Before the Dawn

by Candace Camp

  He led her into the empty space. It seemed to be a sort of box, enclosed on three sides, and it was even darker than the passageway had been. Alyssa could see nothing. She leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. It was a place to hide, to rest. That was all she needed to know. Thank heavens she was with someone who knew the area. She would never have found anything like this on her own.

  Beside her, Unicorn slid down to the ground. “It’s all right. You can sit,” he told her in a low voice. “It’s a little dirty, that’s all.”

  Alyssa sank to the ground. Gradually her breathing slowed, and she whispered, “Where are we?”

  “It’s a recessed doorway. You couldn’t see it at night from the street, even if you shone a light down the walkway. A nice little hidey-hole. I think it’s best we stay here till dawn. It’s risky to walk around after curfew. And it’s not a good idea to go to anyone’s house yet. We don’t know who they might have rounded up tonight.”

  Alyssa swallowed. He was right. They could arrive at one of the safe houses Jules had told her about only to find the Gestapo already there or pounding on the door a few minutes later. She sighed. “There’s a traitor in the network.”

  “Not necessarily. Someone could have given Oak’s address under torture. Or maybe the Gestapo was spying on one of us and followed him to the meeting place tonight.”

  “No. It’s a traitor. That was the first message Mother gave me when I made contact tonight. But before I could finish my transmission and tell Oak, they were breaking down the door.” Alyssa chewed at her lip. A traitor was the worst danger of the resistance. It was horribly easy for one to get in. They had no way of checking out those who wanted to join; there were no credentials. They had to rely on trust and instinct, and it the traitor was skillful, it would be difficult to weed him out in an initial interview. Their only safeguard lay in keeping their identities secret, thus the use of code names, and in keeping the fighters as separated as possible, with cut-outs and small cells. Unfortunately, the latter often created confusion, duplication, and even some working at cross-purposes. Still, at least it meant that the whole network wasn’t blown just because one person or one cell was.

  She felt more than saw Unicorn turn toward her. “You mean they knew in England that we had a traitor in our network? How on earth—“

  Alyssa shrugged. “I don’t know. But that’s what she said.”

  “Surely if they found out that much, they must know who it is.”

  “Apparently not.”

  “I’d give my left arm to know his name,” he went on in a low, savage voice. “I’d like to take care of that bastard myself.”

  “I’m sure they’ll tell us if they find out.”

  They fell into silence. Slowly Alyssa’s lungs ceased to ache, and her pulse slowed. She leaned against the wall and angled her legs, settling into as comfortable a position as possible, given the hardness of the wall and pavement. It would be impossible to sleep, she thought, but after a time she dozed off. She slept fitfully through most of the night, twisting, floating just below the surface of consciousness, now and then jerking awake.

  It was a relief to awaken at last and be able to see Unicorn’s face. It was dawn. As if he felt her gaze upon him, Unicorn’s eyes flew open. He stared at her blankly for a moment, then recognition touched his eyes, and he straightened and glanced around. “It’s getting light.”

  Alyssa nodded. He stood up slowly and stretched, and Alyssa did the same. Her bones cracked and popped. The running last night coupled with sleeping on the hard ground in an awkward position had left her sore and stiff. “Where should we go?”

  He shook his head. “I’m not sure. Perhaps the safe house on Rue de l’Assomption. It’s closest. Why don’t we walk past it and see if it’s been discovered? If it has, I know one or two others we could try.”

  “All right.” They brushed the dirt from their clothes as best they could. Alyssa straightened her skirt and combed through her hair with her fingers in an attempt to look like an ordinary citizen going to work in the early morning.

  They slipped along the narrow passage out to the street. There was almost no one about, and the light was gray; it was very early in the morning. They forced themselves to walk at a normal pace, not rush as they wanted to. They kept to the less traveled streets. Finally they reached the Rue de l’Assomption and approached the safe house. The narrow street was quiet and empty. They glanced at each other. It looked perfectly innocuous, but there was no way of knowing whether a Gestapo soldier waited inside to trap anyone who sought refuge there.

