I Won't Hurry You

"She won't be really conscious for quite a while—probably until tomorrow morning.

"Lieutenant, this appears to be a suicide attempt. At a minimum we have to notify the German authorities, and I would guess she'll need some psychological counseling. I'll take care..."

"Major," I interrupted, "there are some things that you aren't aware of, and before you do anything I suggest you talk to Colonel Weldon or First Sergeant Franklin."

He looked at me in surprise. "Isn't Colonel Weldon the Commander of the intelligence battalion?"

"Sir, please talk to the Colonel or First Sergeant.

"Can I see Elke now?"

He considered my request and then said, "Follow me."

We walked down the hall until we reached a door. He opened it and said, "Just look."

Elke looked terrible. Fluids were going into her through an intravenous line, her hair was wet and plastered against her face, and an oxygen mask was over her nose and mouth.

"Major, she looks awful."

"Lieutenant, we saved her life; she looks worse than she is. Come back tomorrow."

I thanked him and left. As I walked through the front doors of the hospital, an MP jeep was waiting. A corporal jumped out of it when he saw me and saluted. "Lieutenant, my orders are to take you to Colonel Weldon."

I returned the salute and sat in the front next to him as he started the engine and headed to battalion headquarters.

I walked into the outer office. Top was sitting at a desk. "Lieutenant, the Colonel and I just talked to the doctor. I'm glad you followed my advice—the Major won't talk to anyone about Elke.

"We know she's going to live, which is good news. The problem is that the corner she was in is still there—either she betrays you or she sacrifices her kid. The Colonel is waiting to talk to you.

Top knocked on the door and we entered the room. I went to attention and reported in. The colonel immediately told me to sit down at the conference table with him and Top.

"Lieutenant, I know your girlfriend is going to make it—the doctor was confident there would be no long-term bad effects. From what First Sergeant Franklin has told me, you've done nothing wrong. Our problem is what are we going to do now?

"We'll question your girlfriend when she wakes up tomorrow. I want to talk to her before you see her, so don't go to the hospital until Top calls you. Don't go to work tomorrow either—wait in your quarters. Understand?"

"Yes, Sir."

"There are quite a few problems here, Lieutenant. First, your girlfriend is being squeezed by the Russians to spy on us using her kid as leverage. Second, her note implied other women are being forced to do the same thing—not all of them would refuse to cooperate—we need to identify those women.

"First Sergeant Franklin suggested a short-term solution—that we give her information that will keep the Russians happy. Of course, that doesn't solve her long-term problem.

"Will she be missed at her job?"

"No, Sir, she's on a week's vacation."

"Did anyone see her being carried out of her apartment?"

I thought for a moment. "I don't think so, Sir. Most of the occupants work. There was no one in the hallway or the back stairs. It's not a very busy apartment."

Top asked, "Does she have any friends?"

"Just me."

Weldon stood up. "Until we see her, there's no sense talking this thing to death. Lieutenant, you're not in trouble as far as I can tell, but you're restricted to your quarters until we talk to your girlfriend and Top calls you. Understand?"

"Yes, Sir."

"You're dismissed."

I went back to my room confused and frustrated. The only good thought I held was that Elke was still alive. However, it was clear that she was in a terrible situation, and I couldn't think of any way she could get out of the trap. My helplessness sent me back into a depression. I didn't sleep very well that night—pictures of Elke in her apartment bedroom and in the hospital would not leave my mind.

I had desperate thoughts—resign my commission and bring Elke to the US with me, or hide in Europe—but I knew none of them were realistic. I finally fell into a troubled sleep in the early hours of the morning. I awoke about 1000 and drank some coffee, and then went back to my room to wait for the phone call.

Instead, at about 1300, there was a knock on my door.

"Come in."

It was the First Sergeant. "Good afternoon, Lieutenant."

"How's Elke?"

"She's fine, Lieutenant. All the drugs are gone and there are few apparent after effects. She is logical and physically looks a hell of a lot better than when we saw her yesterday. She wants to see you."

