Chapter Seven
Charles Bragg Talks Freedom
Seeing that the young woman returning with Lieutenant Charles Bragg was looking a little distressed, Ray called Jean and Charles Bragg over to them in a contemptuous voice to explain what had happened, this also gave the four friends their first chance to update each other since starting on this trip. On exchanging stories, it became obvious to all of them that life on Lyre was hard for all who allowed the beauty around them to lull their minds. Jean was also happy to be able to talk without having to watch every word that she spoke, but they soon had to return to their respective parts for it was time to move on, certainly time to leave the area where once more attention had been brought to one of the four people from Earth. They were now continuing on their journey towards the Carpathian Mountain and Ray turned to Colonel Michaels.
“Well this is our second day as state policemen Colonel, and I hope that for the rest of this day we can all keep a slightly lower profile than we have managed so far, because up till this moment we have failed dismally.”
“We may have failed to keep a low profile Ray, but the two young women and their families are very thankful that we did, and we have made some friends along the way which may well turn out to be a blessing, only the future will tell.” Colonel Michaels said. “And if we have to fail to keep a low profile once again in the days to come, and if it is while we are helping another person against the evil on this planet, then I for one will be quite willing to do so.”
Ray had to agree, but he also vowed to keep a much better eye on Jean, and if he had to move out of eyesight then he would order Lieutenant Charles Bragg to stick to her like a limpet. Strauss then decided to enter their conversation, as they had been speaking in his language out of a courtesy to him, and of course to get used to speaking only Lyren so that they were not caught out at some future date.
“I am afraid that this regime has allowed the worst elements of both the Lyren people and the imported slave labour to give free rein to their worst desires.”
“Yes unfortunately it would appear so Strauss, and by the way you were quite right to censure us earlier, for we are indeed playing with fire when we attempt to intercede on someone else’s part. We too don`t want to get burned, but as Lieutenant Bayer says it is impossible not to interfere when the chosen victim is defenceless against the evil that grows like a weed on this planet.”
Ray had used Colonel Michaels` fabricated identity to get used to calling the Colonel by that name, although of all them he was easily the worst member of the group, for he constantly referred to the others by their real names and identities. Ray liked Colonel Michaels and from some of the tales told by the Colonel about his life in the Space Marine Corps he had certainly enjoyed an interesting life, even if it had been regularly filled with danger. Ray hoped that the Colonel would enjoy his new life as a politician, and he also hoped that being a politician would not change him, for Ray held a very low opinion of many a politician and also of many a person who was thrust into a position of power. A few of these people had impressed him, Tom Parkinson and Police Chief Marlin both seemed men dedicated to justice and fought against the corrupt. As did Bishop Collingswood, even though Ray wasn`t a follower of the Bishop`s faith he still respected him. He had heard that he was a man who lived his life by the rules that he preached to his Church`s followers, to live a righteous life as is possible for a mere mortal, if they wished to please God.
The roads on this part of the planet of Lyre were filled with snow, and there didn`t appear to be any attempt at clearing them or of making them safer to use by gritting them. Such things only happened nearer to the main centres of civilisation, Ray thought, and while they were only six hundred miles away from the capital city of Lyre, they had been travelling further north with every second and further into the wilderness that still covered much of the planet.
The relationship that Jean and Lieutenant Charles Bragg shared with their fellow travellers was now on a much better footing, so Charles decided to ask them about their home world and their life upon it, obviously he had to use Jean to interpret for him as he didn`t speak their language, or that of the Lyrens. The elder who had been appointed by the others as their leader spoke for them; he said that his name was Iliad. Jean had forgotten what Ray had said to her, that she should keep her knowledge of the Lyren language a secret.
“The part of our planet where our people live is called Khios; it is much like it is here on this part of Lyre, for it too has a cold harsh winter. In fact, if we were not here on Lyre as slaves we would feel quite at home. Part of our world is warmer, traders told us of lands where the sun shone down and scorched the earth dry, other places were somewhere in between, but we were advised to stay away from these lands as they were constantly fought over, so we stayed where we thought we were safe. We had plenty of animals to eat during our short summer and during our harsh winter, we never went short of anything, not before the Lyrens arrived and began to enslave the peoples of our planet. We were especially chosen to work in the part of Lyre to which we are travelling to because we lived in a similar land back on our planet. Funny isn`t it, one of the reasons why we stayed where we were on our planet was to escape the wars of the warmer lands, only to be enslaved by the Lyrens because of where we lived.” Iliad`s tale took quite a time to tell for Jean had to constantly retell it to Charles Bragg in English but finally she was done, only to ask a question of her own.
