by CW Browning
“Yes.”
They were silent, staring at each other. Evelyn couldn’t say anything else. He was right. That was exactly what she was asking of him. It was up to him whether or not he felt the cause outweighed the risks. After what seemed like a very long time, Olav exhaled and straightened up, dropping his arms to his side.
“I will do it,” he decided. “Tell Anna that she can come to me, and we can arrange it. Unlike Peder, I see no reason to wait. I believe it is only a matter of time before Hitler turns his eyes north to us. When he does, there will be many who will need my services.”
Evelyn hadn’t been aware that she was holding her breath until he spoke, then she exhaled silently in relief. She nodded and smiled, holding out her hand to him.
“I will let Anna know. Thank you.”
He grasped her hand, shaking it. “Don’t thank me. I do it for my country, not for you. Just as you are here for your country, and not for me.”
She met his gaze.
“One is not necessarily exclusive of the other,” she said softly. “I am here for my country, yes, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t care about yours. The Nazi threat is something that affects us all. It is something we all must resist.”
Olav smiled faintly and released her hand.
“And we shall.”
Chapter Sixteen
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Drammen, Norway
The large fishing boat bobbed in the water as the men finished securing the day’s catch before preparing to go back to shore. Kristian looked over the water, taking a deep breath of salty air before turning away from the others.
“I’m going below deck,” he said over his shoulder. “Set a course for home. We’ve had a good day out.”
“Going back to your machine?” his brother called with a laugh. “You’re obsessed.”
Kristian shrugged and went through the opening and down the wooden steps to the lower level of the boat. He was used to his brothers teasing him about his radio. They didn’t fully understand why he preferred to spend his spare moments with the radio, but they did understand that it was his passion. And more recently, they had begun to realize how useful his wireless radio could be.
He went into the tiny room he used as a combination office and chart room and sat down before the radio. This morning, the traffic between the naval yards in Germany and Poland had been heavy, making him think that something was changing. Something was going on, and Kristian was very much afraid that it wasn’t anything good.
He lifted the headset and settled it over his head, switching on the radio and turning the knobs. After playing with the frequency for a moment, he found the one from this morning and settled down to listen. The flurry of activity was still going strong and he frowned, picking up a pencil and pulling his notepad towards him. The messages were still in the new code that he couldn’t make head or tail of, but every once in while he got lucky and was able to piece together words that meant something. With any luck, perhaps now would be one of those times.
Fifteen minutes later, Kristian took off his headset and stared down at the pad of paper. There were several phrases scrawled down and he studied them intently for moment. One word was used in all of them: Weserübung.
He frowned, staring at it. Why was there so much traffic going between the ports about a river exercise? It had to be a code for something else. He underlined the word and turned his attention to the others on the paper. There was something here. He just had to find it.
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Oslo, Norway
Peder held the door open for the customer carrying his newly-repaired radio.
“Thank you, Mr. Brevig. I think you’ll find it works much better now,” he said with a nod.
The old man smiled. “You’re a genius, Peder, and a life-saver. My wife listens to this every evening. She’s been miserable since it’s been gone. I’ll admit, I’ve missed our nightly program as well.”
Peder laughed. “Go home and enjoy it, then. And tell Mrs. Brevig hello for me.”
“I will.”
Mr. Brevig departed and Peder closed the door, locking it and turning the sign in the window to say that they were closed. It was fifteen minutes past closing time, but Mr. Brevig had been a loyal customer for many years. When he’d come to pick up his radio just as he was preparing to close, Peder knew it would take a few minutes. Mr. Brevig liked to chat, and Peder always enjoyed their talks. He didn’t mind staying a little later for him.
Turning, he went back to the counter to collect the till and take it into the back. He would settle the drawer, lock it in the safe, and then go join his family for dinner.
Peder was just opening the safe ten minutes later when the radio on his desk in the back room came alive with the unmistakable sound of a message coming through the receiver. He glanced at his watch and frowned, setting the cash drawer in the safe before closing and locking the heavy door. Who was trying to reach him? He usually didn’t go on until later and most of his fellow radio enthusiasts knew that.
He crossed over to the desk and sat down, picking up the headset. Settling it on his head, he flipped a switch on the radio and listened for a moment. His eyebrows soared into his forehead in surprise. It was Kristian. He’d just heard from him on Saturday and he hadn’t mentioned contacting him again so soon.
He lifted out the signal paddle and answered the signal, then settled down to wait. Perhaps he had learned something new about what was happening across the sea in Germany. Personally, Peder thought he was insane for trying to decode German messages, but he admitted that if anyone had a shot at that, it was probably Kristian. He was one of the smartest men Peder knew, even if he did spend most of his day on a boat with fish.
