The Honor Of Spies - The Honor of Spies Part 32
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The Honor of Spies Part 32

De Banderano returned that salute and offered his hand.

"Von Dattenberg, U-405," von Dattenberg said.

"Aside from this gentleman," de Banderano said, nodding at von Deitzberg, "what have you got for us?"

"One more SS officer, an obersturmfuhrer; ten SS of other ranks; and one wooden crate."

"I was thinking more of mail," de Banderano said.

"And a packet of mail."

"Why don't you send for that?" de Banderano said. "And then we'll see about feeding you and getting you a bath and some clean clothing."

"The crate, the special shipment, and my men are more important than the mail," von Deitzberg said. "Get them on here first."

"After you've gotten the mail, Capitan, you can bring aboard everything else that comes aboard," de Banderano said calmly.

He handed the orders von Deitzberg had given him to von Dattenberg.

"I didn't give you permission to show him those orders!" von Deitzberg flared.

"There's one thing you should understand, Senor von Deitzberg. I am the master of this vessel. I don't need anyone's permission to do anything, and no one tells me what to do."

Von Deitzberg colored, but he didn't say anything.

"Capitan von Dattenberg," de Banderano said. "Why don't you take Capitan Wertz to your cabin, get him a bath and some clean clothing, and order him breakfast."

"Aye, aye, sir."

"And then, when the crate and the SS personnel who are so important to him are safely aboard, we'll see about getting this fellow a bath and something to eat."

"Aye, aye, sir," von Dattenberg said, and turned to Wertz. "If you'll come with me, Kapitan?"

Kapitanleutnant Wertz waited until von Dattenberg had closed his cabin door before he announced, "I think I like this Spanish kapitan."

"He's a good man."

"And he's not impressed with SS-Brigadefuhrer von Deitzberg."

"He doesn't seem to be."

"Everybody at Saint-Nazaire was. I wanted to throw up."

"Why am I getting the idea you don't like the brigadefuhrer?"

"The only nice thing I can say about that SS bastard is that he got seasick the moment we hit the deep water outside Saint-Nazaire, and stayed that way whenever we were on the surface--and we were on the surface most of the way."

Von Dattenberg smiled but said nothing.

Wertz warmed to his subject as he began pulling off his clothing.

"He showed up at the pens like royalty. And all of our never-leave-the-port superiors fell all over each other trying to kiss his ass. He has four fucking suitcases, big ones."

"Where did you stow them?"

"We took off four torpedoes to make room for them. And the crap those storm troopers had with them."

"Well, there are torpedoes aboard the Cadiz. This is a floating warehouse."

Von Dattenberg, as Wertz went on, realized that the cork was out of the bottle: "When I showed the SS sonofabitch my cabin, and graciously, in the tradition of the naval service, showed him the fold-down bunk and told him I would sleep there, and that he could use my bunk, he said, 'I really think you should find some other accommodation.' "

"Jesus!"

"So I moved in with my Number One, and we played hot sheets all across the Atlantic."

"Well, he is an SS-brigadefuhrer."

"Who showered at least twice a day, usually throwing up in the stall--which was sort of funny--and then complained about how long it took my men to clean up after him. He used up more fresh water taking showers than my crew got to drink."

Kapitanleutnant Wertz was now down to his shorts, which were once white but now gray and oil-stained.

"If he hadn't been seasick all the time, I'd have thrown the sonofabitch over the side--or shot him out of a tube and reported he had died gloriously for the Fuhrer."

"Take it easy, Wertz," von Dattenberg said seriously. "You don't want anyone hearing you talk like that."

Now there was concern on Wertz's face.

"Except another U-boat skipper, of course," von Dattenberg added to ease his mind. "And now that you've told me the brigadefuhrer suffers terribly from mal de mer, I'll do my best to stay on the surface until we're nearly where we're going with him."

"Where are you going?"

"They didn't tell you?"

"No, and sorry, I shouldn't have asked."

"I'd love to tell you, just to piss him off, but that would be dangerous for both of us."

Wertz nodded his understanding.

"Go have your shower," von Dattenberg said. "There's fresh clothing on the bunk, and while you're doing that, I'll order your breakfast. Ham and eggs?"

[FOUR].

Wardroom

MV Ciudad de Cadiz

0915 11 September 1943

SS-Brigadefuhrer Manfred von Deitzberg, now attired in an ordinary seaman's blue shirt and trousers, was eating--wolfing down--his breakfast of ham steak and eggs and fried potatoes at the master's table in the wardroom.

