Secret Honor (Honor Bound 3)

“The Führer is of course right, Boltitz. Survivors of a sunk merchantmen are skilled seamen, who can serve aboard other ships. This is total war—we can’t permit that to happen.”

Karl had looked at him in disbelief.

“You will make sure, won’t you, Oberleutnant Boltitz, that no one on your gun crew saw any survivors either?”

“Jawohl, Herr Kapitän.”

“That will be all, Karl, thank you.”

It was the first time Kapitänleutnant von Stoup had ever called him by his Christian name.

Later the same day, the Chief of the Boat told him that he had served under his father when he was a young seaman and would be grateful, when the Herr Oberleutnant had the chance, if he would pass on his respects. The Chief added that he had already spoken to the deck gun crew to make sure no one had seen any survivors of the Star of Bombay.

“As an honorable officer,” Karl’s father was saying, “how did you feel about machine-gunning merchant seamen in their lifeboats?”

“That never happened on U-241,” Karl said.

“You have sworn an oath of personal loyalty to the Führer. Was it honorable to disobey an order from the Führer? Or did you perhaps think that disobeying an order to commit murder was the more honorable thing to do?”

“I was never actually given the order,” Karl said. “My captain—Kapitänleutnant von Stoup—was an honorable man, incapable of murder.”

“It’s always easier, of course, to let a superior decide questions of honor and morality for you. But sometimes you will have to make those decisions yourself. That, I suspect, is what you are going to have to do when you go to work for Wilhelm Canaris.”

“Are you suggesting he’s not an honorable man?” Karl asked, genuinely surprised.

“My experience with him, over the years, is that he is far more honorable than I am, and certainly more than the people he

serves.”

“What are you saying?”

“The best advice I can give you, Karl, is to listen to what Canaris is not saying.”

The validity of his father’s advice became immediately apparent on the second day of Oberleutnant Boltitz’s duty with Section VIII (H).

His immediate superior—Fregattenkapitän Otto von und zu Waching, a small, trim, intense Swabian—took him to meet Admiral Wilhelm Canaris.

“I always like to personally greet officers newly assigned to me,” Canaris began, looking intently into Karl’s eyes. “To make a snap judgment, so to speak, about how well suited they may be for work in this area.”

Karl could think of nothing to say in reply.

“You come highly recommended for this assignment, if I am to believe Kapitänleutnant von Stoup,” Canaris went on. “He seems to feel that your belief in, your dedication to, National Socialism and your unquestioned obedience to the orders of our Führer is to be expected from an officer of your heritage.”

What the hell is that supposed to mean? I’m surprised that he even knows who Siegfried von Stoup is, much less that von Stoup recommended me for an assignment here.

God, what did the Old Man say? “Listen to what Canaris is not saying.”

My God! Canaris is telling me that he knows von Stoup is disobeying the “no survivors” order; and that he also knows—the crack about “someone of your heritage”—that my father believes we are in an evil war.

“Where we’re going to start you off, Boltitz, under Fregattenkapitän von und zu Waching, is as the liaison officer between this office and that of Foreign Minister von Ribbentrop. You will be expected to make yourself useful to both von Ribbentrop and von und zu Waching, and to keep your eyes and ears open over there for anything that might interest us. Additionally, to give you a feel for the conduct of a covert operation, I want you to come up with a plan to have the officers—and the men, if this is feasible—of the Graf Spee to be returned to service from their internment in Argentina.”

“Jawohl, Herr Admiral.”

“It would appear that you have some unusual qualifications for this assignment. You speak Spanish; you served aboard the Graf Spee; and it is self-evident that submarines will have to be involved. And it will serve as a learning experience for you. Both initial assignments will serve that purpose.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“I will be interested in your progress, Boltitz. I hope that you will not disappoint me. Or your father. Or Kapitänleutnant von Stoup.”