The Iron Storm

by CW Browning

  The thought of Miles brought a smile to Evelyn’s lips as her heels clicked along the tiled floor towards the stairs at the end. He had surprised her yesterday with a telephone call. Robbie had told him she was home for a few days, and he called to arrange to meet her for dinner. They were meeting tonight at The Savoy, and she really couldn’t wait to see him. The need to hear his voice and see his sparkling green eyes had been almost overwhelming since she boarded the HMS Cardiff at Namsos to return home. After her ordeal in Norway, the one thing that she knew would give her strength was Miles. She didn’t question why, but just accepted it for what it was. He had become a rock for her, something to remember and hold on to when everything seemed hopeless.

  Strange, really. They hadn’t known each other very long at all, but she felt as if he’d been there all her life. When Robbie asked her if she was fond of him, it was all Evelyn could do not to laugh. Fond was a wholly inadequate word to describe her feelings for the pilot who had strode into her life unexpectedly last fall.

  Evelyn climbed the stairs, her hand on the railing, and reluctantly turned her mind to the reason for her visit. Bill had another assignment for her, that much was obvious. Her time to recuperate was coming to an end, and she would have to go back out there again. It was time for her to get back to work. While the rest had been welcome, and had done her a world of good, Evelyn had been conscious of a growing feeling of restlessness. Perhaps a quick jaunt into France was just the thing to get her started again.

  “Good morning,” she greeted the guard at the top of the stairs, pulling out her identification card. “How are you?”

  “I’m just fine, miss.” The guard examined her identification and nodded, handing it back to her. “Thank you.”

  He stepped aside to allow her to pass and she smiled, tucking her card back into her clutch purse. A moment later, she was knocking on a door halfway down the hallway.

  “Come in!” Bill called.

  Evelyn opened the door and stepped into the office, smiling across the room at the man rising behind his desk.

  “Good morning!” she said cheerfully, closing the door. “I’m a little early, but I knew you’d be here.”

  “Lord yes. Been here since about eight.” William Buckley came around the desk and moved towards her, his hand outstretched. “You’re looking much better, Evie. How are you?”

  “Very well, thank you.” Evelyn grasped his hand briefly and smiled at him. “How was Paris?”

  “Very busy,” he said, motioning her to a chair before the desk. “I did manage to get to the theatre one night, but otherwise it was a very rushed trip. How is your mother?”

  “She’s well. She and Aunt Agatha are keeping busy. They’re knitting sweaters for the soldiers right now.” She sank down gracefully into a chair and set her purse beside her before beginning to pull off her gloves. “I’ve never been so grateful to be gainfully employed in all my life. The thought of knitting sweaters and canning jam with the rest of the Women’s Institute makes me cringe.”

  Bill chuckled and seated himself in the other chair, forgoing his place behind the desk. “No, I can’t picture you doing either of those things,” he agreed. “Not that there’s anything wrong with it, mind. They’re proving invaluable to the war effort, and will undoubtedly only become more so.”

  “I’m sure they are, and it’s best to leave it to those women who enjoy that sort of thing. Much to my mother’s dismay, I’m sure, I’ve never been one of them.” She finished removing her gloves and folded them in her lap, raising her eyes to Bill’s face. “Have you heard anything from Norway yet?”

  He shook his head. “No, but don’t despair yet. Things are a right mess there. If this Erik has to get the radio to the southern coast to be repaired, he’s in for a long road. The Germans have complete control of the entire southern part of Norway, and the fighting in the central section is fierce. It may be some weeks before he can make contact.”

  Evelyn nodded. She knew he was right, but the waiting was getting harder with every day that passed. Until she knew Anna and Erik were safe, she wouldn’t stop worrying about leaving them to fight alone. As if reading her mind, Bill pinned her with a surprisingly gentle look.

  “You did what you could while you were there,” he said. “The rest is up to them now. They’ll find their way, and if they don’t, that’s not your responsibility.”

