Chapter Thirteen: July 18, 1945

Drusilla had gently put her invisible plane down in an open field just to the northwest of Washington. The same spot she'd always chosen on every one of her previous six visits in the last three years.

Once again, she knew that making her way to Diana's apartment on K Street would not be easy because as always, her mother had forced her to destroy the clothes she'd worn home to Paradise Island. That meant she had to make her way down in either her antiquated robes, or her Wonder Girl costume.

As she got out of the plane, she decided on the latter option. In her previous visits she'd established her own identity as Wonder Girl, so it would definitely be a better option to admit that truth if anyone took notice of her.

As she passed the National Cathedral, she estimated a five mile walk. In the early morning hours, she might be able to make it before it got too crowded.

And maybe it'd give her more time to think about what she was going to say to Diana.

Bolle had spent more than a day working his way across to the other side of Washington. The only way to keep one step ahead of the KGB was to never stand still in the same place.

He had spent all that time trying to formulate a plan that would somehow enable him to climb out of the hole he'd dug himself in. It could only be a plan that would somehow get him back into the Russians good graces.

But how?

As dawn began to break over the clear sky, Bolle found himself walking through the Embassy Row section of Georgetown. Past the locked gates of the empty German Embassy, past the house on S Street where President Wilson had spent his last days and where his widow still lived, and into the fashionable residential and shopping neighborhoods.

He suddenly stopped in his tracks as he noticed a solitary figure walking down the other side of the street. A young girl. Wearing a distinctive red-and-gold costume with a golden headband, belt, and lasso.

No, it couldn't be. No it wasn't Wonder Woman, that was for sure, but...

Bolle snapped his fingers as his mind drifted back to a report he'd read once at SS headquarters about Wonder Woman. A report that indicated that on at least one assignment, Wonder Woman had been accompanied by a younger girl, equally powerful.

Suddenly, he realized that he'd found just what he was looking for.

He nonchalantly made his way across to the other side of the street.

Drusilla had slowed down her pace just a bit as she entered Embassy Row. There was no sense in overexerting herself. She'd been over this route enough times to know that she could take it easy.

Now once again Dru, she thought, what are you going to say and how are you going to encourage Diana to hang in?

"Good morning," a pleasant voice said.

Startled, Drusilla looked up and saw the smiling face of dark-haired middle aged man.

"Good morning," she bit her tongue.

"Forgive my curiosity, but you wouldn't happen to be who I think you are, are you?"

She let out an embarrassed laugh, "No, I'm not Wonder Woman. I'm the other one you've probably read about. I'm her sister."

"Her sister?" he lifted an eyebrow, "I didn't know she had a sister."

"Oh I can't believe you haven't heard of me at least once," she smiled sheepishly, "I'm Wonder Girl."

"Wonder Girl," he repeated, "That means you're just as powerful as she is?"

"Of course," she shrugged, "I'm just not as smart. She's had a lot more experience than I have."

"Really now," he said, "You mean you haven't had your share of adventures breaking up Nazi operations and all that?"

"I've had a few," Drusilla felt more and more awkward, "But nothing to write home about. My sister is much better. Me, I'm just a....teenager."

"Well I'm sure you'll become just as famous as she is, in due time," he continued to smile, "I take it you're here for the upcoming wedding between your sister and Colonel Trevor?"

"As a matter of fact, I am," she kept her voice polite, "And as much as I like talking to you, I really have to be on my way."

"Well it's been an honor talking to you," he bowed, "Good day, Wonder Girl."

"Bye," she started to walk away.

She never even felt the butt of Bolle's revolver coming down on her head, sending her into the blackness of unconsciousness.

Bolle had slipped his overcoat over Wonder Girl's unconscious form, and after propping her to a standing position, he quietly hailed the first cab he saw.

Telling the driver that his companion was sleeping off a hangover, he had the cab take him directly over the back roads that led to the safe house in the Virginia woods.

A quarter-mile from the house, he had the cab stop. Once it had disappeared, he calmly dragged Wonder Girl the rest of the way.

With confidence, he nonchalantly knocked on the door, holding Wonder Girl in one arm and pointing his gun with the other.

