by Blood
"I don't have a priority," the Old Man said.
"Excuse me, Mr. Howell? Did I understand you to say you haven't arranged for your priority yet?"
"What I said was, 'I don't have a priority,'"
"In that case, may I suggest you call me back when you do have the prior-ity? And then we'll see what we can work out for you."
"Listen to me carefully," the Old Man said. "One of your airplanes is going to take off from Miami the day after tomorrow, bound for Buenos Aires. Unless I am mistaken, it will make its first fuel stop at Caracas, Venezuela."
"That is correct, Mr. Howell."
"If there are four people named Howell-myself; my daughter-in-law, Mrs. Martha Howell; and my granddaughters, Miss Elizabeth and Miss Marjorie Howell-on that airplane when it lands in Caracas, then Howell Petro-leum Venezuela will furnish you whatever quantity of 110-130-octane aviation gasoline you require. If we all are not on that airplane, then you had better be prepared to paddle it to Buenos Aires, because I won't pump one drop of avia-tion gasoline, and neither will anyone else in Caracas."
"I can't believe you're serious, Mr. Howell."
"Find Mr. Trippe and ask him if I have ever made an idle threat," the Old Man said, and hung up.
[THREE]
Office of the Director
The Office of Strategic Services
Washington, D.C.
1105 IB April 1943
"This just came in." Colonel A. F. Graham, USMCR, handed OSS Director William J. Donovan a large manila envelope with TOP SECRET stamped on it. Donovan took it wordlessly and read it.
TOP SECRET
LINDBERGH
URGENT
FROM AGGIETW0 AGGIE 0400 GREENWICH 15APR43
MSG NO 0003
TO ORACLE WASHDC
EYES ONLY FOR DDWH0 GRAHAM
1. IN RE LINDBERGH
A. GALAHAD CONFIRMS ABSOLUTELY LINDBERGH EXISTS.
B. MONTEVIDEO OPERATION RUN BY SS MAJOR WERNER VON TRESMARCK, SECURITY OFFICER OF GERMAN EMBASSY HEREAFTER BAGMAN.
2. AGGIE EN ROUTE BIRDCAGE AS OF 1700 GREENWICH 14APR43.
AGGIETW0 END
TOP SECRET
LINDBERGH
"Interesting," Donovan said.
"Somehow I thought you would be pleased," Graham said. "Am I missing something here, Bill?"
"Well, for one thing, we don't know who Galahad is," Donovan said. "It would really be helpful to me if I could tell the President that the reason we re-ally believe there is an ongoing operation down there ransoming concentration-camp inmates is that we are getting our information from somebody who knows what he is talking about for the following reasons, one, two, three, and is moti-vated to tell us all this for the following reasons, one, two, three. Galahad won't cut the mustard, Alex. FDR has a very droll sense of humor. If I go to him and tell him what we have learned from Galahad, he'll ask me what we have heard from King Arthur and the rest of the Knights of the Round Table."
"I messaged Frade to identify Galahad and Cavalry," Graham said.
"And he has decided he doesn't want to tell us," Donovan said.
"We don't know that," Graham said.
"Oh, but we do," Donovan said, and went into the side drawer of his desk and came up with two other messages.
"The one from Frade came in while you were in Havana," Donovan said.
TOP SECRET
LINDBERGH
URGENT
FROM STACHIEP AGGIE 0830 GREENWICH 15 April 1943
MSG NO 0003
TO ORACLE WASHDC
EYES ONLY FOR DDWHO GRAHAM
REGRET THAT TO OBTAIN ABSOLUTELY RELIABLE INTELLIGENCE PROM GALAHAD AND CAVALRY IT WAS NECESSARY TO GIVE MY WORD OP HONOR THAT THEIR IDENTITIES WILL NOT BE FURNISHED TO THIRD PARTIES.
STACHIEF END
TOP SECRET
LINDBERGH
Donovan waited until Graham had a chance to read it before he spoke:
"I can't believe that word-of-honor business," he said. "What the hell does Frade think the OSS is? The Boy Scouts?"