  “I know.”

  “Good. Then let’s discuss why you’re here.” Bill sat back and crossed his legs comfortably. “Shustov has been in contact with us.”

  Evelyn raised her eyebrows in surprise. Whatever she was expecting to hear, it wasn’t that. She hadn’t heard anything from Vladimir Lyakhov since November, when she met him in a library in Oslo. It had been her first and only meeting with the Russian NKVD agent who had been one of her father’s associates. The meeting had lasted only about ten minutes, but it was enough to leave an impression on her. What sort of impression was still in some doubt. Vladimir, or Shustov as he was known to MI6, had been nothing like what she expected, and she still hadn’t made up her mind whether or not he was friend or foe. Her father had obviously thought highly of him, but she was not her father.

  “Shustov!” she repeated. “Why?”

  A smile flitted across Bill’s face. “That’s the question, isn’t it?” he asked. “He sent the first message while you were in Norway. The second one came the day you evacuated Namsos.”

  “Second? He’s sent more than one?”

  “Yes. In total, he’s sent five messages. The last one came on Saturday, while I was in Paris. I can only assume that he didn’t want to entrust the correspondence in its entirety to one transmission. Probably a good idea, given the state of affairs in both the Soviet Union and Germany. They have a tentative peace right now, but I’m sure they’re still reading each other’s transmissions whenever possible.”

  “And what did he say?”

  “Oh, he had quite a bit to say,” Bill said dryly. “He knew you were caught in the middle of the invasion in Norway, and he was very clear in his disgust of you being sent there at all.”

  Evelyn stared at him blankly for a moment.

  “He knew? How on earth did he know?”

  “I’ve no idea. How did Eisenjager know?”

  Her brows snapped together sharply. “You don’t think Shustov is being fed information by the spy here in London, surely? I thought we were convinced the one here is a German agent!”

  “We are, and no, I don’t think Shustov is getting his information from England.” Bill rubbed his nose. “To be completely honest, I have no idea where he gets his information from, but it has always been accurate. I think the Soviets have built themselves a formidable intelligence agency, and I’ve often wondered if they aren’t far ahead of us in that regard. Your father always had the healthiest respect for their capabilities, a respect I’m afraid many here do not share. Perhaps that is a grave mistake on our part.”

  “I saw no sign of Soviet activity in Oslo while I was there,” Evelyn said with a frown. “There was one man who was a forger, Olav. He admitted to being a communist, but I don’t think he was in touch with the Soviet authorities. Although, I suppose he might have been,” she added thoughtfully. “He did have a real Soviet identification card in his rooms that he used for forgeries.”

  “This is the man in your report? Olav Larsen?” When she nodded, he shook his head. “We ran as thorough a check on him as we could in the midst of all that’s going on there at the moment, and nothing like that came up. Of course, that doesn’t mean he isn’t working for the Soviets. It just means we didn’t find any indication of that in his past. He’s a member of the communist party, but he’s never been to the Soviet Union. In fact, apart from one trip to Stockholm three years ago, he’s never left Norway.”

  “Then how on earth did Shustov know I was in Norway?!”

  “I don’t know, but he did. And he wasn’t happy about it. He said very plainly that your skills were more val
uable elsewhere, and that had we lost you in Norway, we would have lost him as well.” Bill stood up and walked around his desk, opening a top drawer and pulling out a piece of paper. “He’s made it very clear that he will only deal with you in place of your father. In the past, he was content to contact us in order to reach your father, and that is how it was supposed to continue with you.” Walking over to her, he handed her the piece of paper. “That is no longer the case. In the fourth message, he stated that he no longer trusts the current method of communication. This is the last message, sent on Saturday.”

  Evelyn lowered her eyes to the paper, reading the decoded message.

