"What would happen if I changed my mind again?"
"Then there would be questions about your mental stability, " Canidy said.
"Psychiatric evaluation would be ordered. It would take a long time.
For the duration, at least."
"Can they do that?" Fine the lawyer asked, surprised. "They can, and they do, Captain Fine," Canidy said.
TIM BEE I Anacostia Naval Air Station Washington, D.C. June 29,1942
When Canidy and Fine landed at Anacostia, Chief Ellis was there with the Buick to meet them, "Give Captain Fine a hand with his gear, please, Chief," Canidy said. -I've got to see about getting this thing fueled, and I want to check the weather." When they had Fine's Val-Pa ks and his footlocker in the Buick, Chief Ellis led Captain Fine into base ops, where they found Canidy in the weather room getting a three-day forecast from a Navy meteorologist. As the weatherman was concluding, Captain Chester Wezevitz-the Navy officer whom Canidy had told that the C01's job was suppressing VD-came into the room. "VD must he a hell of a problem in the fleet," he said.
"I had a look at your airplane, Major. Carpets, upholstered leather seats, and everything."
"You noticed, I'm sure," Canidy said, "that the seats fold down into couches. We think of it, Captain, as our airborne prophylactics-testing laboratory."
"Shit," Wezevitz said, grinning. "It is considered so important to the overall war effort," Canidy said, 44 that I have been given a copilot to share the strain of my burden. May I present Captain Fine?" As Fine, baffled, was shaking hands with Wezevitz, Lieutenant Commander Edwin H.
Bitter, with the golden rope of an admiral's aide hanging down his arm, walked into the weather room. He and Canidy looked at each other for a moment without speaking. "Well," Canidy broke the silence, "look at the dog robber."
Bitter offered his hand. "It's good to see you again, Dick," he said a little stiffly. "In the Air Corps, are you?"
"That's right," Canidy said.
"Captain Fine, Commander Bitter. Do you remember him? He was at that dinner in Washington."
"Of course," Fine said.
"He went off to the Flying Tigers with you." The eyebrows of the Navy captain rose in surprise.
"You're now in the Air Corps, eh?" Bitter asked. "The Air Corps," Canidy said.
The awkwardness and tension between Bitter and Canidy was evident to Ellis, Fine, and Wezevitz.
14 The admiral's flight is all laid on, Commander," Wezevitz said.
"I presume that's why you're here?"
"Yes, Sir," Bitter said.
"The admiral asked me to check on it."
"All laid on," Wezevitz repeated awkwardly.
134 N W.N.S. onsirfln "Are you stationed here?" Bitter asked. "No.
But I come in here from time to time," Canidy said.
"I'm assigned to the Office of the Coordinator of Information." Canidy saw no comprehension on Bitter's face. "How's the knee?" Canidy asked, to change the subject. "I have a cane," Bitter said.
"I left it in the staff car. It keeps me from flying. I'm assigned to BUAIR " "You're a lieutenant commander, so congratulations are in order," Canidy said, adding mischievously, "How do you like being a dog robber?" Bitter was not amused. "Obviously, I can't fly," he said.
"I can't even get limited duty at sea."
"And that bothers you?" Canidy said.
"Be grateful, Edwin," Bitter didn't like that either, but he didn't respond to it. Instead, he asked, "Have you got a minute?" Canidy nodded. Bitter took his arm and led him out of the weather room into the corridor. "Do you remember Sarah Child?" he asked. "Sure," Canidy said.
"Your pen pal. The little girl with the sexy eyes and the marvelous boobs. "We're married," Bitter said levelly. "Ooops!" Canidy said.
"And we have a child," Bitter went on.
"A little boy. His name is Joseph after Sarah's father, and he was born last March, We were secretly married before we went over there."
Canidy's eyebrows went up, and then he understood. "I remember," he said.
