Chapter 371
“You know this is probably a trap, right?”
Ian grinned without taking his head off the road. “Of course it is, old friend. But it's still something that needs to be looked into.”
Felix didn't grin, but sigh. “True. But, why us? What is it about us that keeps leaving us up the creek without a paddle in such a fashion?”
“No idea, but we're here now, and we should get on with it.”
Two hours ago, they had put on a set of German Army battledress, one of the set made for them long ago, and had taken the
Kübelwagen from the main camp in a small wood on a hill that overlooked the surrounding countryside.
“Oh, the things I do for England.” Felix said with a grin, and Ian knew that old friend and relative by marriage still had his sense of humour, which they would need soon enough.
“More like 'Ze thinks I do for ze Fjuhrer!'”
They both spoke impeccable German and were starting to improve on their less than perfect Russian, but Ian's stereotype accent did the trick of cheering up the both of them.
Neither talked after that.
Felix thought back to the chat they'd had with the man from 'the Foreign Office' five days ago.
~**---**~
“So you see why we think this is genuine. There is little chance the Soviets would be willing to expose one of their top men in Turkey in this fashion if it didn't serve a specific purpose.”
Felix frowned. “What if it is a trap to take us out?”
“In all fairness, Commander,” the FO man replied, “in the grand scheme of things they are probably more interested in taking out Operation Paperclip than you specifically.”
Ian decided to overlook the small slight. “Though I do wonder why the Soviets would be making the effort. Our operations have almost exclusively been aimed against the Germans, and Heydrich hates the Communists. In something like this he wouldn't ask for their help without direct orders from someone right at the top.”
“Which is why we decided that we would go for it. That and our man at Station T has assured us that the chap the Soviets used for this is who he says.”
“Who is we?”
“The Commander in Chief and his Head of Intelligence.
“How about asking us first?”
Felix was angry, but before the FO man could say anything, he raised his right hand. “That's not to say that we will not, but no one seems to have told you that we we are not under the CinC's direct authority. If you want our men and us, then you have to go through the SOE.”
“Which he did, Felix.” Ian said, and motioned for Felix to stay quiet. Felix of course knew this, but he would be damned to the seven circles of hell if he ever let the SIS have it's way without fighting, not after all the trouble they'd landed them in over the years.
But in the end they were all working for HM Government, so he raised his hands in mock surrender and leaned back. “Do go on, Old man.”
The FO man ignored him and returned to his briefing.
“In any case, if we assume that this... offer is genuine, then the possibilities, good and bad, mandate that we look into it. If that person really has a desire to defect, then the advantage that would give us in certain fields would be significant.”
“I see.” Ian said with a nod, “Since the Soviets have requested the Commander and myself by name, this suggests something else. They have to have a highly-placed source, either within the SOE or somewhere on the German side.”
That the FO man wasn't bothered by the German part proved that he knew the other things Ian and Felix had done more or less recently.
“Whatever it is, we have to look into it.”
~**---**~
“I said: There is something else about this that just occurred to me.”
“Huh?”
Felix cleared his head.
“What occurred to you then?”
The car slowed down as they approached a bend in the road.
“What if this is a setup to get the both of us after all? Heydrich swore us revenge after all, and dear Reinhard could have conned the Soviets into doing it for him.”
Felix rammed a last shell into his shotgun. “Naa. He isn't that melodramatic, nor would he let someone else take the pleasure of killing us if he were. If anything, the mad bloody bastard is a professional.”
“True.”
For the next ten minutes the only sound heard inside the car was the clattering sound of the flat-four engine in the back, but after reaching a small creek, Ian stopped the car and shut off the engine.
“Well, shall we go get into danger of having our heads shot off? Again?”
Felix looked at the darkened horizon to the north-west, and turned to Ian.
“Promise me one thing, Ian.”
He was sincere and serious, Ian could see.
“Don't get killed. My sister wouldn't be able to take that again.”
“I don't intend to.”
Felix leaned over. “I'm serious. You can't get killed!”
“Blimey, you're starting to scare me.” Ian said, but after looking at Felix, and remembering how it had been for everyone when he had been 'dead', he sighed. “I'll do what I can.”
Felix just nodded in approval and opened the low side door. “Let's get cracking then. I'd like to be home in time for tea.”
After concealing the car behind some bushes. The small foot-path they followed ran between the trees with the undergrowth reaching up to the edge of the path. Ian felt as if they were watched, and judging by the way Felix' darkened shape scanned their surroundings, he was feeling the same.
