Waging War

by April White

  Her breath caught in her throat, and she gasped as I continued. “And trust your instincts. They’re good ones.” I squeezed her hand again to try to erase the shock in her expression. “Come on, I’m guessing Archer and Ravi have messages to send up to your colonel.”

  Ringo was inside the hut watching the Colossus machine with rapt fascination. The clattering was a constant noise in the background, which reminded me of the rhythmic sound of a train. He looked up with a grin. “Did you ever see somethin’ more perfectly elementary? It’s completely brilliant, and it explains the fundamentals of computin’ better than anythin’ the modern machines with their amazin’ processin’ speeds can do.”

  Archer was adjusting something at the top of Colossus and had just noticed my entrance. His smile was instantaneous, but I returned it tentatively, still unsure about my own confidence in the face of whatever Nancy might mean to him.

  Just then, Ravi entered with a stack of messages. His eyes lit on Stella with relief. “There you are. Can you just nip up to the colonel and slip them into his box? They’re the last from today’s code.”

  Archer hopped down from the stepladder just as Stella accepted the stack. His sudden movement startled her and she dropped a couple of the slips. Ravi and Archer immediately bent to help Stella gather the papers. Her hand seemed to hover over one for a moment while she did a momentary glassy-eyed stare, and I saw her surreptitiously push it toward Archer’s hand as she gathered the rest into a pile. Archer slipped the message into his pocket as Stella reorganized the stack of papers.

  Archer asked casually, “Where did this batch of messages come from?”

  “German high command in Paris.” Ravi said. “The Paris messages all come through the listening posts the SOE has with the Maquis all around France. Most originate from the Hotel Majestic.”

  “Hotel Majestic? Sounds like a hotel at Disneyland,” I mumbled under my breath. Ravi must have caught the words because he looked at me strangely and clarified.

  “It’s the Paris home of the German high command.”

  “Right.” I cleared my throat. “Of course.”

  Ravi handed the messages back to Stella. “Colonel Marks gets the honor of digging into the mysteries of Hitler and his lackeys. Run these up, if you would, Stella? And perhaps take your break for tea while you’re there?” His smile was the only indication he knew she would spend her tea break with Colonel Marks.

  When Stella had gone, Archer caught my eye and then included Ringo in his gaze. “Ravi, if you don’t mind, I think I’ll take a quick break as well.”

  This time Ravi’s smiling eyes found me. “Of course, old chap. I’ll babysit the beast while you’re gone. Take all the time you need.”

  Archer led us outside and we headed toward the pub, which surprised me. “We’re not going back to your room?”

  “It’s fine for whispering, but there’s not enough light to read by,” Archer said.

  “And the pub is a good place to read a message you’re not supposed to have?”

  “No one expects you to discuss secrets in plain sight.”

  I sighed. “Just like no one ever looks up.” My eyes had been scanning the landscape around us, and as we passed the mansion, I thought I saw a curtain flutter in an upper-floor window.

  “Who works upstairs?” I whispered.

  “Colonel Marks. I imagine we’ll need to go there next.”

  Archer opened the pub door and ushered us inside. It was a little less crowded than it had been before, but Nancy still held court at her table by the back wall, and Archer waved to her across the room. Her bright smile back to him made me grumpy like it was Monday morning and there was no coffee. Archer settled us into a table near the door and went to the bar for drinks. I worked very hard not to watch as Nancy waved him over and he knelt down to talk to her. And I definitely tried not to see him touch her hand as he stood up to return to the bar. He came back with bubbly water for me and pints for himself and Ringo, but no explanation of his exchange with Nancy. Ringo caught my eye and must have seen the green in them because he gave me a quizzical look. Jealousy had always been something I pitied in other people because it just seemed so effortful. I wasn’t committed to being one of those people, so I took a breath, let it go, and smiled.

  Ringo’s glance went to Nancy’s table as he sipped his drink while Archer pulled the slip of paper from his pocket to read. Archer’s expression darkened, and he held the paper out to me. I shook my head. “I can speak it well enough, but you’re fluent.”