  “I don’t see anyone watching it,” Unicorn rubbed the back of his neck tiredly. “I’ll go in while you wait here. If I don’t return in two minutes, take off.”

  Alyssa started to protest, but stopped. He was right. There was no sense in both of them getting captured, and the radio transmitter and its operator were vital to the survival of the network. She nodded.

  Unicorn strolled across the street and up the two shallow steps to the front door. He tried the door and found it locked. He reached above the door and took down a key, then opened the door and went inside. Alyssa waited, her heart pounding. Two minutes, he had said. She glanced at her watch, then looked back at the door. It seemed like forever. She kept glancing at her watch. Finally the minute hand had crept two spaces. Alyssa glanced around. Should she take him at his exact word? It might take him longer than two minutes to search the house and make sure no one was there.

  She tensed, poised for flight. Her hand was sweaty on the handle of the small suitcase. Unicorn appeared in the doorway. Alyssa let out a sigh of relief and crossed the street to him.

  “It appears safe,” Unicorn said as she slipped inside. He locked the door, and they dragged a heavy bench across it. “At least that’ll give us notice if the Gestapo comes.”

  There were no other doors. They checked the windows for an escape route, but there was no easy way to get out of the house except through the front door. The only other possibility of escape lay in the attic, where a trapdoor led onto the roof. Alyssa hoped fervently that they wouldn’t have to face departing that way.

  They ate a filling meal of canned meats and vegetables in the kitchen; the place was well-stocked with imperishables. Afterward they went up to the second floor and chose their bedrooms. Alyssa lay down on top of the covers, fully clothed, still too jumpy to risk taking off her dress and crawling beneath the sheets. Almost instantly she was asleep.

  *****

  A faint tapping penetrated her brain. Alyssa’s eyes fluttered open, and she glanced around. The noise came again, soft and persistent. Alyssa went to the window and edged aside a corner of the curtain to look down at the front door. She saw the foreshortened figure of a plainly dressed woman. She could see nothing of her face. Now and then the woman glanced around her, then resumed the quiet rapping.

  Alyssa started out into the hall and saw Unicorn already slipping quietly down the stairs. She followed him to the front room where he peered out through the curtain. His body relaxed, and he turned to smile at Alyssa. “It’s all right. She’s one of us.”

  He opened the door narrowly, and the woman, who had once again turned to look down the street, whirled back, her face fearful. When she saw Unicorn, she sagged with relief. “Thank God,” she said, slipping inside the door.

  “Hello, Faith.” He nodded toward Alyssa. “This is Cleopatra. New pianist with our group.”

  Faith glanced at Alyssa and gave her something resembling a smile. “Did they get you too?”

  “Four of us. We escaped through a back window. How about your group?”

  “I don’t know. I went by Silver’s house this morning to pick up a gun. When I got there, it was deserted. The landlady said the Gestapo had come and taken him. I was supposed to leave the gun for Thunder at a little café in the Montmartre, so I went there to tell him what had happened, but he never showed up. I’m afraid they’ve gotten him, too. I didn’t k
now what to do! I was so scared. I was afraid to go home. Finally I decided to come to this safe house. When the key was gone, I hoped someone else had gotten away and come here.”

  Grimly Unicorn described to the other woman what had happened to them. They fed her, and Unicorn gave up his bedroom to her, moving up to the third floor, so that the two women could share the floor. Alyssa was more clearheaded now after her sleep, and she decided to make an unscheduled transmission to let headquarters know they had escaped.

  She rigged up the transmitter in the bathroom, using the long chain from the cistern to the toilet bowl for an aerial. Rapidly she tapped out a message to Mother: “Escaped. Unicorn, Faith, Cleopatra hiding, safe house. Oak, Lace, Green, Blade, Silver captured. Maybe Thunder.” The reply from headquarters was swift. Alyssa could almost feel Jessica’s relief coming through the wire. Mother informed her that much of the network was smashed, and they knew little about who had been captured or what cells were compromised. They advised that Cleopatra return home immediately.