"I don't have any trouble with it," Graham said. "I think they call that 'honor.'"
"Jesus!" Donovan said. "You don't really think he thinks he doesn't have to tell us, do you, because he gave his 'word of honor'?"
"I think that's exactly what he thinks," Graham said.
"And he gets taken out, which is a real possibility, we then lose both Gala-had and Cavalry because nobody else knows who they are. Did you think about that?"
"No, but I'm sure Frade took that into consideration," Graham said.
Donovan shook his head in disbelief.
"The second one just came in. Take a look at it, Alex, and then tell me you still think you were right to leave who gives orders to who down there a little vague."
Graham took the message and read it.
TOP SECRET
URGENT
FROM STACHIEP BUENOS AIRES 1315 GREENWICH 15APR43
MSG NO 0007
TO ORACLE WASHDC
1. IN RE YOUR 545. TEX INFORMED BY UNDERSIGNED THAT ORACLE DESIRES IDENTIFICATION OF GALAHAD AND CAVALRY. TEX STATED HE HAD ALREADY INFORMED ORACLE HIS UNWILLINGNESS TO DO SO.
2. TEX STATED HE IS DEPARTING BUENOS AIRES TONIGHT FOR PORTO ALEGRE PURPOSE FERRYING AIRCRAFT PLUS PERSONNEL AND MATERIEL AT PORTO ALEGRE BLACK. ATTEMPTED TO EXPLAIN THAT ENORMOUS RISK OF BLACK FLIGHT BEING DETECTED UNDER THESE CIRCUMSTANCES INDICATED NECESSITY OP AUTHORIZATION BY ORACLE AND UNDERSIGNED REQUESTED SEVENTY-TWO HOUR DELAY PURPOSE DOING SO. TEX DECLINED TO DELAY DEPARTURE.
TEX DECLINED TO FURNISH UNDERSIGNED DETAILS OP BLACK INFILTRATION, STATING UNDERSIGNED DOES NOT HAVE NEED TO KNOW AND FURTHER STATED HE DOES NOT CONSIDER HIMSELF OBLIGED TO HAVE APPROVAL OP UNDERSIGNED FOR ANY OP HIS OPERATIONS.
UNDERSIGNED RELUCTANTLY PROVIDED TEX LOCATION OF TEAM CHIEF ALREADY IN COUNTRY. BLACK INFILTRATION OF TEAM PERSONNEL AND MATERIEL PROM PORTO ALEGRE TO ARGENTINA WILL THUS PROCEED AS DESCRIBED UNLESS ORDERS TO CONTRARY FURNISHED STACHIEP PORTO ALEGRE.
UNDERSIGNED STRONGLY PEELS THAT EFFICIENCY OF ALL ARGENTINA OPERATIONS WOULD BE GREATLY ENHANCED IF COMMAND STRUCTURE MADE ABSOLUTELY CLEAR TO ALL PERSONNEL.
STACHIEP END
TOP SECRET
Colonel Graham handed the message back to Donovan and met his eyes.
"I still think that leaving who gives orders to who down there a little vague was the right thing to do," he said.
"You do?"
"And this proves it. If I told Frade that he took his orders from Delojo, he would not be on his way to take the airplane, and Ashton, and Ashton's team and the radar, into Argentina. He would be sitting with his thumb up his ass waiting for Delojo to think of some way to do the same thing in a manner that would absolutely guarantee that if something went wrong, he couldn't be held responsible."
"You must be angry, Alex. The only time you're vulgar is when you're angry."
"I don't like Delojo going over my head to you to complain about Frade."
"This may come as a big surprise to you, Alex, but neither did I," Donovan said, and went into his desk drawer again and came out with another message.
