Chapter 26

Switzerland is a landlocked country, about one and a half times the size of Massachusetts. Its adjacent neighbours are Germany, France, Italy and Austria. From the earliest times of Hitler's rise to power, the majority of the population were against the Nazi ideology. Although there was a minority who welcomed Hitler's ideals and organization of Germany in taking it from a demoralised country into a country that enjoyed boom times during the Great Depression.

Switzerland has been a neutral country for more than 400 years.

During WWII, the country had a population of about 4.5 million and an army of 400,000. The Swiss army planned to become resistance fighters if invaded. The army and citizens would fight from the alpine regions and would be a difficult enemy to deal with. Unlike the old joke, Switzerland does not have a navy even though they are the America's cup challenger this year!

To avoid invasion by the Germans the Swiss allowed 'sealed boxes' to be transported across Switzerland between Italy and Germany without inspection by Swiss police or customs.

GENERAL HANS CRAMER Cramer was the last German Commander of the Afrika Korps. Captured in May 1943 and imprisoned in a POW camp in Wales, UK. Deteriorating health caused him to be repatriated to Germany through the Swedish Red Cross. Taken from Wales to London docks, the route took him through the south and south-western area of England.

He was allowed to see the massive build up of men, tanks, planes and ships getting ready for the D-Day invasion. He did not know the exact area of England that he was in but he was told it was southeastern England.

He reported this to Generals in Berlin when he arrived there on May 23, 1944. This added emphasis to the Allied propaganda that the invasion would take place in the Calais area, which was heavily fortified by the Germans against invasion.

Instead, the D-Day invasion took place in Normandy, hundred of miles away near Cherbourg.

"Can you trust Doctor Frans Muller? You can trust him with your life; he's just like a father to me. When I first moved here, I was lonely and when I attended his classes on anatomy and physiology, I fell in love with him," Hilda said.

"Hmmm! Tell me more," Gerry said teasing her, holding her gaze, watching her quick intake of breath.

"Herr Landen you're a terrible person," she said slapping his arm. "He didn't ever know!"

"Are you afraid of your feelings Frau Meltzer." Gerry liked teasing her maintaining his small advantage over her, addressing her as a married woman.

"No! I'm not! And it's Fraulein Meltzer," Hilda corrected him.

Gerry went to sip his cognac and finding his glass empty, he hailed the waiter.

"Care for another cognac?" Gerry asked.

"Please."

"So you've been lusting after Doctor Muller, unrequited love is..."

"You should listen closely, Gerry!" she said with frustration, breathing out loudly though pursed lips. "I didn't say that I was still in love with him. The time I'm referring to is four years ago and I was twenty-two years old and lonely. He took me under his wing and we became friends. I'm sure he didn't suspect that I was infatuated with him."

"Did you have a boyfriend at the time?" Gerry smiled, still holding her gaze. He wondered if she would tolerate his prying into her personal life and give him an answer. What she said next surprised him.

"I'm a normal woman with sexual needs but I'm also an independent female. I have male friends with whom I have sex when I'm overloaded with lust."

She eyed Gerry closely knowing that it was possible he had not heard such an open and revealing conversation with a woman that he did not know well. Her profession as a psychiatrist had taught her much about the sexual mores of European women. In 1943, they were somewhat sexually reserved. She was determined to gain the upper hand again.

"My ideal woman," Gerry said softly, using all his charm when he smiled and held her gaze.

She was not winning so she pulled her chair closer to the table and leaned closer hoping to intimidate him. Now her face was only centimetres from Gerry's but he maintained his position. 'God, you're an attractive man, ' Hilda thought briefly.

"Let me tell you about Doctor Muller. We meet every two weeks at his house for dinner..."

"There's that 'we' again, who is 'we'?" Gerry interrupted.

"We're people, kindred spirits. If anything, we're against things that others don't think deeply about."

"Such as?" Gerry said, his fatigue forgotten as the cognac relaxed him and the closeness of Hilda was exciting.

