The Schonberg Hoax

Can someone disappear right before your eyes? Magicians and illusionists have sold us on this idea for centuries, but in the concrete world of investigation, this type of hocus-pocus is not considered feasible. When covert criminal activity is involved, there is always a victim and perpetrator. My professional instincts have usually prevailed or so I thought until a few years before I hung up my badge for good.

Sitting on my front porch with my coffee in one hand and my book in the other, I enjoy the peace and solitude earned with forty years as investigator with the federal government. During my tenure, I dealt with covert espionage cases connected to the Cold War in the Soviet Union. For the most part it was pretty cut and dry, a tit for tat just like a highly sophisticated game of chess, Boris Spassky verses Bobby Fisher.

But there is always an exception the old timer would claim. And I’m here to claim my exception that haunts me to this day.

“Agent Morgan, please report to conference room.” I remember how it all started with the intercom paging me. I was trying to put the pieces together of a security breech down at the Port Authority a few nights ago, but this sounded a bit more urgent. I glanced over at Agent Windfield who did even look up from his document scanner.

“Sounds important.” He managed to say as he continued scanning a document.

“Any ideas?” I asked as I stated for the open office door.

“Not a clue.” He shook his head. Usually, Kyle Windfield had the inside scoop on the prevalent information circulating around the office. My guess is that he knew, but he wasn’t going to give away any information this easily.

“Lucas, have a seat.” Chief Rommert sat all by himself in the large room. He gestured to the vacant chair on the other side of the circular table. Rommert was an experienced agent who had been involved in some of the top-secret assignments that nobody else was privy to. His smile told me that something big was going on.

“Chief?” I stroked my chin, looking into his gray eyes. No matter how deeply you looked into his eyes, they would never reveal a single detail of investigation that he was involved in.

“I need you to run a security detail.” He folded his hands under his chin.

“Security detail?” I was taken aback by his request.

“Yes.” He coughed to clear his throat. “This morning, we intercepted a dossier from the Soviet embassy. I will let you read it for yourself. If I read it out loud, whatever bugs we have in this room will pick up on my voice.”

He wasn’t exaggerating. Everyone knew that there were listening devices placed in various places in the room and were very erudite state-of-the-art listening devices.

“So, this is the plan?” I shook my head and leaned back in my chair.

“Not very elaborate.” He sniffed.

“Why would they do such a thing?” I asked, “Surely they can’t expect to get away with it.”

“It would seem that way, but my gut feeling tells me there is something else going on and this is just a distraction.” He moved his head, first to the right and then to the left as if he was expecting someone to be concealed inside the room. “Please keep this document well secured. I do not want them to know that we have this.”

“Yes sir.” I folded the paper and put it in my inside jacket pocket.

“I have six agents assigned to you.” He nodded, “They will assist you in assignment.”

“Very well, sir.” I stood up as his body language telling me I was dismissed.

He smiled and nodded as I walked out the door.

Lars Schonberg was a well-known Soviet operative who was intent on bringing Norway into the Warsaw Pact since he felt the Norwegian alliance with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization did not favor the Nordic nations. The Soviets had made a gesture to put nuclear missiles into the silos above the Arctic Circle as a deterrent to the North America NORAD defenses.

Everyday the Soviets would send their bombers across the Bering Sea into Alaska. Bases would scramble their fighters out of Elmendorf to intercept them. Once the bombers encountered the fighters, they would turn back. Schonberg knew that if one time the fighters did not respond, the bombers would drop their nuclear payload wiping out the Arctic defense.

What would happen if these planes came from Norway instead? Would they be ready for it? Lars Schonberg seemed to gamble that the United States and Canada would be caught completely by surprise.

Only one thing stood in his way, Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, but Lars was in charge of a communist movement within Norway just itching to switch alliances. He had a crack team of snipers who would be more than willing to put the prime minister in the sights of their rifles. While the rest of the government was reacting to the political crisis, Lars would be ready to launch a surprise Soviet aircraft attack from the Norwegian airfields.

“Agents Myers, Lothram, Newman, Conners, Baker, and Sonerrisk.” As I said each of their names, they would raise their hands. “You are part of my security team. Our main objective is to keep Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland safe.”

We were all seated in the basement of the building where there electronic devices had been swept away. Each of the agents chosen were top notch with years of solid field experience. None of the agents showed a hint of surprise as I made eye contact with each of them.

