

135

18

"Pray?" Daluege responded. His reaction could not believe he

Shaw

felt

was hearing a member

was

unintentional, but he

of the SS speak of prayer.

a sense of satisfaction and anticipation. Stranger things

had happened. He had gotten a

reaction.

Shock might have been a

he thought, but nonetheless,

ter description,

"Pray, Kurt. That

what

is

said,"

I

it

Shaw

was

bet-

there.

repeated, this time in a

lower voice.

thought the SS prayed only

"I

was

only god

to

Himmler and

Hitler.

That your

head on your cap," Daluege responded, a

that death's

note of disbelief in his tone.

may

"That

he was about

be true for some, but not for

to put his

life

in the

all,"

Shaw

said,

knowing

hands of Kurt Daluege.

"How

so?" Daluege asked curiously.

Shaw

turned to the

scientist, his

area, his voice low, intense. "There are

head turned from the assembly

some

who believe

that

Germany, not

to a

SS

in the

there are other values, other commitments. Not to

man. Others." "You speak

my

in riddles,

friend.

These are very dangerous words the Reich.

You

Others? Commitments? Values?

when spoken

outside the context of

are of course speaking of other powers. Externals.

Those across the channel, perhaps?" "I'm

speaking of powers greater than those,

Kurt,"

Shaw

answered. "Powers that transcend this world. The U.S., Britain, and Russia are nothing compared to that could

mean

it."

Shaw

probed, delving into an area

quick and painful death

if

his

assessment of Kurt

Daluege was wrong.

But time was precious. He had giance.

Shaw needed an

Daluege as

far as

ally.

A

to test

Daluege 's

loyalties, his alle-

communicator. He would push Kurt

he thought possible, and then beyond. He had

to

know. "There are forces that eclipse even the power of the Third Reich.

Even and

the

power of Hitler," Shaw whispered, surprised by

certainty.

It

had taken Barbara's death and

his

own belief

his insertion into a

THE

136

show him how much he

hostile land to

God.

had taken two weeks of

It

Germany

of a

^MEGA

that

DECEPTION a living

really did believe in

living with evil incarnate in the

form

had been compromised by murderers and hench-

men. And the conviction grew stronger every day, every hour that he

was on Usedom

Island.

When

he thought about

it,

he could date the

beginning of his changing beliefs to the day he'd met Wild

Donovan and Mark

Daniels.

It

had not been obvious

he recognized the gentle hand of God

in retrospect,

to

him

Bill

then, but

in his decision to

enter Germany.

Daluege nodded slowly, a painted mask of uncertainty on his It

would not be surprising

God

belief in the

them.

He had

to find the

SS using such a

smoke out

of the universe, to

face.

ploy, a perceived

believers

and

arrest

be careful. Yet there was a sincerity in this man's

to

voice.

"That power

waving

it

will

make

to indicate the

this

power

.

.

,"

.

Shaw extended

massive motors being

built in the

his arm,

motor shop,

"... seem like Chinese fireworks."

"And not

the SS,

I

presume," Daluege smiled.

"Definitely not the SS." "I

was

can do

all

things ..." Daluege began, stopping at that point.

all

he could think of on such short

would have

Shaw

notice.

was not much, but

It

it

to do.

felt

a sense of

joy,

of triumph.

When

odyssey, he'd wanted nothing more than to

But two weeks ago he'd seen

men

enemy—die an agonizing death in the It

It

take the

"... through

he began

this bizarre

Germans,

kill

—German

cold

had not been the triumph he'd hoped

He must

kill

snow

the SS.

men, SS men, the of northern Germany.

for.

risk.

him who strengthens me," Shaw completed

the bib-

quote from Philippians.

lical

Kurt Daluege peered at

man

in the

death's head

Shaw through narrow

SS uniform, alternately staring

on

at

slits,

examining the

Shaw's face and the

his uniform cap. "I've heard that there are those

who

CHAPTER are

the

in

religious

Sturmbannfimrer.

Shaw tiated

137

18

SS.

It is

find

I

hard

that

comprehend, Herr

to

not consistent."

The game had begun. The feeling-out process

hesitated.

with the exchange of words. The

away

or the other walked

or

game would

was convinced

demand membership;

may

"That

be true," Daluege

said.

a kind of loyalty, wouldn't you say?

laws?

Its

it

continue until one

of the other's truth.

Shaw

"Perhaps not consistent to the uninitiated," organization can

ini-

began. "An

cannot control loyalty."

"But even membership requires

A

subconscious adherence to

its

regulations? Did not Judas adhere to the expectations of the

rest of the disciples

while a

member? That he was eventually a

him immune

did not render

around him. And certainly that membership played a part tual actions.

Even as a

traitor

to the influence of the rest of the

traitor,

in his

men

even-

he operated within parameters. Within

expectations."

Shaw Judas

was

felt

warmth

a

affected

by the presence of Jesus less for

A

over him.

settle

Christ.

No man

.

.

disciples

and

"I

think

certainly

could meet the Savior and feel

such a meeting. Not even here, in

Daluege lowered his voice. "You

assurance.

final

by the presence of the other

.

this hellish

you

are

environment."

what?" he asked

in

a shocked voice.

A week ago, he

Now was important. "I'm a believer, whom you think believe. My words will

But that time was past.

did.

Kurt.

two weeks ago, Shaw would not have answered as

You must decide

not convince you."

in

I

Shaw was rewarded

with a gentle smile from

Daluege.

"You speak of another power, of a Savior. Riddles, perhaps. You are here for

some other reason than

to see to

it

that

my shop builds the

necessary motor?" "I

am. But

I

am

also worried that

progress.

We

know we

are serious here.

we can

we

are not

showing enough

must give our bosses a bone. Something

talk further."

We

to let

must keep them away from here

them until

THE -fMEGA DECEPTION

138

"Yes,

my

astounding,

And we must

friend. is,

talk further.

nevertheless, bothersome.

Your revelation, while

We must

talk,"

Daluege

affirmed in a whisper. "Yes,

we

must.

I

will

meet you

at

your apartment tonight.

seem nothing more than a meeting of the minds. You ily

It

live in the

will

fam-

housing area, correct?" "Building two-thirty-four. "Until tonight, Kurt,"

today.

It

charge.

may

We

Room

Shaw

twelve. Tonight, after supper."

said.

"And

let's

show some

be the only thing that will keep both of us here and in

must remain on

this island

and

in this shop.

the only ones capable of stopping a nightmare."

"A nightmare, "In

progress

indeed," Daluege agreed.

Him, Kurt," Shaw said before walking

off.

"Yes," Daluege nodded, too stunned to say more.

We may

be

CHAPTER

19 november 27, 1942 kiel, germany Martin Saint-James scanned the instrument panel of his Mustang

with casual exactness. He'd taken off from a fighter group base near Colchester in Essex, his orders specific.

For Saint-James, liaison officer to the fallen

ill

it

was a dream come

RCAF weeks

true.

He'd been assigned as

When some

of the pilots had

with an undiagnosed viral infection, he had been asked to

with the group.

He had

quickly agreed,

actual flight time in the P-51

P-51

earlier.

qualified.

model

I

And now he found

and

after less

fly

than four hours

Mustang, he'd been signed

off as

himself flying a reconnaissance

mission into Germany.

For the

first

time in weeks, the skies were almost

blue winking through high, scattered clouds.

It

was

clear,

a deep

the kind of

day

reconnaissance pilots dreamed of and dreaded in one great well of

mixed emotions. The

clear skies

meant good

ing statement of a reconnaissance pilot was:

pictures.

But the work-

we can

see them, they

if

1

THE ^AAEGA DECEPTION

140

can see us. The rapidly clearing skies offered both opportunity and peril.

Saint-James applied slight pressure to the

nose of his

him over

aircraft

back

to the east-southeast

the narrowest portion of

left

rudder, bringing the

heading that would take

Denmark and

into the

heavy

He would

corridor protecting Kiel harbor in northern Germany.

flak

line

up

as he crossed Flensburg, adjust his course further to the south, and overfly

Kiel,

German shipyard Let

it

belly-mounted camera snapping pictures of the

his

as he crossed.

be clear over Kiel, dear Lord, Saint-James

he adjusted his prop controls the green. In the cold, thin

and he reached

cold,

to bring his air,

his engine

feel

to

prayed as

manifold pressure back into

was running

for the vernier control to lean his

The P-5 1 's engine smoothed out could

silently

a powerful

hum

just slightly

mixture

slightly.

that Saint-James

throughout the entire airframe of the Mustang. He checked

the outside temperature with a quick glance at the thermometer

mounted through

the Perspex canopy

and cursed

silently as

he recog-

nized the small round face as an American-type Fahrenheit version

and not the more since July ters.

A

familiar centigrade variety.

The RAF had had the P5

and had changed most of the cursed Fahrenheit thermome-

volunteer American pilot had

the British unit

on a mission on

made

the

July 27. But the

first air-to-air kill

RCAF had

with

not yet got-

ten around to changing the thermometers in the ships they were flying.

It

showed minus twenty-two

degrees.

Saint-James calculated the conversion in his head. Colder than he

would have thought

at eighteen

thousand

feet

with a ground temper-

ature hovering right at or just below freezing.

Denmark was

just

coming

into

clouds. Saint-James checked his

time against the

him almost due

map

The west coast of

view between the rapidly thinning

watch and cross-referenced

in his lap. His

dead-reckoned course had placed

east of the North Frisian Islands. In minutes he

be over Flensburg, beginning his southerly turn into the trigger that

his flying

would

activate the

Kiel.

would

He checked

camera and the small window that

C

141

•

showed

the

enough

to

amount

map

of film used.

He had a

German harbor

the

Mustang performing

More than With the

installations completely.

he had no

flawlessly,

full canister.

fear that

would shoot him down. The P-51 was simply too

ground-based guns fast.

The buildings of Flensburg appeared on the horizon, and the

Mustang gently banked lations.

in response to Saint-James's graceful

manipu-

was

For Saint-James, the feeling of the powerful machine

almost a religious experience. Less than

fifty

miles now. In seconds, the skyline of Kiel

would be

was

Saint-James advanced the throttle on the plane and

in view.

rewarded with the deep- throated growl of the huge engine. The vibrations through the airframe increased, sending a comforting like

massage-

sensation through Saint-James's torso.

The

hand began

altimeter's

positive climb.

He

the climb configuration, at fifteen

hundred

The

first

around the

face, indicating

and

feet.

vertical

speed indicator

He would shoot

settle

the pictures from

That height provided a general panorama

coastal installations surrounding the port city.

black puff exploded more than three thousand feet below,

but Saint-James ship.

and watched the

feet per minute.

twenty-five thousand of the shipyard

to revolve

adjusted the trim control, stabilizing the aircraft in

felt

the shock

The Mustang jerked

wave

of the flak as

it

passed over his

in response to the antiaircraft

fire.

More

black clouds, deadly in their benign appearance, began bursting at

every

altitude.

airspace

The small plane rocked and bucked as

where seconds before a

shell

much about being hit by

Saint-James worried, not so

but of flying into the shrapnel produced by the

had learned something about Mustang, the Kiel

air

AA

was becoming

appeared beneath his

left

The

AA

fire

fire,

and

first

AA

fire.

the flak

itself,

The Germans

despite the speed of the

deadly.

map

attached to his right knee.

increased; the small aircraft its

flew through

wing, and Saint-James aligned his plane

with the coordinates scribbled on the

wild horse under

it

had exploded.

bucked and reared

like

a

saddle. Saint- James retarded the throttle,

THE ^AAEGA DECEPTION

142

checking the climb, and

He

feet.

the plane settle in at twenty-five thousand

let

toggled the camera switch and watched as the small indicator

window showed

that the

camera was working.

Flak continued to explode, blessedly

still

thousands of

feet

below

the Mustang. Occasional bursts reached the small plane, but always to the right or

left.

Saint-James touched the trim wheel, letting the aircraft

fly itself.

was a

It

ent

he'd learned long ago. The Mustang, with

trick

would

stability,

fly itself

with

much

greater accuracy than a

could ever achieve, even without the aid of an automatic

The plane bucked once.

Close.

dow showed

the footage shot.

every bloody

bit

He stopped installations, still

it

Enough

the camera,

banked

feet of film

was

less

tip

of the island

fishing village! fish,

he

I

away from

the flak

throttle.

in his canister.

He

Shame

would want

was

aircraft into

listed

fifty

a westward headmiles to the west.

pictures of a Baltic island

was

entire island, at that, only the far

on

his

secondary target

list.

A fish-

If

they wanted pictures of iced-over boats and

Martin Saint-James could bloody well provide them.

another opportunity

P-51

cull

named Peenemunde.

ing village

A

remaining

than a hundred

beyond Saint-James. And not the

dead

photo section to

for the

to the west,

bank, and slipped the

Island

British Intelligence

northern

The small camera win-

he thought. He glanced at his compass heading, adjusted

it,

Usedom

Why

close.

human

pilot.

and pushed the nose over as he advanced the

slightly in the

ing.

Too

inher-

of information from the images, Saint-James knew.

had several hundred

waste

to

its

was

flew, but

like this

might not come again

the mainstay of the

who knew

for

how

RAF and RCAF long.

for

And

months. The

squadrons for

whom

Only the Mustang had the range

necessary to accompany the bombers into and out of Germany, and this

very Model

Which meant, Island

I

might be pulled

for just that

of course, that the airplane

and back again. The island was

reason very shortly.

would get him

to

Usedom

close to the twelve-hundred

mile range of the Mustang. Saint-James did

some quick

calculations as

CHAPTER

143

19

the P-51 droned westward. According to the numbers, he should be able to loiter over ficient fuel

Usedom

for

two or three minutes and

still

have

Saint-James checked his watch and compass once again. dred the

fifty

pub

suf-

remaining to reach Colchester with a slight reserve.

miles.

Not that

for the early

far,

he reasoned. He'd

still

have time

A to

hun-

make

evening dart game. Provided, that was, the

debriefing did not last forever.

CHAPTER

20 november

27, 1942

lorient, france The

Schutzstaffel security

come from Munich,

team was

Most of the men had

the Bavarian enclave of the SS. Other

were represented as

districts

in place.

well.

cities,

Some were from

other

Stuttgart,

Nuremberg, Dresden, and Hanover. The worst, the most cold-blooded of the bunch, were from Riga.

The

security

team consisted of one hundred men,

with a misplaced sense of loyalty. They had

murderers,

all

moved

all

into Lorient

through Paris in the north and Lyon in the south. Orders had been issued,

and the team had moved with German

efficiency to carry out

those orders.

Each

workmen

man was in

dressed differently, yet each the same. Disguised as

heavy peasant

clothing,

the

men had

infiltrated

French seaport with ease. Even in the clothes of workers, the

the

men

shared a sameness, a hardness about the eyes, a coldness nestled deep in their souls.

THE ^AAEGA DECEPTION

146

The leaders had met with the Gestapo agents

in charge of shipyard

worker surveillance. To the man, the Gestapo agents had informed the SS security

team

that

none of the workers involved had disclosed the

overhaul procedures they had performed on the

Each U-boat, they had been

they had entered the yard.

was

No outward

would give a hint of

ance, no telltale sign existed that

assignment. All

U-3009 and U-3021.

appeared to be no more than what

after overhaul,

when

radical

appear-

their actual

secure. Except for the workers.

Given time, some would talk of the strange work that had been

done on the U-boats. The changes had been too for

it

not to happen.

Men who

drastic, too

unusual

drank had loose tongues, and every

Frenchman drank. The blueprints had already been locked away

in

massive vaults

in

the Hartz mountains, secure into the next century. The planers, the

draftsmen, the engineers had

whim

dependent on the

all

been

transferred, their very existence

of those at Prinz-Albrechtstrasse.

Suppliers of exotic materials

had been eliminated, often before the

materials themselves arrived in Lorient. Lists

had been compiled

mented—to provide

—exactingly

maintained,

the latest information, the

reflecting current workers' status

and

location.

edited,

aug-

most timely documents These documents were

turned over to the SS security team by the Gestapo agents.

The

security

team moved

out, a metastasizing cancer

invade and destroy in accordance with their

When Guy La old Lorient

which would

edicts.

Forche stepped out of the doorway of his century-

home, an uneasy

feeling enveloped

him

like

one of the

gray fogs that so often shrouded the French coast in winter. He could not identify

it

other than to

Forche reminded himself,

know something was

he was the consummate

not

right. But,

La

pessimist, at least

according to his wife.

La Forche cut across two blocks Lorient shipyard.

The French

city

to the train tracks that led into the

was not

that large,

and La Forche

CHAPTER 20 was seeing that

it

147

faces he didn't recognize.

was a

He consoled himself with and

shipyard, a military installation,

the fact

soldiers, sailors,

and

workers came and went every day, almost every hour. But there was something, a feeling lurking in the recesses of his mind that continued to prick his senses.

group of

He shook

men walking

off the

uneasy

feeling

and joined a small

making

beside the tracks, each

their

way

to the

shipyard and the day's work.

"Another day, eh, Guy," Charles Fontaine called

to

La Forche as he

approached. "Oui, another day, Charles,"

La Forche answered, drawing even

with and joining the small group of welders. Charles Fontaine lowered his voice. "There are rumors, Guy."

"There are always rumors, Charles."

Fontaine shook his head. "Not

like these.

These rumors have

to

do

with the U-3009 and the 3021," he said, indicating the two U-boats

which had been overhauled "I

in the Lorient yards.

have heard such rumors," another of the men added.

La Forche continued

a single rock. "What are

to walk, kicking at

these rumors?" he asked, trying to ignore an increased

gnawing

in his

chest.

"Something

made

to

to the effect that there will

be special awards to be

the men who worked on the two boats."

"Doesn't

make

sense, Charles.

We

have done many overhauls on

U-boats. There has never been a reward for such work, only more

work and

less pay.

The Germans do not have a benevolent bone

in

their bodies."

Fontaine shook his head adamantly. "No. the It

men who worked on

will

be announced today. Wait and see.

"It's true,

It is

Guy," another said.

been done. The Germans are

"It is

The rumor is that

We will be

no more than slaves

grateful for the cooperation

to the Third Reich.

for

some

sort.

rich after this day."

the only time such

"The Germans have never been grateful are

true.

the boats are to receive a bonus of

an overhaul has and the work."

any work done.

Have you

all

We

forgotten

THE -0-MEGA DECEPTION

148

Do you

that?

my

so soon forget the invasion and rape of our country? No,

such

friends,

not be the case," La Forche insisted.

will

The group joined with workers merging from headed

for the

all

over Lorient and

main gate of the shipyards. Each man

in turn displayed

badge that hung from pockets,

and

his identification

Hundreds of bodies,

and then broke

all

moving en masse, entered

each heading

off,

collars,

for his respective

La Forche, Fontaine, and the men with

the

coats.

huge shipyard,

assignment.

whom they had been walk-

ing headed for the sub pens at the north end of the yard.

The uneasy

and La Forche shrugged the appre-

feeling persisted,

hension away. He donned his welding apron, gloves, and hood before crossing the

wooden gangway connecting

the dry-docked U-boat

and

the edge of the wharf. All

the

around him the giant cranes and equipment needed

war machinery

of

Germany moved

in a

the high-pitched melody of air tools

let to

kind of synchronized bal-

and angry shouts.

La Forche was working on another U-boat, her snout broken from an encounter

produce

to

in the Gulf of Biscay

flattened

and

with another German

warship. La Forche smiled, thinking that the Germans could sink their

own

ships

He'd

met

if

just left to their

own

devices.

just replaced his

welding rod and snapped his protective hel-

when he

a tap on his shoulder. La Forche raised the

in place

hood and

felt

starred into the face of Henri Devereaux,

with

whom he'd walked to work earlier that morning.

was

at his side;

"What

is

"Charles

I

have been

New

stifled

This

Charles Fontaine

Henri?" La Forche asked.

it,

and

La Forche

men

both looked worried.

the yard today.

new faces.

one of the

is

faces.

talking.

There

is

something going on in

Some we've never seen

an immediate

before."

feeling of disquiet. "There are

always

a shipyard. You and Charles are becoming worrisome."

"We're serious, Guy," Charles Fontaine added. "Something's not right. It's true there are

usual.

And even

if all

always new

the

new

faces

faces,

we

but today there are more than

see are just

new workmen, why

CHAPTER 20 aren't they doing

149

any work? There

I

new men everywhere just stand-

They pick up no

ing around, watching. materials, nothing.

are

you,

tell

La Forche removed

it is

no

tools, repair nothing, deliver

not the same."

his helmet

and peeled

off his

heavy gloves.

The wind from the Bay of Biscay was picking up. The weather was as cruel as the

Germans, the open sub dry docks cold and uninviting.

Yesterday had been an exception as the sun had broken through the clinging cloud mass, but

smell of

snow

in the

now

The

air.

He peered around him

the

wind was building again with the

frigid air bit at

at the

La Forche's

men working

in the

fingers.

bays nearby,

operating the giant cranes, carrying material.

Then he saw him! Not men, but one man, hard faced, staring tection of

crane.

at

him from the pro-

one of the dockside sheds near the base of a medium-sized

He was

dressed in the heavy clothing of a worker, but he didn't

move. There was no attempt

to

work, no

effort to disguise the fact that

men

he was watching La Forche and the two

with him. La Forche

felt

a shiver run up his spine.

"—is not here today," Devereaux was saying.

"What?" La Forche asked, returning "I

said Schneider

in the yard.

It's

like

is

not here today. None of the Gestapo scum are

they

all

disappeared from the face of the earth."

La Forche recognized now that the feeling he'd

had

his attention to his friend.

earlier.

No

his friends

Gestapo!

No

were

correct.

That was

Schneider! There

was only

one force on the face of the earth that could cause a Gestapo agent neglect his assignment.

these hard-faced

to

The Gestapo agents had been replaced by

men who

only watched.

Watched and waited! Waited, La Forche

knew without any

trace of doubt, for the

who'd worked on the two U-boats with the

men

stainless steel ballast

tanks. Waited for him.

"We've got a problem," La Forche said

know

the

men who have worked on

the

to his

two

U-3009 and

friends.

the

"Do you

3021?"

THE ^-AAEGA DECEPTION

150

Fontaine and Devereaux looked at each other, perplexed. "All of

them? There must be hundreds spread throughout

know them all." man who had anything

this yard.

It

would

be impossible to

"Every trouble.

know.

can

I

do with those two boats

La Forche emphasized. "Get

feel it,"

them

Tell

"Tell

to

to the

is

in

men you

to tell others."

them what?" Fontaine asked.

"That the SS

is

here and their lives are in danger," La Forche said.

Fontaine and Devereaux's eyes widened at the revelation; fear spread across their faces as they looked at each other and back to La Forche.

"Even the Nazis are not that could never get

away with

it,

stupid,"

would never

Devereaux argued. "They try."

"Don't be ridiculous, Charles. You underestimate Aryan arrogance.

We

Baltics,

and

have heard of the camps

all

Austria.

We know

Germany, Poland, the

in

who have been

those

removed, even

from France, and have never been seen again." La Forche shook his

head

in dismay.

can. Tell

them

been sent If

"We know .

.

it's

That

Contact the men. As

true.

them ...

tell

to silence us.

I

don't

is all it

know

his sincerity

then at their

friend.

and

Each man looked

his

light

snow began

strike at

was

at the

to carry

the

on the

Biscay.

two

friends

left,

his

mind

culating, devising a plan of action to counter the

knew—would

sanity, there

They were convinced. Both moved from

wind from the Bay of

La Forche watched as

you

as

men have

can be."

conviction.

deck of the dry-docked U-boat as a building

many

what. That

Devereaux and Fontaine doubted La Forche 's

no doubting other,

.

any moment.

operating, cal-

madness he felt—

—

CHAPTER

21 november

27,

1942

lorient, trance

Admiral Karl Donitz sipped the slide

down

his throat gently,

than the French

last of the cabernet, letting the

wishing

varietal. In his

it

was a German

hand he held

the latest Fuhrerprotokoll

promoting him from Befehlshaber der Unterseeboote Grossadmiral der Kriegsmarine to

become

Donitz walked to the

mouth

Keroman near begun

to

next year.

window

of the Kernevel chateau and looked

of the harbor. The U-boat bunkers at Point

the harbor entrance stood as reminders of

this war.

(BdU)

— Grand Admiral of the German Navy

effective the first of

out on the

wine

Riesling rather

U-boats were his

first

how

he'd

love, his only love he'd admit-

ted to himself during those rare times of introspection.

As Grand

Admiral, he'd insisted on retaining operational control of the U-boat fleet; Hitler

had

finally acquiesced.

But even in his acceptance,

was demanding more and more U-boats be to act in roles better suited to other,

Hitler

sent to various locations

noncombatant

ships. Donitz

had

THE ^AAEGA DECEPTION

152

seen his boats rerouted to the Mediterranean and the North Sea to act as weather observation platforms supporting naval operations in

those theaters.

Now, as Grand Admiral, Ddnitz would be obliged strategic

view as opposed

to his preferred tactical one.

to take a

And in

more

that con-

panorama, Donitz picked up the order he'd

text, the overall strategic

drafted only hours earlier.

To: Kiel

Naval Shipyard

Lorient Naval Shipyard

Peenemunde Research Center SS-Reichsruhrer, Prinz-Albrecht Strasse, Berlin

From: Admiral Karl Donitz, BdU, Lorient, France

Subject:

Due

Omega

to operational

requirements and the necessity of maintaining

every available U-boat possible in operational readiness, the project

known

as

I

am

ordering

"Omega" terminated and the U-boats assigned

this operation attached to the

to

North Atlantic Fleet operation area force

as soon as possible.

Signed

Admiral Karl Donitz,

BdU

Donitz reached for his pen and scrawled his the order

and rang the small

The door opened and

his

bottom of

messenger entered. it

sent at once," Donitz

man came to attention in front of the desk. man responded, clicking his heels and

"Yes, Admiral," the

leaving.

at the

silver bell resting at the corner of his desk.

"Take this to communications and have ordered as the

name

quickly

CHAPTER

153

21

Ddnitz contemplated placing a

him know Better,

that

Omega had been

he reasoned,

call to

Himmler

canceled, but thought better of

head of the SS

to let the

in Berlin, letting

find out about

it.

along

it

with the rest of the commands. Trouble would come soon enough. Better not to court

it.

Donitz walked back

had been a

to his

difficult decision,

would have loved

to

desk and picked up the wine

glass.

It

but one that had been necessary.

He

home

ter-

have attacked the United States on

its

but there were more pressing needs at the moment, and the

ritory,

three U-boats attached to the

Omega

project

were sorely needed

else-

where.

He rage,

sipped the remaining wine, then in a

slammed

the

empty

fit

glass against the far wall.

of uncharacteristic

The United States,

he thought. He would teach them a lesson. As soon as he could, he

would return the three U-boats cities

war.

of the U.S.

Omega and

He would make them

The development

plans.

to

at

attack the great coastal

regret their

Peenemunde would

involvement in the

continue, as

would

his

CHAPTER

22 november 28, 1942 peenemunde, germcmy The air was

hot,

rancid with the smell of burning

oil;

a macabre

scene backlit by the fires of the dying ship; the airfiled with the

screams of the dead and dying. Michael

Shaw came awake. The room was dark and

sweat that seeped from his every pore made the room surveyed the small cubicle, his to

home

for the last

feel

cool; the

clammy. He

weeks. His gaze

where he remembered dropping the black uniform as he'd

fell

fallen into

bed the night before. The black SS tunic was the prescribed uniform

for

the SS security detachment. It

itself,

was

still

there, the uniform;

a thing of malice and death.

from the outside, reflecting off the cap. For a

taunting

moment Shaw

him

Barbara!

for all his

felt

dark and heavy, a presence unto

A

narrow beam of

silver skull that

the obscene

light penetrated

adorned the

emblem laughing

field

at him,

mighty ambitions against the Third Reich.

THE -0-AAEGA DECEPTION

156

That's

what had awakened him. The nightmare was back. The

flames of death had been

around him, taunting him

all

just like the

sil-

ver death's head emblem. It

had sounded good when Wild

the plan. He'd seen

it

Donovan had

Bill

way

as a form of revenge, a

first

proposed

to strike at the

very

heart of the evil which had snatched his wife from him. But here in the heart of Germany, he

was

fully

aware of

idea of the magnitude of the

German

He'd had

his shortcomings.

the best of intentions, but he'd been ignorant. He'd evil.

Even

Europe before leaving had not prepared him

had no concept, no

the time he'd spent in

enormity of the

for the

degradation he had witnessed since returning to Germany.

Barbara! Barbara could have explained tions,

it all,

could have answered the ques-

assuaged the doubts.

But Barbara was gone, and Shaw solitude of the dark

felt

the loss

the

all

room with the Totenkopf laughing

at

more

in the

him from the

chair.

He swung into his hands.

his feet over the side of the It

was

these times

bed and

let

his

head drop

—these dark times—when he wanted something— someone— in an attempt

to cry, to reach out

and

to stop the feelings

he knew would follow the nightmare. The feelings

strike at

of frustration, of lostness, of hopelessness.

ing at him, taunting

him

They were

all

present, eat-

just like the silver death's head.

The death 's head.

He walked Sturmbannfuhrer ric,

to

the

lay.

chair

He picked

the coarseness. For the

he smiled.

It

was not

where the black uniform of an SS

first

it

up, feeling the heaviness of the fab-

time since he'd been at Peenemlinde,

the smile of delight;

it

was a

spawned from

the real-

that the black uniform would be used as an instrument

to pierce

deprecating gesture born of frustration but also ization

smile of sorrow, a

the wretched heart of the Third Reich.

Barbara would have advised leaving retribution in his

own

to

time, right the injustices of this earth, she

God. God would,

would

say.

CHAPTER 22

157

But Shaw couldn't wait on God. His lack of patience was a

would have

trait

he

Not one born of God, he knew, but one he'd

to live with.

learned to control and use.

What was happening

at

Peenemiinde was abhorrent. The depth of

had not surprised Shaw; he'd seen

evil

words uttered from prise

was

his grandfather's

the ingenious form that evil

as a reporter, heard

it

and

father's lips.

was

it

in the

What was

a sur-

taking.

The rockets were the procreation of desperate men, men of conscience

The

who

little

cared less for reality than for application.

scientists!

Von Braun! Daluege! But, in his

Shaw remembered

as he

turned out to be the one ally on

who

moved

to the small, single

room, Kurt Daluege was not as he appeared. The

whom Shaw

window

man had

man

could depend. The

was, almost single-handedly, responsible for the delay in the

motor shop. The Their

man who had

kept the rockets grounded to this point.

conversations had been intentionally fatuous, words

first

and phrases with

little

substance, the probing of

Daluege had turned out to be just the ally

man who,

grade

light dusting of officer's

Peenemiinde. shift

And

allies.

searching

for.

The

along with Shaw, could indefinitely delay the creation of the

Vergeltungswqffen—the weapons of

A

unknown

Shaw was

new snow

retaliation.

covered the yard outside the

field-

barracks just west of the family housing area of

Shaw gazed

out on the white covering, letting his mind

from the visions of the nightmare

to the

problems that faced him

now. He'd shared with Daluege the loss of his radio troop train. Daluege

had

told

him how dangerous

municate with the outside was. radio but

Shaw had

neering

skills at that point.

on the

the attempt to

com-

attempted to repair the tiny

had been unsuccessful, even given

various shops at the rocket center.

in the raid

Shaw had

his access to parts

from

cursed his lack of engi-

Communication with MI-6 appeared

to

be

but impossible.

all

^MEGA

THE

158

He would have

stop the nightmare that

to rely

was taking

DECEPTION

on himself and Daluege

The work on the new rocket motor had been delayed of ludicrousness.

to

place in the Baltic. to the point

The separate elements of the rocket known as the

V-5 would be ready

for testing the following

week. Motors, guidance

systems, electronics, and warheads would be mated, the resulting vehicle tested, refined,

and produced. No delays would be

tolerated;

excuses accepted. Orders issued insisted the rocket would

fly

no

within

seven days.

