The Wewelsburg
3rd May RY154 PM
After the Knights' Council I made my way back upstairs to the boss's quarters. Leon was on guard outside and saluted as he saw me. I answered in kind and went inside to find Hans in the lounge.
"Anything?"
"The Herzogin is with him again, but other than that, no."
"Is Heinrike around?"
"There was a disturbance at the gate about half an hour ago, and a messenger said there was someone here for you. As she didn't want to disturb you during the Council meeting, she headed downstairs to see what was going on. She hasn't come back yet."
I vaguely wondered if I should be worried, but then, I knew Heinrike could cope with most things, and thinking about it, there was a good chance that said disturbance might be related to the impending arrival of reinforcements from Eboracum, so I decided to check on the boss first. Juliana challenged me as I entered, but let me through once she recognised me, and I crossed over to him.
The monitors were showing a lot less red than they had the previous day, before Gerlinde had performed his highly unorthodox heart transplant, and the boss seemed better than he had even earlier that morning, when I'd called in before the Council meeting. Looking at him, I couldn't help feeling again that the Council had been very premature in its decision. Maybe, by evening, my father's legal documents wouldn't need to be signed after all.
"How are you doing, Herzogin Annifrid?" I asked, crossing to her and resting a comforting arm on her shoulder.
"Do you think he looks better?"
"In truth, yes I do."
"So do I...maybe he'll wake up soon."
"We can only hope. How are the children?"
"They're still worried. They know something's wrong with him, but don't understand what. I'll be bringing them in to see him this afternoon."
"Of course."
She looked up at me and gave a weak smile, but her face was drawn and her eyes were red.
"I know you won't let anything happen to him, Rikart."
"I will certainly do my best, my lady," I replied, with a formal nod.
At that point there was a knock on the door, and Hans looked inside.
"Obersturmbannführer Karsten says could you meet her down in the Honour Guard quarters."
I nodded and then headed out and downstairs.
The Honour Guard has a suite of rooms set aside for it down on the ground floor, near the staircase which leads up to the boss's quarters. It comprises a reasonably sized lounge area, and then four sets of en suite sleeping quarters, each arranged for up to four of the Guard, plus a private room for the deputy commander. In fact, as military quarters go, they're usually pretty comfortable. But what they aren't big enough for is another force of similar size to the Guard and their assorted kit.
The Eboracum troops had arrived.
As I entered, I glanced at the newcomers, and counted twelve in number, as I'd requested. All looked appropriate to the situation, and all were wearing a reasonably close approximation to our own uniforms, although the rank insignia were somewhat different. Heinrike was standing off to one side, in conversation with one of them, while the others milled about and made themselves comfortable. I noticed Oskar and Tobias glowering at them from the door to their assigned quarters, probably complaining about the cacophony of noise.
When she saw me, I caught the look of relief on Heinrike's face, and she gestured towards me, so the man she was talking about would see me.
"Colonel Schultz, I presume," he said, coming over to me and offering me his hand. He probably had ten centimetres of height over my 185, seemed alert and observant, and I could see him measuring me up in much the way that I was doing to him. His German was reasonably good, although I could detect a slight accent.
"I am...and you've already met my Deputy, Lt Colonel Karsten."
"I have. I am Octavius Otho, Major commanding this detachment of the Holy Guard of Eboracum. My orders..."
And he reached into his tunic and brought out a set of sealed orders, which he handed to me. I noticed that my name was written on the front, so I flipped them over. I noticed that the seal was that of the Pater Deorum himself, rather than that of whoever actually commanded the Holy Guard, and felt magic in that seal.
"For your eyes only, sir," he explained as I looked up at him, quizzically, "if anyone other than yourself were to open them, then the packet would become unreadable."
Neat trick. I carefully split open the seal, then unfolded the papers and scanned the contents. As well as the orders themselves, there were brief files on each of the men before me, detailing their age and experience within the forces of Eboracum.
"These say you are to put yourself under my command," I commented.
"That is my understanding, sir," he replied, smartly, "for as long as you require us."
"They also indicate that you should swear an appropriate oath to myself and the organisation I serve in, such that you count as Honour Guard personnel, rather than foreign troops on attachment."
"Indeed, sir."
"Is that likely to be a problem for you, Major Otho?"
"Not at all, sir. All of us are followers of the Great Protector, and volunteered to transfer to his detail. We are yours to command, Colonel Schultz."
"Wait here a moment."