“We will be deploying to Oslo in a week. I have communicated with the government through encrypted dossiers about what our mission is. The prime minster is very grateful for our presence. She has told me that there has been subversive communiques that they have intercepted. I told her to be sure to flag anything with Lars Schonberg’s name on it.I want to look that son-of-a-bitch in the eye if I can. He will not hesitate to carry out his mission. He will terminate you if he feels threatened.”

“How many do you think he will have with him?” Ann Lothram asked.

“We do not have confirmation on that at this time, but from past operations he usually has about a dozen well-trained operatives. I would expect there to be at least that many.” I drummed my fingers on the table. “I have included a photograph of Lars Schonberg which shows a prominent scar over his right eyebrow. He has a very fair complexion with very light thinning hair. He is quite a skilled marksman and if you happen to encounter him, immediately let someone know.”

I spent the next week planning everything right down to the last detail. He was an international criminal in western Europe, and I wanted to make sure we made it impossible for him to get away as he successfully had all the other times. Jack Myers was my second-in-command who was an elite skydiver with well over one hundred jumps to his credit. He would not need that skill for this mission, but it was always reassuring having someone with you who was cool under pressure. The others were all known for the same trait, actually.

We boarded a Norwegian Air Flight to Oslo. The plane lifted off without a hitch. Everyone got comfortable for the six-hour flight. I closed my eyes and let the cool air whisper me to sleep. A couple of the others were having a conversation about which pizza was the best and so on.

Even as I nodded off, I could see Lars Schonberg’s face. He was laughing at me.

“You fool. You fell for it.” He cackled.

“Fell for what?”

“My hoax.” He sneered. “You Americans think you are so smart.”

I reached out to grab him, but he floated harmlessly through my grasp. I cursed as he faded away.

“Lucas, are you okay?” Eric Conners asked putting down the magazine he was flipping through.

“Yeah, just dozing off, Eric.” I inhaled.

“You were fighting someone in your dream.” He smiled.

“Occupational hazard.” I grinned back. It was true, even Meredith, my wife told me I often talked in my sleep. I told her that if I said anything classified, I might have to subdue her. She wasn’t really sure if I was joking or not.

We landed in Oslo early in the morning. It was raining with a hint of fog that would often descend on the city. We went through a special gate where we our weapons were checked by security. The security guard thoroughly checked our baggage and waved us through. The seven of us took an airport transport to Regjeringskvartalet to meet with the prime minister.

When we got there she was in a meeting, so I had them wait in an empty conference room.

“Everybody alright?” I asked.

Everybody nodded.

“Flight was nice.” Myers shrugged.

“Long.” Conners added.

“What we are going to do is set up a couple of posts to keep an eye on the prime minister.” I folded my hands in font of me on the table. “I suspect Lars Schonberg will show himself in a couple of days, but we have to be prepared for any contingency. So, I have a map of where I want each of you be posted.”

I put the paper with the map on the table.

“Her security will be with her at all times until we can get this guy under surveillance. I want to know what his first move is going to be. My guess is that he will just be surveying the place to look for a good place to strike. I have a radio for each of you.” I passed one to each member of the team. “If you see something, anything suspicious, I want you to say it out. It may be just a decoy, but I want to know when this guys is in sight.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“We will be on channel twelve.” I switched on my radio and turned the dial to twelve. “Everyone check their radio now.”

Six people turned their radio on and switched to channel twelve.

“Each of you are certified as a marksmen. We won’t have a lot of room for error since this place is usually pretty crowded. We will have media as well as government officials. This is why we must be extra cautious.” I took a deep breath. “Due to circumstances, we must shoot to kill if need be, but if possible take the suspects down in order to prevent any mistakes.”

I could feel my heart beating against my ribs. My breath was uneven as I kept gasping for my next breath. Linda Newman put her hand on my wrist. “Take it easy, sir. This will go just like clockwork.”

“I hope you are right.” I bowed my head.

“Hello everyone.” The prime minister greeted us when she walked in.

“Prime Minister.” I stood up and shook her hand.

“Agent Lucas Morgan, I’ve heard a lot about you.” She nodded.

“And these are my agents.” I had them all stand up and state their names to her.

“I feel very well protected.” She looked each of them in the eye. “I hope your stay in our wonderful city will be to your liking.”

