Beneath Gray Skies

by Hugh Ashton

  “Thank you, Prime Minister.” Rising from his seat at the end of the Cabinet table, C addressed the assembled Cabinet. “The recent events in the Confederate States of America and in Germany deserve a little more explanation, I feel, but as the Prime Minister has said, these explanations are for your ears only. Suitable public explanations will be forthcoming.” He coughed.

  “To begin, gentlemen, I should point out that, as you were all well aware, there were more than a few political points in common between the former Nazi government of Germany, and President Davis’s government of the Confederacy. Indeed, as some of you already know, Confederacy troops were sent from America to Germany to aid Herr Hitler in his coup. Despite the efforts of our agents, one of whom was actually serving in one of the Confederate regiments dispatched to Berlin,” a ripple of excitement greeted this announcement, which seemed to be news to almost all seated around the table, “we were unable to prevent the Nazis from seizing power.”

  “One or two of you gentlemen have been informed,” C continued, “of the existence of the liaison headed by ourselves and working with the Americans in Washington DC with regard to these problems. This joint operation was agreed to with enthusiasm by both parties when we originally proposed it. The Americans turned out to be extremely generous in providing facilities and funding, and were keen to use our expertise, which, I am justifiably proud to report, is considerably in advance of theirs, in almost every regard.”

  “Do you consider we received value for money in this exchange?” The question came, maybe predictably, from the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

  “Indeed I do, sir. The cost of our working alone to set up such a complex operation, involving well over twenty agents in the field, and an equivalent number of backroom staff, not to mention the difficulty of doing such a thing in Washington, would almost certainly have ruled such an operation out of court otherwise. We are all extremely grateful to the USA for their cooperation and their active support. Bringing an ally up to a common level of competence is scarcely a hardship, in any event.”

  “I see your point,” replied the Chancellor. “Please continue.”

  “It swiftly became apparent following the formation of this group that the primary objectives should be firstly to deprive Germany of the products of the oil reserves of the Confederacy, and secondly, to prevent the Confederacy from acquiring German military technology. The weak point, the Achilles heel, if you will, of the whole Confederate/German axis, was identified as the airship link between the two countries.”

  “Are you saying that we shot down that damned thing the other day?” came an unidentified voice from the other side of the table.

  “No, Minister, I am not saying that at all. Please hear me out. Our experts had concluded that there was no immediate risk of any airships acquired by the Confederacy being used for an offensive war in North America.” Some of his audience raised their eyebrows at this. C noticed, and continued, “One, the airships had too much propaganlarge da value as civilian passenger carriers. Two,” the second finger went up, “despite the Gotha and Zeppelin raids in the last war, we do not consider that such raids against civilian populations win wars. On the contrary, it seems that civilian resolve is actually strengthened by such attacks. Thirdly, although the Confederate Army is very large in terms of numbers, in terms of fighting efficiency, and matériel, it is actually not much use as an offensive weapon.”

  “Similar to the Tsarist Russian army?” suggested a minister.

  “Indeed, sir. A most apt comparison. And we also considered that Germany lacked both the resources and the stomach for a protracted ground war. Lastly, it was difficult for us to see what the Confederacy would gain in the long term from a defeat of the USA.”

  “An interesting point,” mused the Chancellor. “You always assume that the aim of enemies is to destroy each other. It may actually simply be to prevent themselves from being destroyed by their opponent.”

  “In this case, I am sure that this is the case, sir. The weak link of any joint efforts between the Nazis and the Confederacy was identified as the airship service. This was to be the most heavily publicized aspect of their cooperative efforts, and also one of the most vulnerable. We had planned sabotage of the airship facilities in the Confederacy, but not, I repeat not, of the airship itself, hoping the damage and the propaganda effect, taking on the Nazis at their own game of manipulating public opinion, would be sufficient to wreck good relations between Germany and the Confederacy. We were concentrating our efforts in the Confederacy rather than in Germany on account of the regrettable efficiency of the Nazi secret police. The agent who was going to carry out this work was a British subject, working for the Americans rather than ourselves, for reasons that do not concern us at this time. He was betrayed to the Confederate authorities by an American working in the Washington liaison office.”

  “Bloody Yanks!” came another voice. To C’s dismay, there seemed to be a murmur of general agreement with this judgment.

  “Gentlemen, please. As I mentioned earlier, the cooperation with our American allies apart from this was excellent. They provided facilities and intelligence that we could not otherwise have acquired. The fact that there was one rotten apple does not mean that we should condemn the whole barrel.”

  “An excellent point, C. Thank you. Please continue,” interjected the Prime Minister.

  “Thank you, Prime Minister. By good fortune when the captured agent was delivered to the Confederate military authorities, it was to an officer involved in a projected secret coup against the Davis administration. The members of this junta planned, if their efforts were successful, to emancipate the slaves, restore greater democracy to the nation, open the Confederacy to outside influences, and reduce the military influence on Confederate society. There was also a strong element of anti-Nazi feeling among the members. The captured agent decided to throw in his lot with the rebels.”

