“You’re kidding me,” Mitch hissed. Already in the streets of Washington D.C., ninety minutes before the start of the rally, hundreds and hundreds of NAO members had gathered. Dressed in black, wearing their gold badges, a sea of blond heads filled the streets. Mitch looked as far as he could see and saw nothing but people.
Blending in with their blond hair and NAO badges, Mitch and Nick slipped into the gathering masses. NAO members were distributing campaign signs of Presidential candidate Ulric Adler and rolling posters of his campaign onto street posts.
They weaved their way to the front of the crowd and Nick saw Thorsten Schmid organizing the workers. He was scanning the crowds and his eyes found Nick’s. He raised his hand in a wave. Nick reciprocated. He saw Thorsten’s eyes flicker to Mitch but he didn’t appear to make the connection between the tall, blond man beside Nick and the man who came in to interrogate him several weeks before. Dirk Schmid was nowhere in sight yet.
Mitch leaned closer to Nick. “Will you go help out, see what they’re saying about the Berlin rally? And remember I’m your cousin if anyone asks. Can I have your phone?”
“Sure. What are you going to do?” Nick asked.
“I just want to see the CNN footage on yours while I try and reach Adam or Ellie on mine.” Mitch moved away out of the gathering masses and made his way to the edge of the street. He rang Ellen. As he expected the phone went to voicemail. He watched the vision of the Berlin riot police moving in. The camera caught ambulances loading victims. Along the bottom of the screen a tally ran: four confirmed dead, hundreds injured.
“Christ,” Mitch cursed as Adam’s phone went to message bank. He tried Eva’s phone and she answered. Relief swept over him. “Eva, it’s Mitch. Are you all safe?”
“Mitchell, we can’t find Adam, but Ellen and I are fine,” she shouted above the noise. “We went to the meeting spot but we couldn’t get close to it. We’re heading to the second liaison now.”
“Thanks Eva,” Mitch said. “If he’s not there, get out, head back to the hotel. He might do the same. Tell him to call me as soon as you find him.”
Mitch hung up. He watched the footage for a few minutes more and glanced over at Nick. He was handing out badges, mingling in. He made eye contact with Mitch and looked worried. Mitch gave him the thumbs up and saw him visibly exhale.
Mitch hung up and began to walk away from Nick. The rally was growing in size; he wanted to see the extent. He walked for a block past hundreds of NAO members arriving, easily as many as in Berlin. There were very few ring-ins as yet, but it was still forty minutes until the official start of the rally. As he turned the corner, Mitch’s eyes widened. He stepped back out of sight to observe, his pulse racing. Several hundred skinheads, all wearing black leather jackets with red Nazi swastikas emblazoned on the sides and backs of their jackets, filled the square in the street behind that which was designated for the rally.
“Shit,” he muttered, “the trouble’s here.” Mitch called John.
“John, just spoke with Eva. She and Ellen are out, but no sign of Adam yet.”
“Right,” John said. “Thanks, keep me posted.”
“Hold on, we’ve got a bigger problem.” Mitch explained what he was seeing. “New plan—we have to disperse the rally right back at The German-American Friendship Garden; send the police to turn away anyone that’s arriving now. The march is not only filling 17th Street but 15th as well. H Street is filling up and Lafayette Square is almost overcrowded to the point of not being safe. Nick and I will stick to the plan, cause trouble early, let the communications unit get the shots they need and close it down early. But the riot squad and police have to stop the crowds farther back and start dispersing them now. That way there’s no damage and no crushing of the crowd. It’s the only way to avoid what happened in Berlin.”
“I’m onto it. Anything else?” John asked.
“No, thanks, but can you confirm they’ve understood the plan?” Mitch hung up without waiting for an answer.
He turned and scanned the crowd in the other direction. It was a sea of black everywhere. The rally had expanded over two streets. He felt a little of the anxiety that must have been felt on that dark night in Berlin when the windows were broken and Jewish people were threatened in November 1938. Mitch took to the sidewalk, edging his way back towards Nick, glancing at the two phones—Nick’s for the vision, his own for Adam’s call. The rally images of Ulric Adler were everywhere. Further up towards Nick, Mitch heard a cheer as the crowd erupted. He saw the crowds part for a black limousine crawling along H Street; it stopped and Ulric Adler alighted to more cheering. He walked a very short distance in the crowd before heading towards the rally point in Lafayette Square.