“I must be honest.” Myers nodded, “I will feel much better once we have this guy under wraps.”

“Well, I must warn you that Lars Schonberg is a very wily and elusive criminal. He has a well-developed organization that aims to overthrow our good government.”

“Which is why we are here.” I assured her, “We know what he intends to do, and we are here to stop him.”

“I know you will do what is required.” Her smile disappeared, “And I will do whatever needs to be done to make sure you are successful. We are honored to belong to NATO that will protect us from the Soviet threat. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have another meeting to attend to.”

“Thank you.” I clasp her hand to show my loyalty. As she left with her entourage, I told the others to take their places.

“What about the Norwegian security?” Charles Sonerrick asked.

“I have informed them of our presence. You should be alright.” I slapped him on the shoulder.

“Thanks, Lucas.” He nodded and left to take his place in the building.

Surveillance can a very boring task as you must sit and wait for the enemy to come to you. After two hours of watching people scurry from one office to another, I was moving my eyes just to give me a feeling of motion so I would not be put into a stupor. Shifting from foot to foot is another trick to keep from falling asleep on your feet. I would do a radio check with the others every half hour.

“I see a group of suspicious people entering the building.” Lothram spoke into her radio. “South entrance.”

“Got ‘em.” Myers confirmed.

“What are they doing?” I asked straining to see them.

“Nothing so far.” Myers replied.

“Alright, keep watching.”

As it turned out, the suspicious people were just some young people on a tour of the building. Better vigilant than not, I thought. As it turned out, however, this would be the only excitement for the day. When time came to close up for the evening, I told everyone to huddle around the prime minister. It was all routine.

Back at the hotel, I closed my eyes and drifted off without knowing. There he was, Lars Schonberg with a cigarette dangling out of his mouth.

“You won’t find me. I am invisible to you. You wasted your time coming all the way from America. You won’t ever get me.” His laugh was maniacal and echoed in my ears.

I had no clue that this day would be quite eventful. We had breakfast together in the hotel restaurant. Everybody chatty and in a good mood it seemed.

We went to Regjeringskvartalet like the day before and stood at our posts. The first few hours were boring, but then just before lunch, I heard Connors on the radio, “I see him. That’s him.”

I glanced to my left where Connors was posted. There he was wearing his long coat and scarf just like the photograph.

“Alert. Suspect spotted.” I whispered into the radio. “Near the stairs.”

Everyone’s eyes went to the stairs where he was standing.

“I can take him down.” Myers confirmed.

“Take him.”

In what seemed like an hour, Myers reached the suspect in smoking a cigarette just like he did in my dream. Myers trained in restraint had him in a head lock.

“Leave me alone.” Cried the apprehended suspect.

“You are being restrained.” Myers told him as he wrestled him to the ground.

“You fool.” He said as Myers pressed his face to the ground. “You have made a huge mistake.”

“How is that?” Myers stood him up with his hands tied behind his back.

“Who do you think I am?” He snorted.

“Lars Schonberg.” I answered walking toward him.

“You have the wrong man.” He sneered.

“Not likely.” I glanced at Myers.

“The man you think I am, is on his way to set a nuclear device somewhere in this godforsaken town.” He struggled against his restraints.

I pulled his scarf back.

No scar above his eye.

“Who are you?” I nearly shook.

“Not until I have legal representation.” He laughed in my face.

“Where is he?” I was enraged.

“I have no idea. Could be in the United States. Could be in Japan. Who knows. He never told me.” His smile made me even angrier.

It was a hoax just like he told me in my dream.

“He will be in contact with someone soon about a ransom.” Myers still held him tight. “But the prime minister is safe, ain’t she?”

Upon our return to the United States, I was briefed that the nuclear device was not set off, because the ransom had been paid. The prime minister would complete her term later that year.

As for Lars Schonberg, he completely disappeared as if he walked right off the planet.

“Lew, are you sitting on the porch?” Meredith asked from inside the house.

“Yes dear. I am reading my book.” I answered.

“There is someone on the phone who wishes to speak to you.” She held out our cordless phone to me.

I put the phone to my ear and heard a sardonic voice. “Is this Lucas Morgan, retired government agent?”

“Yes, whom am I speaking to?” I grimaced.

“You are speaking to Lars Schonberg; do you remember me?” His voice was light and playful, but his satanic laughter would ring in my ears for many hours after that.