Mother Night

34: Alles Kaput ...

I sat wretchedly on a packing case. 'With a few well-chosen words,' I said, 'you've wiped me out. How much poorer I am in this minute than I was in the minute before'

'Friend, dream, and mistress — ' I said, 'alles kaput.'

'You've still got a friend,' said Wirtanen.

'What do you mean by that?' I said.

'He's like you,' said Wirtanen. 'He can be many things at once — all sincerely.' He smiled. 'It's a gift.'

'What was he planning for me?' I said.

'He wanted to uproot you from this country, get you to another one, where you could be kidnaped with fewer international complications. He tipped off Jones as to where and who you were, got O'Hare and other patriots all stirred up about you again — all as part of a scheme to pull up your roots.'

'Mexico — that was the dream he gave me,' I said.

'I know,' said Wirtanen. 'There's a plane waiting for you in Mexico City right now. If you were to fly down there, you wouldn't spend more than two minutes on the ground. Off you'd go again, bound for Moscow in the latest jet, all expenses paid.'

'Dr. Jones is in on this, too?' I said.

'No,' said Wirtanen. 'He's got your best interests at heart. He's one of the few men you can trust'

'Why should they want me in Moscow?' I said. 'What do the Russians want with me — with such a moldy old piece of surplus from World War Two?'

'They want to exhibit you to the world as a prime example of the sort of Fascist war criminal this country shelters,' said Wirtanen. 'They also hope that you will confess to all sorts of collusion between Americans and Nazis at the start of the Nazi regime.'

'Why would I confess such a thing?' I said. 'What did they plan to threaten me with?'

'That's simple,' said Wirtanen. 'That's obvious.'

'Torture?' I said.

'Probably not,' said Wirtanen. 'Just death.'

'I don't fear it,' I said.

'Oh, it wouldn't be for you,' said Wirtanen.

'For whom, then?' I said.

'For the girl you love, for the girl who loves you — ' said Wirtanen. 'The death, in case you were uncooperative, would be for little Resi Noth.'