  Alyssa’s hand trembled. Nothing seemed better than getting out of this mess, fleeing to safety. But she couldn’t do it. She could be of too much value here, helping the remnants of the groups get together and reconnect with their base. She typed back a simple message: “I will stay.”

  *****

  At the quiet tap on the door, Albrecht Schlieker crossed the room to answer it. Good. Bousquet was on time, even a little early. Schlieker disliked tardiness, and he disliked even more waiting in this miserable hotel room for his informant. It was unfortunate that it was too risky for Bousquet to meet him in Schlieker’s own elegantly furnished office on Avenue Foch.

  He opened the door, and Bousquet hurried inside. He was a small man with dark blond hair, ordinary in the extreme. That was an advantage in his profession; people rarely suspected him of anything.

  “We had a very successful evening, thanks to you, Herr Bousquet,” Schlieker related with a cold smile. “Almost thirty arrests.”

  “Good. Then you must have my payment.” Schlieker could see the fear in the man, however much he tried not to show it. Good. That was the way he liked it.

  “Of course.” The German officer picked up a small drawstring bag from the dresser top and tossed it to the other man. Bousquet caught it and poured the contents into his hand. Diamonds sparkled up at him. Pulling out a jeweler’s eyepiece, he examined the stones. Schlieker’s lip curled. The man was crude and common—checking the diamonds as if he, Albrecht Schlieker, would try to cheat him. “None of the ones we picked up has told us about the spy. Their ignorance seems to be genuine on that score.”

  “I told you that. No one knows anything. There is nothing but rumor. Some say he’s a German officer, others that he’s French. One even told me he’s sure it’s a woman. It’s all speculation. Most don’t even know his code name; the very fact that he exists is a secret. All I’ve learned is that his code name is le Duc. I think it is only one man, not a whole ring of spies.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “It’s too secret. If there were more than one, someone would be bound to know something. There’d be more talk, more gossip, at least.”

  “Still, even one man can’t operate in complete secrecy, can he? There must be others who know of him. He has to have some kind of backup. How does he get the information to England?”

  “He could radio it himself,” Bousquet suggested.

  “Not likely. A transmitter is too easily caught, and that would blow his whole operation. He must give the information to a messenger or a radio-telegraphist.”

  “Probably. And no doubt there’s a go-between between him and the telegraphist, so the telegraphist couldn’t identify him. As you say, pianists are too easily caught.”

  “You’re right. There must be another person or two who know of his existence.”

  “They’re very close-mouthed.”

  “I have to have him!” Schlieker’s normally controlled face contorted with anger, and he slammed his fist down on the dresser top. “This man is dangerous. He’s making fools of us all!” Schlieker turned and jabbed his forefinger at the informant. “Find him! And give him to me.”

  “I will do my best.”

  “That’s not good enough. He is worth ten of these little cells you’ve brought me. He is worth more than any information you’ve given me. I don’t want your best. I want him!”

  “I understand. I will infiltrate another group; there’s still a great deal of the Rock network intact. It won’t take as long to get in this time. I have a passport now.”

  “What is that?”

  “A radio-telegraphist. Everyone wants one.”

  “All right. You may go now.” Schlieker nodded toward the door. “Good-bye…” he smiled thinly. “Unicorn.”

  *****

  Alyssa and her companions left the safe house the next day. With so many of their friends captured, it was likely that someone would be forced to tell the Gestapo of the existence of the safe house. They decided to try an address that had been given to Alyssa before she left England.

  It lay on the Rue Raynouard. They walked to it, Unicorn carrying Alyssa’s little suitcase with the all-important transmitter inside. As they neared the number of the house, Unicorn, who was walking abreast of Alyssa with Faith slightly behind them, suddenly gripped Alyssa’s arm. “Walk on,” he murmured, and they continued down the street without pause. Unicorn turned at the next corner and, out of sight of the house, picked up his step.

  “What is it?” Alyssa asked.

