Alpha Threat (43 page)
Maas slowly walked over and stood in front of the door.
“Now let’s address the missing persons, this cook and a technician, you say.”
“Yes, sir,” said Grübner, checking his notes.
“Wilhelm Door, he is the cook, and Carla von Gerber is a power plant technician.”
“Door,” said Maas.
“A cook, you say.
Was he an original or was he brought over?”
“He was born here in 1988.
His parents are Paul Door, a science technician in the Production Department; his mother, Lena, is a childcare worker,” reported Grübner, checking his files.
“Any issues with Wilhelm or the family?” asked Maas.
“None, sir,” reported Grübner.
“They are all model personnel.”
“Carla von Gerber,” said Grübner.
“What about her?”
“Von Gerber was born here in 1989.
Her father was Dr. Johann von Gerber.
He was one of the main developers of our power generation systems.
His wife, Ute, is one of our schoolteachers.”
“Dr. Johann von Gerber.
I remember him.
He died several years back, right?” queried Maas.
“Yes, sir.
Dr. von Gerber died of a heart attack in 2008,” answered Grübner.
“Yes, I do remember him,” said Maas walking across the room.
“He was a bit of a troublemaker, if I remember correctly.”
“I see he was reprimanded for speaking openly about leaving,” said Grübner reading from the file.
“But he was younger.
As an older man, von Gerber helped the cause magnificently with many important power innovations.”
Maas continued to walk about the room.
“So why did they leave?” asked Maas rhetorically.
“Why would such fine personnel leave?”
“I do not know, sir,” said Grübner, sitting straight up in his chair nervously.
“Have the Doors and Frau von Gerber been told of their children’s disappearance?” asked Maas.
“Yes, sir; they were told about twenty minutes ago.
Both families are very distraught and concerned for their safety.”
“I see,” said Maas scratching his head.
“And they looked sincere?”
“Yes, sir.
They seemed very upset. “
“
Oberleutnant
, find out why this man and woman left.
And find out fast.
My opinion is we have two love-struck kids looking for a better life outside.
They are involved; correct?”
Grübner hesitated to answer.
He quickly scanned the dossiers in front of him.
“Yes, sir; we do know the two are romantically involved. “
“Were their intentions recorded in the central file?” asked Maas pointedly.
Grübner again checked the dossiers.
“No, sir; not to anyone’s knowledge.”
Maas stopped abruptly and slammed his fist down on Grübner’s desk.
The entire room seemed to shake.
“Why didn’t you know about this relationship?
Why did you not know of this tryst going on under your nose?” demanded Maas.
“I’m sorry, sir.
It looks as though they hid their relationship very well.
We had no way of knowing…”
“
Oberleutnant
, you are incompetent!” cried Maas.
“Your inadequacies may have cost us this complex.
You, not me, will be held totally responsible.
Do you understand?”
Maas calmed a bit and stood beside the door.
He took a few breaths to calm himself down even more.
“Have you alerted the perimeter forces?” Maas asked calmly.
“Yes, sir; the perimeter forces were alerted as soon as we discovered the two missing,” said Grübner.
There was a knock at the door.
Maas turned and opened it, faced with another security guard.
“Sir, we have a problem.”
“Come in,” said Maas.
“What is the problem now?”
Maas grinned at Grübner.
Maas was furious.
The guard stepped in and closed the door.
“One of our perimeter patrols was attacked.
Another patrol found them bound and gagged a few minutes ago,” reported the guard.
Maas stepped up in front of the guard.
“Attacked?
What happened?”
“They report two men dressed in fatigues jumped the patrol, disarmed them and tied them up.”
“Any sign of where they went?” asked Maas coolly, now deep in thought.
Grübner, on the other hand, was about to faint when he heard the report.
“No, sir; we cannot find any trace of them anywhere around the area of the patrol or the complex,” said the guard.
“Our patrols are continuing.”
“Damn,” cursed Maas, slamming his huge fist into his hand.
“This is a big problem.
Now I wonder if the two escaped or were taken from here.
Grübner, I want every available person on this now.
Add extra patrols and find me those two men.
Kill them if you have to.
They must not get away.”
“Right away, sir,” said Grübner as he stood and picked up the phone.
He called the ready room and ordered his men to meet in five minutes.
Everyone was required.
This was an all-hands-on-deck situation.
Minutes later they were all in the ready room.
“I do not have to tell you the importance of the security of this complex,” lectured Maas to the men in the room.
He turned to his guards.
“Get all available personnel and double the guards about the complex.
