Echo of the Reich

42

26 July 2012

“One more thing, Klaus,” Wolf said.

The two men were sitting on opposite sides of the desk in the study, and had been going over the final sequence of events that would culminate in the completion of the operation. These particularly concerned the actions that were to take place in London when the device was first positioned and then activated using the built-in timer system. Marcus himself was going to supervise and initiate this final phase. It was his destiny. He would be fulfilling the wishes of his long-dead grandfather, and realizing the dreams of all the members of Die Neue Dammerung, members both alive and dead, who had worked together over the decades to bring this triumph for the Fatherland to its climax.

“Yes?”

“I’m still worried about Bronson and what he’s doing. If he was still in the vicinity of Berlin, somebody-either the police or our men-would have seen him, and there’s still been no word from Oskar, I suppose?”

“Nothing so far,” Klaus replied.

“Do you know where he is now?”

“He’d just crossed the border into Poland the last time he called; he hoped to reach the mine within two or three hours.”

Marcus Wolf nodded.

“I suppose Bronson might be there, but I’m beginning to wonder if we’ve read him wrong, and if he might be trying to get back to Britain. That doesn’t bother me, but I’m getting slightly concerned about making sure that the lorry crosses the English Channel as soon as possible. The ferry ports and the Channel Tunnel terminal are obvious choke points, and the last thing we want is for the truck carrying the weapon to be stuck on the wrong side of the Channel.”

“That makes sense,” Drescher replied. “What would you like me to do about it?”

“Contact the team driving the vehicle and tell them to get across the Channel as soon as they can, and then to find somewhere they can park, somewhere no more than an hour’s drive from London.”

“No problem.” Drescher took his mobile phone out of his pocket and dialed a number from memory.

James Becker

Echo of the Reich