I stood up, but he held out his hand and said, "We'd better discuss the situation; Colonel Weldon asked me to bring you up to speed."

He chuckled, "The Colonel thinks that Elke, you, and I have bonded a little, so I get to do the talking."

I sat back in the chair and waited.

"Lieutenant, from now on what you hear is considered top secret. You can't talk about it to other officers, enlisted personnel or civilians under penalty of military court martial. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Top."

"We talked to Elke for five hours. You were the first soldier she approached. Everything she wrote in the letter seems to be true—you did not reveal any military information, and other than giving the Russians your name and rank, she told them nothing.

"But the game was coming to an end. They demanded that she get more aggressive in getting information from you or her daughter would suffer. Apparently there are five women working out of this network—three of them have their young children being leveraged against them; the other two seem to be spying without any overt coercion.

"She's agreed to work with us—we will give her information, and she'll feed that information to the Russians. The information will be good stuff, but nothing that can hurt us.

"We need to identify the other four women who are spying. She's agreed to help us find the women, but she had a condition."

"What?" I asked.

He looked at me. "You know that girl is a lot tougher than she looks. The Colonel started yelling at her, but she stood her ground—actually she told him off...The Colonel hasn't been told off for a while; it was interesting to watch."

"What's Elke demanding?"

"She wants us to get her kid out."

"But Top, that's impossible. Her daughter's in the Russian sector of Germany."

"That's what the Colonel told her, but she's one stubborn kraut."

"So how did it end?"

"The Colonel said he would kick it upstairs. Here's the argument. The kid is only ten miles across the border in a farm house with the other two kids. There are never more than five soldiers there and a woman to watch the kids. It's some type of regional spy center since they have a communications room and a fairly high-ranking officer in charge.

"A quick snatch isn't that impossible and who knows the information we'll find. If nothing else, we'll have Elke identify the other four women. If we snatch the one kid, we might as well get all three and take the other women into custody at the same time. We have special teams that practice that shit all the time."

"You would really go after Sophie?"

"Lieutenant, that decision is even over the Colonel's head—the division commander, his S2, and Military Intelligence at Ft. Meade all have to sign off on it. I can't tell you what they'll decide.

"Now you know as much as anyone. Go see your girlfriend."

I got up to leave but stopped and asked, "Top, I'm glad you're the one talking to me, but I'm surprised an officer isn't butting into the middle of this."

He chuckled, "The Colonel and I go back a long way. We had some situations together as grunts. In fact, he insulted me and offered me a field commission. I turned it down to stay with my men, but he kind of feels I fucked up when I said no. He gives me a lot of space.

"Go, Lieutenant."

I practically ran to the hospital. There was an MP at Elke's door, but he nodded permission to go in.

She was dozing when I walked up to her bed. She looked beautiful as she lay there, but I noticed that her complexion was even whiter than normal and she looked drawn. I touched her shoulder and she opened her eyes. She cried with surprise and then I leaned over and hugged her.

She was sobbing, "I'm sorry, Dave, I'm so sorry. Can you ever forgive me for lying to you?"

I stroked her hair and shushed her as we hugged. Finally I forced her to lie back down. I pulled up a chair to the bed and held her hand.

"How do you feel, honey?"

"I'm fine, Dave, but I'm so sorry..."

"Elke, I love you; there is nothing to be sorry about."

Tears were filling her eyes again. She stammered, "Did the First Sergeant tell you everything? I am so ashamed."

"Yes, Elke, but don't be ashamed. You never betrayed me and you were protecting Sophie. It's the Russians who should be ashamed for using little children to blackmail their parents."

"I promised your Colonel I would cooperate with him and give the Russians special information to mislead them, but I insisted that he bring Sophie to me."

"Elke, the First Sergeant told me that the Colonel would ask permission to see if they can rescue Sophie."

I could see the stubborn look on her face.

"Dave, I want my Sophie."

Chapter 4

The next morning Elke was released from the hospital. However, before she physically left the building she sat down with the First Sergeant, an intelligence officer from the 2nd Armored Division's S2 office and a sketch artist. I was politely, but firmly, told that they would be more productive if I weren't with Elke when they talked.

