Night Falls on Norway

by CW Browning

  Bill stared at him, his lunch forgotten.

  “How the bloody hell did they find out?” he demanded in a low, fierce voice, his brows snapping together. “You said the entire operation was classified!”

  “It is.” Jasper reached for his drink, his face grim. “Not only was it imperative that no one know about the extraction of your agent, but no one is supposed to know about the landing that will take place at the same time. If the Germans realize that troops will be landing, it will be like shooting rats in a barrel for the Luftwaffe.”

  Bill set down his utensils again and reached for his own drink. “Do you think that’s a possibility?”

  “I just don’t know. It sounds as if they don’t know how the extraction will take place. If that’s the case, then they still have no idea that ships are coming into the harbor.”

  “What did the message say? Exactly?”

  “That the information received was being acted upon. They have someone pursuing Jian and arrangements have been made to stop her before she reaches Namsos for the evacuation.”

  Bill was silent for a long moment, his lip pressed together in a thin, unpleasant line.

  “What makes you think they don’t know how the extraction will take place?”

  “Because they’re trying to stop her before she reaches Namsos. If they knew ships were coming in, they would be planning an all-out attack, and they wouldn’t be worried about stopping her before she got there. They know the Luftwaffe can decimate the entire town, and they would also get her in the process.”

  “I still don’t follow how that indicates they’re unsure of the method of extraction.”

  “They know their Luftwaffe controls the airspace, so sending an airplane to fetch her is out. They know that. That only leaves something like a fishing boat to carry her out to a waiting ship, or a ship itself. But if the Germans thought for one second that ships were going to sail into Namsos, they would be planning an aerial bombardment. The message makes no mention of that.”

  Bill thought for a moment, then shook his head.

  “Would it, though?” he asked. “I agree that if they suspected what was really planned, they would be making defensive plans, but would they tell Henry? There’s no reason for him to know. As far as he’s concerned, the only thing that is relative is Jian.”

  “Well, that’s why I’m concerned,” Jasper admitted. “It’s too late to call the operation off. Even if I thought the cabinet would listen to me, there isn’t enough evidence to warrant pulling the troops back or moving them to a different landing point. If they are planning to attack, there’s nothing we can do to protect the ships, the troops or your agent.”

  Bill exhaled and pinched the bridge of his nose.

  “They know we’ve been mining the waters,” he said after a long moment. “What would be the most logical way to get an agent out of Norway at the moment?”

  Jasper raised an eyebrow. “What are you thinking?”

  “I’m thinking what I would be thinking if I were in their position. They know we had mining ships off the coast as recently as three days ago. They know we have destroyers in the area because we sunk three of their ships in the port at Narvik.”

  “Yes. So?”

  “So I would assume that a fishing boat or trawler was going to carry the agent out to a ship waiting offshore,” Bill said with a shrug. “It’s virtually impossible to locate a fishing boat in the dark without knowing where or when to look.”

  “And if that’s what they believe the likely scenario will be, then they would try to prevent her from reaching Namsos and risk losing her before they can apprehend her,” Jasper said slowly, nodding. “So you agree with me, that they’re unaware of what’s coming.”

  “I think so,” Bill said after a moment. “There’s no reason for them to believe we’re sending ships into Namsos. If anything, they will be looking for us to try to land at Trondheim. That’s the larger target.”

  Jasper grunted. “Which is precisely why we’re landing at Namsos. The plan is to take Namsos, then move south and take Trondheim back.”

  They fell silent as the waiter returned with Jasper’s lunch. As soon as he had withdrawn again, Jasper picked up his knife and fork, preparing to cut into his fish.

  “Have you heard from Jian?”

  “This morning.” Bill pushed his plate away, his appetite gone, and reached for his drink. “She expects to make Steinkjer by nightfall. But knowing that the Germans are aware of her presence, as well as where she is going, makes me very uneasy.”

  Jasper glanced up. “Why is that? I mean, aside from the obvious?”

  Bill sipped his drink and leaned forward.

  “Steinkjer is the only real point to cross the water and move towards Namsos for miles. Every crossing before it is controlled by the Germans in Trondheim fjord,” he said in a low voice. “If they know she’s heading for Namsos, they know she’ll have to go through Steinkjer.”

  “And they’ll be waiting.”

  “Yes.”

  “Can you warn her?”

  “She will try to make contact tonight, but it may be too late.”

  Jasper looked at him for a moment, then lowered his gaze back to this lunch.

  “You said she’s with a Norwegian soldier, correct?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Then you must trust that he will be able to move them through the lines without detection. Regardless of what happens, there is nothing more that can be done. Warn her when she makes contact, but whatever happens after that is out of your hands.”

  “It doesn’t make it any easier.”

  Jasper smiled faintly. “I know. It would be better if she wasn’t Ainsworth’s girl, wouldn’t it? We all feel some kind of responsibility towards her. It’s complete rubbish, you know. She knew the risks when she agreed to come onboard.”

  “As you say, though, she’s Robert’s daughter.”

  Jasper nodded. “Yes.”