When the door opened, a stunned Sturber was looking directly down the barrel.

"Guten morgen, Sergeant," Bolle said casually, "Nice to see you again."

Sturber's head darted back, "Lieutenant!"

"What is it?" Hauser made his way forward and froze when he saw Bolle.

"Herr Oberst," he tried to find his voice, "You have risked coming back here?"

"I don't think you'll want to kill me now, Lieutenant," Bolle said, "Because I have just delivered you something more important than the atomic bomb."

Hauser leaned past Sturber and frowned at the unconscious body of a young girl under Bolle's other arm, "Who is that?"

"Wonder Woman's sister," he said with relish, "Captured personally by me."

"Is this your idea of a joke, Herr Oberst?" Hauser looked unimpressed.

"Certainly not," Bolle yanked his overcoat off of her, "Look at her. You've heard reports about her sister Wonder Girl, have you?"

Hauser slowly nodded, "We have. But are you sure this is her?"

"That will be easy to determine," he reached down and yanked off her golden belt and lasso from around her waist, "We test these items, and we'll know if she is who she says she is."

Hauser took the items from Bolle and looked them over, "You had better be right Herr Oberst," he didn't look up at him, "Because if this is a joke, you are not going to leave this place alive."

"Fair enough," Bolle stepped inside and closed the door, "I'm willing to take that risk. Because I know I'm right."

It was a few minutes before seven when the sound of the phone ringing awoke Diana three minutes before the alarm clock was supposed to go off.

She came up to a sitting position, yawned and picked it up.

"Yeoman Diana Prince," she said simply.

"Good morning, Wonder Woman," the voice on the other end said.

Diana froze in shock and almost dropped the receiver.

"You must have the wrong number," she kept her voice even.

"I don't think I do, Wonder Woman. I remember your voice quite well."

She sucked in her breath, "Colonel Bolle?"

"Of course," his voice chuckled.

"What do you hope to gain, Colonel?" Diana got out of bed and walked around as she continued to talk, "Since I no longer intend to keep a secret identity, the fact that you know who I am is of little concern to me."

"Aren't you interested in how I found out?" there was a touch of sadistic teasing in his tone.

"I can guess," she sounded unimpressed, "You were at that little gathering of soldiers the night of your bungled murder attempt. You heard Steve mention that I was his secretary, and that's what led you to me."

"Actually Wonder Woman, you're quite wrong. I'd all but forgotten that little admission your dear lover made."

"So go ahead and tell me," she shot back.

"Quite easy," he said nonchalantly, "I used your sister's golden lasso, and ten seconds later she told me exactly where I could call you."

Shock filled Diana at it's greatest extreme. She gripped the phone so hard, she almost crushed it under her strength. His words had left her too thunderstruck to speak.

"Did you hear what I said, Wonder Woman?" Bolle taunted, "I have your dear sister, Drusilla. And lest you think I'm lying, I'll let you talk to her."

There was a shuffling noise and a minute later, she heard Drusilla's level voice, "Diana, they've got me. I'm sorry. Don't do what they say. They'll---"

"Dru," she cried into the phone, "Dru!"

"They're using me so they can get you and Steve!" her voice rose, "Don't do anything they say!"

And then her voice was gone and the sound of more shuffling could be heard.

"Dru!" Diana screamed.

"She's quite all right for now, Wonder Woman," Bolle's silky tone came back on the line, "At least without her belt, lasso and bracelets, she is quite harmless, and therefore not immune to anything we might choose to do to her."

"You evil monster," she spat into the phone.

Bolle laughed, "Control yourself, Wonder Woman. If you wish to see her alive again, you will do exactly what we ask you to do."

"What do you want?"

"Quite simple," he said, "We exchange your sister for you and Colonel Trevor."

"And do you really think I could possibly trust you?" Diana hissed.

"Well at the moment Wonder Woman, I don't think that makes any difference, does it?" there was a pointed edge to the question that made Diana realize she couldn't possibly answer him.

"I will be phoning Colonel Trevor in exactly five minutes, at his residence. In the meantime, I suggest you make your way over there so you can learn our next instructions. And don't even think of getting in touch with your friends at the War Department. If I so much as see a single policeman or soldier, your sister is dead. Have I made myself clear?"

