Tanner glanced at Tanja, her face and dress stained with Ferguson’s blood, then went forward, past the radio operator and navigator, to the cockpit. Behind, the tail gunner was still firing, but the battle was dying away as the Mitchell sped out over the Mediterranean, weaving low over the surface of the sea.
‘That’s those little bastards gone,’ muttered the pilot, his oxygen mask dangling free.
‘Archie,’ said Tanner.
Squadron Leader Flynn grinned. ‘Jack bloody Tanner as I live and breathe!’
Tanner laughed. ‘Thanks for the rescue,’ he said. ‘I honestly don’t think I’ve ever been more glad to see someone in my life.’
26
Sunday, 20 September. It was still early in the morning, although for Tanja it already seemed one of the longest days of her life. The sailors, Allenby and his crew, had already left by truck for Alexandria, but she and the rest of C Detachment were waiting at Burg El Arab for an onward flight to Heliopolis.
Burg El Arab. It was here, she realized, that General Gott had boarded his fatal flight. She still bitterly regretted her part in that. Twelve o’clock, she’d been told by Orca. Noon. She had known what it had meant, and had changed it to two o’clock. If either Cobra or Orca challenged her, she would have pretended an oversight had made her miss the ‘1’ of ‘12’. She had signalled two p.m., not twelve. Her well-intentioned ploy had backfired. As Bowlby had explained during her initial interrogation, Gott had been delayed not once but twice. Fate had played a cruel hand that day.
She sat apart from the others. Exhaustion swept over her. She desperately wanted to talk to Alex, but he had steadfastly refused to speak to her, avoiding her as much as possible. Such hatred in his eyes! It was more than she could bear. Tanja stood up and wandered outside. It was warm, but not overwhelmingly so – not yet at any rate. The heat of the day rose later, in the third week of September.
‘I’m sorry,’ said a familiar voice behind her, ‘but I need to take you back inside the tent. Where we can see you.’
‘And where exactly am I going to run to?’ she asked, conscious of the catch in her voice and the tears threatening to flow from her eyes. ‘Alex,’ she said, taking a step towards him. ‘Please. There’s so much I want to explain to you.’
‘Why?’ said Vaughan. ‘What’s the point when I know it will all be lies?’
‘It is not all lies.’
‘But how can you expect me to believe you? After what you did?’
‘Alex, please,’ she said. ‘Come over here. Away from the others.’
He glanced back at the tent, then took a few steps towards her. ‘All right,’ he said. ‘I’m listening. Tell me, Tanja.’
She closed her eyes for a moment. Where to begin?
‘Get your story straight first,’ he said.
A tear ran down her cheek. ‘I love you, Alex,’ she said. ‘When I told you that, I was telling you the truth.’
He swallowed, and breathed in deeply, then whisked away a fly from his face.
‘I never thought I would ever love again after Tomas died.’
‘Tomas?’
‘Yes, Alex – my husband. He was a German. Not a Nazi, but an educated German, in the diplomatic service, working in Warsaw. I met him in 1936, we married six months later, and within a year he had been murdered – by the NKVD.’
‘The Russian secret service.’
‘Yes. And the Russians also killed my brother, destroyed my home, ransacked the village, raped a number of the women and murdered anyone who tried to defy them. I managed to flee, having abandoned my parents. I was completely alone, running and running, south through Poland, into Romania, then to Yugoslavia. I was in Belgrade when the government there collapsed. Suddenly there were the Germans and I was being offered a chance – a chance for survival but also a chance for revenge. By spying for the Germans, I thought I could help bring the downfall of Stalin and Communist Russia.’
‘By spying against the British? Oh, Tanja, please, spare me.’
‘No, Alex, this world – this war – it is not black and white. You remember when I got so angry at the Union Club? It was because I have heard this so often. That the only enemy is the Nazis and that the British cause is the moral one. It is not as simple as that. I was married to a German – a good man – and my family and home were destroyed by the Soviets. If you had had your home and family – your life – ripped to pieces, you would see things very differently. I was angry, so very, very angry. And I was guilty, too. I had survived. I needed to do something – something to help my people.’