He saluted smartly, and I headed back out of the quarters. Given the kind of oath I had in mind, it needed someone rather more senior than me to administer it, so I grabbed a servant and asked him to locate Tristan Heydrich. He acknowledge the request and headed smartly down the corridor, whereupon I returned inside.
"Sorry about that. There are one or two formalities to be completed, but once that's done, I will set about organising for you to have your own quarters. Do your men speak German?"
"We were given that language before we were dispatched here, sir."
"That should hopefully make things easier. Please, introduce us to the other members of your detachment."
"Of course sir," he answered, smartly, and proceeded to do just that. I was glad I had a good memory for names, although the plethora of similar names did threaten to overwhelm my ability to remember them. Still, Heinrike also seemed to be following the list, so hopefully between us and the dossiers, we would be fine.
Otho was just finishing the introductions when Tristan Heydrich came in, looking slightly annoyed. However, as he looked around him I saw a double take, and he turned to me, his expression questioning.
"Is there something we need to discuss, Rikart?" he asked.
"If you have a few moments sir," I replied, "Obersturmbannführer Karsten, do you mind if we use your room for a moment?"
"Feel free," she replied, with a sigh, and I drew him inside. I noticed that the place was spick and span, with absolutely nothing out of place.
"Well?" Heydrich asked, a trace of annoyance in his voice.
"Roland Helgram has offered me the use of a squad of Holy Guard to bolster my forces."
"You didn't think to mention this to me before?"
"There hasn't really been time," I replied, "the matter came up when he was here yesterday, and what with the procedure Obergruppenführer Gerlinde performed on the RFSS yesterday..."
"I'm sure you could have find the time if you'd tried," he answered, still slightly annoyed, but at least he was listening, "Go on."
I gave him a run-down of the orders Otho had handed me and then waited.
"So what do you need from me?"
"It's the matter of the oath which needs to be administered to them. I was hoping that you might be willing to assist in that matter."
"What's wrong with the SS one, which you're certainly of sufficient rank to administer?"
"Given the current, unusual circumstances, and the fact that these particular individuals haven't been properly vetted by our organisation, even though I'm sure the Pater Deorum will have satisfied himself as to their integrity before he sent them, I was thinking of something rather more specific."
"Such as?"
I recited the wording I'd come up with, and watched as he listened intently.
"It's highly irregular," he commented, once I was done.
"I know. Which is why I thought it was better if it were administered by one of the...Triumvirate, for want of a better description."
"It does seem like that title's going to stick," he said, with a wry smile, "And you felt that neither Jürgen nor Dominik were appropriate?"
"Of course, I couldn't say that, sir," I replied, "however, the Honour Guard is a branch of the Reichs-SS, rather than the Waffen-SS, and as you are acting head of that side of the organisation..."
He looked at me and smiled.
"I certainly don't dispute that you could do with some help on this, even if, had it been my choice, I would have looked internally rather than externally for assistance."
"I judged that the matter was sufficiently urgent, that there wasn't time to go through an internal recruitment process, let alone training, whereas apparently, in his guise as Great Protector, the RFSS is entitled to protection from the Holy Guard, and they had men to spare who are trained for this very function."
"Very well. I'm willing to do this. However, be aware that any legality I bring to this is likely to expire in three months, when the current arrangements are revisited."
"Sir, if we're still in this situation in three months, then we're all in trouble."
"Touché," he answered, with a wry smile, "Lead on."
We headed back out to the lounge area, and Otho and Heinrike turned to look at us.
"Major Otho. This is General Heydrich. He has agreed to administer the oath I have suggested to bring you into the Great Protector's service. Do you wish to know the wording of that oath before you take it?"
"No sir. We know our duty and accept whatever methods are required to allow us to undertake it."
"Very well. Perhaps we should begin."
And I looked at Heydrich, who indicated that he was ready.
"Repeat after me. I ... your name please..."
"I, Octavius Otho..."
"...swear to Rupert Delatz, as Great Protector of Eboracum and its ally, the Greater German Reich......and to Rikart Schultz as his Protector...Loyalty and Bravery..."
I watched him as he pronounced the words, and at no point did he hesitate to echo as Heydrich spoke, although I noticed that Heinrike was startled at the change of wording from the usual oath we have all sworn.
"...I vow to Thee and to the superiors whom Thou shalt appoint...Obedience unto Death...May the Great Protector help me."
"Thank you, Major Otho," Heydrich said, once he had finished, "I hereby confirm that you have sworn an acceptable oath and on my authority are inducted into the SS Honour Guard at the rank of Sturmbannführer, until such time as your service is no longer required."