Diana angrily bit her lip in a futile effort to control her rage, "You have."

"Very good," a note of mock geniality entered Bolle's voice, "Auf wiedersehen Wonder Woman."

As the click sounded, Diana stared at the receiver and then hurled the phone across the bedroom with all her strength.

"Damn!" she screamed, "Damn!"

Immediately, Diana had composed herself long enough to get dressed and hail a cab. The promise of a ten dollar bill made the driver drive at dangerously high speeds over the Washington streets. Within five minutes, the cab had dropped her off in front of Steve's Georgetown apartment.

As she frantically went up the steps and entered the building, she was just in time to see a grim-faced Steve hanging up the phone.

"I know," he said, "I'm sorry, Diana. But we'll find a way to get her back."

"How?" Diana could barely conceal her agony as she began pacing about, "What can we do?"

"It doesn't look good," Steve was grave, "They want us to come alone to the old German Embassy. It's been locked tight and empty since the war broke out."

"I don't trust them. They'll kill her no matter what."

"We can't afford to take that kind of risk, Diana."

Diana slowly collected herself, "You're right. We have no other choice. But then what?"

Steve bit his lip, "I wish I knew," he said, "Right now, the only thing I can think of is prayer."

She sighed and came back up to him, squeezing his hand for support, "Say one for me too, Steve.

They embraced each other, trying to find some means of comfort at a time when it was so desperately needed.

"It seems that your sister and Colonel Trevor are going to be most cooperative," Bolle smiled menacingly at Drusilla as he put the phone down, "Just as you have been most cooperative, Wonder Girl."

She moved herself about in visible anger, but the golden lasso appeared to keep her locked in place.

"These bracelets of yours," he picked one up from the table, "Remarkable weapons that would guarantee military superiority for any nation that ever learned their secret. Something that would render America's edge in atomic weapons, null and void."

She glared at him with hate, but didn't say anything.

"And this place where you and your weapons come from," he went on, "Paradise Island. Very remarkable. But now that your lasso has compelled you to reveal its location, as well as what it will take for us to easily obtain this magic mineral feminum, you will have succeeded in shifting the balance of power for World War III."

He came over to Hauser, who was looking very apprehensive, and handed him one of the bracelets, "Keep this for safekeeping and see to it that it gets to one of your contacts in New York. This single bracelet is worth more than everything put together by our friends in New Mexico."

Hauser took the bracelet and idly ran his fingers over it, "Hard to believe that this type of compound holds the key to conventional supremacy."

"Also hard to believe that we came so close to acquiring it three years ago," Bolle added, "What did you think of her little story about how one of our operatives, Captain Gerhard Radl had learned the same secret and had Berlin authorize a commando raid on this Paradise Island?"

"I remember that," Hauser admitted, "When Radl was captured and had no memory of what had gone on, Berlin wrote his earlier story off to insanity. But according to Wonder Girl, they had things on that island that wiped out his memory of Paradise Island and the raid."

"Now we know better," Bolle said, "Too late to help the Reich, but not too late for Moscow."

"Launching a commando operation on this Paradise Island will be even more difficult than it was for Berlin," Hauser pointed out, "As much as Moscow is interested in acquiring important advantages over the Americans, an operation of that kind in waters so close to their own shores is something they'll be most reluctant to undertake. If it were to go wrong, we'd have a diplomatic crisis on our hands that could cause too serious a rupture in U.S.-Soviet relations. I need not remind you Herr Oberst, that winning this new competition requires that relations not deteriorate at this point."

"Of course," the ex-SS officer nodded, "But if not now, then the information will surely be valuable for a more suitable time in the future."

Hauser glanced back at Wonder Girl and quietly motioned Bolle to step into the next room.

"You realize Herr Oberst," he said quietly, "that if we had to keep this information under wraps for the time being, then it is impossible to even think of releasing Wonder Girl."

"Of course," Bolle said without batting an eye, "Does that really matter?"

Hauser smiled thinly, "I suppose not."

