White Rose Black Forest(50)

“So how did you plan to get him out of the country?”

“Let’s slow down a minute.”

“You need my help, don’t you?”

“Yes, but—”

“You can’t do anything, because he’s a hundred twenty miles from here, and you’re stuck in that bed with two broken legs.”

John reached for the glass of water beside the bed and took a sip.

“So you want my help but still don’t trust me enough to tell me everything,” she said.

“Can you learn to trust me, and to agree with what I stand for?”

His question was met with silence.

“We were planning on traversing the Alps south of Munich and getting into Switzerland because the mountain passes offered the most secret way to cross the border. Although getting there would have been no easy feat. We had a guide, and the OSS trained me in mountain climbing, for all the good that’s going to do me now.” He looked at his legs and ran his hands over the casts that encased them.

“How is this scientist going to change the course of the war for Germany? What’s he working on?”

“I can’t meet him myself,” John said, ignoring her question.

“What’s he working on?”

“You’re going to force me to tell you, aren’t you?”

“If I’m going to risk my life for you, and your cause, I want to know why. I want to know what’s at stake.”

“Professor Hahn and his colleagues have been working on a new technology called nuclear fission. They published a paper in 1939 about the new process, and the Allies have been trying to monitor their progress ever since.”

“And what’s so special about this nuclear fission?” She fumbled the words.

“I wouldn’t tell you even if they’d told me, but I believe it’s enormous and that it could turn the tide of the war. Without Hahn, the project will die. He’s the brains behind it. The Nazis don’t realize what they’re on the cusp of. The project has been underfunded and almost ignored by the hierarchy. Hitler’s obsessed with jet-propulsion engines. They’re more focused on that end.”

“So why has this Hahn decided to turn?”

“He’s not happy with the treatment of the Jewish population by the regime. Many of his friends and colleagues before the war were Jews. The Nazis excluded all Jews from the work on account of their race. Many of them are dead, or in exile now. We’ve taken some in ourselves. He’s also frustrated with the lack of funding. The United States realizes how important his work is. He’ll receive all the funding and support he could ever need once we get him back to the States.”

“So the Americans can develop this new technology themselves?”

“We need to develop it before the Nazis, or even the Soviets, get their hands on it. It’s a race that could determine the outcome of the war. If the Nazis realize what they could potentially have on their hands, it could change everything. That won’t happen if Hahn disappears. We need his knowledge and expertise. If they’ve made a breakthrough, we need to know about it.”

“Where do I come in?”

“The arrangement was that I make contact with Hahn, gain his trust, and then spirit him across the border into Switzerland.”

“You want me to get him across the border?” Franka said, wide-eyed.

“No, I just need you to meet with him, to tell him what happened to me, and then . . .” It was hard to fathom it had come to this.

“What?”

“Then bring him back here so I can take him across the border myself once I recover.”

“It’s going to be a month before you can walk again, and you certainly won’t be climbing any mountains then.”

“Let me worry about the details.”

“I would say that’s more than a detail. You want me to go to Stuttgart to meet this man, don’t you?”

“I can’t see another way.”

“I’ve no training in espionage. I’ve never done anything like this before.”

“It’s just the matter of meeting someone, hearing him out, and delivering a message.”

“What if he won’t speak to me, or if I get caught?”

“I don’t see how you could unless you turn yourself in, and I’ll give you the code words that will force him to listen to you. Will you do it? Will you help me?”

“I don’t know—it seems like a lot . . .”

“It’s much simpler than it seems. You can do this. You can make a difference.”

“Okay,” she said, her eyes closed.

“Thank you,” he said, taking her elbow. It was the first time they’d ever touched without reason, and she felt a chill from it. It was ridiculous.

“The arrangement was to meet him in the public park. He was to sit on a bench reading the newspaper.”

“In this weather?”

“He was to be there for a short time, between five fifty and six p.m., and only one day a week—on Mondays. He was there earlier today waiting for me.”

“Will he be there next week? Should I go then?”

“With Christmas coming on Saturday? I don’t think so. It’s likely he’ll go home to Berlin for the week. I think it’s best if we go the week after, on January third. That way I’ll have some more time to heal, and you’ll be better prepared. You won’t have to do anything too spectacular, just meet the man and tell him what happened to me.”