"Yes, sir," he answered smartly and saluted in the Eboracum manner. We were going to have to correct that one before any of us were much older.
Heydrich then proceeded to repeat the same procedure with the other members of Otho's squad, albeit at the lower rank of Hauptsturmführer, and then, once he was done, he turned back to me.
"This is a gamble, Rikart."
"I'm well aware of that, sir. And I'm also well aware that if it backfires, it'll be my head on the block."
"So be it," he answered with a nod, and after an exchange of salutes, he left the room.
"I think that contacting the Major Domo to get you assigned some quarters is probably the next item on the agenda," I said to Otho, "as obviously, it won't be possible for you to remain here."
"Of course, sir."
"Obersturmbannführer Karsten, could you help organise that? I'm going to have to rework the duty rosters again."
"Yes sir," she replied smartly, with a trace of relief on her attractive face. Obviously, as far as she was concerned, the quicker the newcomers were out of the Honour Guard quarters, the better, "Sturmbannführer Otho, with me. You others. Wait here, but remember that your compatriots are trying to sleep and act accordingly."
They saluted almost in sync, and began to find places to sit or stand more comfortably. In the doorway to their room, Oskar and Tobias were still observing matters, but at least they weren't glowering any more. They were just watchful. It was going to be a big change for all of us to have another twelve people suddenly join our little unit, and there would need to be adjustments all round.
I parted from Heinrike and Otho at the bottom of the staircase, and I ascended to my quarters with the Eboracum paperwork, ordered a pot of coffee from one of the servants, and then settled down with the briefings to consider which of the newcomers would fit best with which of the existing Guard.
About an hour later, I was disturbed by the phone ringing.
"Schultz?"
"Rikart, it's Carina," she replied, and she sounded upset.
"Love...what's wrong?"
"Is there any way you can get back to Berlin?"
"Not easily, why?"
"I've found something you really need to see...it's important."
"Where are you?"
"Marja's apartment block in the Village."
"Is anyone with you?"
"I'm with the Hausmeister. Please, Rikart...if you can...?"
"Do I need to bring anyone with me?"
"Maybe one of your men. Just in case. I think it's safe, but..."
"We'll be there as soon as we can. Stay put."
"Thank you."
I put down the phone, and decided to find either Kurt or Marius. I let Leon know that I needed to head back to Berlin briefly, and then went in search of either of the others. As it turned out, Marius was the first one I bumped into, on his way upstairs from the Guard quarters.
"Sir, are you aware that there's an invasion force in our rooms?" he asked, only half joking.
"Heinrike is dealing with it. I need you with me."
"Where are we going?"
"The Village," I replied.
"Seriously? Right now?" he answered, disbelief in his tone, before he caught himself, "Of course, sir. May I ask what's wrong?"
"If I knew the answer, I'd tell you," I replied, "any idea if Peter Kolb is still in the castle?"
"I think I saw him at breakfast."
"Good. He's by far the quickest way to get back to Berlin from here. Let's try to find him."
As it turned out, the boss's courier was sitting around in one of the lounges, looking rather at a loose end, and seemed delighted at the prospect of actually having something useful to do. We headed out through the castle gates and down to the coach house, where a couple of carriages were always available in case they were needed. He saw us into one, and a short while later the world disappeared out from under us. I still haven't got used to Pilot transport, infinitely preferring the boss's usual methods of transit - ie Trump, magic or the Pattern - to being locked in a box while the world winks out, so as is my wont I held my breath and mentally counted upwards until the universe reappeared. It was a relief when the door opened.
We jumped down onto one of the two platforms in the ATS station near the entrance to the SS Village, thanked Kolb for his help and asked him to wait. He agreed, and as we departed, I could see him and the station keeper moving the carriage off to the waiting area to one side.
Marius fell into step beside me as we walked briskly towards Marja's building on Nebestrasse, and as we approached, I could see Carina waiting outside, nervously checking her watch. As she saw me, however, I could see relief on her face, and she crossed over to me and hugged me. Marius, bless his heart, was far too polite to comment beyond "Guten tag, Obersturmführer Graber."
After a moment she remembered herself, and the fact that we were both on duty, and stepped back, but I couldn't help noticing that she had been trembling.
"You'd better come inside," she said, and headed for the front door. The Hausmeister looked nervous as he accompanied us up to Marja's second floor apartment, and once he had unlocked the door he stepped back, showing no sign that he wished to follow us inside. To avoid difficulties, I told him to go back to his own apartment, on the ground floor, and said I'd call him if I needed him. He was only too happy to oblige. Carina got as far as the hall, before pointing towards the bedroom, but showed no signs of wanting to go any further.
