W E B Griffin - Men at War 2 - Secret Warriors

by Secret Warriors(Lit)

  "A sealed-in-plastic officers' identity card issued by the Adjutant General's Office.

  THE SECRET WARRIORS 0 ISO PRIORITY WAR DEPT WASH DC COMMGEN FT BRAGG NC DELIVER FOLLOWING MESSAGE MAJ R CANIDY USA AC EN ROUTE POPE FIELD ABOARD USN C-45 AIRCRAFT TAIL NO SIX ONE ONE QUOTE PROCEED ANACOSTIA SIGNED CHENOWITH EN ID QUOTE ADVISE DELIVERY MOST E)MEDITIOUS MEANS FOSTER BRIG GEN Canidy chuckled. That explained all the in-flight advisories.

  Cynthia Chenowith was delightedly wallowing in her role as spy master.

  "I am under instructions to deliver this officer into your custody, Major," the captain said. "Who are you?" Canidy asked the young second lieutenant. "Martin, Sir, Second Lieutenant Holds worth C." the Third."

  The Disciple's son. "Would you please sign for Lieutenant Martin, Sir?" the captain said, and extended a clipboard and a pen. Canidy scrawled his name and handed it back. "Would you be good enough to fill in the date-time block?" the cap @J tain said, giving it back to him. Canidy did so.

  "Thank you, Sir," the captain said crisply. "Now, Sir, is there anything se you require before your departure?"

  "I've got to put gas in the bird, and I would like to take a leak," Canidy said. "Refueling has been arranged, Sir," the captain said.

  "The truck should be here directly. There is a latrine in base operations, Sir. Lieutenant Martin has visited the latrine. If you would like, Sir, he can secure our aircraft while you are gone, Sir." y Whittaker jumped out of the airplane. He was hatless, his necktie was puffed down, and his tunic was open. The paratroop captain looked at him with a mixture of shock and outrage. Whittaker promptly made it worse.

  "And who are these two ferocious warriors?" he asked. "Shut up, Jimmy," Canidy said.

  "I'm going to take a leak. If you want to come with me, button your tunic, pull up your tie, and put your hat on.)3 "Yes, Sir, Major, Sir," Whittaker said.

  "I'm sorry to have embarrassed you, Sir."

  "Lieutenant," Canidy said to Martin, "under no circumstances is our passenger to leave the aircraft."

  "Yes, Sir," Lieutenant Martin said. Then, having taken a look at Fulmar, who was staring out the door, he went on in some embarrassment, "Sir, I feel I should tell the major I know this..." He searched for a properwordandfinauycameupwith"... individual."

  "Fine," Canidy said.

  "Then you two will have a chance for a little chat while Captain Whittaker and I are taking our leak."

  "Yes, Sir," Lieutenant Martin said militarily. The captain was gone when they returned to the plane, and the fueling crew had topped off the tanks. Canidy made the preflight, then motioned for Second Lieutenant Holds worth Martin III to get aboard. "Sir, may I inquire as to my destination?" He had an accent. But not much, considering that Martin had been born in France, had a French mother, and had come to the United States for the first time just over two years before.

  "I'm not sure if I have the authority to divulge that highly classified information," Canidy said.

  "But, once we get in the air, if you've got a Class A uniform in your Val-Pak, you'd better change into it and hide that tommy gun someplace, or you're going to scare hell out of a bunch of bureaucrats."

  "I was told to prepare myself for immediate overseas shipment, Sir," Martin said. "I don't know anything about that, Lieutenant," Canidy said. "But where you're probably going to spend the night is on the New Jersey seashore." Second Lieutenant C. Holds worth Martin III seemed more disappointed than surprised.

  FOUR Anacostin Naval Air Station Washington, D.C. 00:05 Hours June 30,1942

  "Anacostia clears Navy Six-one-one to land on runway three-one," the tower said.

  "The winds are negligible, the altimeter is three-niner-niner eight."

  "Understand three-one," Canidy replied. "You've got it," Jim Whittaker said, taking his hands off the wheel. "You don't think you can land it?"

  Canidy asked. "What the hell, why not?" Whittaker replied, putting his hands back on the wheel and banking to the left to line himself up with the runway. "Six-one-one on final," Canidy said to the microphone.

  "Wheels going down," he said, pressing the intercom switch.

  "Flaps going to twenty percent. It gets dirty quick, Jim. Don't chop too much power."

  "Got you." C "Wheels down and locked. Flaps at twenty percent. Jesus Christ, I said don't chop the throttles's "Whoops!" Whittaker said, advancing the throttles to increase his glide path.

  "Now it's too much," Canidy said. "Work them yourself, goddamn it!"

  Whittaker snapped. "You're flying it; go around if you have to," Canidy replied. "Oh shit," Whittaker said, cut the throttles again, and flared out, too high, over the runway. They landed hard, bounced into the air, landed again, bounced again, and finally touched down, again hard; but this time they stayed on the ground.

  "The next thing you do is lower the tail," Canidy said dryly as Whittaker made a violent move to keep on the runway.