“I have had enough of talk about the cold and the snow Iliad, tell us of your summers.”
“In the summer the land turns many different colours as the flowers bloom. Large herds of animals returned to our land to graze on the green fields of summer, they provided us with meat to feast on and hides to make our clothes. The streams and rivers shake off their winter coats and flow freely allowing us to catch some of the many fish that lived within their waters. We had a good life back in our own land.” Iliad was obviously thinking back to his native land, for he stopped speaking for a while allowing Jean to repeat everything to Charles Bragg, but then he continued.
“In the winter, during the coldest months we stayed inside our homes for longer periods than during the summer, except for the times when we went hunting the large Oryx, or when we visited our neighbours for a celebration of the days hunt. On the shortest day of the year we all got together and feasted, for it was a sign that the warmer days would soon be returning to our land, to free it from the frozen grip of winter. Our young people married when the springtime marked its arrival with the flowing of the rivers, all was good then. Now we are slaves unable to return to the land of our ancestors, unable to fight the cruelty of this world. The weapons that the Lyrens use against us are so deadly and the number of our enemy so large that we can only bow down and serve them, or die in a useless attempt at defiance.”
Lieutenant Charles Bragg was first a space marine and he would never surrender to the sort of lifestyle described to him by Iliad, no matter what the odds.
“You can and must fight if you are to provide a better future for your children and your children`s children. While I agree that you cannot launch a mass attack against the Lyren forces because of their superior weapons and their larger number of trained soldiers, the enslaved peoples on this planet could launch a series of small attacks across the entire planet designed to harass them into offering you a better deal. You can each be a slave for part of the time and a freedom fighter for the rest of the time; all you need are leaders, men who are capable of planning your campaign and also of leading it.”
Jean had had a hard time repeating all that Charles Bragg had said into the Lyren language and some of it had got lost as Iliad didn`t know that much of the Lyren language, but she finally managed to convey the meaning of what the Lieutenant wanted to say.
“We know nothing of fighting, we are a peace loving people, even on our own planet where we would have our weapons we couldn`t do it, here on Lyre we do not even have any weapons.” Iliad said looking very distressed; the
earthman was making him feel extremely ashamed of himself and of his people.
“To begin with a knife is all you need; as the fight for freedom escalates you can let the Lyrens provide the weapons, with the death of each state policeman you have one more Phaser pistol to add to your arsenal. All you need is a leader to get you started, after that you will soon get the hang of it.” Lieutenant Charles Bragg argued.
“You keep telling us what we need to do, what of yourself, are you not a slave of the Lyren people also. Are you just going to sit back and let us fight for your freedom, speak now or hold your tongue stranger?” Iliad`s tone had become angry with Charles Bragg, and he was almost back to being distrusted as he had been earlier. The people of Khios looked at him and awaited his answer to the question that Iliad had put to him, some with contempt plainly written upon their faces, many with anger. Lieutenant Charles Bragg looked across at Jean who simply nodded at him.
“Ok I will tell you who I am, and also of my friends and my planet, but you must also realise that I am putting a great deal of trust in you. This is because if it should get back to the Lyrens then we would all be killed, after they have extracted everything that we have to tell them by giving us their truth serum.” Charles Bragg said looking just a little worried at disclosing so much without the Colonels agreement.
“You need not worry about their truth serum as my people have long been immune to it; on our native planet we chew a leaf of the chino plant. We found out by accident when the Lyrens used the serum on us, much to our delight, that it didn`t work on us, of course we never let on to the Lyren monsters. Here on Lyre, we have found it again, and each day we chew one of its leaves, we have many seeds of the plant to grow when we reach our destination. When we are given the serum, we simply tell them what we want them to know, nothing more. Now earthman we have told you a great secret, and should you not convince us of your integrity we may well be forced to kill you and your female to keep it a secret. Iliad said as the men of Khios moved closely around the two people from Earth.
“My friends I will tell you my secret and then we can kill one another should we both feel it necessary.” Charles Bragg said smiling for he felt that things would now end peacefully.
“Jean and I are here with the two state policemen who are in the vehicle following us.” The Khions looked shocked and alarmed at this his words but he continued.
