“Ja, Frau Meyer”. Even though they were on the kind of friendly terms one would expect for two people who have seen each other several times a week over the course of two and a half years, Maxi remained socially and professionally formal.
Bettina opened her briefcase and occasionally pulled out a document or photo to angle it under the passing streetlights to read.
“Lots of work tonight, Frau Meyer?”
“Too much!”
“Thinking, or typing?” Maxi’s usual opening line fishing for more details.
“Both!” She gasps with real exhaustion while looking at a photo of a seemingly interesting looking dark man.
“Politician or general?” Maxi asks catching a glimpse of her focused attention on the photo in the rear view mirror.
“Nein… nein, an astrologer, if you can believe that!”
“An astrologer in the Reichstag? Well, these days, I’ll believe anything!” Maxi said while turning a tight corner.
SPECIAL DELIVERY – OFFICIAL BUSINESS OF THE THIRD REICH
Ministry of Propaganda
January 22, 1940
Dear Herr Krafft,
The German people request your service in an urgent and sensitive program concerning the area of your talent and abilities. Enclosed in this letter are sample materials that our office would like your expertise and interpretation on, two first class train tickets to Berlin, and confirmation reservation papers for you and your wife at the Kaiser Hoff Hotel on the Wilmhelmstrasse in Berlin.
A private meeting has been scheduled between you and Herr Minister Goebbels for January 30th, at 14:00 hours in his personal office, room 137 in the Reichstag.
We look forward to working with you for the glory of the Third Reich.
Even though politely written, it was clear the letter was an order for Karl Ernst and Elaine Krafft to appear in Berlin. Karl Ernst silently handed the letter to his wife who read it quickly, then slowly handed it back.
“I’ll start packing.” She says to herself while walking up the oak staircase. There would be no husband/wife discussion over this trip since his silence revealed the decision had already been made – in Berlin.
Karl Ernst Krafft looks out the window as Elaine fashions what will be needed upstairs. His heart beats with a new excitement as if announcing the joy of finally obtaining official work with the Third Reich. His mind, already excited at the challenge of new mathematical puzzles thrown at him in the letter, had underneath a cold cloud of hesitation. A sense not connected to a thought or feeling crawled into his consciousness. A subconscious hint, a warning. Danger!
The blunt end of a rifle stock smashed against Captain Payne’s upper back, making his left arm jump.
“Raus! Raus!”
The spiky teeth of a German Shepherd lock around his ankle and pull him out from the makeshift debris.
“OK, alright…!” Payne moans, realizing whatever damage done by the rifle butt into his back had affected his voice. Rising on his knees, his arms attempt to come up with the universal sign of surrender, however manages to move his left arm up only halfway. The action does not seem to satisfy his captor.
“Raus!!! Raus!!!”
Looking at the German corporal directly in the eyes, Payne waves his arm in the air with the German Shepherd still attached to his ankle. Luckily, the dog was not biting as hard as done at first; giving Payne the impression at least the dog knew he had given up. Unfortunately it appeared the young soldier pointing the rifle at his forehead did not come to the same conclusion.
“Raus!!!” The eyes under the Waffen SS helmet burned with excitement, and fear.
“Aw, come on mate, let’s not be a broken record.”
“Britsher! Britsher!” An unseen group of voices behind him also begin shouting. Suddenly several pairs of hands grab and pull his arms back. The pain from his left arm could now be felt in his back and over the entire left side of his body.
A thin figure in civilian clothes parts through the detachment, one whose slow, meticulous pace in walking suggests he was the one in command. Captain Payne attempts to give the impression the present situation was not serious.
“Hey, mate, ’ow about a cigarette?”
The beginning of 1940 went very well for Goebbels, his family, and the Third Reich. The east was secure with Poland totally crushed and the Russians placated with a non-aggression pact. The English and French were either too weak or too timid – or both – to move against them in the west. Intelligence reports revealed that neither of these hated countries could, or even would, move against them for some time… if at all. All this exactly as Hitler had predicted, and all of this exactly what he was counting on.
Power rushed through Goebbels’ body as his secretary’s typing in the next room brought him out of his daydream. “Bettina…?”
No answer.
Goebbels’ thoughts roamed to home. His six children and wife had the house and status he only dreamed of as a youth. The entire Goebbels family was indeed enjoying to the fullest the privilege of his position. Magda, whom he loved and hated dearly, was now starting to take an interest in his work. Her attention to matters of state naturally created problems at first, but now in a very unexpected way began to show real benefits.
As for himself, the small, frail, skinny boy who in school was so often ridiculed, teased, and belittled – was now on top of the Reich. He, as everyone else in Germany knew, that in this year of 1940, being on the top of the Third Reich was equal to being on top of the world.
“Yes, Herr Minister…?” Bettina finally walked in.
“Can you believe,” he questioned while lifting a paper towards her, “Nostradamus wrote this over 400 years ago?”
“Nein, Herr Minister.” She remembered hearing about Nostradamus in school and that a few of her classmates seemed excited about his vague and cryptic predictions over the future of mankind penned in the 16th century.
Looking at the medieval text in front of her, she noticed it specified a particular date: September 1, 1939. Goebbels had written ‘Aries = War to start with Germany’.
“Do you think he really looked into the future, Herr Minister?”
“Ahhh… Berlin.” The Countess filled her lungs with cigarette smoke, as if the tobacco helped her remember all the pleasant experiences there. “A wonderful city, I should hope to see more of it.”
Von Wohl interpreted this as a hint of her wish for him to be the one showing her more of it. Was she feeling the same attraction as he?
To the Prince, it was obvious the newly introduced couple were getting along fine without him. He nodded to excuse himself then moved on to a group of Austrian businessmen nearby who were waiting for his attention.
“Ta, ta, Heinrich.” The Countess made it sound as if she was grateful to the Prince for being given a new plaything for the evening.
Von Wohl took two glasses of champagne off a passing waiter’s tray and handed one to the Countess.