  "Fuck you," Whittaker said as he eased back on the stick to lower the tail. 11 Anacostia, Six-one-one on the ground at five past midnight-and at five and a half past midnight, and finally at six past midnight."

  "Fuck you, wise ass," Whittaker said as he began to brake. There was laughter in the tower operator's voice when he came back on the air.

  "If you're sure you're finally down, Six-one-one, take taxiway three left to the transient parking area. Your ground transportation is waiting for you."

  "We have apparently cheated death once again, Anacostia. I came on the airways from Raleigh. Will you close me out with Washington control, please?" Canidy said. "Will do, Six-one-one," the tower operator said, still laughing. "And will you arrange to have me fueled, please?"

  "A fuel truck will meet you, Six-one-one."

  "What happens here?" Whittaker asked. The translation of that is, Canidy thought, Am I going to get to see Cynthia Chenowith?

  "We'll have to wait and see, Jimmy," Canidy said. 4N@

  As they taxied past base operations Canidy saw Chief Ellis standing inside the glass door. "That landing was a little rough, wasn't it, Dick?" Fulmar asked when Canidy walked through the cabin to open the door. Canidy looked at him. He was mopping at his bathrobe with a paper towel. He had apparently been drinking a cup of coffee when Whittaker had made the landing. "I didn't think it was all that bad, Eric," Canidy said.

  "So far as I know, that was Whittaker's first landing in a twin-engine airplane." He saw that Second Lieutenant Holds worth C. Martin III's eyes grew very wide. Canidy went the rest of way down the aisle, opened the door, and jumped onto the ground. Ellis was there. And so was the gas truck and a crew of white hats. Ellis saluted, which he would not have done if no one had been there. "Captain Doug lass's compliments, Major," he said.

  "And would the major come to the base ops building?" Canidy looked at his watch. It was twelve minutes past midnight. "I have passengers aboard, Chief," he said as formally as Ellis.

  "What about them?"

  "They're to remain aboard the aircraft, Sir," Ellis said.

  "I'm to see to that."

  "Be careful, Ellis," Canidy said softly.

  "One of them has a Thompson submachine gun and high hopes that he can shoot it at somebody."

  "Oh, Christ!" Ellis said, chuckling.

  "What are a pair of old sailors like us doing in this fucked-up outfit?"

  When Canidy walked into base ops, he was directed to an office on the second floor. Captain Doug lass and Stanley Fine were inside, sipping on coffee in heavy china mugs. "Everything go all right?"

  "Young Martin has a submachine gun," Canidy said, "that scares me a little. "When you get to Deal, take it away from him," Doug lass said.

  "Was all that priority in-flight advisory business necessary?"

  Canidy asked.

  "And the secret message ordering me here? Didn't Miss Spyrnaster of 1942 get a little excited?"

  "So far as you're concerned, she does nothing right, does she?"

  Captain Doug lass said coldly.

  "But
just to keep the record straight, she did what she did because I told her to. And I was really doing you a favor, or so I thought. If we hadn't managed to divert you, you would have found yourself flying back here for Captain Fine from Deal tonight, and flying to North Carolina to get young Martin tomorrow."

  "Why?" Canidy asked.

  "There's no more trains or planes? Or we don't get a priority?"

  "Christ, you don't give up, do you? The colonel said you were to pick Martin up at Bragg. He didn't tell me why. If you like, the next time you see him, you ask him. And I ordered you here. Can you get all that straight? " Canidy touched his forehead in sort of a salute.

  "How's Whittaker?" Doug lass asked. "He landed the plane just now," Canidy said.

  "He's all right."

  "Baker is very impressed with him," Doug lass said. Canidy laughed.

  "Why is that amusing?"

  "Did Baker tell you Whittaker demonstrated how easily he could have cut his throat?"

  "Yes, as a matter of fact, he did," Doug lass said, which surprised Canidy.

  "He thinks we should put Whittaker in charge of training in that sort of thing at the school."

  "What school?"

  "We're starting a school for agents, new people in C01," Doug lass said.

  "When we can find the time, we're going to run you through it."

  "I'm not sure I'd like that," Canidy said. "No one asked you," Doug lass said.

  "Baker also told me Whittaker has some good ideas about how to deal with Fulmar."

  "Yes, he does."

  "Well, for the time being, keep a close eye on them, but let Whittaker try his method."

  "I'd planned to," Canidy said. "Good," Doug lass said tightly.

  "Now to the business at hand. From this point, you and I will be talking about the African flight. It is classified Top Secret."

  "Yes, Sir."

  "Captain Fine has been briefed on certain aspects of the mission and provided with certain documents. You will note that he has also been provided with a pistol and that there is provision to handcuff the briefcase containing the documents to his wrist." Canidy looked at Fine, then at the briefcase he held in his hand. It was handcuffed to his wrist. "The documents placed in Fine's possession are to be in one of five places," Doug lass said.

  "In his possession; in your possession, in Commander Reynolds's safe at Lakehurst, in El don Baker's possession, or in mine. "Yes, Sir."