  I WILL MEET IN BRUSSELS 8TH MAY, WHERE NEW METHOD OF COMMUNICATION WILL BE ARRANGED. ALL FURTHER CONTACT WILL GO THROUGH GIRL. FAILURE TO MEET WILL RESULT IN TERMINATION OF RELATIONS. – SHUSTOV

  “As you can see, he is now demanding to deal directly with you, and only with you.” Bill returned to his seat. “Personally, I question how relevant he is, but Jasper is adamant that we hold on to him. Right now, he is our only source inside the Soviet Union. That gives him all the bargaining power.”

  “But he hasn’t made any attempt to contact me in over four months! Why now?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Evelyn frowned and laid the message in her lap, staring at it pensively.

  “Did he say why he no longer trusts the current method of communication?” she asked after a moment, glancing up.

  “No. Although, I can’t say that I blame him. We have a rat in our hold. Until we find it and throw it overboard, we can’t make any argument to the contrary.”

  “Could he know about the spy here?”

  Bill shrugged. “I suppose it’s possible, but I’d say it’s very unlikely. I’d venture a wager that the sudden problem is on his end, not ours. Perhaps the way that he gets the messages out is falling under suspicion.”

  “What kind of intelligence did he actually pass onto my father?” she asked. “Was it valuable enough to warrant this kind of demand?”

  “Oh, it was valuable,” he said with a nod. “I can understand Montclair’s reluctance to lose him. However, I am not comfortable with you having direct contact with one of NKVD’s senior officers without any oversight whatsoever.”

  “It doesn’t look like we have much of a choice,” Evelyn said with a shrug. “If he refuses to contact you directly and will only go through me, then I suppose I’m packing for Belgium.”

  “Yes.” Bill looked at her for a moment, hesitating, then he sighed. “As much as I don’t like this new arrangement, there is a way that we can use it to our advantage.”

  She raised an eyebrow in question. “Oh?”

  “Vladimir obviously feels that there is some kind of connection between you, undoubtedly because of his friendship with your father. His insistence to work only with you opens up a unique opportunity for us. You’ll be in a position to build a closer relationship with him, and glean more information from him than perhaps he would otherwise be willing to give.”

  Evelyn stared at him for a long moment. “You want me to...do what, exactly?”

  “Gain his trust, and find out everything you can about his position and his associates. Anything you can learn can be helpful, and used against them.”

  “You want me to spy on a Soviet spy?” she asked incredulously. “I thought my only role with Shustov was as courier, to accept the occasional intelligence that he passes to us.”

  “And so it was, but think, Evelyn!” Bill leaned forward. “We have an opportunity here to learn how Soviet intelligence works, and who they are. This is a rare chance. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get an agent into Soviet Russia?”

  Evelyn exhaled loudly and shook her head. “I think you’re putting much more faith in my abilities than they warrant,” she told him bluntly. “Shustov has been playing this game for years. I’ve only just begun. It will be like a lamb taking on a lion.”

  “You underestimate yourself, my dear. You are much better than you think.” He sat back. “All you have to do is listen. Listen, and ask innocuous questions. You’ll learn much more than you could ever imagine.”

  “And then just...tell you?”

  “Precisely.”

  She looked down at the decoded message in her lap and sighed in resignation. “All right. I’ll do what I can.”

  “That’s all I ever ask.” Bill cleared his throat. “Since you’re going to Belgium anyway, how’s your Dutch?”

  “My Dutch?” Evelyn repeated. “I never learned it!”

  “Hm. Pity. Well, no matter. I’m sending you to Belgium early. I want you to go to Antwerp, where you’ll meet with an agent from Holland. He speaks both French and Belgian, so you should have no problems communicating.”

  “I thought the network in Holland had been destroyed in the fallout from the Venlo Affair.”

  “It was. We’ve been slowly rebuilding it, but it doesn’t have my full confidence. We know the Germans have infiltrated it, but there are a couple of agents whom I can personally vouch for. This is one of them. His name is Lars, and he will be carrying a packet that was smuggled out of Germany. It contains blueprints, plans and photographs of three munitions factories in Stuttgart, one of which is the Daimler plant. We were going to move it through the network in France, but since you’ll be in Belgium, you can bring it back with you. It will be faster, and infinitely safer with you.”