"Doctor Muller had to flee from Germany because of Hitler's persecution of the Jews. He's used his own money to assist intellectuals and Jews to escape Germany and paid for passage to the United States for some of them."

"So what part do you play in all of this?"

"I help out when he asks, something like I've done today with Herr Landen, the rebel. Only with you I acted on my own."

"So you have all the right contacts, do you?"

"If I don't, I go and find them," Hilda said.

"Still sounds like my ideal woman," Gerry said softly leaning closer. Fatigue overtook him; he sank back into his chair, feeling tired and sore.

"I need to sleep," he said abruptly.

Hilda picked her handbag from the table and hailed the waiter.

"I'm paying!" Gerry said firmly and when the waiter placed a small tray on the table holding the bill, he quickly placed Swiss francs to cover it.

Hilda was on her feet and as he stood, she held her hand out to him.

She refused his offer to walk her home telling him that he would only get lost. Squeezing his hand at the entrance to hotel, she walked quickly away into the night.

In his room, Gerry stripped off, adjusted the steam heater and slid beneath the covers. He was soon fast asleep.

A loud knock on his hotel door brought Gerry swiftly out of his sleep, 'I've only just fallen asleep, ' he thought. Another knock; this one more insistent; he rose quickly and hiding his nakedness behind the door, he opened it a few centimetres.

"Yes?" his sleep filled eyes finally focussed, "Did you forget something?" he asked Hilda.

"It's seven forty five. It's time for you to be up and about."

"Really, Hold on until I put something on."

Hilda did not wait; she pushed her way into his room. Grinning at Gerry scrambling for his clothes she placed the small box she had carried with her on the small table. She sat and waited as he pulled on his socks and boots.

"They're going!" she said.

"What?"

"Those boots, you look like a bloody farmer!"

"Okay."

"Show me where the bathroom is," Hilda said as she opened the small box. Reaching inside she pulled out a small bowl, a brush, soap, toothbrush, tooth powder and two washcloths.

Gerry wondered what she had planned when she returned with the bowl full of hot water.

Placing it on the small table, "Place your hands in the water, please," she said.

"Why?"

"Your hands are putrid; they're full of grease and the fingernails are disgusting! I wouldn't let you touch me with hands like that."

His hands, after soaking for ten minutes, were starting to wrinkle like dried prunes. She smiled at his disinterested expression as she took one of his hands from the water. Attacking it with the small nailbrush and soap, she coaxed the grime from his skin and from under his fingernails.

Gerry felt the tremors starting in his belly from the feel of the brush and her soft hand gently twisting his hands. When she was satisfied, he held his hands up and he admitted to himself that he now looked much cleaner.

"I found that sexually stimulating." Holding his hands out towards her, "Does this mean I can touch you now?"

"It was a figure of speech Herr Landen. You can keep all of these things. Let me know if you need anything else."

'I pushed her too fast, ' Gerry thought.

"Thank you for your kindness, may I buy you breakfast?" Gerry said.

"No because I'm buying, go wash and then we'll leave."

After breakfast, they walked together into the hospital's main waiting room. Hilda gave a little good-bye wave and disappeared into her office. He walked to the receptionist.

"I would like to see Herr Dasch please."

She looked through her handwritten journal, "Herr Dasch is not in the general ward as yet. He's in a ward for special care and you will need to see Doctor Schaeffer. Do you know where his office is?"

Gerry followed her directions through the corridors. When he came to Doctor Schaeffer's office, a small sign directed him to enter without knocking. His secretary asked him to wait after he gave his details. Ten minutes later Doctor Schaeffer's door opened and he walked a patient out to the exit. His receptionist pointed to Gerry and spoke softly to Doctor Schaeffer who then beckoned to him.

"Have a seat Herr Landen. Just a moment while I check your cousin's chart; he's still sedated and I doubt if he will be able to talk. I can let you see him briefly. I'll have a nurse take you to his room."

Gerry entered into Richard's darkened room. It seemed to him that Richard was sleeping. He leaned onto the low rail preventing Richard from falling out and it creaked. Richard's head lolled slowly in his direction, his eyes briefly fluttered opened, closed, and he appeared to be sleeping again.

