Ursula sat filing her nails and examined the girl, Kathryn, with considerable interest. So this was the one who had put Brehmer on cloud nine? Ursula had discreetly followed Brehmer and quickly discovered where he was spending most of his off time. He was either at the store, out with Kathryn or sequestered in her apartment with the drapes drawn. And the two of them were glowing in the most obvious way. "Puppy love" she thought to herself, sarcastically. "They're both barely wet behind the ears and they think they've found a paradise on Earth together."

That had been three days ago, and she had quickly passed the news on to Otto, who had had a fit about it. Otto had promptly summoned Brehmer into his office upon his return from "shopping" and given him a severe tongue-lashing for his poor judgement. What if the girl was an American agent? Even if she wasn't it was a bloody stupid thing to do. Why couldn't Brehmer just find a prostitute now and then to satisfy his appetites?

Otto wasn't absolutely sure, but he felt fairly certain that Brehmer had almost punched him in the nose when he said that. A look had come into the young pilot's eyes that said, "One more word along that line and I will break you in two..." It was such a look that it had given even Otto pause, so he backed off a little. He tried reminding Brehmer of the need for security. Brehmer insisted that the girl knew nothing and was no risk, and that in any case he would not stop seeing her and that was that. Then he walked out.

Things had been damn tense after that. Otto would have had Brehmer arrested and shot if they were in Europe, but he needed him here. There was no way around it. Brehmer would have his girlfriend and they would work around it somehow, and watch both of them like a hawk. If the girl found out anything or turned out to be anything but what she appeared to be...then kill her. And that might mean killing Brehmer too. It was a shame, but that was the way it stood.

Otto had assigned Ursula to continue watching them.

Then came the sudden crisis with the discovery of the buried apes and monkeys and the whole thing fell apart. Why did that young fool compromise them so? Now they had to hold the girl indefinitely...or until the job in Chicago was done...and then? Kill her. Most definitely. But Brehmer would be controllable as long as she was still alive...so for now, she must live.

Nothing could ever be simple, could it?

Ursula was thinking all this over herself as she kept a close eye on Kathryn. The girl had hardly said a word, and looked like she was in shock. Scared stiff, no doubt. Well, she had good reason to be scared.

"Smoke?" said Ursula, cooly, lighting up one herself.

"No thanks," replied Kathryn, guardedly. "I don't smoke."

"Ah!" exclaimed Ursula. "So that's it! We were all wracking our brains to understand why our handsome young pilot had suddenly become an abstainer...he who used to smoke so heroically whenever he was upset...now I understand. True dedication. It must be 'love'. I would say you were a lucky girl, but that would be quite incongruous at this juncture, wouldn't it?"

"Yes," said Kathryn bitterly. "It certainly would. Who the hell are you and what are you doing in Chicago?"

"Better you shouldn't know," replied Ursula smoothly, blowing smoke, and tapping off a bit of ash. "And by the way, just what do you know? It would be better if you just tell us now and don't make things difficult. Otto is not so nice as I am, and he is the boss here."

"Apparently I don't know a damn thing," snapped Kathryn, with tears of anger showing in her eyes. "I thought I was going out with a very nice young Polish man named Wally Krupinski. That's not his real name at all, is it?"

"No," admitted Ursula, "it's not. But it will do for now. In this line of work one exchanges names like gloves or shoes."

"You're Nazis, aren't you?" said Kathryn, glaring at her. This girl had quite a temper, you could see that. A fiery one when it came down to brass tacks.

"Humph," retorted Ursula, raising her eyebrows. "You say it like it was some sort of insult. What do you know about it? You're a victim of Allied propaganda. We are people who serve our country faithfully and risk our lives."

Kathryn shot her back a contemptuous look and turned away without a word. Nor would she reply to any more of Ursula's questions.

"You are very foolish," said Ursula at length. "I leave you in the tender care of Bruno here. Be careful of him. Bruno lacks imagination, don't you, Bruno? And he might get the idea you were trying to escape and shoot you."

"Oh, go to hell, Blondie," commented Bruno, without any heat. He was used to being picked on by Ursula. He thought she was a right cold bitch, even if she was good looking. He put down his paper and sat down across the room from Katherine, watching her stolidly but without any hostility. She was certainly a more pleasant sight to look at than Otto or Martin...but she was in a lousy mood. He decided not to bother her any more than was absolutely necessary. Angry women made Bruno feel very nervous. He preferred not to deal with them at all if he could help it.

"And what are you going to do now?" said Bruno to Ursula as she stood up. Not that he really cared.

"Me?" she inquired archly. "I am going to re-educate that young fool of a pilot and teach him not to spend his valuable time kissing young American strumpets."

