Spook's Gold (50 page)

Marner shook his head.

“Well, it’s rather complicated. Ulrike is far more knowledgeable than I am; however, she takes all of this official secrecy stuff very seriously and will not even tell me much about it,” confided David with a wink. “To sum it up in simple terms that simple soldiers like you and I can understand, you take certain chemical substances and put them into a bomb or a missile in place of the explosive. However, these chemicals are far, far more powerful than any conventional high explosive. We are talking about the capability for a single large bomb to destroy an entire city. But not only that. This substance is also, for want of a better word, ‘toxic’ over the long term. It will contaminate the ground, the water, the animals and humans in and around the city for many years. The radioactivity, as it is called, will render both the target and the surroundings uninhabitable. Ulrike can explain it much better than me...” David turned to her as if anticipating some help, but Ulrike ignored him.

Marner was still confused, “I still don’t understand why you think that I will help you find the U-180, even if it is carrying this special chemical.”

“Oh no, my dear chap. Not just the nuclear material. It is carrying an entire A-4 rocket – perhaps you know it better as the V2 – that is loaded with the material. And our information is that the target for this weapon is...” David paused theatrically, “.... Berlin.”

Too irritated to laugh this time, Marner wondered if perhaps some psychological game was being played with him to test his responses to certain stimuli or stress. “So you want me to believe that Adolf Hitler has ordered that this weapon be fired at Berlin,” he asked carefully, still fearing a trap or trick. His suspicion was reinforced when Ulrike now turned to look at him, contempt replaced by curiosity. Marner had no belief in this absurd tale that they were spinning, but he wanted to play for time, to understand what they were trying to achieve. “Why would he do that?”

“Very simple,” replied David. “Our sources tell us some key things. Firstly, that the defeat of Germany is now inevitable. There is some conjecture on how much longer it will take, and on the final scenario, but it is certain.”  David paused to see if Marner would attempt to refute this or argue. In the face of Marner’s silent stare he resumed, “What we are also certain of is that Josef Stalin will not accept the surrender of Germany. Regardless of whether the other Allied countries stop at a certain line on a certain date to negotiate for peace, Stalin has given orders that his armies take Berlin. Added to which, Hitler will not surrender anyway. Based on what we have on record from many public and private statements by him, he expects every German citizen to die fighting for every last inch of territory. Those who don’t or won’t fight deserve, in his words, to perish anyway. We also know that Hitler is increasingly paranoid and isolated. The plots against him amongst his staff, including attempts on his life, mean that he trusts no one to fight on to the end as he has dictated. What he particularly fears is a rebellion from within; specifically, that his own generals will approach the Allies and seek to broker an agreement for surrender. But then the alternative, that Germany does fight to the last person and is defeated and over-run, occupied and exploited, is equally anathema for such a vengeful personality as his. According to our intelligence, the Fuhrer has an ace up his sleeve and he intends to play it from beyond the grave, regardless of how he dies and under what circumstances.”

Turning to address Ulrike, David requested, “We need the technical bit now. Please.”

Ulrike stared hard at Marner for a few seconds, before drawing a file from a briefcase beside her chair. She set it on the table, drew from it a photograph and placed it on the table between them. “This was taken at the Bordeaux shipyard a few weeks ago. As you may or may not know, the U-180 was on her way there when she stopped on the French coast for your encounter with her. What this photo shows is what she subsequently collected at Bordeaux.”

Studying the grainy image, Marner struggled to pick out any details from the photograph which had been taken in a poorly lit interior. The section that was in focus was the foreground and showed nothing but concrete and coils of rope. The main object in the picture was poorly focussed and was of a cylindrical object on support blocks, with chains looped underneath. The ends of the chains rose up and were cut off from view in the photo; presumably they were connected to a crane that had just deposed or was preparing to lift this object. Compared to the relative size of the blurred human figures close to it, it was too small to be a u-boat and it had no obvious conning tower or method of entering and exiting it. He shrugged at her, indicating that it meant nothing to him.

“It is a submersible transport container and firing platform for a V2 rocket, developed by the team at the Peenemunde facility under the codename Prufstand XII. Specifically, it carries one V2 inside it plus essential equipment and supplies including fuel. It is intended to be towed underwater by a submarine. It has negative buoyancy, that is to say that it simply sinks and rises as the submarine does. When the device reaches wherever the missile is intended to be launched from, the front ballast tanks are filled and it stands vertically up in the water. The nose section is opened and the rocket is then fuelled and fired. The U-180 collected the specially adapted V2 from Kiel in early June.”

“So where is it now?” asked Marner.

David sighed. “The U-180 departed from Bordeaux last night. We have spent the last few weeks trying to catch it out in the open, or sabotage it within the Bordeaux docks, all to no avail. This particular submarine seems to have a charmed life. So now she is loose in the ocean and ready to fire that V2 at Berlin.”

Marner now understood why he had been kept isolated for the last few weeks since he had been captured in France and delivered to England. He also understood why they were now interested in talking to him; they had tried to stop the U-180 themselves and had failed. Looking hard at the photograph again, he tried to connect the smudged shades of black and grey with the fantastical story that these people were telling him, whilst trying to remain alert to the traps and inconsistencies, maybe even plain lies, in what they were saying. “When will the rocket be fired?”

“We don’t know. The mission of the crew will be to evade detection until they receive the order directly from Hitler to launch it. If they fail to hear from him during a pre-defined duration, they fire it. The submarine will remain isolated and under the control of a few fanatics who are totally dedicated to him and him alone. Quite simply, if he cannot have Berlin, then no one will. He will turn it to ashes and everyone, including the remaining German residents, with it.”

Marner looked at the image again in the light of this information. He sat back and shrugged again “Prove it.”