"I was your best man. How could you have forgotten? "She's really a fine woman, Dick," Bitter said. "I know she is," Canidy said. "Thank you, Dick," Bitter said. Canidy was embarrassed. He was being thanked, he understood, for his unspoken promise not to tell anyone, should the occasion arise, that Lieutenant Commander and Mrs. Bitter had not been married when Bitter went off to the Flying Tigers.
Quickly, Canidy said, "So tell me all about your little nest. You got a picture of the kid?"
0 135
Bitter took several from his wallet and handed them over.
"Unfortunately, he looks just like his old man," Canidy said. "I'm happy for you, Eddie."
"Come see us, Dick," Bitter said. "That would be difficult, Eddie," Canidy said. "We're in the Willard Hotel," Bitter said in a rush.
"We absolutely couldn't find a place to live, so Sarah's father turned his apartment in the Willard over to us."
"You get along all right with Sarah's father, huh?"
"Our mothers are the ones who give us trouble," Bitter said. 4ioh?)) She's in and out of mental hospitals. And "Sarah's is-well, crazy. mine-disapproves."
"She's probably sore you didn't tell her you were secretly married," Canidy said.
"She'll get over it."
"I really would like to talk to you, Dick," Bitter said. He means about my cowardice in China. He wants an explanation. That's touching. But I can't tell him about that. That would violate the Donovan's Dilettantes code of honor "Tell me, Eddie, did your kid inherit your undersized wang?" Bitter shook his head in resignation, but then, surprising himself, he said, "He can lie on his back and piss on the ceiling."
"Here's to a kid who can piss on the ceiling," Canidy said, lifting his hand high, then, "Eddie, I have to go." They shook hands again, and Canidy went to the weather-room door to motion to Fine and Ellis to come with him. Whentheyweregone,Wezevitzasked, Oldpalofyours?"
"We were at Pensacola as IPS before the war," Bitter said. "And now he's in the Air Corps?"
"He left the service in 1941," Bitter said. "Now he's an Air Corps major flying a V.I.P transport for the VD comic-book people," Wezevitz said.
"Seems like a hell of waste of a naval aviator." Bitter, not quite sure he had heard correctly, asked, "Sir?"
"What the Coordinator of Information does, Commander," Wezevitz said, "is publish those "Use a Pro Kit' comic books they issue to the white hats. Why they need an airplane to do it is beyond me."
Bitter looked at him curiously but didn't say anything. He thought it was highly unlikely that the Navy would assign a C-45 to airlift VD comic books. It was even more unlikely that the Air Corps would commission as a field-grade officer someone with Canidy's record. At the same time, he remembered a cryptic remark from Doug Doug lass once when Canidy's name had come up, that people should not jump to conclusions before they had all the facts. Doug wouldn't say anything else, but he obviously knew something else. When I get back to the office, Ed Bitter decided, I will get to the bottom of this. While there's a hell of a lot wrong with being an admiral's dog robber, it has certain benefits. When you call somebody up and identify yourself as the aide to a vice admiral, you get answers a lieutenant commander wouldn't be given. Two hours later, when he walked into the office, the admiral's WAVE said the admiral wanted to see him immediately.
"Close the door, Commander," Vice Admiral Enoch Hawley said. When Bitter had done that, he went on: "I've just had a strange telephone call about you, Commander. You will consider the following an order: From this moment on, you will make no attempt to contact Major Richard Canidy, U.S. Army Air Corps. Nor will you discuss him with anyone, nor make inquiries regarding him or the Office of the Coordinator of Information. Is that clear?"
"Yes, Sir," Bitter said. "Whatever this is about, Ed," the admiral said, "it doesn't seem to bother you. You're smiling."
"In a way, Sir, it's very good news."
FOUR I The House on 0 Street, NW Washington, D.C. June 29,19411
/> "Is this the 'requisitioned mansion' Drew Pearson wrote about?"