Gerry left and as he passed into the main waiting room, he went to the receptionist.

"I would like to book an appointment with Doctor Muller this afternoon, please."

"Your name?"

"Landen."

"Oh you've been booked in, you're the last on the list."

Gerry walked slowly to the hospital exit wondering what he would do next.

"Gerry!"

Hilda rushed up to him thrust her hand under his arm and continued walking with him.

"Would you like to have lunch with me?"

"No you've helped enough. I'm very thankful but I don't want to impose on you."

"That's okay, meet me here at twelve thirty." She turned and rushed back into the hospital.

Gerry walked out to Rami Strasse and back to where he had seen the river. He walked off Rami Strasse toward the Limmat River.

At nine p.m. Chris was driving down the main road to Kahlsruhe while Otto and Alvin were tracking the EHV transmission towers. Manfred was sleeping slumped into the back seat. Ten kilometres from the city, the cables descended from the high towers into the key substation.

"Slow down Chris, this is the substation," Otto said.

"Just our luck," Alvin said.

"What?" Chris asked.

"There are no guards that I can see but there's a high fence that stretches well away from this road. The fences are marked with high voltage signs but I can't tell if this is to warn that the fences are electrified," Alvin said.

"Well you're the electrical expert Alvin. If you can't tell what the warning signs mean then I'll drive a few kilometres down the road. We'll drive into the forest when we find a trail. We'll walk back to the fence and then you can tell us about the signs and the spots where we can place our mines," Chris said.

Chris shook Manfred awake, "Here take the keys and mind the car while we look around."

Thirty minutes later, they walked out of the forest onto the back fence of the large substation yard.

"Don't go near the fence, sit in the grass while I do some tests," Alvin said.

Otto and Chris watched as Alvin hacked a sapling free of leaves and small branches. He took his coat off and wrapped it around one end of the sapling. He ran his hand over the bare end.

"This sapling is not wet enough; I need a volunteer to piss on the end of it. C'mon Otto," Alvin said.

Otto could not help himself and started to laugh but he choked that back when Chris knocked his elbow cautioning him to be quite.

Alvin held the sapling in Otto's stream of urine while holding his coat firmly wrapped around the other end. He walked to the fence and prodded it with the wet sapling.

The crackling sound of high voltage caused Chris to cower away holding his arm over his face protectively.

Otto was buttoning his fly, his hands flew up, "Shit!" he exclaimed. Chris was on his feet and he joined Otto moving further away from the fence.

Alvin threw the sapling into the undergrowth. Joining Otto and Chris while he was donning his overcoat, "That answers the question rather dramatically doesn't it?" he said.

"While we're here I want to point out a few things," said Alvin. "It's highly dangerous inside that fence. If you were to walk in the wrong areas, electricity can arc into your body and you would be fried in a split second. That main building, near the road, contains the control equipment. That building should be our target. I've seen enough so let's get back to camp. We need to think because this is not as straightforward as we thought. "

Alex and Erika walked into the living room. They had just finished monitoring in the Comms room. Cornelia and Anna were seated at the table, talking and drinking coffee. Cornelia, seeing Erika and Alex, placed her coffee on the table and jumped up, "I know, you both want coffee."

She peered into young Richard's crib as she went by. Seeing he was sleeping soundly, she continued out to the kitchen.

"Any messages?" Cornelia yelled from the kitchen.

"Just a short message from Bernard. It was private," Alex said. "He did say that all were well and they have a new camp."

Cornelia set the hot coffee in front of Alex and Erica. "Bernard is risking detection sending love messages to my mother. That's so charming," she said sarcastically.

Alex was mortified; she was the only one not laughing.

"Sorry mother, I'm jealous. I just wish Manfred was so caring."

Gerry rested his arms on the railing of the Munster Bridge over the Limmat River marvelling at the scene so reminiscent of Amsterdam. He wanted to walk along the Limmat Quai, a road running alongside the river's edge, but he felt languid. Movement in the water below drew his attention to a shoal of young sprat's darting left and right but slowly swimming upstream.