Seven days! Time was

Shaw

short,

recognized.

He had counted on

tors to delay the rocket construction, not the least of

several fac-

which was the

involvement of Admiral Karl Ddnitz, the soon-to-be Grand Admiral of the

German Navy. The

buoyed both

his

Fuhrerprotokoll announcing the promotion had

and Daluege 's

spirits.

Ddnitz

was a man

of conviction,

possessing the logical thought patterns of a strategic commander. Both

one hope

realized that

V-5 project lay in the

for the cancellation of the

overall

weakness of the weapon and

would

realize that,

its

means

of deployment. Donitz

be forced to admit to the shortcomings of the

weapon system, and

cancel

also a warrior. His U-boats

shipping in the Atlantic.

it

for the

good of the Reich. But Donitz was

had unmercifully attacked and destroyed

And

thus Donitz would be faced with a

dichotomy of staggering importance. The V-5 project could provide time for Donitz to rally his forces, redeploy scarce strategic forces and materiel.

It

was a

toss-up as to

what the admiral would

do.

Shaw

could

not wait.

The

directives for the rocket to fly this next

would have

the program

Shaw made to

succumb

his

to be eliminated.

way back

to his

It

week

was

notwithstanding,

necessary.

bunk, hesitating in the half-light

to further nightmare-tortured sleep.

He and Daluege were

inextricably linked in the stanching of the rocket development.

investigation

would reveal

that.

Shaw knew he

An

could be gone within

hours. But that would leave Daluege to contend with the horrors of

CHAPTER 22 retribution himself. ily,

now housed

had

to the

would mean leaving Daluege and the man's fam-

in the civilian

on

realized early

man

It

159

housing section of Peenemiinde. Shaw

that he could not do that, could not leave the

vengeance of the German military machine.

The rocket would

fly. It

must

fly to protect

could not be sacrificed on the pyres of

Shaw had another

plan,

Daluege. Such a

German

man

rocket development.

one that would assure Daluege's continued

presence at Peenemiinde yet stop the ultimate purpose for which the

V-5 was being developed.

Shaw crawled

into the

bunk and

not sleep, could not. At this point

it

pulled the covers up.

He would

would only bring back the night-

mare.

Shaw would save Peenemiinde, the

man

Daluege, the for

whom

man

of God, the conscience of

theory and practice had no definitive

boundaries.

Shaw he fought

felt it,

As Shaw

the

warmth of

but sleep won, closed his eyes

light of the fires returned.

the bed overtake

its

in his drowsiness;

ally exhaustion.

and

And

him

his breathing slowed, the first yellow

with them came the memories.

CHAPTER

23 november

It

was

He was

30, 1942

trance

(orient,

all

Guy La Forche

could do to keep his eyes from the man.

brutish looking, dark,

and rough, wearing the clothing of a

French shipyard worker. But La Forche

knew

all

too well the look in

the man's eyes.

He was

SS.

La Forche had watched the same of surveillance. He'd

first

appeared

man

throughout

last Friday.

this

second day

He'd not moved

far

from the base of the crane near La Forche 's work area. There had been

no attempt, except

for the clothing, to disguise the fact that

a shipyard worker. Once,

when La

Forche had checked, the

been gone and Guy had breathed a labored sigh of time he looked, less than thirty minutes ing there, his gaze fixed

he was not

later,

the

relief.

But the next

man had been

felt

stand-

on La Forche.

Now, with the workday ending, nothing had come of and La Forche

man had

himself relax. The

man

his fears,

remained, less obvious

THE -^AAEGA DECEPTION

162

than before, but there, near the supply shed that held the

The whistle sounded, ending the workday La Forche quickly joined

air tools.

for his shift,

and Guy

forces with the rest of the workers trekking

homeward, away from the

was now blowing

arctic blast that

in

from

the

Bay of Biscay. Charles Fontaine and Henri Devereaux soon caught

up

to

La Forche, and the three friends made

Each

gate.

man had

watched them not

"It's

me

also.

right,

to

of the stone-eyed

tell

men who had

mon

ami, " Devereaux joked. curious.

I

had one watching

"I

think perhaps the Gestapo

go underground," he laughed.

"If

you could

call

ous an attempt a form of subterfuge. But that would be

Germans

main

to the

you," Fontaine said.

tell

I

He was no more than

has chosen

way

for the entire day.

nothing,

"It is

a story to

their

to think that

we French

so obvilike the

are too stupid to recognize agents

simply because they dress differently." don't know," Fontaine argued.

"I

"He was with me the

was gone, but he watching. Once

door

knowing

returned.

He was

it

I

thought he

was me he was

right there outside the to turn the

near

them would be tempered

biting at

street.

"Well, I'm not going to

worry about

in the extreme. This

loyal Vichy,"

this afternoon

pretty obvious

myself.

wind that was

by the buildings of the

on us

was

"What about your man, Guy?" Once

La Forche walked on, wanting

out."

the

become paranoid

It

left to relieve

I

when I came

corner,

entire day.

is

it.

think the Germans have

I

just

a

way

of keeping watch

Devereaux joked.

Guy La Forche was

instantly incensed.

the lapels, his powerful forearms driving the wall. Devereaux's breath

was expunged by

He grabbed

man

his friend

by

into the nearest brick

the force

and suddenness

of the attack.

"Don't ever

call

me

Vichy, Henri," La Forche warned, the words

spoken from between clinched fabric of

teeth. His fingers

Devereaux's overcoat. He could

as he held

him pinned against the

wall.

were wrapped

feel his friend's

in the

body shaking

CHAPTER

163

23

Henri Devereaux caught his breath and said, with

Guy. Just a

just joking,

.

.

.

"Do not even joke about

by those

that.

pigs in Paris along the

Devereaux regained

effort, "I

was

joke. That's all."

his

I

am

My

no Vichy.

Quay de

was

father

killed

la Tournelle."

composure. "Just outside Notre

Dame

Cathedral," he said, his voice low.

La Forche released Devereaux, straightening the heavy, lapels of the greatcoat. "Yes, outside the cathedral," "I

my

am

Guy.

sorry,

I

will

soiled

La Forche affirmed.

never make such a joke again. Forgive me,

friend."

La Forche patted

his friend's shoulder. "It

ing forgiveness, Henri.

most often gets me "It is

said.

good

Both

men

"This

man who

a

laughed, the

I

and turned

shipyard, the

wind

moment

air cut at

has only one diffused

fault,"

by the

left

Devereaux

sincere apology

set.

enough

to

be

The cold knife edge of the pulled the battered

around him.

his

man who'd

away from

along the rue de Rennes. Here, as at the

him as he walked. La Forche

tightly

As he made of the

the one fault that

assailed the pedestrians unlucky

caught out in the streets as the sun

ocean

It is

should be ask-

leave you," La Forche said as he broke

the threesome

woolen coat

who

banter.

where

is

have a quick temper.

I

into trouble."

know

to

and the honest

I

is

way through

the

dimming

light,

he thought again

stood by the small shed at the base of the crane, his

gaze fixed intently on La Forche. He had to be SS. There could be no other explanation. others, the

He had

told

Devereaux and Fontaine

to

warn

the

ones who'd worked on the two U-boats that had required

such drastic modification. But here, in the beginning to

feel like

streets of Lorient,

he was

a schoolboy trying to impress older children.

As

he walked, he thought. It

made no

sense,

what he'd suggested

to his

two

Germans needed every able-bodied worker they could lay on. Especially skilled labor like

friends.

their

The

hands

most of the shipyard workers. They

THE -^AAEGA DECEPTION

164

men who

were

Lorient pens.

could not be replaced within a thousand miles of the

On them

rested the responsibility of putting to sea the

bulk of the Third Reich's U-boat

were no

there

Along the west coast of France,

fleet.

The Germans knew

better workers.

this. It

made no

sense.

As La Forche of a

man

rationalized

away his

running. Almost, he thought, as

be heard. The steps were

light, their

La Forche turned, curious as head swung

to look

La Forche stepped

the

man

street,

he

felt

did not

want

to

soles.

the pressure as a

light reflecting off the blade of to the side,

The man with the knife flew

lunge.

if

cadence muted by crepe

to the source of the sound. Just as his

back down the

lunged at him, the dim

he heard the muffled steps

fear,

an SS

a bullfighter avoiding the by, his

momentum

man

knife. bull's

him

carrying

well past the Frenchman.

La Forche squared up

to

meet the assailant head-on. The

man

turned, the last rays of light catching his features, especially the eyes.

They were

cold

and

black, dead, with only

Guy La Forche knew, was

man was

The

the

to see

one purpose. That purpose,

him dead.

same one who'd been

at the shipyard that day,

waiting beneath the crane!

The man lunged again, erate fashion.

The

knife

this time in

was

rying, seeking the area just

a more controlled, more delib-

in his right hand, the point thrusting, par-

below La Forche 's breastbone.

La Forche dodged away from the knife blade as to run,

there

was

it

ripped at the dense fabric of his coat. His

escape

down

were more people, more

was

first

knew

lights,

left,

first

He would have

the

where

protection. But this

instantly from the looks of him.

leaner than La Forche had

he'd appeared on the quay.

more

felt

thought was

the street toward the one he'd just

too fast, La Forche

killer

He

to his right.

man The

thought, more angular than to

stand and fight and pray.

For a moment, La Forche smiled to himself at the thought of praying.

He had

not prayed in years. His mother

was French

Catholic, his

grandmother Lutheran. He'd seen both of them pray. He'd even

tried

it

CHAPTER 23 once or twice, and

165

when

nothing came of it, he'd abandoned the idea as

nonproductive. Now, as he stood facing this

was

to kill him,

La

he found

it

singularly

Forche kept his eyes locked

stared at the man's midsection,

had

the rest

man whose

amusing

only intention

that he thought to pray.

on the man with the

knowing

that

He

knife.

where the stomach went,

to follow.

The man moved

with speed and

agility,

but he

was

smaller than

La Forche, and, La Forche sensed, physically weaker. But the knife

more than made up The man was hand.

He

for the shortcomings,

circling

didn't flick at

Guy knew.

now, knees bent, the knife molded into his

La Forche as he'd

earlier

done.

He moved with

deadly purpose.

La Forche moved

had cut

the knife his

man's

circling.

in his coat with the first attempt.

He

felt

the gash

The coat had saved

not in taking the knife blade in his stead, but by disguising his

life,

build,

in response to the

making the

think he

killer

was

actually larger than he was.

Perhaps, he reasoned, he could use the coat to once again confound this

man

in front of him.

Circling to his right,

were fixed on his

La Forche began

attacker, his

remove

to

his coat. His eyes

every nerve ready to respond to the next

onslaught from the deadly dagger.

The his face.

man

warily continued his movements, confusion showing on

He'd been assigned the elimination of this one man, and he'd

been certain he could accomplish the task with few complications. But his first assault

before the

was not the SS

had

He'd wanted

failed.

man had a chance

like the

elite.

to react.

to kill the

propaganda he'd heard spewing from the mouths of

man

he faced. As he watched the

greatcoat which he'd slashed with his SS knife, he if

And this

Here, in the dark streets of Lorient, France, he did not feel

superior to the

wonder

shipyard welder

That had not happened.

he would be able

La Forche had

to kill the

his coat off.

He

man

at

partially

man remove

the

was beginning

to

all.

wrapped a portion of the

gannent around his arm, leaving the remaining three or four

feet

THE -^AAEGA DECEPTION

166

dangling from his arm, visit to Spain.

and

The

much

fabric

he'd once seen on a

like the bullfighters

would work

to conceal the

He could

also deflect the knife-blade thrust.

bulk of his body

see the doubt reflect-

ing in the SS man's face.

They were

Pigs!

all pigs,

La Forche thought, competent only when

the odds were in their favor.

he

answered? He wasn't

sure, but

La Forche matched the SS circle.

it

returning.

was

killer

La Forche stared

now, only anger. Anger that

Was

possible,

movement

The knifepoint probed, bobbing

to the final thrust.

fear

as La Forche recognized the doubt,

and confidence

his strength

felt

And

in

and

at the

this

for

how

prayer

movement,

out, but

man,

man

this

was

he reasoned. circle for

never committing

into his face.

He

felt

no

could so callously remove

another

human

that

as a butcher in the meat market. Anger at the regime that bullied

life

being from the face of the earth with as

and threatened other countries as to

if

killer

was moving with

when no

longer useful.

the swiftness born of ineptitude, of

desperation. La Forche recognized this. circles,

regard for

they were no more than playthings

be stripped of their fortunes and discarded

The

little

The blade was moving

in small

the point intermittently thrusting and withdrawing. Once the

knife cut into the fabric of the coat as

La Forche parried the attempt.

La Forche could hear voices coming from the adjoining

streets.

But

the shouts were in French, not German!

Running ings.

The

feet

killer

He would have

echoed down the corridor of brick and stone build-

heard the sound of approaching footsteps, the shouts. to kill

La Forche, trying

now

or flee for his

to get within

own

life.

He moved

range for his blade, trying to outma-

neuver the Frenchman with the overcoat. He dodged feinted to his right, his knife

and drove toward La Forche with

arm—extended

the coat

and down

in a sharp motion.

wrapped around the

him. La Forche's

left

right

and

his right

left,

arm—

before him.

La Forche, countered, sidestepped the knife the coat over

closer to

attacker's

arm was

thrust,

and whipped

The dangling four

feet of

head and shoulders, blinding

in motion, the

roundhouse

left

hook

CHAPTER coming from

167

23

The

his heels.

fist

caught the

and sending the man

ing his windpipe

his face already purple in the

killer in

to the

the throat, crush-

ground, gasping for

air,

French night.

"Guy," one of the running voices called.

La Forche looked up. Henri Devereaux and Charles Fontaine, accompanied by half a dozen other shipyard workers he recognized, were running down the

street.

The would-be murderer writhed knife glinted four feet

no more problems

away where

it

in pain at

had

La Forche 's

fallen.

feet;

the SS

The man would cause

this night.

La Forche turned

approaching men. "What

to the

is

happening?"

he demanded.

Devereaux was the

first to

reach La Forche. "You were right," he

coughed, trying to catch his breath, his hands on his knees. "The at the shipyard

man on

were SS. The same as

this one,"

he

the ground. "They have already murdered

men

said, indicating the

more than twenty

workers."

"And?" La Forche "They were to kill

all

said,

knowing what was coming.

men who worked on the two

U-boats. The SS

is

out

every person associated with them. That could be more than a

hundred people! "The SS around.

It's

insane!"

insane.

is

is

It

led

He was no more than

by the insane." La Forche looked three blocks from his house.

weather was worsening, the snow beginning flakes; the

to fall in wet,

The

heavy

wind was picking up.

"We must

run,"

Devereaux

said.

"We must get away from

Lorient.

From these madmen."

"We cannot other the

men had

now

still

leave our families," La Forche reminded him. The

caught up with Devereaux and were standing around

figure of the

"We have no Anything we do

SS assassin.

choice,"

now

will

Devereaux

said.

"We must

put them in jeopardy.

We

leave them.

must get out of

here and regroup, think this thing through. There will be another day."

THE ^0-AAEGA DECEPTION

168

Another day. La Forche once again smiled ing of the day of judgment

would

all

men would

face his sooner than most, but

been answered, he

realized.

all

He would

grimly, this time think-

face.

would

The man

face

it.

at his feet

His prayer

live to fight the

SS

in

had

another

place at another time.

"We

will run, Henri.

and when that day the SS. That

sweep of fall

is

For now. But

arrives,

a promise

I

it

will

make

his arm, including the

as this one here has."

La Forche spoke one

will stop

running one day,

be a sad day indeed for the

to you, to all of you,"

men

"That

to follow the is

a promise

now to

men

of

he said with a

surrounding him. "They

As he turned

last time,

we

all

shall

fleeing

men,

God

in

heaven

above. This evil will be defeated," he whispered to himself and the

darkness about him.

CHAPTER

2 4

december 1, 1942 berlin, germcmy The black automobile crossed Budapesterstrasse and entered the Zoologischer Garten by

its

west entrance. This was Heinrich Himmler's

favorite place in all of Berlin. to

dampen

his

trees in the

The barren

trees of the

mood. As he watched the snow

fall

garden did

and

little

freeze to the

zoo area, he anticipated the upcoming meeting with the

leader of the

German

people, Adolf Hitler.

He had much

to tell his

exalted leader.

Himmler forced

worn an

attache case.

inch; the latest

red pencil again, his

back

to the papers

carried with

rested

him

on

top, as yet

at all times.

He

in the

unmarked by the

read the order once

twisting in a crooked smile beneath the pince-nez.

The communique was from UdB Karl Donitz. cancel

he carried

The small stack of papers measured no more than

communique

Himmler

mouth

his attention

Omega, return the three U-boats involved

original specifications,

and return the boats

It

was

the order to

in the project to their

to their original

command

170

THE ^AAEGA DECEPTION

in the

North Atlantic. The order had been sent to the U-boat commands

in Kiel

and Lorient and

Peenemunde.

to the rocket research center at

Himmler had chafed when he'd learned of the communique, and the he had not been informed of

fact that

its

contents prior to

released served only to exacerbate the situation.

It

made

its

being

little differ-

ence now. The SS informant at Lorient in Donitz's headquarters had typed the message and informed SS headquarters of before

it

had been entrusted

to the

The messenger had been intercepted on the The

official report listed

the

man

dent. That report, along with

were forwarded Berlin.

It

to the

all

content even

its

Kriegsmarine messenger. outskirts of Nantes.

as being killed in an automobile accithe papers carried

by the messenger

Gestapo headquarters in Tours and from there to

would be weeks, perhaps months, before Donitz discovered had not reached

that his order

its

destination.

Donitz would be the Grand Admiral of the

have more on

his

mind than

Himmler replaced the

file

By

then,

Himmler knew,

German Navy and would

three insignificant U-boats.

along with the copy of Donitz's order just

as the car turned toward the Siegessaule. The area

was

thickly forested

by a variety of fauna. The cold winters of 1945 and 1946 would see this area stripped of

every scrap of wood and used as fuel by the freez-

woods were

ing Berliners, but now, in 1943, the

with their accumulated burden of crystal

intact

snow and

ice.

and

A

beautiful

faint ray of

sunshine was breaking through the overcast, and the radiant white of the reflected light

left

Himmler almost

The car sped on, headed Paulstrasse.

for

blinded.

the

Himmler leaned back, comfortable

stered leather seat,

and withdrew a

rear of the front seat.

silver flask

He poured an inch

River crossing at

Spree

in the richly uphol-

from a holder on the

of brandy in the small glass

he'd pulled from another storage bin and closed his eyes, content, for the

moment,

to sniff the strong aromatic liquor.

He was on party.

He

track.

The SS was

strong, the strongest

arm of the Nazi

had, almost single-handedly, elevated the organization to the

status of a religion.

Every

strategy, every concept,

had been

installed

CHAPTER 24

171

to render the mainline religions

impotent in the face of the burgeoning

SS. Religious practices, traditions long observed,

had been replaced

with those of the SS. Birth, death, and marriage were controlled by the SS. Obedience

ance. Hitler

was demanded and punishment exacted

was

for

noncompli-

god; the SS, his avenging angels; and Himmler, the

favored son, professing the theology of Aryan supremacy.

Himmler sipped the brandy The SS had now extended

command and Ddnitz

its

slowly, the liquid burning his throat.

sphere of influence to include the U-boat

the research center at Peenemiinde. Life

was tough, but soon he would have

was good.

to rethink his positions, as

he was already doing in the case of the three U-boats.

As

the black automobile crossed the Spree River, Heinrich

slumped down

in the seat, his

light that penetrated the car's

Himmler

eyes closing against the harsh white

windows.

CHAPTER

25 december

2, 1942 leverkusen, germany

The two safety-clad

I.

steel container carefully,

impermeable white latex soccer balls the two

G. Farben technicians handled the stainless

overcautiously, each sweating within the suits.

men had

The container was no

exactly 18.5 kilos. Ten kilos of the weight tainer

itself,

exactly 8.5 kilos of

an inner

was

contributed

by the con-

the container manufactured to the strictest specifications

from a single slug of stainless

in

larger than the

played with as young boys and weighed

an

oily liquid that

liner, its integrity

the container.

steel.

The container was

resembled used motor

additionally ensured

The top of the container was held

stainless steel bolts spaced equidistant

filled oil,

with

sealed

by a vacuum within in place

by twenty

around the circumference and

torqued to exact specifications.

The two technicians gingerly specially

lifted

the container

and placed

it

in

a

manufactured shipping vessel. The vessel was made of stain-

less steel

and

fitted

with a small

vacuum valve

located within a

THE -0-AAEGA DECEPTION

174

recessed area near the right handle. The vessel contained a system of

twelve steel straps with hooks at the end. Each strap

an adjustable

spring,

which could be adjusted

was

attached to

a preset state

to preserve

of equilibrium within a negative pressure environment.

The technicians attached the

and released the

straps

was indeed

did not budge. Satisfied that the spring system

container.

It

set correctly,

the technicians bolted the top to the vessel's body, taking care to check

and double-check the torque pressures. With the two men moved

larger of the

small enclosure,

to

an

retrieved

a workbench against the wall of the

"Nothing

to

to the

vacuum

of the crate; he threw the switch

vacuum pump, and

piston

electric

checked the four-foot hose attached hose's brass fitting onto the

bolts tightened, the

pump. He then snapped the

fitting located in

the recessed area

and the pump hummed

do but wait," he

to

life.

he removed the protective

said, as

hooded gas mask he was wearing. "I

cian

wouldn't do that

mumbled through "It's safe. I've

stage, with the

if I

were you," the

his

own

worked with

vacuum pump

other,

much

gas mask. this stuff before.

running,

it's

to

first

and removed

vacuum exhaust

it.

"I've

straps holding the

time I've ever been this close to

though. Where

it,

his displeasure at the question, then relented

"We

is

is it

is

in

the

headed?" to

show

when he saw the man

did

understand what he was asking.

don't ever know," he answered. "At least, officially

know. But

I

can

tell

you

that this

is

the

first

That must mean the Fuhrer has a use

and

said,

for

"But I've heard this

Whatever that means." The man strode

we

never

batch that has gone to a

place other than the storage facility in the Hartz

his voice

mask

heard about this stuff before. This

The senior technician gave the questioner a wilting glance

not really

to this

a special containment room should something happen."

The smaller technician unfastened the place

Once you get

as docile as pure water.

Don't worry, you can remove your mask. The

vented

smaller techni-

it."

Mountain complex.

Then

the

man

lowered

order came from Himmler.

to the

workbench where the

CHAPTER 25 vacuum pump

"Down

175

working and checked the vacuum gauge attached.

sat

to twenty-one.

"So where's

it

Won't be long now."

going

if

batch to be shipped to a

this is the first

dif-

ferent place?"

The technician turned around, away from the pump and bench, voice

still

low

in the enclosed

the Baltic. That's about

all

Peenemimde. Someone

told

have any stuff

idea.

when

I

just

know

room. "A village on Usedom Island in

know

I

his

me

that

except for the name. Place called

was a

it

I

don't

Me,

fishing village.

want

I

don't

be anywhere near this

to

they open this canister."

The smaller technician walked

to the

vacuum pump.

"It's

as deadly

as they say, then?"

"Worse. I've seen for the experiments.

it

The

in action.

scientists actually

Came from Poland and

for better testing. Ghastly is the

only word

used people

Yugoslavia. Said

can use

I

it

made

to describe the

effects."

"The Poles

I

have no sympathy

liked to seen the experiments

The bigger man shook have.

It

was

horrible.

myself

his head.

my

it

after

it

I

would have

they used them."

"No ...

don't think

I

you would

would

justify

using this

right.

We're just here

to ship this stuff.

I

but

What hap-

leaves here does not concern us," the small

as he checked the

died.

stuff,

business."

"You've got that

pens to

when

riddance.

Almost demonic the way those people

can't imagine a circumstance that

then that's not

Good

for.

vacuum

reading.

"Twenty-eight inches on the

can do with that old piston pump.

"What

are

we

vacuum gauge. It's

man

said

looking for here?" That's the best

we

enough."

"How much

stuff is in the canister?

"You mean,

how many

people will

I

it

mean

..."

kill?"

"Right."

The big technician shook

on the wind, the atmospheric Mainly

it

his head. "That's

conditions, a

hard

to say.

Depends

whole host of other

depends on the type of system used

factors.

to distribute the liquid.

THE -^AAEGA DECEPTION

176

Theoretically there's ple,

enough

in that canister to

but that's under ideal conditions.

gerate slightly

when

discussing their

And I

own

a hundred thousand would be more like

think most scientists exag-

inventions. I'd say probably

it."

The smaller technician was stunned. "That's said finally.

tem

is

"What would be

about a million peo-

kill

still

impressive," he

ideal conditions as far as a delivery sys-

concerned?"

"That's hard to say, too. I've heard

it

said the ideal system

be one that could release the material anywhere from ten

would

to fifteen

miles above the earth."

The smaller technician laughed. "That's over twenty-five thousand meters! Impossible! Nothing in the world "I

know

that.

vacuum while In

I

Come

that high."

flies

on. Let's get this stuff out of here. Shut off the

close the valve."

two minutes the men had the

vacuum drawn and

stainless container sealed with a

the special container

on a

dolly for transfer to a

waiting truck.

As they watched loading dock, each ing such a

the truck

man

roll

away from

the

I.

G. Farben Industrie

thought the Farben scientists fools

weapon and then overestimating

its

Twenty-five thousand meters! Impossible!

potential.

for invent-

CHAPTER

26 december 2, 1942 peenemunde, germcmy The skeleton of metal

girders

and reinforcement beams

the cold Baltic air reminded Michael Test stand

#5 was

isolated,

Shaw

rising into

of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

even more so than the other stands nor-

mally used for testing rockets and motors. Most of the stands were uated near the northern

tip

of

Usedom

eyes of Polish workers and others gin of the strange sounds

who

Island,

away from

might be interested

and booming

sit-

the prying in the ori-

claps of rocket engines

igniting.

Test stand

#5 was the exception, owing

tence of Kurt Daluege. He'd

its

own

V-l.

It

was not

rockets

test stand,

the motor shop

one nearer the center of

as though the motor shop were going to launch

and needed the proximity of the sea as did the V-2 and

The motor shop would be conducting

rocket engines,

existence to the persis-

argued— rightfully— that

needed a smaller, more accessible the island.

its

and a

test

stand hidden

static tests

away

on experimental

in the pine forest of the

THE ^AAEGA DECEPTION

178

interior island

would serve as

stands to the north.

German

standards,

well,

perhaps

than the larger

better,

had been a good argument, a

It

and

test

logical

one by

stand #5 had been constructed under the

direction of Daluege.

As a team of testing,

and workers readied the newest motor

scientists

man knew

Daluege approached Michael Shaw. Each

for

the con-

cern of the other; each recognized the anxiety the other faced.

For Shaw, his battle

managed been one

was

twofold. He, along with Daluege,

to delay the development of the V-5 for weeks.

assessment of the German

right in his

who had been

had managed

to

scientist.

stalling the production process,

Shaw had

Daluege was the

and

together, they

extend that time, but by only a few weeks. Weeks

had provided invaluable information concerning the small

that

had

rocket,

and weeks that had revealed the purpose of the weapon.

They had found each other as

if it

had been ordained of God, and

they had worked together, seeking each other's counsel, fortifying,

encouraging each other every step of the way. They made a good

Shaw was

team, and

delighted with the progress

nonprogress— that had been made under

their

—

in this case, the

combined guidance.

But Shaw, with his perfect German and practiced demeanor, fought another battle every night in the privacy of his quarters.

A

battle that

erupted as sleep overtook him and exploded into his subconscious with the garish glare of burning

1939 itself

all

within the confines of his soul. Every night he lost Barbara again

and again to

show

until,

as the melee escalated within, the inner conflict began

outwardly.

Kurt had noticed

dark

and unearthly screams. Every night was

oil

over again. Every evening the battle of the Athenia replayed

circles

absence of

German

it,

had said something about

it

early on, about the

under his eyes, the haggard, worn appearance, and the life

in his

once-handsome

scientist then, telling

first

Shaw had

confided in the

him about Barbara, about

that night,

and

Donavan. About the

stress that

had

about his recruitment by Wild

been building since the

face.

Bill

day he had arrived

at

Peenemunde. Even

CHAPTER 26

179

German and

his perfect

knowledge of German customs did not

his

lessen the feeling of confinement. Sharing the tortured existence

came

to

him each night as he

"She sounds

finally

succumbed

to

unwanted

which

sleep.

a great lady," Daluege had commented. "Such

like

losses are difficult."

Shaw

glanced toward the test stand at the

the latest version of the V-5 engine for testing,

workmen assembling

remembering how,

Daluege had uttered those two, simple sentences, he'd broken

and

and cursed a God who had

cried

Shaw had found providential to

blame

hand of God

for allowing

in

On one hand, he

what he was

Barbara to

die. It

down

Barbara die in such a manner.

let

himself in a dilemma.

after

doing, but he

could see the

had only God

had been a German torpedo, but

an omnipotent God could have stopped

it,

Shaw knew;

thus the

dichotomy of belief Michael Shaw battled every night in the solitude of his

room.

"You blame God. He

is

used

to that," Kurt

had stated matter-of-

factly.

"But from what you say, Barbara was not the kind to do such a

thing.

She

is

with

Him now, and I doubt even she

you when you blame God all

the time,

free will,

it is

true.

But

for the evils of

we

are

wrong

with the results of that will

Shaw his friend

felt

was

were directed

him back

the weight of the right, that the

at

God because

this earth.

blame God,

when we choose

It is

done

who gave

to

use

it

us a

badly."

words Daluege had spoken. He knew

emotions he

felt

concerning that night

of the helplessness he

to

whip through the tops of the

felt.

The

sound of the wind

in the treetops

treetops

What happened on this

tall

swayed and bowed

cled test stand #5.

earth

was somehow

A noise

drew

pines that encir-

in response.

The

soothing. Kurt

was

was due mostly to

exercising the prerogative of free will. in

men on

to

to the present.

The wind began

right.

thinks kindly toward

the actions of men

He had never thought

of free will

such a manner. He would have to remember what Kurt had

said.

The work crew had the V-5 rocket engine assembled on the stand; control wires

and

fuel lines

test

snaked over the frosted ground and

THE ^AAEGA DECEPTION

180

connected to the engine at

critical points.

askew attached

of tubing gone

The engine resembled a mass

a large central pipe of about one

to

meter in diameter and almost four meters high. Wiring was wrapped in

and around the fashion.

central core in

Shaw knew

what appeared

thing but random. Each wire, each tube, best serve

A

own

its

was

be haphazard

at first to

the placement of the tubing

and wiring was any-

strategically located to

peculiar function.

small group of

workmen gathered around

the two fuel trucks.

The trucks were positioned almost one hundred meters from the

test

stand and the engine but were connected to the motor by long umbil-

each labeled with an identifying name: one read Alcohol, the

icals,

Oxygen.

other, Liquid

A

nest of wires snaked from the control circuits of the engine,

across the ground, and into the small, concrete bunker that served as the control booth for the engine

was

It

to this

test.

bunker Shaw and Daluege

was no more than seven meters long by

Shaw had

meters high.

good

six inches shorter

to stoop as

working

restricted

Daluege walked

Shaw as the

to follow him.

German

walked. The bunker

structure; Daluege,

than Shaw, could stand erect

slits

Above

into the

the con-

ran the length of the structure, providing a

view of

test

stand #5.

to the center console

Shaw took

scientist

a

in the building.

were already crammed

at consoles lining the front wall.

soles three individual

somewhat

now

meters wide and barely two

he entered the

Inside, five electronics technicians

space, each

five

and

sat

down,

the seat next to Daluege

directing

and watched

manipulated the various controls and switches

before him.

