Otta chewed on his frayed nerves for about twenty minutes and had a stiff drink while Ursula went over the documents with Martin. The warmth in his throat and stomach braced him up after awhile, and he called Ursula aside for a private conference.

"Tell me honestly, what chance do we have of getting in there at Stagg Field and doing anything decisive?"

"Almost no chance at all," replied Ursula. "Their security is as tight as I imagine you would find around Joe Stalin right now."

Otto looked grim. "I expected as much. Your recommendation?"

"First," said Ursula, "we get the hell out of this place. They've got the waterfront staked out and they will find us soon, barring a miracle. I don't believe in miracles. But I have a plan."

Otto nursed the remains of his drink and looked hopefully at her. "What is it then?"

"I rent a truck. Tomorrow. I bring that truck here, make a supposed 'delivery' at the back door of a small package...and all of you get aboard as quickly as possible and hide in the back. I'll back the truck right to the doors so no one can be seen getting in except me. They can't know my new appearance."

Otto looked totally perplexed. "And then?"

"And then I drive north, back to where you picked up Brehmer when he landed from the lake 2 years ago. You still have that cabin, don't you?"

"Yes!" exclaimed Otto. "It's in a very isolated spot, heavily forested. Near a town called Rockland, in Michigan. But then we'll be far from Chicago...too far for practicality."

"You will," said Ursula. "I won't. And this is a job best done by subtlety, not force. It needs but one person. Me. I still have one good idea left up my sleeve."

"What about all our gear? Our papers? There isn't time," protested Otto vehemently.

"No there isn't. So you just take the essentials. Blow up the rest. Make it look like there was an accident with the bombs and we all got blown up together."

Otto's eyes lit up. "Yes..." He pondered it. "I could blow up the girl too, and get rid of her..."

"Not unless you plan to blow up Brehmer as well," said Ursula. "The fool would die for her, I'm sure."

"It's worth a thought," mused Otto. They sat in silence. The clock on the wall ticked relentlessly on.

"No," he said finally. "I'm tempted. But no. Martin concerns me too, and I'm not sure what he would do in such a case. We need him, and we may yet need Brehmer. We'll all go to the cabin at Rockland. One big 'happy' family."

"And then I return at once to Chicago," said Ursula. "I've got a new identity, and a plan that may work after all. I'll keep you informed."

"I could order you to reveal that plan to me now," said Otto.

"No you couldn't, Otto," said Ursula, with a steely look in her eyes. "It's not as you think at all. If you doubt me, ask Berlin. Ask 'Reinhard'. He will tell you in plain terms."

A chill went through Otto. He said no more. (Should have known it...!)

"Then what am I to do while you make you plan?" he muttered, biting down hard on his humiliation.

"Keep up the communications with Berlin. Report on everything. I will keep you informed. If I succeed, fine. If I die, then it's your job from there on in."

"And if you are caught?"

"Then I die," she said simply. "Depend upon it. I will not be taken prisoner."

"If so," he retorted, sarcastically "I will see that you get Germany's highest decoration. And I will send flowers."

"I'm sure," she replied, smiling coldly back at him. "We understand one another perfectly, don't we?"   She stood erect with an air of finality. "Best get to it. You have until dawn."

Otto got moving at once and gave the orders to pack, and pack only the essentials. Then he instructed Martin to set up the bombs and wire a timer. Martin was very good at that. He'd been in demolition before the war, and he knew just how to bring down a building.

* * * * *