The child was removed from the farm after neighbours protested to the authorities. Silent and withdrawn, she was several times placed in foster homes but continued her slide into a world of silence and inaction. Finally, she was placed in an institution for mental defectives where she remained until it was taken over by the SS in 1939. Because of her physical beauty she was spared the various ‘experiments and training sessions’ and became instead a plaything for the senior SS officers at the facility. How she had come to Hradcany Castle, Bethwig never found out, as Inge herself did not know. She had no sense of time, cared nothing for anything beyond the parameters of her existence, and was an intensely physical being. Bethwig did not know enough about psychology to do more than guess at an interpretation of her condition, but he had to believe that her nymphomania was in fact a reaction to her treatment as a child and later as an adult by the SS. Whatever, for reasons derived as much from sympathy as sexual need, Bethwig found that he very much cared for the girl.
Yet there was little that he could do to change her situation; the SS, by virtue of their special legal position, were virtually immune to the normal processes of German law. They were a physical and legal entity apart, and only one man, Reinhard Heydrich, had the power to release her. To obtain that release, Bethwig must please Heydrich.
Restlessly he pushed himself away from the desk and went out on to the balcony. The sun had swung deep into the west, and a golden haze lay across the vast sweep of lawn. The air was fresh, and the grass was that incredible spring green. Standing on the balcony, Bethwig thought the setting as pleasant as any on Earth.
‘Hello, Herr Doktor Bethwig.’
He turned so fast that cognac spilled from his glass. For a moment he was speechless. Inge, wearing only a flowing, diaphanous negligee, was standing in the doorway, more lovely and desirable than he could remember.
Light was fading outside when Bethwig lit a cigarette and offered it to Inge. He propped the pillows against the headboard and smiled as she shook her head, stretched languorously, and burrowed against him. ‘Good,’ she murmured.
Her propensity for framing questions as statements intrigued him. She was so certain of herself, and with good reason. He muttered an answer, and she nipped at his ribs with sharp teeth. He protested and wriggled away. Giggling, Inge pursued him across the wide bed until he was trapped on the edge; then she swarmed over him, all legs and arms and teeth, until he was laughing so he could hardly stand it. She stopped then, and they began to make love again, more slowly and with deeper pleasure than before.
‘I understand that dinner was served in your apartment last night.’ Heydrich smiled, I trust you found everything to your satisfaction?’ He was obviously enjoying Bethwig’s embarrassment. ‘Inge is a very lovely woman.’ Heydrich frowned, then went to the window and stood with his back to the room.
‘This is difficult for me,’ Heydrich said with some hesitation. ‘I do not want you to misunderstand my meaning. I do not want it to sound like a threat, only a fact, a fact we must all live with.’ He turned back to see Bethwig waiting politely and thought to himself that he had not misjudged this one. Von Braun was a brilliant man but a fool where politics were concerned. This one, a realist, seemed to understand the game. Certainly his father was important enough for him to have learned early. And he is also greedy for what I can give, his stupid moon rocket and the whore.
‘So let us get down to cases. Your friend von Braun has become an obstruction. He must be removed as the director of the A-Ten project.’
Bethwig laughed in spite of his knowledge that it was dangerous to provoke this man. He could not help himself.
‘Herr Reichsprotektor, I would not presume to tell you how to rule Czechoslovakia. You are the expert here. So why, then, do you persist in telling us how to manage a scientific project? In any effort involving groups of people there must always be one person with the ability to make all elements work. Doktor von Braun is that person at Peenemunde. Take him away and your project will never be completed – at least before this war is over.’
‘I had it in mind,’ Heydrich said, ‘to appoint you project director in von Braun’s place.’
Bethwig stared at Heydrich in surprise, then shook his head, ‘It would do no good. I am not a leader. Von Braun is. Colonel Dornberger will tell you the same thing.’
As if accepting Bethwig’s opinion, Heydrich stretched in the chair, yawned, and patted his mouth with one carefully tended hand. ‘Then what do we do?’
‘We, Herr Reichsprotektor?’
‘We, Herr Doktor Bethwig. For if I fail in this, we all fail. For me it will be no more than a slap on the wrist. My position is secure. But for you and your friends at Peenemunde it could be worse.’
‘In what way?’
Heydrich gave an elaborate shrug. The research centre could be closed. There is already more than sufficient sentiment for that. You and your friends might then find yourselves in combat units, perhaps on the eastern front.’
‘Ah, I see.’ Bethwig studied him for a moment: let the reichsprotektor win this round and Heydrich would own him for ever. ‘Even as head of the SS in France, Herr Reichsprotektor, do you not feel that you are overstating your case?’ His question was blunt. ‘Certainly the SS is strong politically, and your own position is so secure as to be unassailable. But there is still the army to consider and the party infrastructure. Even the SS cannot dictate to both at the same time.’
Heydrich sat forward with a huge grin, snapped his fingers, and pointed at Bethwig. ‘I knew I had judged you correctly. You are a sensible man, and you understand the use of power. It is good to talk things out like this, to make certain that we understand one another.’
Bethwig nodded, not at all relieved by his jovial mood. ‘Yes, I agree. I do, however, wonder why you are bothering to explain all this to someone as unimportant as I am.’
‘Ah, hardly unimportant, and I think you know that as well as I. Your father is a very powerful man in the party, and your own position as an early party member counts for a great deal in itself. Also I consider you the key man at Peenemunde. I fully believe that you are every bit as intelligent and capable as Herr von Braun. Now, let’s stop complimenting each other and get down to business.’
Heydrich leaned forward and tapped out his points on the table between them. ‘Number one, in spite of Doktor von Braun’s reservations, the project must move forward as close to the timetable I have established as possible. The situation has been discussed with Minister Speer, and he has promised every cooperation in the matter of material and manpower priorities. I have arranged for him to obtain the release of a thousand technically trained people to be transferred from the army to Peenemunde. They will be reconstituted as a reserve army unit to provide security. In fact, they may be used as necessary.
‘Point two, the rocket must be ready as soon as possible. Even if all the safeguards possible have not been incorporated. There will be no end of volunteers ready to risk their lives for the Reich.
‘Third, Herr Doktor von Braun must be replaced. I see no other choice. Somehow I must convince you to accept the position.’ Heydrich smiled pleasantly. ‘There are any number of incentives that can be supplied. However, it must be understood that we are constructing a military weapon which will be less than perfect. That is the sticking point with von Braun. He demands absolute perfection and safety. As long as the task can be done, I am not interested in the cost, in money or lives. My God!’ – he threw up his hands – ‘if we had to wait until our fighter aircraft or tanks were absolutely perfect in every respect, we would still be flying gliders and driving automobiles with tin plates welded on for armour.