A Mighty Endeavor

by Stuart Slade

“I think so. When I switched to German, he didn’t even blink. Are any of them following us?”

  McCarty carefully looked behind. “I don’t think so. We’re clear. How do we get to the station?”

  “It’s right there.” Igrat waved at a building in front of her. Bringing Henry along as a bodyguard had been Stuyvesant’s idea, not hers. Given her own preference, she would have come alone. She was utterly confident in her ability to slip through the backwash of a war without attracting any attention and was convinced she could do this trip a day faster without having to worry about her partner. “The train for Geneva leaves in just under an hour. The train trip takes three and a half hours. We’ll be there for dinner.”

  “Not bouillabaisse tonight then.” McCarty sounded disappointed.

  “Don’t worry, we’ll have time for that later. The next clipper flight back is in a week’s time, so we’ll have to kill time until then. By the way, you’d better buy me some expensive presents. Keeping up the cover and all that. If we are being checked out, we don’t want the checkers to think I’m losing my touch. And we may need this cover in future.”

  “That depends on whether Loki is for real or not. I’ve got a nasty feeling this is one of his practical jokes. This whole trip could be his idea of something funny.”

  “It could be. Or an effort to get me over there. He’s been trying to get into my pants for years. We’ll only know when we get there. If this is one of his jokes, Phillip will get really nasty about it. I had to turn down a negotiable bonds delivery run for J.P Morgan to do this trip.”

  McCarty nodded. The truth was that he was feeling a bit superfluous. The ease with which Igrat talked her way past obstructions was only matched by the sheer organizational ability she showed in getting her trips set up. He’d always watched her courier runs around the world from the outside and thought her reputation in that line was overstated. Now, watching her at work close-up, he understood how much skill went into making her work look so easy. Fees for her services as an utterly trustworthy courier were her major contribution to the family income and had made her wealthy in her own right. Now, he knew why.

  “You’ve done this before, haven’t you?”

  She glanced at him over her shoulder, one eyebrow lifted and a broad smile on her face. “Why, whatever makes you think that?”

  Bestwood Lodge, Arnold, Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom

  “Eleanor, how are you? How did your trip go?” The Duke of St Albans was delighted and relieved to see Eleanor Gwynne arrive. Especially with two such formidable-looking friends in tow.

  “The clipper was a real treat, ducks. And so it should be for the money they charged. May I introduce my friends? This is Achillea Foyle and Gusoyn Rivers. We didn’t know what was going on over here, so I brought some help.”

  “I think you’ll realize what the problem is when you meet my other guest. Come into the reception room, all of you.”

  The Duke dropped his voice slightly. “One room or two for your friends?”

  “Two if that’s possible, although one for the lot of us would be enough.”

  “No problem. Your own room will be ready of course. You always have a home here. Now, let me introduce you to my guest, the Right Honorable Winston Churchill, M.P. and rightful Prime Minister. I need your help in getting him out to Canada. There’s a government-in-exile forming out there you know.”

  “God’s fish, Osborne. You do know how to drop a basket of live eels into a girl’s lap, don’t you ducks?” Eleanor shook her head and then remembered her manners. “My apologies, Mister Churchill. It is a privilege and an honor to meet you.”

  “And I you, Eleanor; although I entirely understand the alarm with which you received the news of my presence here.” Churchill paused for a second; he was familiar with the portraits ofNell Gwynne he had seen. “May I say you share more than just a name with your charming and beautiful ancestor?”

  “Thank you, Sir.” Ever receptive to compliments, Eleanor dimpled at Churchill’s gallantry. “Have you and Osborne thought about how to achieve our ends?”

  “Would you not rather wait until you have rested from your journey? An arduous trip over the Atlantic and then a harrowing ride on the London and North Eastern Railway requires some recuperation at least.”

  “Osborne, a clipper flight to Southampton is hardly arduous. Although the railway ride could fairly be described as harrowing.” Churchill’s tones rolled around the room. “And my stay here puts you in danger, a risk that increases daily. I think our charming Nell is right. The least time we waste, the better it will be for our enterprise.”

