‘And yet they’d go ahead,’ Nicole said, and thought to herself, So we’re correct; the Karp people are already too strong. Already possess far too much autonomy. And they won’t abandon this without a fight.’
‘Individuals high in cartel circles are peculiarly stiffnecked,’ Pembroke said. ‘The last of the true Prussians, perhaps. The Attorney General has asked that you contact him before going ahead in this matter; he will be glad to outline the direction of the state’s litigation against the Werke, and he’s anxious to discuss several sensitive aspects with you. By and large, however, the Attorney General is prepared to move in at any time. As soon as he receives notification. However — ‘ Pembroke glanced at her sideways.
‘I wonder. It’s the summation of all data reaching me that the cartel system as a whole is simply too enormous, too sturdily constructed and interlocked, to be brought down. That, instead of direct action against it, some sort of quid pro quo should be brought about. Such appears to me to be much more desirable. And feasible.’
Nicole said, ‘But that’s up to me.’
Both Garth McRae and Pembroke nodded in unison.
‘I will discuss this with Maxwell Jamison,’ she said finally.
‘Max will have a relatively clear idea as to how this information about the der Alte will be received by the Bes, by the uniformed public. I have no idea how they would react. Would they riot? Would they find it amusing? Personally I find it amusing. I’m sure it would appear that way to me if I were, say, a rather minor employee of some cartel or government agency. Do you agree?’
Neither man smiled; both remained tense and sombre.
‘In my opinion, if I may say so,’ Pembroke said, ‘release of this information will topple the entire structure of our society.’
‘But it is amusing,’ Nicole persisted. ‘Isn’t it? Rudi is a dummy, an ersatz creation of the cartel system, and yet he’s the highest elected official in the USEA. These people voted for him and for the der Alte before him and so on back for fifty years — I’m sorry, but it has to be funny; there’s no other way to look at it.’ She was laughing now; the idea of not knowing this Geheimnis, this state secret and suddenly finding it out, was too much for her. ‘I think I’ll go ahead,’ she told Garth. ‘Yes, I’ve made up my mind; contact the Karp Werke tomorrow morning. Talk directly with both Anton and Felix. Tell them, among other things, that we will arrest them instantly if they try to betray us to the Bes. Tell them that the NP is ready to move on them.’
‘Yes, Mrs Thibodeaux,’ Garth said, with gloom.
‘And don’t take it so hard,’ Nicole said. ‘If the Karps do go ahead and release the Geheimnis, we’ll still survive — I think you’re wrong: it won’t mean the end of our status quo at all.’
Garth said, ‘Mrs Thibodeaux, if the Karps release this information, no matter how the Bes react, there can never be another der Alte. And legally speaking, you hold your position of authority only because you’re the wife. It’s hard to keep that in mind, because — ‘ Garth hesitated.
‘Say it,’ Nicole said.
‘Because it’s clear to everyone, Bes and Ges alike, that you are the ultimate authority in the establishment. And it’s essential to maintain the myth that somehow, indirectly at least, you were placed here by the people, by mass public vote.’
There was silence.
Pembroke said finally, ‘Perhaps the NP should move in on the Karps before they can put out their white paper. Thereby we’d cut them off from the organs of communication.’
‘Even under arrest,’ Nicole said, ‘the Karps would manage to gain access to at least one of the media. Better face that fact.’
‘But their reputation, if they’re under arrest — ‘
‘The only solution,’ Nicole said thoughtfully, half to herself, ‘would be to assassinate those officers of the Werke who attended the policy meeting. In other words, all the Ges of the cartel, no matter how many there are. Even if the numbers ran up into the hundreds.’ In other words, she said to herself, a purge. Such as one generally only witnessed in times of revolution.
She shrank from the idea.
‘Nacht und Nebel,’
Pembroke murmured.
‘What?’ Nicole said.
‘The Nazi term for the invisible agents of the government who deal in murder.’ He faced Nicole calmly. ‘Night and fog. They were the Einsatzgruppen. Monsters. Of course our police, the NP has nothing like that. I’m sorry; you’ll have to act through the military. Not through us.’