As it turned out, they were right. All of a sudden they heard the characteristic clicking sounds of weapons being readied and found themselves surrounded by men with guns.
“Captain Fleming, Commander Leiter, would you please lower your weapons? My commanding officer wishes to speak to you.”
The voice spoke with a pronounced Russian accent, but was understandable, and even if it hadn't been, the submachine guns they all carried were clearly visible in the early morning light.
It was obvious that there was nothing they could do to get out of this, so Ian recommended his family to the hands of god and only nodded at Felix. Their guns cluttered on the ground and were picked up by some of the troops.
The Soviets didn't even bind their hands, knowing the odds, and as they were lead deeper into the woods, Ian glanced at Felix, and even in the bad light Felix knew the 'I'm sorry'.
Soon they reached a clearing, and by now it was light enough to see the other's faces. The badges their captors wore didn't belong to the NKVD, but instead the GRU. Which was strange, though wouldn't change their eventual fate. On the clearing he saw another group of men. One was a high GRU officer judging by his shoulder-boards, and the other seemed to be some sort of civilian, judging by the way he was looking around and the suitcases around his feet.
“Captain, Commander. I hope my men have not been to rough on you.”
The officer spoke acceptable but heavily russian-coloured English, but that suited Ian just fine, as while his Russian would be up to the task, he wasn't yet familiar enough with it for the subtle nuances of this sort of conversation.
“Speaking as your guest, in your company hours will seem like days, I'm sure.”
“Now that that's out of the way, shall we get to work?
After a nod from the officer, the GRU men handed the two British their weapons. In spite of commenting on this, Ian ejected the magazine from his pistol and sure enough, all the rounds were still in and it seemed to be the correct weight. Looking at the weapon itself, the firing pin was still in place.
He glanced over at Felix, and got a nod. So, a Soviet Officer who was either confident that his men could kill them before they had raised their guns and fired, or who didn't really care that Ian and Felix could both shoot him before they were killed.
“I am Major General Gogol, GRU. I'm sure you have a lot of questions to ask, but by now the Germans should have discovered that this man's NKVD minders have been killed by what will appear to have been British weapons, and by circumstance, we couldn't help leaving something of a trail. By my guess you have about four hours at best before the Germans swarm all over this clearing.”
Ian sighed. “So what is it that you want us to do? By all accounts you have just doomed us to running like a fox from the hounds when we just could have taken that one,” he pointed at the civilian with his thumb, “back over the front lines without anyone knowing that we were there. So, Comrade General, I'd like to know a few things before I do anything.”
Gogol laughed. “Captain, for a man in your position to make these demands certainly takes courage, especially to a loyal Soviet Officer.”
He grinned one last time before speaking again.
“I have no intention of leaving my country or working for you in any form, before you ask. But what I want you to do is to take this man across your frontlines. It suits me to see him out of Stalin's reach.”
Ian studied the civilian who had not said a word, but who watched the two British officers with thinly disguised interest.
“Just who is he? Why should we do your work for you and carry a false deflector to Britain for you?”
“As you are probably aware, Comrade Stalin is currently looking for another conspiracy to oust him, and as far as the GRU, the NKVD, the Moscow Militia and even the street cleaner in front of the Vladivostok Soviet know, there isn't one. That however doesn't stop Stalin. So this man here is under suspicion because he is a Scientist, Ukranian, has been in prison before and because he once had contact to another few men who were recently... dealt with. His wife and daughter have already died in a very convenient lorry crash.”
“So why is he still alive?”
“Because of your bombers, Captain. Recently you destroyed a... facility on the northern German coast, and several of their best people were killed. Our friend here,” he motioned at the civilian who was still trying to figure out just what was going on, being as he spoke no English, “was brought in under heavy guard to help rebuild.”
The 'or else' was left unsaid.
“What makes you think that we can use him?” Ian asked, and Gogol shook his head.
“You are honourable men, something that's far too rare in this war. You wouldn't lie about doing this out of the goodness of your hearts. Yet don't think me a fool. I may not yet know where it is, but I am sure that your Government has a programme that could benefit from this man's efforts. His name is...”
tbc
Comments? Questions? Rotten tomatoes?
Just as a note, I hate this cliffhanger, but the update was growing way beyond where it was supposed to, so I decided to end it where it stands. The next one should be out soon-ish.