Placing his hands palm up on the table, David explained reasonably, “We have good intelligence from our sources. I’m sure that you understand that we are not able to show you the documents and reports and so forth.”

“Of course. However, whilst what you have told me is plausible and even if you did have irrefutable proof that you could show me, I have no intention of going in search of the U-180 and handing it to you on a platter. Why should I?”

Ulrike exploded, “To save Berlin. To save your family and friends. To save your fellow countrymen from a last act of insanity by this lunatic who has set Europe ablaze and intends to drag the suffering decent ordinary German citizens to hell with him!”

David attempted to respond to her but Marner cut in, “For all I know, this weapon is intended for London or New York or Moscow. You are expecting me to believe that the target is Berlin, but without showing me a shred of solid evidence. Why should I find it and betray it to you?  And how do you expect me to do it if, as we both know, I am a fugitive?  If you set me free to pursue the U-180, I could go directly to my superiors and tell them what I know, about your hunt for the submarine.”

After taking a moment to calm Ulrike who was about to unleash another volley of invective, David answered, “Dieter, you are correct in saying that we would be taking a risk in setting you free, but our logic is that you are limited in what you can do. For two reasons: the first is that you have changed from someone who was making noise about the U-180 for the wrong reason, to someone who knows the full details about the U-180. If your people were trying to silence you before, what do you imagine that your fate will be now?  The second is that it is imperative that you do not do so, because if what you know becomes open knowledge in the German High Command, it may tip the balance of power towards those who want to depose Hitler. The result being that in the absence of his regular scheduled communications to keep the U-180 passive, it will launch the weapon. We are also concerned that the U-180 may not be the only one. Therefore, we are obliged to play a careful game. One that involves taking some time to apply resources, you included, to the task of exposing the full details of what he is planning. Then and only then will we make our move; carefully, not precipitately. You do understand this, don’t you?”

Despite himself and his determination to remain aloof from these people and their mad story, Marner nodded.

“So now I will explain what we are proposing to do, and the part that you are going to play. Your role will be to verify the intended target of the weapon and where it will be launched from. We are currently assuming that it will be in the Baltic, because that is the only sea within the range limit of a standard V2 to Berlin.  However, information from our agents inside Pennemunde indicates that the fuel capacity and therefore the range of this particular one has been increased. The special warhead has a lighter payload and size compared to conventional high explosives, which would enable this. We also want you to find out if there are any others. To achieve this, we will reinsert you back into France this evening, close to Paris. There may be information on the U-180 at the Kriegsmarine headquarters there. The U-180 is probably going to be out at sea for many months waiting for the ‘fire’ order. She is going to have to refuel and resupply and that may still be managed by Captain Graf’s group. Quite simply, she cannot stay out for too long without support, without leaving traces. It will then be up to you to follow the trail. We know that you will be a fugitive and in danger, but that is a risk that we have to take.”

Marner broke into this discourse, “What do you expect me to do if I find that the real target is not Berlin, that it is aimed at London or New York?”

“Whether you contact us or not in that event will be down to your conscience. However, if the target is confirmed as Berlin, then your best hope is to work with us.”

David gathered up the various documents on the table and replaced them in the folder. “You now have a very busy day ahead of you. Ulrike will brief you on the technical aspects that you need to know. There will also be some training in what we call ‘field craft’; the art of communicating with us via letters and coded signals, advertisements in newspapers and that kind of thing. Our show of commitment to this ah,
joint venture
, is the agents that we will be putting at risk by giving you such details.”

“Why me?”

“Because you are German. We have numerous agents and assets in various places working on this project. What those people don’t have is your natural ease and confidence as a bona fide SD officer, with a genuine identity and papers no less. You have more chance of walking into any military installation from Paris to Berlin than any ten of my operatives put together. We know from our debrief of Madame Lemele that you are competent and capable.”

“And if I refuse?”

Ulrike laughed; the sound was like a slap on the face. Marner wondered what was coming; the threat of the firing squad after all?  David picked up again, this time looking at him directly and with a determined set to his previously affable features and demeanour. “Dieter, you don’t have any choice. Paris is about to fall and we need to get you in there immediately to give you at least a couple of days to ferret out what you can. Therefore tonight, willing or not, you will be shoved out of a plane three thousand feet above the Forêt de Saint-Germain,” David smiled at the look of alarm in Marner’s face, “But don’t worry, we will give you a parachute!”

“You are insane,” retorted Marner.

When David stood up abruptly and picked up the file, Marner wondered whether he had goaded the man too far. However, David’s face and voice were calm, “To modify a phrase, as best I can in my poor French, mine is a sane reaction to an insane world. We won’t meet again, so I wish you the very best of luck.”  And he walked from the room without a further word.

HISTORICAL REFERENCES

Through 1944 and 1945, the German Reich was providing some of their most advanced weapons technology to their Japanese Axis power ally. This included V1 and V2 rockets, enriched and refined radioactive isotope material for manufacture of nuclear weapons, as well as other materials for weapons of mass destruction such as biological and chemical agents.

Numerous submarine and surface vessel convoys were despatched with these items. These included the convoy of the three submarines U-180, U-195 and U-219 who departed Bordeaux for Jakarta in August 1944. The U-195 and U-219 both reached Jakarta and delivered their cargos that included V2 rocket parts and Uranium Oxide.

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The German technical team developing the V-weapons were working on a submersible launch platform for ballistic missiles, codenamed alternatively
Prufstand XII, Schwimmweste, Lafferenz
. The objective was to be able to put these weapons within range of targets that were beyond the capabilities of the V2 fired from European launch sites. Primarily this included cities on the eastern seaboard of the USA, with the intention of convincing the American government to withdraw their military support to the European Allies. The Allies were aware of this program and drew up a specific plan to counter any such attempt by u-boats to attack the US coast (Operation Teardrop).