In Danger's Path

by W. E. B Griffin

  “Colonel Donovan brought that up himself,” Leahy said. “When he is finished with the individual, he will join us. If you have any questions, he will either ask them himself, or you may. Having an experienced man do the interviews strikes me as the quickest way to get to the bottom of this.”

  “I think it’s a fine idea, sir,” Pickering said.

  Rickabee gave him a surprised look.

  But first they had to get into the building. In the belief that he and Hart would not be returning to OSS headquarters before traveling to the Pacific, Pickering had ordered Hart to place their red-striped Any Area Any Time identification badges in the safe in his apartment in the Foster Lafayette. Neither General Rickabee nor Admiral Leahy had OSS identification badges.

  If he were Donovan, Pickering knew, he would have just marched past the guards, saying something like, “these people are with me,” especially since one of the people with him was the chief of staff to the President of the United States.

  But Donovan didn’t.

  “Sorry about the inconvenience, Admiral,” he said. “We didn’t plan on having you with us this morning.”

  Leahy and Rickabee were furnished with Visitor 5th Floor Only badges, and pinned them to their lapels.

  Though Donovan was visibly annoyed when Pickering told the guard lieutenant, “Lieutenant Hart and I will need a couple of those, too, please,” he said nothing.

  They rode the elevator to the fifth floor and walked down the corridor to Donovan’s office.

  The Deputy Director (Administration) was behind his desk. He rose to his feet. “Good morning, Admiral,” he said. “Mr. Director.” He nodded at Pickering, Rickabee, and Hart, but didn’t say anything.

  “Something’s come up, Charley,” Donovan said. “Is anyone using the White Room?”

  “No, Mr. Director.”

  “How long will it take you to get…let’s say, three stenographers up and running?”

  The DDA didn’t respond directly. Instead he picked up one of the telephones on his desk, pushed a button on it, and announced, “The Director requires three stenographers in the transcription room immediately.” He put the receiver back in its cradle and went on: “By the time we walk down the corridor, Mr. Director, you’ll have your stenographers.”

  Donovan nodded. “Call JCS,” he ordered. “Tell General Adamson that Admiral Leahy wishes to see him and Colonel…What’s his name, Fleming?”

  “Albright,” Pickering furnished.

  “…Colonel Albright here as soon as possible. Have badges waiting for them downstairs.”

  “General Adamson has a badge, sir,” the DDA said.

  “And locate the Deputy Director (Operations) and tell him I need to see him immediately.”

  “He’s on his way here from the training establishment, Mr. Director.”

  “Is there a radio in his car?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Contact him and make sure he is coming here,” Donovan ordered. “And then join us, please, in the White Room.”

  “Yes, Mr. Director.”

  “I don’t believe you’ve seen the White Room, have you, Admiral?” Donovan said to Leahy.

  Leahy shook his head, “no.”

  “If you’ll follow me, please, Admiral?” Donovan said, and led the group down the corridor to the White Room. By the time they had satisfied the two guards at the door that they were who they represented themselves to be, and Donovan had authorized Rickabee and Leahy to go inside, the DDA had caught up with them.

  They entered the White Room.

  “Charley, explain to the Admiral and these gentlemen how the transcription system works,” General Donovan ordered.

  “Yes, sir,” the DDA said. “Microphones have been placed in various locations around the room,” he began. “They are connected with an amplification system in the room behind that door.” He pointed to a door at the rear of the room. “There are provisions for six sets of headphones, although our experience has been that we have never needed more than three stenographers to transcribe even the largest conference. So each of you gentlemen will have earphones.”

  “I took that precaution, sir. They are either next door, or will be momentarily.”

  “They will let us know when General Adamson and the others arrive, right?” Donovan asked.

  “The Deputy Director (Operations), Mr. Director, said he will be here in no more than ten minutes. General Adamson, who has Colonel Albright with him, has probably left the Pentagon by now.” He paused and then added: “Mr. Director, General Adamson was naturally curious about what this is all about.”

  “I’m sure he was, Charley, and I’m sure you are, too. You find out first. You can be our guinea pig, so to speak. Will you take these gentlemen to the stenographer’s room, make sure everything is in place? And then come back in here. We’ll start with you. Pure formality, of course.”

  Well, Pickering thought, what did I expect Donovan to do? Accuse his Director for Administration of having a big mouth?

  Because of the three stenographers—two middle-aged women and a young man—there were only enough spare headphones for three people. Pickering solved that problem by separating one of the earphones on his headset from the frame and, motioning Hart to stand close to him, handed him the loose earphone.

  He saw Leahy looking at him curiously, perhaps disapprovingly. “I like to have George listen in on everything, Admiral,” Pickering said. “To refresh my memory.”

  “I see.”

  “He used to be a police detective,” Pickering went on.

  “Perhaps we should have left him in there with Donovan,” Admiral Leahy said.

  “Okay, Charley, let’s have our practice run,” Donovan’s voice came, very clearly, into Pickering’s single earphone.

  “Yes, Mr. Director.”

  “This is pretty serious business,” Donovan said. “Someone has been talking too much about MAGIC.”

  “Yes, sir?”

