“You boys know I hate doing this too right?”

“Doing what Major?”

“Heh… do y’all think it’s every day we bootstraps go intercepting fancy communiqués to Supreme Command?”

“Major, with all due respect, we’d be all clear and guilt free if Seamus here didn’t have his wild paranoia about the Nazi turncoat.”

“Simmons listen to me! I know it’s hard for your simple head to notice but every time that turncoat opens his mouth it’s like there’s gold falling out of it. Nobody from our unit is allowed to even oversee the interrogation, and the transcripts from those sessions with him goes straight to the very top… and then out of nowhere they just let that sucker go?! ”

“Don’t you be calling me simple headed Fitzgerald! I’d knock you out of your tiny Irish boots if you’re not careful!”

“Cut that out both of you! Seamus has a point, I’ve been in the Army for twenty-four ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ years and I ain’t ever seen decisions this big being made on a few words by some washed-up prisoner.”

“So what do you think Major? Something they’re not telling us?”

“It has to be something big Simmons. They’ve sent a whole battalion of us and they won’t even tell the Major what the objective is? This entire thing smells like trouble.”

“Hate to admit it Simmons but I agree with Fitzgerald. See here how the code is different to what we normally use. This here is special code used only by them higher ups. Whatever this transcript contains, it’s a big deal alright.... and if it's a big deal they're keeping from folks as senior as me. This ain't gonna be pretty.”

“I ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ hate this Major…”

“Give here that paper. I’m gonna have to write this code into something we can read.”



***Transcript of debrief provided by Ulrich Goldmund of his conversation with his German commanding officer***

Note 1: Name of the commanding officer has been redacted at the request of Supreme Command

Note 2: Transcript edited and corroborated by Agent Trojan who was also present during the debriefing with Ulrich Goldmund’s commanding officer


***Transcript start***

[Redacted]: That was a pretty good move Ulrich… you nearly had us. If I had told you accurately where we were hiding, then we could have never caught you and our entire plan could have been botched. This is a terrible breach of trust Ulrich… truly terrible.

Ulrich Goldmund: Then clearly I was not trusted enough with the whole plan.

[Redacted]: Oh come now dear Ulrich, this is a highly sophisticated operation we’re running here. Nobody knows all of the plan. Not even I it seems, wouldn’t you agree?

Ulrich Goldmund: It could have gone according to your plan, if your plan didn’t involve having me killed as soon as this was all over.

[Redacted]: Truly? This is why you did it? You believed I would kill you?

Ulrich Goldmund: Do you think I am mistaken? After all, you killed the man who first told you of the gold’s existence.

[Redacted]: It is true I asked a sniper to kill him, that was a necessity though, to prevent leaks from his side. But what I think is… we had a perfectly good plan, until you recklessly decided to abandon it. You had everything you needed to know to succeed in your mission. But no… you had to decide against the clear, obvious choice!

Ulrich Goldmund: So the stories were true. You really do choose your words carefully, don’t you [Redacted]?

[Redacted]: Why do you say that?

Ulrich Goldmund: I had everything I needed to know, but so did Friedrich, so did Otto and I’m willing to bet the same for Anton too. You imparted just enough information to each of us so we can believe you will share the gold with us! Everybody had a piece of the puzzle they needed for the mission to succeed… but everyone’s piece is different despite having the same mission.

[Redacted]: Really? Is that what you believe? How did you arrive at such an… incredible conclusion?

Ulrich Goldmund: Well, your original plan was that Anton and I were there to make sure that if Friedrich and Otto strayed from the plan, we can correct it, by force if necessary, right? But your brilliant plan came burning down when Friedrich proposed we all snatch the gold for ourselves.

[Redacted]: Most unfortunate indeed…

Ulrich Goldmund: You can keep your feigned sympathies and jump off a cliff! Your plan went to hell the moment Anton sided with them! By that time it was already too late to stop them, it was three against one! I had to agree with them, they wouldn’t have had a problem killing me!

[Redacted]: You should have reported back to me when you had a chance!

Ulrich Goldmund: Oh, but I’m not done telling you what I think yet. You see… as I was effectively trapped and forced to go along with their little rogue adventure, I had time to do some thinking for myself. If our job was to distract the Soviets while you and the others snatched the gold, what incentive would there be for you to come back for us after you’ve got the gold and with the Soviets on our backs?

[Redacted]: You could have told the Soviets we had the gold and they would have pursued us.

Ulrich Goldmund: I could have, but all they would find in the city are the train’s guards but no train. I imagine you promised the guards transportation after you’ve given them a small share of the spoils. But soon afterwards they will find themselves trapped in the city with a full Soviet assault aimed at them. In the ensuing fight between the guards and the Soviets you will use the train itself to create distance between you and the Soviets, and although I admit the Soviets are fast, they cannot outrun a train.

[Redacted]: Well deduced Ulrich. Truly well done! You almost had me. Really, you were so close. Except… I knew of your duplicity. Do you know how I managed to figure this out?

Ulrich Goldmund: The boy?

[Redacted]: You are truly a talented individual Ulrich! Yes, the boy. I knew you would all figure out relatively quickly whether he knew about the plan or not. When you realized, if you killed him, then you were loyal. If he lives, then it is only logical that you all have betrayed me. Nobody would jeopardize a plan that influences the entirety of their remaining days on a feckless boy taken from the front!

Ulrich Goldmund: Ah, so you were monitoring us. It would explain why the Panzer column exploded so quickly!

[Redacted]: Yes, once I realized your deceit. I needed to put my part of the plan into action immediately, and I needed to get rid of those inconvenient Panzer crew. So I gave the signal and our men blew up most of the tanks. One of the charges failed to explode and a Panzer with a man got away, but they were the perfect meat for the Soviet wolves! The rest of us escaped while they were fighting. Pretty clever, right?

Ulrich Goldmund: I see, so I guess you’ve planned this quite meticulously a long time ago.

[Redacted]: True, but even my plans could not have anticipated what you did!

Ulrich Goldmund: I do not understand what you mean.

[Redacted]: There’s no need to play dumb with me Ulrich. Do you seriously expect me to believe the Americans and the Commonwealth would send an advance force of several thousand men for no good reason? Just near the location of where the gold is supposed to be?

Ulrich Goldmund: Perhaps Friedrich struck a deal with them and informed them of its whereabouts.

[Redacted]: A possibility for sure, but not a likelihood. I believe, it is you who alerted the Americans and Commonwealth forces to the gold! It would not surprise me. After all, they were your insurance policy for your safety after the war, especially since you no longer trusted me. Isn’t that right Ulrich?

[silence for several minutes]

[Redacted]: I don’t blame you Ulrich. No, I really don’t! But… the situation is such, that the Americans and the Commonwealth really are posing a problem. They have established themselves so close to the gold that I will need to organize a full frontal assault of the city with those clueless idiots from Task Force Kaiser and Erwin. Even after all that, I still cannot predict what may happen! My carefully laid plans have been disrupted by your actions Ulrich, but yet, not fully destroyed.

Ulrich Goldmund: So that’s your plan? Well, now that you’ve told me all of this… I suppose my time is up.

[Redacted]: Oh dear Ulrich, you wound me! Do you still believe I’m going to kill you? Don’t be so ridiculous! I’m certainly not going to kill you.

[[Redacted] picks up a helmet from the floor bearing the engraving ‘Anton Constantin’ and drops it onto the table]

[Redacted]: You will kill them, or they will.

***Transcript end***