  “He was joined in this,” C went on, taking a sip of water, “by an anti-Nazi German officer who saw the chance to kill two birds with one stone by destroying the airship with the Nazis and the Confederate Cabinet on board.”

  “Bloody gruesome,” someone commented.

  “Indeed so,” agreed C. “A very unpleasant way to die. The captured agent, given his familiarity with Confederate weaponry from his prior service in the Army of the Confederacy—”

  “This is the same agent who was in Berlin?”

  Annoyed at his slip, C tartly replied, “Yes, it was. His experience, I repeat, led him to be selected as the nemesis of the dirigible. The German officer briefed the crew, through their captain Dr. Hugo Eckener, an outspoken opponent of the Nazis, by wireless. The crew abandoned ship in mid-air, escaping by parachute, and two incendiary rockets made quick work of the Bismarck. There were, as you know, no survivors. The Confederate junta seized power in Richmond and the major cities throughout the nation in a virtually bloodless coup. In Germany, as soon as the news came through, which it did in a matter of a few hours, the democratic opposition very quickly crushed the remnants of the Nazi party. By concentrating all power into a few hands, the Nazis, and the Confederates for that matter, had made themselves particularly vulnerable.”

  “What is the basis for all the rumors about the treasure pod on the airship?” came a question from the Minister for Education.

  C allowed himself a rueful smile. “If I had not had this story verified, I would have dismissed it to the realms of fantasy. The Nazis wished to assist the Confederacy financially, but as we all know, their supply of hard currency is minimal. Their solution was to ship an archeological treasure from Germany to the Confederacy, where it could be converted into US dollars on its sale to a US collector. In this case, the treasure being shipped was the Jewels of Helen and the other gold artifacts discovered at the site of Troy by Henrik Schliemann last century.” A low whistle sounded from a junior minister, and the Prime Minister frowned. “The value, it was estimated, would be sufficient to compensate slave o
wners for the first phase of emancipation, and to take care of the poor freed wretches.”

  “It would be worth that much money?” asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, incredulously.

  “Apparently so, sir, to the right collector.” The Chancellor shook his head in amazement. “The treasure was to be carried in a special pod, which was to be jettisoned from the airship before its destruction. The jettison mechanism failed, and the treasure pod crashed to earth with the rest of the airship.”

  “So the Jewels of Helen are lost to the world?” asked the Chancellor.

  C smiled in response. “Not at all, sir. The pod was designed to withstand crashes and fire, but…” he smiled even wider, enjoying the suspense he was generating, “when they got there the cupboard was bare. In other words, when the pod was opened, all that was discovered inside was a glass necklace worth approximately one shilling and sixpence.” Laughter from round the table. “However, gentlemen, for the coup plotters, this was no laughing matter. They had taken possession of their country, but had no way to implement their proposed reforms. At this point, our ex-agent made one or two suggestions to the junta, with the result that the Prime Minister will now describe.”

  “Thank you, C,” said the Prime Minister, rising as C resumed his seat to a round of hearty applause. “For the past forty-eight hours, the telegraph wires between Downing Street and our Legation in Richmond have been burning red-hot, and the ones to Washington have only been slightly cooler. The time differences between our nations are the very devil.” He yawned. “But I digress.”

  “The basis of the discussions that I and Sir Edmund,” he indicated the Foreign Secretary, “have been conducting is that we would welcome the Southern states of the Confederacy into the world again, subject to certain conditions relating to the abolition of slavery, greater democracy, and so on and so forth. As C has just explained, the junta also welcomes these changes to Confederate society, but lacks the means to do so. To cut a long story short, in return for the United Kingdom supplying the finance to make these changes possible, the ruling government of the Confederacy has agreed to join the British Empire, on a short-term temporary basis, as the Confederate Dominion of America.”

  The Cabinet rose as one and applauded loudly. “That’s incredible news! Congratulations, sir,” said the Minister of War as the Cabinet resumed their seats.

  “Let me continue in a little more detail. The terms by which the Confederacy will be governed are essentially the same as those pertaining to Canada, but with one important difference; that at the end of every five years while they are part of the Empire, a plebiscite will be held to determine whether the Confederacy should remain as part of the Empire or not.”

  “In the case that they left the Empire, they would be free to rejoin the USA or to return to full independence?” suggested the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

  “Indeed they would,” replied the Prime Minister. “And it was that first alternative, as much as anything, that brought Washington round to accepting the deal with a good grace. In addition, I may add that Secretary of State Kellogg has a very high personal opinion of C’s man in Washington. The advantages for the Confederacy are many: their society becomes free and open, they become actors on the great world stage, and they gain self-respect as a member in good standing of the League of Nations. No-one is pretending that the changes to their society will be painless, but I think we may be in a good position to provide some real assistance there, and we can help with emigration to Australia, Canada, New Zealand, or Africa for any members of Confederate society, white or black, who may not wish to live in the new Dominion. We, of course, gain access to their cotton, and their raw materials, including oil. Not exclusively, of course, and we hope to work together with the renewed democratic Germany to help build up the industrial power of the Confederacy.”

