Chapter Eighteen

Split

Separating two cards of the same rank into two individual hands.

o

"Mr. A," Eroica sighed, "unless we can convince the CIA that the story the Major told them is accurate, my mission is at risk of being called off. It's obvious someone is getting suspicious. Or paranoid, which is worse. If I'm recalled, there'll be a real assassin after the Major. And you lot, too, I imagine."

A gave him a steady look, his expression pensive. The Earl made sense, and his reasoning was sound, but there was still a niggling bit of doubt in his mind as to his sincerity.

"There's no guaranteeing those agents won't be back," Eroica pointed out.

Again, A had no comeback for this.

"Tell you what," Eroica said happily, "let Mr. Z come along with me. I'm sure he'll be more than happy to shoot me if it looks as if I'm trying to put a fast one."

A turned to Z, who had his eyebrows raised. He gave a shrug in reply to the unspoken question. A turned back and sighed again, accepting defeat. "Alright. But this had better work or the Major will have all our heads."

Eroica grinned. "What can he do? It's not as if he can send you to Alaska anymore, is it?"

oOoOoOo

Klaus was surprised when he was told that a message had been received from Eroica. Then he was annoyed when told it was a request for a "chat."

"What the hell is going on in Bali now?" Klaus demanded without preamble as he stormed onto the bridge and over to John Paul.

John Paul cleared his throat, throwing a nervous glance over to the others before saying, "Um, the Earl's not in Bali, Major. He's in South Korea."

"What the hell's he doing in Korea?" Klaus could already feel the old rage building over Eroica's antics. He found himself reconsidering his relief that the man had fully recovered, and decided he would wait until after the call on a secure channel was put through before exploding.

The Earl's honeyed tones came through the speaker, and Klaus cut him off before he could infuriate him further. "What the fuck are you doing in Korea?" he thundered.

"Oh, so lovely to hear you again, Major," Eroica replied sweetly. Then he became deadly serious, explaining exactly what his plan entailed. "Z has set everything up this end," he informed. "What do you think?"

Klaus was silent for several seconds, not quite believing what he had just heard. "I think it's the most audacious stunt I've ever heard, even from you," he replied, not without a small amount of admiration in his voice.

The Earl actually laughed. "Utterly ridiculous," he agreed.

"Completely ludicrous."

"Will it work?"

"Absolutely," Klaus stated flatly. "Your superiors are idiots. Don't forget, I've met them."

Eroica laughed again upon hearing this. He couldn't agree more.

"Give us five minutes to set up the recording equipment." With that, Klaus cut the transmission.

Eroica turned to Z, giving him a thumbs-up. "We're a go, Mr. Z."

The agent was on the far side of the room, standing in the doorway. He had been amazed to learn that the Earl had any contacts in Korea, let alone ones who could set him up with the equipment needed to pull this off.

"We're ready when you are…" Z grinned. "Major."

After the designated five minutes, Eroica put in the call to the sub using an unsecured channel that he felt sure the CIA would be monitoring. Since no one could actually see where they were calling from, his plan was for them to act as though they were in reverse locations; the Major in South Korea, and Eroica aboard the Aqua Zep.

"Hello? Who's there?" Eroica paused and leaned away from the mike. "Bonham, I thought you said someone was calling."

Klaus grinned, taking his cue. "Having fun playing ship's Captain, Agent Marshall? Or would it be Sub Commander?"

"Major! How the hell did you get this frequency?" Eroica demanded.

Klaus gave a derisive snort. "You think just because I'm not NATO anymore I don't know how to get information, Herr CIA?"

"Smug bastard."

"Would you like to know where I am?" Klaus asked tauntingly.

"I already know where you are," Eroica countered. "You're in Korea." He was impressed when the Major gave a surprised noise loud enough to be recorded when he said this.

"Was that a lucky guess? Or did they tell you that in Langley?" Klaus then asked.

Oh, very good, Major, Eroica thought admiringly "I told them only they didn't—" A pause. "Shit! That really was you outside Dr. Schreckengost's house, wasn't it? You stalking old men now?"