  “We’re trying to find out who, and under what circumstances,” Donovan said, and then, before the DDA could reply, said, “If you can all hear us in there, let me know.”

  “George,” Pickering ordered.

  Hart took his loose earphone from his ear, let it dangle from Pickering’s headset, looked at everybody in the room until they nodded, and then walked to the door and announced, “Colonel, we read you five-by-five.”

  He closed the door and resumed his place next to Pickering.

  “Okay, Charley, at least that much works,” Donovan’s voice came over the system.

  “I personally check on the system frequently, Mr. Director,” the DDA said.

  “Good idea,” Donovan said. “Okay. Now…I really don’t know how to start this…The possible compromise occurred in connection with the shipment of MAGIC devices to Chungking.”

  “When I saw General Pickering, Mr. Director, I thought that might be the case.”

  “Were you happy with the security arrangements, Charley? You were, of course, familiar with them?”

  “Yes, sir. I was familiar with them. And no, sir, I wasn’t absolutely satisfied with the security arrangements.”

  “In what regard, Charley?”

  “It’s a little embarrassing for me, sir, with General Pickering privy to this.”

  “That can’t be helped, I’m afraid. What is it about General Pickering and the MAGIC movement that made you uncomfortable?”

  What is this sonofabitch doing? Pickering wondered. Asking questions that make me look like a fool? Trying to lay the blame on me?

  “Well, there was the matter of the CIC agents, Mr. Director.”

  “Tell me about that, Charley.”

  “General Adamson had arranged for Army CIC agents to accompany the MAGIC devices. General Pickering said that his people could adequately guard the devices and declined the services of the CIC. Is that what’s happened, sir? Something has happened to the devices?”

  “You and General Adamson worked pretty closely on
the whole thing together?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “And General Adamson told you that General Pickering declined the use of CIC agents?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “And he wasn’t satisfied when you told him that Pickering’s people were probably as well-qualified to guard the devices as CIC agents?”

  “No, sir, he wasn’t. And frankly, neither was I.”

  “Why was that, Charley? I mean, giving General Pickering the benefit of the doubt here. He has a good deal of faith in Colonel Banning and Captain McCoy…”

  “They had no real experience in transporting the devices, sir. And General Adamson has.”

  “Did you discuss this with the Deputy Director (Operations)?”

  “Well, I tried to, sir. But he seemed to feel that it was General Pickering’s operation, and that we shouldn’t interfere.”

  “But you and General Adamson remained concerned?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “You were afraid that the movement of the devices wasn’t as secure as it could be? That perhaps there was a genuine risk that the operation to move them…”

  “Operation China Clipper, sir,” the DDA furnished.

  “…that Operation China Clipper would be compromised, and perhaps MAGIC itself?”

  “Both General Adamson and I felt that was a real possibility, Mr. Director.”

  “I’m surprised, Charley, that General Adamson didn’t do something about it, since both of you were concerned.”

  “I think he did, sir.”

  “Really? What?”

  “General Adamson and General Dempsey are old friends. Dempsey is the military mission to China signal officer. They were classmates at the Command and General Staff College. He sent him a heads-up.”

  “So that General…Dempsey, you said?”

  “Yes, sir. Major General F. T. Dempsey.”

  “So that General Dempsey would be aware of the potential problem?”

  “Exactly, sir. Both the potential problems with Operation China Clipper and with—I don’t quite know how to phrase this—the potential problems with Lieutenant Colonel Banning.”

  “A moment ago you said that you think General Adamson sent a heads-up to General Dempsey. Presumably by Top Secret message?”

  “He showed me a copy of the heads-up, sir. And, of course, it was a Top Secret, Eyes Only, General Dempsey.”

  “Does General Dempsey have a MAGIC clearance?” Donovan asked.

  “Not at the moment, sir. But I’m sure it’s in the works.”

  “Okay, Charley,” Donovan said. “That’s enough.”

  “Sir?”

  “What happens now, Charley, is that as of this moment, I have accepted your resignation.”

  “Sir?”

  “As of this moment, your duties will be assumed by your deputy,” Donovan said. “His first duty will be to go through your desk, gather up your personal belongings, and have them delivered to your home, where you will have been taken by our security people, and will be waiting, under guard, for my decision about what to do with you. My immediate reaction is to send you over to St. Elizabeth’s in a straitjacket and keep you there until the war is over, but I know that reaction is colored by my anger, so I want to think that through.” St. Elizabeth’s was the Federal government psychiatric hospital in the District of Columbia.

  “Sir, I don’t understand.”

  “Most of my anger is directed at myself. I’m the man who put you in a position where you could do all this damage. I should have known that you couldn’t take orders.”

  “Sir, I was simply trying to carry out my responsibilities to the best of my ability.”

  “Yeah, I know. That’s what makes this so sad. I should have known that you weren’t equipped to discharge those responsibilities. What you have done, Charley, and I don’t think you really understand this, is put hundreds of thousands of lives at risk—and that’s what the compromise of MAGIC would mean—by disobeying your orders. If I have to explain it to you: the moment you heard that General Adamson was even thinking of communicating anything about MAGIC to anyone who does not have a MAGIC clearance, you were supposed to bring this to my attention.”

