was fascinated to watch the man breathe simultaneously through’his mouth
and nostrils. The agent in Terceira had said Eugene Lyons was ‘odd’;
if this Kendall was’normal,’he couldn’t wait to meet the scientist. The Buenos
Aires operation seemed simple enough, far less complicated than most of the
Lisbon work. So simple, in fact, that it angered him to think he had been
removed from Lisbon for it. Had anyone bothered to fill him in a few weeks
ago, he could have saved Washington a lot of planning, and probably money.
He had been dealing with the German underground since that organization had
consolidated its diverse factions and become an effective force. If this
Erich Rhinemann was capable of buying the designs, removing them from the
PeenemUnde complex, he -the man in Lisbon – could have gotten them out of
the country. Probably with more security than trying to slip them out of
North Sea or Channel ports. Those ports were clamped tight, obsessively
patrolled. Had they not been, much of his own work would have been
unnecessary. The only really remarkable aspect of the operation was that
Rhinemann could get blueprints – on anything – related to Peenemdride. That
was extraordinary. Peencintinde was a concrete and steel vault buried in the
earth. With the most complex system of safeguards and backups ever, devised.
It would be easier to get a man out – for any number of invented reasons –
than to remove a single page of paper.
Further, PeenemUnde kept its laboratories separate, vital stages
coordinated by only a handful of elite scientific personnel under Gestapo
check. In Buenos Aires terms, this meant that Erich Rhinemann was able to
(1) reach and buy diverse laboratory heads in a systematic order; (2)
circumvent or buy (impossible) the Gestapo; or (3) enlist the cooperation
of those handful of scientists who crossed laboratory lines.
David’s experience led him to disqualify the last two possibilities; there
was too much room for betrayal. Rhinemann must have concentrated on the
laboratory heads; that was dangerous enough but more feasible.
As Kendall talked, David decided to keep his conclusions to himself. He
would ask several questions, one or two of which he really wanted answered,
but he would not form a partnership with Walter Kendall at this time. It
was an easy decision to make. Kendall was one of the least likable men he’d
ever met.
‘Is there any particular reason why the designs have to be delivered in
stages?’ Spaulding asked.
7hey may not be. But Rhmemann’s smuggling them out section by section.
Everybody’s got a schedule; he says it’s safer
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that way. From his projections, we figure a period of a week.’
‘All right, that makes sense…. And this Lyons fellow can authenticate
them?’
‘There’s no one better. I’ll get to him in a few minutes; there are a
couple of things you’ll have to know. Once in Argentina, he’s your
property.’
‘That sounds ominous.’
‘You can handle him. You’ll have help…. The point is, as soon as he’s
cleared those blueprints, you send the codes and Rhinemann gets paid. Not
before.’
‘I don’t understand. Why so complicated? If they check out, why not pay him
off in Buenos AiresT
‘He doesn’t want that money in an Argentine bank.’
‘It must be a bundle.’
‘It is.’
‘From what little I know of this Rhinemann, isn’t it unusual for him to be
working with the German undergroundT
‘He’s a Jew.’
‘Don’t tell any graduates of Auschwitz. They won’t believe you.
‘War makes necessary relationships. Look at us. We’re working with the
Reds. Same thing: common goals, forget the disagreements.’
‘In this case, that’s a little cold-blooded.’
‘Their problem, not ours.’
‘I won’t pursue it…. One obvious question. Since I’m on my way to Buenos
Aires, the embassy, why this stop in New York? Wouldn’t it have been easier
to just rotate from Lisbon to Argentina?’
‘A last-minute decision, I’m afraid. Awkward, huhT
‘Not too smooth. Am I on a transfer listT
‘A whatT
‘Foreign Service transfer sheet. State Department. Mlitary attachd.,
‘I don’t know. Whyr
‘I’d like to find out if it’s common knowledge that I left Lisbon. Or could
be common knowledge. I didn’t think it was supposed to be.’
‘Then it wasn’t. Why?’
‘So I know how to behave, that’s all.’
‘We thought you should spend a few days getting familiar with
171
everything. Meet Lyons, me; go over the schedule, What we’re after, that
sort of thing.’