What hit me first was the smell. I've come across enough dead bodies in my time to recognise it instantly. We clicked immediately into search mode and quickly and quietly went through the apartment, to make sure we were alone and it was secure, and finished up in the bedroom. We crossed to the side of the bed and studied the scene. She was lying face down, and looked to be sleeping, although the smell told a different story. On the ground beside her bed was a copy of Kafka's Metamorphosis.
"Who is it?" Marius asked.
"It's Marja Tomas's apartment," I replied, "and the size, build and colouring are consistent."
"The RF's PA? Oh crap."
"Although until we turn her over we won't be sure,"
Now we were closer to body, I could detect a different smell mingling with the more obvious scent of death.
"Do we move her or call the Kripo?"
"Something isn't right," I replied, "I don't like the feel of this. Let me get some pictures - just in case the Kripo ask - and then we should turn her over."
I concentrated for a minute or so, bringing up the illusion spells and crystal capture device which could be used as a camera in such circumstances. It took a while, as it wasn't a class of magic I was very familiar with. However, once I was sure, I started recording the scene. When I was done, I saved the images to a preservation spell, and then turned to Marius.
"Now or never."
He moved around the bed, and very carefully, we rolled her flat. It was definitely Marja Tomas, but as her glazed eyes stared into nothingness, I saw what was wrong. There was some kind of dried discharge coming from her eyes, ears and nose.
"Oh that's not good..." he said, trying to hide the fact that he was obviously shaken.
"Still want to call the Kripo?" I asked.
"Not so much," he answered, "but if not them, then who the Hell do we call?"
"We need a forensics mage. One we can trust...who do we know who will be discreet?"
"What about von Raeder?"
"I believe he's only investigative, rather than full forensics, and moreover he's looking after the boss...Although, given that the next person I can think of is Oberstgruppenführer Heydrich, and I've pushed things in that direction already today ..."
I dug into my pocket, pulled out my Trump deck and shuffled through it. The boss had given me a card of Jorge while were on Maui one time, and I selected it and brought it to the top of the deck. Then I started to concentrate, and moments later the contact was made.
"Rikart?"
"Jorge...I could do with your advice on something. Is everything okay there?"
"As calm as it ever gets. Although I'm guessing you're somewhere else, or you'd have sent a runner. Do you want to come to me or shall I come to you?"
"I rather need for you to come to me," I replied, and offered my hand. He shrugged and took it, stepping through. He gasped as he took in the smell, but recovered quickly.
"You find me the nicest places, Standartenführer Schultz," he commented.
"Can you tell what happened?"
"I'll be able to get something - I can't promise it'll be everything," he replied and began to concentrate. Moments later, he stopped and went dead white and began cursing under his breath.
"Sir?" asked Marius, concerned.
"Well that explains a lot," he replied, as he stepped back and took a deep breath or seven, and his colour improved noticeably once more.
"What?"
"It isn't human."
"Excuse me?" I asked, in disbelief.
"It's a Machine entity. The discharge around the eyes is some kind of equivalent of human cerebral fluid. I can't tell for sure if she's a Bleeder or a Mind, though, which bothers me."
"Machine to German translation?" I asked.
"Bleeders are effectively organic bodies, but they usually have metallic minds. Minds are usually android bodies but have organic minds. She seems to have both an organic body and an organic mind, but neither is quite natural, and while I detect real blood in her circulatory system, the fluid is definitely artificial. It contains nutrients and built into it is some kind of organic transmission mechanism. It's possible she's a new type."
"Or the same kind as the fake Tristan Heydrich or Princess Wilhelmina we've met in the last few months?"
"Quite."
"So what killed her...it...dammit?" Marius asked.
"I rather suspect that the RFSS did," Jorge answered, "or if he didn't, then it was part of the original Curse, before he could fully take it into himself. However, I'd need a better expert on the Machine than I to check it out to be sure."
"We aren't exactly overburdened with experts on Machine physiology," I pointed out.
"No we aren't, which is why rooting the bastards out is taking so long. On the other hand...it might be instructive to find out if there's been a sudden spike in absenteeism in government and military positions since May 1st, both apparently senior and, as in this case, key in another way, if my suspicion is correct."
"How much do you know?" I asked, curious. After all, he wasn't a Knight and while he was as close to being completely in the RF's confidence as anyone except myself and Heydrich, the boss couldn't have told him anything in the last forty-eight hours.