The speed with which Daluege's hands flew over the master console never ceased

to

amaze Shaw. Shaw was

control switches or

bunker

many

knobs

careful not to touch

in front of him.

He'd been

times in his weeks at Peenemiinde, but

any of the

in the control

this

was

the

first

time he actually expected success. Until now, success was, for him and

Daluege,

when

the engines failed. He'd seen explosions, combustion

CHAPTER 26

181

chambers burned through, even engines that

way

been a form of sabotage, a

failed to ignite.

Each had

of hindering the rocket's development.

had been orchestrated by Kurt Daluege

manner so

Each

failure

icate,

so painstakingly conceived, that no one had suspected tampering

in a

del-

had been accepted as a matter of

as the basis for failure. Each failure

course, the cost of success, the price of perfection.

But time had run out. The motor that was

would function

test

were

to

perfectly,

Shaw knew.

now

being readied for

Further delays

—

there

if

be further delays— would have to come from other shops, from

other sources.

He and Daluege had done

all

they could.

Kurt Daluege looked up from the console in front of him and sighed.

Shaw caught

on

the expression of reluctance

his friend's face

and understood. The work teams outside the bunker were scurrying

from

for cover,

the rocket motor test as well as from the harsh elements of the Baltic winter.

The

last

remaining technician, his uniform emblazoned with a

large orange diagonal stripe,

motioned toward the bunker.

Daluege caught the signal of the senior technician with the orange stripe as

he motioned that

and cleared

for testing.

all

The

the connections were made, inspected,

scientist studied the people

noting with a certain satisfaction that each

him, awaiting the orders each

"Begin the clock on

my

man had

around him,

his eyes fixed

on

knew would come.

signal.

I

want

to

know

the exact duration

of this burn to the split second. Karl," Daluege ordered the technician to his

left,

"monitor the fuel flow and pressure during the burn.

do us any good required

amount

to

have a good burn

me know

time to stop the burn before directed his orders to every job.

When

was prepared

he was

for the test,

This engine will work.

it

if

It

won't

the rocket can't carry the

of fuel. Martin, keep your glasses trained

bustion chamber. Let

do his

if

you see a hot

spot.

on the com-

We may

have

completely destroys the motor." Daluege

man

in the bunker,

satisfied that

he turned

You know

to

each

knowing each would

man knew

Shaw. "This

that, don't

you?"

will

his task

be the

and

last test.

THE ^p-AAEGA DECEPTION

182

Shaw nodded. Daluege gave the signal

bunker flew

for the test to begin,

and the men

each instinctively performing his

into rehearsed motion,

assigned task with no wasted motion. In seconds, each pleted his pretest function

Daluege gave one the area.

He thumbed

blared

warning.

its

look to see that

he looked

at

the master switch

hand moved from the

five.

When

that

scientist's

siren

to the red system-ignite button

At zero, Daluege depressed the

hand

would send the oxy-

both pressures

stabilized, his

and began counting down

firing button;

simultaneously

oxygen and alcohol valves opened, dispensing measured amounts of

the volatile fuels into the combustion chamber. At that tiny spark leaped across a three-millimeter ber,

cleared

Shaw, whose eyes were already

and then the button

into action.

had

and the test-warning

the button to his right,

Satisfied,

the workers

all

glued to the rocket engine affixed to the test stand. The

moved to

man had com-

and signaled Daluege.

final

gen and alcohol pumps

in the

and the V-5 rocket engine roared

The sound reverberated even

so,

Shaw

Test stand

to

gap

life

in

at the

same moment, a

head of the cham-

a contained explosion.

off the face of the concrete bunker, but

could feel the pressure generated by the motor.

#5 was

set in

a clearing about one hundred meters wide,

the stand centered in the clearing.

The ground around the

test area

was

completely devoid of trash, limbs, pine needles, and other debris that

might be blown into the dust

air

by the

test engine.

As

the engine ignited,

—the only thing around the clearing that could not be away—blew into the reminding Shaw of a dust storm he'd

effectively

cleared

air,

once seen in Oklahoma. Clouds of dust rose in the

air,

propelled

engine. Bright flame poured from the

by the

mouth

fiery blast of the

of the motor like the

tongue of an angry dragon.

Shaw was

transfixed.

had impressed him. The even

in

sabotaged

He'd seen

utter

failure.

all

the failures, and even those

power of the motors had been apparent,

But here, before him, roaring and burning

like an avenging animal, stood the attestation to

German

genius.

CHAPTER 26 Shaw watched

183

as the motor continued to burn.

He was unaware

of the others in the bunker with him, only of himself

and the sound

coming from the engine. The sound!

The

was

effect

chilling.

Dear God, he thought. Forgive The motor was a

living being, a thing of horror

He'd never heard anything unlike

sound had given way

to

like

it

when,

the other tests

all

us.

in his

and of wonder.

The sound continued,

life.

after only a

few seconds, the

an explosion, a burnout, or simple pump

failure.

Shaw

How

glanced at the wall mounted clock.

now? He'd not checked He had no way

was

been,

it

One minute? Two? Ten?

the clock at ignition.

of knowing. Time

long had

transfixed, stagnant.

Slowly he became aware of men's voices penetrating the bunker.

"Pump

pressures normal."

"Exhaust gas temperature "Total fuel

burn approaching load

limits."

"Total

burn time exceeding specifications."

Shaw

tore his attention

away and focused on was

but within parameters."

slightly elevated

the

from the burning monster

men

in the bunker.

Each was doing what he

trained to do, each functioning as a critical cog in the

ery of Germany, each totally

meters

fifty

unaware that success

war machin-

at this point

meant

the death of people in the not- too-distant future.

And

then, as suddenly as

was

engine

wondered at Kurt

Shaw and

it

had begun, the deafening sound of the

replaced with a silky quiet.

for

a

split

A

left.

Despite himself, Daluege

recognized the sardonic grin for what

He had

it

would be used

most, and that could never be

world war.

it

was.

justified,

was

smiling.

A mixture

perfected the rocket engine, within

beauty and mystery. But

ters of

Shaw

second what had happened. He looked sideways

Daluege on his

horror.

quiet so profound,

itself,

to kill people first

of pride

a thing of

and

fore-

not even within the parame-

THE -0-AAEGA DECEPTION

184

"Time?" Daluege said as he

moved

to

shut

down

systems of the

all

motor.

came

"Sixty-three seconds,"

the response.

Sixty-three seconds!

Shaw was dumbfounded. He'd imagined

the motor

twice that, three times that. He'd been completely

totally

for

mesmer-

by the roaring motor.

ized

Daluege turned

to

Come

etly.

"Tonight.

now

that the motor

Shaw

Shaw. "We must

to

is

my

talk,

my

friend,"

quarters. There are things

turned to his friend. "Sixty-three seconds

and the thrust

I

he said qui-

must

tell

you

ready."

Daluege nodded. "More than enough. rect

and

had burned

figures

we have from

If all

this

sufficient?"

is

the calculations are cor-

burn are accurate,

it

will

require only a fraction of that time to send the V-5 sixty miles into the sky.

It is

one of the things we must discuss."

"Tonight. Ten o'clock."

"Tonight

is

now we must

tonight. Right

disassemble the motor for

inspection purposes. Come, the workers will already be at

Shaw

wind was picking up; Both ers

it."

followed Kurt Daluege from the protection of the bunker. The

men approached

it

was

cold already.

the test

It

would be colder

tonight.

stand around which half a dozen work-

were busily dismantling the rocket motor.

Shaw

held back as Daluege went ahead to direct the work. The

motor had indeed functioned, well past the design parameters, well

enough That's

to

launch the V-5 into the upper atmosphere. Sixty miles.

what Kurt had

altitude?

said.

What was

Shaw wondered. Were

the advantage of the sixty-mile

the

rest

of the

components so

sophisticated as to allow the small rocket to pinpoint a target from that altitude?

haps?

Was

Shaw

it

the altitude necessary for a

did not

new

type of warhead, per-

know. His own involvement with the V-5 had

been nothing outside the rocket motor research

center.

The

rest of the

components, the guidance systems, the warheads, the electrical instrumentation,

all

of

it

was beyond

his control.

CHAPTER 26 He had ers

tried

working

185

on several occasions

to

wangle information from othwithout

in the various areas of the V-5, but

He'd been at Peenemunde

for several

much

weeks now, and the

success.

was

place

beginning to close in on him. The longer he stayed, the greater the

chance of his being discovered. For some reason, he found that unsettling.

He could have understood

alive.

He would want

his apprehension

be back with

to

on the forehead the way she

case. Barbara

was gone;

nowhere he needed

there

to go,

Barbara were

still

hold her in his arms, to

her, to

kiss her gently

if

liked.

But that was not the

was no reason

to leave this place,

and yet he had the

feeling

he needed

to

be

gone from here. Kurt

was winding up

his supervision of the

motor work. The

men

had the engine dismantled. Elements of the motor were being loaded onto waiting trucks. The trucks would unload at the research center,

and the errors.

was

scientists there

would inspect the motor

Shaw knew they would

ready.

It

could

fly

tomorrow

Kurt returned to where

back

to the shop. This

Shaw looked will see

at the

need

Shaw was

weather

some new snow

if

is

and design

for flaws

not find evidence of

either.

The motor

be.

standing.

"It's

ready. Let's get

blowing up a storm,

darkening sky. "You are

right,

fear."

I

my

friend.

tonight."

As Kurt Daluege and Michael Shaw entered a waiting would take them, along with the rocket motor, back center,

a lone

behind the

man

We

car that

to the research

dressed in heavy peasant clothing

moved from

test stand.

He had been

right.

The sounds that had come from

this part of

the island were of interest to the people across the channel. He'd sent his earlier information,

and had, a few days

request to investigate further noises.

and

find out

after that, received a

more about the strange

THE -^AAEGA DECEPTION

186

had been

It

impressive, but he

had only

had become an accepted

to present himself to the

feature at

issued

island.

men were

identification cards,

and disassemble the rocket motor

test stands.

during the winter, but no more

across the island. center,

And

he was bound

It

difficult

his picture,

was

to

to

German

Already he'd made a discovery: The SS-Sturmbannfuhrer

who'd

fled

out the back side of the

had interrupted the chase behind a

tree

trunk

like

see to

become a martyr

it

for the

research

man

who had

test center.

in the

The German army

just as he'd noticed the

gray

patrol

SS pig crouched

a scared dog.

He'd not had the chance

He would

train.

espe-

outside.

escaped the train a few weeks back was part of the engine

tunic

as

than building a road

more than he could

During the train assault, he'd gone looking

work

assemble

was hard work,

here, within the heart of the

to learn

premium

at a

and put him

a foreman with one of the assembly crews. His job

cially

Peenemunde. He

The Germans had processed him, taken

him the necessary

was

security

maintenance division of the rocket

research center and he had been hired. Strong

on the

German

easier than he'd expected.

that

to kill the

man

then, but

now he

one more black-uniformed SS

would.

man would

for his cause.

Walter Kolinsky rubbed the scar that creased his face, a reminder of

what

the SS did to their enemies.

SS was certainly he would prove

correct. it

He smiled

at the thought, for the

Walter Kolinsky was indeed their enemy.

tonight.

And

CHAPTER

27 december

2, 1942 iondon, england

The the

traffic

across

Lambeth Bridge where Lambeth Road crossed

Thames was congested

as the

way

army sedan

Collingsworth rode inched

its

right onto Millbank Road.

Sarah wondered

moned

to the Cabinet

War Room on

off the bridge

why

in

which Sarah

and

finally turned

she had been sum-

Whitehall; she

was nothing more

than a primary photographic analyst attached to the photo reconnaissance squadron of P-51s flown by the RCAF. visor

was a sergeant with

His supervisor

was a

in turn, reported to

first

As

such, her direct super-

the twenty-second photo/fighter squadron. lieutenant with the

same squadron, and

a major. She'd never met the major, had seen the

lieutenant infrequently during training sessions, attention to the sergeant,

Collingsworth, for

he,

all

and paid

who was drunk most

little

or no

of the time. Sarah

practical purposes, acted as her

own

supervisor,

analyzing the aerial photographs taken by the squadron and recording the results

on the back of the photos and

in the

master

log.

THE -#AAEGA DECEPTION

188

As Westminster Bridge appeared on changed son,

to Whitehall,

army

higher than the rank of sergeant. Just

to Whitehall

been summoned lay

where Millbank Road

Sarah realized she had never dealt with any per-

officer or civilian,

had summoned her

the right

in the

brown

folder beside her

The building that housed the War Cabinet series of to

rooms

on

the seat.

Room— in

reality,

—was no more than a block away. The request

a

for her

appear on such-and-such a day at such-and-such a time had not

come through

the normal channels, arriving, instead,

the day before. in

who

she did not know. The reason she had

which she

The

rode.

courier

was

He had waited

and together they had

ready,

the

left

man now

—

by

special courier

army sedan

driving the

orders, he'd

said— until she was

the air base late last night

and raced

through the night to reach London during morning rush-hour

The

trip

traffic.

had caused as much consternation within Sarah as the sum-

mons. Driving the narrow backroads of England with only marginally sufficient lighting

had been a nightmare,

but, she'd

been

told,

regulations prevented the use of unrestricted headlamps. available light

had come from two small

The sedan lurched

to

slits in

The only

the headlamp covers.

a stop on Whitehall. The

coming from Charing Cross and

blackout

Piccadilly Circus, a

traffic

was heavier

few blocks away.

Sarah Collingsworth picked up the brown envelope, gingerly extracted the black-and-white photos from inside,

them once

again, turning

on the reverse It

had

all

some over

to

and

leafed through

review the notes she'd written

side.

started with the photographs, she

was convinced. Those

stupid photographs.

Sarah had been working lier in

the day in

an

late,

analyzing a set of photos taken ear-

overflight of the Kiel

German naval

The weather had been superb, and the photos had been details

—and thus

their

secrets— present

for the trained

installation. crisp, their

eye to uncloak.

She had spent more time than usual on the photos, working night, recording several anomalies

of the photos.

and noting them on

into the

the reverse side

CHAPTER

189

27

Following standard operating procedures, the photos had

way

their

to the

challenged,

made

next senior analyst, her findings either confirmed or

and then the

results

forwarded to the local branch of

mili-

tary intelligence.

She had just finished with the nician entered her cubicle

last

when

photo of Kiel

and dumped another

set of

the lab tech-

photos on her

desk.

"What do you make of these?" he'd asked

curiously.

Sarah had taken the photos and quickly examined them under her

stand-mounted magnifying

"An "I

know

"What roll

glass.

island," she said. it's

island?

an

island," the technician

Where? And why

had

replied, exasperated.

are these pictures from the

same

film

as those others?" he'd asked, indicating the stack of photos she'd

just finished.

"The answer

to those questions are for neither

Sarah answered. "Our job

With

and

that,

is

it

for the high-intensity

on with one hand while

tographs. She stopped short, her

hand

still

I

to

know,"

No more. No

to analyze the photos.

Sarah had reached

flipped

you nor

less."

lamp over her desk

examining the new pho-

resting

on the lamp switch

long minutes as she continued studying the pictures. Time

was

for

sus-

pended, reality frozen. Slowly, with deliberate calm, she

removed her hand from the

switch, reached for the high-resolution magnifier,

and positioned

it

over the northernmost portion of the island. As she examined the island through the optics, the buildings that appeared, objects,

and the strange

both prone and upright, seemed to grow from the surrounding

terrain.

Some

of the long, cylindrical, cigar-shaped objects were supported

by what looked see

still

to

be steel

loaded on the

north of this island.

working

in

beam

trailers that

structures. Others she could clearly

had borne them

Men were visible,

and around the

objects.

It

to this place in the

appearing as no more than ants,

had been easy

to

determine the

THE -0-AAEGA DECEPTION

190

length of the cylinders

on which they were

—more than forty

feet

long

—using the

trailers

carried as reference objects.

Sarah quickly scanned through the remaining photos. Other areas appeared: obvious housing areas, military barracks, factories, shops,

and

office buildings.

It all

unidentified, at least

by

to

one thing— a complex, hitherto

was

ostensibly producing the cylin-

added up

her, that

drical-shaped objects so prevalent in the northern area of the island.

Sarah Collingsworth had never seen a rocket in her the kind sold at fireworks stands, the kind her brothers

the backyard, but

looking at

was a

did not require genius to

it

test facility

and factory dedicated

cigar-shaped objects that could only be else

made

sense,

know

and the Germans,

life,

other than

had shot

that

off in

what she was

to the production of

some form of weapon. Nothing

for all their barbarism, rarely initi-

ated a project of this magnitude for the good of mankind.

Sarah made

all

the notations she could

on the reverse

side of the

photographs and then went to her typewriter and compiled a seven-

page report describing what she interpreted as a

What tions

its

capabilities were,

new form

of weapon.

she could not determine. Her recommenda-

were that the photos be examined by the senior analyst as soon

as possible and copies of the photos be forwarded immediately to Military Intelligence.

the light

and

left

She signed the bottom of the

report,

snapped

off

her office for the night, the images of black-and-white

cigars running through her mind.

That had been only two days ago, and now, as the army sedan jerked to a stop in front of the

War

beginning to wonder what she had "This

is it,"

Cabinet

Room

building, she

started.

the driver said without preamble.

Sarah got out of the car carrying the brown envelope hand. The car

was

wormed

its

way back

in her left

into the Whitehall traffic

and

disappeared.

Sarah turned and walked up the stone steps of the building. She

was challenged by an armed

sentry and asked for identification. She

removed her analyst ID and was surprised

to

note

the

sentry

CHAPTER 27 knew who she was. He made a

apparently rested

191

on a podium

"Room

to his right

note in a logbook that

and returned the

ID.

14, Miss Collingsworth," the sentry directed, holding the

"Down

door for her to enter.

and

the corridor

to the right,"

he added as

she disappeared into the warren of hallways.

Sarah could

feel

her knees begin to shake as she neared room 14.

She stopped before the carved wooden door and knocked, the knock lost in the

surrounding melee of clattering footsteps and shouted mes-

sages. Here, amidst the

hubbub and

business of war

clattering, the

progressed unabated.

The

corridors

were

rying about the task of

filled

with people, in and out of uniform, hur-

making war.

It

was only when they neared

door of room fourteen that each stopped his

enough

to give silent respect to those

own

the

chattering long

persons behind the door.

So obvious a self-subjugation served only

heighten Sarah's

to

nervousness.

The door swung open, and a severely dressed her into an outer

with heavy, dark

office. It

wooden

was

large,

furniture.

woman

overpoweringly

The

oil-polished

so,

motioned decorated

oak walls shone

under the incandescent lamps that illuminated the early masterpieces

hanging on every surface.

A heavy walnut desk sat in one

corner, the

squat guardian of the only other door exiting the large room. Leather

wing-back chairs were the

men

tastefully arranged in small groups, allowing

already present to speak in relative privacy.

Sarah counted military officers.

five

The

men

officers

in

all,

each wearing the uniform of senior

stood as Sarah

was shown

into the room,

each nodding in turn their acceptance of the photo analyst. Sarah's

when

mind was contemplating the

intricacies of military protocol

the door to the inner office opened.

"This way," the austere secretary motioned.

The

officers waited,

making

it

clear that

She swallowed hard, her pulse beginning

Sarah was

to race, and,

to enter

first.

she knew, her

face reddening at the acquiescent attitude of the officers.

She walked.

THE -^AAEGA DECEPTION

192

into the inner office

and stopped

a statue of flesh and blood,

cold,

rooted in place, as she recognized the

man

behind the desk.

up from

"Please," the prime minister of Great Britain said, getting

behind the desk.

"Sit

down, Miss Collingsworth. Can

I

you any-

get

you

thing? Water? Whiskey, perhaps? Feel free to ask for whatever

need.

You

will

be here in London for a while.

accommodating," Winston Churchill

We

hope you find us

said.

Sarah Collingsworth had heard the prime minister on the radio

many

times and seen his picture in the

posed,

when one

man. Never

got right

in her

most

down

fanciful

meeting the most important

"Thank you, Mr. Prime the nearest chair.

"Wa

.

.

.

to

it,

dailies.

She had always sup-

that she actually

worked

for the

daydreams had she ever contemplated

man

in England.

Minister," Sarah stammered, as she

fell

into

water would be nice."

"Mrs. Granville," Churchill ordered the secretary, "a glass of water for

Miss Collingsworth."

The

military officers filed in

Churchill's

and took

their seats,

none

closer to

desk than Sarah. The prime minister moved around the

desk and sat down. "I

see you've brought the envelope with you. Splendid.

it?" Churchill

May

see

began, holding out his hand.

Sarah handed the brown envelope across, trying not to

hand shake

I

in the process.

let

her

She noticed the man's hands were pudgy,

yet delicate, and the incongruence

amused her as

took the quivering envelope and opened

Churchill smiled

and

it.

"Ah, yes. These are the same pictures

we

received," he said as he

turned them over and read the notes written on the back in Sarah's careful hand. For almost five minutes, Churchill alternately

the photos

and read the

notes.

"Umm

.

.

.

yes,

I

see,"

gazed

at

he continued.

"You stand by these findings, do you?" "Yes ... yes

"No need that every

to

man

sir, I

do."

be nervous, in this

my

dear.

It

might

interest

you

to

know

room concurs with your assessment. So much

CHAPTER 27 we

so that the

tify

.

.

193

are at a loss to explain

uh

.

.

"I'm afraid

"What

I

I

.

shall

.

is,

How

the United States

"Oh, ...

I

able to iden-

articles in these photos."

is

that possible? To

my

knowledge, neither

have anything remotely resembling a

when you've never

much

bled rockets, only

larger.

we

rocket.

nor

How

seen them?"

understand," Sarah said, smiling. "No

What

never identified them as rockets.

I

you were

you've identified some of the objects in the pho-

can you identify them

taken.

that

it is

don't understand, Mr. Prime Minister," Sarah began.

mean

tos as rockets.

we say

how

said

I

you

sir,

are mis-

was they resem-

The rockets I'm talking about

are the

kind you play with as a child. Fireworks. The Chinese invented rockets

long before the Germans,

have stuffed gunpowder

Some

they just blew up.

The things

rockets. ers

used

sir.

I

have three brothers.

and touched them

into cylinders flew,

in the

All of

sometimes. But that's what

photos looked

to put together. That's

all. If

like

I've

those rockets

off.

them

Mostly

meant by

I

my

broth-

done something wrong,

sir,

I'm profoundly sorry." Churchill glanced

was

much

so

have

it,

around the room, the small, twisted grin that

a part of his character displayed once again. "There you

gentlemen. Sarah has brothers. There

is

no deep, dark

secret

organization toiling surreptitiously within Military Intelligence for us to

blame

this on.

She has merely

identified these

photos in the only said,

"And

You have done your

job to

vocabulary available to her." Churchill turned to Sarah and for that

we

are profoundly grateful, Sarah.

perfection. Unfortunately, for that reason,

we

will

have

to

ask you

to

remain in London for the time being." Sarah looked at the I

family, so

I

five officers

and the prime

don't understand, Mr. Prime Minister.

much

to

I

have

minister. "I'm afraid

my job

in

Aberdeen,

my

do there."

"Yes, well, I'm afraid this puts

all

of us in a rather sticky position.

cannot explain to you the reason

we

cannot

let

you leave London

for

the time being without compromising certain strategic positions, as

were. That

is all

I

can say

at the

moment. You have

my

it

sincerest

apologies, Sarah, I

^MEGA

THE

194

and

I

assure

will personally see to

it

you

that

that as soon as

you

DECEPTION a viable option,

it is

are returned to Aberdeen.

I

am

sorry."

The

five general officers rose as the

secretary entered, accompanied

door opened and the austere

by two men dressed

in the

uniform of

British Military Police.

Sarah stood, her mouth open

was

as she

led from the office

to protest,

but nothing would come

and out of the War Cabinet Room.

"Gentlemen, please excuse me," Churchill

The

officers rose as

said.

one and followed Sarah Collingsworth from the

office.

Churchill picked piece.

up the phone and spoke

He waited a few moments

said, "It's as

we

don't see that

for the

quietly into the

connection to be

mouth-

made and

suspected. Peenemiinde is a rocket research center.

we have any

option, however.

We must

I

continue as

planned," he said.

He waited

for the reply to

wire and finally said, "Then

and replaced the instrument

make

we

way

across the miles of copper

are in agreement. So be

it,"

he finished

in its cradle.

Winston Churchill buried

his face in his hands, a

overtaking him as he said, "Dear again."

its

God

in

deep weariness

heaven, not again. Not

CHAPTER

28 december 2, 1942 peenemunde, germany The glow of the Michael

Shaw

housing area could be seen from where

civilian

grappled with the

German

from the motor pool only minutes

Peenemunde area where

earlier.

staff car

The

he had procured

on

military barracks

lay seven kilometers to the west of the civilian housing

Shaw was

to

meet with Kurt Daluege. Too

far to

walk

in

the worsening Baltic weather.

The motor pool sergeant had quickly and firmly rejected.

offered

Shaw

He needed no

a

driver,

which he had

third party to the meeting,

not even a bored staff driver.

The

road, normally

an innocuous

stretch of gravel

and

tar,

had

turned adversarial with the freezing temperatures and falling snow.

Shaw

struggled with the wheel of the small automobile, slowing his

already dilatory pace.

Time was important. Shaw knew that Daluege would have had his

name

listed

on the log

at the outer security gate leading into the

THE ^#AAEGA DECEPTION

196

housing area. The meeting was normal, expected— a senior

scientist

meeting with his senior security counterpart. Such meetings were encouraged,

Shaw knew, and no

And

questions would be asked.

meeting was important. There were strategies to be formulated, cal exercises to

this

tacti-

be defined, discussed, refined, and put into action. The

delaying tactics that would keep the V-5 rocket from murdering thou-

sands of people would, beginning tonight, take a different tack.

The sound was sharp, piercing

in the cold winter air!

The wheel of

the staff car jerked from Shaw's grasp as the car plunged off the road

and

into the shallow ditch paralleling the road.

trol;

the steering

car bucked

wrenched

to the right

Shaw

fought for con-

and then back

up and over the small boulders concealed

to the

Shaw

The

in the ditch, the

undercarriage of the car protesting in a shriek of metal.

Michael

left.

It

was

all

could do to maintain even a semblance of control.

The headlights were suddenly extinguished,

filaments

their

destroyed by the tortuous passage of the automobile over the uneven terrain.

The dark countryside of Usedom Island turned even

darker, a

dense, silky blackness enveloped the car; the only hint of light

from the housing area. The car plunged on, the side of the road.

Shaw

finally

coming

came

to rest

on

could smell the gasoline flowing from the

ruptured tank. His head had smashed into the wheel, and he could feel the slow ooze of In

an

forcing

it

warm

instant, all

open with

and dashed

for the

blood on his forehead.

was

all

quiet.

his strength.

struggled with the door handle,

He stumbled from

cover of the nearby

The smell of gasoline was at

Shaw

stronger;

the wrecked car

trees.

he knew the car could explode

any moment, turning everything around the

car into a giant fireball.

A blowout? No, the sound had occurred failure. A gunshot? It had sounded like a

But what was that sound? a

split

second before the

gunshot.

Shaw

A small ran, the

tire

caliber pistol?

Perhaps a

rifle?

edge of the pine forest within reach. Just as he made

the tree line, he heard the low

WHOOMP of spilled gasoline

igniting.

He

turned to see the ground around the car burning. The flames, consuming

CHAPTER 28

197

an alarming

the automobile at

rate,

now

reached the

and the car exploded, ripping the automobile

tank,

the staff car flew

open

half-empty fuel

The doors of

in two.

in response to the force of the explosion.

Shaw dove

rior

of the car began to burn.

tial

shock wave wash over him

for the

in a tide of

ground and

The

felt

inte-

the ini-

pungent warmth.

The car was engulfed now, the flames burning an

eerie, soft yel-

low as the material of the seats fed the hungry flames.

Shaw was aware roar of the flames.

of the sound of cracking limbs over the distant

Heavy boots crunched over

the frozen landscape,

rushing toward him.

Shaw

rose to one knee

He was conscious

that he

and turned

in the direction of the intruders.

was

from the burning

backlit

he scanned the area, looking

target;

closer.

Polish!

a perfect

voices,

urgent,

for cover.

The footsteps changed. Desperate, muffled demanding, came

car,

The running men were speaking

Polish!

A shot

had been a

It

tire

rang out.

These men, whoever they were, had shot his

shot.

out! Perhaps the headlights too.

It

had been no

accident! His

blowout and his subsequent wreck had been planned! These after

him!

Shaw was up now, running footsteps

ment

and angry

voices.

attack.

men who were Shaw

to his right,

As he

in his peripheral vision.

effort,

for

men were

ran,

away from

he could

just

the rushing

make out move-

The movement took on a more organized

only shadows in the night consolidating their

ran for the cover of the forest.

If

he could avoid detection

only a few minutes, the light from the blazing automobile would

bring the security guards from the military barracks and most certainly

a contingent of SS men. He was depending on the SS to save his thought

Shaw

life,

wryly.

More men emerged from the their night vision ruined

item of the staff

car.

forest;

by the flames

they had not yet seen him,

that licked at every combustible

— THE -^AAEGA DECEPTION

198

Shaw was

into the

He

still

purple.

could

woods now;

muted urgency. He continued The Peenemiinde

a deep

—his original destination If

he could

would have eluded the men

behind him intent on either capturing or

Shaw stumbled through

to

uttered in

housing area

kilometers over the next ridge.

the security perimeter there, he

and the intense

commands

to run.

civilian

was no more than a few

make

shadows changed

the

hear the voices, the Polish

killing

him.

the woods, fighting the deeper snowdrifts

cold.

Who? Why? The thought occurred probably on his

Shaw

to

side. Partisans,

that the

freedom

fighters.

only with the elimination of one more SS Sturmbannfiihrer. There

He had come

to

night were fighting.

Germany

He had

to fight the

and the rocket research to contact the

men

They were concerned

it all,

one an SS-

this

Shaw

very thing these

realized.

men

of the

successfully melded into the operations

center.

Station X. Communications

seeking him were

officer,

certain irony to

He had discovered

of Peenemiinde.

had yet

was a

men

the horrible secret of the island

With the

loss of his small radio, he

waiting for word at Bletchley Park, at

was on

agenda tonight when he

the

talked with Kurt Daluege. But communications were strictly monitored, in sible.

and out of Peenemiinde.

He needed

the information

It

would be

to get all the information to

on the V-5, the rocket

that

difficult, if

was almost

waiting for deployment. Deployment to where, against did not know, but the information he

not impos-

England, particularly perfected

and

whom, Shaw

had was invaluable, even

at

this point.

But now, he found himself

in the

snow-covered

Island in northern Germany, fleeing for his

forest of

life.

The voices faded as Shaw worked deeper and deeper forest.

Usedom

into the pine

His eyes were becoming adjusted to the dark, his night vision

taking over once clear of the blazing staff

car.

Pine branches slapped

at his face, stinging painfully in the frigid cold.

He

could feel tiny

CHAPTER 28

199

where the limbs had cut him. Blood flowed from the

slashes

gling with that from the wreck,

He

and quickly coagulated.

fled.

There were no obscured the day

stars,

now

no moon; the overcast skies that had

blotted out the night sky. Gradually

up, slowing to a crisp walk, gasping for still

moving through

woods

the

He

air.

froze,

Shaw

held his sides.

eased

He was

in the general direction of the civilian

housing area, the area nearest to the ambush

A

min-

cuts,

muffled spit kicked up the

snow

site.

in his path. For a

moment he

slowly assimilating the sound. Another shot! This one from a

silenced

weapon!

A second shot struck the tree

diving for the protection of the trees on his

next to him. He reacted,

left.

Three more shots in

quick succession followed on either side of where he lay in the deep

snow, the

killer intent

Shaw scanned the

on success but unable area quickly.

to see in the darkness.