“Don`t worry we are not Lyren spies, we are from a planet called Earth which is at war with Lyre; it is trying to stop Lyre from enslaving any more planets, and it is also trying to free the slaves that the Lyren people already have. We are here to free a comrade of ours; we are not slaves, as soon as we free him from the prison where he is being held high in the Carpathian Mountains, we will return to Earth in our starship.”
The Khions were stunned by what they had heard, but also delighted to hear of the war, and they wanted to know when Earth would defeat Lyre and set them free. To this question Charles Bragg said he didn`t know the answer, maybe months maybe years.
“Yes Charles Bragg I believe you, for I see the truth in your eyes my friend and hear it in both of your voices. However, my people and the others that we shall re-join in the far off mountains need a leader we can believe in, a leader trained in the art of war, you must stay with us when your friends return to Earth. They can tell of our slavery at the hands of these devils. You must stay here to help us or we will be forced to endure the yoke of slavery that the Lyrens have put around our neck for years, maybe even forever if your planet doesn`t prevail against the Lyren monsters, your words are not enough by themselves, you must back them up with deeds.” Iliad said pleading for Charles Bragg`s help.
Lieutenant Charles Bragg stood looking at this man before him while he hurriedly went over all of the possibilities before asking Jean to give them his reply.
“I cannot help you at the moment for I have promised Jean to free her brother, and then I must ensure that they both get away from this terrible planet, but I will speak to my leader who is one of the two men in the following vehicle. I will tell him all that we have said and see what he has to say. He will know what is possible, for he is a great leader. If he cannot come up with a plan to help you all then I will ask his permission to return here and lead you in this brave quest to end your slavery on this planet, this I swear to all of you now.”
The people of Khios all reached out to grip his hand in theirs, to thank Lieutenant Charles Bragg, and he hoped that Colonel Michaels and Ray Connors wouldn`t be too angry with him for giving them all away to these good people.
The time to talk occurred when Colonel Michaels decided that the two drivers needed a break from the driving again. The roads were still covered in snow and in parts, the snow hid thick layers of ice, which almost gave them heart attacks when the vehicles skidded wildly across the ice, the people travelling in the back of the truck never noticed the bad roads for they were too taken up with their discussions. They stopped in the middle of nowhere because this suited the Colonel, who wanted to see how his Lieutenant and Jean were faring with the slaves, he should have worried more about his mission. Colonel Michaels moved up to the rear of the truck with Ray, and he was surprised when Lieutenant Bragg came forward quite openly and told him all that had happened, and all that had been said, it was an angry Colonel Michaels who for once was lost for words so Ray Connors stepped into the breach.
“Lieutenant this mission was as risky as hell before you spilled all of our secrets to your travelling companions, I just hope you haven`t increased the dangers we will have to face. Lieutenant you really should have kept your thoughts to yourself and not spoken rebellion.” Ray said quietly to keep this new problem in house, but Jean could see that he was fighting to keep his anger under control. “And Jean, why on earth did you go along with it, you could have refused to translate for the lieutenant.”
“Because Ray, my heart was breaking for these poor people and all they will have to endure under the tyranny of the Lyrens.” Jean said defending herself and Charles Bragg but once again in a very quiet voice that she was getting very used to using now.
“Jean this planet is full to overflowing with slaves, your heart will explode unless you keep a firmer grip on it.”
But for all of Ray`s words she could see that his anger had gone, he also felt as they did about these poor wretches that were travelling with them, but for Iliad and his people there would be no end, for they were travelling into slavery, unless Earth proved victorious and was able to free them.
“Ok what has been done is done, maybe the Colonel can come up with a vote winner to help these people, and also help us to complete our own mission, which is to get your brother out of prison just in case the two of you had forgotten it. What do you say Colonel, if you can solve the problems of this planet as well as get us out alive then I promise to vote for you in the upcoming presidential elections?”
Colonel Michaels had been listening to all that had been said. His anger had reduced to plain simmering point when he next spoke.
“The problems of this planet are not going to be solved in the regions around the Carpathian Mountains, it is not about a small group of hunter gatherers, but a state of slavery last seen when the Romans had an empire.” Colonel Michaels stopped for a moment to gather his thoughts and to control his temper before continuing to explain just why he thought the Lieutenants revelations had been unwise.