Two hours later, Steve and Wonder Woman were standing inside the compound of the abandoned German Embassy. Unused for three and a half years since the outbreak of the war and expulsion of all German diplomats, the elegant building had fallen into a serious state of disrepair. Piles of old litter lay all around the compound, while angry anti-Nazi graffiti that had been painted by citizens who'd broken in and found ways of expressing their patriotism, dotted the walls.

Too uneasy to speak, they kept their vigil of agonizing wait in tortured silence.

And then, they heard the sound of movement from behind the corridor that led out into the main compound.

Out stepped Bolle, a taunting grin on his face from ear-to-ear.

"How nice to see you two again," his voice oozed with charm.

"Colonel," Trevor coldly acknowledged.

"Incidentally, my congratulations on your pending nuptials. It pleases me to know that little scene in front of the men at Trinity base didn't mark the end of your happy relationship."

"Where's my sister?" Wonder Woman angrily demanded.

Bolle snapped his fingers and Sergeant Becker emerged, holding Wonder Girl's unconscious form, tied up in her own golden lasso.

"She's quite unharmed," Bolle said, "The chloroform will wear off shortly, and she will be able to go. In the meantime, Wonder Woman, you would be advised to hand over your bracelets, belt and lasso."

Diana stared at him with eyes like daggers.

Bolle pointed his gun at her, "I wouldn't want to change my mind Wonder Woman. Hand over those things now."

Slowly, she reached for the bracelet on her left wrist.

Suddenly Drusilla, who'd been hanging limp in Becker's grasp, bolted up and delivered a blow to the heavyset sergeant's head.

"What the---?" Bolle blurted in shock.

As Wonder Girl dashed away from him, Wonder Woman ran toward him holding her wrists up so she could shield her sister. At the same time, Steve raced in to join the fray, concentrating on Becker who was still staggering.

Bolle fired wildly, but Wonder Woman was able to deflect the bullets. She then grabbed him by the wrist and threw him over her shoulder.

Steve delivered two blows to Becker that sent him back again, and the sergeant then countered with two shots to Trevor's jaw. But then Wonder Girl came back into the fray and after grabbing his wrist, sent Becker crashing into the brick wall of the compound, where he fell to the ground unconscious.

Bolle scrambled to his feet and began running toward the main gate. But then, he felt the sting of Wonder Woman's lasso fly around him, and he was jerked backward.

Slowly, with intense hatred, Wonder Woman pulled him back toward her until he was only inches away. At the same time, Wonder Girl helped Steve to his feet and they came alongside her.

"Let's have the truth," Wonder Woman said coldly, "Where is your headquarters?"

"I won't tell--" he started, and then he felt the strange power of the lasso, acting like a drug, forcing the truth out of him, "It's, it's a small house in the woods ten miles off the main road to Fort Myer."

"Thank you very much," Trevor's voice dripped with venom as he suddenly delivered a sock to the jaw that flattened the ex-SS colonel into unconsciousness.

Diana turned to Drusilla and embraced her with relief, "Oh thank God, Drusilla."

"It's all right," she grinned, "I had them fooled good."

"How did you do that?" Steve asked as he joined in the happy circle of embrace.

"It was easy," Wonder Girl kept grinning, "The fifth rule of exercise and self-discipline that we learned on Paradise Island."

Diana smiled as she remembered, "The ability to control breathing through the mouth. When they put the chloroform over you, you were able to block it out and fake unconsciousness."

"And gathered all of my strength for a sudden break. The lasso might compel us to tell the truth like everyone else, but it doesn't leave us immobile. To wrap it around an Amazon eventually restores our strength."

"Drusilla, you are terrific," Steve grinned and then shot a glance at the two unconscious bodies lying on the ground, "Well we know one thing now. Bolle's benefactors are the survivors of the Iron Brigade. That man over there is Sergeant Karl Becker, one of the three missing members."

"I suggest we keep our appointment with the other two," the lightheartedness disappeared from Diana's voice.

Steve nodded, "Drusilla?"

She nodded, "It will be my pleasure."

A half-hour later, Hauser heard the front door knock and he calmly made his way up to it with his pistol brandished.

"Yes?"

"We have them," he heard Bolle's voice, "The mission is a success."

"Good," he sighed and started to open the door, "I've been worried about---"

But when the door opened, Hauser found himself staring into Wonder Woman's determined visage.

