bite.â
âItâs . . . itâs . . . impossible,â Deitel said finally.
âLe monde progresse grâce aux choses impossibles qui ont été réalisées,â Rucker said with a shrug.
That snapped Deitel out of his daze. What was this bush pilot saying?
âWhat?â
âThe world progresses thanks to the impossible things which were carried out,â Rucker said.
âYour government created all this?â
âGovernment? Oh no. Pegasus Petroleum and a consortium of three of the larger airlines own this place. Keep it flying in a regular two hundred mile radius. Cuts flight times like you wouldnât believe. Not that they donât charge an arm and a leg for petrol . . .â
âHow have they kept this secret?â
âSecret? Doc, they spend lots of money advertising this thing. They fly it over the stadiums at the World Cup.â
âWhy have I never heard of this, then?â Deitel asked, though he knew. The national socialist government could never acknowledge an accomplishment like this. Very little information ever slipped out of increasingly isolated Germany, and very little got in, either.
Deitel didnât notice Chuy come up behind them.
âThat should keep him distracted for a few minutes,â the large Brazilian said.
âShould I be presenting myself to your customs agents?â Deitel asked.
Chuy and Rucker cocked their heads and then looked where Deitel was pointingâthe office suite to which Chamberlain had been escorted. They both laughed.
âWhat? Oh. No, who you are in the Freehold is no oneâs business but your own, good doctor,â Chuy said in his baritone, with a melodious Carioca accent. âCustoms control in the Freehold? Never had it, never will.â
âBut, those men . . .â
âFriends of ours, Docâ Rucker said.
â Vos . . . What?â
âA confidence trick we learned from a British friend back when we were guests in one of your countryâs stalags . Youâd be surprisedâor not, I conjureâhow often Yankees fall for that one on account of how conditioned they are to say âsirâ to anyone with a badge.â
Deitel took a step back from the two, his guard up.
âWhat is going on? What do you want with me?â
âRight now we want you to get back on the plane. Weâre due in Austin in three hours, and we had to ditch that fat man,â Rucker said. âThe man youâre on your way to meet with radioed us to get rid of him.â
âI donât understand,â Deitel said.
âChamberlainâs working for the SD,â Rucker said flatly. The Sicherheitsdienst, or Secret Service, was the intelligence and foreign espionage agency of the SS.
That, of course, sent a chill up Deitelâs back. He stuttered and stammered. âIâI . . . I have my papers. I am a medical doctor and I am on a study sabbatical andââ
Rucker cut him off.
â âA word to the wise . . .â â
Deitel did a double take. It took a second for the words to come to him.
â âA sight for the eyes,â â he said, finishing the prearranged recognition, then relaxing a little.
âSo, Doc, now you and me are getting back aboard my bird and weâre flying to Austin.â
âI thought that the engine . . .â
Rucker and Chuy could see the lightbulb flick on. There was no engine trouble. It was all to throw Chamberlain off track without making it look like they were throwing him off track.
âAnd you werenât really drunk this morning?â
Rucker nodded.
âAnother ruse,â Chuy said. âOur friends can only double-talk the fat Yank for so long. Chamberlainâs not an official SD man, from what we knowâhe really is some kind of button-sorter for some muckety-muck on the Union States payroll. But heâs an asset for the