His lips twitched at the thought. When Kristian elected to return to Drammen after they finished school and join the family business, they had all been dismayed. With his brains, he could do anything. Why fishing? Surely that was a waste of his talent and education. But Kristian had proved them all wrong. Returning to Drammen, he had taken over the family business, growing it from two small fishing boats to five large ones over the course of two years. The business was growing and doing well, and so was Kristian. Not only had he taken the helm of the business, but he had continued his radio hobby, and often traveled to Oslo to speak at meetings for the many societies he was still a part of.
Peder picked up his pencil as a new message began to come through. It was in the code that he and Kristian had developed while they were still in school. They were the only two who used it, making it perfect for transmitting messages that they didn’t want anyone to know. It had started as a fun game for the young students, but now Peder frowned. If Kristian was using the old code, it wasn’t a game anymore.
A few minutes later, he stared down at the message on the paper, stunned. He felt the blood draining from his face and he dropped his pencil as his hand began to shake. It was impossible. Kristian had to have got it wrong. Even as the thought entered his head, though, Peder knew it was wishful thinking. This wasn’t something Kristian would have got wrong. He was too good for that.
DECODED PORTIONS OF SEVERAL TRANSMISSIONS TODAY. THERE CAN BE NO DOUBT. GERMANS SENDING INVASION FORCE. THEY EXPECT TO BE IN OSLO TOMORROW.
Peder took a deep, ragged breath and got up, running shaking hands through his hair as he paced restlessly around the office, his mind spinning. How had Kristian cracked the German code? He knew that he had been working on it, and knew that he had broken the diplomatic code months ago. But he never really thought that Kristian would learn anything very important. Yet, if what he just said was true, he had figured out something that Peder doubted their own government even knew. The news today had been dominated by Norway’s strong protests against Britain mining waters off the coast. Not a word had been mentioned about any possible German fleet movements.
Peder dropped back into his seat and
rubbed a hand over his eyes. Yet it made perfect sense. The English were busy laying mines in the waters to prevent German ships from moving freely through Norwegian waters. Why would they do that if not because they believed that Germany would try to invade Norway?
This was exactly what Anna and Marlene had been warning him of just two days ago. Marlene had been convinced that an invasion was inevitable, but he hadn’t wanted to believe that it could be possible. At least, not without some kind of warning.
He put his headset on again and began to reply to Kristian. He needed to know everything Kristian knew. And then he had to let Anna know.
If the Nazis were coming, Marlene was in danger. They had to get her out of Oslo, and they would need his radio to help.
“So that makes two definite and one possibility,” Anna said. “That’s not bad for your first attempt!”
“Our first attempt,” Evelyn corrected her. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”
She and Anna were seated at a table in the restaurant of the Hotel Bistro. Monday night was not a busy evening and the tables around them were empty. They weren’t the only diners, but it was a far cry from the busy dining room Evelyn was used to. Opposite them, on the other side of the large room, a businessman sat alone with a newspaper while he waited for his dinner. Not far from him, an older couple who looked as if they were tourists were dining with gusto, while two men who had the stamp of foreign diplomats upon them were seated towards the doors. In all, only about ten of the tables were occupied, making it seem as if they were safely isolated from each other.
“I think you could have, but I’ll admit that I enjoy helping,” Anna said, lifting her glass. “To an early success!”
Evelyn smiled, raising her glass in an answering toast and sipping the crisp, white wine in appreciation. While she was used to dining in fashionable, busy restaurants, she was enjoying the relative quiet this evening. This was exactly what she needed after the tense afternoon in Olav’s back room, trying to convince him to become part of something larger than himself.
“I’ve had some ideas on other people to approach,” Anna continued, setting her glass down. “Olav’s unique...skills got me thinking. I hadn’t really considered it before, but people who are perhaps not on the right side of the law may actually be the perfect people to approach.”
Evelyn’s brows furrowed. “We need to be careful when it comes to people like that,” she said slowly. “They would undoubtedly know ways around things and that could prove invaluable, but they also, by and large, can’t be trusted.”
“Would you rather not explore the possibilities?” Anna asked after a moment. “We don’t have to. It was just a thought.”
After a long pause, Evelyn looked at her. “Who did you have in mind?”
“There’s a woman I met when I first came to Oslo. She lived in the flat above me. She used to work at night and I thought she was a nurse. It turns out that she was, but not quite the kind that I thought.”
“What does that mean?”
“She was a nurse, and a very good one by all accounts. But then she discovered that there was much more money to be made by working in private practice.” Anna lowered her voice and leaned forward. “She works with a doctor. They provide special care. Their patients are prostitutes.”
Evelyn blinked. “Special care?” she repeated, mystified. “What does that mean?”
Anna cleared her throat and looked a little uncomfortable. “They take care of the medical problems that arise from...well, being a prostitute.”
“You mean disease?”
“Among other things.”
Evelyn was silent, her mind spinning. She had never given the profession of prostitution much thought, but she supposed that they would need doctors, perhaps more than most. She was well aware of the various diseases that could be contracted in the oldest female profession. Her mother, of course, would be horrified if she realized that she knew, but Evelyn had always been a very forward-thinking individual. Even so, what Anna was discussing was still rather shocking to her.