Now it was Klaus's turn to be impressed. "The old man lives up to his name. He scares easy. I'll bet he's even frightened of his own shadow." These words were barely out of his mouth when another thought struck him, his mind flashing back to the entries in the Earl's journal. Entries in German. He looked thoughtfully at the speaker when Eroica replied, storing his sudden brainstorm away until later.

"—but they wouldn't listen," Eroica was saying as Klaus returned to the moment. "Just as I warned them you were going to Korea."

"That's encouraging. For me. Your superiors are bigger idiots than I thought."

Eroica let his voice drop into a taunt. "Doesn't it grate just a bit? Iron Klaus having nowhere to hide but with the Commies?"

The tone was matched by Klaus. "Not as much as I'm sure it does you. You shouldn't've tried to be so clever, Agent Marshall, mucking around in that ancient submarine. You're on the wrong side of the Pacific Ocean. By the time you get here, we'll be long gone."

Eroica paused as if this surprised him. "We? You still have the Alphabet with you?"

"My men are very loyal," Klaus stated flatly. And if this ploy doesn't protect them, nothing will.

"Oh, really?" came the disbelieving reply. "Do they know that you're engaged in a personal vendetta and not a legitimate mission?"

Silence.

The smug tone returned to Eroica's voice. "You didn't tell them, did you? Afraid they wouldn't follow the great Iron Klaus if they knew the truth?"

"Look who's talking about the truth," Klaus shot back smoothly.

"Here it comes. The personal attacks," Eroica said in a bored tone. "You lie like a dog for decades. Don't even bat an eye when you do it. But you whine like an old woman when it's done to you. You can dish it out but you can't take it."

"Ha! You're the one whining about having to chase me. You did this to me for years, pretending to be nothing but a civilian thief. Now it's you who has to follow my civilian ass. You don't like it either, do you, Herr CIA?"

Eroica felt his heart jump, his anger rising. "God, you're such an asshole!"

"But I though that's why you loved me, Eroica?" Klaus sneered.

"This whole thing is because you're pissed that the great Iron Klaus couldn't see a CIA mole who was right under his nose for nearly twenty-five years."

Now Klaus could feel his anger rising. "I hope you run into a Typhoon on your way across the Pacific and it makes you bloody sea sick. And don't give me that bullshit about being descended from pirates. That was the real Lord Gloria."

"I hope the Commies think you're faking in this change of heart and take you captive, Mr. von dem Eberbach. I'd pay real money to watch them torture you."

"Tell you what. Why don't I just wait for you? I'd like to give you a reason to have more plastic surgery!"

It was all too obvious to the listening Z that the fake argument was turning into the real thing. He signaled to the Korean man he had arranged for earlier to burst into the room, yelling in Korean, of course, that they were taking too long on his equipment.

"God dammit, Z!" the Major snarled. I'm not done threatening that idiot!

Agent Z apologized loudly to the Major while making sure the sound of him apparently removing the man would be recorded. Then at a prearranged hand signal, they all fell silent in mid-conversation, as if the transmission at that end had been cut.

Eroica waited a beat before he continued the pretense. "Major? Major! Dammit, you fucking Nazi, answer me!"

Bonham felt his heart in his mouth when he heard this and spoke for the first time. "He's cut the transmission, m'lord."

"God fucking dammit!" Eroica thundered.

"M'lord," Bonham went on nervously, throwing a glance over his shoulder at the fuming Klaus, "the Major was transmitting on an unsecured channel."

"That's because he wanted us to know where he is, smug bastard."

With that, the transmission ended. Klaus made a motion across his throat and the transmission at his end also ended. Everyone on the sub breathed a collective sigh of relief when he did nothing more dangerous than glower.

"Put in a call to that asshole Tomlinson in Langley," Klaus ordered. "Tell him…" His eyes flickered. "Tell him that Iron Klaus has just made contact and send the recording along with it."

"Yes, Major."

"And if he hasn't already, have Mr. James send a message to that asshole asking why the CIA is suddenly checking up on him after all this time."

John Paul saw a odd look pass over the Major's face and exchanged a quick glance with Bonham before asking, "Anything else?"

"Yes. After you've done all that, send a message to Eroica and tell him if I don't kill him when I see him next, I'm gonna put him back in the hospital instead."

oOoOoOo

NEXT: Chapter Nineteen - Bottom Dealing