The Eagle Has Landed Read Online Free PDF Page B

Department Z, the Central Department of the Abwehr and directly under the Admiral's personal control. Section Three was a unit which was supposed to look after particularly difficult assignments and as such, Radl was authorized to poke his nose into any other Abwehr section that he wanted, an activity which made him considerably less than popular amongst his colleagues.
     
     
'As bad as that?'
     
     
'Worse,' Canaris told him. 'Mussolini was like a walking automaton, Goebbels hopped as usual from one foot to the other like some ten-year old schoolboy bursting for a pee.'
     
     
Radl winced, for it always made him feel decidely uneasy when the Admiral spoke in that way of such powerful people. Although the offices were checked daily for microphones, one could never really be sure.
     
     
Canaris carried on, 'Himmler was his usual pleasant corpse-like self and as for the Fuhrer...'
     
     
Radl cut in hastily. 'More coffee, Herr Admiral?'
     
     
Canaris sat down again. 'All he could talk about was Gran Sasso and what a bloody miracle the whole thing was and why didn't the Abwehr do something as spectacular.'
     
     
He jumped up, walked to the window and peered out through the curtains into the grey morning. 'You know what he suggests we do, Max? Get Churchill for him.'
     
     
Radl started violently. 'Good God, he can't be serious.'
     
     
'Who knows? One day, yes, another day, no. He didn't actually specify whether he wanted him alive or dead. This business with Mussolini has gone to his head. Now he seems to think anything is possible. Bring the Devil from Hell if necessary, was a phrase he quoted with some feeling.'
     
     
'And the others - how did they take it?' Radl asked.
     
     
'Goebbels was his usual amiable self, the Duce looked hunted. Himmler was the difficult one. Backed the Fuhrer all the way. Said that the least we could do was look into it. A feasibility study, that was the phrase he used.'
     
     
'I see, sir.' Radl hesitated. 'You do think the Fuhrer is serious?'
     
     
'Of course not.' Canaris went over to the army cot in the corner, turned back the blankets, sat down and started to unlace his shoes. 'He'll have forgotten it already. I know what he's like when he's in that kind of mood. Comes out with all sorts of rubbish.' He got into the cot and covered himself with the blanket. 'No, I'd say Himmler's the only worry. He's after my blood. He'll remind him about the whole miserable affair at some future date when it suits him, if only to make it look as if I don't do as I'm told.'
     
     
'So what do you want me to do?'
     
     
'Exactly what Himmler suggested. A feasibility study. A nice, long report that will look as if we've really been trying. For example, Churchill's in Canada at the moment, isn't he? Probably coming back by boat. You can always make it look as if you've seriously considered the possibility of having a U-boat in the right place at the right time. After all, as our Fuhrer assured me personally not six hours ago, miracles do happen, but only under the right divine inspiration. Tell Krogel to wake me in one hour and a half.'
     
     
He pulled the blanket over his head and Radl turned off the light and went out. He wasn't at all happy as he made his way back to his office and not because of the ridiculous task he'd been given. That sort of thing was commonplace. In fact, he often referred to Section Three as the Department of Absurdities.
     
     
No, it was the way Canaris talked which worried him and as he was one of those individuals who liked to be scrupulously honest with himself, Radl was man enough to admit that he wasn't just worried about the Admiral. He was very much thinking of himself and his family.
     
     
Technically the Gestapo had no jurisdiction over men in uniform. On the other hand he had seen too many acquaintances simply disappear off the face of the earth to believe that. The infamous Night and Fog Decree in which various unfortunates were made to vanish into