Chapter 31

Kelly kissed Mike goodbye early the next morning. So far, except for a slight swelling of her breasts, there was no sign of her pregnancy. She was in the office at seven o’clock and found an answer to her facsimile message of the day before. For a change, the seven-hour time difference to Moscow had come in handy.

She took the sheets to her office, sat down, and started to read. It was a personal message to her, signed “Uncle Mischa.” Mikhail said he was replying in Russian on the assumption there was an obvious breech of security at the College. A search of the KGB files showed that Klein, Wilson, and Carson were all on the KGB payroll from a period beginning about eight years earlier and continuing until the KGB was finally shut down the previous year.

It appeared that their primary mission was to infiltrate Fort Meade. There were several Meade names included, people whom the trio controlled. Also included were their code names, the person in the Soviet Embassy to whom Klein, the leader of the spy cell, reported, and an accounting of payments to them going back five years.

Finally, Solov noted there was an ominous report on Rita Nelson. The KGB files confirmed the story she had told the day before. She was lured in on inconsequential matters and then hooked with the threat of exposure. When the Russians had attacked in Germany, Rita rebelled. Klein insisted she was becoming dangerous; there was a dispatch in the file ready to be sent ordering her execution. It was dated the day the KGB ceased to exist.

Kelly suddenly realized how close to death the girl had come. She picked up the phone and called security. Pete Martin was at the desk and she asked him to find “one of the new colonels who had reported in the previous evening.” She sat down at Rita’s typewriter and quickly typed an English-language version of Mikhail’s message leaving out the personal parts about Katrina’s pregnancy and her own. Uncle Mischa was obviously elated at the idea of becoming a grandfather.

She was just finishing reading the translation when Rita came in. Kelly looked up and whistled. The girl’s appearance had changed totally since the previous evening. Before today, Rita had always looked like a frightened rabbit. This morning she was a beautiful young woman. She glowed with happiness.

Rita was startled to find Kelly at her typewriter. Then she blushed, but stood up straight. She said, “General ... Kelly, I’m not wearing a bra this morning.”

“Your breasts seem firm enough. You don’t need one. But why?”

The girl smiled warmly and said, “Because Pete’s a boob man. Frankly, they’re too sore. I tried to put one on, but it hurt too much for me to wear it today.” The girl’s head rose even straighter. “I’ll have my resignation on your desk in ten minutes. It shouldn’t take more than thirty minutes to clean out my desk.”

“Rita, go get us some coffee, please, and then come into my office.” Kelly glanced at her watch and found it was seven thirty. Moments later the girl came into the office with two cups. She gave Kelly her coffee and sat down on the edge of the chair facing her from across the desk. Kelly said, “Now why are you resigning?”

The girl’s head came up straight and she looked directly at Kelly. “Because I slept with Pete Martin last night. I know I should not. It’s fraternization with staff and it’s forbidden. I could tell you it will never happen again, but I would be lying. I intend to keep doing it.” She glared at Kelly and continued, “If he wanted to take me this minute, I would be on my back on your carpet with my legs spread!”

Kelly smiled softly and replied, “If Mike came in and looked like he wanted me, I would be, too. So what? And where did this fraternization rule come from?”

Rita looked startled. “Well everyone knows...”

“Does Pete? Did he say anything about it last night?”

“Of course he didn’t. He’s a man. He wanted to get in my pants. And I wanted him to.”

“Oh, I see! You’re just a hot cunt to Pete? He doesn’t care about you at all?”

“Of course he didn’t say that. He says he loves me and wants to take care of me.”

“Do you believe him? Do you love him?”

The girl’s smile was beautiful. “Kelly, I love him so desperately. But he can’t love me. I’m ugly and plain and...”

Kelly looked at the girl steadily. Then she said, “Rita, let me tell you something about Pete. Yesterday afternoon before all the trouble started, I saw Pete talking to you. When he came into my office I asked if he were interested in you. Do you know what else I said? I said if he wanted someone to share his bed, I could give him names of several beautiful girls who would be happy to oblige him. That was yesterday.