It was obvious to me that they were trying to identify the other four women whom the Russians had either coerced or talked into spying in our regional sector.

When the meeting was over Top walked over to me and said, "She's trying, Lieutenant. It's just going to take time to learn everything that she knows.

"When does she go back to work?

"Monday," I replied. "Why do you ask?"

"Lieutenant, that's how she passes any information to the Russians—a customer comes in and buys something and the exchange is made then. I'll talk to the Colonel and make sure we have something for Elke to give them."

The following Monday Elke passed on the news that in four weeks there would be joint maneuvers with our armored division and a newly formed Federal Republic armored brigade. The information was harmless since there would be a public announcement revealing the same news within the next ten days. However, it was the first information that Elke had passed to them.

The theory was to start with some small stuff and string it along to better and better information. The pressure would be less on Elke and Sophie, and it would give Division time to decide whether to go for the kids or not.

The next information she gave was that the West German armored brigade Commander was retiring and named the new commander. Then Top told her to pass along to them that ordnance for our tanks was being upgraded and the new ammunition would be arriving in three months.

Elke was given an identification card so she was now allowed to enter the outer perimeter of the base, if she was accompanied by an American soldier. The Officer's Club was in that area, so I could take Elke to dinner at the Club. The real purpose was to allow the First Sergeant and others to meet with Elke to continue their questioning. I would walk into the club with Elke and she would disappear for an hour or two while I sipped at the bar. She would come out of the meeting and we would have dinner together.

The short-term situation was fine—Top told me that three of the other four women had already been located and were being watched, and that they were close to finding the fourth. Elke was more relaxed because the Russians were now happy with her and the threats to Sophie had disappeared. And, of course, she thought it was only a little while longer until permission was given to bring Sophie out.

While Elke was more relaxed, I was more nervous—everything I had experienced with the Army bureaucracy was that you never got what you expected. So I assumed that the decision would be not to go for the kids—I couldn't believe that we would risk an international incident to grab three kids just because their mothers were spies, or to reward Elke.

Elke was scheduled to go to Choiden in three weeks for her quarterly visit with Sophie. Our activity picked up since this would be an opportunity for Elke to really concentrate on the layout of the building, the men involved, and the routine they performed. She met with Top every third day now to prepare her for her visit.

To make her visit easier with the Russians, she was given critical information to pass along—the specification manual on the new ordnance for the tanks. Since I was, in theory, a supply officer in armor, it would be consistent that I would have access to the manual.

"But, First Sergeant," I asked, "won't this information hurt us?"

"Yes it would, Lieutenant, but they already have the manual; don't ask me how we know."

She told them on Tuesday that I was leaving the manual in the apartment when I went to work. On Thursday she took it to the pharmacy and gave it to her contact; two hours later it was returned to her.

It was a week before her visit to Sophie. Elke reverted back to her depressed mood as she worried whether she could fool them during the visit. Our sex life was zero; all I did was hold her during the night hoping that she would have a good night's sleep.

"Dave, I'm scared. If they catch me in a lie, they will hurt Sophie. One of these times I will make a mistake and they will know."

I lied to ease her fears, "I think the permission to go for Sophie will be made right after you return. That's why they want you to be watchful when you're there."

On Thursday night we had our last meal at the club. The First Sergeant and others met with Elke to go over again what they wanted her to observe when she was seeing Sophie. There were two buildings. The farmhouse contained the soldiers' quarters and the communications room. The small barn behind the house was where the children and the woman slept.

As accurately as possible they wanted Elke to be able to sketch the layout of the rooms, the access ways and any other physical things with the buildings that could either help or harm the team that we would possibly send in.

I took her to the train station the next day and we hugged. "Elke, don't be brave and don't do anything that you haven't done in the past. If they find you in a room where you have no business, it will be very bad."

"I understand, Dave. I'll be careful. If I make a mistake, Sophie will suffer."

-------

I spent a nervous weekend and met her train that Sunday night. She rushed into my arms and we kissed.