  They were silent for a long time as Jasper ate his lunch and Bill nursed his drink. Finally, Jasper raised his head from his food.

  “The pressing question, of course, is who is Henry?” he said. “And how the hell did he find out about Namsos?”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  ––––––––

  Toulouse, France

  Miles climbed out of the cockpit and jumped down off the wing. He looked over to where Rob was shutting down his engine, then raised a hand to shield his eyes from the sun as he watched Mother and Slippy come in to land.

  “Morning, sir,” a young sergeant saluted as he came over ahead of the refueling tank. “Good flight over?”

  “Yes, thanks.” Miles nodded and turned to watch the refueling tank pull up to his Spitfire. “Glorious weather today.”

  “Yes sir.”

  He turned and began walking towards Rob’s Spit as the other two came in to land behind them.

  “Ashmore is heading over to talk to the Intel Officer,” he called as Rob climbed out of the cockpit. “Not much to do until they’ve refueled us and we get the all clear.”

  “It’s France!” Rob retorted, jumping down. “There’s always something to do.”

  He looked over and watched as Mother and Slippy coasted down the landing strip, staggered from each other.

  “That’s the last of us,” he said. “Where are the others?”

  “Already went into the officer’s mess, more than likely,” Miles turned to walk with Rob towards the buildings not far in the distance. “They were all headed that way when I came in to land.”

  Rob pulled his cigarette case out of his breast pocket.

  “I hope they get us refueled and on our way quickly. I want to get over there and get back. I don’t trust the Jerries as far as I can throw them.”

  “We’ll be all right. It won’t take them long to get us going again. We’ll just have time for
a quick cup of tea, I expect.”

  “Lacey! Ainsworth!” Chris called from the doorway of the building ahead. “Get a move on!”

  “What’s got the Yank so riled?” Rob wondered. “They really are excitable, aren’t they?”

  “Who? The Americans?”

  “Yes. Chris is always on about something.”

  “I expect it’s got something to do with their breeding. A lot of Italians over there.”

  “Can you guys walk any slower?” Chris demanded in exasperation as they drew closer.

  “Where’s the fire, old boy?” Miles drawled, raising his eyebrows.

  “No fire, and no reconnaissance flight, either,” Chris replied, turning to go back into the building. “Come and find out for yourself. We’ve been grounded.”

  “Grounded?!” Rob exclaimed, tossing his half-smoked cigarette away and following Chris into the large, square building. “We’ve only just arrived!”

  “Tell me about it!”

  Miles frowned and followed them across a short hallway and through another door that led into the officer’s mess where the rest of the squadron was gathered. They looked up when Miles and Rob entered, and Ashmore, their CO, set down his cup of tea and moved towards them.

  “Has Chris told you the news?” he asked.

  “That we’re grounded?” Miles asked. “Yes. Why? What’s happened?”

  “There’s cloud cover over the targets in Germany. We’ve been told to wait it out for a couple of hours to see if it clears.”

  “A couple of hours!” Rob scowled. “What are we supposed to do for a couple of hours?”

  “Precisely.” Ashmore shrugged. “Nothing we can do about it, though. Jenkins, the CO here, says there’s a rather good watering hole down the road that serves a tolerable lunch. Or we can stay here, of course. If anyone decides to try the local attraction, he’s offered one of the cars for transportation.”

  Ashmore wandered away on that statement and Rob looked at Miles.

  “Well how do you like that?” he demanded. “Bloody RAF can’t even get its weather reports straight. Before we left, they said clear skies over the target!”

  “I don’t suppose they can control the weather,” Miles murmured, turning towards the table at the back where huge steel canteens filled with hot tea were set up. “As Ashmore said, there’s nothing we can do about it. No point in getting all upset.”

  “You’re not even a little bit annoyed?” Rob asked. “To have come this far and not be able to continue?”

  “No one said we wouldn’t continue, only that we had to wait a few hours,” he pointed out, reaching for a cup and saucer.

  “If we have to postpone it, we’ll be right back here again tomorrow,” Rob muttered, picking up a cup for himself. “What a nuisance. I would rather be flying endless patrols.”

  “Really?” Miles glanced at him. “I’m getting rather tired of staring at the North Sea. At least we got a change of pace today.”

  “We did, and now we’re back to sitting around with nothing to do. I thought all the waiting was over.”

  “Not to beat a dead horse, but there’s no way to control the weather, old boy.”

  Miles poured tea into his cup and sipped it. A grimace crossed his face and he looked down into the cup before setting it down. Rob raised an eyebrow.

  “That bad?” he asked, laughing at the answering look Miles gave him. He put his empty cup back. “I’ll pass, then.”

  “Wise choice.” Miles turned away and sighed, looking around the room. Most of the seats were taken and Ashmore was deep in conversation with a tall man whom Miles assumed was Jenkins. “What in blazes are we going to do for a couple hours here?”

  “Maybe some of the others will want to go to that café Ashmore told us about,” Rob suggested after a moment. “At least we’ll get a decent cup of coffee there.”

  “Do you think so?”

  Rob grinned. “I’m half French, remember? If there’s one thing the French do well, it’s coffee.”