Stanley Fine asked as Ellis drove through the gate of the house on Q Street. "The one he wrote about is in Virginia," Ellis said.
"This is Jim Whittaker's house, isn't it?" Fine asked as they got out of the car.
"What did you say happened to him?" Canidy shrugged and threw up his hand, but Fine had seen the look in his eyes. "Something else you know and can't tell?" Fine said. "People get pissed around here if you ask questions, Stanley," Canidy said.
"After a while you'll get used to it." Cynthia Chenowith came into the library as Canidy was helping himself to a drink. "It's nice to see you again, Captain Fine."
"And it's nice to see you, Miss Chenowith," Fine said. "Miss Chenowith is our housekeeper," Canidy said.
"You need extra towels, that sort of thing, you just let her know."
She glowered at him but didn't respond. "You'll be staying here for a couple of days, Captain Fine," she said. "We've put you on the third floor, first door on the right at the head of the stairs. "Thank you," Fine said." May I ask a question? I don't know who else to ask."
"That would depend on the question, Stan," Canidy said. "What is it?"
Cynthia asked. "What do I tell my wife?"
"I would suggest," Cynthia said, "that you drop her a note telling her that you are on temporary duty in Washington, and that as soon as you have an address you'll be in touch again."
"I generally telephone her every few days," Fine said.
"She'll expect a call from me today or tomorrow."
"I don't think that calling her right now would be a very good idea," Cynthia said.
"But if you'd like to write her a note, I'll see that it's posted right away." Fine didn't like that answer. He looked at Canidy, who shrugged, as if to suggest that it wasn't worth fighting with Cynthia Chenowith about. "Ask Donovan about calling when you see him," he said. "All right," Fine said, and looked at Cynthia before adding, "I'll do that."
... 138 N WEE. GRIFIFIN Fine was in the library, sitting at a Louis XIV escritoire writing his wife when Colonel Donovan walked in, wearing a mussed seersucker jacket. it was already hot and muggy in Washington.
Canidy, who had been sitting in an armchair, started to rise. Donovan waved at him, telling him to stay where he was. "Good to see you, Fine," Donovan said, mopping his forehead with a handkerchief and then offering his hand, "Welcome aboard."
"Thank you," Fine said. "What's Dick told you about all this?"
"That I shouldn't ask questions," Fine said.
"And that I should ask you about calling my wife. Miss Chenowith didn't seem to think that was a good idea."
"Cynthia tends to err on the side of caution," Donovan said. "That's a pretty good rule to follow around here. What Dick said about not asking questions is another one, probably the most important one. You don't ask questions, and you don't volunteer information."
"Yes, Sir," Fine said. "That said, I don't see any reason, when we're finished here, that you can't call your wife and tell her you'll be out of touch for a few days."
"Thank you," Fine said. "Dick seems to have volunteered the information that I'm connected with all this?" Donovan asked.
"In violation of the rules?"
"Only after he swore true faith and allegiance to the Dilettantes, Sir," Canidy said, unabashed. Donovan thought that over a moment, then smiled and chuckled. "Did you see Pearson's 'dilettantes' column, Stanley?"
"Yes, Sir," Fine said. "You two are the most unlikely candidates for that description I can think of," Donovan said. They laughed, dutifully.
"Stan, there are-aren't there always?-some administrative things to be taken care of," Donovan said, "That'll take a day or two. Then Dick's going to take you to a house we run in New Jersey. What we want you for involves a rather interesting long-distance cargo flight. "Yes, Sir," Fine said. "Tonight, at dinner, you'll meet El don Baker, with whom you'll be working. Tomorrow Dick is going to take him to Fort Knox. By the time they get back, you should be ready to go to Jersey with Dick, "Why is Baker going to Knox?" Canidy asked. "He'll explain that to you when he's ready," Donovan said.
"Oh hell, there's such a thing as carrying secrecy too far, You're going down there to talk to Jimmy Whittaker."