He saw no

one.

No movement,

the

element most easily detected in the darkness. The shots had come from nearby, the silenced spits completely audible in the crisp

could be no more than twenty meters away. Probably,

moving

in his direction this

The

air.

Shaw

killer

realized,

very minute.

Normally he would have been wearing his uniform holster and tol,

but he'd

left

them

having

to

shoot

men who were

The sound of the lost in the distance,

the

moment, a

floor cold. His

room

in his barracks

error in judgment. Just as quickly,

fire

surely his

a

fatal

difficulty of

allies.

and cacophony of Polish voices had ceased,

muted by the

stillness

this night. Possibly

he thought about the

pis-

thick stand of pine. All

akin to death. The

mind wandered

for a

air

was

was heavy,

silent for

the forest

moment, remembering the times

he'd played similar games during his childhood. Then they had been

nothing but games, versions of hide-and-seek, played out against the chilled

backdrop of coming winter. But

this

was

different.

Another shot!

Shaw pushed ran, the pine

himself up from the snow-covered forest floor and

boughs slapping

at

him once

again. His legs protested.

THE ^-AAEGA DECEPTION

200 The cold

bit at

him.

He

felt

as

he were moving

if

slow motion. He

in

could hear his pursuers as heavy boots broke through the frozen surface snow. His breathing aline

pumped

legs,

but

use.

He had not been the motor shop the test area,

was

terrain

labored. His pulse accelerated as adren-

Shaw

into his system.

was no

it

was

had

carried

him no

SS duties in

farther than his barracks, the shop,

and Kurt Daluege's apartment

in the civilian area.

rugged, the ground uneven. The going cold.

was

Broken limbs

difficult,

The

made

littered the forest

under the snowpack.

Shaw

stumbled, fatigue setting

root of a nearby tree. His fall.

his protesting

his limit.

in this part of the forest before. His

more so by the deep snow and floor

move

struggled to

He was reaching

He

in.

He

hand shot out

on the snow-covered

tripped

break his

in a frantic effort to

struck the ground, his face burying in the snow, his ankle tan-

gled in the hidden roots. Pain shot through his head and shoulders.

He again.

listened.

He

There were two ... no, three

realized his pursuer

ning had exposed him to the neutralized the

snow

men by

killers.

then silence

footfalls,

had been following

his sound. His run-

Lying on the freezing ground, he'd

stopping. But he could not stay in the chilling

for long.

Shaw scanned

darkness, the assassins waited. to fixate

Somewhere

the area he'd just traversed.

on any one

He kept

his eyes

in the

moving, not wanting

spot, giving his night vision a

chance

to catch

movement, however minute. There! To his right, no more than ten meters away.

only a shadow, but

Shaw

it

fought to control his breathing, which

still

had been

came

gasps. His muscles were beginning to rebel in the cold, legs

It

had been movement. in great

cramping his

and stomach. The man had moved once and no more. Shaw

scanned the spot where the haste,

man had

been.

He needed a

plan. In his

he had abandoned the only place where he could have been

assured of help. Here, in the deep

no security

force.

forest, there

would be no SS guards,

They would see the burning

car

and congregate

CHAPTER 28

201

there, waiting for orders.

The men who had burned

would be gone,

it

escaping under the cloud of confusion. But the chance of the SS guards following

him

He was

Men whose

into the forest

alone, stalked

A match

killers

was

to

nonexistent.

with silenced automatic weapons.

kill

an SS-Sturmbannfuhrer.

flared! Off to his right the tiny light

as quickly extinguished.

There were two! to return.

by

goal this night

was almost

A warning? A

Shaw rubbed

He had thought about

ignited then

signal? Both, perhaps?

his eyes, waiting for his night vision

but that

resisting,

Escape was his only option, his only hope. before they

had been

would be on him. They had

to

It

was

impossible.

would be only minutes

know he was unarmed. He

had not returned a shot during the chase, something he would surely have done had he been armed. His breathing

He would

was

returning to normal, his night vision regained.

exercise his only option; he

using the tree as cover and support. cles

He came up

run.

He took a deep

run

stomach contracted from cold and

when he

felt

fear.

down

mus-

for escape.

His

He was ready

the cold muzzle of a deadly silencer

the base of his skull so forcibly that the skin broke

slowly,

breath, his

bunching beneath the black SS uniform, prepared

legs ached. His to

would

rammed

and blood

into

trickled

his neck.

"Run, Sturmbannfuhrer. Please run," the voice said in perfect, but Polish-accented German.

Shaw

turned around and stared into the eyes of Walter Kolinsky,

the leader of the scar!

team that had attacked the

train

—the man with the

CHAPTER

29 december 3, 1942 berlin, germany Footsteps echoing

down

Heinrich Himmler strode

The appointment with Der hours

earlier,

cisely

on

It

the long corridor of the Reich Chancellery,

down

the halls of

Fiihrer,

and Himmler,

Adolf

in typical

power of Nazi Germany.

Hitler,

German

had been made only punctuality,

was

pre-

time.

was times

like these

when Himmler knew

he'd been

right,

almost prophetically so. The SS had evolved, under his tutelage and care, into the ultimate

German

organization, supplanting even the

church. Every contingency, every possibility had been anticipated and

incorporated into the SS.

was

If

religion existed within the Third Reich,

it

the SS.

Himmler approached the ornate double doors inner sanctum. The doors

swung

went with being one of the Hitler

was

the god;

that led to Hitler's

open, and Himmler

elite,

a leader. The SS

Himmler the archangel.

felt

the pride that

was

the religion;

THE ^AAEGA DECEPTION

204

Hitler

motioned Himmler

Good

"Heinrich.

his

favorite

and

him. Himmler obeyed, taking the chair

to join

from the leader of

directly across

was

overstuffed chair that

sat in the

all

Germany.

to see you," greeted Hitler.

"Mein Ftihrer," Himmler responded, saluting in the traditional

German manner. Hitler

"It is

waved

good of you

at the

What

time for you, Heinrich.

to see

me on

such short notice."

SS leader with the back of his hand. "Always

on your mind

is

this night?"

"Omega," Himmler said immediately.

An

"Omega.

How

interesting project.

Himmler handed

After

it.

is

received from Donitz

well-meaning,

he wanted

see,

Himmler

think,"

all,

there

is

as

to cancel the project outright.

much SS money

in

Omega

understand your concern, Heinrich. Are you

"I

I

think he lacks the intuitiveness to carry out the goals of

I

Omega. As you stop to

going?"

communique he'd

Hitler the

canceling the endeavor. "The admiral

began. "But

is it

I

had

to put

a

as Kriegsmarine."

telling

me

that the

SS has taken over the Omega plans?" "Yes,

Mein

Fuhrer.

It

became necessary when

I

received the order

from Donitz ordering the three U-boats back into traditional did not think

to

be in your shoes

Himmler cleared "The rocket

is

tioning properly.

rocket

is

his throat.

will

constructed.

learns

learns of this.

It

is

was

the question he'd been waiting

to say, all the

components are func-

We

have conquered tremendous problems I

believe

it

would be a waste not

Also, the V-5 will serve as a prototype for the V-2.

problems are the same. The V-l, of course,

the point

is,

the V-l

ment. The V-5

son than

is

would not

only be a few weeks at the most before the

construction of this weapon.

nical

I

what you have done. What

to offer?"

ready. That

It

when he

when he

you prepared

justification are

for.

I

a wise move."

it

"Admiral Donitz will be upset

want

service.

and V-2

ready now.

is

are a couple of years

We

need

to

to verify that certain technical

launch

it,

Many

in the

to use

it.

of the tech-

another matter. But

away from if

for

deploy-

no other

rea-

problems have been solved."

CHAPTER 29 cocked his head,

Hitler

was

205

eyes boring into Himmler, as

listening, his

his habit.

Himmler continued

solicitously, "I realize

Admiral Donitz

weapon on a

objections to the continued deployment of the basis,

and

on, "that

We

understand his concern. But

I

imperative

it is

we

strike at the

I

is

Omega

have

strategic

Himmler rushed

mainland of the Americans.

must demoralize them, keep them on

There

believe,"

will

their side of the Atlantic.

nothing more strategic than keeping the Americans occupied.

accomplish

will

incalculable

we can

if

this,

I

believe.

them

force

to

The cost savings alone would be defend their shores rather than

those of England. Even Admiral Donitz would have to agree that mastery of the North Atlantic

by our U-boats could again be achieved

could force the U.S. to protect herself. In that vein, for the

I

am

if

we

as concerned

admiral as for the mission," Himmler said, feeling superior in

his deception.

Himmler paused, 'T

we

his explanation succinct, direct,

see your point, Heinrich. Yes,

it

would

free

and

effective.

up our resources

could force such a concession from the Americans. You have

permission to continue with Omega. But

months. That "It will

I

insist on," Hitler said,

be done, Mein

Ftihrer, "

me

"Good. Very good. Keep

Himmler

weeks

to put

every

bit the

tactician.

rose, saluted,

Omega

into action.

Omega was

issue with Hitler himself;

would

must take place within two

then added, "can you do that?"

Himmler assured the German

left,

leader.

knowing he'd have only a few

As persuasive as he was, Donitz was

Himmler admitted

The SS leader held no

Donitz realized

my

posted."

and

diplomat, and,

it

if

still

illusions

to himself, the better

on that

functioning, he

score.

As soon as

would address the

and Himmler knew the all-powerful

Fiihrer

vacillate yet again, giving in to the admiral.

Himmler would allow himself two weeks

away from

the French

Two weeks

to

and German

to

move

all

three U-boats

coasts.

launch a most horrendous death on one of the most

important areas on the United States' east coast.

CHAPTER

30 december 3, 1942 peenemunde, germany The

He

ynx.

pistol

was jammed

into Michael

Shaw's neck just above

his lar-

could feel the bruised flesh and small laceration where Walter

Kolinsky had forced the pistol silencer under his chin. Early morning light

was beginning

to

break through the overcast, and the scar on the

Polish resistance fighter's face

crossed his face

and ended

at the edge of

doubt in Shaw's mind that the

He had been stuffed in his

tied

mouth

up

glowed an ethereal pale white. The slash

man

a cruel smile. There was no

intended to

kill

him.

in the corner for hours, a

to silence him. His captors

knot of

had talked

man

"One "This

is

in

rag

low

The

scar-

turned to him, the legs of the chair scraping along the

floor.

voices through the night, until the morning began to break. faced

filthy

less SS swine, Sturmbannfuhrer," the Polish worker spat.

for the family

you animals murdered

Myfamily. May you die Shaw's mouth.

slowly,

German," he

in the

name

of conquest.

said, pulling the rag

from

THE -^AAEGA DECEPTION

208 Shaw his

started to speak, but the Pole thrust the bulbous silencer into

mouth

before he could utter a word.

"Not a word from you, or

body to

for the

varmints

when

I

will kill

the spring comes.

hear you beg for mercy before

Shaw nodded, and

you on

I

was

and leave your

removed the rag only

I

my

you. Like

kill

Kolinsky removed the

joined Kolinsky. Loathing

the spot

family begged."

silencer.

A

second

man

as evident on this man's face as on

Kolinsky's.

"We have another "Yes.

We

then see to

Shaw

will extract

it

in either

no one

else

on

this

one and

this earth."

face.

It

had come

was

he thought.

to this,

hands of people he was trying

Was he

for himself?

when

man's

to die at the

that the truth?

tion

said.

what information we want from

that he bothers

no compassion

he here

man

could see the crooked smile on the second man; there

He was about was

one, Walter," the second

to help.

But

really trying to help these people, or

was

He thought

he'd

known

the

answer

to that ques-

He was

he'd volunteered for Donovan's OSS.

in

it

for

revenge. But somewhere, somehow, something had changed, deep

within him.

He was

Germany

in

to help these people,

admission surprised even him. For a this

was a

not the

by God,

joke played

split

second,

and the

self-

Shaw wondered

just to get his attention.

But

this

if

was

way God worked.

Strange, he thought, that I should think of God at this time. But

then he realized he had been depending on God from the just

chosen not

to

The blow was of the neck. There

acknowledge that simple

swift, the butt of the pistol striking

was a

flash of intense pain,

neck.

to

A square wooden table Shaw

the side

the night before.

a constant ache. He opened his eyes,

searching for clues to his whereabouts.

room.

Shaw on

he gingerly touched the damaged area on his

The pain had subsided

ter of the

he'd

and then he was engulfed

by a blackness more profound than the darkness of

When Shaw awoke

start;

fact.

He was

in the

same, barren room.

surrounded by four chairs stood

lay crumpled in the corner.

in the cen-

The two men

sat at

CHAPTER 30

209

the table concentrating

on something

that lay

on the

was

lantern hanging directly over the table. There

chamber. Pain slowly insinuated retribution,

exacted by the

He would

Barbara. realized he'd

it

would be

he really was but life.

with the

knew

The

it

would appear

make you

truth shall

death

scar.

these

men had

free,

way. He

their

heaven, and then he

in

He thought about

like.

that

case, the truth will ensure a quicker,

Shaw

if

always thought of her as being

wondered what

save his

man

at his

conscience; the pain of

itself into his

see her soon

Nothing

else.

little

more was needed. Shaw knew now that he was looking

men who

telling the

be a pathetic ploy

to

he

But in

recalled.

to

this

more painful death.

pulled his legs under him, his boots scraping

on the wooden

The two men glanced up.

"About time, Sturmbannfuhrer. killed

light

room came from a combination of weak sunlight and a kerosene

in the

floor.

The

surface.

you

already.

out of what

I

am

we have

glad

I

did not.

I

was beginning It

Kolinsky laughed. The second

you

"Perhaps. But

will talk,

man

think

would have taken

in store for you. After

"You are making a mistake," Shaw

to

you

talk,

all

I

had

the fun

of course."

said.

joined

in.

Sturmbannfuhrer. For as long as

we

want about anything we want." The silenced

pistol lay

on the

table.

Shaw

locked on to

it,

seeing a

slim possibility.

Kolinsky recognized the look in Shaw's face. He looked at

and back

me

as

to the pistol. "Please try

much

it,

Sturmbannfuhrer.

pleasure to shoot you, but

you

will

It

will

Shaw

not bring

be just as dead.

I

promise you that."

"Vengeance

is

mine?

Is

that it?"

Kolinsky snorted, "An SS Bible;

you most

Torah,

would you?" the Pole

certainly

SS-Sturmbannfuhrer of justice

is

know

man

Shaw

would not said, rising

of

asked.

quoting the Bible. attribute that

from the

table.

It

must be the

passage to the

"What does an

God? Of the Bible? Of justice? Your form

found in the camps. In the

streets of

Warsaw.

I

think God.

THE #-AAEGA DECEPTION

210

will

look on your death as no more than the extermination of

trash," Kolinsky said,

and returned

"And your kind of justice hand

yourself as the

of God?

is

Shaw

sition of the truth,"

You

the justice of the righteous?

What you do

and what the Germans do

justice,

human

to his seat.

name

in the

see

God

of your

is

not. That's a convenient juxtapo-

is

countered.

"I

have even used the vengeance

argument myself, not so long ago."

Shaw watched From a

as the Pole fixed his gaze on him. Their eyes locked.

heretofore untapped reservoir of understanding

stared into the eyes of Walter Kolinsky, the

could

threatening words.

mind

as his

was

It

was

same agony he

the

Shaw

with no family. He

and

lived through each night

on the events of that night

seized

in

1939. Then,

last of his family. Here, in this hut, before these

had

it

two men,

it

the family of Walter Kolinsky that took center stage.

"We have much

in

common," Shaw

said at last.

Kolinsky's head jerked up, his countenance rise

will,

the pain that resided there, beneath the harsh exterior

feel

been the

man

and

from the chair where he

terrible.

He began

The second man put a hand on

sat.

to

his

shoulder.

my

"Not yet,

man

friend," the

urged. "The time will come."

Kolinsky sat back down. "Yes, the time will come," Kolinsky said.

"And

come

the time will

quickly,

if

you compare

the

two of us again.

Understood?"

Shaw knew

man meant what

the

longer his own. "Have

"The

British ship that

Shaw nodded. to

understand

"I lost

family. In

that as

my wife

you

as long as

I

have

possibilities.

do.

it is

We

just as

I

to perfect this

I

but his response

was no

asked.

in '39?"

that night.

have no

lost

much

are alike,

said,

AtheniaT Shaw

could possibly

one way or another,

And

he

of the

was sunk

how any good

beginning to see the

as you.

you heard

mine

It

has taken

come out

me

family, just as

I.

weapon?

long I

am

you have no

to the evils of the Reich, just

hate and loathing for those

you and

this

of that, but

Why It's

do you think

who

it is

did

taking

because there are those of

CHAPTER 30 us

who

211

working from within the Reich,

are

you

just as

are

working

from without, to stop the nightmare."

Shaw stopped "You can despite I

to take

me.

kill

what you

a breath. Kolinsky was frozen in place.

will

It

do nothing but hamper your goals. For

think, despite

what you see before you,

seem. You are not as you seem.

And

at the train.

"So,

it is

you saw me

"You were the

That

that.

is

I

why

suspected that

when

am

first

I

not as

saw you

true." at the train?"

leader.

you who barely missed side of the cars.

I

I

was you who

It

killing

issued the orders, and

me when you came around

was behind a

but

tree,

you're going to

me. You think

kill

was

back

you already know

suspect

I

it

to the

I

am

part of this

warped Nazi world." "Hiding then as you hid tonight. to

A coward,

perhaps, wanting only

save yourself." "Just

a

man who

has nothing

you would gain nothing by

killing

by

to gain

killing his allies. Just as

me."

"You wear the uniform." "As you wear the uniform of a peasant

"A

What

valid argument," Kolinsky relented. "But hardly conclusive.

else is there

Shaw ing; there

Germans

what

I

laborer."

you can

offer in

your defense?"

shifted his

body on the wooden

was hope.

"I

call

can

known

that night in 1939.

"Suspicions are not

"No. But

for.

I

can

that, there is

fact.

you

tell

as the OSS. The United States.

Beyond

man

talk-

the

About the motor development, and about

suspect the rocket will be used

organization

the

you everything I know about what

tell

the V-5 rocket.

He had

floor.

I

can

I

work

tell

for the

you about

nothing but trust and

faith."

Not proof."

you asked what

I

could

tell

you.

My

suspicions are part

of that."

Walter Kolinsky rose from the table, pulled his chair closer to

Shaw, and straddled the ladder-back

German. Then

I

will decide

what

I

chair. "Tell

am

to

me what you know,

do with you."

THE -^AAEGA DECEPTION

212

Shaw

began, not with the attack on the

the Athenia

was sunk. He

He

with facts used to bolster his contentions. Bill

Donovan. Of

London. Of the

his being American.

ride across the English

emonies he witnessed

"Himmler that,

tries to

but with the night

train,

told his story in writer's form, short, direct, told of Barbara

and Wild

Of Canada and Washington and channel and of the demonic

cer-

in Berlin.

abrogate religion,"

then the only values that will

Shaw

explained. "If he can do

mean anything

will

be the values

that he imposes." "I

have heard

this before,"

"I'm Protestant. But

Kolinsky agreed.

am

"I

Catholic."

Himmler would destroy both of us

Once he has quashed organized

religion,

he can

for that.

institute his

own

brand of worship. Worship centered on the

man

be those imposed by the

be judged by their accep-

state.

Morals

will

in Berlin.

Values will

tance within the government hierarchy. Most of the battle will be if

Himmler can

won

annihilate organized religion."

"The people of Germany would be expected

to

worship Caesar,"

Kolinsky whispered. "That cannot be allowed."

Shaw nodded. controlled

by the

"That

state.

is

only part of

it.

Every

facet of

Those people found unacceptable

life

will

will

be

be ban-

ished—or worse, murdered." "That

is

happening now."

Shaw nodded,

"I

have heard of the camps."

"But you have not seen them?" "I

have heard only the rumors of detainment centers

for certain

ethnic groups."

"They are death camps. "Tell

me

I

have seen them."

about the camps."

Walter Kolinsky rose and began pacing, his hands alternately held

behind his back or rubbing his temples

to ease the pain that

was

build-

ing due to lack of sleep.

"They are everywhere. Dachau, Belsen, Auschwitz. Names that

come from

the very depths of hell

itself.

Places where

women and

CHAPTER 30 children die

if

213

they cannot perform

where Jews

satisfactorily. Places

die

simply because they are Jews. The same with the Poles, the Czechs, the

Anyone who

Slavs, the Gypsies.

is

not pure

is

exterminated

like

an

insect."

"They

will

have

to

answer

for the evil."

Kolinsky laughed derisively. "These people do not recognize

They bow only

power and a warped sense of national

to

evil.

They

pride.

are monsters."

"You are part of the

right, of course.

And

I'm here to try to stop just a small

madness."

"The V-5." "Exactly. There are certain specifications that ticularly

deadly weapon.

I

have never seen anything

being developed here, but the V-5

ways,

it is

"How

make

is

the V-5 a par-

like the rockets

a prototype for the V-2. In some

superior to the larger V-2."

so?"

"The V-5 has been entire rocket will

"They plan

fitted

with a waterproof motor enclosure. The

be impervious to to

launch

salt water.

What does

that

tell

you?"

from ships and vessels," Kolinsky

it

said.

"There would be no country, no area within hundreds of miles of the

ocean that would be immune States,

if,

you have

as

Shaw sensed was an

Shaw,

God's

way

am who

particularly

Shaw

you

I

are American."

was

I

It

the confirmation he'd so long sought. The

him the

him

to

direction

be on

this earth.

am. And you have

But was

he should take? He looked

and saw the same confirmation

say

Pole.

a belief that went beyond the circum-

yet a reason for

of showing

into the Pole's eyes "I

it

was

proof that there

such a weapon. Including your United

the growing bond between himself and the

intuitive understanding,

stances. For

it

said,

to

just hit

reflected there.

on a scenario that

is

ominous. These rockets could be used against America."

stopped for a moment, thinking.

"If ... if

they could be launched

against the U.S., such an attack would limit our involvement over here.

Our

military leaders

would be forced

to reevaluate

American

^MEGA

THE

214

participation, forced to protect

England.

our

own

shores as opposed to those of

would be a massive accomplishment

It

DECEPTION

"Not to mention the number of people

Germany."

for

who would

on your very

die

shores."

Shaw agreed. "We have

"That too," rockets could

kill

"Then you have a plan

you

coming back

believe

I

am who

I

and facing Shaw

on the wooden

in the coiner.

me

in that direction. Tell

development of

to delay the

weapon.

this

Most of the delays have been due

him

leaves

in the clear to continue his

about your plans."

to him.

"That makes sense.

My

who.

What

to

is

Shaw

within his the scene

plan necessarily

work here on Peenemunde.

I

am new

to the rocket center, but

sabotaging the efforts of the rocket makers.

way to

came on

I

have said they suspected that someone on the

find out

all

He cannot be exposed."

That's a must.

leaders

"Then

say?"

moving

"I'm not alone in this. Kurt Daluege has been doing

power

These

to stop the killing?"

as Kolinsky reversed his course to the chair

"Let's say, I'm

later.

coast.

thousands of innocents."

Shaw watched floor,

on the

large cities

seems

It

I

I

was

some other

inside has

been

sent to the center to

my own expectations.

have succeeded beyond

be done now?" continued. "The rocket will be ready within weeks. The only

see that

it

does not go into mass production

ure so massive, so

final,

that the

Germans

is

to instigate a fail-

will scrap the project

themselves."

"That will have to be done at the source.

An

actual failure during

deployment." "I

agree. But

it

has

to

be done

Daluege and the others in the

when

the

will

have

rocket center, to leave

to

be aboard the vessel

be able to stop the launch?"

will

"Not only stop will

I

Germans deploy the V-5."

"And you

SS

away from the

clear.

abandon

it,

all

but engineer a disaster of such magnitude that the

hope of ever developing the V-5

for general use."

CHAPTER 30

215

Kolinsky was up and pacing again, his hand gently stroking the

luminous

any

that

scar.

"You would have

disaster

would involve you

my

"That has crossed

The V-5 must

mind.

be aboard the ship. That means

to

I

You could

too.

under actual combat conditions.

fail

might bring undue pressure on Daluege and his men.

They need

be

to

able

continue

to

die."

see no other recourse at this time.

Any I

other failure

can't allow that.

subversion

their

within

Peenemunde." "Agreed.

What

you need from us?"

is it

"A disappearance." "Of a particular person? That

"And

you

believe

I

will

Shaw

do." Kolinsky smiled.

enjoy effecting this particular disappearance."

me what you have

"Tell

we can

in

mind."

began, the words spilling from his mouth in torrents. With

each word, he realized he was placing himself in danger. Kolinsky had

been

right.

that

much

He

could

But then, that would only mean he would be

die.

He now had no doubts

closer to seeing Barbara.

was watching him from

the gallery

cumstances, would be gain, as the apostle Paul had deemed laid out his

that she

on high. Death, under such it.

cir-

Shaw

plan over the next hour, directing Kolinsky as to his part,

accepting the Pole's suggestions, and finally finishing as the sun

reached higher into the sky. "It will

"We "As

be done," the Pole assured Shaw.

shall

we

"That,"

shall

make

Shaw They

What

woods

is

not as important as

important

all

and

is

that

my word for

it.

flesh of his neck, "I

nocturnal wanderings."

you

once was."

it

return in such a

security force think

manner

you have been wan-

this time."

laughed. "You forget, Walter.

will take

damaged

said, "is

the SS guards

dering in the

goes well."

it

pray that you will come through this alive."

Shaw

"Possibly.

as to

pray that

Besides,"

I

am an

Shaw

have some

SS-Sturmbannfuhrer.

said,

pretty

reaching up for the

good evidence of

my

THE -#AAEGA DECEPTION

216

"Yes,

I

Come, we

have

for

will get

to take

"We "I

suppose you have, and

will

it

you

to within

I

suppose they

will believe

walking distance of the

car.

you.

You

will

from there."

meet again,

look forward to

it,"

my

friend.

Soon."

Kolinsky said, rising to leave.

"We

will

pray

how

such

you."

Shaw glanced

at Kolinsky,

a prayer would be answered.

wondering

for the first time

CHAPTER

31 december

14.

1942

baltic sea, north of

Leitender Ingenieur

made

its

way on an

Usedom. The

trip

cess.

still

U-135

east-southeast course out of Kiel toward the island of

should have taken no more than twenty hours steam-

had not been

Every engineering

Giinther

island

Otto Reinertsen cursed softly as the

(LI)

Mohr was

Now,

day

into the passage,

able to dive the boat with

any degree of suc-

ing at normal cruising speed.

Reinertsen

usedom

trick

their third

he'd tried had

failed,

and Kapitanleutnant

losing patience with his chief engineer.

The U-135 wallowed over an offshore shelf north of Usedom Island.

Heavy seas and

transit

pace to a crawl. The steel structure jutting from the afterdeck of

the U-boat

had proved

bone-chilling winds

to

had combined

to

slow the

be a burden while running on the surface and

a nightmare while submerged. The asymmetry of the launch apparatus caused every kind of imbalance

compound to the

his frustration, the

aggravating problem.

above and below the

Kaleu was looking

to

him

surface. To

for

a solution

THE ^AAEGA DECEPTION

218

Reinertsen stumbled aft from the conning tower. The deck of the

boat

was

had plagued the

slippery with ice from the freezing spray that

type IXC boat since putting to sea. Three engineering mates were attempting, with

success, to secure a portion of the spaghetti-like

little

apparatus that had broken in the choppy

way toward the

Even from a

on each of the men's

had been

numbing

at

faces. Disgust

more than

for

Werke yards

his

who had built

distance, he could see the look of

mingled with fatigue. They

hours now, fighting the bone-

five

and the

cold, the roll of the Baltic,

the Deutsche

The

it

made

Reinertsen

three sailors, cursing the French welders

the strange apparatus.

disgust

Baltic.

defective

workmanship of

in Kiel.

LI carefully crossed the last

few

feet of ice-coated deck,

com-

ing to a stop next to the launch stand. The three mates didn't even

bother to look up at their boss. Each

None of

the three

would have

LI

to

be the one to

to put into port to repair the

himself would not

The

wanted

knew he was

moved

want in

tell

there

and why.

Reinertsen that they

damage.

Just as Reinertsen

to tell his captain.

and around the mechanism. The problem had

come unexpectedly when

had accelerated toward

the U-boat

its

stan-

dard cruising speed of twelve knots. As the boat had passed through six knots,

a sympathetic vibration had begun, sending vibrations

through the pressure should have been vibrations

many

hull.

little

Under normal circumstances, the vibrations

more than a

had turned out

to

transitory annoyance. But the

be in the low frequency band, disrupting

of the analog instruments

on the

boat.

At any speed above six

knots on the surface and two knots submerged, depth, pressure, even engine instruments had vacillated to such a degree that true readings

were impossible. Kapitanleutnant

Mohr had been

at Deutsche Werkes, the engineers

proximity

He had cursed

who had drawn

the workers

the plans, the

who had

conceived the idea. None

his wrath, including those of the

crew who'd been in close

French welders, and the politicians

had escaped

livid.

when

the discovery

was made.

CHAPTER

219

31

The problem had been

left to

Reinertsen to

He and

rectify.

his

engineers had been working for two days on the problem. Nothing had

Mohr

remedied the situation. He had suggested to

Peenemunde—their

port at

ultimate destination

problem there. Mohr had told him, quite

that they put into

—and

correctly, that

work on

the

should such a

to the target site,

they would not have the

luxury of dockside assistance. So Reinertsen

was stuck with what he

problem

en route

arise while

had on board, which was

little

enough

to solve

such a complex prob-

lem of equipment-generated vibration. "Anything?" the LI asked as he drew nearer the launch stand.

The senior engineering mate turned

to Reinertsen.

"Not yet,

he answered. "We've been over the entire structure. There loose.

We

have repaired the weld breaks and tightened

tural bolts.

It

as

"It is,

I

thought, a structural malfunction. The architects and failed to

compensate

The shockproofing they used

"What

will the

for the vibrations set

is

with this captain

never

knew

many times, and

before.

boat out on patrol

One thing

if it is

not adequate."

do not know.

"I

each time

is certain,

I

The three mates looked

at

They would The

Just

He

will

settle for

sailed

him

not take this

He has no death wish."

Mohr

before.

He was hard but

man

whatever decision

fair.

A

with a torpedo as

above and beneath the waters of the North

LI turned

boat, the

have

each other and nodded. They had heard

hero of Operation Drumbeat and as deadly a sailed

I

learn something about

though.

not functioning properly.

about Kapitanleutnant Giinther

had ever

up by the

Kapitan do?"

Reinertsen shook his head in disgust.

I

the struc-

has quieted some but not enough."

marine engineers diesels.

nothing

is

all

LI,"

their captain

came

Atlantic.

to.

back toward the conning tower. From the deck of the

conning tower loomed

like

a great monolith of black

steel.

above the tower, the white sea cap of Giinther Mohr appeared. journey and already Reinertsen could see the

Only three days into

their

shadow of beard on

his captain's face.

ing U-boat duty actually was.

It

was a reminder

of

how gruel-

THE ^AAEGA DECEPTION

220

Reinertsen climbed the ice-slick ladder attached to the outer skin of

and gently stepped down

the conning tower

where Mohr stood. This time he did not side amenities

were

"Report, LI,"

salute.

into the recessed area

They were

at sea; dock-

sacrificed for expediency.

Mohr said,

his eyes resting

on the aberration of metal

that littered his afterdeck. "It will

be necessary to put in to properly repair the platform, Herr

Kaleu."

"Can you do "Yes

sir,

it,

LI?"

given a day or two.

I

will

need

to

add additional metal

gic places to lower the sympathetic frequency to

Mohr turned

to his LI. "You're telling

me

in strate-

an acceptable range." the addition of metal to

the launch platform will stabilize it?" "I

believe so, Herr Kaleau.

