Read The Serpent's Egg for Free Online Page B

prospect.” It seemed this was the outcome Libertas had been expecting. It left the field open for her to hand Max to Harro like a cat delivering a dead mouse. 
    Greta returned to her earlier question. “Have you been able to get their marriage application sanctioned?”
    Libertas beamed. “But of course, darling. Would we be having this discussion otherwise? I spoke with my friend Emmy and she had a word in Hermann’s ear. In spite of their obvious difficulty, it has all been arranged. You can tell Max-Christian he will soon be able to re-apply to department B. When he does, his application will be sanctioned.”
    Once again Greta marveled at the ease with which Libertas could influence Hermann Göring, head of the Luftwaffe, by manipulating Emmy, his devoted wife.
    Greta asked for the return of the young couple’s papers.
    Libertas’s smile turned to cracked porcelain. “I don’t have them. Emmy forgot to return them. I will collect them from her the next time I visit.”
    Greta ground her teeth again. There was no point asking when that was likely to be. Libertas would be summoned if and when it suited Frau Göring, and the whole thing could easily fall apart before then.
     
    #
     
    They had tea, served on silverware by the portly maid in a tight outfit. When the maid had left the room Mildred suppressed a smile.
    Libertas looked down her long nose at her “I know. She has a constant battle with her weight. But Pauletta is a good girl. I wouldn’t replace her, not for the world.”
    Before they left, Libertas had one more card to play. “I’ve been thinking. Our two networks are doing more or less the same thing. We must be wasting precious resources by not working together. Harro has suggested that we might cooperate more closely. We might even consider merging.”
    Mildred looked at her, blankly. “Merging. The two networks?”
    “Yes, why not? We should be producing a single leaflet between us and we should surely combine our distribution networks. That way we could minimize the risks. One joint network would be so much more efficient. Don’t you think?”
    Mildred took a handkerchief from her handbag and blew her nose loudly. “I doubt that Arvid would consider such a move.”
    “But tell me you’ll put it to him.”
    “I’ll ask him…”
    “That’s all I ask. Put it to him. See how he reacts. And maybe we could set up a meeting.”
     
     

 
    Chapter 14
     
    September 1938
     
     
    At Libertas’s request, a member of the German Communist Party found them a disused warehouse close to the airport at Tempelhof. Harro had set up a small project in the Air Ministry to locate empty buildings to store spare parts for Luftwaffe aircraft. This gave him a perfect excuse to visit the warehouse openly. Arvid, on the other hand, took extreme measures to ensure that no one followed him to the venue. He arrived 30 minutes late.
    They shook hands.
    Arvid looked around, but could find nowhere to sit. The place was completely empty. The air temperature felt close to the boiling point of human blood, and there was a strong smell that he couldn’t identify.
    Harro opened proceedings. “My wife has established contact with a young man in the Reich Labor Service. His name is Max-Christian Noack. I think he may be a useful source of information. Unless you object, I propose to approach him and see if he is willing to join my network.”
    “Why should I object? I’m sure you will approach this man whatever I say.”
    Harro shook his head. “If you’re interested in the guy, I’m happy to let you have him. I’m quite sure we can trust him. He’s under an obligation to Libertas. She has arranged to have his marriage application approved by the Race and Ethnic Affairs people.”
    “I’m not interested. You have him. Was there something else you wanted to talk about?”
    “Libertas suggested we should talk about closer cooperation between our two networks.”
    Libertas, thought Arvid. I knew she was behind