  “There was a man in a doorway across the street from the house. I didn’t like the way he looked.”

  “You think he was watching the house?”

  “He seemed out of place. He didn’t look French. I’m not sure, but I’d hate to test the theory. Let’s find someplace else.”

  “I have a cousin,” Faith offered. “We could spend a night there, but no more than that. I don’t want to endanger her.”

  “That’ll do.”

  They stayed two nights with Faith’s cousin. During that time Unicorn came up with phony identification papers establishing him as René Dupree, Alyssa as his wife, Madeleine, and Faith as her sister, Louise Fabre. Under their new names they rented a small two-bedroom apartment on the Left Bank.

  Alyssa dyed her hair back to its original black and wore it in braids to give her a more youthful appearance, so that she would not be as recognizable from a description that might be forced from someone with whom she had worked. Unicorn, or René as they now called him, went back to his old job, reasoning that there was nothing to fear since no one in the resistance had known his real name or where he worked.

  Faith and Unicorn left each day for work, while Alyssa stayed home and did their shopping, cooking, and cleaning. She grew increasingly frustrated; hiding in an apartment and being domestic was hardly what she had come to France for. However, it was safer for them all for her not to try to find a job; she was much more likely to be found out, and besides, she had few marketable skills. And she could do nothing of the work she was trained for until they found another resistance group.

  In the evenings they visited the small cafes along the Boul’ Mich’ and the larger ones on the Saint-Germain-des-Prés that were favorites of the resistance. But they had little luck. Faith and Unicorn saw no one they recognized from the organization, and any questions they asked were met with blank stares. On her next transmission home, Alyssa asked for help in locating a new group, but Mother could give her nothing. Headquarters was still groping in the dark, unsure which groups had been compromised; any group they gave Alyssa could in reality be under the operation of the Nazis.

  Finally one evening Unicorn came home, his face gleaming with barely suppressed excitement, and announced that he had found a man who belonged to another cell of the Rock network. The man, though somewhat suspicious of him, had agreed to let them meet his cell’s leader the following night in the Catacombs.r />
  Late the next evening Unicorn, Faith and Alyssa slipped down an entrance to the underground chambers. When they reached the bottom of the steps, Alyssa gasped and shivered, not entirely from the cool temperature of the place. The Catacombs had addressed two problems in Paris: the overflowing cemeteries inside the city, and ancient quarries beneath the Montparnasse area that had been plagued by buildings collapsing and mine cave-ins. During the eighteenth century the city officials had shored up the subterranean holes with skeletons taken from the crowded cemeteries. Alyssa had known the history of the place, but it hadn’t prepared her for the macabre tunnels.

  The walls of the tunnels were made of solidly packed bones, placed side by side with the ends pointing outward. Rows of skulls, spaced a few feet apart, ran between the other bones like morbid decorative borders. It was cold, dark, and damp, and the light of Unicorn’s flashlight didn’t alleviate the gloom, only added eerie shadows.

  They walked along the walled pathway and turned into another. The place was a haphazard collection of intersecting tunnels, and Alyssa was soon hopelessly lost. After a time they came to a well, and here Unicorn stopped. He switched off his light to conserve the battery. The darkness was total. Alyssa found the utter blackness less frightening than the rows of bones and grinning skulls.

  Finally the bobbing of a lantern approached from a different direction. As they came nearer, Alyssa could see two men. Unicorn stepped forward to greet the one in front, who carried the lantern. They talked briefly, and Unicorn came back to the two women. “He wants to blindfold us so that we can’t identify their leader and the other nor find their meeting place again.”

  Alyssa and Faith agreed, though they dreaded it. At least it indicated that if the group decided not to accept them, they wouldn’t kill them to keep their identities secret. The men stepped forward and bound their eyes tightly with black bands of cloth. One of the men took the two women by the arms, and the man with the lantern led Unicorn. They walked for a long time, twisting and turning. Finally they stopped, and their guide told them to sit on the floor. Alyssa heard a faint shuffling, a cough, a whisper too soft to be understood.