Giinther

Mohr

problem with

mounted on

Usedom The

little

smiled. effort."

It is

"Then

How

reply

long will

came back

it

we

possible that

Mohr spoke

the conning tower.

Island.

theoretically correct."

it is

into the

shall solve our

communication tube

"Number One,

set our course for

take us to reach the northern tip?"

in muffled words, their timbre

lowered by the

communication tube. "Seven hours, Herr Kapitan," the executive

offi-

cer/navigator answered. "In seven hours, LI,

we

will solve this

metal to the platform. Get your

problem by the addition of

men below and

get

some

rest.

I

will

have you awakened when we reach Usedom."

"Thank you, Kapitan." Reinertsen motioned

him below. Each man hustled out of the

freezing

for his

men

wind and

to follow

salt spray,

thankful for the respite.

"And

it

will

be more than mere metal

Mohr whispered under that structure,"

Mohr

his breath.

"We

we add

will

mount

to this platform,"

certain death

concluded, his gaze fixed on the platform.

on

CHAPTER

32 december south of

1942

15,

peenemunde

The truck had traveled day and

night, through

Rhine, turning north, and heading for carried precise.

by the men

bottom of the

transit officials

The orders

who had

perused the orders in

had stopped when they read the signature

transit papers

G. Farben Factory

and

orders.

object— a stainless

carried only a single I.

Island.

the

driving the vehicle were explicit, unquestionable,

Guards and

insolent arrogance

Usedom

Germany along

When

steel security

on the Rhine, they had

at the

they realized the truck

box—from

the

hastily released the truck

for further transit.

The truck had rumbled through western Germany and ern

Germany with

time the reaction

little

was

more than cursory glances

the same,

into north-

Each

at the orders.

and the men driving had made

better

time than even they had anticipated.

The truck

rolled

from the mainland and onto Usedom Island

after

only two days. This time the security checks had been exacting,

THE -^AAEGA DECEPTION

222

verging on the paranoid. The papers had been scrutinized outer

Then the

perimeter security guards.

Oberleutnant— had been

security

He had examined

called.

first

by

officer

the

—an

the papers, recog-

nized the signatures affixed to the papers, and called for his superior.

The superior had turned out mality,

to

be an SS-Oberstfuhrer. With

he had ordered the truck and drivers

Peenemunde and placed

his

own

for-

a holding section within

to

This

call.

little

time

had

civilians

appeared—one a small man and the other a round-faced man who could barely be out of his twenties.

member,

this time

They were accompanied by an SS

a Sturmbannfuhrer.

It

was

the

most impressive

dis-

play of security procedures the drivers had ever seen.

The round-faced

civilian

had immediately ordered the

steel container offloaded, taking care

stainless

not to disturb the contents.

With that done, the truck drivers were dismissed and ordered

The men had looked

return to Leverkusen. this trip

had ended

each other, startled that

at

than an hour at their

in less

boarded the truck and

left

to

final destination.

They

the island, each speculating privately as to

the contents of the container.

The

canister

was enclosed

designed carrier and trans-

in a specially

ported to the warhead shop near the middle of the island.

Shaw, the Sturmbannfuhrer, had never been inside the warhead design shop. Even as the handlers removed the canister from the smaller truck onto which

dered what

A

it

was

hydraulic

that

lift

it

had been offloaded from the

demanded so much

was

and concern.

canister. Laborers

were

in the process of

removing the canister when one of the straps began canister remained

would succumb the canister,

its

suspended

to the

he won-

attached to the loading loops located at

around the

strategic points

care

larger,

for

a moment, as

law of gravity or

not.

if

to separate.

The

deciding whether

The men raced

to

it

lower

stainless steel glistening in the harsh white light of the

warhead shop. The

canister

was no more than twelve

the second strap parted.

The

inches from the floor

canister teetered for a frozen

when

moment,

CHAPTER 32

223

then, giving in to the superior force, the stainless-steel vault tumbled

from the remaining straps and crashed to the concrete floor of the shop.

The SS-Oberstfuhrer stormed forward, shouting orders and

worse the

chastis-

was none

ing the workers as incompetents. To Shaw, the canister

the

minor accident. The Oberstfuhrer, however, was treating

for the

mishap with the intensity Shaw would normally have reserved

for

explosives.

"Get the tools, quickly," the Oberstfuhrer ordered. "All of you, stand back," he motioned to the contingent of bodies crowding around.

They moved, Shaw among them, and watched as two of the began removing the

stainless steel bolts that secured the outer top.

In less than five minutes,

places

and the top prepared

twenty bolts were extracted from

all

The men attached a small crane

When

down on

the top

the

man nodded to came

the

clear,

men moved

to the container

the Oberst

When

it

horizontally until

it

was

set

it

Each

freed crane

same manner as

the larger one

clear of the larger one, the

and moved the smaller

men

canister

man

with

on the hoist cable as the

disconnected the steel hook from the transfer eye on top. for the

on the outer skin of the container steel

Then

now

reached a waist-high workbench. The

The second man reached

smooth

and

into the cavity.

to attach the

the hydraulic controls slackened the tension

man

to the side

came.

the smaller container

activated a transverse pulley system

other

elec-

casement. Slowly the interior can-

steel

into the light, shining in the

from which

it

and peered

and proceeded

another container inside the

ister

and activated the

to the top

The top slowly rose from the square con-

floor.

The men moved

to

was

their

removal.

for

trically controlled hydraulics.

tainer.

laborers

it

with his finger as

if

at the top

seam. He touched the

testing a particular area.

happened.

The man who had touched the a hot stove.

hook, stopping to examine a spot

A split second later,

canister recoiled as

he grabbed his

if

he'd touched

throat, his eyes bulged,

his

^MEGA

THE

224 tongue swelled,

his

"No,

He

will die

fell

had

to the floor, his face

Shaw

thought.

rising in his throat,

momentum

No sound

stopped as he was

to understand.

quietly, "there is

nothing you can do to

a most agonizing death. There

away from

turned

his

Shaw began

he said

friend,"

help that man.

Shaw

forward,

by Kurt Daluege.

my

that

by the combination of

mouth. His eyes pleaded with those around him.

Shaw rushed restrained

off

He

swollen tongue and paralyzed diaphragm.

a hideous purple, the shade of a dark night,

came from

The scream

restricting his breathing.

begun deep within the man's chest was cut

DECEPTION

burning

no hope."

is

the horrific scene; he could feel the bile its

way

into his esophagus.

He gagged

once, twice, then raced from the room.

The man on the within a minute

floor lay

his face black.

still,

Death had come

—sixty seconds of sheer agony. The muscles beneath

the clothing twitched in death.

"Everyone out," the Oberstfuhrer ordered. He turned

to

the

remaining technician. "Get the chemical people over here with their gear. This

was not supposed

to protect the contents

out

who

is

to

happen. That container was supposed

through an enemy bombing. I'm going

responsible for this error." There

was no expression

to find

of

sym-

pathy for the dead man, only the cold evaluation of a containment sys-

tem that had

failed.

Shaw was

outside as those from the

warhead room

filed out.

He

stopped Kurt Daluege with a hand on the smaller man's arm.

"What was

that?

What happened

in there?

That

man

died in

seconds!"

"That

is true.

I

have never seen

it,

but

I

have heard about

it."

"About what?" Shaw demanded. "That shipment came from Leverkusen. From

main production weapons

What you saw was

I.

G. Farben. Their

at this time are biological

chemical. Biologicals don't

work

and chemical.

that quickly."

"You're talking about chemical warfare! That's against

decency, not to

mention the Geneva accords."

all

rules of

CHAPTER 32 "German

saw

leaders

in there,

the V-5.

minute

if

225 obey no law but

I'm not mistaken,

The chemical that

is

to

"It's

own, Michael. What you

the contents of the

is

warhead

just killed that technician in less

we

be launched in the rocket

Shaw went his face.

their

for

than a

built."

white; the blood drained from his head, the color from

beyond

barbaric, Kurt.

Beyond

criminal.

It

must be

stopped."

Kurt Daluege turned and walked from the warhead shop;

Shaw

followed. "It will

ing.

be stopped," Daluege swore quietly.

"It is

time for a meet-

Can you contact your Polish friends?" "I

can,"

Shaw answered.

"Tonight.

The house you

told

me

about, the one they carried

you

to that night." "I will

see to

it.

This has turned more deadly than

"More deadly, I'm

afraid,

than

we even

I

ever envisioned."

suspect."

"Tonight. Midnight."

Daluege nodded and trudged

off.

peared from sight, the acid from the

Shaw watched

as the

bile in his throat still

man

disap-

burned.

CHAPTER

33 december 15, 1942 usedom island, germany The room was the same; the ambience had changed. The same straight

But

back chairs were gathered around the square wooden

this time

Shaw

one of the

sat in

chairs, rather

than bound

table. like

a

Christmas turkey in the corner.

To his right Kurt Daluege sat with an expression of interest on his face;

on

his

left,

Walter Kolinsky sat in the same chair he had occupied

the night he

had almost

rough-hewn

furniture

were

killed

Michael Shaw. The room, but for the

and the three men, was empty. The three men

silent.

"Would you have

killed

him?" Daluege addressed Kolinsky

curi-

ously, breaking the silence.

Kolinsky smiled

briefly,

plan," he finally said. "But did that night. "I

can see

We

thinking about his answer. "That

was

the

no SS member has ever spoken the way he

were surprised,

how you might

be."

to

say the

least."

THE ^0-MEGA DECEPTION

228 "The Nazis have chosen

to persecute

many

people.

true they

It is

seek to destroy the Jews in Europe. They are death fanatics. They also persecute the Church, both Catholic

and

Slavs— anyone who

Czechs, Poles, Gypsies,

They murder Jews,

Protestant.

not Aryan

is

is

subject to

imprisonment, torture, and death. They even seek out the people

known

as Freemasons.

"We "And

It is

an insane time."

are here to try to stop

some of that

in the context of this meeting,

Kolinsky shifted his gaze to Shaw.

on the island

arrived

this

insanity,"

we have

in.

morning?" said, surprised.

my job."

"Yes,"

warhead

broke

about the truck that

"Is this

"You are well-informed, Walter," Daluege "It is

Shaw

disturbing news."

Shaw

for the

affirmed,

V-5 was

in that truck.

have never seen anything as "This truck, where did

about the truck. The material for the

"it is

it

horrible in

One man

my

died unloading

it.

I

life."

come from?" Kolinsky asked.

"Leverkusen." "Chemicals," breathed Kolinsky, disbelieving. "The soul

is

being

stripped from Europe."

Amazement

flashed

across

the

faces

of

Shaw and

Daluege.

Kolinsky was mildly amused at their reaction.

"Do not be

We

facets.

surprised.

branches in every major France,

Our organization has many arms, many

delve into every aspect of the Third Reich. city,

every war production

and every cabinet post up

to,

facility,

We

have

here and in

and including the heart of the

Wehrmacht." "Amazing," Daluege said with obvious respect. "I

had no idea the underground was so well organized," Shaw

added.

"We do concerned.

lack

We

some organization as

operate mostly on

are too important not to

Leverkusen

is

filter

one of those."

far as

a central clearinghouse

is

a regional basis, but certain things

through the

rest of the organization.

CHAPTER 33 Shaw

229

rose from his chair

was beginning

again,

and the

of the three men. There

drifts piled

The cabin was

walls acted as insulation.

was no heat

ney would have been too

was from

and walked

to the lone

against the side of the cabin

quiet except for the breathing

smoke from a chim-

in the cabin;

noticeable.

window. Snow

Shaw

wondering

shivered,

if it

the cold or the subject matter under discussion.

me

"Reminds

a

of

lot

my

cabin on Missisquoi Bay," he said to

himself.

"A lonely

Shaw

how I

turned from the window. "Yes,

We

He

lonely until right now."

have been will

having heard the remark.

place, then," Kolinsky said,

We may

talking.

it is.

I

don't think

rejoined the others

and

have come up with a way

need your help and the help of your people

Kolinsky threw his arms in the

air.

"That

is

ing sleep and freezing to death in this rat hole.

now

ones that are

You know, I'm

kind.

its

called the V-l

complex.

It

it.

thousand miles an hour.

will

It

there are disadvantages to each Interception

is

possible,

can be mounted on

by the necessity the V-5

comes

to

is

weapon. The V-l

is

at

There

will

more than three it's

is

Spitfires.

and

extremely

too late. But

slow and noisy.

The V-2, while

and moved within the country,

launch from land-based

It is

simple, just a

hand

never be heard until

even with English

railcars

completed.

is

feet long.

shower destruction

will

off."

it

to a pulse jet engine

a gyro-navigated missile over forty

It's

and

sure, of the other two, the

pointed in the right direction. The V-2, on the other

be no defense against

said, "Kurt

to stop the V-5.

to carry

and V-2. The V-l

thousand pounds of explosives strapped

realized

why we are here, losTell me of this plan."

Kurt Daluege began the explanations. "The V-5 the only rocket of

I

installations.

is

That

is

it

limited

where

in."

"The V-5 has no such limitations," Kolinsky interrupted. "Exactly,"

Shaw

said,

amazed yet again

at the depth of

knowledge

possessed by Kolinsky.

Daluege continued. it

was made

to

"It is

obvious from the design of the V-5 that

be launched from ships.

It's all

there,

from the encased

THE

230 motor system

to the protected

^MEGA

guidance and sealed warheads. I've seen

most of the plans from the shops. The V-5 V-2, carry two-thirds the weight in

ous

DECEPTION

will

be half the size of the

warhead, and

its

be impervi-

will

to saltwater."

Kolinsky was mesmerized as he listened to the

scientist's

explanation.

"The V-5

will

be a ship-launched weapon. The idea came from the

Kriegsmarine, from Admiral Karl Ddnitz.

He wants a

rocket to use

against supply lines and landing forces. The V-5 will do that."

Kolinsky held up his hand. "But the warhead was supplied from Leverkusen. That suggests that at least one rocket will be launched using chemical weapons. You speak of multiple rockets launched against supply lines. That would the continent.

What

mean launched

Daluege glanced sideways at Shaw. chemical warhead "Against

against forces here on

of the chemical warhead?"

Shaw nodded. "We

a one-time venture.

is

whom?

A psychological

believe the

weapon."

For what purpose?"

"To regain dominance of the North Atlantic." Kolinsky's face changed to a pallid gray. "That would

"... that

mean

..."

would be launched against the Americans, against the

it

nearest target. The east coast,"

Shaw

finished his sentence for him.

"Civilians!"

"Exactly," Daluege confirmed.

"But how?" "U-boat. That would explain the pains with which

has sought explain

to seal

its size.

every operating system of the V-5.

The V-2

tually be deployed for

vessels.

The

is large,

but not so large that

size of the

table.

cany

let

his

V-5 suggests

head

rest in his

"They are not content their

madness

It

would

it is

also

could not even-

shipboard launch from some of Germany's

vessels, U-boats. Class IX boats can easily

Kolinsky

it

Peenemunde

larger

be deployed by smaller

to

accommodate the

rocket."

cupped hands, his elbows on the

to destroy

a single continent; they must

to the rest of the world,"

he said

quietly.

When

he

CHAPTER 33

231

had been replaced

raised his face from his hands, the look of despair

by one of determination. "What must we do

to stop this

.

this

.

.

insanity}"

"The problem, as

we

see

it,

The odds are

target selection.

is

in

our

favor that the rocket will be launched against a high profile target on the east coast. But

we

can't be absolutely certain.

It

could be fired

any num-

against England from the Channel, Russia, North Africa, or

would

ber of targets in the Mediterranean, but none of those targets

accomplish what launching against the U.S. would. ble to determine the target before

deployment.

on board whatever ship deploys that that

never

it is

rocket.

It

It

will

We must

telling

man

fired."

me. You are to be the

Shaw nodded

in

answer

to neutralize the rocket

team here

have a

be up to him to see

will

Kolinsky shifted his gaze from Daluege to Shaw. "This

were

be impossi-

man on

is

what you

board the ship, yes?" only

to the Pole's question. "It is the

and not compromise Kurt and the

way

rest of his

Peenemunde."

at

"You are a brave man." "Bravery

is

nothing more than action born of necessity.

I

see no

other option."

"You spoke of a plan that would "Kurt will explain that part,"

entail the

Shaw

Daluege pulled his chair closer

use of

my

men."

said.

to the table as

if

the snow-covered

walls were listening. "Whatever boat or ship deploys the rocket, there is

one factor that

will

not change. With the rocket must go a five-man

technical team. Their responsibility

is

to see to

maintained in peak condition during the site into

of the

the gyro guidance system,

team

purpose

is

is

and

it

transit, to

to

that the rocket

launch the rocket. The head

an SS-Sturmbannfuhrer Meyer, a sixth man. His only

to protect the

investment of the SS in

of Himmler's conditions for funding

Omega, as

this project.

It

this project is

was one known."

"And," Kolinsky began, peering once again at Shaw, "since

have our

own

is

program the target

SS-Sturmbannfuhrer,

it

would be advantageous

for

we

us to

THE -0-MEGA DECEPTION

232 remove

this

Meyer and

can understand, but

I

own man into his position. That how one man, especially a nontech-

insert our

do not see

I

can stop the launch of the rocket."

nical one,

many ways

"There are

"Guidance systems go awry, burns through. Those are

fuel

pumps

fail,

all possibilities.

we thought

assigned to the motor shop,

Daluege explained.

to stop the launch,"

it

turbines overheat, wiring

But since

better that

Shaw has been

we come up

with

a malfunction directly connected with that portion of the rocket he

most

is

familiar with."

"A

rocket motor failure."

To be exact, a combustion chamber

"Precisely. "If,

you

as

say,

you can manufacture such a

on a U-boat would mean almost

failure."

failure, for

An

certain death.

it

to occur

explosion on the

deck of so small a boat would almost guarantee the boat's destruction as well." "I

done.

have thought about I

will find

"Of that

ous

I

a

way

that,"

to survive.

have no doubt,

to attribute to

my

I

believe

I'll

a job that must be

said. "It's

be in God's hands."

friend.

But

we would

be presumptu-

God our own myopic view of such a venture."

"The launch must be stopped. "Yes,

Shaw

you

will,"

I

will

do what must be done."

Kolinsky sighed. "What

is it

that

I

and

my

team must do?" "Eliminate Meyer. With to

accompany

him out of the way,

the next logical choice

the rocket technicians will be Sturmbannfuhrer Schmidt

here," Daluege motioned to Shaw.

"And you "I will.

will

Kurt has engineered the combustion chamber shroud in

such a manner as

Shaw

sabotage the launch."

to allow access to the outer portion of the

explained. "With such access,

I

will

the chamber. That defect will cause the

be able

chamber

to create

to

chamber,"

a defect in

burn through. At

the very least, the motor will have a limited burn."

"And

at

its

worst,

it

could explode before clearing the launch plat-

form," Daluege interjected.

CHAPTER 33

233

"There are risks that have to be accepted.

way,

I

would take

it,"

Shaw

If

there

was any

other

surmised.

"That same idea was put forth two thousand years ago by another."

"How do you mean?" Shaw "Our Lord Jesus Christ yet not

my

"An

will,

asked.

in the garden.

'Remove

this

cup from me;

but thine be done.'"

interesting analogy. There

is,

of course, another analogy from

your example." Kolinsky looked questioningly at Shaw. "And that is?"

Shaw

released a breath

"Yes," the Pole agreed.

You must do the

"I

said,

"There

see your point.

was no I

will

other way."

remove

this

Meyer.

rest."

Shaw and Daluege been condemned

and

locked eyes, both knowing that

to death.

Shaw had

just

CHAPTER

34 december

1942

21,

lorient, france

It

just

was only

four days before Christmas,

been entered

in the

two Schlussel

M

and the

daily codes

had

code machines aboard the

U-3009 and U-3021 when each machine sprang

to

life.

The radio

operators aboard each of the boats quickly scribbled the messages onto

separate sheets of top secret paper, folded them,

and headed

for the

small berthing areas of their respective captains.

The captains took the messages, reading the contents

in

each case

with a mixture of fear and excitement. Under normal circumstances, they could expect to be at sea for three to four months, supporting the operations of the smaller U-boats from their massive stores of fuel and

ammunition. This patrol

was

different.

two

fuels necessary to

the

U-135

Each boat

carried

one component of the

launch the V-5. They would rendezvous with

at a designated point in the mid- Atlantic to refuel the

smaller U-boat, then proceed in wide formation to a predetermined

THE ^-AAEGA DECEPTION

236

point off the coast of the United States, fuel the V-5,

France. All-in-all,

no more than

and return

to

forty-five days.

The Ultra message was the order they had been awaiting—the order to initiate

Omega.

The crews of each of the action. Engineering spaces

large type

XIX boats sprang

into frenzied

were manned; navigation equations and

dead-reckoning plots were begun; the supplies that could not be put

onboard space;

until the last

minute were hastily secured

and deck hands stood by the moorings, ready

in

any

available

to single-up

and

ultimately release the lines that tethered the boats to the wharf.

For the

men

of U-3009

Navy was about

to

and U-302 1 the ,

be demonstrated. The

shores of the United States

Omega had begun.

was underway.

superiority of the first direct

assault

German on the

CHAPTER

35 december

1942 buckinghamshire, england As

21,

the message

was

received aboard the

same message was being decoded Unlike the routine radio

traffic

that

decoding section, the mention of

U-3009 and U-302 1

made up

Omega

,

the

northwest of London.

at Station X,

the bulk of the naval

in the

message sparked an

intense interest inside the white clapboard building.

The job had been boring; there had been few transmissions over the Kriegsmarine Ultra communications system.

German Navy suspected

that their codes

had been broken;

other forms of Ultra communications had been until this

very moment, there had been no

The analyst on watch the

Enigma machine,

that lay

on

his desk,

Not because the

prolific. It

Omega

dutifully transcribed the

in fact, all

was just

that,

transmissions.

message as

flipped through the directives in the

it

exited

notebook

and found the updated entry concerning Omega

transmissions. Every analyst in the Ultra section

cerning the handling of

Omega messages,

but

had been

it still

briefed con-

came

as a shock

THE -^AAEGA DECEPTION

238

to the

man when

he read the

directive.

grabbed his hat and coat, and called

He

transcribed the message,

duty

for the

sedan was headed

In minutes, the military

driver.

The ana-

for Whitehall.

lyst gently held the envelope that contained the message, as

if

excess

handling might cause the paper to burst into flame or explode. The orders

had been simple and straightforward: the message was

War Room on

delivered to the Cabinet

The

ride

was a

be

Whitehall.

analyst concentrating on

blur, the

to

what he would

say once he arrived in Whitehall. He'd been with the cryptoanalytical section for over

two years, and

seen the Cabinet

Now

in all that time, he'd

War Room from

the message he delicately held in his

inner workings of the building.

never so

much

the outside,

hand was

He began

to

much

as

less the inside.

his ticket to the

sweat despite the cold

slush and ice covering the roadway.

The driver pulled got out. For a

moment he looked

Then he knew;

felt.

He entered was ushered

it

was

into

an outer

office.

From a small room lyst felt the breath

here,"

He

He

off to the right, the

expunged from

calm yourself.

and

for

into the inner office

him

to take

a seat fac-

assure

I

door opened, and the ana-

his lungs. Breathing

man who'd

Winston Churchill said sir,

was he

did so.

gasps evident to the

"Yes,

it

did not have a chance to take a

She motioned

stately looking secretary.

"Please,

around, wondering what

fear.

opened and he was ushered

ing a large, ornate desk.

cult, his

and the analyst

the building, passed through the security checks,

seat before the door

by a

to the front of the stone building

became

diffi-

entered.

you nothing

drastic will

happen

in a soothing voice.

Mr. Prime Minister," the analyst answered.

"You have an Omega message?"

The analyst dug

had the message

into his coat pocket, feeling silly for not

at the ready,

The analyst looked Minister."

at

and handed

his

watch.

it

having

to Churchill.

"An hour

ago,

Mr.

Prime

CHAPTER 35

239

"And you have not recorded The analyst swallowed. "No

your log?

this in sir,

there

Churchill smiled. "Very good. There to

remind you that

to discuss

this is

a top

priority

is

is,

Is

that correct?"

no record of

its

receipt."

of course, no need for

with anyone, not even your immediate supervisor.

it

me

message and that you are not Is

that

clear?"

"Yes

sir,

Churchill

perfectly."

nodded and reread the message once again. "Thank you.

You may go," he The analyst

said offhandedly. rose, feeling as

exonerated for crimes against the

if

he'd been to court and had been

state.

Churchill waited until the door closed behind the analyst

picked up the phone on his desk. "This the mouthpiece.

was picked "It

He waited

as the call

is

an Omega

call,"

was placed and

and

he said into

the other end

up.

has begun," he said gravely, and replaced the

with us," he prayed quietly.

receiver.

"God be

CHAPTER

36 december 22, 1942 peenemunde, germany SS-Sturmbannfuhrer Otto Meyer cared

less for his

assignment than

might have otherwise been the case had he been assigned

to

combat unit or one of the Waffen SS support

fact that

battalions.

he was stuck on the desolate island of Usedom further proof that the

and

in the Baltic

was

full

just

SS hierarchy did not appreciate his experience

to

Meyer recognized, as he

studied the reports before him, he

be the head of the contingent to board the U-boat that was, this

very minute, en route to Peenemunde. The

happening—the ones who would make nicians he

it

would accompany aboard the

And Meyer had heard

men who knew what was

happen—were

the five tech-

craft.

service aboard a U-boat

was nothing more

than prolonged intense tedium punctuated by moments of sheer

Not

a

abilities.

True,

was

The

to

ated.

mention the extreme discomfort

And

to

add

in

terror.

which U-boat crews oper-

insult to injury, the rocket that

would be embarked

THE

242

#MEGA

DECEPTION

was nothing more than a grand experiment, one which had a chance of

Meyer removed

enough

He

and rubbed the bridge of

his glasses

between thumb and three hours,

greater

than success, at least in his view.

failure

forefinger. for

He'd been

nose

his

at the reports for the last

one night, he decided.

rose from his desk, grabbed his overcoat,

and

started for the car

that waited in the small courtyard just outside his office. While others

had

to

make do with makeshift office

space, he

had been assigned a

vate space. Space, particularly private office space,

was a

pri-

rare thing

on

Peenemiinde. Almost every square foot had been given over to rocket research, which, in Meyer's mind,

five

was a vast waste

He pushed through

the outer door

meters away, motor

idling,

and

of resources.

into the cold night. His car sat

meaning it would be warm

inside.

That was

cold.

He would

another thing he hated about the Baltic—the unrelenting

have prefened the southern coast of France, where the Meditenanean was

warm and

women

the

would check

into

a

Meyer opened inside. His driver, tion,

was

were

transfer.

beautiful. After this

Maybe he would

assignment was over, he

relent

the rear door of the car

and consider

and folded

his

tall

one of the amenities he enjoyed because of

frame

his posi-

at the wheel.

But there was something strange

accustomed

to his

somewhat small

this night.

driver,

Meyer had become

but this

man was

broad shoulders showing above the rear cushion of the front

shape of the head was wrong, the manner the wheel

Paris.

.

"Where

.

.

is

everything

was

in

husky,

seat.

The

which the driver gripped

different.

Franz tonight?" Meyer asked, slamming the door behind

him. "Ill,

me

to

Herr Sturmbannfuhrer. The transportation sergeant assigned

your car a half hour ago.

"No." Meyer relaxed.

was

just another "Ill

today."

you

say.

Is

there a problem?"

He knew

the transportation sergeant. This

example of the man's

What

is

his problem?

efficiency.

He

said nothing about

it

earlier

CHAPTER 36

243

"Perhaps," the driver answered as he shifted into gear, "he did not

want

burden the Sturmbannftihrer with personal problems."

to

Meyer relaxed

into the deep cushions of the staff car. "Perhaps."

The automobile lurched forward on the

slick surface, rear tires

spinning, throwing ice in their wake, the driver's gaze locked onto the

road as he drove.

Meyer, remembering that he'd

wanted

to read in his

a report on his desk that he

left

room, came up out of the cushioned rear seat and

tapped the driver on the shoulder. "Stop. file

from

my

desk.

I

I

have

won't be a minute." With

inner door handle to

go back and get a

What he found

himself out.

let

to

that,

he reached

surprised him.

The door handle was gone! Someone had removed

it!

Quickly he dove for the opposite door. That handle, too,

Meyer

felt

his heartbeat

slamming against

for the

was gone!

his chest, mini-explosions

of light illuminated in his brain.

Thefront door!

Meyer leaned over the back support of the for the

handle of the front door.

pulling himself forward with

mechanism

operating,

its

and the

It

was

there!

support.

front seat, scrambling

He grasped

the handle,

The handle gave, the locking

front door

opened an

inch. Before he

could force his body into the front seat and out the door, he

felt

the

ugly muzzle of a Luger automatic pistol driven into the sensitive area

below his

left ear.

He

froze,

hand on the

door.

"Return to your seat, Herr Sturmbannfuhrer. Now!"

Meyer contemplated

resisting but

banished the thought. He'd been

an accountant before joining the SS. None of the training he'd undergone had prepared him

for physical

combat. His desire for combat was

something he dreamed about only because he knew there was

little

chance of such an assignment. He pulled the front door shut and

back

into the seat.

"I

fectly will

fell

have

this pistol pointed at

framed

in

my

you through

rearview mirror.

this seat.

Do not move one

be forced to shoot you right here."

You

are per-

centimeter, or

I

THE ^#AAEGA DECEPTION

244

Meyer's eyes strayed to the mirror mounted over the windshield.

He

could see the eyes of the driver and

of a scar illuminated face, that scar,

by the

somewhere

what looked

lights of the

before, but

the car

and could see Meyer

Once out of the

beginning

dashboard. He'd seen that

he could not remember.

The car passed the checkpoints with

knew

like the

Every guard

trouble.

little

in the rear seat.

security area, Walter Kolinsky

headed the

toward the east coast of Usedom Island and a remote

staff car

inlet just at the

border where the island joined Poland.

Kapitanleutnant Gunther

Mohr

could see the docking area where

he would moor the U-135. There was a good harbor entrance here on

ships

moored

side

by

Usedom

He

could see two large cargo

side, in the protected

area of the natural harbor.

the northern shore of

Island.

That was good; the weather was horrendous. to

more southern The harbor

cial pilot.

It

would be good

to get

latitudes.

pilot

stood next to Mohr, more a formality than an

Mohr had allowed

offi-

man onboard to brief him on the harthe man in no uncertain terms that he,

the

bor approach but had informed

as captain, would pilot his boat into the harbor. The harbor pilot had said nothing.

The U-135 was within half a mile of docking, and the ingly

had

captain.

to agree that

he could not have done

The U-135 moved

like

a

ballet

better

than

pilot

grudg-

this

U-boat

dancer in response to Mohr's

orders.

Within minutes, the the last phase of

Neither

first line

Omega would

man knew

would come aboard the U-135, and

begin.

that, at that

the south, SS-Sturmbannruhrer Otto the staff car

and

to

would next be seen

a remote

inlet of

very moment,

fifty

Meyer was being those

same

in public in a place called

kilometers to escorted from

Baltic waters.

Nuremberg.

Meyer

CHAPTER

37 december 30, 1942 peenemunde, germany Long shadows the

low

U-135 with

alternating stripes of light

in the water,

Michael

and

snow

dry

falling, staring at

foot of the U-boat.

It

was a machine

der

from the quay,

Shaw

now mounted on

the sinister object.

was not

of war, provisioned and

deadly journey. Even as the plies

hull sat

men

Men

reminded Shaw of a rotting

carcass covered with ravenous ants. But this it

The sleek

stood on the quay in his black SS winter tunic, a

swarmed over every

to feed;

dark.

engines quiet, menacing even in repose.

its

Shaw

light dusting of

crept over the dark hull, distorting reality, painting

carrion

on which

made ready

for its

worked, loading the remaining sup-

could not take his eyes from the long cylin-

the rear portion of the U-boat's deck.