I want to know if someone as much as sneezes.
Your very existence relies on this.
Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir,” the guards answered.
They turned and flew out the door and down the hall.
The security of Fortress Alpha truly became that of a fortress.
Nothing moved without permission.
“I will report this to the Führer personally,” said Maas.
“She will not like it.”
Maas looked directly at Grübner.
“You will fix this situation.
Do you understand me?”
Maas’ glare was frightening.
“Yes, sir, I understand completely,” Grübner said snapping to attention.
Maas smiled deviously.
“Grübner, you damn well better understand or I will personally kill you.”
With that Maas snatched open the door and walked briskly down the hall.
Oberleutnant
Grübner stood there for a second.
He nearly soiled his pants.
He is a dead man, he thought.
Dead!
Ten minutes later Maas was in the Führer’s office.
“
Mein Führer
, we have a serious security problem,” started Maas.
As he reported the incidents to Kaete Grimme, Maas saw her becoming angrier by the minute.
Her face was becoming red as she clenched her fists.
Her eyes were fixated on Maas with a fury raising fear in Maas’ mind.
When he finished his report, she exploded.
Her temper was uncontrollable.
She screamed at Maas.
She marched around him as if he was a child caught doing an unspeakable deed.
She ranted about the years of service she had to the Reich and the importance of their operations.
After a tirade lasting almost twenty minutes, she sat down and simply stared at Maas as if she was exhausted.
Maas knew he must perform a miracle and find the cook, the technician and these men.
It was either he find them or the Führer would take care of him.
But not before he took care of Grübner.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Finley Base Camp, Cotriguacu, Brazil;
7:00 p.m.
The sun was descending below the trees as darkness began to blanket the jungle.
Lee Watson was expecting Ben, Dane and Hugo any minute.
She wanted to radio them but decided not.
She sat back in the wooden rocking chair on the porch reflecting on the last several days’ events.
The jungle was beautiful this time of the evening.
The heat of the day was past and tonight there was a slight breeze that cleared the jungle haze.
She could hear the sound of rolling thunder in the distance.
There must be a storm coming, she thought.
She closed her eyes for a moment and thought of the United States.
Although she missed the U.S. she was truly happy in Brazil.
She longed to drive a car to the local burger joint and wrap her hands around a nice juicy cheeseburger and fries.
And don’t forget the onion rings and ice-cold Coca-Cola, she thought.
She also missed pizza, no special type.
She missed any kind of pizza, whether it was sausage, pepperoni or just plain cheese.
For a second she thought of contacting the Princeton folks to see if they could bring down some pizza when they came.
She laughed to herself and shook her head.
That would be a very expensive pizza carry-out order.
Furthermore, Lee missed her husband and kids.
Many years had passed since their death, but sometimes at night she imagined she heard her husband’s voice.
To have all of them taken from her at once was a devastating shock; a shock from which she never expected to recover.
But she did, to some extent.
At least the pain was not so sharp.
The emptiness was still there especially when she was alone.
The jungle is a peaceful place to think over one’s life, but at the same time it is a disturbing place when remembering deceased loved ones.
A tear formed in Lee’s eye and ran down her face.
She wiped it with her hand and continued to rock.
Lee’s husband, Daniel, was a successful lawyer in Columbia, South Carolina.
They lived in a wonderful home out on the shores of Lake Murray.
He was well established in governmental affairs and was a bright and shining star in South Carolina politics.
They even entertained his running for governor or even for the U.S. Senate.
The night of the plane crash dashed all of those hopes.
Two hundred and ten souls aboard and only three survived; two babies and one young man.
She wondered what would have been if Amy had lived and gone to the University of Texas.
She so loved UT, not only because her father went there but she dearly loved Austin.
By now Amy would have graduated from UT and would be attending medical school.
She wanted to be a pediatrician.
She loved children as much as her younger sister, Erin, loved animals.
Amy would have made a wonderful doctor.
Erin was Lee’s baby, a sweet child of fourteen when she died.
She was too young to know what she wanted in a career but she always loved animals.
Maybe she would have been a veterinarian.
Lee smiled to herself.
She remembered Erin’s dogs and cats.
She couldn’t decide which she wanted so Erin had lobbied her father for one of each, a puppy and a kitten.
She loved her animals so much, Rascal the spaniel and Hobie the cat.
That led her to adopt still another cat and two more dogs; the Watson household was a veritable animal menagerie.
All that was gone now, but they all lived in her heart forever.
The rumbling of the storm was getting nearer, bringing Lee back to reality.