"Oberstgruppenführer Heydrich gave me some basics when he called me in," Jorge replied.
"Would you be in a position to raise the absentee question with him?"
"I can certainly try. We also need to figure out what to do with the body."
"Rikart? Is everything okay?" came a small voice from outside the room, and I remembered that Carina was still in the hallway.
"Give me a moment," I said to my companions, feeling a little embarrassed at abandoning her, and went out to her.
"What is it?" she asked, nervously, although at least she didn't seem to be shaking any more
"You were right, Liebchen," I said, quietly, "I needed to see this. But don't worry. We can look after it from here, so please don't mention it to anyone else. Anyway, you should probably go home...this has been a shock for you."
"What about work?"
"I'll square it with your boss if you want to take the rest of the day."
"Are you sure?"
"Definitely."
"Then yes, you're probably right."
I rested my hands on her shoulders and gave her a kiss on the forehead.
"Good girl. Why don't I make sure you get safely into a cab?"
"Don't worry, Rikart. I can walk from here. It's not far."
"You're sure?"
"I'm sure."
"Okay."
"When am I going to see you again?"
"I wish I could answer that," I said with a sigh, "but right now, it's hard to get away except in case of emergencies."
"Can you tell me what's happened?"
"Not yet...maybe in a couple of days."
"In understand," she replied, with a weak smile.
I accompanied her down the stairs, kissing her warmly once we were outside the building, and then waited a moment to watch as she headed back towards the Thingplatz. Once she was out of sight, I went back upstairs and rejoined the others. As I did, I noticed that Jorge was working magic again, and was concentrating intently on the body.
"So what do we do now?" Marius asked.
"Any idea what he's doing?"
"Checking it's really deactivated," came Jorge's reply, "I wouldn't want to take it back to the castle if it was still functional in any way."
"Very wise."
He carried on working for about fifteen minutes, while we had a check around the apartment, just in case there was anything important that we hadn't seen in the original sweep. But all seemed in order. There even seemed to be a decent number of personal effects, which made me wonder how long ago the real Marja had actually been replaced, although the clone, or whatever it was, must have decided it was wise to leave everything so as not to arouse suspicion if anyone came calling. My eye was caught by a photo of her and another young woman who was obviously her sister, with mountains in the background, and sighed at the thought that someone was going to have to tell her family that she'd died. I just hoped it wouldn't end up being me.
"Do you want the bad news or the good news first?" Jorge said, coming into the lounge.
"Start with the bad."
"From what I can tell of the age of the corpse, I think the real Marja was replaced a year or so ago. So very shortly before Andreas Delatz was booted out."
"And it's potentially been reporting the RFSS's doings for all that time?" Marius asked, obviously not wanting to hear the answer.
"It's probably safe to work on that basis, yes," Jorge answered, "it might be slightly less than that, but I'd err on the side of pessimism."
"And the good news."
"It is most definitely deactivated. It looks like an energy spike overloaded what passes for its brain, which then promptly shrivelled and died in its skull. The timing matches my 1st May theory, and it was triggered by something external Which means we can probably safely take it back to the Wewelsburg. It's dead already, so I can safely Pilot it back. Question then is whether we can use it as a focus to locate anything similar, at least within the Reich."
"How would you go about it?" Marius asked, fascinated.
"Use it as a sympathetic arcane connection. At least, it should work in theory. Rikart, you're a ritual mage?"
"Yes, but that isn't my area of speciality. You probably need to talk to either one of the older hands, like Oberstgruppenführer Heydrich, or to Marin Adler. Or maybe better would be Silke von Halle. I know she isn't officially one of us any more, but she does work for the Great Protector, and I would trust her to play us straight."
"Meaning you wouldn't trust Marin Adler?" he said, surprised.
"I said no such thing," I replied, with a half smile.
"Of course not," he answered, "silly of me. Do you want a lift back to the castle with me? Or have you made your own arrangements?"
"Peter Kolb is waiting for us down at the station. We'll go back with him."
"No problem. I'll finish up here, and I'll see you back there."
"Indeed," I answered, and with that I headed for the door. Marius fell into step beside me, and we made our way back to the station. Five minutes later we were in the station outside the Wewelsburg gate, but as we climbed down from the carriage, I saw Tristan Heydrich waiting for me and my heart sank. Marius very wisely made himself scarce as I went to talk to the Head of the SD.
"I hope you have a good explanation for your disappearance?" he commented, less than amused, "especially as you appear to have taken Oberstgruppenführer von Raeder with you. It's not exactly an appropriate time for either of you to go off gallivanting"
"He will be back very shortly, and will need to speak with you."