Supported by a complex design of metal beams and hydraulics, the

V-5 rocket lay horizontal, rocket technicians checked tain that the rocket

its

body secured

to the

launch stand. Five

and rechecked every system, making

would survive the upcoming voyage.

cer-

THE

^MEGA

of fear

wash through

246 Shaw dered.

It

felt

had

the dry

all

chill

DECEPTION his body.

word, and Otto Meyer had disappeared the night the U-135 the Peenemiinde wharf. After a search

had deserted, Shaw was appointed sentative

He shud-

been so easy. Walter Kolinsky had been as good as

and the conclusion

to replace

Meyer as

tied

that

his

up

at

Meyer

the SS repre-

on the Omega mission.

Christmas had come and gone, honored only by a few of the famin the

ilies

lost in this

housing area. For Shaw, life.

The days had been

had been a reminder of what he'd

it

filled

with work and preparations,

but the nights had been claimed by tedium, boredom, and, worst of all, loneliness.

Shaw

sea in the dark

realized

shadow

he was almost looking forward

to putting to

of the U-boat.

That had been one week ago. The V-5 rocket had been assembled, the

warhead mated

to the body,

and the rocket loaded onto the launch

platform of the U-boat. The last of the provisions were being stuffed into the limited space

Shaw had first

not

went aboard

One long

aboard the boat.

known what

the U-boat

to expect,

saw when he

to flee.

corridor ran the entire length of the boat, fore to

Sleeping quarters gave

way

to

and diving and trim

covered only two

toilets in the labyrinth

and one of those, he was

aft.

weapons systems, propulsion power

plants, torpedoes,

wiring,

but what he

had made him want

told,

controls. To his horror,

he

dis-

of steel tubing and insulated

would be used

for storage

on the

Atlantic crossing, leaving only the aft toilet for a crew of fifty-seven

men. Supplies were stuffed into every available space. Upper bunks in the aft

and forward torpedo rooms were rendered

useless; loaves of

bread occupied the spaces and skins of sausage were suspended from the overhead like round bats gone to roost.

and heavy

spices wafted through the interior,

The smell of black bread combining with the odor

of sweat, grease, and diesel.

Shaw had been shocked when

he'd been told he could bring only

what he wore, nothing more. There were no showers, no means of

CHAPTER 37

247

ridding the boat's closed quarters of the smells of

A smell

Shaw to

would turn rancid only a few days

that

from the

shifted his gaze

man

the

men

men and

after

machinery.

deployment.

performing last-minute chores

standing in the conning tower of U-135. He'd met

Kapitanleutnant Gunther

Mohr

the

day the submarine had

first

docked. That had been his one and only contact with the stern-faced captain,

up

and Mohr had made

six of his

nicians

seasoned crew members

ful

his

to

he did not

voyage.

its

Shaw had

would be

left

fifty-seven crew

having

five rocket tech-

to

ensure a success-

feared that his logic might well

behind. But

it

was not

The protocol issued from

to give

quite correctly, that the

members

argument when the necessity of the

explained.

like

accommodate

and one SS observer. Mohr had argued,

boat needed each of

least,

clear that

to be.

mean

he, at

Mohr had abandoned

five technicians

had been

Berlin ensured the attendance of

the lone SS officer.

Mohr had

glared at Shaw, turned

the room. Later,

when Shaw had

on

tried to

his heel,

and stomped from

smooth things over with the

U-boat skipper, Mohr had ignored him and had gone about his business.

Shaw

To quell his nerves,

was on

this

continually reminded himself that he

voyage only because

it

was God's

plan. That

explanation for the success he had enjoyed thus

he should not be on the U-boat. He should, in

life, still

if

far.

fate

By

was all

the only

accounts,

played a part at

all

be in England, perhaps even at the bottom of the English

Channel. Or lying dead on a cold road just outside the family housing area where he'd

first

encountered Walter Kolinsky.

Certainly his meeting Kurt Daluege could not be attributed to fate.

And

either.

the inclusion of Walter Kolinsky

From beginning

someone

greater than

Shaw watched

mand

mere

toss of the dice,

mission had been overseen by

to end, this

all

was no

of them.

as Gunther

Mohr

directed the

men under

his

com-

with practiced precision. There were no questions, no rebuttals,

only acceptance and performance.

He

could see by the crew's actions

THE

248

that they were

^MEGA

an experienced group of

tion of the mission

on

sailors

DECEPTION

with only the comple-

their minds.

Shaw's gaze was drawn once again

The technicians

to the rocket.

were finishing with the preembarkation inspections. Every system, every wire, every vulnerable nut and bolt had been secured, made watertight for the voyage. The senior technician,

whom Shaw knew

only by sight,

walked

something

Mohr. The captain turned around and nodded his

to

to the

base of the conning tower and shouted

acknowledgment. Then, with deliberate control, he looked at

him

to

come aboard. Shaw crossed

the

ramp onto the

sub, shinnied through the forward hatch,

bowels of the

Shaw and motioned icy

deck of the

and lowered himself into the

steel monster.

Kurt Daluege watched as his friend disappeared through the hole directly

forward of the conning tower.

Had anyone

cared to notice,

they would have seen a small tear in the corner of one eye. "Go with God," he whispered before turning from the quay and walking away. In the background, the ignition of the twin nine-cylinder, 2,170-

horsepower

diesels

drowned out

all

other sounds.

CHAPTER

38 december

1942

31,

denmark

store baelt, east coast of The apparition came from the

was

sea,

from the freezing mist that

forever lingering in the narrow straits. Like a ghost emerging

from the grave, the gray shape materialized almost ing the open water as

if

resting on, not in, the

Swenson had seen German naval

the heavy,

German Navy's

superiority in the Baltic

British Intelligence.

But of

none had

was almost

absolute.

his

the ships that

now

filled

told

The

Swenson

vantage point to

had passed

his coast

watching

and the

the field of vision of his binoculars.

was a weapon

was mounted

go.

Keeping track of German ships was what he did

carried the graceless bulk of metal framing

device that it

all

come and

vessels

had relayed untold numbers of messages from

was,

The

air.

Erik

best.

depths.

was masked by

only sound, a deep-throated thumping,

moist

silently, cross-

murky

him

station,

tube-like

Whatever

it

of war. The type IX U-boat to which the device that

much.

THE -#AAEGA DECEPTION

250 Swenson watched nowhere,

it

the boat until, just as

policy.

He could

than the normal type

no doubt about like

had appeared from

disappeared into the light fog and freezing drizzle. The

conning tower had carried no number,

wartime

it

it.

consistent with

see from the profile that the U-boat

VII boats that frequented the Baltic.

German

was

A

larger

type IX,

But what was the apparition that rode the sub's back

a malignant cancer?

Swenson shook himself from

his thoughts

and dragged

his eyes

from the point where the sub had disappeared. This, he knew, was

worth reporting.

1

CHAPTER

39 January

1,

1943

north atlantic There was no indication within the vessels that a

new

year had

begun. The two U-boats were traveling together, maintaining an interval of just lolled in

her

under two miles. The U-3009

wake

led,

away. The twin lookouts on each boat shared the ity

of identifying

tified

and the U-302

to starboard, following three thousand meters

enemy

critical responsibil-

aircraft or surface vessels before

by them. With the two boats two miles

being iden-

apart, they

had an

range of just over seventeen miles, in good

effective observation

weather.

But the weather was anything but good. Winter in the North Atlantic provided perhaps the

U-boat could venture

into,

most

hostile operating

environment a

and today was a prime example.

Standing orders restricted surface speed to less than eight knots,

and the charted route took them well route

leading

to

the

shores

to the north of the great circle

of North

America.

Such operating

25

THE

2

limitations could only

mean

#MEGA

that they

would surely rendezvous with

one or more U-boats before the week was Neither captain

had voiced

out.

his concern to the other, but each

that the sooner they could offload the fuel they to

DECEPTION

France, the happier they would

be.

now

carried

knew

and return

CHAPTER

40 January

3,

1943

north atlantic Shaw had known

Michael life.

tal

Some, he

was

the

an intense

and mental,

in his

self-imposed. Of the two, the

men-

misery, both physical

now knew, had been

more profound. Before he knew God, he had experienced lostness.

had entered the

And

then the small

girl

from the

hills

of Virginia

picture.

Barbara.

They had

fallen in love,

of his undivided attention.

moon that

in

he

at first glance,

They had been

she after several weeks

married, spent a honey-

Hot Springs, Arkansas, and loved each other with a passion

Shaw had thought

impossible.

It

had been a love that could only

have been possible within a God-ordained

institution,

and he had been

ecstatic.

Barbara had dragged him to church. He had gone willingly, content to be near her regardless of the location. But he

Word

of God, and that

Word had

had

listened to the

supplied the final piece of his being

^MEGA

THE

254

DECEPTION

deep within him, and he had accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.

He'd not known what

happier or more

it,

the

words meant, but he'd never been

fulfilled.

The misery had back on

all

he looked

started the night Barbara died; but, as

she had

left

him with a

He was

death could not completely eradicate.

known before

the hollowness he'd

even

lasting legacy of love that

Jesus.

just

beginning to realize

He'd not been deserted

in his

time of need.

But misery comes ness to which he

in different forms,

and the physical wretched-

was now exposed was beyond anything he'd ever

envisioned.

The U-135 was making circle

route between Europe

its

way

north and east, following the great

and North America. The crowded condi-

tions aboard the submarine bordered

Fifty-seven

as

men were crammed

on the unconscionable.

into the

narrow pressure

hull with

regard for comfort as cattle being led to the slaughter. Every

little

available space, including plies, food,

many

of the sleeping berths,

and assorted equipment. Men

teen-hour watch, and then only

briefly.

It

was

slept only at the

was

full

of sup-

end of a

six-

the sleep of exhaustion,

not the deep, therapeutic sleep they so desperately needed.

The innards of the boat stunk of sweat, and waste, and decaying food.

Shaw's black tunic lay next

The men wore one most

patrols,

a

set of clothes

minimum

of three

to him.

from

He

could smell

start to finish.

its

fetidness.

That meant, on

months without bathing, shaving,

or

laundering clothes.

The

inside surfaces of the

U-boat sweated constantly, the moisture

down

the pressure hull. Every inch of

the interior reeked of mildewing cloth

and molding bread and cheese.

beading and running in rivulets

The temperature that had hovered thirties

as the boat

made

its

way

in the high fifties

into the northern latitudes.

The Atlantic changed temperament. rolling swells off the

imbedded themselves

plunged into the

It

had gone from the giant

French coast to the battering surface waves that in the giant swells.

The boat not only

rolled

and

CHAPTER 40

255

pitched in the extreme seas but rattled

and shook with each

along the face of the waves. Half the

fall

and the by-products of

sick,

men on added

their sickness

and

rise

the boat were sea-

stench that

to the

permeated the U- 135.

The

five

members of

the after torpedo room.

had opportunity

the rocket crew were strapped into

Shaw

to stop the

bunks

in

feared that he might die before he ever

launch of the deadly missile strapped

to the

U-boat's deck.

His stomach had turned on him only hours out of Peenemiinde.

He'd not been able

and he had

up,

to eat. Eventually, there

tried to eat

He peered through

was nothing

left to

but to no avail.

the

gloom of the torpedo room,

staring at the

down

water droplets as they accumulated, joined others, and ran side of the hull next to him.

bunk and in the

into

He would have

some kind of action

if

"This

to force himself out of the

he expected

to play

an

active role

is

in the

room blared

the captain speaking.

to

life.

We have now cleared friendly waters We have not been

by any English or American

know, was

vital to

us in

fulfilling

been running on the surface and

vessel, which, as each of

our assigned patrol duties. will

We

you

have

continue to do so as long as

do not come in contact with enemy shipping. At

this point,

I

am

we

about

open our sealed orders and read them. Stand-by one."

Shaw swung alert,

his legs over the edge of the cold bunk, instantly

the misery radiating from his stomach temporarily forgotten.

The U-boat struggled up a mountain of water, the deck upward.

Shaw grabbed

for the

nearest handhold.

strength to keep from falling from the berth. its

left

are north of the western approaches to England.

spotted

to

the

demise of the V-5. He had just pushed himself up onto his

elbow when the speaker

and

throw

climb, the boat's nose tilted over

As

It

quickly as

took it

inclined all

his

had begun

and began the long dive

into the

deep trough.

Shaw was amazed

as he looked around

him

at the

complacency

with which the more seasoned submariners went about their work.

^MEGA

THE

256

Weapons mates were busy checking the torpedoes stored in

The speaker came

an overhead

and Shaw turned

alive again,

Mohr

will

'Omega' on the master

and

circuits

settings

on two of

rack. his attention to

command

"The orders read: The U-135, under the leutnant Giinther

DECEPTION

it.

of Kapitan-

proceed to the coordinates designated as

plot,

arm, and launch the V-5 rocket, and

return, via the great circle route, to Lorient, France,

on or before the

twenty-eighth day of February 1943. Under no circumstances are the officers

and crew of the U-135

Lorient

on or before the

ural or

manmade,

to

proceed to any landfall other than

specified day.

Should any

result in the detection of the

launch of the rocket designated V-5, the tle

the

U-135 with

destroyed and

all

all

by Adolf

Hitler,

by

any

allies

or before the

and crew

are to scut-

completion of the reading.

way

falls into

is

the hands

of the two countries.

The

Chancellor of Germany."

the cheering that

the V-5. The chemical in the all

officers

evidence of said rocket in no

Shaw was shocked by at the

U-135 on

whether nat-

haste, ensuring in the process that the rocket

of England, the United States, or orders are signed

factor,

It

was

went up within the boat

all there.

They were

warhead would be used

indications, the target specified

Omega was

to

launch

to kill people,

and

located within the

boundaries of the United States.

Shaw

felt

his

head

over the crest of a giant

He'd have

to get

reel as the roller.

submarine fought

His stomach

felt

its

way up and

as light as his head.

a look at the master plan. That meant forcing

himself to act in spite of the sickness, in spite of the fear that had sud-

denly overcome him.

God be with me, he prayed

silently.

CHAPTER

41 January berlin,

4,

1943

germany

Admiral Karl Donitz detested

him

that he

U-boats, and strategy, and suited.

advancing to

It

was a constant reminder

to

war—into

a world for which he

was

less

Even as the supreme commander of all Germany's warships, he

was nonetheless reduced

ued

Berlin.

had stepped from the world he knew best— the world of

strategic

to limited tactical

responses to the enemy's

moves. To make matters worse, the Fuhrer contin-

siphon off valuable shipping for uses elsewhere.

To compound the problem of a lack of viable combat vessels,

Himmler had gone behind

his

back and pulled three of

his top-line

U-boats from the war and sent them on an insane mission halfway

around the world. True,

initially

he'd supported the concept of Omega,

but tactical assets were becoming scarce, and the three U-boats of

Omega were

sorely needed elsewhere.

decision between

him and

the SS

What should have been a

had turned

terfuge. All to the detriment of the

war

effort.

into a

mishmash

Unbelievable!

joint

of sub-

THE ^AAEGA DECEPTION

258

For that reason, he was in Berlin,

and about

to

do

away from

his beloved Lorient,

with the master deceiver of

battle

all

time— Heinrich

—the

Himmler, head of the SS. This was the part of war he hated most politics.

The

staff car

wove

its

reviewed his plan of attack.

way down

would be so much

It all

Himmler knew anything about the

was no more than a

art of war.

easier,

he knew,

if

But the SS-Reichsfiihrer

policeman in the service of the National

glorified

and Adolf

Socialist Party

Prinz Albrechttrasse as Ddnitz

A

Hitler.

politician

promoted beyond

his

capabilities.

Donitz snorted derisively at the thought but quickly reined in his

Men

growing anger.

war—the

ing the

iated in North Africa.

The reason the Afrika Korps had been humil-

The reason the rumors of an

beginning to surface as plausible

The halt.

his building anger,

matic,

fact rather

Allied invasion

than puerile

driver threaded the car through to the curb

Donitz looked up at the stone

them not

what was worse,

to be

edifice,

and mounted the

and he despised that

U-boats; and

steps.

affectation. if

he was

and braked

He would have

correct,

came

into the building, soldiers

deeper into the confines of the SS headquarters.

be diplo-

to

to cling to his

the uniforms he

very soul.

It

to rigid atten-

salutes as he

essence of oppression settled over Donitz.

was a black

made

his

A heavy quality that

feeling,

a reflection of

saw about him.

office

was on

the top

floor,

and Donitz walked up the

winding staircase of the SS headquarters. His two aides their

a

he desperately needed

way

behind

to

But he needed his three

The admiral casually returned the Nazi

Himmler's

fiction.

took a deep breath to calm

tion.

seemed

were

doing what he suspected they were.

As Donitz pushed

An

los-

reason they had lost control of the shipping lanes in

the vital North Atlantic.

now

Himmler were the reason Germany was

like

master and to the right and

trailed

one step

left.

Heinrich Himmler had adorned his office in the style he thought befitting a

master planner or regent. The

fact that

he was neither had

CHAPTER

259

41

not halted the acquisition of plundered artwork from conquered lands.

Donitz entered the Reichsfuhrer's outer office and

and

surprised to see the clerks'

been

Grand Admiral's appearance,

notified of the

was a

wished. Surprise

was

secretaries' startled looks.

strategy he

had used

pleasantly

They had not

just as

to perfection in the early

days of the war and one that worked equally well in war or

an opened-mouthed

Donitz's senior aide approached

he had

politics.

clerk.

"Please inform the Reichsfuhrer that Grand Admiral Donitz to see

him," the

man

said.

"He has exactly

is

here

thirty seconds."

Donitz smiled inwardly. Another trick had just been employed by his aide: set a time limit, but leave the results of that limit

The

shaken Donitz

clerk rose, rather

noticed,

ambiguous.

and disappeared

through the ornate door just behind him. In less than thirty seconds, the

man was back. The

short

man trailing the

clerk

wore pince-nez and

a small mustache.

Himmler. Donitz would have burst out laughing had the occasion been any other.

But he was here

to tackle

one of the most

influential

men

in the

hierarchy of the Third Reich.

Himmler his

hand

informed

around the clerk and moved toward Donitz with

skirted

me

you were coming.

that

appropriate honors,"

was not

"There

the Reichsfuhrer's

enemy

Himmler

We

to see

you. You should have

would have accorded you the

said rather obsequiously.

time, Heinrich," Donitz replied, intentionally using

first

mal term of address the

Good

outstretched. "Admiral.

name. He could see immediately that the

flustered Himmler.

off balance until

you

Another

trick of the trade.

infor-

Keep

are able to unleash a well-organized

offensive.

"Shall

we go

into

my

office?"

Himmler motioned with a wave.

Donitz walked past Himmler and office.

The aides remained

titans.

No

into the elegantly appointed

in the outer office. This

place for lesser mortals.

would be a clash of

THE ^0-AAEGA DECEPTION

260

Donitz marched to the front of Himmler's desk and stood at rigid

Himmler moved around behind the desk and

attention.

He looked down on

Donitz remained standing.

down.

sat

the Reichsfuhrer, his

gaze intense, unwavering.

"You have commandeered three of

my

U-boats.

I

want them back

immediately," Donitz began without preamble.

Himmler was surprised by the tone of the rebuke but

did not let

show. He could play the game, and waiting was a part of

"You have exactly twenty-four hours the Ultra communications network

to

it

it.

send a message through

and inform those three captains

that they are to return to port in Lorient

and

we

ing a plane back to France as soon as

report to me.

will

I

are finished here.

Do

be takI

make

myself clear?"

Himmler at the

sat

back

in his chair, his initial

shock

Grand Admiral of the German Navy and

over.

said,

He

glared back

"The Fiihrer has

himself given permission for the continuation of Operation Omega.

change

in plans will

that he

is

most

have

in favor of

to

come from him, but I can

tell

you

right

Any

now

us striking at the heart of one of the Third Reich's

efficacious enemies."

Himmler leaned back

further in his chair, his

gaze locked on Donitz, his fingers interlaced behind his head. "Please, Admiral. Feel free to to the

phone on

Donitz

felt

call

the Fiihrer

his desk,

if

you doubt me." Himmler pointed

hoping he had not overplayed his hand.

his fury building, but

he held

doubt that what Himmler had said was vered by a purely

political

Donitz placed both

it

in check.

He had no

He had been outmaneu-

mind.

fists

on Himmler's desktop and leaned toward

man. "Do you have any idea what you have done?

the weasel-faced

Have you taken

true.

into consideration

what

the consequences of such

an

action will be?" Donitz whispered harshly.

"Admiral

.

.

.

,"

Donitz cut him

Himmler began smoothly. off.

"Of course, you haven't. You don't have the

brain to calculate the indescribable effort."

damage you might do

to the

war

CHAPTER

261

41

Himmler was on exactly

what

will

"We

have the brain

"I

for

We

will

bel-

have shown the Americans that

will

to calculate

Germany. For the Third Reich," Himmler

happen when our rocket lands on

have struck a blow lowed.

his feet screaming.

its

target.

they, too, can be

reached by the long arm of Germany's Kriegsmarine and the SS. They will

quake

in their shoes!

Reich!

They

what

have done!"

I

They

be forced

will

will grovel before the

own

defend their

to

shores!

will do,

has been able a

do up

to

terrible resolve.

as

Omega

Herr Reichsfuhrer,

Do

will halt the

exactly

in

closer.

what only Admiral Yamamoto

is

You

to this point.

not think for one

know

I

He leaned

Donitz ignored Himmler's condescension.

"What you

might of the Third

will

an

fill

moment

industrial giant with

that a single strike such

American advance. / want

to strike at the heart

of the United States, also. But there are other contingencies to consider,

other priorities, both military

and

political.

up a weakness—which they

will

fill

material. part.

They do not even know

They go about

will disrupt this

a war going on

is if

temporary complacency

now

least,

it

will point

with even more production of war

there

their daily lives as

Donitz, his weariness

At the very

for the

most

nothing were happening. You

at

manifesting

a great

cost,

I

fear."

itself in his face, let

himself

sink into the chair that fronted Himmler's desk.

Himmler culated risk,

sat, I

red faced, searching for words of rebuttal.

admit. But one

"And you shared

we must

"It's

a

cal-

take."

that with the Fiihrer, that

Omega

is

a calculated

risk?"

"Of course not. That Fiihrer.

I

is

not the

promised him a great

than his general

way

victory.

to get things

Which

is

done with our

more,

I

might add,

staff is able to promise."

Donitz rose, a tiredness lining his narrow face. "Then for your sake,

I

hope such a victory materializes." Donitz moved toward the

door. Just before exiting the office, to tell

you, Heinrich,

it

will

he turned

never happen.

where the Americans are concerned."

I

to

fear

Himmler. "But,

we have

I

have

miscalculated

THE -^AAEGA DECEPTION

262

"It

was your

plan, too,

if

Donitz smiled now. "Yes. deal about the Americans.

were. That

much has been

nent and even the

you It

They

will

was. But

I

have since learned a great

are not the weaklings

proved.

British,

remember, dear Karl."

but

We could have am not so I

I

thought they

defeated this conticertain

about the

was

the scourge

Americans."

Himmler

sat,

confusion showing on his face. This

of the Atlantic, the originator of Operation Drumbeat, ried

now

and he was wor-

about the Americans and the possible consequences of

Omega. Had

he, Heinrich Himmler, miscalculated?

CHAPTER

42 January

6,

1943

north atlantic Freezing spray broke over the

bow

as the

U-135 lunged

face of a North Atlantic swell. Already the running lines

that protruded from the conning tower

were coated with

lookouts— starboard and port—were having ice

from

their oilskins

to

into the

and antennas ice.

The two

break a thin patina of

every few minutes. The binoculars they were

using were virtually useless in the gray atmosphere. Sea and sky had

melded as one; the horizon was nonexistent. Great ocean swells the U-boat

up and over a

crest,

only to force the boat

lowing face and into bone-wrenching shudders as

its

down

lifted

the fol-

nose plunged

beneath the sea. "Report, starboard," Gimther

Mohr ordered,

looking up at the look-

out perched precariously on the right side of the conning tower. "Contacts negative,

sir."

"Port."

"Contacts negative,

sir."

THE -^AAEGA DECEPTION

264 Mohr

held onto the ice-covered railing of the conning tower just to

deck-mounted combat binoculars. Number One,

the right of the

his

executive officer and navigator, stood by him. "You have verified the

Number One?"

coordinates,

"Yes

We

sir.

are well within the target area. According to plan, the

milk cows should be here waiting for us." "In this weather,

the water. Refueling

it

be

will

going

is

difficult to

to

spot a U-boat riding low in

be a major undertaking."

Number One nodded agreement. Nothing had been

man knew on

to

but every

be taken to achieve success

Every factor concerning the rocket was an unknown.

this patrol.

The

would have

the chances that

said,

wind, freezing

effects of temperature,

rain,

and unstable launch

platforms were yet to be learned.

Mohr

raised

his

Zeiss

binoculars

and scanned the

distance.

Nothing. The boat plunged once again into a deep valley of water as

Mohr, his number one, and the two lookouts clutched

at the freezing

metal surfaces. The U-135 rolled slightly to port, righted herself, and

headed up the face of another

swell.

eyes before the boat reached the of height, he

saw

"Antennas

crest.

This time, with the advantage

it.

to port," the lookout called.

already acquired a fix on the approaching U-boat.

"Antenna

to starboard," the other

shifted his gaze

of vision

had made the

was

filled

from port

lookout called.

to starboard

"That they were," double.

We

will

use

no more than a kilometer from the

Mohr

lights.

"Aye, aye, Kaleu." left,

and immediately

his

with the cold gray hull of another U-boat. Both

linkup, each

"They were waiting on us," Number One

his

his binoculars to his

Mohr had

Mohr field

Mohr had

said.

agreed. "Get a signal mate up here

No

other.

on the

radios."

Number One spoke

into a speaking tube just to

relaying the captain's orders.

In seconds, the

head of a German signal mate appeared through

the hatch at the feet of

Number One. The man scrambled through

the

CHAPTER 42 hole

265

and onto the bridge of the conning tower, a

signal light in his

hand.

"You have the messages," Mohr

The signal mate stepped Morse code

to first one,

"Send them."

to the outer railing

and began sending

then the other U-boat. Replies were returned

manner. The signal mate wrote the responses on a tablet and

in like

handed

to

it

Mohr.

Mohr nodded, approving would take

The

the sequence in

first

the refueling,

task scheduled

Number One."

was

the actual refueling of the

Although the submarine had enough

Mohr always

mission,

which they would ballast tanks.

chambers, distance.

which the refueling

place.

"Commence

self.

said.

all

felt

fuel to

The boat from

oxygen

in her converted

The oxygen would be pumped

into the rocket's fuel

hoses secured, and the boat would back boat,

containing the

approach, link-up with the 135, and

Both boats would be

her-

better with full bunkers.

refuel also carried the liquid

The second

U-135

complete the entire

free to

fill

away

a safe

to

would then

alcohol,

the rocket's alcohol tanks.

begin their return passage to Lorient,

France. In theory, with the fueling of the rocket, the to the coordinates labeled

U-135 would proceed

Omega on the master plot. The

trouble,

knew, was that nothing ever went as planned, especially

in the

Mohr North

Atlantic.

Refueling and rocket fueling were scheduled to take no more than four hours. Four hours of terror

tainous

waves and below

or even eight hours.

and misery

in a raging sea of

freezing temperatures could easily

Even

six hours

would push the

moun-

mean

six

availability of

daylight at these latitudes.

The

beam

first

U-boat was almost

of the U-135. Crew

in position, ten meters off the port

members

of the larger milk

gling with the refueling hoses, snaking

and onto the deck.

cow were

strug-

them from deep within the boat

THE #-AAEGA DECEPTION

266 Number One was

issuing a steady stream of orders to maintain the

southwest track of the U-135 and keep the boat within the operating parameters necessary for a successful refueling.

The fueling hoses were manhandled aboard and made connections slipping into place, and the diesel fuel that lifeblood

began

Michael

was a

fast,

the

U-boat's

the bunkers of the U-135.

filling

Shaw had become accustomed

to the

growing stench that

pervaded the narrow confines of the U-boat. He had even fought

overcome

his seasickness

and

for the

most

part

was ambulatory

to

for the

time since leaving Peenemiinde.

first

He worked

his

way

forward, passing through the electric motor

room, battery storage, and the diesel engine room.

Mohr was eling process

topside.

Number One was

at his side, directing the refu-

under Mohr's watchful eye. That meant the

and attack bridge were manned by junior

would not get another chance

He had

to see the

officers.

plot

room

Shaw knew he

like this.

master plot to

know what

the intended target

was.

Shaw

turned sideways in the narrow corridor, allowing two tor-

pedo mates

to pass.

man

Each

eyed the SS-Sturmbannfuhrer with

slightly veiled hostility but said nothing.

Shaw

felt their

the two men.

could exist it

stood

forged

for.

its

eyes on him, recognizing the loathing coming from briefly

how an

that

around were those

He wondered

when

it

seemed

all

hold

first

in

Germany and then

space, separated only

and the dead reckoning once, days

who

hated what

But then he remembered the harshness with which the SS

The control room and the master

same

organization such as the SS

earlier. It

the rest of Europe.

plot

room were

by function and the master

tracer.

Shaw had seen

the

had been no more than a

relieve the tension as well as

DRT

drill,

located in the plotting table in action only

one designed

to

sharpen performance.

Shaw had found one man on board who would

talk to him.

He'd

learned that the master plot was a group of identical squares

CHAPTER 42

267

superimposed on a grid map. Each square was then subdivided into nine squares and each of those divided yet again. Thus, the target area

was represented by two

letters:

followed by two numbers. The

The designators

first

number

for the larger square,

indicated the

second number further refined the target

sion; the

first

site.

He'd also learned that the executive officer—Number also the navigator

know

for correctly plotting the coor-

Omega was

already plotted on the master

it

that

he could sneak a look at the

plot. If

U-135, and with a

little

Shaw

plot,

the target. With that, he could also

tion of the

One—was

and was responsible

Rumor had

dinates.

subdivi-

luck,

know

thought, he would

the relative final posi-

he could get

to

a radio and

transmit the final coordinates to shore batteries, or naval coastal

watches. Subchasers and destroyer escorts would steam from the east coast,

intercept,

and sink the U-135 before she could launch the

rocket.

Failing that,

he would sabotage the combustion chamber the

Kurt Daluege had

shown him and hope

the

engineer was

right

way

about

the abbreviated burn time.

As he neared

the plot room,

Shaw

stepped through the last door

leading to the control room. Heads turned in his direction as he entered. est.

One

Shaw walked over "We

was gazing

junior officer

at the plotting table with inter-

to the table.

are refueling?"

Shaw asked

the

"Yes, Herr Sturmbannfiihrer," the

young

man

officer.

replied.

The boat was rising and falling with the running sea, and could feel the nausea returning as the boat "I

understand Number One has completed his calculations

launch.

I

am

curious. Are

we

"Rumor says we

less."

will attack the city of Boston, I

would have

with

its

rich

homes

preferred Washington, D.C.

would be what the American Congress deserves us."

for the

close?"

"Another two days. Maybe

and arrogant population.

Shaw

moved and bucked.

for declaring

It

war on

THE -0-AAEGA DECEPTION

268 The young ther

is

the target.

Shaw

Come around

here.

"Here

But nei-

and moved around

officer.

the east coast of America," he pointed out, indicating the

is

broken shoreline of the United

Newfoundland.

We

will

finger,

"We

States.

are here, just south of

approach through the south corridor of Nova

then turn south to here," he

with his

fine target.

show you."

will

I

skirted the edge of the plotting table

behind the young

Scotia,

would be a

officer smiled. "Either

a blocked-off area

said, indicating

"and launch the rocket from here."