‘And in so doing sent countless people to their deaths.’
‘We’re all doing that, Alex!’ she said, exasperation and despair in her voice. ‘God knows, you must have killed enough people in your time, and what about Flynn and his crew? What about your men last night? Do you think it right that innocent supply troops and dock workers should be killed? Do you think it fair that thousands of innocent civilians should die at the hands of Allied bombers? You British do not have the moral right to judge everyone and everything by your own standards. Of course I regret every life lost, but I did what I did for my country, however misguided that might have been. And I also did what I could to ensure as few people lost their lives as possible because of what I was signalling to Cobra. Even Gott I tried to save.’
‘Gott? How?’
She told him. ‘It was then,’ she said, ‘that I began to realize that what I was doing was not helping Poland in any way. I had thought that if Britain could be defeated here then the forces freed up might tip the balance on the Eastern Front, but now I realized that the chance for a German and Italian victory had gone. And, Alex, I met you. I fell in love with you. All the anger, the lust for revenge I had felt – it began to melt away. And then a miracle – I learned my mother and father are alive and with the Poles who are training to fight alongside the British. I knew then that I had to stop, that I could spy for Germany no longer. At David Stirling’s party, I met his brother. The next day, I went to the embassy and confessed everything. It was the hardest thing I have ever done because I knew then that you would learn the truth and that we would not be together for much longer. I knew it would destroy what we had, and that broke my heart again.’
‘And Peter contacted Bowlby?’
‘Yes, and Maunsell. I was interrogated over and over. I gave them my codebook, deciphered all the messages that had been intercepted, and they told me they wanted me to become a double-agent and spy for them instead. They said I had no choice. I was to contact Cobra, tell him that the circuit was finished in exchange for their help in getting me out. None of Maunsell’s colleagues knew. None of them. It was all arranged, but then Jack saw me with Artus – Mustafa – at the bazaar and told SIME. Maunsell was not there that afternoon, or else he would have stopped it.’
‘So Sammy raided your flat and we were caught like peas in a pod,’ said Vaughan, unable to hide the bitterness in his voice.
‘Yes. Maunsell released me a short while later. He pretended to interrogate me and then announced that I was innocent. That I could not be Marlin.’
‘Jack said that Mustafa was visited by Orca the morning you left.’
‘I had to tell Mustafa I was being picked up by Cobra. He insisted on escorting me – I think because he wanted proof that what I had told him was true.’
‘So Orca believed you had slipped through the net – that you really had been freed?’
‘He must have done. I expect he still does.’
‘And then Jack turns up. He told me you saved his life.’
‘Mustafa is a very dangerous man. I always hated him. I hated Orca too, and Cobra, although I liked Rommel’s intelligence chiefs. They were kind to me.’
‘You know Orca, then?’
Tanja shook her head. ‘No. I saw him once, but not his face. I would recognize his voice anywhere, though.’ She searched his eyes. ‘So, now I have told you, and I will tell Maunsell and Bowlby that I have told you
. It has been a terrible nightmare these past ten days. I miss you so much, Alex. I miss what we had.’
‘But don’t you see, Tanja?’ he said. ‘We were living a lie.’
‘No, we were not. What we felt for each other was real. You never told me about your work, I never told you about mine, but I know you loved me too.’
Vaughan stood there, head bowed, as a Hudson approached the landing ground, arriving low out of the desert. ‘I’m exhausted,’ he said. ‘I can’t think straight any more. I want to believe you, Tanja, I really do, but I can’t just turn back the clock, pretend that none of this happened. Perhaps you did have reasons for doing what you did, but you were still a spy for Germany. I can’t just put that to one side.’
The Hudson touched down in a cloud of dust and sand.
He turned, but she caught his hand. ‘Alex,’ she said, ‘please. I am frightened. I cannot do this any more. If Orca finds out about me, he will kill me.’
Vaughan let her hand drop. ‘I’m sorry, Tanja. But I can’t do this any more either. You’re a beautiful, clever woman. Find someone else to save you.’