  “That sounds like a plan, then,” Miles decided. “I’ll go round up the Yank and some of the others. You go find Mother and Slippy. Between us, we really should be able to find some way to make this layover bearable.”

  “God I hope so. Maybe there’ll be some lovely little local ladies hanging around, looking for some laughs. Otherwise we’ll all die of boredom.”

  “If there are, you can all have at it.”

  Rob made a face. “Good Lord, you’re becoming a real old stick in the mud, you know that?” he demanded, poking him in the chest for emphasis. “If I’d thought for one second that this is what would happen to you, I would never have introduced you to m’ sister.”

  “You didn’t. She introduced herself,” he retorted with a grin.

  “It’d serve you right if she was in Northolt hob-nobbing with that pilot fellow you went to school with. What’s his name? Dutton?”

  “Durton. And I very much doubt that she is. She’s on a training course.”

  “Which means she’s just as bored as we are!” Rob turned to go towards the door in search of Mother and Slippy. “Lord help us all if this war doesn’t get going soon!”

  Outside Steinkjer, Norway

  Evelyn shivered and tried in vain to burrow deeper into her coat. The combination of snow and frigid wind was taking its toll on her and her fingers were numb inside her fur-lined gloves. Darkness had fallen hours ago and Erik had finally agreed to stop long enough to allow Peder to try to get through to London.

  “Anything?” she asked, looking over Peder’s shoulder. He had cleared off a hollowed out tree trunk and was sitting astride it with his radio case open in front of him.

  “No.”

  Evelyn bit her lip and tried to see her watch in the moonlight. She could barely make out the little illuminated hands, but she thought it was just after eleven.

  “Could it be because we’re late?” Peder asked, looking over his shoulder. “We told them ten.”

  “Keep trying,” she told him.

  He nodded and turned his attention back to the radio. After watching for a second, she went over to where Anna was sitting on her suitcase and using a tree as a back rest.

  “Anything yet?” Anna asked as she joined her.

  She shook her head and dropped down onto her own suitcase.

  “Not yet.” She looked around. “Where’s Erik?”

  “He went to scout around ahead.” Anna leaned her head back against the tree trunk. “He doesn’t trust Steinkjer to be clear of German troops. He and Philip are both trying to determine the best route to take to minimize the risk of running into them.”

  “I’m so sorry you’re in the middle of this,” Evelyn said in a low voice after a minute. “I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating. If you want to part company, I completely understand and will go the rest of the way alone.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Anna said crossly. “We’re not leaving you.”

  “It’s getting too dangerous.”

  “Which is exactly why we won’t leave you. Now stop suggesting it. You’re stuck with us.” Anna threw her a tired smile. “Besides, where would I go? We’re going to Peder’s uncle after Namsos, so we have to keep moving in this direction anyway.”

  Evelyn nodded and tried to adjust the woolen scarf more securely around her neck to block out the cold wind.

  “I don’t think I’ll ever get warm,” she said after a long moment. “And it doesn’t seem like we’ll be able to find anywhere to take shelter.”

  “Erik thinks that we’ll find somewhere outside Steinkjer. He just wants to get past it first.” Anna stifled a yawn. “I’ll tell you this, though, I’m more worried about finding somewhere to get food. We’ve only got a few pieces of bread left and no cheese.”

  Before Evelyn could respond, Philip emerged from the trees nearby and glanced at them. He looked aroun
d, then came over to them.

  “Your brother’s not back yet?”

  “Not yet. Why? Did you see something?”

  He shook his head, a frown on his face. “No. Everything seemed clear, but I feel like something is wrong.”

  Evelyn looked up sharply. “Wrong how?”

  “I don’t know. I can’t explain it.” He looked at the rifle hanging across her body, nodding to it. “Get that loaded and ready. It’s better to be prepared.”

  “It already is,” she assured him. “If needed, I’m ready.”

  He nodded and seemed a little comforted by that. Brushing snow off a log nearby, he dropped down onto it and looked towards Peder a few feet away.

  “Is he still trying to get through to London?” he asked.

  Evelyn nodded. There had been no way to prevent Philip from finding out who Peder was trying to contact, not once he and Erik were the only two left. Erik had assured her of the other man’s discretion, and she had no other choice but to trust him, but she still wasn’t happy about it.

  “How long has he been trying?”

  “About twenty minutes.”

  Philip frowned. “I hope the Germans aren’t nearby. If they are, and they realize a wireless signal is going out close by...”

  Anna frowned and looked over to Peder. “Is that possible?”

  “It is if they know to look for one,” he said without lifting his head from the radio. “Otherwise, they need special equipment to scan for it, and then they have to be within a certain range. I wouldn’t worry too much.”

  “I hope you’re right,” Philip said.

  “If we can’t get through soon, we’ll stop,” Evelyn said after a moment. “If it wasn’t important, I wouldn’t continue to try.”

  “I know.” Philip sighed and rubbed his face, then pushed himself to his feet. “I’ll go see what’s keeping Erik.”

  He was just turning away when Erik came through the trees on the other side of Peder.

  “I’m here,” he said. “How are things behind us?”