"I'm giving you a lot of rope today, Standartenführer Schultz. Don't hang yourself with it."
"It genuinely isn't my intention, sir," I answered, then dropped my voice so that it wouldn't carry, "Marja Tomas died during the night of 1st to 2nd May. Oberstgruppenführer von Raeder's findings strongly indicate that her death was as a result of the RFSS's actions on Prime. He's bringing the body in, and then he wants to talk to you."
I looked at him, and had the pleasure of actually having surprised him. He thought for a moment, obviously trying to decide what to say, then finally settled on "See that he does."
"Yes, sir," I answered promptly, "will there by anything else?"
"No, Standartenführer Schultz. Return to your duties and I'll see you at the meeting this evening. No doubt this subject will come up then."
"Of course, sir."
And with a private sigh of relief, and a sharp salute, I headed back upstairs to check in with my people to see if anything had changed.
* * * * *
After clearing Carina's absence with her superior officer, I spent the rest of the day finishing the new duty schedules, and orienting Otho and his people, introducing them to the members of the Guard who were off duty at that point. I hoped that they way they could start to get to know each other, with the intention that they would join the duty shift with the 10pm changeover. From that point, it would always be three of my people and three of our guests on duty at once, which also gave more opportunities for securing the approaches to the boss's rooms, as well as the rooms themselves, which made me feel rather more comfortable. As I put the Holy Guard through their paces, I was relieved to find that they were competent and efficient in the performance of their duties, and seemed very willing to fit in with our methods and operations.
I heard second hand that Jorge had returned to the castle with his cargo about half and hour after myself, but didn't hear any more from either him or Tristan Heydrich for the rest of the afternoon. I couldn't decide if that was good or bad, but in practise it probably meant that they were consulting on the problem which Carina had unearthed for us. I did take the luxury of giving her a call later in the afternoon, to make sure she had got home safely, and when I spoke to her she seemed less upset than she had earlier.
Then, at about ten to six, I headed downstairs to the Gruppenführersaal for the continuation of the Council meeting. I noted with some amusement that everyone was present once more: Hauer and Lange had obviously decided that it wouldn't be prudent to miss the party. Score one to my father, I think.
He arrived last, carrying a sheaf of papers, and distributed copies to all of those present. Then, without too much actual arguing, we settled down to scan through what he'd come up with. Okay, I'm not a lawyer, but it seemed clear, and concise, and he'd obviously tried to make it as watertight as he could.
The gist of it was that the Triumvirate would assume operational control of the SS for a set period of three months, ending on 1st August, with the split of duties as suggested early: Kessler taking the Waffen-SS, Heydrich running the Reichs-SS and Gerlinde backing up Heydrich.
As far as operational decisions which needed consensus were concerned, their views would theoretically have equal weighting - which looked to please Gerlinde - and for major issues, be it courses of action or changes of direction or reacting to emergencies, all three of them needed to agree. Of course, that left the risk that nothing would ever get done, as they may not manage to agree on anything for the entire period; but on the other hand, within reason, that was better than two of them overruling the third, when it was pretty obvious from the earlier meeting how the voting would split among those three. Hopefully, this way, Heydrich wouldn't get steam-rollered.
As far as what would happen on the 1st August was concerned, if the boss was up and about by then, then command would pass back to him - should he want it - and it would theoretically return to business as usual. Of course, such things are never as easy as they sound, but at least it was somewhere to start, although how rough a ride he was likely to get when it happened would be very dependent on what happened during the next three months: if it was an utter disaster, and the three of them had killed each other out of greed in the meantime (figuratively, at least, if not actually), he'd probably be welcomed back as a stabilising influence, but if it actually went smoothly, it might lead to some interesting problems. Personally, I thought his job was pretty safe.
If he hadn't recovered, however, things got trickier. My father's document allowed for a new vote on the potential options: to continue with the Triumvirate for another three months and see if anything changed with the boss, or to undertake the process of looking for a new RFSS. However, rather to the chagrin of some of those present, there was a codicil to the latter option which stated that the Kaiser or his representative would have to be involved in the selection process if the decision to appoint a new RFSS was taken, and that his Imperial Majesty had ultimate right of veto over any choice made by the Winter Council. I wasn't at all surprised that my father would have included that in the paperwork, and rather suspected he was thinking of himself as the representative.