  “Right.” The message went back into his pocket. Archer wrapped both hands around his pint glass and stared into it, deep in thought.

  “Um, dying a little here.” I prompted.

  He seemed to shake himself and looked up at both of us. “Sorry. It’s the same message you described to me. It appears the Werwolves have a target in England, accessed by Holborn station up near Russell Square. Or, if they’re using explosives, something above-ground. The mission is being led by an Englishman called T. Landers, and has been planned for June 12th.”

  The date had been the missing element, and I exhaled sharply. “That’s after D-Day.”

  Archer’s eyes narrowed and his voice dropped. “Be very careful, Saira. What occurs to you as known history is still very top secret information now.”

  I flushed, embarrassed at my carelessness. But I also usually traveled with my Archer, who knew the same things I did, plus about a ton more.

  Ringo spoke quietly. “Then find us a new place to talk, because censorin’ Saira’s not the way to figure this thing out.”

  Archer looked abashed. “You’re right, of course. Forgive me. I’ve spent so much time surviving I sometimes forget how to live. Perhaps it’s time for Ravi’s tea break after all. The clatter of Colossus should cover our conversation there.”

  Nancy watched us leave the bar, but no one else seemed to have noticed our presence in the room. Ringo whispered in my ear. “Last one’s a rotten egg,” then took off running. I was behind him a breath later, not caring that we were unauthorized guests on a wartime military installation. I didn’t even look back to see if Archer had followed us on Ringo’s route that took us up and over a garden wall, across the roof of the shed, up a tree to dodge the sentries who were just changing shifts, and down the roof of one of the huts. We dropped in front of H Block and had already caught our breath by the time Archer rounded the corner. I half expected scolding from him, or at least a disapproving expression, but instead he wore a big, delighted grin.

  “My God, I’ve missed you two.” Archer’s whispered voice could have been a shout for how much joy was in it. “You’re magnificent!” The words were meant for both of us, but his gaze settled on me in a way that made me flush with pleasure.

  Archer went in first to relieve Ravi for his tea break, and we hid behind the door until he had gone. “Thanks,” I whispered to Ringo.

  He shrugged his shoulders. “Just ‘cause she watches ‘im doesn’t mean ‘e sees ‘er,” he said.

  “It’s dumb, I know. I’ll let it go.”

  “Do that,” he said as we slipped back inside the Colossus codebreaking hut.

  Archer was studying a map of London that had the Underground stations marked. I stood next to him and pointed to the British Museum. “Apparently, they used … or are using at least one Underground station to house some of the treasures of the British Museum while the threat of bombing exists. Mr. Shaw was trying to find out which ones, with the assumption being that they’re accessible from Holborn,” I said, pitching my voice low enough not to carry over the clatter of Colossus.

  “That would likely be Aldwych, and perhaps one or two others. I can get a message up to the Home Office through Nancy’s contacts at the SOE. We should be able to ascertain the stations and who manages them within a day or two. But that’s only a small part of this mystery.” Archer’s gaze had shifted to the map of Europe.

  “Why is Tom Landers involved?” I asked, trying to prompt
him to put his thought process on loudspeaker.

  He sighed. “That too, of course.” He studied the message again. “I was actually wondering why this would be sent to the 2nd SS Panzer Division?

  “The 2nd is in Toulouse right now, and their business is my business. What do you know about them?” Nancy entered the room with a raised eyebrow, her gaze locked on Archer’s.

  “Nothing specific. There’s a message directed to them about our English Werwolf.”

  She regarded him steadily before she spoke. “My boys confirmed that a Werwolf unit landed in Limoges a few days ago. They intercepted a message to their commander, but it was in code.”

  “Can you get it to me? I’m told we’re good with code around here,” Archer said.

  I loved the polite snark in his tone, and it made it easier to just roll with Nancy’s presence. “Have they seen the Werwolves?” I asked.

  She nodded. “We have spies throughout the Limousin area.”

