Chapter One Thousand One Hundred
18th September 1954
Scapa Flow, Scotland
Jacob crossed from the Atlantic Flagship, the SMS Kiel, to the HMS Lion with the crew of the British Battleship glaring at him. They saw the presence of the Kiel, a Heavy Cruiser, as rubbing salt into the wound. Though she was much smaller than the Battleship the Kiel was much more flexible in her design and most of all, cost less to operate and required a smaller crew. Tarp covered steel boxes amidships also meant that the Kiel could reduce the Lion to scrap from well over the horizon if it came down to it. The irony was that if they knew the real reason why Jacob was here, they would probably be completely bewildered. They also knew that Jacob’s counterpart the First Sea Lord, Bruce Fraser, Baron of North Cape was on board.
It wasn’t shocking that he looked less than thrilled when Jacob walked into the wardroom.
“When I was told that you wanted to meet my hopes of being allowed to retire quietly before I had to deal with another one of your swindles were dashed” Fraser said flatly.
“I am not here to swindle you” Jacob said and saw that Fraser was looking at him skeptically. “It’s for reasons of strategic balance and I’m trying to help.”
“You, help?” Fraser asked, “Like you did by giving us War Plan Red all those years ago? That caused a nice rupture with our friends across Atlantic.”
“If I recall correct that very real plan the Americans cooked up was stolen from my office” Jacob said, “I even asked for it back nicely and was told no.”
Jacob must not had have kept the smirk off his face because if looks could kill the one that Fraser gave him would have reduced him to pile of ash. When Jacob had arranged for the American war plan to be leaked to the British, his asking for it back was to confirm they had gotten it and convince them of its authenticity.
“I fail to see how you or your Kaiser benefit by helping my Navy” Fraser said.
“It’s very simple” Jacob said, “It is not in Germany’s interest to have Britain fall apart at this time. Thirty years ago, we would have been overjoyed to watch your island burn to the ground, but times have changed, and it is not just your Navy that concerns us.”
Jacob pulled a notebook out of his briefcase and handed it to Fraser. The British Admiral looked like Jacob was handing him a poisonous snake.
“What is this?” Fraser asked as he flipped through the pages.
“It is what I would do if I were in your shoes” Jacob replied, “You can do whatever you want with it.”
What he didn’t say was that he had discussed this with Field Marshal Holz and the Chancellor. They had concluded that a weakened United Kingdom in a defensive crouch was not something that they could afford. There were many things that the English did better than anyone else on the globe. They might put their pride aside and sell that expertise in ways that would be to the disadvantage of the Kaiserliche Marine.
“You are clearly playing a game of some kind von Schmidt” Fraser said, “I don’t want my legacy to be that chasing you down a rabbit hole was one of the last things I did.”
“Have it your way then” Jacob replied.
It was noticeable that Fraser had made no move to give the notebook back.
Langley, Virginia
This was a nice way for the CIA to let him know that the vacation was over. For the last three days, almost from the instant that they had stepped off the plane at National, Jonny had been grilled about everything he had said, done, seen and who he had been doing it with since he had left the country in late June.
“How did you know that that the hotel suite was bugged?” The grey faced functionary of the sort that seemed to run this place asked. There were two of them in the room and aside from their thinning hair being different colors, Jonny could hardly tell them apart.
“I assumed that it was” Jonny replied, “If I were them, it’s what I would have done.”
“So, you had no idea” The functionary said, it almost sounded like an accusation.
“Perhaps I ought to have stomped around the room yelling about how the Kaiser could suck my dick until a group of those lunatics from the German Airborne came in and kicked my ass” Jonny replied, “You know, just to be sure.”
“There is no reason for sarcasm today Mr. Casey” The second functionary said, “Besides that, we doubt that the German BII would have compromised an operation just for the satisfaction of having you beaten up.”
Jonny noticed that the first functionary was nodding in agreement with the second, as if they just discussed the matter between themselves. That was just downright spooky.
“Now, you assumed that the hotel suite was bugged and warned your partner, Mr. Parker about it” The first functionary said, “That is operational protocol in such situations.”
Jonny had also wanted Parker to not to run his mouth like he did when he was nervous. With the two of them in the spotlight because of the race and the newspaper articles it was inevitable that Parker would do that. He was not about to tell that to either of these men.
“Two days after that you went to Wolfsburg?” The second functionary asked.