  “We will be making the public announcement in two days’ time,” said the Colonial Secretary. I must ask you to keep this absolutely quiet until then. The interim Confederate President will come over here in the near future to sign all the treaties and protocols, and to resign his Presidency in favor of a Premiership. We will probably be sending over one of the Royal Family with all due pomp and ceremony to act as the first Governor-General—it appears that anti-Royalist sentiment is not so strong in the Confederacy as in the USA.”

  The door to the Cabinet office opened, and a tray of brandy and sodas was placed on the table. When the servants had left and the door was closed, the Prime Minister, who had rung for the drinks while the Colonial Secretary was speaking, stood. “Gentlemen, please take your glasses. I give you the Confederate Dominion of America.”

  The toast was heartily echoed.

  “I have two more questions,” the Chancellor of the Exchequer said to C. “What was the point of the glass necklace, and where is the real treasure?”

  “We have Hermann Goering, the recently deceased Nazi Air Minister, to thank for that,” replied C with a smile. “He considered himself a connoisseur of art and a loving husband, and when he saw the Jewels of Helen, he took them for himself, or rather, for his wife. The rest of the treasure was hidden in a safe in his office from where it has been recovered by one of our friends in Berlin who worked in Goering’s office. It’s all been returned now to the museum from which it originally came.”

  “And the glass necklace?”

  “Goering’s idea of a joke, one assumes. Maybe he valued the whole Confederacy at one shilling and sixpence. I doubt if we will ever know what went on in his mind.”

  Extract from Hugh Ashton’s forthcoming novel, “At the Sharpe End”

  The next morning saw Sharpe up bright and early, repairing the damage to his computer and to his office. Mieko was still sleeping, snoring slightly, as he made his way to the shower to wake himself up for the day ahead. His face still felt sore, and he decided not to shave that day. As he’d said to Sugita/Ishihara, there was little work that had been lost, but there was still a mass of papers and general level of messiness in the room that exceeded even the usual standards for the place. Looking through his appointments, he realised that there was nothing that couldn’t be put off for a day or so. He sent off a couple of e-mail messages to take care of a progress meeting demanding a report (yesterday’s neglected task), and attendance at a lecture given by a technical society that Sharpe only attended when he was on the prowl for new clients.

  As he strolled into the kitchen to make the coffee for breakfast, he heard waking-up noises from Mieko. He could almost hear her smile as she walked into the kitchen behind Sharpe and flung her arms around him, pressing her breasts against his back. She was stark naked.

  “Get dressed, you lewd and lascivious wench,” he said, turning in her embrace, returning her kiss and playfully slapping her backside. She put on a pout of mock annoyance, and sashayed out of the room.

  By the time she returned, dressed and made up for the day, the coffee was ready, and they sat down to discuss the day ahead, as they usually did. Sharpe told her that he wasn’t going to the customer today, and was going to continue with the work he should have done earlier, and Mieko informed him in return that she was going to go round to Meema’s to pick up a few things she’d left there. Sharpe wasn’t aware that she’d taken enough with her for one night to be able to forget anything, but he knew from experience that Mieko was capable of leaving a trail of belongings behind her wherever she went—one reason why she put up with his own messiness, he supposed.

  “Aren’t you going to Tokyo station?” asked Mieko.

  “What for?” he replied, and then remembered the key he’d been given the previous night. “Oh, yes. I suppose I’d better find out what it’s all about. I’ll do it when I find a place to stop in the report I’m meant to be writing. It shouldn’t take me more than an hour or so to go there and back. And I can buy a spare hard disk while I’m there.”

  He carried his third cup of coffee of the morning to his office, and started on his report for a major investment
bank (not the one where Vishal worked), who had the idea that they might save some money by outsourcing some of their information technology to India, so that all their Tokyo databases would be managed from Bangalore. Sharpe’s job was to analyse the possible risks and downsides of this approach, as seen from the Tokyo end.

  As it happened, Sharpe thought this proposal was one of the silliest ideas he’d heard in a long time, but he was finding it difficult to put his thoughts into diplomatic language for the report, so after an hour or so, he put on his jacket and walked to the station to catch the train for Tokyo. On the way there he passed a small builder’s yard, and made a mental note to call in there on the way back to get the broken window fixed.

  The journey to Tokyo station was quite long, and involved two changes. He spent the time on the train idly reliving last night’s adventures, from the time he’d rushed out of the house to rescue Mieko, to the time when they’d fallen asleep contentedly in each other’s arms. On balance he decided that he rather liked Katsuyama’s father-in-law. At least he seemed to say what he meant, unlike Major Barclay, for one.