“Jean, Lieutenant, we cannot just help these people in their fight for freedom, the authorities on this planet would massacre them, especially if they only had a few slaves to deal with at a time. Your recklessness means that there is even a chance that the Lyren freedom movement will consider doing just that. The two of you must understand that you may have lit the fuse that will lead to an explosion of one sort or another, and we have to see that we don`t get caught up in it.”
Lieutenant Charles Bragg now saw that he had meddled in things far above his area of expertise, he could only hope that Colonel Michaels would suc
ceed to pull Charles Bragg`s chestnuts out of the fire.
“Maybe we can make something work from out of your indiscretions Lieutenant, I will to speak to Strauss and tell him about this new complication, if he can put us in contact with Jonas we can discuss the matter. If he decides to follow my lead then he and I could then contact Tom Parkinson to convince him that it would be worthwhile sending another shipment of weapons through to Lyre, so that the Lyren freedom movement can team up with some of the enslaved peoples on this planet to the benefit of everyone. With more people to help them the freedom movement will be able to give the authorities real trouble. This new movement will have to be finely managed though, and at times, the slaves will have to be led with an iron hand. They can`t be allowed to kill any Lyren that they have taken a dislike to, or one that has treated them badly sometime in the past. If that were to happen then the Lyren freedom movement would disappear and the movement`s former followers would side with the authorities, this could all blow up in our faces at any time. Only members of the state police, the officers in the military and the ruling elite can be legitimate targets until the wishes of the majority become clear, and if the majority side with the government then this planet could easily turn red. This is not a problem that just requires a little tinkering with; it needs a great deal of work and a leadership to match, and a rapid outcome to the war that is about to be fought by Earth and Lyre, with Earth coming out as the undisputed winner.”
Colonel Michaels stopped speaking to allow what he had said to sink in. Even if he could get in contact with Tom Parkinson, there was no knowing what his decision might be for he had more than one option. One, he might just say forget it, you are on Lyre to free Peter Summers, do so and get out, leave the slaves until Earth has destroyed the Lyren space fleet, this would put the young Lieutenant in a spot with the slaves, but he should have kept his mouth shut.
Two, yes a second front on Lyre is a good idea, and if the slaves are wiped out then so be it, they won`t have died in vain, for at least they won`t be replaced by a fresh supply of slaves, if Earth can triumph in the war that is.
Three he might decide that killing this batch of slaves was the easiest alternative. Michaels didn`t know the Director well enough to decide which of the options he might take, but he personally would fight against any but the second option. To do otherwise could lose Clarkson the election for the Presidency of Earth, and Colonel Michaels the Vice Presidency that he had been nominated for by the Church of the Universe, for should his opponent find out that he had not contested the decision vigorously, he wouldn`t have a chance of winning. To go from a Colonel in the Space Marine Corps to the Vice President of Earth in one move would be unprecedented, but his family had always been in politics, and it was his many connections that had kept him in the news. The amount of publicity that he enjoyed was enormous, he could have enjoyed the rank of General but that would have meant sitting behind a desk, far better to be a Colonel and have your family newspaper tell of your deeds, all in the cause of a better and safer Earth and its colonies.
When Colonel Michaels informed Strauss of the new situation that they found themselves in due to Lieutenant Charles Bragg`s disclosures he nearly exploded.
“Is this supposed to be keeping a low profile, do you Earth people not realise just how dangerous the situation is getting by the hour, now a truck full of slaves know of your true identity, have you also told them of Jonas and of me?”
Colonel Michaels could see that he was fuming and he couldn`t blame him. “No thankfully Lieutenant Bragg didn`t go that far, he said that he realised that it was your secret to divulge as and to whom you felt needed to know.”
“Thank God for that, at least the Lyren freedom movement is safe for the moment. I knew that Jonas was making a mistake when he agreed to help your intelligence bureau in return for weapons and gold. They will not be worth a fig if our movement is discovered by the state police; they would tear through us like a hot knife in butter. Maybe I am being unpatriotic when I say that many of my people would willingly kill anyone they found on Lyre who was spying for Earth, and of course the killing of slaves doesn`t matter a jot, and our movement would be seen as subversive to the extreme.”
“If your authorities have no idea that the Lyren freedom movement is operating then maybe it is time that they and the people of Lyre should know of it, for your movement can`t have accomplished much if no one knows about it.” Michaels said mockingly at Strauss, for he had had enough of Strauss`s complaints about his small team, however warranted they may be.
