him, "I have failed miserably. Do what you will."
"No, you haven't failed, you fucking idiot, because you couldn't have controlled this! These goddamned killers were willing to die tonight, and four did! Nobody can control fanatics like them. You can't, we can't, no one can because they don't give a shit about their lives. We can't obliterate their fanatical commitments, but we can outthink them, and you above all people know that!"
"What are you saying, Colonel?"
"Come inside with me, and I'll ream your tight ass with a blowtorch if you refuse to do what I want you to
"May I ask in what sphere?"
"Sure you can. You're going to lie through your teeth to your government, to the press, to any son of a bitch who wants to listen to you."
"So my grave is dug deeper?"
"No, it's your only way out of it."
r. Hans Traupman maneuvered his short speedboat into the modest dock of the small cottage on the Driverfront. No lights were necessary, as the summer moon was bright, glistening off the waters. And there were no dock hands to assist Traupman in securing his craft; they would be an added expense the defrocked Lutheran minister could ill afford. Ginter [email protected], as his. few friends in the Bundestag knew, watched his deutsche marks; it was rumored that his rent was minimal for the converted boathouse, now a cottage on the banks of the Rhine. The former estate beyond had been demolished in anticipation of a new mansion to be built in the near future. In truth, a new estate would be built, but more than a mansion, a magnificent fortress with all of the most modern technology to ensure the isolation and the safety of the new Fuhrer.
That day would come soon, when the Brfiderschaft controlled the Bundestag. The mountains. of Berchtesgaden would be replaced by the waters of the mighty Rhine, for Ginter jdger preferred the constantly moving river to the stationary snow-capped alps.
Ginter jdger .. . Adolf Hitler! Heil Hitler .. . Heil jAger! Even the syllabic rhythm fitted the man. More and more, jdger assumed the less public trappings of his predecessor: the absolute chain of command; the select few designated as his personal aides and through whom all appointments were made; his disdain for physical contact save for abrupt handshakes; his apparently genuine affection for young children, but not infants, and, finally, his asexuality.
Women could be admired aesthetically, but not in a lascivious manner; even off-color remarks were unacceptable in his presence.
Many ascribed this puritanical streak to his previous ecclesiastical duties, but Traupman, a physician to the brain, did not. Instead, he suspected a far darker explanation. Observing jdger in the presence of women, he thought he discerned brief flashes of hatred in the new hibrer's eyes when a woman was provocatively dressed or used her physical charms to flatter men. No, Gunter'Pger was not driven by a sense of purity, he was like his predecessor-pathologically obsessed by a fear of women, by how much their wiles could destroy. But the surgeon quite wisely decided to keep his speculations to himself. The new Germany was everything, and if it took a charismatic figure with a flaw or two to bring it about, so be it.
The doctor had asked for a private audience this night, for events were taking place in the field that jdger might not be aware of. His aides were intensely loyal, but none cared to be the bearer of disturbing news. Traupman, however, knew he was on safe ground, for he had literally plucked the mesmerizing orator from his enraged church and pushed him into the front ranks of the Brotherhood. In the final analysis, if there was one man left who could push him back, it was the celebrated surgeon.
He secured his boat, and awkwardly, painfully, climbed up on the dock only to be greeted by a heavyset guard who emerged from the shadows of a riverbank tree.
"Come, Herr Doktor," called out the man.
"The hibrer is waiting for you."
"In the house, of course?"
"No, sir. In the garden. Follow me, please."
"The garden? A cabbage patch is now a garden?"
"I myself planted a great many flowers and our staff cleared the riverbank. They placed flagstones where there were only reeds and debris."
"You're not exaggerating," said Traupman as they approached a small clearing on the edge of the Rhine, where two lanterns were suspended from tree branches, the wicks now being lighted by another aide. Around the short flagstone patio were several pieces of outdoor