A/N: This chapter will introduce Dr. Skinner. Yes, I realize Skinner isn't a German name, but to avoid confusion I will leave the name as is. I was influenced to create his character by the x-Files episode Triangle (6.3) where AD Skinner was undercover for the OSS posing as an SS officer. I was young, but I still like the character and the plot, so there's that explained.

Chapter Eight

The Captain's heart was pounding when Admiral von Schriever called him into his office. The Admiral and he had gone over the strategies for the deployment and with it happening so quickly he knew he was not getting leave, so why would the Admiral want to see him so urgently?

"You wanted to see me, Sir?" the Captain asked saluting in the required way though turned his stomach to have to do it. The longer he was here, it seemed more difficult to abide by the rules of this new government, he had expected it would get easier as he numbed himself to it, but it seemed the opposite was true.

"Yes, Captain. Have a seat," the Admiral invited. "I invited General von Zimmer and Colonel Heinz to join us."

"Gentlemen," the Captain acknowledged, sitting down. "What's the problem, Admiral?" He would be direct and face this head on, whatever this was about. The presence of the other officers told him that it wasn't bad news from home as he feared, but perhaps something even worse.

There was no way. He couldn't have been found out and if he had his thoughts weren't harming anyone, it would only be his actions and in spite of their motives, they were above reproach.

"What makes you think there is trouble, Captain?" the older officer asked.

"Sir, there is an awful lot of brass in this room and not all of it Navy. That usually signals a problem, Sir," the Captain answered. "And not a personal one, thank God."

"Captain, we'll come directly to the point then," Admiral von Schriever stated. "It's come to our attention through institutions set up within the Reich for this purpose, that your loyalty is not directly and supremely with the Reich. Is that true?"

Georg though he would choke at the question. It was exactly as he feared, he'd been somehow found out. But how? Who? Not Friedrich, he couldn't stomach it if it was his own son who fingered him as disloyal, even if it were the truth. The Captain knew he had to answer the Admiral's question as accurately as possible, yet it must be what he wanted to hear as well.

Georg had trained for this moment for years. He was good at pretending he liked something when in all reality he wanted nothing more to run in the other direction. He took a deep breath then began, "Gentlemen. My first priority is to my family and to ensuring their health and safety as I'm sure it is for all of us in this room. I'm also loyal to my country, to Austria and whatever Austria is loyal to, I'll be loyal to as well. Austria is a part of me, Austria is a part of the Reich, and as such, I am part of the Reich."

The Captain was forced to swallow bile that rose up in his throat as he swore allegiance to the very people that helped rape his beloved homeland, to the Third Reich, but he knew he must save his family and himself.

The Captain's answer seemed to satisfy the members of the brass in the office. Admiral von Schriever even smiled. "Your family, Captain, should be your first priority. Your lovely bride is expecting a child, isn't she?"

"Yes, she is," the Captain answered. He couldn't help but smile thinking of Maria. He naturally started to boast just a bit about their baby. "She's due in June, of course it's going to be awfully warm, but we have the ice house should that be required."

The Admiral nodded then looked to the Army commander subtly.

"And your oldest girl, Liesl, is it? She's sweet on an S.S. man?" the General asked.

Before the Captain could answer, the Colonel had his say, "Your oldest son, Friedrich. He's a very loyal member of the youth, understands the principles perfectly, a very bright young man, like your middle girl, Brigitta, right?" the Colonel needled.

"And your little ones, Captain," Admiral von Schriever continued. "They are adorable little girls, the apples of you eye, no doubt."

"And the other girl, what's her name? Louisa? She's quite the troublemaker, isn't she? I'd hate to see her get in trouble," the pressed.

"And your youngest son, Kurt. He's truly his father's son...what an excellent cartographer; he takes after his father..." Colonel Heinz finished.

The Captain's eyes kept darting back and forth between the men as they recited intimate facts about his family, facts veiled in subtle threats. They knew how to rattle a man's cage, that's for sure. The Captain took a long deep breath; his reaction would decide his fate.

"You certainly do your homework," the Captain replied. "My children are my pride and joy. They are all very special, each in their own way. I'm not happy of course with my oldest girl thinking about boys, but they can't be babies forever, can they?"

"No, they can't, and while we're on the subject, we know that you have already buried one wife, tragic that…And childbirth is difficult even when there are a wealth of doctors and midwives available to assist," Admiral von Schriever held the Captain's gaze and looked for any indication that he was getting to the seasoned commander.

"That's true," Georg agreed. "I wish I could be there for my wife. She's built much smaller than my late wife, God rest her soul, and it is her first baby. Her mother is gone, she has no other relatives to help…But she's strong in her body and in her faith, she'll do well."

"That's our hope as well, Captain, and that's why your villa will become the new headquarters for the Second Medical Unit out of Salzburg. The medical corp. staff will ensure the safety of your family."

Now the Captain was truly terrified, but he could not show it to these monsters. Nazis. In his house! Near his wife and children! Men, dozens of them with God knew what kind of manners alone with his Maria. Still, he knew he had to show relief, not the nerve numbing fear, "Well, that's a relief, let me tell you. With Maria expecting a child and the influenza in Salzburg, it will be a great comfort to me while I'm at sea to know that our excellent physicians are close by. Will it be Dr. Kreiger?" the Captain asked. Truth be told, the Nazi doctor's treatment for Maria's morning sickness had worked.