‘I was joking,’ Nicole said.
Both men studied her.
‘There are no more purges,’ Nicole said. ‘There haven’t been any since World War Three. You know that. We’re too modern, too civilized, for massacres now.’
Pembroke, frowning, his lips twitching nervously, said, ‘Mrs Thibodeaux, when the technicians from the von Lessinger Institute bring Goering to our period, perhaps you can arrange for an Einsatzgruppe to be brought, too. It could assume responsibility vis-à-vis the Karps and then return to the Age of Barbarism.’
She stared at him open-mouthed.
‘I’m serious,’ Pembroke said, stammering slightly. ‘It certainly would be better — for us at least — than allowing the Karps to make public the information they possess. That’s the worst alternative of all.’
‘I agree,’ Garth McRae said.
‘It’s insane,’ Nicole said.
Garth McRae said, ‘Is it? Through von Lessinger’s principle we have access to trained assassins, and, as you pointed out, in our era no such professionals exist. I doubt if it would mean the destruction of scores or hundreds of individuals. I’d guess it could be limited to the board of directors, the executive vice-presidents of the Werke. Possibly as few as eight men.’
‘And,’ Pembroke pointed out eagerly, ‘these eight men, these top officers at Karp, are de facto criminals; they’ve deliberately met and conspired against the legal government. They’re on a par with the Sons of Job. With that Bertold Goltz. Even though they wear black bow ties every evening and drink vintage wine and don’t squabble in the gutters and streets.’
‘May I say,’ Nicole said drily, ‘that all of us are de facto criminals. Because this government — as you pointed out is based on a fraud. And of the most primary magnitude.’
‘But it’s the legal government,’ Garth said. ‘Fraud or not. And the so-called “fraud” is in the best interests of the people. We’re not doing it to exploit anyone — as the cartel system does. We’re not out to engorge ourselves at somebody else’s expense.’
At least, Nicole thought, that’s what we tell ourselves.
Pembroke said respectfully, ‘Having talked just now to the Attorney General I know how he feels about the rising power of the cartels. Epstein feels they must be cut down. It’s essential!’
‘Perhaps,’ Nicole said, ‘you have a trifle too much respect for the cartels. I don’t. And — perhaps we should wait a day or so until Hermann Goering is with us and we can ask for an opinion from him.’
Now the two men were staring at her open-mouthed.
‘I’m not serious,’ she said. Or was she? She did not know, herself. ‘After all,’ she said, ‘Goering founded the Gestapo.”
‘I could never approve of that,’ Pembroke said, with hauteur.
‘But you don’t make policy,’ Nicole said to him. ‘Technically, Rudi does. That is, I do. I can compel you to act on my behalf in this matter. And you’d do it … unless, of course, you’d prefer to join the Sons of Job and march up and down the streets throwing rocks and chanting.’
Both Garth McRae and Pembroke looked uneasy. And acutely unhappy.
‘Don’t be frightened,’ Nicole said. ‘Do you know what the true basis of political power is? Not guns or troops but the ability to get others to do what you want them to do. By whatever means are appropriate. I know I can get the NP to do what I want — despite what you personally feel. I can get Hermann Goering to do what I want. It won’t be Goering’s decision; it’ll be mine.’
‘I hope,’ Pembroke said presently, ‘that you’re right, that you will be able to handle Goering. I admit that on a strictly subjective level I’m frightened, frightened of this entire experiment with the past. You may open the floodgates. Goering is not a clown.’
‘I’m well aware of that,’ Nicole said. ‘And don’t presume to give me advice, Mr Pembroke. It’s not your place.’
Pembroke flushed, was silent a moment and then said in a low voice, ‘Sorry. Now, if it’s all right with you, Mrs Thibodeaux, I’d like to bring up one other matter. It has to do with the sole remaining psychoanalyst now practising in the USEA. Dr Egon Superb. In explanation of the NP’s reason for allowing him to — ‘