  “Sir, General Adamson is the Secretary of the Joint Chiefs of Staff….”

  “That’s my point, Charley, you still don’t understand what you both have done,” Donovan said calmly, even sadly. “Wait here, Charley, someone will come for you.”

  Donovan walked into the transcription room.

  “Admiral, would you like my resignation?”

  “I don’t see where that would accomplish anything, Colonel,” Admiral Leahy said. “I would recommend to the President that he decline your resignation.”

  “In that case, sir, what would you like me to do?”

  “I think we should next talk to General Adamson, and then to Colonel Albright,” Leahy said. “To see how far down this unfortunate business has gone.”

  “‘We,’ sir?”

  “On reflection, I will talk to General Adamson, alone,” Leahy said. “He is due here any moment. But by the time he gets here, the White Room will be available, will it not?”

  “Yes, sir. Give me a moment to find the security duty officer, and to locate Charley’s deputy to tell him what he has to do.”

  One of the White Room guards put his head into the transcription room.

  “Colonel Donovan, General Adamson is being checked into the White Room.”

  “Thank you,” Donovan said, and reached for a headset. He sensed Pickering’s eyes on him.

  “Pickering, I guess I owe you an apology.”

  “The shoe’s on the other foot, Mr. Director,” General Pickering said. “I thought, at first, that you were trying to cover for that sonofabitch. I’m truly sorry.”

  “So am I,” Donovan said, and put the earphones over his head.

  “Good afternoon, Admiral,” the voice of Major General Charles M. Adamson, USA, came clearly over the transcription system headsets. “I came as quickly as I could.”

  Admiral William D. Leahy, USN, Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States, did not respond to the greeting.

  “It has been alleged, General,” Leahy began, “that you sent a Top Secret message to the signal officer of the U.S. military mission to China which made reference to Operation China Clipper. Is this true?”

  There was a perceptible hesitation before General Adamson replied.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Specifically, to Major General F. T. Dempsey?”

  “Yes, sir, the message was addressed, Eyes Only, General Dempsey.”

  “I’m really sorry to hear that, General,” Admiral Leahy said.

  “Admiral, may I explain the circumstances?”

  Leahy ignored the question.

  “General Dempsey apparently believes that both he and his deputy will shortly be granted MAGIC security clearances. Do you have any idea where he got that idea?”

  “Yes, sir. Sir, I presumed that it would only be a matter of time before General Dempsey would be granted access to MAGIC. I don’t see how he could perform his duties in connection with MAGIC without such clearance.”

  “And you therefore told him you believed he, and presumably his deputy as well, would shortly have MAGIC clearance?”

  “Yes, sir. And I also cautioned him that the MAGIC cryptographic officer who was being sent to military mission China in charge of the devices did not enjoy the full confidence of either myself or the OSS, and that he—”

  “Who told you, General, that Colonel Banning does not enjoy the full confidence of the OSS?”

  “Sir, that information was given to me in confidence. I’m reluctant—”

  “Was it the OSS Deputy Director (Administration)?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “I regret to inform you, sir, that you stand relieved of your duties at JCS. You will proceed directly from this room to your quarters, where you will hold yourself availa
ble for orders from General Marshall. I inform you, sir, that when I speak to General Marshall, I shall recommend to him that you be immediately reduced to whatever permanent grade you hold.”

  There was a long silence.

  “That will be all,” Admiral Leahy said. “You are dismissed.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Donovan,” Admiral Leahy said, as he walked into the transcription room, “we have to make sure that nothing like this can ever happen again in the future.”

  “Yes, sir,” Donovan said.

  “I think you’d do better talking to Colonel Albright than I would, Colonel.”

  “Yes, sir,” Donovan said, handed his headset to the Admiral, and walked into the White Room.

  “I don’t like to think, Pickering,” Admiral Leahy said, “what would have happened if your Colonel Banning had been cowed by General Dempsey.”

  “What’s going to happen to General Adamson, sir?”

  “In any army but ours, he would be handed a pistol and expected to do the right thing. I’m not sure if he’s a colonel or a lieutenant colonel in the regular army. I suppose he’ll wind up as commanding officer, or executive officer, of a POW camp. Something like that.”

  “That’s sad.”

  “Yes, it is,” Leahy said. “Eisenhower has already reduced six general officers to their permanent grade and sent them home for not being able to keep their mouths shut.”

  “I didn’t know that.”

  “General, it’s not the sort of thing they issue press releases about,” Leahy said, and put his headset on.

  “To get right to the point, Colonel Albright,” Donovan’s voice came over the earphones, “it has come to my attention that a back-channel message was sent to the signal officer, Eyes Only, Major General Dempsey, of the military mission to China, which among other things announced the imminent arrival of MAGIC devices and personnel to operate the Special Channel. Did you have anything to do with that message?”

  “No, sir,” Colonel H. A. Albright said immediately.

  “Do you know anything about such a message?”

  “No, sir,” Albright said immediately.

  “Have you any idea who could have sent such a message.”

  Colonel Albright did not reply.