  “Perhaps you are right. Frankly, Eleanor, I’m at my wits end on this one. The ports are being watched, with special attention on the ones feeding the Atlantic liners and the ferries to Ireland. The airports too, and the flying boat terminal at Southampton. France has been cut off by its surrender. Then there is getting around inside England. The train stations are being watched; that much is obvious. Oh, the small country stations are all right, but there are passenger checks at all the main ones. Petrol is rationed and the number of cars around is much reduced. There aren’t many roadblocks, not yet at any rate, but getting between the road blocks will be just as hard as getting through them. And Winston is, well.. ..”

  “Osborne means to say I am easily recognized and well known. Frankly, Nell, I do not see how we can pull this off. Even the day of the coup it was hard enough, and now the steps taken by That Man make it much harder. The hand of the government is heavy enough already and I fear it will continue to get worse.”

  “Who mans these checkpoints and carries out the inspections?” Achillea was absorbing all the information that was flowing. “Surely the police don’t have the manpower to do it? Or the firepower, come to that.”

  “That Man has formed a police auxiliary. He doesn’t trust the armed services, so he’s recruiting his own police force. We don’t see them much up here; they’re mostly in the ports and cities. You’d see more of them in the Home Counties than in the North.”

  “Police auxiliaries.” Gusoyn was intrigued. “What are their uniforms? Nothing complex, I hope.”

  “Black shirts and Army khaki trousers. And a Sam Browne pistol belt.” The Duke was indignant.

  “Black and Tans.” Achillea was reflective. “And nobody sees them much up in this part of the world …”

  “They do bear the shame of the Black and Tans, yes. Now people already call them the Blackshirts.”

  “There was nothing to be ashamed about with the Black and Tans.” Achillea was still absent, rolling over information in her mind. “They had a rough job to do and didn’t do that badly at it.”

  “They killed, burned and looted.” The Duke spoke heatedly. “In the name of reprisal, of course. No way for Englishmen to behave.”

  “You know something?” Gusoyn was grinning. “I think Lord Halifax has just solved our mobility problem for us.”

  The Duke had just been about to follow up on his disapproval of Achillea’s ready acceptance of the Black and Tan’s history. Gusoyn’s comment stopped him dead. Churchill beat him to the punch. “How could anything That Man does be of any help to us?”

  “Well, when the police control all movement, only the police can move freely, is that not right? And up here, nobody knows who is in the Blackshirts or what they are supposed to be doing. In fact, I would surmise that they do a lot of the dirty work that needs doing and so nobody inquires too closely into their movements. So, I think it is about time we formed our own Blackshirt unit. Get ourselves established and nobody will dare ask who we are or what we are doing. We need some vehicles for transport though.”

  “Army trucks.” Achillea was interested in the idea. “Units like that always have Army trucks. Can we get some?”

  “Osborne’s nephew Charles is in the Army. Where is he Osborne? And does he know?”

  “He knows. He’s in the Sherwood Foresters. Major in their headquarters. Come to think of it, they’re
not far from here.”

  “There is your answer then.” Gusoyn was happy. “He takes us to their motor pool; we pick up a pair of good, reliable trucks.”

  “Lorries, Gusoyn. Be careful to use the right words or you’ll give yourselves away.”

  “Thank you, your Lordship. We pick up a pair of good, reliable lorries and a Humber staff car and there is the transport we need. With those and our Blackshirt uniforms, we can go where we please.”

  “That still doesn’t solve the problem of Winston. How do we hide him? He can’t pretend to be a Blackshirt?” Osborne was entranced by the sheer audacity of the plan that was forming in front of him.

  “We don’t hide him.” Achillea had the ball now and was running with it. “We put him in the back of the lorry, handcuffed of course, and show him off to everybody who shows any interest. We tell them, in great confidence, that we’re taking him up north to be ‘disposed of and imply that anybody who knows about it will also be ‘disposed of’. Of course, we’ll be too dumb to realize that the list of people to be ‘disposed of’ will include us. The people on the checkpoints will guess that and keep their mouths shut. They’ll do anything rather than admit they’ve seen that lorry and thus qualify themselves for a trip on the next one.”