There was discussion, of course, but as much for show as anything else, I suspect (with the exception of the Kaiser provision), and the relevant parties signed the contract at about 6.30pm. The Party Chairman then invited three of the assembled company to sign as witnesses beside himself, with Matthias Kapler, Dierk Schneider and, to my surprise, Marin Adler, stepping forward to perform that function.
"That would all seem to be in order," Kessler said, finally, "is there anything else we need to discuss or did we cover everything this morning?"
"One small matter has come up during the course of the day," Heydrich replied, "which I feel I should bring to the Council's attention. After all, I wouldn't want it said at a later date that I didn't keep you fully informed."
He said it completely deadpan. He may have even meant it.
"Which is?" Lange asked, looking at him intently.
"We've confirmed the first results of the Master's actions on Thursday night," he replied.
"Really?" Kapler junior asked.
"It would seem so. In fact, Standartenführer Schultz brought it to my attention."
"Been a busy boy, have you, Rikart?" Hauer asked, glancing at me with barely concealed contempt.
"I thought I should inform the RFSS's PA that she needed to clear his calendar," I replied, meeting his gaze unflinching.
"As it turns out," Heydrich continued ,"in doing so we not only discovered a major security breach, but also found a method of locating other Machine agents within the Greater German Reich. At this point my sources have identified at least a dozen Machine agents who had been placed in key positions within Berlin, and all of them have now been neutralised.
"This sounds like good news," my father said, "we were due a break as far as the Machine is concerned."
"Which is no doubt what the RFSS intended," Heydrich answered, "We are still looking into the situation in the Aussenhandel Shadows. Matthias, I imagine you'll want to handle Sanguine?
"I will," he acknowledged, with a nod.
"What exactly did you discover, Standartenführer Schultz?" Schneider asked, curiously.
"That the Curse which was pronounced at the ceremony had the effect within the Reich of destroying the minds of the Machine drones."
"The Curse wasn't pronounced in the Reich," Kapler junior commented.
"Actually, it was," Heydrich replied, "we all heard it. It was pronounced and then the Master took it into himself. He delivered it to its target, but the one who spoke it was still here in the Reich."
"So perhaps there was a sympathetic resonance directly back here, despite the fact that Sigiswald was already dead?" Marin answered, "interesting...and certainly possible. It was either that, or the Master didn't catch all of it...but as I don't pretend to understand exactly what he did, even though we'd discussed the details beforehand, I don't know for sure which is more likely."
"Does this mean we no longer have a Machine problem?" Kessler asked.
"Their ability to gather intelligence within Berlin is certainly severely compromised," Heydrich replies, "and investigations continue. Max, your department will need to co-ordinate with mine and Dierk's to make sure we can seize the advantage here. Is that going to be a problem?"
"Not in the slightest," he replied promptly, and I noted that there was no sign of sarcasm or obstructiveness in either his tone or his body language: he was back to being the faithful servant of the Reich, "the Gestapo, as always, is completely at your disposal."
"Thank you," Heydrich replied with a slight nod of the head, "Marin, would you be willing to co-ordinate with Silke on devising a location ritual?"
Obviously he shared some of my reservations about our Priestess, if he wanted Silke involved.
"Do you have something we could work from?"
"Half a dozen deactivated drones."
"Then it shouldn't be a problem. We'll have something to work from. What's the range you're looking for?"
"It depends. I'd obviously suggest clearing the Reich first...as it would be foolish to assume that we got them all. Then, if that is successful, then Sanguine - with Matthias's agreement, of course...
"I have no objections, and indeed, would welcome it," Matthias replied.
"Excellent. Once they're done...do you think it's plausible to do an Aussenhandel group, or are we going to have to work Shadow to Shadow?"
"The problem with Shadow to Shadow is that unless we perform the rituals simultaneously in multiple locations, the Machine will get wind of the fact that it's agents are dy...deactivating," Schneider pointed out.
"Assuming, of course, they're still a coherent force," Kessler pointed out.
"Unless anyone's planning to go to Prime to check, it seems safest to assume that they're down but not out at this point," Matthias answered.
"I'll talk with Silke, and we'll see what's practical, and then report back to the Council," Marin answered.
"Excellent," Kessler answered, "now...this time, is there anything else?"
Thankfully, no-one said anything and thus after an exchange of salutes, we went our separate ways. I headed upstairs to check on the boss, but nothing appeared to have changed since the morning. I hoped that wasn't a bad sign, and that it didn't mean that his shifting had done as much as it could, but only time would tell.