“This morning I think I see what Pete saw. You are stunning! And when you speak of Pete, you glow. Now for your information, there is no anti-fraternization rule. If there was, it’s rescinded retroactive to my taking command. Now get your trim little ass back to your desk where you belong!

“Oh, there’s one more thing. It’s something I discovered with Mike, and now all my friends do it, too. At night after we make love, I sleep on my back with my head on Mike’s shoulder. I snuggle as close to him as I can and he puts his right hand over my right tit. I put my hand over it to keep it there. I just immediately fall asleep feeling warm and loved. The next morning if I wake up first, I squeeze his hand. If he does, he squeezes my breast. In any event, he takes me that way before either of us is fully awake. What a wonderful way to start the morning!”

She smiled warmly at the girl and said, “Try it with Pete. I think you’ll both like it.”

Rita had listened carefully. As Kelly spoke, the girl’s mouth started to drop. Finally, she said, “My God! But you’re both generals!”

Kelly just grinned. “At home I’m just a hot cunt. Rita, I’ll say just one more thing. I’ve been raped by hundreds of men over nearly a year’s time. I guess it was twenty to thirty a day, every day. I’ve made love with only one man: Mike. It’s so exquisite, it makes all the other worthwhile. It really does. Now get your ass in gear! I’ve got to get moving.”

Just then there was a knock on the door. Pete and Chet Morrissey came in. Ignoring everyone else, Rita went to Pete and kissed him warmly. Kelly heard her murmur, “Good morning again, darling.” Then with a quick wink at Kelly, she shot out the door to her office.

Kelly glanced at her watch. She wanted to be in Horace Wilson’s classroom in five minutes. Quickly, she briefed them on what she had learned. Chet went to her phone and called the FBI. He told her that they had been alerted the previous night when it was clear that civilian employees of the Army were involved.

Kelly had made copies of her translation so while Chet was on the phone, Pete was reading the report carefully. Finally he reached the note about Rita and let out a soft whistle. He looked up at Kelly and said, “This confirms everything Rita said yesterday afternoon. Kelly, thank you!”

“Thanks for what? I didn’t do anything.”

Pete just shook his head. “You saved the life of the girl I love. General, it’s well known how you and Marshall Solov ended the war. It looks like you did it just in time to save Rita’s life. I’m sure this death warrant is no joke!”

Morrissey was off the phone and waiting. He asked, “What do you want us to do, General? Should we pick up Wilson and Carson now?”

Kelly remembered her discussion of the previous morning. She said, “Why don’t you ask the FBI to pick up Klein now. I want to sit in on Wilson’s class this morning. It might be informative. Morrissey, why don’t you come, too? You might learn something.”

The call went out to have Klein picked up and Carson watched. When they entered the lecture hall where Wilson’s class met, Kelly went to the back of the hall where she could hide behind some students. Morrissey sat in the front. They figured that Wilson was sufficiently egotistical that he wouldn’t know one student from another.

As students came in and took their seats, Jack George saw her and she told him what she wanted to do. They found a seat for Kelly behind a particularly large officer. At nine o’clock Wilson entered the classroom. He went to the lectern and proceeded to pick up where he had left off the day before. Before he could begin, Jack George had his hand up and Wilson acknowledged him.

George said, “Professor Wilson, yesterday, and for a number of days past, you said the attack through Germany was not the way to go. You said a move from Strasbourg was superior. Why?”

Wilson huffed and said, “That’s a stupid question. The answer is obvious to anyone with half a brain!”

George persisted: “I have at least half a brain and I was there. It wasn’t obvious to me then or now. Furthermore, I realized after class that this may be a first: second-guessing a victory. Now, Mr. Wilson, suppose you tell me why a Strasbourg attack would have been better? For openers, how do we get across the Rhine? What about casualties? I checked yesterday and found that Allied losses from all causes from the time of the attack to the end of the war were fewer than 500. The Warsaw Pact forces lost millions, overwhelmingly captured — MIA to them. The war was over in less than sixty days. How could it have been better?”

Wilson looked startled. This was the first time he had ever been challenged in his classroom. He said, “Those numbers are ridiculous! Our casualties were enormous. Whole units were wiped out by the Russians and their allies. Casualties from a Strasbourg campaign would have been much lighter.”