Empire and Honor (Honor Bound 7)

“Colonel Schumann identified himself and asked to be taken to the commanding officer. He was told the area was off-limits and he would not be given access to it.

“After some fruitless discussion with the sergeant, Colonel Schumann then ordered his driver to drive past the jeeps. When he attempted to do so, the machine gun on one of the jeeps fired into the front right tire of Colonel Schumann’s Opel Kapitän. The projectile went through the tire and into the engine, shattering the block.

“Comment, Colonel Mattingly?”

Mattingly did not hesitate.

“The sergeant did what he had been ordered to do, General. That compound is classified Top Secret–Presidential, and unauthorized personnel are not allowed past the outer ring of concertina wire.”

“Ordered by whom, Colonel Mattingly?”

“By me, sir. The sergeant was authorized to take any action, including the taking of life, to prevent a breach of the area.”

General Greene took his time considering that.

“We’ll return to that extraordinary statement in a moment,” he then said. “What happened next was an officer appeared—I presume he was an officer, Schumann reported that he was a young white man whose uniform bore no insignia of rank, but the Negroes in the jeeps saluted him—and spoke with Schumann.

“After Schumann identified himself as the inspector general of the CIC in the European Command and again demanded access to the compound, this officer, after demanding and receiving proof of that, said that because Colonel Schumann was the CIC IG, he and his men would not be arrested. Then he said that any questions should be directed to you, Colonel Mattingly.”

General Greene let that sink in for a long moment.

“So here we are,” he then said. “Just what the hell are you up to, Mattingly?”

Mattingly at first thought it was more a rhetorical than a serious question, but Greene immediately made it specific.

“What are you up to at Kloster Grünau, Colonel? What exactly are you up to?”

“Sir, I must respectfully decline to answer that question.”

“Mattingly, you’re not in a position to decline, respectfully or not, to answer my questions.”

“Sir, with respect, I’m afraid I must.”

“I’m the chief of Counterintelligence for the European Command. Before that, I was chief of Intelligence for Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force. I have security clearances you never even heard of. I even knew about the Manhattan Project. And you’re telling me I don’t have the proper clearance to learn what you’re doing?”

“Yes, sir. That unfortunately seems to be the case.”

“Colonel, you are ordered to answer my questions. If you refuse to do so, you will consider yourself under arrest.”

“General, I respectfully request sixty seconds to address this issue.”

“So long as you understand you’re under arrest, you can have sixty minutes to address this issue.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“You understand you’re under arrest?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Okay. Go ahead.”

“What happened yesterday at Kloster Grünau was the one thing I didn’t foresee when I set it up. That the one person—one of two persons, the other being you, sir—in the European Command with the authority to go past a barrier erected by the CIC would show up at a mountaintop monastery and try to go past that barrier.

“I’m sorry it happened, and I accept full responsibility. What you’re going to have to do now, sir, as I doubt if Colonel Schumann would accept this from me, is tell him to forget he and his men were ever at Kloster Grünau.”

“You’re out of your mind, you know that? Your sixty seconds are up. Report under arrest to your quarters, Colonel Mattingly.”

“Request to make one telephone call, sir, to report that I’m under arrest and the circumstances.”