"You!" he blurted and fired madly. But the bullets deflected off her wrist bracelets.

"Sturber!" he cried, and the thin sergeant entered assist him.

Steve burst into the room right behind Wonder Woman and the scuffle broke out in full force.

Hauser picked up a chair and tried to bring it down on the Amazon. She timed it perfectly, and sent him flying back into the next room, crashing against the dining table.

Sturber yanked out a knife from his pocket and held it out at Trevor. For well over thirty seconds he kept it pointed at him.

And then he finally lunged forward. Steve jumped to the side and the knife grazed his right side. At the same time, he landed a karate blow to the neck that finally knocked him down and out.

In the next room, Hauser got to his feet and scrambled for the back door. But when he opened it he saw Wonder Girl, hands on hips, smiling disarmingly at him.

"Going somewhere Lieutenant?" her voice was coy.

As the scuffle continued inside the cabin, Bolle dimly felt the effects of Trevor's blow wear off.

He shook himself and focused his eyes on the cabin, where the results of the scuffle were all too obvious.

He slowly sucked in his breath. The fools had removed the lasso from him and he was free to move. Free to get out of here. It mattered not to him that he had no plan for where to go next. All that mattered was getting away fast.

He quietly opened the door and slipped off into the bushes.

"We've got 'em all," Steve beamed with delight as he and the two Amazons surveyed the scene, "The Iron Brigade is finished."

"We'd better let them join Bolle and Becker in the car," Diana said.

But as the three of them dragged the two unconscious men out to the car, they found themselves in for a rude shock.

"Bolle's gone!" Drusilla blurted.

Steve felt his heart sink with agony as he rushed up to the car. The unconscious Becker was still there, but there was no trace of the ex-SS colonel.

"He must have come to," Trevor angrily clenched his fist, "No telling how far he's been able to go."

"It can't be far," Wonder Woman spoke up with determination, "I'll get him."

"I'll go with you," her sister eagerly jumped in.

Diana turned around and slowly shook her head, "No Dru. You and Steve need to watch the others until the authorities arrive. This is something I need to handle myself."

She looked over at Steve. He grimly nodded his head in understanding and approval.

And then, Wonder Woman turned and dashed off into the Virginia woods.

Bolle had ventured nearly five hundred yards into the bush. But in the midst of his terror-filled desire to escape he found that he had totally lost his bearings. He had no way of knowing which direction the main road was.

Slowly, he stopped to collect himself. He had to reassure himself that it was his destiny to escape. That somehow, somewhere his plan of fulfilling his last duty as a Nazi would come to pass.

Behind him, he heard the sound of tree branches breaking. Someone was coming up behind him and fast.

The terror suddenly increased as he forced himself to move on again.

In the distance, Wonder Woman had spotted him. Inside she felt a large measure of satisfaction. At last, the evil man who had caused so much trouble and suffering for herself and for Steve would be caught, and there would be no more avenues for escape left.

She saw Bolle look back at her. For the first time, the ex-SS colonel seemed frightened of her.

She saw him come to a large overturned tree trunk that extended five feet in the air. Bolle was forced to stop and hurriedly climb over it. A maneuver that took almost fifteen seconds.

He had barely gotten moving again when he looked back and saw Wonder Woman leap over the trunk with one swift, graceful motion.

The moment had come. Wonder Woman was now close enough to use her lasso on him. Now it would be over.

The golden rope lashed itself around him and Bolle's forward momentum came to a stop.

Slowly, Diana pulled him back to her.

For what seemed like an eternity, Diana stared into his terrified visage. Feeling nothing but pleasure over the fact that this evil man was now afraid.

"All right Colonel," she said gently, "It's all over."

Bolle sagged his shoulders in defeat.

"Yes," he whispered, "It's over. You have won."

"Let's go," she turned around and began pulling him.

But then, the gentle quiet of the woods was suddenly shattered by the loud piercing crack of a rifle shot.

A startled Diana looked back just in time to see blood gushing from a gaping wound in Bolle's head. The ex-SS colonel's mouth was twisted open. But no sound came out as he then collapsed to the ground in a motionless heap.