It must have been the wrong thing to say, because to Bruno's amazement Kathryn exploded, leaping to her feet and striking out at Ursula with clawed hands, so fast that Bruno's jaw had barely had time to hit the floor before the two of them were tangled up in a screaming fight.

"Jesus Christ!" yelled Bruno. This was close to his worst nightmare. He elbowed his way in between them and got a fist in one eye and a couple of good scratches for his efforts. It was like wrestling with barbed wire. Martin and Brehmer came pounding in from the front room and dove into the fray, and between the three of them they got the two women apart.

"You little idiot!" spat Ursula. "What the hell do you think this is? Public school? I can shoot you dead any time I take a mind to, and don't think I can't!"

"Nobody is shooting anybody," said Brehmer savagely to Ursula, and he stepped in front of Kathryn protectively. Martin and Bruno were holding her arms tightly.

"What the hell do you care?" screamed Kathryn at Brehmer, and burst into tears. "You're not who you said you were. You're a liar and a spy and I hate you!"

Brehmer flinched and looked stricken. He started to speak haltingly, then gave it up and walked slowly out of the room looking like he wished he was dead.

Ursula stalked out in his wake and slammed the door behind her.

Kathryn was very quiet after that, and so was Bruno. He didn't make a peep, but just sat on the other side of the room looking like a cat trying to balance on a telephone wire. Martin stuck around to keep them company, and chatted idly about this and that. After awhile he went and made some tea and brought it back.

"Need a break?" he asked Bruno.

"I wouldn't mind."

"Go ahead then. We'll be fine."

Bruno went out with obvious relief. Martin poured himself some tea, poured some for Kathryn as well, and put it down near her on the side table. He sipped quietly, took a breath, and then spoke casually.

"I know that you don't like any of us in the least right now...and there's no particular reason why you should, but there is simply something that I must tell you, and you don't have to tell me anything in return."

Kathryn glanced up at him silently. She was attempting to repair her makeup, just for something to do.

"What I want to tell you is that I know your "Wally" very well. I've known him for about two years...long enough to know this: he is utterly honest, idealistic to a fault, courageous and hardworking, impeccably loyal to those he loves...and he loves you so much right now that it's killing him. That is the plain truth."

She said nothing, but her eyes filled with tears.

"It's a bad business," said Martin, "but he is my friend and I care about him. I can see that you do too. I want to tell you that your caring is not in vain, and that he simply cannot help being in this situation. He didn't ask for it. It's the war. He had no choice about it. No choice whatsoever. The war put him here against his will, just as it has me. Without it, we might all be the best of friends right now, sitting in your Chicago stadium and eating 'hot dogs' and getting along famously. I'm very sorry about it, but please go easy on him, because if you don't he is going to lose his mind."

She wept quietly for a bit, and Martin drank his tea. Eventually she dried her eyes, looked at him helplessly, and said "What can I do"?

"Keep calm," advised Martin, "and talk to him. I will arrange for you to be alone with him here for a few minutes if I can. Then let him explain himself. I'm sure that you are no agent, but I am trying to figure out how you can get clear of this. I'm trying to figure out how all of us can get clear of it, God knows!" he exclaimed. "You must be very careful of Otto," he went on, "You know that already...and of Ursula too. Don't make any trouble or give them any excuse or they definitely will kill you...and then I expect Jurgen...yes, that is your boyfriend's real name...will kill them. Or they'll kill him. Whoever moves quickest. And I'll have to take sides when it happens. So don't make it happen!"

"I understand," said Kathryn wearily, and she stared into her tea as if trying to unravel the future.

"It's a hell of a bad situation," said Martin, "but I'm afraid that's the way it is. I'm not going to tell you anything about our 'work' here, because your life would be forfeit if I did, and don't ask Jurgen about it either. It wouldn't do any good if you knew anyway. I wish I didn't know about it myself at this point. Lives have already been lost...and perhaps for nothing."

"That's usually what happens, isn't it?" said Kathryn.

Martin nodded. "Ja. Probably. People follow orders from other people whom they barely know and life goes down the drain."

"Well, thank you," she said. "I think I believe you. I really need a rest now."

"I'm sure you do. We all do. There's no way out of here except by the door, so I'll leave you now. You have everything you need here. Try to get some sleep, and think on what I said. You have a good man out there, even if he is on 'the other side' at the moment."

He bowed slightly in a rather courtly way, got up, and quietly left the room.

Kathryn heard the deadbolt slide home and then nothing but a distant murmur of voices. She went to the door and listened for a minute, but they were talking in German. She sat back down, drank her tea slowly, and thought about the situation long and hard.

* * * * *