"No. Dr. Skinner, he's a younger doctor, but quite capable," the General replied.

"As I said, Sir, a relief," the Captain replied.

Three heads nodded and Admiral von Schriever rose, "Captain, our apologies for our doubt, but with the Reich so knew...and you were a known opponent..."

"I understand. I'd have done the same thing with one of my men," the Captain acknowledged, then, with a rapid salute, he left the room, but remained in the outer office trying to hear their conference.

"Well," General von Zimmer asked. "Should we worry about him?"

"He's not loyal to the Reich on its own merit," Colonel Heinz pointed out. "But he hasn't let it effect his work. His missions are flawless."

"They are," von Schrijver concurred. "And he's fiercely protective of his family. We can use them to control him. He'll continue to work for us now that we hold that card."

Georg had heard enough, and it made him sick that they'd use his family...his wife and children to get to him. Whenever he thought that nothing the Nazis could do would surprise him, they threw him a new twist. He truly did feel as if he were about to be ill.

The sheer audacity of the Admiral and others to try to manipulate him turned his stomach, but what made him want to cry was the innate parental knowledge that his son, his own flesh and blood was at the root of this. Had he failed that miserably as a parent that Friedrich no longer new right from wrong, the truth from a lie…

The Hitler Youth group had resumed from its winter hiatus only a week ago. Friedrich would have had to speak to his lieutenant the day the meetings resumed for suspicion to be aroused so quickly. Georg had been so careful during his three day Christmas leave, he didn't want to put the children in the position of having to lie for him if any of them were questioned. He's only had one private whispered conversation with Maria about the current state of things. Friedrich must have been spying on them. His own son...Georg couldn't' hold it in anymore. He returned to his office, locked the door, covered his face with his hands, and cried.

A week later, visitors arrived at the villa von Trapp before the sun rose over the mountains. Franz did not sleep inside the house with the Captain gone, and Frau Schmidt had gone into Salzburg to tend to a friend who was ill with the influenza. That left Maria alone with the children and thus, the door answering responsibility fell to her.

Hastily, Maria pulled on her robe and went to answer the incessantly ringing doorbell. She nearly fainted at what she saw when she opened the door. Nazis, a full regiment of honest to goodness Nazis.

"Baroness von Trapp?" the tall young man with a balding scalp and wire rim glasses asked in way of greeting. "I'm Dr. Wladyslaw Skinner, we've been requested to take over this villa as our headquarters."

Maria surveyed the man. He was taller and broader than Georg, and at least fifteen years younger, but there was something in his eyes that aged him beyond his years. He didn't have cold eyes, she thought all Nazis had cold eyes. It was unnerving.

"Take over," Maria repeated. "Where will my children...we have seven..."

Dr. Skinner raised one finger to his lips to quiet Maria's panicked protests, "Yes, I know, Baroness. Your family, of course, will remain here. We are going to use the outbuildings and the east wing of the house and try to disrupt your lives as little as possible. May we come in?"

Maria knew she had no real choice in the matter, so she opened the door fully and stepped back to allow the men an easier entry, not doubting they would force their way in if she tried to stop them.

The raucous they caused when entering woke the children and scared them, but Liesl in her wisdom kept them all in the nursery out of the way and quiet.

"Those men might hurt Mother and the baby," Kurt whispered. "I'm going to go the Father's study and get his shot gun."

"Kurt, be silent," Louisa commanded. "They won't hurt Mother, Father's on their side."

"No," Friedrich said. "They shouldn't hurt her. Unless of course, they know father is a traitor, and our Mother is his wh..."

A sharp slap across his cheek silenced Friedrich's malicious tongue. "That is it!" Liesl said firmly, her tone a lot like Georg's when he was angry. "For months we've listened to you sing the praises of the Hitler Youth, and we've listened to you insult and ridicule Mother beyond comprehension! We've listened to you call our Father a traitor and a coward and we've said nothing, which makes us just a guilty, but no more! It stops here! You are Georg von Trapp's oldest son. You are first a von Trapp, second an Austrian, and everything else must follow behind that. If our birth Mother, may God rest her, could see you now, if she were here to see what you, her first born son has become, do you think she'd be proud?" Liesl asked tears running down her cheeks. "Well, she wouldn't be, and Father wouldn't be and I'm not, none of us are! You're a disgrace to us, Friedreich, you're not worthy of our family name, and we, your brother and sisters, will not allow you to continue behaving like this. So, what's it going to be?"

The rest of the children closed ranks around Liesl, who was so overwrought with emotion her whole body was shaking, yet she refuses to cry until she heard Friedrich's answer.

"If you buy into this nonsense about Father only doing what's right for us...you know he's a spy...you're all traitors," Friedrich fought back against his siblings.

Louisa, Kurt, and Brigitta could not control their anger any longer and all three dove at their older brother. Gretel and Marta ran and hid against the wall. Liesl, still being the oldest, worked to separate the other four.

The scuffle in the nursery called Maria's attention and Dr. Skinner followed the pregnant Baroness upstairs. Maria threw open the nursery door and at the sight that greeted her, reached into her pocket and pulled out the Captain's old sea whistle. With a full breath, she blew a long high tone on the instrument. The familiar sound restored immediate order and the children unconsciously fell into line.