  “How do they know it’s the Werwolves?” Ringo asked. Nancy suddenly realized he was there, and her gaze sharpened, even as her voice turned to honey. “Devereux, darling, don’t tell me you actually managed to smuggle two PONTIs into Bletchley.”

  Archer smiled benignly at Nancy. “My mistake. Nancy, may I introduce a person of great importance to me. This is Ringo.”

  She made a show of studying him head to foot. “One name?” Her eyebrow rose suggestively. “You haven’t earned a surname yet, is that it?”

  Ringo smiled disarmingly. “Nah, just too important for one.”

  Nancy laughed out loud, and it was a charmingly genuine sound. “Well, Ringo, have you ever seen the wolf trap symbol with which the Werwolves decorate their armbands?”

  Ringo shook his head, so Nancy continued. “It’s based on the ancient Viking rune called a Wolfsangel. It looks like a backward Z, lying on its side, with a slash mark through the middle.”

  She took the pencil out of Archer’s hand with familiar ease that made me clench my teeth. She drew the symbol on a scrap of paper with all parallel lines. “This is the Werwolf rune. That’s what the new group in Limoges wears on their armbands.”

  Archer exhaled and looked at her. “Can you get us to Limoges, Nancy?”

  “All three of you?” She asked in surprise.

  I nodded, and then gave her a piercing look. “We’re the only ones who can identify the Englishman, and like you said, an English spy anywhere near your pilot escape network is a very bad idea.”

  She studied me, then looked at Archer, and a slow grin spread across her face. “Apparently they aren’t PONTIs, are they?” She swept toward the door. “We leave tomorrow night.”

  When Nancy was gone, I turned to Archer. “PONTIs?”

  He shook his head with a chuckle. “People of No Tactical Importance.”

  Ringo and I slipped back to Archer’s hideout while Archer invented an excuse to cut out of work early.

  “What do you think of Nancy?” I tried to keep my whispered voice casual, but I knew Ringo too well to think he’d be fooled.

  “She’s got the stones of a bloke, for sure, and brash as anythin’. I don’t think she suffers fools, and she admires Archer for ‘is brains, and probably ‘is looks too. But if she fancies ‘im, it’s not returned, least not in any way that counts. Why are ye worried, Saira? It’s not as if ‘e ‘as eyes for anyone but ye.”

  I shrugged. “Just something he said before we came.”

  The secret door slid open and Archer entered with a plate of sandwiches in one hand and an extra lantern in the other. He handed the plate off to Ringo and closed the door behind him. “I didn’t think I could carry two bowls of soup, but the canteen has chicken and potato if you want to take your chances.”

  I took a ham sandwich from the plate. “This is perfect, thank you.” Archer didn’t eat regular food, and yet he was the one who remembered to feed us. “The Germans don’t know that you’ve broken their code, right?” I had been wondering whether there was any chance the information was planted, but it seemed Archer had already thought of that.

  “Most of our work right now is to make sure the disinformation we’ve placed about Operation Overlord is effective. So far it seems to be working, which means Colossus is still unknown.” Operation Overlord was code for D-Day, and Archer wasn’t holding back secret information from us, which was treason if anyone overheard him.

  I looked Archer in the eye. “As long as time stays intact, Operation Overlord will work. But that’s why Tom is such a wild card. He could seriously wreak havoc on the time stream if he wanted to. But even though he seems to be working for the Germans, I can’t imagine he would want England to lose the war.” I said this with confidence I was pretty sure I actually felt.

  Archer looked thoughtful. “I don’t know Tom, so I can’t begin to understand his motives. In my experience though, the only reasons a man would betray his country are financial or personal.”

  “There are a million better ways to get money than going to work with the enemy,” I said vehemently.

  “Indeed there are.” Archer sounded grim. “I had means, and have had ample opportunity to invest my family’s money to ensure its longevity.”

  “I don’t see money as something that would motivate Tom, not given what he’s been through. So what personal reason could there be for him to be here, now, on the German side of this war?”

  Archer’s expression was serious. “So it’s true that Wilder’s ingestion of your mother’s blood resulted in Clocking skills which he then passed on to Tom when he turned him?”