"Dave..."

"Wait until we get to the apartment, Elke."

She nodded her understanding and kissed me again.

When we entered the apartment Elke said, "They are very happy with me. The Commander took me into his office to congratulate me on the information I have given them, and the manual that they copied. He said that now that I have your trust, I should be able to get more and better information."

"How is Sophie?"

"Dave, she is getting so big. She was so happy to see me—we played all day until she fell asleep exhausted. I miss her so much."

I could tell that she was happy and excited—the visit had gone well, and she had accomplished what we asked her to do.

We went to bed and for the first time in weeks the sex was uninhibited and not constrained by stress or worry.

We went to the club the next night. The First Sergeant met us inside the door.

"Lieutenant, you might as well have dinner by yourself—this will be a long meeting. We have food for Elke."

Three hours later Colonel Weldon walked up to me.

"Lieutenant, follow me."

We walked into a small office. As soon as I closed the door he said, "I never thought we'd go after your girlfriend's kid—too much political risk whether the grab was successful or not.

"The situation just changed. When the Commander of the unit invited her into the house to compliment her on the information and encourage her to get more, he received a phone call. She heard him discuss in Russian a matter that is known to only three people in the Federal Republic. It appears that the Russians have a spy at the highest level of the new government.

"The decision is being made as we speak. We have to find out the identity of the spy; we think that information might be where they are holding the kid.

"If the Federal Republic is compromised and embarrassed, it will be a huge setback for us.

"This will take a while. Be patient, Lieutenant."

"Yes, Sir."

Two hours later I was told to come to the meeting room. Top was there along with Colonel Weldon and two other officers I hadn't met before. Elke was beaming.

"Dave, they are going in to get Sophie."

I looked at Top. His nod confirmed that Elke was right.

I met Top for coffee early the next morning. He said, "Lieutenant, we've had a team getting ready for the last three weeks in case the answer came down to go in. We already know the rough location of the buildings and some pictures of the outside. With Elke's help we have the last details of what we need. You don't have the need to know any details about the operation, but the night they go in for the grab, Elke will leave her apartment and never return; she should be ready to leave any time in the next three weeks. She'll live on the base until decisions are made about what to do with her and the girl.

"We've located the other four women and they'll all be taken into our custody the night of the operation. It's going to be a little messy since two of them have a relationship with a major and a light colonel.

"Until then, continue your normal routine, both at work and with Elke. I'll continue to give her information that she can pass on."

"Top, what are the chances this is going to work?"

"Lieutenant, I know these soldiers. They are the best there is for this type of operation. If what Elke told us holds up, there's a good chance the team will bring the kids back."

------

One week later Captain Myer stopped in front of my desk, "Dave, Colonel Weldon wants to see you immediately. Be prepared; he really sounded pissed off.

"What did I do now?" I thought.

I walked into the outer office and the Sergeant said, "Go right in, Lieutenant; they're waiting for you."

I entered the office and spotted the First Sergeant and Colonel Weldon sitting at the conference table. I stopped in front of the Colonel and went to attention. "Lieutenant Wheeler, reporting as ordered, Sir."

He pointed at a chair and said, "Sit down, Lieutenant."

He paused to collect his thoughts and then continued, "We have a four man grab team that has been training for weeks to pull this off and get the kids out. These enlisted men are experts at this type of thing—they train for it all the time.

"I've just received orders from the Division's S2 that we have to have an intelligence officer included in the grab team. I violently disagreed with that decision and went to the Division Commander; he backed his S2.

"So now we have to pull one of the four experts and replace him with an officer. Of course, you would have to volunteer."

I was surprised...no shocked, "Me, why do you want me...Sir?"

"Top thinks that you have common sense, that you know what you don't know, and that you won't try to be a hero. Most of our officers would want or insist that they take charge of the team. That's not going to work—it's bad enough to pull a man from the team, but to put an outsider in charge of them would be a disaster.

"You would nominally be in charge of the team, but in fact, Sergeant Waters would be in charge. You would have to instantly obey any "suggestion" he gives you.