‘Thank you,’ Shaw answered sarcastically. ‘I must say you don’t seem very worried about—’
‘I’m not.’ Fleck made a negligent gesture of his hand. ‘It is quite immaterial now, quite immaterial. Pullman’s people won’t learn a thing…’
‘What about Myra Yarrow?’
Fleck laughed. ‘They won’t get anything out of her, Shaw, because she knew nothing whatever about this end of the operation, as I imagine you must have discovered for yourself. Dear Myra… she began and ended in Brooklyn!’ He shrugged. ‘Oh, she knew a certain amount of the general background, but only in a broad sense, no detail. I’m not in the least concerned about any singing she may do, because by the time the security officers work out the rest of it… it’ll be too late!’ He paused and studied Shaw. ‘I’m not underestimating your resource in getting away from our strongpoint — but I don’t think you’re going to benefit very much from your trouble. I can set your mind at rest on one matter, however — I no longer need you for information. I — er — called in on our organizations in certain South American countries on my way south, and you’d be really astonished at how much they had heard from our contacts in Washington, and were able to pass on to me! I know precisely what you found out from those decoded messages that brought you to Rio Grande — but I also know precisely how much the U.S security services do not know about us — and I am most gratified by that knowledge. Had things been otherwise, your welcome aboard here would have been very different, I can tell you—’
‘Then why have you brought Patricia O’ Malley aboard, Fleck?’ Shaw demanded. ‘Why did you have her kidnapped in the first place?’
‘Ah — at that stage, as you yourself are aware, I didn’t know how much Pullman might really know about us. You understand, up to that point matters had not been, as it were, stirred up by London. I needed her for information about your activities, for one thing, since you had called upon her. As to bringing her here… that was forced upon me. You see, she had most unfortunately overheard me when I spoke of moving our base to this ship.’
‘And you didn’t kill her because of this phoney humane policy of yours… Nosey told me about that. I suppose you don’t want to scare off people who might otherwise join you… you want to establish a nice, kind brand image to the unsuspecting—’
‘You are somewhat cynical, Commander—’
‘Sure I am! What about that concrete-pit, and the other bodies Willoughby said were under there?’
Fleck shifted irritably and made a dismissive gesture. ‘We don’t kill unnecessarily. Miss O’Malley is… young. She can be indoctrinated. Some deaths are unavoidable.’
‘Such as mine?’
Fleck nodded. ‘Such as yours — at that stage. No one can be expected to hand back security men intact. In your case, you may yet have to die. No regime can tolerate men who are professionally opposed to it, at least not in the early stages.’
‘Just what are you getting at, Fleck?’
‘You will see very soon. You naturally want further explanations, some indication as to our aims and so on. Well, I feel I can quite safely confide in you now!’ Fleck closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again and stared hard at Shaw. He said flatly. ‘You have heard, no doubt, of Warmaster.’
Shaw’s heart lurched. He’d had those disturbing thoughts, but confirmation was still a shock. He asked, ‘Just what do you know about that, Fleck?’
Fleck shrugged. ‘I, I know nothing, except in outline — and perhaps after all that is quite enough! I am a lawyer by profession, and our Party’s Resident Operator in the United States. As such, of course, I was in executive charge in New York, as I shall also currently be in respect of… forthcoming events in this part of the world. Further, when certain things, which I shall talk about later, come to pass, I shall be in a position of power in the U.S second only to an American member of the Party, a man well known in Washington and London whom no one would ever suspect of having Nazi sympathies — and whose name I have no intention of divulging at this stage. But — and this is a big “but,” my friend — let me be the first to confess that at this time, and possibly even afterwards, we shall be dependent upon a good friend and colleague whom you have yet to meet — Doctor Schillenhorst. He is the important man, the knowledgeable man. Like myself, Hans Schillenhorst is subject to the overall command of our Directorate in Germany, but he is the brains, the whole initiative, behind what we are going to do shortly. Were it not for him, none of this would have been possible, I should have been a mere R.O for goodness knows how many more years. I have, you realize, a very great admiration for Doctor Schillenhorst.’
‘Uh-huh.’ Shaw remained unimpressed. ‘Who exactly is this paragon, Fleck?’
Fleck’s lips tightened momentarily. ‘You will see. You will meet him. First, however, I shall tell you something about him.’ He paused, leaned back on the settee, and frowned. ‘You must understand one thing above alclass="underline" Hans Schillenhorst is quite fanatical in his devotion to our aims, and it is this fanaticism, this loyalty, which to a large extent has made possible what he has done. No man, I believe, could have achieved so much had he not felt very deeply about the rightness of what he was engaged upon.’ Fleck paused again. ‘For this fanaticism, he has good reason, I need hardly say. He was himself wounded on the Russian front, in the retreat from Moscow — badly wounded, so that he lost both his legs. His girl became the mistress of an American soldier while he was lying in a bomb-shattered hospital in Dresden, and his sister was abominably raped by some Frenchmen. Since the British took part in the bombing raids, which smashed his hospital while he was lying sick, it would not be extravagant to say that his whole being, his basic existence, was the subject of Allied attack, that each one of the Allies had its share in hurting him cruelly. He is very bitter, believe me!’
Fleck reached out and pressed a bell-push. Within a few seconds a steward appeared and snapped to attention in front of Captain Lindrath, who nodded curtly towards Fleck. The steward said smartly, ‘Ja, mein Herr?’
‘My compliments to Doctor Schillenhorst. If he can spare a few moments, I would much like him to meet a British officer.’
‘Ja, mein Herr.’ The man turned away and left the mess.
Fleck said, ‘Let us for a moment return to Warmaster. It was I who in the first place gave Schillenhorst the information… which I was able to do because I knew a man called Keiler. Keiler is—’
‘All right,’ Shaw interrupted brusquely. ‘I’ve heard about him, Fleck. He was the brains behind Warmaster and he skipped over behind the Curtain.’
Fleck nodded. ‘That is correct,’ he said, his powerful face sombre now. ‘He is a countryman of mine, of course — but yet a Communist. He was not always so. Indeed, at one period we worked wholeheartedly together for the glory of our Fuehrer. Then his ideas underwent a change, a very basic change… this change had started during the war, but it did not go very deep until after he came to America, where we happened to meet again. My ideas had never changed. They had perhaps hardened, become even more ingrained with the passing of the years and with our defeat, with the memory of all we in Germany had suffered together through the years of war. I knew we must rise again and I made it my life’s work to see that we did, that we revenged ourselves upon the countries who imagined they had us under their heels. I became active in International Fascism… and you, my good Shaw, have no possible idea how far and how deep that movement goes today, and also of how few people suspect that there is any international body at all.’ His words held the ring of truth, of absolute conviction, and they carried the more weight because he spoke quietly and evenly. ‘It is most truly international in the very widest sense, indeed we are very nearly world-wide in our secret membership. That strongpoint, the communication centre beneath Frazer Harfield, was in touch with cells everywhere — everywhere!’ He leaned forward. ‘We only wait the proper moment, Commander Shaw, or perhaps I should say we have been waiting, and that now we have not much longer to wait. Now — during the earlier years of this waiting period I was busy in other directions, besides attending to Party organizational details.’