  I nodded. “We know Tom can Clock, but I don’t believe he has quite my skill. It’s true he managed to kill Wilder twice on two different timelines in medieval France, but I don’t think he can make portals like I can.”

  “He went to the trouble to kill Wilder twice?” Archer asked. “Such hatred is concerning. But Wilder isn’t in 1944, so that couldn’t be the source of a personal vendetta. Who else does Tom hate with such fervor?” Archer’s eyes flicked between both Ringo’s and mine.

  “’Imself,” Ringo said, finally.

  The Maquis

  We met Nancy at the Cranfield Aerodrome, which was about ten minutes by car from Bletchley Park. It was a harrowing trip on dark country roads, and I was very glad for such good night vision. Nancy handed Archer a set of papers, then looked all three of us over with a critical eye.

  “Your shoes are too good. They’ll give you away as agents if Gerry or the collaborators lay eyes on you.”

  “One good rainstorm and a stomp in the mud will change that,” said Ringo

  “You sound like an old Cockney I used to buy chips from before the war,” Nancy scoffed.

  “Maybe I am an old Cockney, and I’m just better at disguise than any of you SOE types.” Nancy stared at Ringo, and then burst out laughing. She actually had a fairly infectious laugh, which, when combined with her magic smile, made her somewhat irresistible. She looked at Archer and jabbed her thumb in Ringo’s direction. “I like this one, Devereux.”

  I had to bite back the snarky comment that threatened, and Ringo caught my eye with a wink. Archer distributed the paperwork Nancy had given us, and I saw that I had a hastily forged identity card with a picture that looked vaguely like me, and the name Hélène Klene.

  “Keep the English-speaking to a minimum.” Nancy’s gaze took in both Ringo and I, and we nodded. Ringo showed me his card, with a photo of a scruffy-haired kid that actually looked a lot like the street urchin he had been when I first met him. “Louis Houle,” I read out loud. I looked at him with a grin. “It suits you.”

  Archer showed me his card, which actually did have his picture on it, with the name Alexandre Devère. He looked much rougher in the photo than he did standing in front of me. “You had this ready to go before we got here, didn’t you?”

  “I’ve helped Nancy organize several of the Maquis networks around Auvergne and Limoges, and this trip we plan to disrupt as many German forces as
possible.”

  “So it’s pretty fortuitous that the Werwolves might be operating in the same area, huh?” I spoke to Nancy with an edge in my voice.

  She shrugged. “The only difference is two more passengers. Unless you’re idiots, and then I’ll have to cut you loose or shoot you myself.”

  I opened my mouth to share my ungenerous thoughts about her tone, but snapped it shut when a tall man in a military uniform stepped out of the aerodrome building and strode toward us.

  Archer stood up a little straighter beside me, and even Nancy directed her not inconsiderable focus his way. The man was in his late twenties and handsome in a square-jawed James Garner way.

  “Colonel Marks, I didn’t expect to see you here tonight.” I thought Nancy purred, and I might have been offended for Stella’s sake if I hadn’t known how things turned out.

  My Monger-gut kicked in, but I pushed it down. According to both Stella and Archer, Marks was a good guy. His eyes found Archer’s first. “You’re ready, Devereux?”

  Archer nodded smartly. “Yes, sir.”

  “The latest batch of messages you chaps decoded contain several from Paris about the increased reprisals against Maquis groups and the civilian population.” Colonel Marks was speaking to Archer, but Nancy interrupted.

  “Which means our missions against Gerry are working.”

  He turned his gaze to her. “We expect the 2nd SS Panzer Division to be called up from Toulouse to the Normandy coast in short order. It should be a four-day trip for them, but if those fifteen thousand troops arrive there before we’re ready for them, they could make the difference in our ability to gain an Allied foothold in Europe.”

  “We’ll harass the hell out of them, sir.” Nancy said quietly.

  “See that you do, Mrs. Fiocca.”

  I didn’t have time to process that little tidbit of information because Colonel Marks’ eyes were suddenly locked on me, even as it was clear he was still speaking to Nancy and Archer.