euphemism for they'll beat your head against a rock if you're a bad guy," explained Latham.
"You're satisfied with them, Stosh?"
"Very definitely."
"And they both speak fluent French and GermanP' added De Vries.
"Absolutely. The first is a Captain Christian Dietz, thirty-two, graduate of Denison University, and a career army officer. Parents and grandparents were German, the latter part of the German underground during the Third Reich. His father and mother were sent to the U.S. as children."
"The other?" said Drew.
"A lieutenant named Anthony, Gerald Anthony. He's a little more interesting," said the colonel: "He has dual master's degrees in French and German literature, was going for his Ph.D. while teaching at a small college in Pennsylvania, when he decided, in his own words, that he couldn't take campus politics. I thought I'd ask them up here," continued Witkowski.
"We'd sort of get to know each other quietly, informally."
"That's a good idea, Stanley," said Karin.
"I'll have the kitchen prepare some hors d'oeuvres and coffee, perhaps drinks."
"No," countered Drew.
"No hors d'oeuvres, no coffee, and definitely no drinks. This is a cold paramilitary operation, let's keep it that way."
"Isn't that a bit too cold?"
"He's right, young lady, although I never thought I'd hear him say it. I was wrong, the time for that kind of informality comes later.
After you see the slack, or lack of it, in their ropes."
De Vries looked at him questioningly.
"They're still being evaluated," explained Latham.
"Interviewed for the job-how do they behave, what have they got to offer? Two Special Forces officers who've operated behind enemy lines in any war should have input."
"I wasn't aware that we had such a pool of candidates."
"We don't, but they don't know that. Call for them to come up, Stanley."
Captain Christian Dietz, except for his relatively short stature, could have walked out of a poster for the Hitler Youth. Blond, blue-eyed, and with a body to be envied by an Olympic champion, he carried himself like the experienced commando he was. Lieutenant Gerald Anthony, on the other hand, was equally muscular but much taller and dark-haired, a reed-thin man who evoked' the image of an upright bullwhip, ready to coil and lash out lethally at any given instant. Contradictorily, both their faces were utterly devoid of malice, their eyes without a trace of hostility. And to complete the incongruity, they were, as Witkowski had mentioned, basically shy men, hesitant to expound on their past activities or their citations.
"We were at the right place at the right time," said Dietz without comment.
"Our intelligence was excellent," added Anthony.
"Without it, we'd have been roasted over an Iraqi fire, that is, if they'd ever learned how to make one in the sand."
"You worked together, then?" asked Drew.
"Our radio code was Alpha-Delta."
"Delta-Alpha," Dietz corrected Gerald Anthony.
"Both were used," said Anthony, grinning at his friend.
"Okay," agreed the captain, smiling modestly.
"You've read the Traupman report," Latham went on.
"Any suggestions?"
"A restaurant," said Lieutenant Anthony.
"The river," said Captain Dietz simultaneously.
"I say we, wait in Nuremberg and follow him to Bonn, using the
"Why a restaurant?" asked Karin, addressing Anthony.
"It's easy to create a diversion-"
"I said that," interrupted De Vries.
by starting a fire," continued the lieutenant, "or by spotting the bodyguards and immobilizing them by force or with instant sedatives in their water or food. Frankly, I think a fire is more effective. All those flanib6 dishes; it's so simple to switch sauces and the whole place is filled with flames that are short-lived but distract everyone while we take the subject."
"And the river?" interjected Witkowski.
"You can cork the gas jets on the gunwales-we've done it. before
Saddam Hussein's patrols all had them. Then you blow out the cameras with high-powered pellets, as if the electrical systems had malfunctioned. The key is doing it by scuba, out of camera range, and before the boat gets near shore. You climb on board and get out of the area."
"Let's go back," said Latham.
"Lieutenant, why do you think a restaurant in Nuremberg is more efficient than the river in Bonn?"
"Saves time, to begin with, and there's too much room for error on the water, sit. Visibility is poor, gas jets could be missed, as well as the transmitting cameras-even one. The emergency helicopter has powerful searchlights and the motorboat is easily identifiable. As I understand it, the enemy would prefer that the subject be killed by strafing or bombing than be taken alive."
"Good point," said the colonel.
"And you, Captain, why do you think a restaurant is a poor choice?"
"Again, too much room for error, sit," Dietz said.