Wonder Woman looked about trying to pinpoint the location of the shot. But it was no use. There was no one there.

Two hundred yards away at the edge of the clearing between the main road and the woods, the raincoated Soviet assassin turned around and dashed back to his waiting car. He hurled his rifle in the backseat and motioned the driver to get started. In an instant, the car roared off at better than fifty miles an hour.

The assassin let out a sigh of relief, "It's done," he said, "Bolle's finished. The cancer is removed."

"He was the one to fear," the driver nodded, "But what of the other men? Will they talk?"

"No," the assassin shook his head, "The rest of the Iron Brigade are loyal to the cause. They all know what they are supposed to do in this event, and they will never reveal the extent of their connection with us."

"But they have files," the driver pointed out, "Files that would expose the full extent of our operations in this country. Fuchs, Gold, Greenglass and Rosenberg could all be in danger."

The man looked at him and smiled in a disarming manner.

"That problem has also been dealt with," he said, "We have someone who'll know what to do about those files."

Diana seemed dazed as she made her way back to where Steve and Drusilla continued to stand guard over the three unconscious members of the Iron Brigade.

"What happened?" Steve asked with concern.

She slowly exhaled in disbelief, "He's dead."

"What?" his face contorted in amazement.

"Someone shot him," she went on, "I didn't see who. But he's dead."

"Why?" Drusilla was stunned by the revelation.

"I don't know."

Trevor leaned back against the car and slowly shook his head in amazement, "Not the way I would have preferred it, but it probably served the bastard right."

An hour later, a military guard from Fort Myer was hauling Hauser, Becker and Sturber off into an armored truck, the three of them in shackles. Inside the house, General Blankenship was surveying the scene with Trevor, Wonder Woman and Wonder Girl.

"That's the end of what's left of the Iron Brigade," Steve said, "And there are some pretty interesting things in here that ties their operation into a Russian spy network all over the country."

"Incredible," Blankenship shook his head, "How big is it?"

"We'll need time to go through the data," Wonder Woman pointed to a filing cabinet of material, "But it could be that we'll find out who their contacts are from inside the Manhattan Project. Someone from inside there has to have been passing off information to them."

"Why bother?" Wonder Girl spoke up, "Just put a lasso around them and you'll find out everything you need to know."

Steve chuckled lightly, "Diana, maybe you should explain."

"We can't do that Dru," she said gently, "It's one thing to do that during a moment of combat or pursuit, but it can't be done in an interrogation. There are laws in this country that forbid that. And even if there weren’t, we can’t let any government, even the Americans, make use of any of our powers."

"That sounds silly," her sister responded.

"We can't make something like that available for the same reason that we can never make the powers of our bracelets available either," Diana said, "And those in America understand that. The Nazis and the Russians don't, and want to use them for evil purposes."

"We understand, Wonder Woman," Blankenship was sympathetic, "We'll use what we can to get them to talk. But hopefully the files will tell us everything else we need to know."

"I hope so," Steve said with a touch of disdain, "Because if those files tell us what I think they will, the Russians are going to have to change their tune about a lot of things going on at Potsdam."

"All in good time," Blankenship said, "In the meantime, the three of you have been through too much for one day. You spend it amongst yourselves."

"We will," Diana smiled, "Thank you sir."

As the general moved off, Diana looked at her sister and frowned slightly, "It just occurred to me Dru, that you never explained why you were up here in Washington in the first place."

Wonder Girl rolled her eyes, "Oh that. That's going to require a lot of explaining."

"Well let's talk about it at my place over some lunch," Steve got between them and led them out.

Later, as they enjoyed a light lunch of sandwiches and drinks, both Steve and Diana listened intently as Drusilla related Hippolyte's angry reaction to the news of the upcoming wedding.

"It's a flat ultimatum from her," she said, "I don't know exactly what she's threatening to do punish you with. I guess maybe she hasn't summoned the nerve to say specifically what it would be, but I can tell you that she's determined to carry it out. She feels that strongly about it."

Diana bit her lip and calmly exhaled, "I love Mother very dearly, but she has no right to demand that of me. If I choose to marry Steve, then that is a decision for me alone."

"And so I'm to tell her that your decision is final?"