TOP SECRET
URGENT
PROM ORACLE WASHDC
MSG NO 2602 060B GREENWICH 16APR43
TO STACHIEF BUENOS AIRES
REFERENCE YOUR NO. 0007
REGRET COMMAND STRUCTURE AND MISSION PRIORITIES NOT MADE CLEAR. HIGHEST PRIORITY OF BUENOS AIRES STATION IS TO SUPPORT TEAM AGGIE. STACHIEF AGGIE AT HIS SOLE DISCRETION WILL DETERMINE STACHIEF BUENOS AIRES'S NEED TO KNOW DETAILS OF ANY MISSION.
INASMUCH AS STACHIEF AGGIE IS UNDER DIRECT, CONTROL OF ORACLE FURTHER COMMENTS FROM YOU
CONCERNING HIS ACTIVITIES ARE NOT DESIRED.
COPY TO STACHIEF AGGIE
DONOVAN END
TOP SECRET
"I don't think I quite understand," Graham said.
"That looks pretty clear to me," Donovan said. "That just went out. I wanted to have my reply to show you at the same time I showe
d you Delojo's message."
"You messaged Delojo to find out who Galahad and Cavalry are?" Dono-van nodded. "Isn't that my job?"
"I don't need your permission to message anybody," Donovan said. "But I don't-and you know I don't-if there's not a good reason. In this case, you were in Havana when I sent that to Delojo."
Graham considered that, nodded, and then asked, "And then you jump all over him for asking Frade?"
"I didn't tell him to ask Frade. I told him I wanted to know who they are. That's all. He-perfectly naturally, as far as I'm concerned; he does outrank Frade-misconstrued that into thinking he had authority over Frade. And when Frade told him no, he considered it insubordination. I had to straighten that out, Alex. You were wrong to be 'a little vague.'"
Graham didn't reply.
"I'm meeting you more than halfway, Alex," Donovan said. "I need Gala-had and Cavalry identified. Galahad in particular. I have to go to the President with Lindbergh."
"All I can do is order him again," Graham said.
"No. That's not all you can do."
"You want me to go down there?"
"I want to know who Galahad and Cavalry are. I don't care how you find out."
"It's that important?"
"Yeah, it is," Donovan said simply. "If J. Edgar Hoover beats me to the President on this, it will hurt us badly."
"And the reverse is true, right? That's what this is all about? Your little war with Hoover?"
"Just find out who Galahad and Cavalry are, Alex. OK?"
Graham looked at him for a moment, then walked out of the office.
[FOUR]
Bachelor Officers' Quarters
2035th U.S. Army Air Corps Support Wing
Porto Alegre, Brazil
1930 IB April 1943
"I'm really going to miss her," Captain Maxwell Ashton said as Consuelo drove off in her cousin's Fiat, leaving Ashton, Clete, and Enrico standing on the side-walk in front of what before the war had been The Gran Hotel de Porto.
"I can understand that," Clete said.
"I seriously considered asking her to spend the night. With a little bit of luck, you would have been caught sneaking across the border and tossed in a cell. I hope you realize, mi Mayor, what a sacrifice I am making for the com-mon good."
"Your devotion to duty is inspiring, Capitan Ashton," Clete said.
"I know, I know. It's another character flaw I can't seem to get rid of. Come on in, mi Mayor, we'll get you a room, and then you can meet the team. The go-rilla's all excited about meeting a genuine hero face-to-face."
"Por favor, Capitan, kiss my ass."
The Army Air Corps technical sergeant who was the Bachelor Officers' Quar-ters manager was polite but firm; he could not assign a room to anybody who didn't have orders.
"These gentlemen are with me," Ashton said. "Colonel Wallace arranged for our quarters."
"They still have to have orders," the Air Corps sergeant said.
A telephone call was made to Colonel Wallace's office. He had gone for the day, and it was necessary to establish contact with him at the bar of the Officers' Club on the Navy base.
"Colonel Wallace."
"This is Major Frade, Sir."
"I wasn't expecting you until tomorrow, Major."
"I got in a little early, Sir."
"Come to my office at twelve hundred tomorrow."
"I'm at the BOQ, Sir. Two of us are."
"Come to my office at twelve hundred tomorrow," Colonel Wallace re-peated somewhat impatiently.
