Warning Order

Chapter Seven

Shabby, yellowing net curtains hung motionless from a wooden rod covering the lower half of the grimy, plate glass window of the pub. Cigarette and cigar smoke hung heavy in the air, mingling with the pungent smell of beer. A once boisterous, rowdy gathering place, the dingy pub had become a place of temporary diversion ever since the city was divided. Patrons, mostly men from the local neighborhood, gathered at their regular tables, some playing skat, a popular card game. The pub was their home-away-from-home, a meeting point. Cautious mumbles filtered throughout as the patrons were always leery of who might be listening or watching. An old German saying, "quiet obedience is a citizen's first duty,” still rang true.

One by one, and staggering their arrival over a fifteen minute period, three men entered the establishment, trying to avoid direct eye contact with the other patrons. They sat together at a back table, away from dim, overhead hanging lights, and close to a back door.

Klaus Steiner rolled a cold beer mug between his hands. Thick, bushy eyebrows framed deep-set eyes that were totally emotionless. "Has there been any word where he is?"

"No," answered Otto Neus, nervously tugging at his dark blond, straggly hair that hung over his shirt collar. "Our contact hasn't been able to find out anything. One minute he was in the hotel, and the next he was gone. It's like he's disappeared off the face of the earth without leaving a trace." Neus sipped at his beer, anticipating an ass-reaming from Steiner, but Steiner just leaned back in the wooden chair, balancing it on the two back legs. Neus decided to try and persuade Steiner to change his plans. "Why bother trying to bring him back? We've got most of the formula. The drug is nearly ready for use. Why jeopardize our plans? We're so close to completing what we've set out to do, Klaus." He glanced briefly at Horst Schinkel seated across from him but knew he couldn't expect support from the man known as a humanoid.

Schinkel rested his hands on his hips, his biceps muscles bulging under a dark brown woolen sweater. Tilting his head side to side, he attempted to stretch muscles in a very thick, stubby neck. He was never one to participate in conversation. If he responded at all, the responses were usually in the form of “grunts.” For Horst Schinkel his sole purpose in life was to be a ruthless killer.

Steiner eased the chair forward and drank the last mouthful of dark beer. He wiped foam from his mouth and mustache with the back of his hand, then leaned his arms on the worn table surface. He spoke with a low gravely voice that commanded attention. "It's not just a matter of the formula now."

Neus realized what Steiner was saying. Eleven months earlier, two other members broke away from the group. Steiner waited several weeks, letting the two men drop their guard, trying to make them feel they no longer had anything to fear, unaware they were being watched. On Steiner's orders, Horst Schinkel killed both men, slitting their throats with a straight razor. Now it was Brennar who'd betrayed him and made a fool of him. To make it even more humiliating, he was an American spy.

"But we have the children. Maybe he'll come back on his own,” Neus tried to reason.

“Do really believe he will return to the East? Even if he wanted to, do you think his superiors would allow that, Otto? Do you think I’m that stupid to believe that?”

“No, Klaus, I… ” Neus cut himself off, deciding to take a different tack. "You're right, you’re right. What do you plan on doing with the two boys?"

Steiner shrugged indifferently, as he slowly ran the tips of his fingers back and forth across an unkempt mustache. Straggly hairs rubbed against his lower lip. "That remains to be seen. In the meantime, stay in touch with our contact. Keep the pressure on for more information."

"And what about Greta?"

"She was nothing but a whore. A mother would not give up her children without a fight like she did. She's probably glad to be rid of them anyway. Enough about her; right now our concern is Brennar."