Designated Targets

“They don’t look very well, Herr Director,” Himmler said as the small group made its way down the firing range. “Are you sure these vests are bulletproof?”

“Not as such, Herr Reichsführer,” the man said quickly. “The vests will stop a small-caliber handgun round, and all manner of shrapnel and flak, but we are not using what the Allies call nanotube technology. What we have done is to synthesize a lightweight but very strong polymer from alternating monomers of para-phenylenediamine and terephthalic acid. The resulting aromatic amide alternates benzene rings and amide groups. In a planar sheet structure, which is like a silk protein and—”

“But why do you call them ‘bulletproof vests’ if they do not stop bullets?” Himmler asked testily.

The researcher paled, and he hadn’t had much coloring to begin with. “The vests by themselves could not stop a high-velocity round,” he explained. “But we have augmented them with differing types of ballistic plate, and together they are enough to provide excellent protection.”

They reached the three men, each of whom looked quite dead to Brasch, until he saw that they were breathing. But only just. The director hurried on, lest Himmler decide the whole exercise was a waste of his time. A good idea—people had died for less.

“Now, Herr Reichsführer, these subjects were not in very good physical condition to begin with, certainly not as good as one of your storm troopers. And they have been hit three times with high-velocity rounds. It would still be an enormously traumatic event for the body. But I think you will be pleasantly surprised at the results.”

Paul Brasch often felt as if his capacity to feel anything had been burned away during his time in the Soviet Union. Now as the project director’s aides roughly stripped the bulky black vests away from the men’s bodies, he found himself thankful for the crust of scar tissue that had formed around his feelings. It allowed him to appear as inhuman as his colleagues.

The director was babbling on to Himmler about some production-line issue that would involve the use of concentrated sulfuric acid. Skorzeny was boasting of his marksmanship to another SS officer, who was laughing at the way one of the prisoners’ eyeballs had popped out onto his cheek. Brasch breathed in slowly and fought down the urge to draw his pistol and kill them all. Instead he watched with apparent detachment as SS orderlies finished removing the body armor and the men’s prison camp shirts.

Their torsos were massively bruised, and one man had a large concave depression just under his heart. But none of the rounds had actually penetrated. Their guide was holding one of the jackets, pointing out features such as the pivoting shoulder pads, grenade hangers, and rifle butt patches. Himmler wanted to know how many of the vests would be ready in time for Operation Sea Dragon, and he was unhappy to be told that four hundred was the limit of current production capacity.

As the director kept babbling about sulfuric acid, Himmler tuned him out and turned to face Brasch instead. “Well, Herr Colonel, another miracle for you to work in our behalf, yes? I don’t expect to be able to outfit every Waffen-SS Division, but I need at least two thousand of these vests by the time we are ready to go. Can you guarantee me that?”

Brasch shook his head emphatically. “No, Herr Reichsführer, but I shall increase production by whatever amount is possible. Based on my experience at Demidenko, I imagine we can get you at least fifty percent more than the director believes possible.”

Himmler, he had discovered, preferred realistic assessments from his underlings. He asked for superhuman efforts, but did not actually expect the impossible. “Good enough, then.” Himmler nodded. You shall stay here another week, supervising the operation, then join me back in the Fatherland. Göring wishes to discuss the jet project with you.”

Brasch did not roll his eyes, but he did not meekly accede to the order, either. “With all due respect to the Reichsmarshall, there is almost no chance of getting his fighters aloft in time for Sea Dragon. I would very much like to return home to see my family, but I would not wish to waste time in doing so.”

A smile played across Himmler’s rodentlike features. The Luftwaffe chief had already lost a great deal of influence after failing to destroy the RAF in 1941. The bombing of Germany’s cites by the Allies and the poor performance of the air force in the Russian campaigns had left him a much-reduced figure. Only his unquestionable loyalty to the führer was thought to have saved him in the bloodletting that had followed the Emergence.

“I agree that the Reichsmarshall is probably being overambitious,” purred Himmler. “But he is a Reichsmarshall, and you are not. Indulge him, Colonel. There is important work for you at home. And the führer himself would like to personally thank you for your efforts at Demidenko.”