“How would this woman be useful to us?” she finally asked. “I don’t understand.”
Anna leaned forward again. “If the Germans do invade Norway, there will be a lot of soldiers a long way from home and in a strange country,” she said in a low voice. “Where do you think they will go for...companionship?”
Evelyn gasped softly. “Of course!” she breathed. “And if the nurse is in the confidence of her patients...”
Anna smiled. “Exactly.”
“That’s...that’s brilliant.”
“I’m glad you think so. Shall I try to hunt her down? I’m sure she’s still working with the same doctor. She had no intention of stopping when I last saw her.”
“Do you think she would be sympathetic?”
“If the Nazis come? Yes. I think she’ll be furious. She was very outspoken about her opinion of Herr Hitler.” Anna shrugged. “I don’t think she’ll take much convincing, especially for you. You’ve clearly got a knack for talking people into this.”
“I don’t know how. I’m still at a loss, to be honest.”
“Well, it doesn’t show.”
Evelyn met her gaze and smiled, remembering how skeptical she had been when Jasper and Bill had given her this assignment. And yet here she was, sitting on two definite recruits and one probable. She was already ahead of where she’d thought she would be.
“Enough about work,” she said, reaching for her glass. “This is supposed to be a celebration, not a meeting. Let’s talk about something else. Tell me about your brother.”
“Erik?” Anna looked surprised. “What do you want to know?”
“You said he was in the army?”
“Yes. His unit is just outside of Trondheim.” Anna sipped her drink. “Although, I believe he’s going up to Narvik next month.”
“What does he do?”
“He’s a Lieutenant. I have no idea what kind of officer he is, but I know he’s very good with his rifle. It’s strange because I can’t think of him as a leader and an officer. He’s the older brother who used to hide snakes in my galoshes when I was little.”
Evelyn smiled. “Do you miss him?”
“Yes, I suppose I do,” Anna said after a moment of thought. “We were always very close, though we tend to disagree on many things nowadays.”
“Do you? Like what?”
“Well, for one thing, he’s very firmly of the opinion that I should be home with my parents and not in Oslo working for the British Embassy,” she said with a quick grin. “He has very strong opinions on the British at the moment.”
“I imagine many Norwegians do,” Evelyn murmured, her lips twisting dryly. “We’re not very popular right now.”
“No, but I understand why your country is doing what it is. Unfortunately, Erik isn’t interested in trying to see the other side of it. That’s where we part company on many subjects. His is very single-minded and stubborn.”
She tilted her head and studied Evelyn across the table.
“And what of your brother?” she asked. “You said you had one in the RAF.”
Evelyn swallowed and nodded, uncomfortably aware that Anna fully expected her to be as candid about her own brother as she had been about hers. Yet she was reluctant to do so. The less Anna, or anyone else, knew about her the better.
“Yes.”
“And do you get along well with yours?”
“Yes. Like you, we’ve always been close.” Evelyn reached for her wine. “But we agree on most things. We’re a lot alike.”
“What’s his name?” Anna asked after a moment of silence.
“Robert.”
“Do you miss him?”
“Dreadfully,” she admitted with a sad smile. “He’s always good for a laugh.”
“Do you worry about him?” Anna asked after another moment of silence.
“Every day.”
“I do as well,” Anna said with a sigh. “Especially knowing that we will likely be facing off with the Germans sooner rather than later. Our military is not prepared for war. Despite everything that has been happening in Europe over the past few years, our government has not mobilized the army or navy, or even provided updated equipment. They are trusting in our continued neutrality.”
“They haven’t done anything at all?” Evelyn asked, startled.
Anna shook her head. “No. Erik has been complaining about it for almost a year. He, and others, can see what’s coming, but they won’t have the means to fight properly against it.”
Evelyn was silent. She had known the Norwegian forces were no match for the Germans in numbers, but she hadn’t realized that they weren’t prepared to go to war at all. She had just assumed it was as it was in the rest of Europe, that the government was scrambling to be ready if the need arose. Apparently, that wasn’t the case.
“But they will fight?” she finally asked.
“Oh yes. They are loyal to King Haakon. As long as the King remains king, they will fight as one for him. Of that, you can have no doubt.”
“What about this Vidkun Quisling fellow?” Evelyn tilted her head and looked at her questioningly. “Would they follow him?”
Anna scoffed. “Quisling? Not likely. The man’s a puppet for the Nazis, and no one ever did really like him very much. It’s a mystery to me how he’s even still in the government. His party is so small, and it never gains any traction in the elections.”
Evelyn looked up as the waiter approached their table with their dinner. She smiled and waited while the plates were laid out on the white cloth before them, then nodded and murmured her thanks as he refilled her wine glass. Once he had ensured that they had everything they needed, he left, and she looked across the table at Anna.