Burton is a traitor
Operation Wormwood is not about destabilizing America with a communist plot, it isn’t about breaking America’s back. It is about saving the best German scientists we can smuggle out. The war is lost, it has been lost since Rommel was pushed out of Afrika, since Paulus capitulated East, and certainly since the Atlantic Wall has crumbled. Hitler’s dream is done and he is going to burn all of Germany instead of suffering another repeat of 1918. This plan was to save the best possible minds from Soviet onslaught and capture and to keep them hidden away in Canadian POW camps. That was the original plan, Burton is changing that plan under your nose, Kaptain.
Enclosed in the attached files are the original orders for the operation with the addendum files forged by Burton whilst we were underway. I suspect he has other memebers of the SS science divisions helping to feed U-5918 lies and suicidal missions, but I can not be sure. My mission now is to protect the scientists once we make landfall. Yours should be to get home safely and to stop Burton. I know you have been a loyal National Socialist and a German first before you were French, but that dream is lost. Your only hope of preserving our Germany against the world is to help the Allies reach Berlin first, before the Soviets do. Please read and re-read the enclosed files carefully, Kaptain.
Sieg Heil
Lieutenant-Kaptain Niklaus Kessler, U-5918 Brunhilde
Ke shuffled the paper away after reading it to Akin and opened the browning manilla folder, a faded red “X” spanning from corner to corner and an ancient looking security tape chipping away like old paint. Akin leaned forward, eyeing the well preserved photographs of Manhattan and the nearby dry-docks and massive shipping port. A single red arrow marked a fairly large dock that appeared in disrepair and mostly abandoned.
The top sheet of paper carried heavy bold letters:
KRIEGSMARINE OPERATION: WORMWOOD
MISSION: Sail the U-5918 into New York City and offload crew and equipment, assisting and guiding Allied Naval Intelligence to understand how to utilize isotope fueled power sources and isotope powered munitions. The goal of this operation is to offer a good faith gesture to the Allied powers in hopes of greater resolve in defending the world against the greatest threat it’s governments face, the madness of Bolshevism. The Wehrmacht has been operating at 1/20th of its fuel needs, the Kriegsmarine at 1/50th, and the Luftwaffe at 1/100th. We could not possibly sustain offensive efforts in the east for one year – we are now in our third and it has been two straight years of grueling withdraw. The United States is producing nearly 100,000 tones of maritime shipping vessels and the Kriegsmarine can only sink a fraction of that number, in short, every time Germany sinks an allied ship, 10 more come to watch the event. The English are outlasting and out producing Luftwaffe aircraft by nearly 4 to 1, and are training new batches of pilots at nearly 30 to 1, and that is not including the United States 8th Army Air Corps currently in development. This war is lost, it is a matter of choosing who wins and how. The hopes of generations of Germans and perhaps the fate of all Europe hangs in the balance, Kaptain Sajer.
Gott mit uns
Donetz
Akin leaned back against the bulkhead and sighed, “I’m going to guess that Burton disagreed with that mission?”
Ke nodded, “That’s putting it lightly, here’s what he adjusted while they were underway. This is what Sajer thought the mission was up until Kessler’s letter.”
OPERATION: WORMWOOD
KRIEGSMARINE MISSION DIRECTIVE: The U-5918 is the premiere underwater fighting vessel. Equipped with the isotope propulsion system, code named Kettle, and staffed by top of the line Aryan scientists from the SS and top Germania Areonautical Universities, the ship is expected to remain in operation and underway for a deployment time not less than 18 months. The Kettle will provide oxygen replenishment while submerged while also powering the first of its kind Gyroscope to steady the ship during advanced warfare maneuvers.
Included in this operation are two prototype isotope loaded torpedoes with an explosive kiloton output unseen by mankind. In an effort to deliver the putsch needed to press the Americans out of the war, the Brunhilde is to utilize its stealth technology and advanced deep sea recovery assets to sustain itself and probe into the New York City Harbor and display the capabilities of Germany’s finest.
The hearts and dreams of every German from the Youth to the Führer himself are counting on your cunning and talents. While underway you will receive additional mission objectives from Kreigsmarine Command and Chief Isotope Scientist Franklin “Felix” Burton.
Sieg Heil!
Oberkommando KRIEGSMARINE.
Akin leaned back against the bulkhead and swore softly in the rising glow of morning light. Ke nodded.
“Well, what’d he choose?” Akin asked from the floor.
“It looks like he wanted the original mission.” Ke replied, eyes scanning the next Kaptains Log entries.
“What makes you say he wanted to?” Asked Akin, sliding his back up the wall as he rose, eyes looking into the swirling coffee cup he held.
She spoke without any tone or rise in her voice, “The rest of the logs are written by Burton..”