"I'm having a little trouble getting a room, Colonel."
"How is that?"
"The problem seems to be my orders."
"What's wrong with your orders?"
"I don't have any orders, Sir."
"You don't have any orders?" Colonel Wallace asked incredulously.
"No, Sir."
"That's very unusual, you understand."
"Yes, Sir. I realize that. I was hoping, Sir, you would have a word with the sergeant."
"Very well," Colonel Wallace said after giving the subject a full thirty sec-onds of thought. "Put him on."
"Thank you very much, Sir."
The price of each room was one dollar and twenty-five cents, United States currency only. Major Frade had to borrow the money from Captain Ashton.
First Lieutenant Madison R. Sawyer III did not physically resemble a gorilla. He was a good-looking, large, well-muscled young man wearing a well-cut tweed jacket and a button-down-collar shirt and gray flannel slacks. His blond hair was closely cropped in a crew cut.
"It's a privilege to meet you, Sir," he said enthusiastically, shaking Clete's hand in a bone-crushing grip.
"Easy on the hand, Lieutenant!"
"Sorry, Sir."
Staff Sergeant Jerry O'Sullivan, who was dressed in a cotton zipper jacket and a turtleneck shirt, was a wiry little man with sharp features and intelligent eyes. Sergeant Siegfried Stein, who wore a rumpled suit, was almost as large as Lieutenant Sawyer, but did not look muscular. Technical Sergeant Ferris was average-size, with a lithe build.
"I've explained to Lieutenant Sawyer and the men, Major," Ashton said, for the first time sounding like an officer, "that you believe that the infiltration can be best accomplished by flying us across the border into Argentina in your aircraft."
"It's a C-45," Clete said, looking at the team. "The Air Corps uses them as liaison aircraft, and to train navigators. I've flown one a couple of times, and I have seen the strip where we can land in Argentina..."
"Permission to speak, Sir?" the gorilla asked. Clete nodded.
"Parachute infiltration has been decided against, Sir?"
"You're asking the wrong man, Lieutenant. I don't command your team."
"But you are the senior officer of the line present, Sir," the gorilla argued.
Clete's glance fell on the enlisted men. From their faces it was clear they shared the opinion of their executive officer held by their commanding officer.
"Let the major continue, Lieutenant Sawyer," Ashton said. "Perhaps he will be good enough to hold a question-and-answer period when he's finished."
"Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir," the gorilla said, then looked at Clete and added, "Excuse me, Sir."
"As I said, I just had a look at the landing strip where I'll land. I don't see any problem in getting a C-45 in there."
"Excuse me, Sir," Lieutenant Sawyer said. "It's not a C-45, Sir, it's a C-56-"
"Shut up, Sawyer!" Ashton snapped.
"Going by plane would solve a lot of problems," Clete said. "Starting with getting everybody and all the equipment across the Rio Uruguay. And then from Corrientes Province to-" Clete interrupted himself and looked at Ashton.
"Have you discussed your destination?"
"No, but this is as good a time as any."
"Your radar will be installed on the shore of Samboromb¢n Bay. My men have already selected the site. If we travel by plane, we can fly directly there from Corrientes. Otherwise, obviously, you'd have to get a truck to carry the radar. There would be a damn good chance of running into trouble at a police or military checkpoint if you moved by truck."
"Are we being given a choice here?" Sergeant Stein asked.
"Of course not," Lieutenant Sawyer said incredulously.
"Yeah, Siggie, you are," Captain Ashton said.
"I vote for the airplane," Stein said.
"Anybody have any objections?" Ashton asked.
There were no objections.
"Are there any questions?" Clete asked.
"When would we go?" Sergeant Stein asked.
"The aircraft is supposed to be available to me as of noon tomorrow," Clete said. "If that happens, they've promised me an hour's cockpit familiarization and an IP to ride with me while I shoot some touch-and-goes. Unless something goes wrong, we could break ground right after nightfall tomorrow. It's about a three-hour flight, maybe three-thirty, to Santo Tome."