Shaw examined

the plot.

He knew

the range of the rocket

was

lim-

over two hundred miles, in ideal conditions. He retrieved a

ited to just

navigation compass, set a two-hundred-mile radius, and centered the point

on the launch

site.

He

circumscribed half an arc, intersecting the

coastline, noting the population areas that

There

was! There could be no doubt!

it

fell

within the

A small,

arc.

colored-in area

fell

within the arc of death. Insanity

had overtaken

sanity!

It

was madness, but madness with

a logical conclusion. The arc had superscribed several population centers,

but only one

was

neither Boston nor

indicated

by the

color highlight.

The

target

was

Washington D.C.

Not even Kurt Daluege or Walter Kolinsky could have guessed the depth of

Shaw truth.

It

madness

to

which Heinrich Himmler had sunk.

stared at the plot, praying

was propaganda

at

at

its

it

was not

worst, but

it

so,

but knowing the

made

also

strategic sense,

in a perverted manner. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of innocents

would

die

if

the rocket were launched.

It all

made sense— morbid,

fas-

cinating sense.

The

target,

Shaw knew,

represented

world. The V-5 would rectify that.

It

all

would

that fly

was wrong with

the

against the perceived

heart of the United States. Not against the politicians or the industrial giants but against the force behind such

down from

the skies

rocket struck home.

men. And the death rained

would be multiplied many times over when the

CHAPTER 42 Shaw chill in

felt

269

beads of perspiration pop out on his forehead despite the

the control room.

He would have

to stop the launch, stop the

Shaw took one

last

glance at the

plot,

and the small darkened area representing the The coordinates overlaid

New

York

the target. At least not the city proper. nestled

on the southern

carry the

weapon from

the Upper

New

tip

madness!

memorizing the coordinates

City.

target.

But the

city itself

was not

The small colored-in area was

of Manhattan. The launch trajectory would

the North Atlantic, over Staten Island, splitting

York Bay

in half as the rocket's

gyros guided the

twenty-foot cylinder of death unerringly into the financial capital of the free world:

Wall

Street.

CHAPTER

43 January 6, 1943 london, engiand "It's

confirmed?" the voice on the other end of the

line inquired.

"From several sources. One of our watchers on the east coast of

Denmark

detected the submarine slipping through the straits several

days ago. He described

Tower lying on strapped to

its side,

it

perfectly.

Right

down

to the miniature Eiffel

with what appeared to be a twenty-foot log

it."

"You said several sources." "Another from a Polish resistance member working on the

He confirms

that a submarine configured in exactly the

departed about the same time.

And

coded message over the trunk

lines.

island.

same manner

the boys at Bletchley intercepted a

Same

information."

"But nothing ever came from our man?" "Nothing.

We

can only deduce that something happened

radio before he could reach us

"A

plausible explanation."

and he was unable

to replace

it."

to his

THE -^AAEGA DECEPTION

272 "What we haven't trunk line as our

man

we were

from what

launch team.

Still, it

long-distance

figured out

used a basic code.

your

to the

on

is

them

for

him

to

German Embassy

easiest

talked,

and

that U-boat as part of the

we have men

would have been the

It

the two of

We know he knew that all

run through England and that night.

man

he did not use the same

would have made sense

perhaps

call,

why

We know

inside.

told,

is

have placed a

in

the overseas

Mexico and

phone

lines

monitoring them day and

way

pass information on a

to

one-time basis."

The voice on the

man

caused the

in

line

coughed, a hacking, debilitating

England

to hold the

phone

rattle that

at a distance.

"Perhaps

there were extenuating circumstances that either prevented or pre-

cluded such a contact."

"You need

to take care of that

cough," the

caller said in exact,

syn-

copated English. "And you are probably correct in your assessment.

There must be some overriding factor which necessitated his inclusion in the

launch team."

"He

aboard the submarine, then. Confirmed?"

is

"Confirmed by the same sources which relayed the other information.

As you

say, that

would explain why we never heard from him.

He might have worried standing.

If

he

that

knew he had

even a

single contact

might jeopardize his

a chance to be aboard the boat, he prob-

ably opted for that rather than possible exposure through contact." "Perhaps.

It

would explain a

lot.

Do you

believe he will be able to

stop the launch?"

The English voice was

clipped, precise.

island says he has a fifty-fifty chance.

"The source contact on the

The problem seems

to

be that

on such an

infinitesimal launch platform, the possibility of his dying in

the process

is

almost assured.

Our source says he

will

do

I

suppose

we

will

have

to wait

and

see.

it."

"Suicide," the voice whispered over the transatlantic trunk line.

"So

it

would seem," the English voice agreed.

"Where do they come from, men such as these?"

CHAPTER 43

273

"From a God who knows that

this life is

not the final chapter, but

only a beginning."

"You believe

that, don't

you?"

There was a pause. "Yes,

any sense of days justify

what

it

understands. in

like these.

we

is

I

have

to. It's

the only thing that

certainly the only

It is

are doing right now.

God

deception were revealed,

If this

we

makes

way you and I can the only one

is

both would be

who

vilified

every court, every legislature, every public forum in the free world." "Yes,

you

are correct, of course."

by a hacking cough

lude, the voice asked,

"No.

It

The voice stopped again,

interrupted

that exploded from diseased lungs. After the inter-

"Do we know the

went aboard

target, yet?"

in sealed orders

from Prinz-Albrechtstrasse.

It

could be anywhere from the southern coast of Newfoundland to Cape Hatteras. There's

no way of knowing."

"New York?" "Possibly. Probably.

be a psychological

Such an attack has no military value.

strike,

It

would

pure and simple. Meant to assault the psy-

che of a nation. To put your people on the defensive." "It

won't work."

"Of course not, but Himmler and Hitler don't see of our

men

in Berlin,

who happens

it

that way.

One

not to be a man, by the way,

relayed the details of a meeting between

Himmler and Donitz a few

days ago."

"Grand Admiral Donitz?" "The same. He went to Prinz-Albrechtstrasse. Confronted Himmler in his

own

office.

Donitz

was

in

on the beginning of

Apparently he finally saw the light and

Himmler undermined him, went the operation. Apparently

from the Tiergarten

would

in all

probability blow up

"History will

show

tried to cancel the operation.

directly to Hitler,

you could hear Donitz

to the Volkspark.

madness.

this

Seems he

and took

control of

castigating told

Himmler

Himmler

that

that our best allies will turn out to be the

in charge of the Third Reich."

it

in his face."

men

THE ^AAEGA DECEPTION

274

"True.

If

Hitler listened to his generals instead of his politicians,

Germany would be spread from

the Urals to Central Africa."

"Then we wait." "Wait and pray," the reply came.

"God help "Yes,

as he

I

us," the coughing voice

think that

hung up

may be

the phone.

managed.

our only chance," Winston Churchill said

CHAPTER

44 January

8,

1943

north atlantic Shaw sensed

the

rhythm of the boat changing. The mechanical

cadence that had carried the U-135 across almost three thousand miles of the North Atlantic swells, the interior

The

was

refueling of the submarine

had been accomplished land.

slowing, the boat beginning to

becoming more miserable as the boat

The primary

and the

That,

Newfound-

forty-eight hours earlier, south of

circuits

had been checked and

gyro settings to coincide with the

with the

headway.

fueling of the V-5 rocket

final

coordinates

initial

entered into the guidance system. The only thing refine the

roll

lost

do was

left to

Shaw had determined, was when he would have

to

make

move. He had already ruled out using one of the U-boat's radios notify

American coastal

forces.

to

launch window.

There was no time

when

aboard the U-boat were not monitored. He would have

to

his to

the radios

be on deck

with the technicians and access the shielding around the combustion

chamber

to ensure that the

chamber was damaged according

to Kurt

THE -0-AAEGA DECEPTION

276

Daluege's instructions. The

damage would

burn time and thus

limit the

the effective range, causing the motor to

fail

before effective apogee

could be reached.

Shaw looked around

room where he had

the aft torpedo

just spent

the most miserable time he could remember. He and the

Peenemiinde technicians had been banished

room

lined both walls of the aft

Mohr had made

known

it

few bunks that

for the duration of the

voyage. Giinther

that he did not like having nonrated

The

replacing valuable, qualified submariners.

on the beach

work

extra

been shy

from Peenemiinde

tried to find

a

little

Shaw now found was angry a

fact

to

left

board had created

each submariner had not

could see the tension in the faces of the five technicians as

room on

at the

Most days had been spent

the boat.

the bunks, trying to stay out of the

now

a

for the rest of the crew,

men

men who'd been

six

in sharing as the opportunity arose.

Shaw they

to allow the six

five

to the

way of the men who

himself feeling

fear,

confusion,

men who had conceived the

finally realized

he was the only person on earth

stop the launch of the V-5 against

and anger. He

insanity of which he

Fear and confusion surfaced at odd

part.

in

ran the U-boat.

was

moments when he

who had

a chance

to

an innocent population.

"The boat slows, Herr Sturmbannfuhrer," one of the technicians said.

"What?" Shaw asked, rousing himself from "The boat.

It is

slowing.

a few miles of our launch

Shaw captain. all

of

sat

We

Some

of the crew have said

we

are within

site."

up on the bunk. "That

will

his thoughts.

be entering the

is so.

final

I

heard Number One

tell

the

launch coordinates shortly. Are

you prepared?"

The technicians looked senior technician spoke.

at

"We

each other and nodded are prepared.

I

their heads.

The

must say we have some

concerns, though."

Shaw was concerns.

instantly alert.

It

was

the

What were they? Moral

first

time he'd heard of such

uncertainties?

Mechanical

"

CHAPTER 44 Had

difficulties?

277

the technicians considered

weapon would do? Were they becoming

what the launch of such a

incapable of

mass murder?

"What concerns?" Shaw asked. "The weather."

Shaw

Peenemunde

"We have launched

not understand.

did in

such weather. Surely that

The technician nodded slowly.

what concerns

We

rocket.

we have launched

ice that

will surely

change the something

has formed on the outside of

ply do not know.

A

generated by the

air

trajectories

and

flight times,

rocket

is

not an airplane.

not

boat

this

ice coating.

in fact,

if,

which we have no previous

for

rockis

concerned

is

have never launched a rocket with an

fly at all. It is

It

true

mechanical technician,

us. Hantz, the

about the amount of

and the

"It is

not a major factor."

is

temperatures and atmospheric conditions. That

ets in similar

on

rockets

data.

it

We

does not require

It

flow over the wings, but the ice

is

will

simlift

bothersome,

nonetheless."

Shaw all this

felt

way

find that the

When of this

buoyant, his

spirit lifted.

Was

it

Had he come

possible?

thinking only he could stop such a diabolical plan only to

weather had done a much more

he thought about

it, it

occurred to

effective job?

him how much

in control

world God was. He was acutely aware of a presence within the

steel confines of the U-boat.

know

come

to

light

and

since

life. It

was

Not the demented,

becoming part of the V-5 the

same

feeling

he used

evil

project,

presence he'd

but a feeling of

to get just

being around

Barbara. The feeling of certainty, of love.

Barbara!

He

could almost feel her with him.

was

in the midst of his enemies,

yet,

he

felt

at peace.

It

encompassed by

was a peace born

"What do you think

will

Was he

losing his all

means

mind? He

of evil, and

of certainty.

happen?" Shaw asked the technician.

"Surely such factors have been taken into account.

Von Braun would

not have sent this rocket on such a mission with such a tremendous possibility of failure

.

THE -^AAEGA DECEPTION

278

"Herr It

von Braun was not

was your SS men who

toward the end.

in control of the project

retained jurisdiction toward the end of the

were ignored; other

project. Certain tests results

tests

were not even

minimum

performed. This rocket

was put

testing. Theoretically,

should perform according to predicted parame-

ters. All

it

together with the barest

the systems are basically the

But even the V-2

still

charge of such a

same as

Shaw grasped

men around him

did the

Without warning,

the V-2, only smaller.

has problems. Von Braun warned the people in

possibility.

He was

ignored."

The U-boat was turning now. Shaw could to the right;

of

at the

same as

bells

bunk

feel

it.

The boat heeled

railings to steady himself.

The

the boat changed course to the south.

began ringing

to the

background of a

ing horn.

Men began

room was

instantly filled with sweating, grunting torpedo mates.

blar-

running in response to the signal. The torpedo

Shaw

glanced out the watertight door in time to see the same pandemonium taking place throughout the rest of the submarine.

Men were moving

in excited frenzy,

donning sound-powered phones, powering up

tronic equipment,

arming offensive and defensive weapon systems.

Michael his chest.

Shaw

felt

his heart begin to beat a nervous tattoo within

He looked around once

technician team

elec-

was on him.

again; every eye of the five-man

CHAPTER

45 January 8, 1943 east coast of united states The chaos was orchestrated, every movement organized. Worn, bearded

men

precise, defined,

raced to their battle stations as the blar-

ing horn offered a counterpoint to the activity.

Michael tle

Shaw was up and moving forward

of sweating bodies and

pedo room door and had

German to

curses.

in the pell-mell

He reached

the aft tor-

stand aside as three torpedo mates

crashed through the opening into their designated stations.

was through feel the

boat

the door roll

bus-

and moving

deliberately forward.

further to the right.

Shaw

He could

The nose bent downward

sharply.

They were submerging!

Shaw scrambled through heading

for the diesel

centrating

the electric motor

motor room. The

sailors ignored him,

on the gauges, valves, and switches

responsibility during the dive sequence.

and battery spaces each con-

that were their primary

THE ^AAEGA DECEPTION

280 Shaw

sidestepped past the senior diesel mate. The

already secured the twin engines and outside vents.

Shaw

was

man had

in the process of closing the

the pressure change; his ears popped as

felt

all

outside vents were closed, isolating the submarine from the outside

atmosphere.

The deck beneath

his feet increased

himself losing his balance. Around him as

they had lived

if

mariners.

Shaw

all their lives

downward

its

men went

at acute angles.

his respect building for

felt

He was through

felt

These were sub-

into the corridor lead-

As he pushed

ing to the combat center, the heart of the U-boat.

head

Shaw

such men.

room and

the diesel motor

angle;

about their business

his

into the center just before the watertight door closed behind him,

he heard a hard-edged voice address him. "Herr Sturmbannfuhrer. ness. is it

It is

amazing how

I

see

you have overcome your

fear will cure

seasick-

even the most desperate cases,

not?"

The words stung Shaw. He heard the muted laughs of the control

room crew

at the

words of

Shaw glanced

at the

read twenty meters and

their captain,

Gunther Mohr.

depth gauge just to the right of Mohr.

was

still

falling.

He

depth of a class IX U-boat but could not. the safety of the mission, Captain,"

He had not considered

until

tried to recall the

"I

am

now what

it

crush

concerned only

Shaw responded

It

for

automatically.

would mean

to

die.

Nothing, not even the attack by the Poles on the train months earlier,

had held any

fear for him.

Now, as the U-135 slipped deeper

into the waters off the coast of North America, he felt a dread build-

ing within him.

He

did not

want

wanted he could not

to die.

say.

would be a coward's way For the

first

Barbara's death. ter

That

much he was now

He had not come

far,

Shaw was

was amazing now, as he stood

of the submarine, just

but he

of.

What he

knew

death

out.

time since she had died, It

that

sure

how

clear everything

able to understand in the

combat cen-

had become.

CHAPTER 45 Had Barbara not

he would not be here. There was

died,

would have continued, been

that the V-5 project

mination with as

281

little

regard for

human

life

Perhaps another would have been recruited

That was

not.

difficult to

answer.

What he

carried out to

know was

did

fallen to

sought seek

it.

its

cul-

perhaps

that he

moment who

was

could

warhead-equipped rocket.

halt the inevitable launch of the chemical

It

him, an ex-journalist, to save thousands of people. The

weighed heavily, but

realization

doubt

had witnessed.

as he

to take his place;

the only person on the face of the earth at this very

had

little

Should

it

for

bring death, that

some

was

reason, he accepted

acceptable, but he

it,

would not

it.

The U-boat's deck began the depth

hundred

at

gauge once again. One hundred meters! More than three

had

feet! It

"Do not Shaw's

and Shaw shot a glance

to level out,

face. "I

do not think

to the limit.

it

will

began

"All stop,"

Mohr

have taken German U-boats

said, seeing the

to

much

be necessary in this case, but

Shaw was about of the boat

be close

to

despair, Sturmbannfuhrer,"

to

Mohr

to

it is

respond to Mohr's statement

shake

look on

greater depths.

I

possible."

when

the length

violently.

ordered. "LI,

what

that?"

is

Leitender Ingenieur Otto Reinertsen turned from the manifold

gauges which he was monitoring. "Without a doubt, Kaleu, rocket

and the framework causing the

opportunity, as

you know,

to test the

act as

I

It is

prob-

recommend mini-

wind

in a sail

Mohr

and

rotate the entire boat along

turned to

Shaw,

his

its

mix with the

military.

We may

well die

down

the chance to deliver your secret weapon."

and around the master freighters

plot table.

long axis."

eyes blazing.

Sturmbannfuhrer," he said vehemently, "what happens

some

the

turns to maintain slight headway. Otherwise the currents might

Giinther

tion

it is

never had the

apparatus at this depth.

ably caused by strong cross currents in this area.

mum

We

vibrations.

"You

when

here before

politics

we even

Mohr moved from

see,

get

his sta-

"We have submerged because

were spotted. Normally,

v/e

would attack and sink

THE ^#AAEGA DECEPTION

282

those ships, but

we

minimum

barely have

we

maneuverability while

are saddled with that monstrosity topside. LI," he continued, turning to Reinertsen, "I

want you and your men

that abomination after

ger these

back

to

men

or this vessel

to be prepared to cut

that rocket.

any more than

I

have

I

to.

will

We

away

not endanwill

not

sail

France with that mass of grotesque steel attached."

"It will

be done, Herr Kaleu."

Mohr turned the rocket.

we can

we have launched

We

to

Shaw. "As

for

you, get your

men

ready to launch

are within fifty miles of the designated area.

resurface,

we

will

launch

want any wasted motion,

either.

this thing

As soon as

and be out of here.

When we

surface,

tell

your

I

do not

men

as

much."

Shaw nodded.

Fifty miles. Five

more. The time had come.

hours running on the surface, no

CHAPTER

46 January 8, 1943 east coast of the united states They had been submerged

for six hours. In that time

had passed overhead. Shaw had stood the out of the way. There

was no

place to

seven ships

entire time, off to the right,

sit.

He'd been isolated

combat center when he'd moved forward. Mohr had gone quarters

upon returning

watertight integrity to

Now

his legs

to the control

let

him

to general

room and had refused

to violate

return to the after torpedo room.

were beginning

was becoming increasingly

in the

to feel like rubber.

The

air in the

sub

saturated with carbon dioxide. The smell of

sweating bodies, even in the

chill

of three hundred

suppurating wound. Shaw's headache

feet, festered like

was compounded by a

a

feeling of

light-headedness.

'That screw.

A

down

last ship is

Doppler, Herr Kaleu.

merchant, no doubt.

No up

Moving away.

Single

Doppler," the single sonar mate

reported.

Shaw had been

in the

combat center long enough

to

know

that

THE 0N\EGA DECEPTION

284 down Doppler

referred to the

sound of a ship moving away from the

U-135 and up Doppler meant one moving toward "Very well," LI.

Pump

ble."

Mohr

said,

the U-boat.

glancing over at Shaw. "Put us on the top,

the tanks dry, do not blow. Let's do this as quietly as possi-

The captain turned

to his

number one. "Number One, what

is

our

position?"

"Hard he

to say,

sir.

said, indicating

Dead-reckoning calculations put us about here,"

a spot on the master plot chart.

daylight,

"It's still

Kaleu," the navigator whispered.

"No more than two hours of surface steaming

mum

to reach the mini-

launch window, less perhaps."

"Yes

sir.

That

put us south of the

will

inlet,

launch

in perfect

position."

Mohr glanced up from

the chart, looking directly into the eyes of

—everyone

He knew

his first officer.

and proceeding toward

knew—the

danger of surfacing

their target during daylight hours, but

not be helped. The exact positioning of the rocket accuracy,

and

was

critical to its

Mohr knew he

could use his periscope to maintain a

course for another hour and a half, but the air in the U-boat ing unbearable stages.

He needed

would need the

when

fresh air

to

was

Shaw had

run his circulating fans. They

they submerged after the launch.

If

they

not been cognizant of the time of day. They'd been hours.

He glanced

at the depth gauge.

It

was mov-

ing slowly in response to the negative buoyancy created as the

pumps

forced the water from the ballast tanks.

empty the tanks for

reach-

far.

down almost seven

cal

could

that could only be accomplished with clearly defined ref-

erence points.

got that

it

in that fashion, but

it

was much

It

electri-

took longer to

quieter

and provided

an extra measure of control during the ascent. "Get your

men

ready, Sturmbannfuhrer," Gunther

without looking up from the chart. "You can enter

and gyro

settings while

launch and

we steam toward

Mohr

ordered

final coordinates

the launch point.

I

be gone before that rocket ever strikes the earth."

want

to

CHAPTER 46

285

The deck of the boat

tilted

upward. The

Shaw

ing from the accumulated humidity. chill

through his body. He was not sure

if

were sweat-

interior walls

the effects of the moist

felt

the reaction

came from

the

temperature in the boat or the apocalyptic words of Mohr.

"Ten meters," a voice rang out. "Sonar?"

Mohr

automatically recited.

"Sonar negative." "Surface,"

Mohr

ordered.

Within the bowels of the submarine, tight doors

rotated

Shaw

could hear the water-

being opened. The circular handle on the door nearest him

and the door swung open.

Mohr reminded

"Less than two hours, Sturmbannfuhrer," Gunther

Shaw.

Shaw was through

twin engines roared to

screws

the door heading for the after torpedo room.

he passed through the diesel motor room, the nine-cylinder

Just as

bit into

life.

Shaw

The

the water.

felt

rolling

ized the North Atlantic crossing

the boat accelerate as the twin

and pitching

that

had character-

resumed but with an abated

The waters were shallow over the continental

shelf, the

ferocity.

wave

action

decreased compared to the unrestrained pounding farther north.

The

five technicians

torpedo room.

They

opened watertight

sat

were

sitting or lying

on the bunks of the

up when Shaw stuck

his

aft

head through the

door.

"Less than two hours to nates," he told them.

make

"Captain

and launch

final settings

Mohr wants

it

coordi-

done while we are

steaming." "That's impossible," the senior technician retorted. "The gyro settings are too delicate.

We

must have a steady platform from which

to

input the final settings and from which to launch."

Shaw

shrugged, feeling better and

launch could be averted with

little

technicians sounded, the tossing

would be enough

to

better.

Maybe,

risk to himself.

just

From

maybe, the

the

way

the

and bucking the boat was now doing

negate the launch.

THE -^AAEGA DECEPTION

286

"Orders.

Shaw

On

this boat,

Mohr

the captain.

is

We

do what

we

can,"

suggested. "Let's get topside."

Each man emerged from the

motor room escape hatch, one

electric

The technicians moved up

at a time, safety lines lashed to their waists.

and out of the submarine. The deck was shining, the deck encased in a layer of

plates

ice.

The weather was only

slightly

more

tolerable

The wind whipped

the submerged U-boat.

than the confines of

worn by

at the oilcloths

each technician and Shaw. The sky was low and gray, even with the

morning sun. There was no snow or

was

cipitation

in the

moment. The U-boat

waves

air.

Snow

rolled

rain,

but the odor of pending pre-

any

or rain or both could begin at

and pitched

in

assailing the outer hull of the boat.

culty to the rocket launch apparatus bolted

response to the swells and

The men moved with

and welded

to the

diffi-

deck no

more than three meters from the hatch.

One by one they began last to rior.

emerge from the

A gray

light

still

Shaw took one

filtered

pouch of tools designed eyes to adjust to the

through the overcast.

slick deck.

Each technician

for specific purposes.

light.

carried a small

Shaw had

to

wait for his

The technicians were already

around the weapon, removing inspection

plates,

clustered

connecting necessary

critical settings.

Shaw approached back from the

the

look back into the submarine's pungent interior

and then scrambled onto the

gauges, adjusting

Shaw was

their individual checklists.

relative protection of the U-boat's lighted inte-

rest,

the senior technician.

The man was standing

holding onto the framework of the launch platform,

directing the actions of his subordinates.

"How

long for the

final

setup and launch?"

Shaw

asked,

moving

alongside the technician.

The allowed.

man I

looked at Shaw.

must

"We

will finish within the time

reiterate, Herr Sturmbannfuhrer, that this

acceptable platform for an accurate launch."

Shaw

felt

his pulse race once again. "Explain."

is

frame

not an

CHAPTER 46

287

"The guidance system a three-dimensional one. us the

motor.

roll

It is

on a

rely

governed by the burn time of the rocket

is

we

imperative that

stable launch platform to give

Once launched, the gyros adjust

trajectory.

only. Distance

we have any hope

basically a two-dimensional system, not

We

heading and

initial

and

pitch

is

maintain a stable platform at launch

of hitting our target."

Shaw's feeling of elation waned. He had technician

was

the rocket, but

explaining.

we

if

will

"What you

what

just realized

are saying

is

that

we can

have no way of knowing where

the

launch

going to

it is

land. Is that it?"

"Exactly, Sturmbannfuhrer. This rocket will

where

sure

Shaw

it

calculated in his mind.

He knew

The area around Wall

on lunch. Given the weather

many

outside as

if it

at

it

rooms and

was dependent

the rocket flew, people

was intended

people.

It

was

for,

Yorkers

were a nice spring day, but there would be those

the sarin penetrated the board

If

New

would not be as

conditions, there

hearty souls out for the noon meal and they would die

Flight distance

He knew

noon New York

would be packed with

Street

intent

burn.

cannot be

I

the launch area.

The launch would occur almost

the target area too. time.

But

fly.

will land."

but

still left

it

to

would

would

him

solely

offices, others

we

Later, as

would

die too.

on the duration of the motor

die. It

might not

kill

the people

murder unsuspecting, innocent

still

to stop. Staten Island, perhaps.

Jersey? Brooklyn? All were possibilities. Success

"You're saying that

first.

will hit

meant death.

something, then?"

The senior technician smiled. Shaw saw the malevolence man's eyes. Where,

I

"It will fly,

New

Sturmbannfuhrer.

do not know. But wherever

it

And

lands,

it

it

will

in the

land somewhere.

will kill."

It will kill!

There could be only one option. The rocket must not

have

to reach the outer portion of the

have

to disable the

His

mind was made

motor as Daluege had up.

fly.

He would

combustion chamber. He would directed.

He might

still

die.

THE -^AAEGA DECEPTION

288

"Let's

have a

closer look at the rocket,"

the launch stand.

The launch

derrick

was

Shaw still

its

transport

would

raise the

set in the

guidance

position, the rocket parallel to the deck. Hydraulics

rocket into position after the final settings

moving toward

said,

folded in

had been

system. For a few minutes, the U-boat would have the upright rocket protruding from her after deck like a whale with a huge harpoon stuck in its back.

What

if

the motor were ignited before the launch platform

raised? There

would be no launch. At

was

not one of any conse-

least,

quence. The rocket motor would burn until the horizontally launched missile buried itself in the cold, black sea.

That was the answer; he would activate position.

An

it

before

accident? Carelessness? Malfunction? All

it

was

raised in

would be

possi-

ble explanations.

Shaw had seen

switches, the sequences.

to

moved about

have lessened

topside almost

in the last hour.

"Not yet. That

will

It

didn't

be the

Shaw asked

the technician

The severity of the weather seemed

the rocket.

an hour.

the pattern of

"Have you completed the launch sequence

connections and the control connections?" as they

knew

the launch procedures,

Shaw checked seem

the time. They'd been

possible.

last thing

we

do. That's a

little

ing the plunger to dynamite before setting the charges.

like

It's

hook-

just not

done."

"Do

Shaw

it,"

ordered, hoping his SS rank

and

curt

manner would

frighten the technician into obeying.

"Herr Sturmbannfuhrer,

cannot do

I

that.

It is

against

all

accepted

procedures." "I

will take responsibility for

launched as soon as possible.

it.

The captain wants

We will have to take

this thing

shortcuts to accom-

plish that."

"Herr Sturmbannfuhrer

"Do

it!"

"It will

.

.

.

,"

the

man

began.

Shaw demanded. be done," the

man

said, resigned to the

madness.

CHAPTER 46 Shaw scanned

289

lack of shipping in the area. While

U-135 north least

What was

the immediate area. it

was

true

was

the

Mohr was keeping

the

surprising

of the normal shipping lanes, there should have been at

a coastal patrol boat or tramp steamer. The ships that had passed

over the U-135 had been merchantmen by the sound of their propellers.

Where were they now?

It

seemed that the U-135 was having

an inordinate amount of luck. One sighting by a have been enough for as far as

Shaw

to activate the Coast Guard.

Shaw

the other technicians.

But there was nothing

could see the argument taking place with

He looked away, knowing

telling the senior technician that the

SS

that each

man was

man was

crazy. His gaze

conning tower. There, along with the two lookouts, stood

Glinther Mohr, his white sea cap glowing in the

moment he

thought for a tain's face.

would

could see.

In the gray light,

drifted to the

single steamer

Then, as

if

the

dim

amusement on

man knew

what was about

exactly

Shaw

light.

could see a look of

the capto

hap-

pen, he shook his head and disappeared from view.

The technician made

his

way back

with the launch box in his hand.

along the pitching, icy deck

He handed

the

box

to

Shaw;

his

expression revealed his true feelings.

Shaw took there, just as

the box.

He examined

the switches.

They were

all

he remembered them from the launch bunker. The same

switches he had seen Kurt Daluege manipulate in sequence prior to

fir-

ing the motor.

The two pump switches that controlled the hol

pumps were

nated the upper like the

in the left

liquid

oxygen and

alco-

upper right corner. The preignite switch domi-

corner. Three pressure dials looked

back

at

Shaw

eyes of a mutated Cyclops. One pressure gauge each for the

twin fuel tanks and one gauge to monitor the combined pressure as the fuel fed into the

combustion chamber. The

final

launch switch was in

the lower right-hand corner, enclosed in a red safety cover.

Shaw reviewed

the launch sequence in his mind: both

pump

switches to on; liquid oxygen and alcohol pressure in the green;

THE -^AAEGA DECEPTION

290

combustion chamber pressure

preignite switch to on; final

launch switch to

numerous

fire. It

was

simple. He'd

to ignition point;

watched Daluege do

it

times.

Shaw

glanced up from the launch sequence control; his gaze

locked with that of the senior technician. the technician's eyes.

what was about

What

was

else

it

He could

A

he saw? Fear?

The man went back

to occur?

see the concern in

to his

realization of

work

directing the

other four technicians.

High

in the

the source. tower.

conning tower, Shaw heard a shout. He looked toward

The U-boat's number one was gesturing wildly from the

Shaw

moment

a brief

felt

of anxiety.

Had

man

the

lost his

mind?

The senior technician worked

his

way

along the icy deck to just

below the conning tower. Gunther Mohr's white cap appeared beside his

number

one.

Mohr

gestured in the

same manner as

his navigator.

The technician turned from the conning tower and made

his

way back

along the slick deck of the U- 135.

"We

are

within

Sturmbannfuhrer.

thirty

Number One's

time to raise the derrick.

and the

felt

there

ish it?

It is

calculations

show us

that close.

It is

time to strike a blow for the Fatherland

Fiihrer!"

Shaw

Was

minutes of the launch window, Herr

As

still

his

stomach knot

best he could remember, the

final ignite

news. Had he waited too long?

time? Could he begin the launch sequence in time to

to build to the proper pressure.

pumps

fin-

required several seconds

What would happen

if

he activated the

switch early? Nothing? Would there be time for the techni-

cians to overpower

There were too to reach the

planned.

at the

him and launch

many

the rocket

anyway?

things he did not know. There

combustion chamber and disable

He had

failed.

it

like

was no

time

Daluege had

CHAPTER 46

291

The Mary Glen fought the building vessel a thousand yards ahead

McDowell sipped

at the

was

seas.