  Churchill gave a great laugh that finally drove his black dog of depression away. “My word, Osborne. When you said you were calling for help from your cousin in America, I had my reservations. But now I tip my hat to her branch of the de Vere Beauclerk line. We’ve been worrying over this matter for days without getting anywhere, but she and her friends turn up and have a workable plan ready in less than thirty minutes. Nell, I salute you and your accomplices.”

  The Duke’s mind was running overtime as well. “Eleanor, you and your friends have solved more problems than you realize. Sir Henry Tizard is putting together a group of key personnel and some scientific information that he believes should be given to the United States as it will aid in our eventual liberation. For the converse reason, it should also be kept out of German hands. Your convoy of lorries will give us what we need to move the men and material away.”

  “Please, your Lordship, do not get ahead of ourselves.” Gusoyn was running his mind through the scheme. “We have solved how to move around but we have yet to work out how to get out of the country. Did you have any thoughts on that matter?”

  The Duke sighed. “Our best idea was to go to one of the small fishing ports and hire a fishing boat to take us to the Irish Republic and then make our way to Shannon and out on a Clipper. But, it was a faint hope at best.”

  Achillea shook her head. “Too many places that can go wrong. Although, eventually, it might do as a cover story. All it needs is somebody to ask questions or to pick the wrong fisherman and it’s all over.”

  “I do not like any seaborne side of this; it is all too easy to get caught.” Gusoyn was thoughtful.

  “We can’t help it. This is an island nation. We have to go by sea sometime.” Churchill was frowning.

  “Not necessarily. We can fly out. We came in on a flying boat. Why can’t one pick us up from somewhere?” Eleanor was very taken with flying boats.

  “All the flying boat stations are watched.”

  “Then don’t use one. Isn’t there a loch or a bay somewhere up in Scotland we can use?”

  The Duke drummed his fingers. “There might be, but how would we use one? We can’t just go and buy a flying boat.”

  “Actually, we can.” Eleanor grinned. “It would have to come in from the States but we could buy one. Or rent one and not tell the owner what we are going to do with it. We need to talk to Phillip about that, and that means we need Iggie here.”

  “She’s in Switzerland, won’t be back in the States until the end of the week.” Achillea had that piece of information to hand.

  “Then telegram Loki. Get her to come straight over here once she’s finished with her delivery to Phillip. We need to give her a briefing on the situation here so she can brief Phillip. If all else fails, he’ll organize a flying boat to get us out of here. Now, let’s get some sleep.”

  As the party broke up, the Duke stopped Achillea. “I am sorry I was short with you earlier, but I saw the Black and Tans at work. Surely you couldn’t approve of what they did?”

  “So did I, your Lordship.”

  “Ahh, so you are like Nell then?”

  “I am and so is Gusoyn. When we had rebellions, we killed everybody involved, burned down their homes and salted their fields. We left desolation and called it peace. By those standards, the Black and Tans were merciful. But, soon I think, England and Ireland will learn what occupation by those who still regard desolation as a solution is like. What these Blackshirts will be like, we have yet to see.”

  CHAPTER FOUR: INITIAL APPROACHES

  Dumbarton Avenue, Georgetown, Washington, DC, USA

  With one part of his mind, Phillip Stuyvesant was thinking about strangling Igrat while the other was concentrating on what she was saying. It wasn’t her fault; she was simply doing her job by relating what Loki had said to her. The problem was, she was doing so in exactly the same intonations and rhythms that Loki used when speaking. So, if her normally husky tones were ignored, she sounded just like him. And when Phillip Stuyvesant heard Loki’s voice, he always wanted to strangle the speaker.