Around 8.45, I decided that I should probably get something to eat, so I made my way downstairs and visited the mess hall. It was quiet at that time in the evening, as it was between shift changes, so once I'd been served I pretty much had my pick of tables. I chose one off to the side, where I could keep an eye on the room. Habit, I guess. Although I did see Gerlinde come in briefly and depart with his dinner in a box a short while later.
I was done about 9.30, and decided to check in with Otho and his men to make sure that they were settling in their new quarters: Heinrike had arranged for them to have a group of rooms on the first floor in the south wing of the castle (the Knight's quarters are in the west wing). They seemed in reasonable form, although they were obviously getting used to the completely different culture they now found themselves in. However, they seemed keen to commence their duties, so I guessed we'd see how it went.
I headed back round to the west wing by cutting through the south-west tower, and was heading up the corridor, past one of the alcoves to the side when I realised something was wrong. I began to turn, but before I could complete the movement, I felt an arm slip around my neck and something sharp in the region of my kidneys. I stopped dead, not exactly going limp, but letting myself loosen up. As I did, I felt myself being pulled towards the recess, out of the middle of the corridor.
"Evening, Schultz," hissed Gerlinde, and I wished I was surprised that it was him.
"What is this about, Obergruppenführer Gerlinde?" I asked with a sigh.
"You need teaching a lesson. You're getting above yourself."
"What the Hell are you talking about?"
"You embarrassed me, yesterday. I didn't appreciate that."
"Why? Because I told them what Robert of Sable had said?"
"In such a way that they would never have listened to my reasons for ignoring him."
"Your actions were indefensible," I replied, and felt the point dig a little deeper, drawing blood. I guessed it was his Honour Dagger as the blade was exceedingly sharp, "you were wrong."
"I made my decision based on the RFSS's condition. Why did you assume it was wrong?"
"I've had a lot of opportunity to watch them both, and I didn't believe that Robert of Sable would have suggested kick-starting his shifting unless he knew it could help."
"So you chose the diagnosis of the ruler of an enemy nation over that of your superior officer."
"It worked, didn't it?" I replied, and I could almost hear him glowering.
"Time will tell."
"Do you have to be so melodramatic?" I continued, gently shifting my weight, although in doing so, I had to accept that the cut would get a little deeper, "why can't we discuss this like civilised adults?"
"You don't deserve the respect," he replied, his tone cold.
As he spoke, I knew I was in the position I wanted to be in. I moved quickly, breaking the choke hold and in one smooth movement he was flying over my shoulder and flat on his back on the floor. As I threw him, I realised that he'd managed to slice my back, but was reasonably certain that it was nothing I couldn't handle, unless he'd stuck something unpleasant on his blade. I immediately dropped to a kneeling position, one knee resting on his chest to keep him down, my own dagger at his throat, and my left hand keeping his shoulder pressed to the ground. He froze, surprise warring with hatred in his expression..
"You don't even understand the meaning of the term," I answered, meeting his gaze. I knew it was a risk, as I didn't know if his mind was stronger than mine, but I gambled that he'd be too surprised to do anything untoward.
"Remember three things, Obergruppenführer Gerlinde. One, I love the RFSS and would give my life for him if it would save and preserve his; two, he made me Head of the Honour Guard for a reason..."
"Which is," he answered, quietly.
"I'm good at what I do."
"And three?"
"I, like you, am a Knight of the Winter Circle. For that alone, perhaps you should learn some respect. Tell me, Gerlinde. Would you give your life for him? Would you do anything he asked?"
"I am his sworn vassal."
Sworn vassal? That caught me by surprise, as I wouldn't have described the SS Oath as one for vassal and ruler, but it sounded as if that was how he regarded it.
"Then remember that and act accordingly," I answered, trying to hid my surprised, "put his interests before your own, as I try to do. He trusts you. Live up to his trust. And remember who the real enemy is."
"Are you finished moralising, Schultz?" he asked, his expression absolutely and completely neutral.
"If that's how you choose to see it," I answered, and got cautiously to my feet, but as I did so, I gently nicked him under the jaw, just to prove the point.
He lay there for a few seconds, catching his breath, and then raised his hand towards me.
"Give me a hand up."
Cautiously, expecting trouble, I moved to do so, offering my own, and pulled, but to my surprise he didn't try anything untoward. Instead, he stood and dusted himself off.
"You should get that injury looked at," he commented, and I realised that there were a few drops of blood by my feet, where the uniform had failed to soak them up, "ask Fraulein Doktor Steinbrück for antidote FSP07."
And before I could say anything else, he saluted, and then headed off down the corridor to his rooms, leaving me bleeding and trying to figure out if things between us had just got better, or worse.