"Really?" Canidy asked, but Colonel Donovan chose not to say anything more. over dinner-Donovan was not there-the African flight was discussed.
"You'll function as flight engineer, as well as the mission commander," Baker told Fine. "And before you go, there will be time to-what is it they say?-'transition' you in the airplane." e Now that it was official that he was not going, Canidy did not feel r lief, Instead, he felt left out. Don't be a goddamn fool, he told himself.
"Incidentally, Canidy," Baker said, "we have decided that you, too, should transition into the C-46."
"My feelings weren't hurt about being left out," Canidy said. "Your feelings have nothing to do with it," Baker said.
"What is important is that something might happen to Captain Fine, in which case you would go on the flight, "You've considered, I'm sure, the possibility that either one of us might bend the bird learning how to fly it?" Canidy asked dryly. "That was considered," Baker answered matter-of factly. "According to your records, both you and Captain Fine are rather good pilots. The chances are that there will be no damage to the aircraft. But in case something does happen, we have acquired another aircraft on standby, in case it is needed."
The next morning Canidy flew the D18S southwest across Virginia, with the Appalachian Mountains on his right wingtip, to Roanoke. There he turned more westerly, crossed the Appalachians, then the Alleghenies and the lower tip of West Virginia, and then set down at a small airport in Wheelwright, Kentucky, for coffee and a piss break. "Where are we?"
Baker asked as Canidy walked through the cabin. "Eastern Kentucky, a place called Wheelwright," Canidy said. Baker followed him out of the airplane and went into the terminal, a 140 a W.E.H. anarran small frame building with a sign on it advertising flying lessons for five dollars, Canidy watched as the tanks were topped off, checked the oil, signed a U.S. government purchase order for the gas, and then went to the foul-smelling men's room.
Baker was waiting for him outside the small building.
"Let's stretch our legs," he said, gesturing down the single dirt-and pebble runway.
They had walked half its length when Baker touched his sleeve. "This is far enough."
No one, Canidy thought, could possibly overhear what Baker was about to tell him.
"We're going to Fort Knox to see your friend Whittaker," he said.
"Donovan told me," Canidy said.
"And there's somebody else there you know," Baker said.
"Are you going to tell me who, or just tease me with your superior knowledge?
"Eric Fulmar," Baker said, enjoying Canidy's surprise.
"If you wanted to surprise me, you've surprised me," Canidy said.
"How'd you get him out of Morocco? More important, why? And what is he doing at Knox?"
"Getting him out was simplicity itself," Baker said.
"Even though he didn't want to come. We had a little talk with Sidi el Ferruch, and Fulmar, trussed up like a Christmas turkey, was delivered to Gibraltar. There he was loaded on a destroyer, taken to Charleston, and then to Fort Knox."
"What for?"
"We have need for friend Fulmar again," Baker said. 99 Why ?" Canidy asked.
"How?"
"Putting him together with Whittaker at Knox was my idea," Baker said, ignoring Canidy's questions.
"He feels about you-about both of us-much as you feel about me. Since we need his cooperation, I thought it might be a good idea to let him know, via Whittaker, that we can make things very unpleasant for him if he doesn't cooperate."
"You are indeed a true sonofabitch," Canidy said, more in resignation than anger.
"You like pushing people around, don't you?" Baker didn't reply.
"Wh
at kind of cooperation?" Canidy asked. "In connection with the North African invasion," Baker said.
TIME SECRET WARRIORS N 141
Canidy thought that over for a moment. "Bullshit," he said.
"First of all, you gave me that too quick, and second, we don't need Fulmar. You've already compromised Sidi el Ferruch. He has no choice but to do what you want him to do." Baker smiled patronizingly at Canidy.
"Very good, Canidy," he said. "Let us say, then, we tell everybody who has the need to know that we want Fulmar for Operation Torch."
W E B Griffin - Men at War 2 - Secret Warriors Page 16