  “The report contains details of a strategic plan conceived by Standartenführer Odwin Noth as an alternative to the invasion of Russia. The full details are contained within the report, but essentially Noth’s idea was to strike south of Russia. He envisaged an assault through Turkey into Iraq and then using that as a bridge into India. This would establish a front along the Caspian Sea. The Germans would then give arms and political support to the Indian Fascist Subhas Chandra Bose, thus establishing German influence over India. Then, the Germans would link up with Japanese forces in the East and then assist them in flushing out the French in Indochina. The Noth plan was to have this effort taking up to the end of 1943, at which point Japan will be poised to eliminate Australia. By then, Germany would have encircled the whole of the Soviet Union and made the Indian Ocean into a German one. At that point, they would invade Russia from all sides. Noth believed this would mean their victory was assured.” Igrat dropped the pitch and tones associated with Loki and returned to her own voice. “Loki says that he killed Noth and discredited both him and this plan.”

  Stuyvesant picked up the report, noting the bloodstained cover as he did so, and started to flip through it. “This is insane. It’s a typical amateur plan, conceived by somebody who looks at an atlas and assumes moving his finger on the pages constitutes a viable concept. This Noth person has no idea of logistics or how to move armies around. He doesn’t seem to understand how terrain or transportation infrastructure affects the operations of armies. The German General Staff must have had kittens when they saw it. It’s exactly the sort of grandiose nonsense that would appeal to Hitler, but appall any professional strategist. Even the attack on Turkey would push German capability to its utmost. Achieving the rest? It just can’t be done. You say Loki put a stop to this?”

  “He did; he killed Noth himself and ensured this plan was abandoned.”

  “What a pity. If the Germans had gone with this, they’d have lost the war in two years at the outside.” Stuyvesant spun his chair around and stared out of the window for a few minutes. Igrat sat patiently watching him while he thought through the implications of what he had just read. “The whole strategic plan is a complete crock, but it does make a kind of crazy sense to the uninitiated. Suriyothai will be able to make good use of this; we’ll have to get it out to her.”

  “You want me to go to Bangkok?” Igrat was hopeful since she enjoyed visiting the city. It gave her a chance to stock up on top-grade silk.

  “No. I’ve got another trip for you; one that has to take place immediately. Delivering this plan to Suriyothai can wait until you get back, I’ll read it in full while you’re away. I haven’t had a r
eally good laugh for a long time. Is this all Loki gave you? If it is, I’ll get Lillith to bill him for the trip. And for wasting your time.”

  “He also gave me this.” Igrat handed over a massive file, one almost three inches of legal-sized paper thick. “He says it’s economic intelligence on German industrial plans and intentions. He’s assembled a ring of industry experts who put it together. He didn’t say where the intelligence had actually come from. He said what I didn’t know, I couldn’t tell.”

  “Quite right.” Stuyvesant was flipping through the pages. As he did so, his whole attitude changed. He leaned forward in his seat and started reading the information in detail.

  “It’s all right for you to say that. You won’t be there when somebody tries to beat information I don’t know out of me.”

  “Uhh, yes. Of course, that’s fine.” Stuyvesant’s attention was rivetted on the information he was reading. “What did you say?”

  “I said, can I have a new wardrobe for my next trip?” Igrat grinned and started thinking about the jewelry at Tiffanies. She had an affection for really large diamonds.

  “Sure. See Lillith and get a cash float. This information is unbelievable. In every sense of the word. If it’s accurate, it fits right in to what we’ll be doing at the Economic Intelligence and Warfare Section. This will save us months of research and mean we’re working with what is really out there, not what we think German industry is like. We’ll have to check this against what we know, or rather what we think we know. And then we’ll have to get back to Loki to reconcile the differences. Is he still trying to seduce you by the way?”

  “He is.” Igrat smiled a little sadly. “If he was interested in me for me, he might have a chance. But he isn’t. He only wants me because he thinks having me will hurt you.”

  Stuyvesant and Igrat looked at each other and burst out laughing. Nothing could have underlined how little Loki understood about the internal dynamics of the Washington circle so well as the idea that Igrat’s amorous exploits would do anything more than amuse her father.