“We appear to have accomplished more in the two days that we have been operating on this planet than your movement has in all of its history.” Colonel Michaels declared defiantly. Strauss made to interrupt but Colonel Michaels stopped him.
“No you listen to me, for I have thought about Lieutenant Bragg`s youthful and rather zealous mistake, and I believe that I can make it work for both you and us.”
“And just how can we make anything out of this disastrous mess Colonel?” Strauss demanded to know forgetting Colonel Michaels cover for a moment.
“First by not forgetting to call me Lieutenant Bayer and secondly by informing me whether or not you are in direct contact with Jonas.” Colonel Michaels asked.
“I am sorry of course Lieutenant Bayer, I shouldn`t have allowed my anger to get the better of me, for that can be disastrous in our game.” Strauss replied trying to get control of his anger with this earthman.
“I am in direct contact with Jonas via the planet`s internet system. My computer can encode any message that I wish to send to him on our electronic mail system, why?” Strauss asked interested in spite of his anger.
“I want you to send him a message outlining the current situation and also giving him a way to make this new situation work out better than before, for the Lyren freedom movement, for the people of Lyre, and for the enslaved peoples on your planet.”
Strauss now had control of his jagged nerves and Colonel Michaels had begun to intrigue him.
“You can tell me what it is you want to say and I will input it into my computer Lieutenant Bayer. If at the end of your message I am in agreement with it then I will encode it and then send it to Jonas, if not we can discuss what I am in disagreement with, will that be acceptable to you Lieutenant Bayer?”
“Yes Strauss that sounds fine, when shall we do it, when we stop for the night?” Colonel Michaels suggested.
“Yes that sounds best, it will also give both of us time to think matters through, as I guess that this new complication has also thrown your own plans out of sync.” Strauss replied, sounding as if he thought that it was highly unlikely that they would come up with anything worthwhile.
“It did when I first heard about it, but now that the situation has had time to sink in I think that we can build upon it, I think that it will even push things along in a positive way.” Colonel Michaels responded to Strauss`s pessimism.
“I hope that you are correct in your thoughts, but let us leave it until tonight, so as to give me time at least to consider matters.” Strauss said leaving Colonel Michaels to ponder the new situation.
Strauss walked over to the other driver, who was stood by the truck watching the strange confrontation between his comrade and the earthmen with a baffled look upon his face. He knew nothing of what had occurred so recently, he now found out for Strauss told him the reason behind his long conversation with Colonel Michaels, and Anderson, was of the same opinion as Strauss.
“I cannot believe that the security on this mission is so bad Strauss, I just hope that Lieutenant Bayer`s new plan is as good as he believes it to be, and that it will benefit our movement, if not Jonas may want to use a more drastic solution to end the problem.”
They set off one hour later on their journey to the Carpathian Mountains, Lieutenant Charles Bragg and Jean told Iliad that their leader had a proposal, one that he would be putting to them after he had had enough time to fully think it through, and had tied up any
loose ends. A few loose ends such as convincing the Lyren freedom movement to go along with the proposal and not simply send a hit squad to remove the problem by murdering all of the slaves on the truck, and maybe even the nuisances from Earth. This he thought was unlikely, for Tom Parkinson hadn`t risen to his position of power by being weak, he would not be above selling the freedom movement out to the government if they dared to murder his friends and operatives. This was something that Jonas would understand, as he was a Lyren, a people who used such methods all the time, but they might just deport us as undesirables, and this Tom Parkinson would sympathise with when he heard how the mission had gone from bad to worse.
In the back of their vehicle, Colonel Michaels began to write down a draft of his proposals with the help of Ray Connors, while Strauss drove the vehicle in silence, for he too had much to ponder.
“Ok Ray top of the list must be for Earth to provide a lot more weapons, some M17 explosive and of course a quantity of gold to oil the wheels of those lacking in moral fibre.” M17 was the latest directional explosive and extremely powerful.
“Tom Parkinson will not mind sending any of those, he will even be ready to supply more contraband to cover up the weapons shipment, but Jonas, and Strauss here, need to know just how their movement, and even more importantly their planet, will benefit from Lieutenant Bragg`s rash revelations.” Ray put in.
“What I had in mind was for some agents fluent in the Lyren language being brought over with one of the contraband shipments. They could give training to Lyrens and to any of the enslaved people who want to fight for their freedom. They would have to operate in cooperation with the Lyren freedom movement, and there would have to be enough of these men to work with the enslaved people in different areas around the planet. We know of two sets of enslaved people who would be only too keen to fight back, and the Lyren freedom movement must also know of people both enslaved and free whom they could trust.”