  "The lock has a sequence counter" Doug lass said.

  "It counts every time the case is opened. You will keep a record of those numbers. If you should ever open the briefcase and the number does not tally, you are immediately to notify Cynthia, Baker, or me.

  In that order. Canidy nodded. "And any documents removed from the briefcase are to be returned to it before the case is shut again. The documents are not to be separated. Understood? "Yes, Sir."

  "The details of this operation are known in full only to Baker, myself, and Chief Ellis. And, when we have finished filling each other in, to you two. Understood?"

  "Yes, Sir."

  "I have explained to Captain Fine your other responsibilities at Summer Place," Doug lass said.

  "And that you will have your hands full for the next few days getting everybody settled. So what I suggest you do, Dick, is put all this material in Reynolds's safe tonight, when you get there, and forget it until after the Fourth."

  "When we get there this morning you mean,' Canidy said, and then, puzzled, asked, "The Fourth?"

  "The Fourth of July," Doug lass said "You remember, Independence Day?

  Parades? Fireworks? Patriotic speeches?"

  "Jesus, are we going to celebrate it in the middle of a war?"

  "Even more enthusiastically than before the war," Doug lass said. "Now it's considered important for morale."

  "I know," Canidy said, straight-faced.

  "I'll see if I can't come up with the makings, lobsters, beer, corn on the cob, that sort of thing, and then we'll have a clambake on the beach."

  "That's an idea, certainly," Doug lass said.

  "Why not?"

  "If that's all, Captain? And presuming you're ready, Stanley?"

  "Anytime," Fine said. His eyes were smiling, He had caught Canidy's sarcasm, even though it had sailed right over Captain Doug lass's head.

  "Have a good flight," Captain Doug lass said.

  "Tell Chief Ellis I'll be in the car."

  VII ONE I The Willard Hotel Washington, D.C. July 2, 1942

  Charity Hoc he, Sarah's friend from Bryn Mawr, had arrived at half past five the day before. She was a tall, sharp-featured blonde. And she was so very Main Line that Sarah and Ann Chambers had joked behind her back that there was no way to tell whether Katharine Hepburn had lurked in the shrubbery at Bryn Mawr to study Charity before she made The Philadelphia Story, or whether Charity had gone to the movie over and over so that she could faithfully mimic the actress's mannerisms and nasal speech. Despite the heat, Charity had swept into the suite with an ankle length mink coat over her shoulders. Under this she wore the college-girl uniform of sweater and pleated plaid skirt. She had large breasts, which Sarah and Ann called behind her back the Hoc he Dairy and which the sweater did little to conceal. "Daahling!" she cried.

  I can't wait to see it."

  "You can't wait to see what?" Sarah asked, although she knew perfectly well that Charity meant the baby. "Your child, Little Mother! What else?" Charity searched through the suite until she found the crib, then picked up Joe with a skill that surprised Sarah.

  I always have to keep reminding myself that Charity is far less incompetent-and much more intelligent-than she, for some reason, likes to paint herself "He's adorable!" Charity said. "Thank you," Sarah said.

  "I would never have dreamed you had it in you," Charity said. "But then, no one did, did they? Still waters, daahling, that sort of thing." There were two remarks in that that could be innocent but I know were not. I should he offended and angry, Sarah thought, but of course I'm not.

  Charity is Charity. "If this precious little bundle is the wages of sin, daahling, you're just going to have to find a sailor for me."

  Sarah laughed, although she knew she shouldn't.

  "The sailors seem to be spoken for," she said.

  "Would you settle for an Air Corps fighter pilot?"

  "Have you one?"

  Charity asked, bright with interest. "I've got one coming in the morning Sarah said.

  "He's the man who saved Eddie's life."

  "A bona fide hero? Marvelous!

  I wanted to see you, of course, and the bundle of joy here, but I wasn't really looking forward to a whole weekend of watching you change his diapers. Which, incidentally, is necessary now." She handed the baby to Sarah, then gestured at the furniture in the room. It had been furnished with the reputation of Child and Company, Merchant Bankers, in mind.

  Most of the Louis XIV furniture was genuine, and so were the Matisse and the Gains borough and the other paintings hung on the brocade walls. "It looks like a museum," Charity pronounced.

  "The only thing that's missing are velvet ropes and signs saying "Please Do Not Touch."

  "It belongs to the bank," Sarah said.

  "My father turned it over to us. You just can't find anywhere to live in Washington."

  "Being rich is nice, isn't it?" Charity said.

  "What about the admiral? How did he react to finding out that supporting you isn't going to be the usual problem?"

  "Ed is a lieutenant commander," Sarah said.

  "He can support us. "Not like this," Charity said flatly. She followed Sarah into the bedroom and sniffed loudly as Sarah changed Joe's diaper.

  AISNE My God, do they all smell that bad, or have you been feeding that innocent child something you shouldn't have?"

  "You get used to it," Sarah said, and then: "Ed's father is a commodities broker in Chicago. His mother is Ann's father's sister."