An old couple, passing by, wished him 'Good morning'. Although it was a different language, it was the way people behaved with one another in Amsterdam.

The light wind changed direction and he smelled the burnt oil that was in his overcoat. He was feeling melancholy as he looked down at his boots and saw how rustic he looked.

'Hilda was right I look like a farmer, ' he thought.

Gerry walked hurriedly off the bridge and found the store that he had visited with Hilda yesterday. He sat in the men's shoe area and purchased a pair of shoes that looked like a pair he owned at home. The same salesman sold him a new overcoat. He was relieved that he had removed his pistol and the German Luger when he told the salesman he would wear the new coat and shoes.

He paid the salesman for his purchases and wondered why he was still waiting with his hand outstretched.

'He must want a tip, ' Gerry thought placing a further ten francs on the counter.

"You don't understand sir, I need your coupon book, these items are rationed."

"I didn't have coupons yesterday, I just paid money and left the store," Gerry said.

"You didn't see your girl friend giving me her coupons for your purchases because she said she wanted to surprise you."

When Gerry realised the extent of his problem, he produced a further thirty francs and dropped them on the counter.

"They're just like coupons aren't they?" Gerry said.

"When you put another ten francs on the counter they will be."

Gerry placed a further ten francs on the counter, smiled at the salesman, "Pleasure doing business with you. I like this shop."

Leaving the store, he found a jeweller's store where he bought a cheap wristwatch.

As he walked back to the hospital he looked at his watch, 12:15, 'Good. I have enough time to check on Richard before I meet Hilda, ' he thought.

He didn't bother checking with Doctor Schaeffer and went straight to Richard's room. Gently he opened the door and went to Richard's bed. He was still asleep but he watched Richard's light breathing for a minute then returned to the waiting room.

"I want a plan for attacking the substation before we go to bed," Chris said to the four men sitting with him in his tent.

"It's not easy Chris," said Otto, "the electrified fence is a major problem. Given that we could get through the fence, an electrical arc could fry us!"

Manfred had listened and decided that since no one had a firm idea it was time for him to speak up.

"Here are the options. We could tunnel under the fence at the back of the building and lay our mines. We don't have time to do that. Alvin, you said that the fence stops at the back wall of the building. Well here's what we do. We attach our mines to the sidewall; we'll need more charges than we would normally use. I think that's a small price to pay and we get the job done," Manfred said.

"But that wall has had the scrub cleared away, it's in open ground. The danger of detection is high," Alvin said.

"We'll just have to be careful then," Manfred said.

Chris did not like any of the suggestions, "Tomorrow night, we're going back to the substation. We'll have a look from the other side of the substation and see what we find."

"My, my you look almost civilised Herr Landen," Hilda said giggling softly.

Gerry rose from his seat in the main waiting room and grabbed his large parcel containing his overcoat and boots.

"I need to get my coat cleaned."

"Give it to me," she said taking the parcel. She walked back to her office and dumped the parcel on a chair.

"But..." Gerry tried to object.

"I haven't given you a reason to argue have I?" She enjoyed playing with him hoping to gain the superior position.

"But I want to get my coat cleaned," Gerry said.

"I know. Come, let us have lunch," she said.

She slipped her hand through his arm and steered him to the exit.

The café was crowded so Hilda went to a waiter who recognised her.

Gerry saw her gesturing and giving orders to the waiter.

In a short while, the waiter returned with a large paper bag. Hilda paid, slipped her hand back under Gerry's arm and pulled him back onto the street. They walked toward the river and into a small park that overlooked the Limmat Quai onto the Limmat River.

Finding an empty park bench, she placed her lunch bag between them and ripped it open. There were two pieces of French baguette, a narrow French bread; slices of chicken and cheese wrapped in white paper.

She placed chicken and cheese in a portion of baguette and offered it to Gerry. He waited patiently while she prepared her own bread, then together they munched until their hunger was sated.

Hilda wiped at the corner of her lips with her middle finger, "I see you have an appointment with Doctor Muller this afternoon."