“The only public event will be the execution of the French cabinet,” the man said.
“Execution?”
“If the Reichsführer’s investigators believe the French orchestrated the event in Saarbrücken, the entire French cabinet will find themselves lined up in front of a firing squad,” the Gestapo man said. “And the Führer might purge their families as well. Messy business.” He nodded back toward the closed door.
“It was the Americans,” Lafayette said.
“Perhaps they played a part. Is this what your American spy has told you?”
“No. He didn’t say much of anything before he-” Lafayette stopped.
“Before he died?”
“No, sir. He managed to escape.”
“Escaped. Hmm. You did say your captain’s name was ‘Petain’, correct?”
“Yes, sir,” Lafayette said. “The Marshall is his grandfather’s brother. He barely knows the man.”
“Except when he needs something, I’m sure.”
“I—”
The Gestapo man held up a hand, then pulled a small notebook from an inner pocket of his jacket and made a note. Before he finished writing, he said, “You’ll take me to see the advanced weapons you mentioned.”
“I’m sorry, sir,” Lafayette said. “The cache has been secured in a heavily armored trunk in my truck outside. Captain Petain has the key.”
“And where is Captain Petain, then?” the Gestapo man said.
“I assume he arrived some time ago,” Lafayette said. “As I told Bousquet’s secretary, I was ordered to meet him here.”
The secretary carried Lafayette’s papers around the desk and handed them to the Gestapo man. He considered the contents for a moment, then turned and headed toward the closed door to Bousquet’s office. Quietly he opened the door and walked in, closing the door behind him.
“Friendly guy, isn’t he?” Lafayette said to no one in particular.
The secretary straightened her skirt. “Kriminaldirektor Hans Huber,” she spat the name out as if it had gone sour in her mouth. “Friendly is the last word I’d use to describe that man, Corporal Lafayette.”
Lafayette swallowed hard. Kriminaldirektor was the Gestapo equivalent of a major. He knew who had all the power here.
61
0830 hours, Tuesday, August 18, 1942, Les Bayards, Val-de-Travers, Switzerland
Charlotte leaned against the tire of the lead truck, grateful to be out of the stuffy confines of the crowded vehicle for a while. The drone she had sent out hours ago had located three motorcycles travelling west. She zoomed in on the image. “Found them!”
“Found who?” Danette leaned over her to see the display on the C2ID2.
“Barbara, Maxime, and Team Bravo,” Charlotte said.
Simone squatted in front of her. “They are together? Where?”
“On the road to Vichy.” Charlotte held the C2ID2 display so the others could see. “Barbara probably swung south to meet up with Team Bravo. They’re headed west.”
“Why would they be headed toward Vichy?” Danette said.
“I’d only expect one reason if Barbara’s involved,” Charlotte said. “Revenge.”
Danette looked at Charlotte. “What do the six of them think they can accomplish?”
Simone stood and crossed her arms. “Depends on the tools they have with them.”
“What?” Charlotte and Danette asked in unison.
“It’s possible that Team Bravo’s hyperbaric nuclear weapon is fully functional,” Simone said.
“That’s not possible,” Danette said. “How would Team Bravo have gotten a hold of a fully functional nuclear weapon?”
Simone let out a deep breath. “Do you remember when Team Golf was disarming the weapons Hiram intended to present to Captain Trembley? He wanted to show him we had the weapons but didn’t want them to be functional. After Saarbrücken, I can see why. I mean those weapons are quite unbelievably powerful.”
Charlotte stood and faced Simone. “Spit it out!”
Simone scratched the back of her head. “Emma may have switched out one of the backpack portals for one of the weapon portals.”
“What?” Danette said.
“Well, we thought it was a failsafe in case something happened to Hiram. I think Agnes ended up with the pack.”
“Get Hiram on the radio, now!” Danette said.
“I thought Hiram and Deborah were going to catch up with us here. Didn’t they follow us across the border?” Charlotte said.
Danette shook her head. “They went after Barbara and Maxime.”
“On their own?” Simone asked. “Do you think Hiram can stop Barbara and the others?”
“Barbara’s got a good head start.” Charlotte calculated Hiram’s distance from the rogue team. “Doesn’t seem likely.”
“Let Hiram know about the weapon,” Danette joined Charlotte.
“He’s been monitoring my drone feed. He knows where they are,” Charlotte said.
“Yeah, but does he know they have a nuclear bomb?” Danette said.
62
1130 hours, Tuesday, August 18, 1942, Oyonnax, Ain Department, Occupied France
Hiram and Deborah moved south through the Jura Mountains. The railbike drew little attention despite traveling in broad daylight.
They turned west toward the more heavily populated lowlands, careful to avoid checkpoints with the help of the drone scouting ahead of them.
Danette’s harried voice boomed through the speaker in his helmet. He translated a few words on his own before Deborah was able to respond.
“Hawk. Team Alpha. Bad. Barbara. Maxime. Team Bravo.” He turned to Deborah, her expression concealed by the helmet.
When Danette stopped talking, Deborah translated, the calm in her voice forced. “Danette says Barbara and Maxime met up with Team Bravo.”
“At least we’ll only have to track one group down,” Hiram said as he swerved around a large rock in the path.
“Hiram,” Deborah said, her voice shaky.
Hiram guided the railbike off to the side of the road. “What is it?”
Deborah looked up from the overhead drone feed she monitored. “Agnes is in possession of a portal and electronics package from one of the nuclear weapons.”
“What? How did they—”
Danette spoke again.
“Simone confessed that Team Golf switched out one of the portals for a backpack weapons portal and pocketed one of the electronics packages from the nukes.”
Is it possible? Hiram tried to go back to the night Team Golf helped him prepare the dummy weapons for Trembley’s arrival. He remembered counting the portals… No, I counted the stacks◦– six stacks. But they had been in a hurry and he had felt as though a Mark XII had been detonated inside of him. It’s fucking possible!
Hiram powered down the railbike and climbed off.
“What are you doing?” Deborah asked as she maneuvered her way out of the side car.
He ignored her and tapped an icon on his C2ID2. The portal in his pack activated and Hiram dove into the portal head first. He rolled as his body connected with the mat on the floor.
He found the two bags used to store the parts from the six sample weapons. He tore the bags open and counted the contents with uncooperative, shaky hands. A single portal from one of the backpacks had been slipped into a stack of the weapons-grade discs. “Traveler” had been etched into the metal disc surrounding the portal. He found only five sets of the hyperbaric electronics packages as he fumbled through the electronics pile. It doesn’t matter. The weapon won’t function without the PAL code. He looked at his C2ID2. With a shaky hand, he withdrew the unit from its protective sheath. The titanium finish appeared brand new. The one he’d carried for the last three years had been scratched, dented and marred by continual use. At some point when he had been sleeping or fighting off Hagar’s ungodly curse, someone◦– Barbara◦– had switched his unit and he’d never noticed. He swallowed hard despite the sudden dryness in his mouth. The PAL code he had copied over from Jacob’s C2ID2 was stored on the device she had taken.