326 | John W. Warner IV Bernie got up to look out the window. Hes in love with Bea, always has been, why didnt I pick up on it before? No wonder he wants us in on the deal. This is nuts, insane, but what choice do we have? Sweeten the pot. Okay, okay, lets…lets say we agree to cooperate fully and with honesty and integrity, tread the middle path as it were, but I say to hell with Himmler as a new leader down there, no chance, hes a psychopath like the rest, let him perish on the clipped vine with Hitler. What you need is a kindred spirit. A brilliant mind, an occultist leader with some semblance of ethics and morals. Hess, for example, Ive known him for years, just saw him. Fit n fierce. Thats your idea of a middle path? asked Alice incredulously. Told you the Hermetica was rubbish, mumbled Bea. Shafer mused the idea. He co-sponsored the original expeditions to the ice in 36 and 38, hes one of us, maybe the original one, Edmund. This breakaway concept may have started with him well before he left for England./a^, it makes perfect sense. Perhaps it was to be part of his agreement with the English King and Mountbatten. Count on it, said Bernie. But something went awry on the Brit end. Maybe Antarctica was one of the bigger problems…yes, yes, maybe that-was it, they couldnt manage a fair agreement amongst themselves for post-war territory. Hess even alluded to that. In some ways Rudolf is perfect, Ernst. But England is far off our course, worried Geer. Bernie finger-dabbed the table again. I know exactly where he is. The three of us can spring him in fifteen minutes flat at night. Hover that Zepp over Wales and well nab him. Shafer shook his head. Nein. Sorry. Too risky to fly over there, the radar you know, and you might flee while in England, no offense. But once were in Argentina, we will negotiate hard for his release. I promise you that. Britain will need gold after the war, lots of it. This is no time to be thinking of Aunt Walter, said Bea. Honestly. Well I was just… Alice slumped with mental exhaustion. Inside, she couldnt help but be intrigued by the utopian idea, and possibly with Klemperer at her side. It would be high treason, but she was becoming disillusioned by the hour. Tm in. Anything for a soft bed and proper jam biscuits. Love penguins.