The wake of the

steaming cup of coffee and marveled at the

was a

chameleon-like demeanor of the ocean. One day

it

and clawing

floor.

like

at a ship as

escort

clearly visible in the gray light. Jon

if

drag

to

it

to the

ocean

lashing

tiger,

The next

it

was

a quiet kitten sleeping at the foot of a bed. Today, McDowell

wished

for the kitten.

to escort his ferry

He was

thankful that the escort vessel appointed

was not a renovated minelayer but a new The

escort doing double duty today.

escort trip for the Glen

destroyer

would be

the

DDE James Ballard's final shakedown cruise before joining the

for

convoy

fleet

duty.

The pounding vibration of the Glen s engines echoed through the steel decking,

the one aspect that

McDowell had come

was comforting and

to love the Glen these last

almost forgotten the strange sight of the dead SS of his escort vessels five

day he did not want "Keep him

helmsman. He

when

the

He was and the

months

man picked up by one

What a day

earlier.

reassuring.

few months. He had

that

had been.

A

to repeat.

in sight, quartermaster,"

liked the

young man

McDowell gently reminded the He'd taken him on

at the wheel.

boy had been turned down by the navy

for medical reasons.

young quartermaster had

the eyes of an eagle

glad he had. The

reflexes to match.

The gray sky and lowering

ceiling

combined

The James Ballard rode smaller escorts he

was used

of the ghostly looking ship

Suddenly, as

if

easily in the to.

was

This

was a

to flatten the rising

waves.

sea, despite the increase in the height of the

rough seas, not ship of war.

like the

The presence

comforting.

an alarm had gone

off,

the stern of the

James

Ballard dug into the choppy water. The white foam beneath the fantail

churned as twin screws

bit into the

ocean.

A

sound

drifted

back

over the surface, signaling exactly what was taking place. The James

Ballard was going to general quarters.

The captain of the James Ballard had ordered

battle stations.

THE ^#AAEGA DECEPTION

292

A humming rising trical

sound penetrated Shaw's thoughts. The rocket was

on the hydraulic

cylinders, the cylinders

Shaw heard

He was aware

base of the launch platform.

tled the control

Shaw

reacted.

tower, the

box and

was on

to reality as the senior technician

He was going

the launch box!

The technician slipped

God

be stopped!

together, the control

box

slipping

trailing wires.

The technician was stunned. Shaw dove sequence. Perhaps,

to

thought, no

deck under the suddenness of

to the frozen

They went down

Shaw leaped. He

was no more

The launch had

along the deck, pulled up short by the

start the

to

to launch!

connecting cords trailing behind.

its

deliberation, only action.

attack.

wres-

The technician was moving toward the conning

the stunned technician instantly. There

Shaw's

loomed above him.

sequence box from his hands. He was too stunned

man had

The

of the rolling sea, the dark

shaft of death that

vertical

Suddenly he was jarred back

more

elec-

the locking pins as they slipped into place along the

waves, and the

react.

powered by small

motors. The twenty-foot rocket pointed into the night sky.

for the box.

He would

he could hold out

willing,

until the

launch was actually activated. He could only hope that the U-boat had not yet reached the point from which the rocket could reach land. Just

a few minutes would

The launch

make

calculation

the difference.

had been made

distance of the launch. That the rocket falling into the diluted

York was a port

to put the

meant any

Upper

New

U-boat at the outer

early launch

New York Bay. The

by the seawater, the damage

city.

would

result in

chemical would be

mitigated. Perhaps death could be

prevented.

Shaw

could hear shouting.

the base of the launch tower feet slipping

raced for the control box.

where

it

from under him on the

the hard surface.

fumbled

He

for the

He could

twin

switches.

lay near

had ended up. He was on

ice.

feel the control

pump

It

He went down; box

his

it,

his

head

hit

in his hands; his fingers

CHAPTER 46

293

Other hands were on

own

clawing at his technicians

came

his! Voices!

Shouts! The hands were over his,

hand, delaying the launch sequence. The other

Two had scrambled

to the senior technician's aid.

Now

back onto the deck as Shaw had attacked the man.

was

wresting the control box from his grasp. The pain

they were

excruciating as

they bent his fingers from the box.

Shaw cian

on

kicked, his right foot contacting the soft flesh of the techni-

his right.

The man grunted and

his injured stomach.

away, his hand grasping at

fell

The other technician struck

Shaw

out.

connect with his jaw; stars flew into the night, his brain on fist

head snapped

to the jaw. His

in the opposite direction.

ing consciousness. His head exploded in pain!

He

felt

felt

fire.

a

He was

the

fist

Another los-

box jerked

from his grasp. He struck out at the hands clutching the box. His struck. rolled

He

felt

his wrist shatter

under the pressure of the impact. Shaw

back onto the deck, holding

his

damaged

wrist, his

ing for the box, the pain in his wrist forgotten for the

Hands were

all

box

The senior technician stood two meters away,

in his hands.

man's aid were nursing

their

The two technicians who had come

own wounds had Shaw

move. His wrist was on

head exploding.

his

will

I

was

right. Well,

it is

you

shall see this

the icy deck.

he slipped

The three

to the

and the

deck

control

man down the

over," the

The two technicians slipped

nician

He

could not

launch firsthand.

allow you to remain on deck during the launch. Please,

what you think when

The

in their grasp.

never did trust you, Herr Sturmbannfuhrer," the senior techni-

cian said. "Seems

We

fire,

to the

near the base of the launch

tower. Three burly U-boat sailors

"I

eyes search-

moment.

around him, holding him, preventing further

attack. His eyes cleared.

the control

fist

sailors released

just

electric

Shaw;

motor hatch and

his legs failed him,

box were up the ladder of

The rocket loomed above Shaw, the

A

us

off

and

below the conning tower. The senior tech-

relative protection of the structure

sky. Black against black.

tell

said malevolently.

dark angel.

would

the conning tower.

act as a launch bunker.

outline darker against the dark

THE -^AAEGA DECEPTION

294

Shaw's temples pounded; his jaw was bruised. He held his wrist limply, the

He

arm was

useless.

could hear the voice of the senior technician as he began the

countdown. The pumps fled

in the

could hear the muf-

whine of the impellers as they propelled the oxygen and alcohol

into the

combustion chamber.

The James Ballard was coming the

Shaw

V-5 activated.

choppy water.

Its

course, heading for

speed as

to flank

its

bow

tore into

gray shadow heeled over as the ship changed

an unknown

Jon McDowell reached

for the

destination.

microphone, but just before thumb-

ing the talk button, the voice of James Ballard's captain

came over

the

sighting,

and

external speaker.

"Hold your position,

we

are

the

first

moving

McDowell

ally

Mary

Glen.

We

have a U-boat

to intercept."

the hairs

felt

on the back of

time since he'd been captain of the

heard of a U-boat being

neck stand up.

position.

radioed, then replaced the microphone.

around the young quartermaster was staring back

"Watch your course," McDowell than he

was

said,

Good hunting,"

When

he turned

at him.

hoping his voice was calmer

felt.

In seconds, the icy

pyre.

It

Glen that he'd actu-

this close.

"Mary Glen holding course and McDowell

his

Mary

deck of the U-boat would turn into a flaming

Shaw knew he would be burned

the rocket motor.

He

he could work his

hastily

alive

by the white exhaust of

scanned the deck. With two good hands,

way around

the conning tower to the front portion

CHAPTER 46 of the U-boat.

Then

295

the structure of the tower

Shaw

stood.

as they reached

He

would

had one good hand. Was

the exhaust. But he only

protect

him from

possible?

it

could hear the increased whine of the twin

pumps

maximum pressure. He began working around the

con-

ning tower. Metal ladders were welded into the structure. He grabbed the

and began

of the rungs

first

As he moved along

that skirted the center structure.

the

waves and wind combined

the

pump

motors.

It

to

the narrow deck,

overpower the high-pitched whine of

didn't matter.

pumps would reach maximum

narrow deck

pulling himself along the

Shaw knew what was coming. The

pressure, the preignite switch

would be

thrown, and the pressurized fuel would begin dumping into the combustion chamber.

When

the

chamber pressure reached

normally within seconds, the rocket motor

The

ture.

would

thrust

ignite,

fire

sending white flame from

would increase geometrically

until

weight of the rocket, and the rocket would launch. ten or fifteen seconds after the

its

maximum,

button would be depressed and the

pumps were

It

started.

its it

gaping aperexceeded the

took no more than

He had

five

seconds

remaining to reach the protection he sought behind the conning tower.

The captain of the James Ballard concentrated on the low-riding hull of the U-boat.

A

sharp-eyed lookout had spied the boat. How, in

the dreadful weather, the

thankful for

He

young

young

flying bridge of the ship.

had taken him a few minutes it,

light.

seen in his

At

he was

sure, but

ordered the crew to battle stations, donned his combat helmet,

spotting

gray

was not

eyes.

and stepped out onto the small It

captain

the small boat

was

to locate the U-boat.

difficult to

Then something happened life.

first,

continued to

Something began

the

rising

Even

young

lieutenant

it

was

vertical

after flat,

had never

from the deck of the U-boat.

he thought he was seeing things, but whatever rise until

and

see in the ragged sea

on the

it

was,

it

boat's deck, twenty feet in

THE -0-AAEGA DECEPTION

296 One thing was

Whatever the U-boat captain was up

the

air.

the

young

captain of the Ballard

"Come

to one-seven-five,"

certain.

was going

to,

to stop.

he ordered, feeling the ship

roll slightly

with the course change. "Forward battery standby."

The orders were relayed its

instantly.

The destroyer was

alive

and

in

element.

"Steady up on one-seven-three. Forward battery,

when we The

firing

get within range."

first

announcing in the fleet

York

commence

salvo echoed from the forward to the rest of the ship's

was a

gun of the James Ballard,

company

warrior even before

it

that the newest destroyer

had gotten out of sight of New

City.

The

first

shell

fell

short.

adjusting for the range,

The forward battery gun

and

barrel

came

up,

This time, the shell struck

fired again.

home.

A

sudden boom announced the

Shaw was hanging

onto the

final

final ignition

of the rocket motor.

rung of the ladder with his good

wrist.

A

second

boom

followed the

wondered. The second

first.

What was happening? Shaw

boom had shaken

the U-boat.

Shaw

lost his

grip-

Lord, he prayed, be with me.

Shaw

planted his foot against the

deck and pushed against the slippery surface, knowing he had no

chance

to

make

the relative safety of the boat's aft deck. Miraculously

his foot did not slip.

He was

propelled behind the conning tower.

rocket exhaust exploded from the rocket motor, melting the ice

The

on the

after deck.

Shaw

counted. Ten seconds.

The rocket sound changed, indicating the weapon was leaving the launch platform.

CHAPTER 46 Shaw

297

could feel the heat as

it

snaked and wrapped

itself

around

He thought he heard shouts coming from above,

the protective tower.

from the area where the senior technician had

initiated the

launch

sequence.

The motor continued everything

There

else.

was

it

to roar, its

powerful belching noise obscuring

Time was suspended. again. Voices. Voices raised in distress.

Words shouted

in rage, in desperation.

A

boom echoed

third

Microseconds

Screams

later the

over the waves. The sound was

U-135

lurched, as

if

through the rocket's

filtered

closer.

mortally wounded.

Shaw

roar.

recognized the

hysterical voice of the senior technician.

Shaw heard the hatches.

He

the sharp clanging sound that felt

Shaw was on

A

the boat lurch beneath

his

him

who had

He had

counted on him. Failed the people

the rocket struck. Failed Wild

And he had

himself.

again.

back when he saw the rocket streak

sense of utter desperation enveloped him.

those

marked the closing of

Bill

who would

Shaw never knew how

exploded south of

New

James Ballard had found fuel.

The

fuel

U-boat went

crew with

he was

His

far

now

when

certain that she

over.

he was blown

The second and

when

the

third salvos

U-135

from the

the bunkers of the U-135, igniting the diesel

exploded seconds

to the

die

bottom of the

later,

ripping the U-boat in half.

Atlantic, taking every

member

The

of the

her.

Michael

member

York.

air.

Donovan, and Kurt Daluege, and

failed Barbara, for

watched from a great gallery on high. Despair took Michael

into the

failed. Failed all

Shaw was blown

clear of the

dying U-boat, the only crew

to survive the devastating eruption.

life

expectancy in the freezing waters was only ninety seconds

longer than that of his shipmates.

The rocket flew unerringly toward

New

York City and Wall

Street.

CHAPTER

47 January

8,

1943

new york

atlantic ocean, south of

city

The explosion of the U-135 could be seen from the deck of the

Mary

Glen.

McDowell ordered

his

young quartermaster

to

change

course, steering for the explosion.

"Something master

said.

McDowell moved railing.

McDowell," the young quarter-

in the water, Captain

He saw

to the front of the bridge

and peered over the

nothing.

"Five hundred yards ahead, dead in the DDE's wake," the helms-

man

said,

knowing

his captain

would not pick out the

object without the context of the "I

see

it,"

Mary

wake.

McDowell acknowledged. He reached

graph and rang up

all

single, floating

stop, then, as

for the ship's tele-

an afterthought,

full

astern.

The

Glen shuddered as her engineers reversed valves and rerouted

high pressure steam to ten degrees."

fulfill

the wishes of their captain.

"Come

right

^MEGA

THE

300

The young helmsman spun the to the

compass

of the bridge

and pulled a microphone from

ready with port

On

circular steel wheel, his eyes glued

him. Jon McDowell

in front of

We

lifeboat.

have a body

side, the

coxswain

moved

its

to the rear wall

"Make

resting place.

in the water."

an ex-navy man,

deck, the senior boatswain's mate,

the actions of four deck crewmen.

DECEPTION

directed

The port boat was swung over the

at the ready in the stern.

The boatswain

directed his

gaze toward the bridge. McDowell was out on the flying bridge now, looking in his

like he's

wearing

oilskins."

The ex-chief waved an acknowledgment,

men

three

megaphone

"In the water, Chief," he relayed through the

aft.

hand. "Looks

into the boat

directed his remaining

and followed. The boat was

bow

seconds, the chief in the

acting as lookout.

spotting the oilskin-clad figure in the water.

in the

water

He had no

in

trouble

The coxswain moved the

boat alongside, and the three sailors manhandled the body into the boat.

Jon McDowell stood on the flying bridge wondering bodies he would see pulled out of the North Atlantic. This

ond

lifeboat

was

returning;

it

had disappeared beneath the

and McDowell changed positions

flying bridge, sight.

He watched

Glen.

The boat davits were swung

crew,

was

lifted to

With the

why

as the crew drew alongside the

the deck

to the

and the

respect.

headed down the ladder

structure of the

keep the boat

in

now stationary Mary

lifeboat,

along with

its

men

gingerly transferred the body

crew was handling an obviously dead

He emptied to

McDowell came down the

his coffee cup in

one

last

swig and

where the crew was gathering.

The small knot of men were

still

last ladder

gathered around the body as

leading to the main deck.

The old Chief Boatswain's mate looked up as he heard feet hit the

The

deck of the steamer. McDowell fleetingly won-

his sea-hardened

body with such

out,

to

his sec-

railing.

and swung inboard.

lifeboat secured, the

from the boat dered

was

months. He leaned out over the bridge

inside six

how many

metal deck just forward of where the

his captain's

men now

stood. Jon

CHAPTER 47

301

McDowell could see the confusion

in his chiefs eyes.

wondered, as he made his

way

aft.

The old chief was the

first

to

away from

the body.

in miracles, don't

He looked

speak as the

at his captain

What now? he

men moved

and

out and

"You believe

said,

you cap'n?"

McDowell moved

into the knot of sailors, his

amazement now

total.

The man lay on the deck, head der at the

men who had just pulled him from

Canadian bay. Beneath the could

make out

Mary Glen skins.

eyes staring about in won-

raised,

McDowell

the dark cloth of a uniform. Without hesitation, the

captain knelt beside the

The black

the freezing waters of the

oilskins, just at the neckline,

cloth

The two runes on the

was

in

man and gently

unfastened the

oil-

harsh juxtaposition to the lighter oilskins.

right collar tab leapt out at

McDowell: the mark-

ings of the SS!

McDowell Michael

stood, his

Shaw spoke

mouth moving; no words came. first

in English, the

and

within, despite the exhaustion

words coming from deep

pain. "Captain,

you

are the best

sight I've seen today."

McDowell's mind flashed back

to

November and

the last

man who

had been pulled from the sea wearing the same uniform. What he was seeing before his eyes

was not

he had been at sea too

possible, but

long and had been a Christian for decades.

He was beginning

to expect

miracles.

The crew on board the James Ballard cheered as they searched the area for survivors.

what they had

They found none, but

just done: the

there

was no doubt

James Ballard had

German U-boat. The only thing

that stopped

victory

was

captain

wondered what was about

the launch of the rocket to

it

it

sunk

its

first

from being a complete

had been

happen.

just

as to

carrying.

The young

THE #AAEGA DECEPTION

302

"Weather moving

Mary

in fast, captain," the quartermaster of the

Glen called out to Jon McDowell.

McDowell moved from the

flying bridge

back

into the

and gazed out the window. He'd never seen such clouds

wheelhouse

in all his

life.

They had formed-up behind the Mary Glen and the James Ballard as they had

moved due

formed over

south.

It

was

as

if

mountains of storm clouds had

New York City. McDowell had

never seen anything

The V-5 entered the building cloud mass that covered City.

The

rocket's control gyros

were

like

New

it.

York

blind, recognizing only the job

they had been programmed to accomplish.

That job did not include coping with the internal winds of a building thunderstorm.

The the

first

wind shear struck the rocket just before apogee, upsetting

number one

directional gyro.

The second sheet of wind

hit

it

as

it

turned toward the East River.

The gyros fought the

directional pressures of the winds, their

motors whining as the rocket was forced off course.

A single lightning strike altered

hit the

V-5 just as

nosed over,

by the savage winds of the storm. The lightning

internal temperature of the rocket fuel to

The

it

cylindrical

combustion

its

course

raised the

levels.

form of the V-5 plunged into the East River just as

the alcohol exploded.

The

largest portion of the rocket recovered

was

a tubing maze pulled from the river by two boys playing near the shore the next day.

They made a basketball rim from the

tubing.

EPILOGUE

february 1, 1943 london, england As

the British lieutenant colonel entered the office, a hint of sad-

ness evident on his lined face, Winston Churchill tapped the last

remaining ashes of his cigar into the ashtray and crushed lieutenant colonel carried the Churchill

had requested

"Your

call is ready,

less

file

than

marked thirty

it

out.

The

"restricted distribution" that

minutes

earlier.

Mr. Prime Minister," the lieutenant colonel

informed Churchill.

"Thank you, soldier

Colonel. That will be all." Churchill waited until the

was gone and

the phone.

The

the door secure behind

familiar

buzz was

him before reaching

there, telling

for

him the conversation

was being scrambled. The next sound he heard was

the familiar cough

coming from thousands of miles away. Even through the copper wires, the British prime minister could hear the pain.

coughing had subsided, then began. Is it

"I

have seen the

until the

report. Is

it

true?

over?" Roosevelt's voice

came back, stronger than

Churchill expected, the

strength coming from a reserve of determination.

we

He waited

escaped the nightmare.

this case."

I

can only thank God

"It's true.

Unlike you,

for his providence in

THE ^AAEGA DECEPTION

304

concur.

"I

events. There

God has been watching over is

no other way

The president of this situation,

I

hesitated.

wonder

"About Coventry?

to explain

"You are

this entire

sequence of

it."

right,

of course. But

when I

think

..."

Why was God

not watching over us in that

situation?"

"You are as astute as

"And you

Winston."

ever,

are as perspicuous as ever."

Roosevelt chuckled. "Perhaps. But it

it

make one wonder, does

does

not?"

"About God? About His motives? "It

I

don't think so," Churchill said.

makes me wonder more about man." "You are being fatuous, "Not at

ascribe to

Among

all.

Him

those

is

my

We, you and

friend."

I,

believe in

certain characteristics.

the premise that a wise

an all-powerful God.

We

We

accept certain premises.

and

intelligent

God chose

to

allow us less-than-perfect mortals the power of choice. Free will." "I

your point? What does

agree. What's

it

have

to

do with

this cur-

rent situation?"

"We can say

that

believe that to be true.

way

to explain the

From

all

to

your aid

in

your time of need.

the reports I've read, there

By

the

no other

same

token,

we can say He

did not

come

England when she needed Him."

"Coventry." This time

it

was a

statement, not a question.

"Coventry," Churchill agreed, then continued.

"We

of free will. Each person has that within himself.

premise of free

will,

that will as well.

who gave

is

I

sudden appearance of the storm that knocked the

rocket from the sky. to the aid of

God came

We

we

must, in

If

accept the

we

gift

accept the

turn, accept the consequences of

cannot attribute the state of mankind

to

God,

us the ability to fashion either heaven or hell on this

earth."

There was a pause on the end of the

because God chooses to exercise His

will

line.

"You're saying that just

concerning certain situations,

EPILOGUE that

we

305 He chooses not

can't shirk responsibility for those times

to

intervene?"

We

"Exactly.

when

angry

can't

another

he receives nothing.

scream and cry

have

both ways.

it

who

child,

It's

does not deserve

We want free

will,

some of your

frighten

"But you did not I

we

make you popular among

peers."

would

"No.

and

things go wrong,

Churchill laughed, his voice crackling over the transatlantic lines. "It

gets

receives a gift

it,

when

but

who

God and ask why. The why should be obvious."

to

suspect your theology would not

"I

like the child

did not.

me

call to

The

if it

phone

did."

discuss theology," Roosevelt continued.

report says Michael

Shaw

survived."

"Only you British could say alive with such aplomb. Heavens

man! He was blown

into the Atlantic!

He should be

dead."

"What happened?" "According to the debriefing, which

a brand shells.

new DDE

is,

by the way,

spotted the U-boat, opened

The boat exploded.

went down with

It

fire,

all

and

still

hit

it

going on, with two

hands. The explosion

threw him into the ocean."

"He should be dead." "Exactly.

mine also

is

He was wearing

that they

oilskins.

The best the doctors can

acted as sufficient insulation

and

protection.

deter-

He was

wearing an SS winter tunic beneath the skins." "Wool."

"You are

to

be commended

for

your knowledge of insulating

materials," Roosevelt joked. "Yes, wool.

maintains minutes,

its

insulation quality

by the

One

of the only fibers that

even when wet. He was picked up

ferry the destroyer

was

escorting.

exposure. Face, hands, toes. Nothing permanent.

tom pains when

"It

was

in

he suffered

He may have phan-

the weather changes, but he will live."

"The mission?

rocket.

Still,

Was

exactly as

it

as

we

we

thought?"

thought. The

Germans have developed a

According to Shaw, there are three versions. Our designations are

THE ^-AAEGA DECEPTION

306

and V-5. The V-5 was the rocket they attempted

the V-l, V-2,

from the submarine.

"How

And there was more

to

it

to

launch

than just a rocket launch."

so?" Churchill asked.

"The warhead material came from the Ruhr. From Roosevelt ceased, letting the significance sink

.

.

.

Leverkusen."

in.

"Chemical or biological?"

They

"Chemical.

call

skin will

kill

"That

ble. It

is

was

"It is

gram anywhere on

the

in minutes."

disgusting.

diluted

hard

What about

the chemical

now?"

bottom of the East River. Fortunately

at the

"It's

chemical was a more

sarin. Actually the

it

potent form of the chemical. One-fiftieth of a

for

by the water.

It

will

it is

water solu-

pose no major problems."

me to believe that Admiral Donitz allowed such an action

to take place. He's

a tough warrior, but

this doesn't

sound

like

him."

"Donitz put the original machinery in motion. Seems he figured he

needed

to tie

up as many of our ships as he

your development of the ASDIC, the war

was only

trying to

could.

even out the playing

field."

United States paused, a dry cough insinuating

has changed. He

The President of the

itself into

the conversa-

"But even Donitz realized that such an attack on America could

tion.

have far-reaching consequences. He ordered the

"We deduced

"He

was

"It's

By

tried.

the

warhead

We

as much.

have the Ultra signal where he

tried to

that time the SS

SS—Himmler

to

had already taken over the

be exact—who

project.

came up with the chemical

idea."

criminal," Churchill added.

"Yes,

that.

it is

have come

But

we

are dealing with forces

are talking theology."

"Perhaps.

Maybe theology

what

beyond those we

know."

to

"Now you

explain

project canceled."

submarines involved."

recall the

It

Between our ships and

in the Atlantic

is

happening

is

the only

way we

will ever

be able to

in this world."

Churchill leafed through the secret report folder in front of

him as

EPILOGUE he is

listened. "I

am

no way we can

307

truly glad that

how

predict

has turned out

it

There

for the best.

history will judge us in these matters."

"Such judgments, made by revisionist historians, sometimes have a tendency to ignore immediate contexts.

come

The bottom

to that.

line

is,

It is

better that

it

will

of course, the Kriegsmarine

is

not not

aware that England has a Schlussel M, the German Navy version of

You

the Enigma.

ments

will

be able to continue monitoring U-boat move-

a while longer. Long enough for the United States to

for

the materiel necessary for

Churchill sighed. "That

"I

That

is

is

the ultimate victory, of course.

thousands have been worth

lives of

move

an invasion of the continent."

Would

the

To England or the U.S.?"

it?

don't know," Roosevelt replied sadly.

"We may never know.

mean about immediate

Even we, no more than

what

I

context.

a few weeks removed from that context, cannot properly evaluate our actions.

would be

It

we know we had

"But

We

Coventry. the

foolish to expect better treatment in the future."

couldn't

let

to play out this charade, just as

the

German Navy's version

I

did at

Germans know we have now acquired

of the

Enigma machine."

"From our point of view, we did the promise the machine. The information

correct thing.

we

We

cannot com-

are receiving from

it is

too

valuable."

we

"Can

U-boat, the the

say that

really

if

we had

attempted to stop the rocket

German Navy would have deduced

that

England possesses

Enigma?" "Again,

we may

never know.

We

can thank God

for His interven-

tion in this, though."

"Yes.

The Ultra network

is still

operating.

We

are receiving infor-

mation almost every minute." "Good. this will "I

I

do not

like

deceiving our citizens. With

end the SS intervention

in the

Navy's war

don't think so," the prime minister said.

sages on

my

"I

desk about some other things the SS

have not heard the

last of

them."

any luck

at

all,

effort."

already have mesis

involved

in.

We

THE -^AAEGA DECEPTION

308

"I

you

fear

deception.

I

are right, Winston.

At

least

we can

be forgiven this one

think history will treat kindly the motives under which

we

operated." "I

hope

each other

my

so,

Take care of yourself.

friend.

year on that

later this

I

believe

we

will see

beautiful resort island."

Roosevelt laughed. "I've never heard Malta described quite that

way. But yes, we

meet

will

"Are you going to

ference to him.

He

He

man

a

is

was used?"

that he

that.

I

possessed.

Germany and working within

don't think

He

it

makes much

dif-

already talking of return-

is

the SS structure to bring

it

down.

determined."

is

"I

would describe

it

as driven."

"And you would be must be used

to

Whatever

right.

that's driving

it is

him now,

it

our advantage."

"You sound as for

at Malta."

Shaw

knows

think he already

"I

ing to

tell

if

you might already have

selected another 'project'

him."

"Not yet. There are

possibilities. After

Winston Churchill fixed

his gaze

he has recuperated."

on the

report in front of him.

words leaped from the page. They had been intercepted only days

earlier.

he hesitated

Maybe "I

entist

this

The subject matter

to share

Michael

have a report

He

it.

in front of

the one to send.

me," Churchill began.

from Norway and a project named it

a message

dealt with a topic so sensitive that

quickly reviewed the text and decided.

Shaw would be

The answer, when

in

The

for

concerns a

"It

one of your

sci-

islands."

came, was whispered. "What man? What

project?"

Churchill cleared his throat. it

into his

context.

New

mouth and

The

project

York Island.

Is

is,

He reached

left it unlit.

"The

according to this report,

that

another will

named

cigar,

jammed

know from for

the

your famous

enough information?"

The reply was again whispered. ing that.

for

man you

"It is

enough. Thank you

God be with you, Winston. Let us pray

that

we

for shar-

never have to

EPILOGUE

309

formulate such a deception again." Roosevelt replaced the receiver and

He reached

for

a cigarette, loaded

He coughed with

the

first

leaned back in his wheelchair. a long holder, and

lit it.

it

into

moved

breath, then

from behind his desk.

He had been close they

living rooms.

And

lucky.

had come

Had

The American people would never know how

having the obscenity of war touch them

to

the V-5 been successful, people

he, Franklin Delano Roosevelt,

ceal England's possession of the

had done the same

would have

had sanctioned that

risk to con-

died.

It

was

of the presidency he struggled with the most. Decisions

sions—killed people. Sometimes

Would

have been worth

it

it?

rency of

human

else? Did

anyone have that

it

Was

life? Sacrifice

a

died.

Germans' code machine. Churchill

and people had

in Coventry,

in their

was

—his

deci-

the enemy. But sometimes not.

he right to think little

the part

terms of the cur-

in

here to save a

lot

somewhere

right?

Roosevelt sucked on the stem of his cigarette holder and held the

smoke

in his lungs.

It

calmed his ragged nerves, but only

for the time

being, he knew.

Now

Churchill

had made an obtuse remark about another

A project namedforyourfamous New

York Island!

It

project.

could only

mean

one thing.

The president touched a button on the underneath and the door "Yes

sir,"

to the

the aide said,

"Harry, get

me

side of his desk,

Oval Office opened.

the

file

coming through the

on the Manhattan

have a problem." Roosevelt stubbed out the

door.

Project.

I

think

we may

cigarette in the ashtray

and wondered. Maybe Michael Shaw could be useful one more This time the mission would be

all

time.

the more important. Rather

than dealing with a chemical weapon, he would be dealing with a

weapon

that could

"God,

"

kill

millions.

Roosevelt prayed, "when will

it

end?"

THE ^AAEGA DECEPTION

310

march

1943 missisquoi bay, Ontario 6,

Shaw

Michael

of the cabin.

rior

sat in silence, his gaze carefully scanning the inte-

had taken several weeks before he'd

It

finally

been

released from Bethesda Naval Hospital following the explosion of the

U-135 and made The most

Shaw

ing,

his

difficult part

way back

to the cabin in the

Canadian woods.

had been the endless hours and days of debrief-

trying to recall details, his interrogators probing the darkest

corners of his mind.

March snow was beginning first,

he'd not been sure

here

it all

became

why he

needed

to return,

he no longer needed

period,

used

it

had been

it

but

now

that he

was

clear.

This would be his last journey to the cabin. erty;

window. At

to fall outside the cabin

it.

He would

He would remember

his sanctuary, his refuge.

it

sell

the prop-

fondly. For a short

He knew now

that he'd

as a place of recrimination. But there should have been no

recrimination,

And

no

self-inflicted isolation.

the dreams

had stopped. Since the U-boat explosion and the

destruction of the V-5 rocket, there

He was he could

still

live

He had been wrong.

lonely.

He missed

had been no dreams. Barbara, his mother, his father. But

with that now. He understood— not completely, but more

than before— the workings of a benevolent God. No, not just God, but his God. Barbara's God. His parents' too.

Shaw doning trail

it

rose from the cold chair forever.

He

didn't look

toward Phillipsburg.

and walked out of the

back as he made

his

cabin, aban-

way down

the

If

you enjoyed

may do

this

book and would

like to contact the author,

so at the address below:

John P.O.

F.

Bayer

Box 640552

El Paso,

TX 79904 or

[email protected]

you