Mitch was beginning to feel the crush of people around him. He avoided the sidewalk for fear of being crushed against the windows and waded through the crowds. He tried to look enthusiastic, greeting fellow NAO members as he moved, their eyes were bright with excitement. Eventually he reached Nick and they moved ahead of the rally starting point where the crowd would eventually march.
“What’s NAO management saying?” Mitch asked.
“It’s going ahead but they’re going to start shortly, fifteen minutes early, to ease the congestion. Then when they get to the stage for speeches, Adler will call for calm and ask people to put down their lanterns and heed the message.”
“Yeah, good luck with that,” Mitch said. “We’ll be sticking to plan. I’ve called John to get the rally dispersed now back at the starting point near the German-American Friendship Garden and to clear 15th Street. With luck that will stop the surge and avoid any more moving forward. The SWAT team and police have already closed off entry via New York Avenue. We’ll do our bit at the start for publicity but it won’t reach the masses.”
“Good idea,” Nick said, looking around. “Any news on Adam?”
“Not yet.” He handed Nick back his phone. “Thanks. There’s a freaky scene around the corner, at least a couple of hundred neo-Nazi skinheads ready for action.” He looked around before continuing to speak. “Given the rally is starting early and what’s happening in Berlin, I think we should start our action five or so minutes earlier as well, get it contained sooner. Thoughts?”
Nick looked around. “Agreed. We should get in position.”
“You remember where we’re meeting?” Mitch checked.
“Got it.”
Mitch nodded and turned.
“Mitch …”
Mitch turned. “Yeah?”
“How bad is it down there?” He nodded towards the end of the street.
Mitch grimaced. “Bad.”
“Be careful, I don’t want to have to save your ass again,” Nick said with a nervous smile. Mitch grinned and watched him walk away, swallowed by the crowds.
Mitch’s phone rang and he grabbed it. “Adam?”
“We’re all out and okay,” Adam said.
Mitch breathed out. “Thanks.” He felt a huge weight lift off his shoulders.
Adam continued, “But Mitch, there are now seven dead, and the injuries are in the hundreds. They picked the wrong area, stupid fucking idea to have it in an area that is already hostile.”
“Adam …” Mitch interrupted him.
“Why do that unless you want trouble? They were asking for it and innocents have paid the price,” Adam continued. “They knew what they were doing; they knew it would incite a riot and I bet they planned to make the immigrants the scapegoats, just like they did with the Jews.”
“Okay, listen Adam—”
“People have been crushed to death,” Adam was ranting, his voice rising above the noise, “there’s glass injuries everywhere; we didn’t need a plan, it was always going to be a disaster.”
“Adam!” Mitch interrupted him.
“It wasn’t just the other neo-Nazi groups, it was refugees, students, anyone who had a bone to pick with authority in the end. Jesus, I saw a girl guillotined by a glass window. It’s—”
“Adam, stop!”
Adam stopped talking.
“Put Ellen on,” Mitch ordered. He waited.
“Mitch?” It was Ellen.
“Ellen get him out of there now!” Mitch ordered and hung up.
He shook his head, exhaled and called John.
“John, all three are safe, but Adam’s lost it. Can you call Ellie back in five minutes and check on them?”
“What do you mean, he’s lost it?” John asked.
“He’s freaking out—I get why he was stood down from action for a while,” Mitch said. “He’s out of danger, and we’ve got bigger problems here at the moment. Nick’s been up the front with NAO management and they’re going ahead with it. Are the police dispensing those neo-Nazi groups at the other end?”
“Yes, happening as we speak. After the Berlin situation, we’ve put the city on alert, and we’ve got the army coming in too,” John said.
“Thanks. I don’t know that we’re going to need to do our part now, given the situation in Berlin, but we’ll see. I’ll bring it forward and we’ll do it in the first ten minutes so it doesn’t bubble over down the line.”
“Yes, good idea, then we can shut it down with any luck before it reaches the masses. I’ll alert the security team on the ground to pass the word and let the media and communication team know,” John said.
“Thanks.” Mitch hung up.
He turned to find the street awash with an Aryan race. A cheer went up and the rally began. Mitch felt for his concealed weapon as he walked along on the fringe of the parade. He searched for Nick; not seeing him but hoping he was far enough ahead to be out of harm’s way and out of the media and communication team’s photos.