For a moment she stood there, watching him walk back to the mess tent to collect his kit. She felt crushed. The Hudson stood before her, large and menacing, the propellers still whirring. It would be so easy, she thought, to run into them, and end it there. At least she would have some control over that. But returning to Cairo was to venture once more into an unknown and uncertain future. It is what we do not know that we fear.
Vaughan had promised Captain Peploe that he would need Tanner and Sykes for two weeks at the most. For Sykes, it was thirteen days: after they had reached Cairo safely, he was given one more night, then sent back to Mena Camp. For Tanner, however, the return to the city had been marked by a series of debriefings – first with SIME and ISLD, and then, the following morning, at GHQ with the DMI and his team.
Slaps on the back, and enthusiastic praise: everyone had been delighted with the mission’s success, which had gone some way to rectifying the disaster of a few days before. Maunsell had been positively cock-a-hoop, his gamble on sending Tanja Zanowski into the lion’s den more than justified, even if Cobra had been killed, rather than captured.
‘A shame he couldn’t have been brought back alive,’ Maunsell had said.
‘Sorry about that, RJ,’ Tanner replied, ‘but I’m afraid it was him or Tanja.’
Maunsell had beamed. ‘Of course, of course! You did absolutely the right thing. Anyway, can’t have everything, eh?’
But Mustafa was dead. He had, Maunsell told Tanner, killed himself in his cell. ‘With a small piece of glass in his suit pocket. Can you believe it? He cut his own throat and bled to death. He wasn’t found until it was too late.’
‘He didn’t spill the beans on Orca, then?’
‘No. Didn’t say a word. He’s the only person we’ve failed to break. Of all the people who have been through the interrogation centre, he’s the only one. Incredible.’
‘I can’t say I’m sorry,’ said Tanner. ‘He was a right bastard. Nearly had the better of me. Tanja saved me.’
‘Ah, yes, Tanja. What a gold mine she has proved. The GS are absolutely over the moon with her information about Panzer Army Headquarters. They’re all ill, apparently. Rommel’s sick as a dog. I think we knew that they were struggling to get enough supplies but it’s the state of his forces that’s been such an eye-opener. Honestly, you chaps in Eighth Army don’t know how lucky you are – rations galore, ammo aplenty, and the flesh-pots of Cairo on your doorstep. What do our enemy have? Bread like rock and twice daily renditions of “Lili Marlene”!’
‘That’s good to hear,’ Tanner had said, but then had returned to Tanja. ‘She saved my life, you know.’
‘I didn’t.’
‘She pistol-whipped Mustafa. Another moment, and I’d have been a croaker.’
‘Brave girl.’
‘At El Teirieh,’ he said, ‘you promised to explain everything. Just who is Tanja? Was she Marlin?’
Maunsell had smiled enigmatically. ‘One day I will tell you everything. But maybe not just now.’
‘I only know what I saw,’ said Tanner. ‘Neither Vaughan nor Tanja told me anything.’
‘She’s a double-agent, Jack. That’s all you need to know.’
‘What will happen to her?’
Maunsell had smiled affably. ‘Don’t you worry about her. We have plans for Miss Zanowski.’
‘And what about her safety? What if Orca discovers who she is? Or Mustafa’s friends?’
‘Jack,’ Maunsell had said, putting an arm on his shoulders, ‘we’ll look after Tanja Zanowski, don’t you worry. When do you rejoin your battalion?’
‘Tuesday morning.’
‘Well, when you get back to your men, if I were you, I’d put her, Orca and Mustafa right out of your mind and focus your energies on the battle to come.’ Maunsell had been as tactful and charming as ever, but the message could not have been clearer: this doesn’t concern you any more.
The debrief with the DMI had been more straightforward and had been conducted not one to one but with the other officers of C Detachment: Vaughan, Farrer and de Villiers. Brigadier Williams and the GS(I) boys were more interested in their descriptions of Tobruk, of what they’d seen of the port and the town. Apparently, Rommel was seething at the amount of fuel that had been lost. Enemy air forces had barely flown since. ‘You’ve done bloody well,’ Brigadier Bill had told them. ‘Bloody well. Far more effective than that other fiasco.’
