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“I just came from making my manners to Colonel Cohen.”
“And?”
“I got the impression he doesn’t like me.”
“I don’t think he likes anybody. Or was it something specific?”
“I told him I was relieving him of the responsibility to protect Justice Jackson. He told me I didn’
t have the authority to do that. I suggested he check with his boss, General Greene. General Greene told him of the authority that goes with the DCI credentials. Things went downhill from there.”
“I try to give Cohen a pass, both because he’s an intelligence officer and because he lost a lot of relatives in Treblinka or some other hellhole. But sometimes that’s hard. So what can the 26th do for you?”
“Two things. I’d like you to pass the word, quietly, to your people that the DCI is here, and are authorized to be anywhere. Most of my people are Poles, former officers of the Free Polish Army and Air Force—”
“—who didn’t want to go home to get shot on arrival by the Russians?”
“Right.”
“Done. I’ve been wondering why Cohen worries more about the Nazis, who we have locked up until we can give them a fair trial and hang them, than he does about the goddamn Russians. Half of the Russian delegation here spends ninety percent of their time running around our zone taking pictures of our installations. Yesterday I ran two of them off Soldier’s Field.”
“What’s that?”
“The Army airfield.”
“You’re responsible for the airfield?”
Rasberry nodded.
“Is there a hangar on the field where I could park a Storch—that’s a German airplane a little bigger than a puddle jumper—”
“I know what a Storch is. You’ve got one?”
“Two. And the Air Corps doesn’t like it.”
“But you’ve got two of them. Which means . . . Would your feelings be hurt if I told you you don’t look old enough to be a heavy-duty spook who can get away with giving the Air Corps the finger?”
“You’re putting me on a spot, Colonel.”
“I’ll make a deal with you, Super Spook—you give me a ride in your Storch, and I will let you hide it in my hangar.”
“Deal. Thank you.”
“Can I ask why you need an airplane like a Storch?”
“To move around. In addition to my duties here, I’m trying to shut down Odessa.”
“So Odessa must be real. Contrary to popular belief.”
“It’s real, Colonel.”
“What else can I do for you, Super Spook?”
“I’ve got to find a place for my people to live. Ultimately, there will be about thirty of them, mostly Poles.”
“Go see the Nuremberg Military Post liaison officer. Colonel Steve Anderson. Pretty good guy for a quartermaster officer. Make sure he knows you’re on Cohen’s shit list. That’ll give you something in common.”
“Thank you.”