She looked her sister in the eye, "Yes," she squeezed Steve's hand, "I love this man more than anything in the world, and if that doesn't impress Mother, then so be it."

Drusilla smiled, "Diana, I am in the awkward position of agreeing completely with you, but with no idea as to how I explain that to Mother."

"You won't have to," she said firmly, "I'm going to do it myself. I'm going to tell her everything, and she can then do whatever she pleases. It won’t make any difference."

She then looked up at Steve, who was still squeezing her hand, "And Steve, I want you to come with me."

He lifted an eyebrow in surprise, "Do you think I can help?"

"You can," her tone was firm, "It's time my mother met a man who can make her see that things are different in the world now. That women and men can live together in love."

Steve slowly exhaled, "Well I guess tradition dictates that you should always meet your future mother-in-law, but..."

Diana gave him a wry smile, "That's what I love about you Steve, your unique way of putting things in perspective."

"But is it to be the marriage first and then the visit, or the other way around?"

"Good question," she admitted, "I have a feeling though that the latter option would be better. I don't want to be disrespectful of her. She is my mother, and I love her."

"Then I guess we shouldn't waste any time," he sighed, "Drusilla, you have your plane ready?"

"Sure," Drusilla nodded, "And Diana, I don't care what you say, I'm flying."

Diana smiled at her sister, "Consider it a battlefield decoration for your work today."

"Give me just a minute to tell General Blankenship I'll be away for a couple of days," Steve said and disappeared into the next room.

"Dru," Diana said, "I'm curious to know if you've ever given any thought to staying here as well."

Her eyes widened, "Stay permanently?"

"Yes."

She gulped down the rest of her coke and slowly shook her head, "I love coming here Diana, but I don't think I'm ready for that yet. What would I do?"

"You'd learn a lot about the world," Diana said, "Maybe find someone for yourself as wonderful as Steve. And you'd still be here to help me as Wonder Girl."

She sucked in her breath and kept shaking her head, "Diana, right now I have to face the obvious fact that I am too young and naive to be ready for living here full-time. Maybe later on, when I'm older and wiser, but not now. And there's another factor to consider as well. It's going to be difficult enough on Mother for her eldest daughter to be leaving her. The prospect of losing both of them might be too much for her."

Her sister nodded, "I think you're right," she said, "But do keep trying to come here as often as you can."

"I will," Drusilla nodded, "You can be sure of that."

"I'll only need about two days," Steve said as he talked to Blankenship over the phone.

"That'll be no problem," the general said, "We can handle things in the meantime."

"Gotten anything out of our prisoners?"

"Not a thing. They've all clammed up but good, and they all emphatically deny that they're working for the Russians. They figure that by claiming to still be renegade Nazis, they can get away with the argument that they are prisoners of war who should be repatriated under the terms of the Geneva Convention."

"Fat chance of that happening. In fact, hiding behind their Nazi past actually makes them subject to the death penalty for espionage during wartime." Steve snorted, "Learned anything from those impounded files?"

"At the moment, they're out of our hands," Blankenship said, "The boys over at the State Department want to go through them first, because they want to be able to address the diplomatic questions while the Potsdam summit is still going on."

"It's political dynamite, that's for sure," Trevor nodded, "I hope we make good use of them."

"I know we will."

In another dark corner of Washington, the raincoated assassin lit his tenth cigarette in the last hour as he nervously dialed his phone. It was taking much longer than he'd hoped to get in touch with the man he needed to talk to.

"Yes?" an aristocratic sounding American voice said.

"Is it all set?" the man blurted.

The voice chuckled, "Yes, I've personally seen to it that the papers end up in State Department jurisdiction. With Secretary Byrnes and all the others out of the country, they have to come to my desk first."

"This is most urgent," the man's voice trembled, "The moment someone analyzes those papers, it’s the end of our entire apparatus in America. Those papers will definitely expose our contacts in the Manhattan Project. And you yourself might be in danger."

"I doubt that I am in danger," the aristocratic voice continued, "I have not exactly been an active operative for some time, but I of course have no intention of taking that kind of chance."

"Let me know when you have them."

"I will," the voice said simply. There was a click and the line went dead.