Tanner spent the afternoon with Lucie – and this time they had gone nowhere, barely venturing from her bedroom. It was like the old days, when he’d been recuperating. They made love, slept, talked, and Tanner felt himself relax in a way he had not been able to do for one moment since he’d left Cairo days before.
‘The battle’s coming, isn’t it?’ Lucie said to him later, as she lay with her head on his chest.
‘Yes,’ said Tanner.
‘When?’
He shrugged. ‘I doubt it’ll be this month now. Probably October. When there’s a moon. Maybe even November.’
She held him more tightly. ‘All I ever seem to do is say goodbye to you. I’m worried that one day it’ll be for the last time.’
‘Well, don’t,’ said Tanner. ‘I know how to look after myself.’
‘You don’t have to see as many torn and wounded men as I do.’
‘I reckon I see enough. Listen, Luce, this will be the last big one for a bit. I’m sure of it. Rommel’s finished this time. We’ll have the battle, get him beat, and I’ll be back again before you know it.’
She kissed him. ‘Make sure you are.’ She sighed. ‘One day it’s got to come to an end, hasn’t it?’
‘The war? I suppose so, yes. One day, but not just yet.’
Lucie was on nights, so Tanner had agreed with Johnny Farrer’s suggestion that they all meet at Shepheard’s. He liked Farrer, de Villiers too. In any case, it was his final night before he returned to the Rangers; very likely it would be his last time in Cairo before the battle. He was also glad that Vaughan had said he would join them. He reckoned a night on the town would do his friend some good. Might stop him brooding.
The terrace was as busy as ever, but by the time Tanner arrived a little after six, Farrer and de Villiers had already found them a table next to one of the giant ferns at the top of the steps. ‘Ah, this is the bloody life,’ said de Villiers, taking a large draught of his Stella.
‘And nice to see men in uniform without sweat stains on their shirts,’ added Farrer. ‘This is my kind of temperature.’ It was warm still, but the intense heat of August had gone.
‘Here’s to an autumn night in Cairo,’ said Tanner, raising his glass.
Vaughan arrived soon after, looking exhausted. He sat down, lit a cigarette and ordered a beer.
‘We’d begun to give up on you,’ said Farrer.
‘Sorry. The debriefings and meetings have gone on, rather. C Detachment
is being put on hold, though.’
‘Really? Why?’ said de Villiers.
‘Haven’t we just had the most stupendous success?’ added Farrer.
‘Yes, but there’s no obvious mission for the moment. Tobruk has been hit, Mersa’s not big enough, Benghazi and Tripoli are too far, and Malta is proving ever more successful again as an anti-shipping base. From now on, C Detachment will come and go. Re-formed when required.’
‘What will you do now?’ asked Tanner.
‘Freddie de Guingand’s asked me to be one of his ADCs at Monty’s HQ for the coming battle.’
‘Congratulations,’ said Tanner.
‘It’s an opportunity, certainly. And, to be honest, I’m sick to the back teeth with intelligence work. I’m looking forward to getting into the desert again.’
Farrer looked at de Villiers. ‘We need to get a posting, old cock, and fast.’
‘Back to your battalions?’ said Tanner.
‘I’d like to try for Stirling’s lot,’ said de Villiers.
‘Hmm, that’s a thought,’ said Farrer.
‘I’ll give you a reference if that would help,’ said Vaughan.
‘Thanks,’ said de Villiers. ‘It would.’
They had talked on, one beer following another, until, as darkness fell, they had begun to wonder whether perhaps they shouldn’t get something to eat.
‘What do you think, Alex?’ asked de Villiers. ‘Shall we stay here?’
But Vaughan was no longer listening. Instead he was staring towards the steps.
Tanner followed his gaze. Tanja was standing there, no longer filthy and covered with blood but in an elegant evening dress, her hair combed and lips painted red. Dazzling.
‘Tanja,’ he said, pushing back his chair and getting up. De Villiers and Farrer were also on their feet.
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