Empire and Honor (Honor Bound 7)

“No. But I’m not surprised.”

“Our intelligence has it that when imminent defeat became apparent to the Nazi hierarchy, they decided to send their stocks of uranium oxide and their best nuclear scientists to Japan, in the hope the Japanese could finish the work. Do you know, or have you heard anything, about that?”

“No. But it also doesn’t surprise me. I know we sent at least one, and possibly more than one, of our jet fighter aircraft, the ME-262, to Japan by submarine. Same idea, I would suggest, that the Japanese could possibly use them against the English and Americans.”

“One unpleasant, if wholly credible, scenario is that the senior Nazi officers aboard U-234—once they heard the Japs had surrendered, and that would have happened before they could have reached Japan—would contact the Russians by radio and see what the Russians would offer, including sanctuary from war-crimes trials, for both the uranium oxide and the nuclear scientists.

“My own variation of that scenario is that the Russians would promise the Nazis the moon, and then when U-234 tied up in a Russian port, the Russians would seize the uranium oxide, put the German scientists to work on their nuclear weapons program, and either execute the Nazis on the spot or after they had been thoroughly interrogated.

“It’s obviously of great importance to the United States that the Russians get neither the scientists nor the uranium oxide,” Frade went on. “Or that the Soviets even learn that both had left Germany on a submarine bound for Argentina. So, what I need from you right now, Willi, is everything you know, or have heard, or intuit, about U-234.”

Von Dattenberg nodded, collected his thoughts, and then began: “Colonel—”

“Now that we’re pals, Willi, you can call me Cletus.”

Von Dattenberg nodded again. “Cletus,” he said. “This would be good news, except that I don’t think you’re ready to accept good news from me.”

“Meaning what?”

“I knew that U-234—more accurately I suspected that U-234 was coming here. She’s the same kind of boat—a VIIC, built as a minelayer, converted to a transport—as my U-405. Both vessels were sort of reserved for important missions like Argentina transport because of their greater range.

“We can assume she didn’t make it to Japan. If she did, as you suggest, try to go to Russia—I think this is unlikely, as she was probably close to Argentina when she heard the Japanese were out of the war, and establishing radio contact with any Russian base would be very difficult. Even if that unlikely circumstance happened, she would not have had enough fuel to make it to any Russian port.

“One possibility is that she went to South Africa, put the money, the crew, and passengers ashore, and then was scuttled. But that’s a remote possibility, at best. So, if I were you, I’d stop worrying about U-234.”

“If that’s good news—”

“I hope you accept it as such. It’s the best I have to offer.”

“Well, Willi, since Hansel got you a pass, I don’t have any other options, do I?”

“El Jefe,” General Martín said, “please take Fregattenkapitän von Dattenberg onto the veranda and give us a moment alone.”

“Open another bottle of the Cabernet,” Frade said. “Quickly. This won’t take long.”

Martín waited until von Dattenberg had followed Schult

z out of the library before asking, “Well? Is he telling the truth, Peter?”

“Yes,” von Wachtstein said. “I think—what is that line from court trial movies?—I think we got ‘the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.’”

“Cletus?”

“Either that, or he’s a better actor than John Barrymore,” Frade said. “Those were real tears.”

“You were a pretty good actor yourself,” Martín said, “with that line about him being sixty seconds from getting shot.”

“What the hell makes you think I didn’t mean it?” Frade asked.

“I think what broke him,” von Wachtstein said, “was what Clete said about the ‘honor-of-the-officer-corps bullshit.’ Willi—he’s really a good man—had to know that oath of loyalty we ‘swore’ to Hitler was . . . well, bullshit.”

“Since we’re all playing psychiatrist,” Frade said, “I think what made him open up was hearing what happened to Hansel’s father and Admiral Canaris.”

“The question now is whether he will keep his mouth shut about talking to us,” Martín said. “But let me back up. The people he put ashore on the San Matias Gulf—anybody important, Clete?”

“According to the list of people we are looking for—”

“‘We’ again meaning the OSS?” Martín interrupted.