Strauss who had been determined to oppose all of Colonel Michaels` proposals was getting interested despite himself.
“That is quite true Lieutenant Bayer, for I know of many people of both types who would demand to be part of this enlarged movement, and I would assume that Jonas and some of the other members of our movement know of others.”
“Strauss you have warned us about the state police, are you sure that none of these people are members of your movement?” Ray Connors asked.
“The authorities are interested in criminals, aliens and slaves, as of yet there has been no protests from the Lyren people against the authorities. There are some restrictions of course, religion isn`t tolerated by the party, although some of the population follow some sort of religion behind closed doors. There aren`t any non-white people, and of course there is no opposition party, but the population are mostly quite happy to abide by these restrictions.” Strauss was quiet for a moment, and then he continued in a vein that surprised the two men from Earth.
“There have been no protests from the Lyren people to tell the authorities of their disquiet about the forced enslavement of so many people, Colonel you are correct our movement hasn`t accomplished anything much up until now!” Strauss said, so disgusted with himself and with his movement’s failings that he once again forgot Colonel Michaels` nom de plume.
“We must ensure that we do make a difference with these weapons that you have supplied to us, they are to be used when Earth sends us the signal that the time has come to up the ante. We are supposed to launch a series of guerrilla raids against members of the state police and the government who have been particularly vile in their dealing with the slaves. Our people are meant to leave evidence showing that the attacks were made by your space marines, this it is thought will cause a certain amount of panic on Lyre, and it will happen without the need for Earth to commit too many ground forces, and without too many innocent deaths.”
“Maybe the time is right to make up for your movement`s failings now Strauss, and not when Earth gives you a signal in the distant future, maybe you should be thanking my lieutenant for making you see this.” Colonel Michaels said.
“Maybe I should Lieutenant Bayer.” Strauss said once more remembering to address Colonel Michaels correctly, his voice sounding very reflective. “We shall see what the future holds for us all.” Strauss finished grimly.
“Earth will never commit enough ground assault troops to subdue the planet, and I am sure that you would not want them to Strauss, far too many people would lose their lives in such a conflict. But you have a population of slaves on Lyre that is far greater than that of the Lyren people, if these were to be mobilised properly by your movement, then you could gain freedom for them, and political freedom for your own people.” Colonel Michaels said. “The Church of the Universe has a team of priests who are called the Soldiers of Christ, they are taught many languages including the Lyren language, for it was foreseen by the Church`s elders that Lyre would need to be led back to Christianity one day, being the Church`s soldiers these priests are also trained to fight. They would make ideal soldiers to lead the enslaved peoples Strauss, and they would be fully equipped and their mission paid for by the Church.” Colonel Michaels said hoping that Strauss was not too anti-religion; in fact, Strauss was a practicing Christian, as was Jonas, which was one of the reasons why they and others had started the freedom movement. For there to be so many followers of Christ on Lyre was a miracle in itself, but someone amongst all their ancestors had secretly passed it on and the followers had begun to meet one another socially, and to marry only within their faith, and so the movement had grown.
“I have heard enough to convince me that you have raised valid points, and I will put forward your arguments to Jonas and come back to you regarding his feelings on the matter. However, I think that he will agree with everything that you have said, and that he will contact your intelligence director and put all that you have said to him.” Strauss declared much to the two earthmen`s relief, for it was now obvious that Strauss had been converted over to their point of view.
That evening they stopped at one of the longhouses along the road and had their evening meal. Iliad and his people sat in a circle around a log fire that blazed away in the centre of the room, they were lucky this evening for some of the local single males were making use of the longhouse`s extra space and had got in a good supply of wood.
Strauss was busy on his small computer that evening, and twenty minutes after he had started he came over to Colonel Michaels and showed him what he intended to send to Jonas, it was more or less what had been discussed earlier in the staff car, and getting Colonel Michaels agreement Strauss encoded the message and sent it off.
“I don`t expect that we will get an answer until tomorrow or even the day after, he will need time to digest the contents of the message and then contact your intelligence chief before he gets back to us Lieutenant Bayer,” Strauss said still addressing Colonel Michaels by his nom de plume.
Galaxy Spies Page 17