‘Very considerate.’David saw the questioning look on Kendall’s face. ‘No,
I mean that. So often we get thrown field problems knowing too little
background. I’ve done it to men myselE … Then this discharge, the combat
in Italy, they’re the cover for my Lisbon activities? For New York only.’
‘Yeah, I guess that’s right.’ Kendall, who’d been sitting on the edge of
his desk, got up and walked around to his chair.
‘How far am I to carry iff
‘Carry whatT Kendall avoided looking at David, who was leaning forward on
an office couch.
‘The cover. The papers mention Fifth Army -that’s Clark; Thirty-Fourth
Division, One Hundred and Twelfth Battalion, et cetera. Should I bone up?
I don’t know much about the Italian Theater. Apparently I got hit beyond
Salerno; are there circumstancesT
‘That’s army stuff. As far as I’m concerned you’ll be here five, six days,
then Swanson will see you and send you down to Buenos Aires.’
‘All right, I’ll wait for General Swanson.’ David realized there was no
point in pursuing G-2 rituals with Kendall…. Part professional, part
amateur. The hesitation waltz.
‘Until you leave you’ll spend whatever time you think is necessary with
Lyons. In his office.’
‘Fine. I’d like to meet him.’ David stood up.
‘Sit down, he’s not here today. Nobody’s here today but the receptionist.
Till one o’clock. It’s New Year’s Eve.’ Kendall slumped into his chair and
took out a cigarette, which he squeezed. ‘I’ve got to tell you about
Lyons.’
‘All right.’ David returned to the couch.
‘He’s a drunk. He spent four years in jail, in a penitentiary. He can
hardly talk because his throat got burned out with raw alcohol…. He’s
also the smartest son of a bitch in aerophysics.’
Spaulding stared at Kendall without replying for several moments. When he
did speak, he made no attempt to conceal his shock. ‘That’s kind of a
contradictory recommendation, isn’t it?’
‘I said he’s smart.’
‘So are half the lunatics in Bellevue. Can he function? Since he’s going to
be my “property” – as you put it – Id like to know what the hell you’ve
given me. And why, not incidentally.’
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‘He’s the best.’
That doesn’t answer my question. Questions.’
‘You’re a soldier. You take orders.’
‘I give them, too. Don’t start that way.’
‘All right…. O.K. You’re entitled, I guess.’
‘I’d say so.’
‘Eugene Lyons wrote the book on physical aerodynamics; he was the youngest
full professor at the Massachusetts Institute Of Technology. Maybe he was
too young; he went downhill fast. Bum marriage, a lot of drinking, a lot of
debts; the debts did it, they usually do. That and too many brains no one
wants to pay for.’
‘Did what?’
‘He went out of his skull, a week’s bender. When he woke up in a South Side
Boston hotel room, the girl he was with was dead. He’d beaten her to
death…. She was a whore so nobody cared too much; still, he did it. They
called it unpremeditated murder and MIT got him a good lawyer. He served
four years, got out and nobody would hire him, wouldn’t touch him…. That
was 1936. He gave up; joined the skid row bums. I mean he really joined
them.’ Kendall paused and grinned.
David was disturbed by the accountant’s smile; there was nothing funny in
the story. ‘Obviously he didn’t stay there.’It was all he could think to
say.
‘Did for damn near three years. Got his throat burned out right down on
Houston Street.’
‘That’s very sad.’
‘Best thing that happened to him. in the hospital ward they took his
history and a doctor got interested. He was shipped off to the goddamned
CCC, was reasonably rehabilitated, and what with the war coming he got into
defense work.’
‘Then he’s all right now.’ Spaulding made the statement positively. Again,
it was all he could think to say.
‘You don’t clean out a man like that overnight. Or in a couple of years….
He has lapses, falls into the booze barrel now and then. Since working on
classified stuff he’s cooped up with his own personal wardens. For
instance, here in New York he’s got a room at St. Luke’s Hospital. He’s
taken back and forth just like your socialite drunks…. In California,
Lockheed’s got him in a garden apartment with male nurses round the clock,
when he’s away from the plants. Actually, he’s got it pretty good.’
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‘He must be valuable. That’s a lot of trouble …. *
‘I told you,’ interrupted Kendall. ‘He’s the best. He’s just got to be