  She nodded. “All right. Does Lars know who he’s meeting?”

  “No. You’ll meet him at four o’clock on the 7th at the front entrance of Antwerp Central Station. He will be wearing a red scarf, and he will carry an umbrella in his left hand. You will approach him, pull out a cigarette, and ask him for a match. The order is most important. You must have the cigarette in your hand before you ask for the match. He’ll light a match and ask if you’re catching the train to Brussels. When you say yes, he’ll know you’re the contact. Now, he thinks you’re a courier, and I see no reason to disabuse him of the idea. If he asks, say that you’re taking the package to Brussels, and then it will go on to France.”

  “Very well.”

  Bill studied her for a moment. “Are you sure you’re ready to go back out there?” he asked suddenly.

  Evelyn smiled. “Yes. I have to eventually, and it’s best to get back to work as soon as possible. To be very honest, I’m glad that I don’t have to wait very long. The sooner I can get my mind out of Norway, the better.”

  “Lars is a good man, but don’t trust anyone else. Get the package from him and go to meet Shustov in Brussels on the 8th. As soon as you’re finished, I want you to leave immediately. Catch the train to Calais and alert us when you’ve arrived. I’ll arrange transport home across the channel.” Bill stood. “I want you in and out as quickly as possible. We don’t know when Hitler will make his move towards France.”

  Evelyn nodded and handed him the message from Shustov before beginning to pull on her gloves.

  “I’ll be as quick as possible,” she assured him. “I have no desire to flee ahead of another invasion. There is just one thing I want to mention before I leave.”

  “What’s that?”

  “When I’ve finished this trip, I need to go to Switzerland.” Evelyn finished adjusting her gloves and picked up her purse, standing. “Can you arrange for a flight in?”

  Bill raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Switzerland? Why?”

  “I opened the box this weekend,” she told him, unable to stop the wide smile that spread across her face. “Inside was a clue. An address in Switzerland.”

  He stared at her, his attention caught. “An address? Are you sure that’s all that was in there?”

  “Positive.”

  He turned to pace around the desk, absently opening the top drawer and dropping the decoded message back in before pushing it closed.

  “Was there any indication what the item is that you’re looking for?”

  “No. Just the address.”

  “Then he mu
st have left the information, or whatever it is, there. What a nuisance!” Bill was quiet for a moment, then he shook his head. “Whatever it is, Robert obviously thought it was important enough for him to go through these lengths to keep it safe. Perhaps I should accompany you to Switzerland.”

  “I’d rather you didn’t. Please don’t take offense, but this is something I need to do myself. He entrusted the address to me.” Not MI6, she finished silently.

  After studying her intently for a minute, he nodded, and Evelyn silently exhaled. He wasn’t going to fight her on it.

  “I’ll arrange it,” he said, coming around the desk again. “When you get back from Belgium, we’ll discuss it further. Where is the address now?”

  “I burned it.”

  “Good. And the box?”

  “Back where it’s been this whole time.” She smiled at him. “Don’t worry. Everything is under control. I suppose you can pull Rex Hanes from surveillance duty now.”

  “I think I’ll leave him there for a bit, yet,” Bill said slowly. “We know the message is gone, but whoever broke in doesn’t. Let’s keep him in place for the time being.”

  “All right. Mum likes him, at any rate, and Auntie Agatha doesn’t terrify him, so he’s already got that in his favor.” She turned for the door. “When do I leave for Brussels?”

  “I’ll send the travel details to Northolt. Plan on leaving on Saturday or Sunday.” He walked with her to the door, but paused with his hand on the handle, his eyes meeting hers. “Be very careful, Evie. I don’t know why Shustov is insisting on this in person meeting, but I don’t entirely trust him. First and foremost, he’s still a Soviet agent. Tread very carefully.”