Glenn Meade (42 page)

The Adlon,
Berlin
's famous landmark hotel, was a
five-minute drive from Canaris's office. It was cold and blustery when he
stepped out of his staff-driven Mercedes and entered the plush foyer, leaving
his coat and hat at the cloakroom desk. Looking tired and drawn, he moved past
the sweeping staircase, noticed that the once splendid chandelier overhead and
the ceiling plasterwork had been badly damaged by the bombing, and stepped into
the dining room. Most of the lunch-time crowd hadn't yet arrived, just a few
tables occupied by bleak-looking j- businessmen and a handful of uniformed
officers.

The head waiter, hovering near the
door, recognized Canaris immediately, escorted him to one of the private dining
booths at the end and pulled back the red velvet curtain. Schellenberg was
already there, a bottle of brandy and a full glass in front of him, a fork in
his hand as he tucked into a meal of sauerkraut, potatoes and pickled beef.

'Ah, Wilhelm. You've arrived at
last. I've started without you, as you can see. The beefs excellent. I'd
recommend it.'

'I was delayed. But no matter. I'm
not hungry.'

'But you'll have a brandy, of
course?' Schellenberg grinned.

I 46i 'It's only Polish, I'm
afraid, the French stocks have been depleted, so you risk losing the enamel
from your teeth.'

'I've risked a lot more in my
time.' Canaris waved the head waiter away, then took a seat opposite. 'Well,
what's this urgent news you spoke of?'

Schellenberg poured him a large
measure of brandy. 'Naturally, I couldn't tell you on the telephone.'

'Then tell me now, damn you. I've
heard nothing since yesterday, when you told me Haider and the others survived
the crash. I've hardly slept since, so don't keep me in suspense.'

Schellenberg swallowed a forkful
of sauerkraut, washed it down with the remains of his brandy, and slapped the
glass on the table. 'It's of the good and bad news variety.'

'Go on,' Canaris said expectantly,
ignoring his drink.

'We received a signal early this
morning from Deacon. Our friends Kleist and Doring managed to arrive safely in
Cairo
and make contact.
Which cheered me up somewhat. Not to mention Himmler and the Fiihrer.'

Canaris was on the edge of his
seat. 'What about Haider and the woman?'

'No news of them yet. It seems the
team split up into two pairs after the crash, and tried to make it to Cairo
separately.

Kleist and Doring, and Haider and
Rachel Stern. I've no information other than that.'

'I see.' Canaris sat back, and
sighed inwardly with relief, not disappointment. 'It still doesn't look good,
then?'

Schellenberg refilled his own
glass to the brim, swallowed a j mouthful. 'In this case, no news is hardly
good news.' ^m 'But you seem rather pleased, and in good spirits. Why?'

Schellenberg smiled broadly.
'Because there's a glimmer of hope, considering two of our team got through.
And you should have more faith in Haider, Wilhelm. After all, he's one of your
j best men, and infinitely more resourceful than either Kleist or his comrade.
If the pair of them could make it, I expect Haider can.'

A nervous excitement crept into
Schellenberg's voice. 'In fact, I know he'll make it, and carry on with the
mission. I can feel it in my bones. Any man who can easily pass himself off as
an enemy officer, British or American, as he's done in the past, must surely
stand more than a chance.'

'I'm well aware of Haider's
abilities.' Canaris glanced at the bottle on the table. 'But you're sure it's
not the brandy making you optimistic?'

Schellenberg's mouth tightened.
'Don't be smart, Wilhelm.'

'Try to see it realistically.
Assuming Haider is still alive, and even if he manages to get to
Cairo
and make contact
with Deacon, the Allies will be hunting him down. We have to expect that after
the crash. The odds against Sphinx succeeding will be considerably diminished.'

'But he's a clever man is Jack,
and wily as a fox when the odds are stacked against him.' Schellenberg still
sounded bullish.

'And I'm convinced he'll do his
utmost to achieve his objectives, no matter what the obstacles. To pinpoint
wherever Roosevelt and Churchill are, secure the airfield at Shabramant,
transport Skorzeny and his paratroops to the required location once they land,
and help them get past Allied security to carry out the necessary business. A
tall enough order, I know, but unlike you, I still firmly believe Haider can
accomplish what's expected of him. I wouldn't be surprised if we heard
something positive from Deacon soon, in regard to Haider's safe arrival.'

Canaris sighed, emptied his glass
in one swallow, and tried not to show his distress at the unsettling thought of
Sphinx actually succeeding. 'So, what next? We wait for Deacon's next radio
transmission?'

Schellenberg nodded. 'Exactly.
Which should be tonight, around midnight or soon after. Then we should know
better where we stand. Unless Deacon is tempted to transmit earlier if he has
urgent news, though long-range radio transmission and reception is always
poorer during daylight hours, as you know.

Something to do with the atmosphere.
But
Rome
and
Athens
have firm instructions to relay any hint of a signal they receive from
Cairo
immediately.
Naturally, the Fiihrer wants to be informed the moment we have any information.
He's anxious to know the mission status, and with every hour that goes by, he
seems more convinced than ever its success is our only hope of winning this
war.’

'Anything else I should know
about?'

Schellenberg smiled broadly again.
'Just one more thing. As a sign of my good faith in Haider, I've already put
Skorzeny and his men on alert. They'll be ready to fly to
Cairo
at a moment's notice.'

Haider was checking through the
uniforms and the altered identity documents Deacon had delivered to his room
when there was a knock on the door and Rachel came in. She had changed into a
fresh blouse and khaki pants, and Haider said, 'Feeling any better after your
rest?'

