“What took you so long?” the old man asked.
“I had better things to do.” Harris answered.
“Are you taking me back?”
Harris plunked himself down on a chair beside Krause. “Why the hell would I do that? You didn’t break any laws by running away. We were going to turn you loose anyhow, just not quite so soon.”
“I’m Gunnar Kuess now. I used the ID I had and made myself a new life. I’m from Norway and I became a U.S. citizen a number of years ago. I’m a good American. I even voted for Nixon and Goldwater, and I was devastated when that little piece of vermin killed Kennedy. You may be able to invalidate my citizenship and send me back, but my wife was born here, as were my two children, so they are safe.”
“Guess what? We don’t much care. The government would find it very embarrassing. Besides, a whole lot of people think you’re a hero for turning against Japan and Hitler.”
Krause was puzzled. “Then why are you here?”
“First, I’m hot and would really like a beer, and second, I’m long retired from the FBI. Hoover can go screw himself as far as I am concerned. This is a private job. Did you see the movie The Longest Day?”
“Of course,” Krause said with a laugh. “I’m a big John Wayne fan, and it told me a lot about the invasion of Normandy and what a fool Hitler was. I also read the book. I’ve read quite a number of books about World War II. What a tragedy. How could people get duped by Hitler? And, yes, I am including myself.”
“Good, ’cause we’re coming up on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Battle of the Baja and there’s going to be a movie about it, along with a companion book. The producers and writers want input from all the major participants, including those who took part in the planning of what was referred to as the ‘Immaculate Deception.’ I found Dane and Farris very easily since we exchange Christmas cards. You, however, took a little longer.”
But not much longer, Harris thought. It was almost as if Krause wanted to be found. He’d run from California to Georgia, posed as a refugee, and gotten a job in a gas station. No problem there, since he was too old to be dodging the draft and had papers saying he was from Norway. He was a decent mechanic and proved himself to the owner. After a few years he married the owner’s daughter. Krause was an even better businessman than a mechanic and now owned a chain of quick oil-change shops and was, if his current house was any indication, quite well off.
“What if I don’t want to talk to anyone?”
“You might not have a choice. Look, if an over-the-hill retired FBI agent can find you all by his lonesome, anyone can. And believe me, people will wonder about the man who turned his back on Hitler and helped the United States.”
This was not quite true. Although finding Krause hadn’t been all that difficult, Harris had contacted a lot of friends and called in a lot of markers to do it.
“Besides,” he continued, “most people consider you a hero. You’re the ex-Nazi who found redemption by helping us win the Battle of the Baja, even though it was more likely you were just protecting your own ass. Regardless, your real name is going to be plastered all over the place. I think you’d be a lot better off making the announcement yourself instead of being hunted down and trapped by a horde of reporters. Sooner or later, Krause, it’s going to happen.”
“True enough,” Krause said. “Are the people producing the book and the movie paying you for your efforts?”
“Quite a bit, thank you. Does your family know about your little secret?”
Krause sighed. “My wife knows and my late father-in-law did as well. I think my children suspect that there is more to their old father than meets the eye. They are both adults and not stupid. Not like their old man was.” He smiled.
“Are they here today?”
“Yes, and doubtless wondering who you are and what you want.”
“Want to call them and you can make your announcement? Then we can all talk.”
Krause stood. “I’ll do that right now. No point in waiting.”
“While you’re up, get me that damned beer.”
About the Author
Robert Conroy is the author a run of hugely popular alternate history novels, including Himmler’s War for Baen Books. His 1942, which is set within a Japanese conquest of Hawaii, won the prestigious Sidewise Award for alternate histories. Conroy has written for Military History magazine and has traveled extensively in Europe where he’s taken a special interest in battlefields, historical collections and castles. After a first career in business, Conroy has turned his lifelong passion for writing and military history into an immensely satisfying new occupation. He is married, lives in southeastern Michigan, and, when not writing, teaches business and economic history at a local college.
BAEN BOOKS by ROBERT CONROY
Himmler’s War
Rising Sun
To purchase these and all Baen Book titles in e-book format, please go to www.baen.com.
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.
Copyright © 2012 by Robert Conroy
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.
A Baen Book
Baen Publishing Enterprises
P.O. Box 1403
Riverdale, NY 10471
ISBN: 978-1-4516-3851-6
Cover art by Kurt Miller
First printing, December 2012
Distributed by Simon & Schuster
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Conroy, Robert (Joseph Robert), 1938–
Rising sun / Robert Conroy.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-4516-3851-6 (hc)
1. World War, 1939–1945—Naval operations, American—Fiction. 2. World War, 1939–1945—Campaigns—Pacific Area—Fiction. 3. Pacific Area—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3553.O51986R57 2012
813’.54—dc23
2012033440
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pages by Joy Freeman (www.pagesbyjoy.com)
Printed in the United States of America
eISBN: 978-1-61824-969-2
Electronic Version by Baen Books