"You were hungry, weren't you?" Capitan de Banderano asked, smiling.

Von Deitzberg, obviously making an attempt to pour some oil on what he recognized as troubled waters, smiled at both von Dattenberg--who was sitting across from him at the table--and de Banderano, who was tilted back in his chair at the head of the table.

"Obviously, I am not cut out to be a mariner," he said. "I haven't had much to eat but crackers and tea for days."

"So Capitan Wertz said," de Banderano said. "Well, you can make up for that now."

"You have a dry cleaning facility on here? The steward said something . . ."

"There is a dry cleaning machine aboard," de Banderano said. "And a laundry. And stocks of uniforms for the men from the Unterseebooten. Unfortunately, no SS uniforms. We don't see many SS men."

"And the food! This is marvelous ham! And fresh eggs! Where do you get all this?"

"Either in Montevideo or Buenos Aires. We enter those ports, usually alternately, every two weeks or so. We top off our fuel tanks and take on stocks of fresh food."

"With which you replenish the Unterseebooten," von Deitzberg said.

"We do."

"And you have no trouble getting into and out of those ports?"

De Banderano shook his head.

"Let me ask you this, Kapitan. Could I leave your ship in either port without being noticed?"

"My orders--you gave them to me, didn't you read them?--say that I am to land you and your men and that crate at Samborombon Bay in the River Plate estuary."

"I'm not talking about the SS men. I meant just me."

"I'm not saying it would be impossible, but I don't think I want to take that risk. The authorities watch me pretty close in both places. They suspect--know--what we're doing. But so long as I don't violate their neutrality, they leave me alone. If I was caught smuggling something ashore--you, for example--they wouldn't let me into their ports again. That would mean there would be no fresh food, and, more importantly, no diesel fuel for the Unterseebooten."

When von Deitzberg didn't reply, de Banderano went on: "And then we have our orders. You and your men are to be put ashore on Samborombon Bay."

"Orders are subject to change," von Deitzberg said. "Presumably you are in radio contact with Berlin?"

"Let me explain how that works," de Banderano said, a touch of impatience in his voice. "With rare exceptions, we do not communicate with the station. It's in Spain, by the way. It used to be in North Africa, but now the Americans are there. There was such a transmission today. One word. The code word for 'shipment received; proceeding.'

"We don't want anyone finding us out by triangulation, which they would most likely do if we sent long messages. We receive our orders, which are encrypted by an Enigma machine, from the station in Spain. The enemy cannot locate a radio receiver by triangulation.

"Tomorrow, when you and your men are aboard U-405, and she has sailed for Samborombon Bay, and U-409 resumes patrol, I will transmit a two-word message. One will be the code word for U-405 proceeding according to orders, and the second the code word for U-409 resuming patrol.

"En route to Argentina, the station will transmit specific orders to Capitan von Dattenberg giving him the details regarding where you and your men are to be put ashore in the rubber boats.

"I don't intend to jeopardize this system by transmitting a long message in which you will attempt to justify to Admiral Canaris putting you ashore in Montevideo or Buenos Aires despite the risks that would pose to not only your mission, but also mine. Do you understand, Senor von Deitzberg?"

After a long moment, von Deitzberg smiled. "Of course. I simply didn't understand. As I said before, I am not a mariner."

[FIVE].

ABC Restaurant

Lavalle 545

Buenos Aires, Argentina

1320 18 September 1943

"There it is, on the left," Anton von Gradny-Sawz said, pointing as he leaned forward in the rear seat of the embassy's Mercedes.

"Jawohl, Herr von Gradny-Sawz," Gunther Loche said crisply.

"Pick me up in an hour and a half, Gunther," von Gradny-Sawz ordered as Loche pulled into the curb. "At ten minutes before three."

"Jawohl, Herr von Gradny-Sawz."

"Get yourself some lunch during that time, but before, before you eat, find a public telephone--there's a booth at the intersection of Lavalle and Carlos Pellegrini--and call the embassy and tell Ambassador von Lutzenberger or Fraulein Hassell--no one else; keep trying until you get one or the other--that I am taking lunch with el Coronel Martin and possibly someone on his staff at the ABC; that I expect to be finished before three and will then go to the embassy."

"Jawohl, Herr von Gradny-Sawz."