'A little. Didn't you sleep?'

'I managed to grab a couple of
hours.'

The bedroom was a small affair,
with a bare wooden floor.

There was just an iron bed, a
chair by the balcony window, and an enamel jug and washbasin on a wicker table
in a corner. Dusk had begun to fall, the shutters were open, the sound of
crickets and the scent of flowers carrying into the room on the warm tropical
air. The view of the
Nile
was exquisite, the
dying orange light reflected on the waters, and Rachel stepped out on to the
narrow wrought-iron balcony. 'Did you ever miss it here after you returned to
Germany
?'

Haider joined her. 'The happiest
time I ever had was at
Sakkara
. I used to
think I'd like to spend my life here, excavating ruins, and retire to live in a
big old villa overlooking the
Nile
.'

He smiled, took a deep breath.
'God, but it's good to smell the warm air of
Cairo
again.'

'Do you think Harry will be all
right?'

'His comrades will have found him
by now, I'm certain.'

'You should have let me talk to
him one last time before we boarded the boat.' K 'What good would it have done,
Rachel? And there really wasn't time.'

Rachel sighed, and Haider said,
'What's the matter?’

'Just a feeling I have, that it
could get much worse from now on. You told me when you asked Harry not to get
involved he refused. It's a frightening thought, both of you being up against
each other. And no doubt his superiors will want him to be resolute to catch
us. I'm sure he's in a quandary, just like you.'

'I'd try not to dwell on it,'
Haider said, dispirited. 'It's hard enough as it is, just the thought of him
hunting us down. I'd hate to face the prospect of either of us having to decide
which came first, duty or friendship, if it ever came down to it.'

As if to change the subject,
Rachel pointed at an American captain's uniform laid out on the bed. 'What's
that for? A fancy dress party at Shepheard's?'

'Now there's a thought.' Haider
went back into the room, stuffed the uniform into a kit-bag. 'I've got a little
work to do, along with our host and Kleist. I'll probably be gone until late,
so don't wait up.'

Rachel followed him inside. 'What
about the others?'

'Doring and our friend Hassan will
be taking turns on watch.'

Rachel bit her lip, a look of fear
on her face. 'I don't like the idea of being alone with either of them. They
make me feel uneasy.'

'You'll be perfectly safe. Keep
your door locked, but if anyone so much as bothers you-' He slipped Falconi's
automatic from his pocket, handed it to her. 'Feel free to use this, and let me
worry about the consequences.'

She handed back the weapon and
shivered. 'I don't like guns.

I never have.'

'No matter. I'll leave it just in
case.' He tossed it on the bed.

'There's something I need to
discuss. It's about your father.'

Her face darkened. 'What - what do
you mean?'

'Schellenberg told me about the
discovery at
Giza
.
I admit I wondered at the time what the professor was getting up to, coming
back exhausted some mornings to
Sakkara
,
looking like he'd been up half the night. I would have thought it was a risky
business, not to mention highly illegal, him not informing the Egyptian
authorities.'

Rachel blushed, then said firmly,
'There were good reasons why my father kept his work secret.'

'Tell me.’

'There was a war looming. The
Egyptians were pro-German.

If the country had fallen, the
last thing he wanted was for anything valuable he might discover to end up in
Nazi hands.'

'And what exactly did he find?'

'A tunnel about two hundred meters
long, most of it part of a natural underground cavern in the rock, which led to
an important noble's tomb from the Second Dynasty that hadn't been discovered.
My father believed that the area the tunnel originated in had once been the
location of living quarters for some of the craftsmen and stonemasons working
on the pyramids.

The passageway had obviously been
extended either by them or grave-robbers who intended to reach Cheop's pyramid
and steal any valuables they found inside, but they obviously miscalculated and
ended up in the noble's tomb instead.'

Haider frowned. 'The area would
have been closely guarded during the Pharaoh's time. Which I presume would
explain why they burrowed from such a distance away.'

Rachel nodded. 'We found a
valuable hoard of jewellery and scarabs buried in the passageway - the treasure
was probably discarded by the robbers before they were caught and executed by
the royal guards. Their bodies were left in the tunnel before it was sealed up
again - the normal punishment in those days - obviously as a warning to others.
The skeletons were still there, or what was left of them.'

'I don't understand what your
father was doing at Giza in the first place. His work was at Sakkara.'

'A German professor named Braun
had suspected the existence of the tunnel, and secretly made some preliminary
explorations a couple of months before my family were due to leave Egypt. Braun
was a former colleague of my father's and confided in him, but before he could
take his work further he was summoned back to Germany and conscripted. My
father managed to get the necessary permission from the authorities to carry on
with Braun's work, but said nothing about the passageway, for the reasons I
told you.'

'Schellenberg claimed it led from
the direction of the Mena House. Is that where your father believed the
workmen's site might originally have been?’

She nodded. 'In that general area,
yes. Why?'

'I can't tell you why exactly, but
I'll need to have a look at the tunnel. Can you remember its exact location?'

'Yes - yes, of course.'

'How difficult would it be to gain
entry?'

'Not very difficult. My father
sealed up the entrance again, but it's well enough hidden, so no one would
suspect its existence.'

'Good. We'll go over everything in
detail before I leave.'

'Is it dangerous what you have to
do?'

'Not particularly, but you never
know. Just a little reconnaissance work, and to see if we can find and enter
the passageway.'

'Take me with you, Jack,' she said
suddenly.

Haider shook his head. 'For one,
the army and police will be on the lookout. And I wouldn't like to take the
chance of you getting caught.'