Dennis Wheatley - Traitors' Gate

After considering for a moment, the Colonel replied, 'As you must be aware, we Moldavians are not a seafaring people. Most of the ships we owned were cargo vessels trading in the Mediterranean. Since the war they have been chartered to the Axis. A few, of course, were on the oceans, and those that have not been sunk are under charter to the Allies; but there are never more than a handful of Moldavian sailors in British ports. The only ones actually resident here, as far as I know, are the crews of our tugs.'

'Tugs!' repeated Gregory quickly. 'How do you come to have tugs here?'

'We had four on order in British shipyards when the war broke out. Normally, when completed they would have been sent round by the Black Sea to us for work on the Danube. Two were actually about to sail and the British made a move to commandeer them. But we resisted it, and a compromise was reached by which it was agreed that we should supply crews for them and they should fly the Moldavian flag, but be chartered by the Ministry of Shipping for the duration. They are powerful vessels so suitable for coastal work, and are employed in bringing strings of coal barges down from Newcastle to London. One has been sunk but three are still in service.'

Gregory leaned forward with sudden excitement. 'I believe this might be the solution to our problem. The essence of success is to get Sabine away quickly. Once the hunt is on police all over Britain will be holding up cars to check the people in them. That's why I don't like the idea of taking her right across England. We would probably have to make two bites at the cherry; and we'd certainly not be able to get her away to sea the same night. On the other hand, a car could run her down to the. Kent or Essex coast before her escape had been discovered, and if one of your tugs could pick her up she would be pretty well in the clear.'

'You speak of my tugs. But they are chartered by the British Government.'

'I know; but you say they are manned by Moldavian crews. Therefore the real points at issue are: could you 'induce whoever in the Moldavian Embassy is responsible for these tugs to order the Captain of one of them to take her across to the Continent and, on receiving such an order, would he and his crew obey it?'

'It is I who am responsible. Apart from a few gunboats on the Danube, Moldavia has no navy; so her Military Attaches include in their duties such very occasional naval matters as arise. Since the tugs were built to the order of my Government. and not to that of a private company, it was decided that it was more suitable that I should arrange about their charter, rather than our Commercial Attaché. As for obeying, yes I think so. They are simple seamen, and in a matter like this there is some compensation to be gained from Moldavia's being a rather backward country. Her lower orders are patriotic, so willing to take risks for her, and they are still accustomed to accept without question orders from highly placed men of their own nationality, such as myself.'

'All this sounds almost too good to be true.'

'One moment, please.' The Colonel raised his hand. I was about to add that living in Britain for so long will certainly have made many of them pro Ally. Some of them, too, have married English girls, and perhaps intend to make their homes here for good. So although they are by nature patriotic and well disciplined, some of them would obey only with reluctance. And there is always the chance that, rather than leave England, one of them would betray our intentions.'

'I appreciate that; but there is also the other side of the picture. For over three years all of them have been cut off from their homeland. Some of them must be cursing the war which keeps them in compulsory exile and looks as if it will never end. I have no doubt that there are quite a number who would give anything for a chance to get back to their wives and families. Couldn't you sound the Captains? Find out which of them is eager to get home. Then set him to sound the men of all the crews. As soon as he had reported to you, you could order a reshuffling of crews, so that all the pro home birds are concentrated in one tug. Get the idea?'

'I do; and it is a good one. But to do as you suggest would take some time.'

'True; but there is no immediate urgency. I think I can drag out Sabine's interrogation until early November.'

'In that case, yes; I think I could arrange things. There remains, though, the problem of detaching the chosen tug from its normal service.'

'That should not be difficult. At the appropriate time, either on her run up to Newcastle or down to London, somewhere between Clacton and the Nore, she would develop engine trouble and would have to put in to one of the small yacht harbours either Brightlingsea or Burnham on Crouch. While her string of barges lay safe at anchor, her engineer would be tinkering with her engine, perhaps for two or three days, until he got the O.K. from you. Then that evening she would put to sea, without her barges, for a trial, pick up Sabine in the early hours a few miles along the coast and, of course, never come back.'

'A brilliant conception,' murmured the Colonel, stroking his moustache. 'Yes, a brilliant conception. I really believe this might be done. But let us talk now of another matter. May I take it that in exchange for my help you are ready to give me the date and the objective of this great operation that is now being mounted in your Northern Ports?'

His question was a facer. Gregory had known that it must arise ultimately, but he had no intention of going so far so soon; so he temporized, by saying 'Then you know about that?'

'Naturally. There are Moldavians living in every city in Britain. They are not spies, but the more responsible of them regard it as their duty to keep their eyes open and to pass on to their Embassy anything of interest they may see. It would be childish to expect no one to notice the hundreds of ships that are being concentrated in the Clyde and the masses of troops that are almost bursting out of the transit camps that have been constructed in that area.'

Gregory smiled. 'Yes, even the best security measures could not conceal from anyone in your position that a big show is impending. But I can tell you neither its D-Day nor its objective. You see, I am not on the Joint Planning Staff; I only work in the Map Room.'

Kasdar's face suddenly hardened. 'I trust you have not been trifling with me. There are big risks attached to getting Sabine out of this country, and I am not prepared to take them unless you can give me something really worth while.'

'I hope to. Security inside the Cabinet Offices is bound to loosen up as D-Day approaches. As soon as I can get anything definite I will pass it on to you.'

'That is not good enough. Even in sounding these tug Captains I shall run some risk of betrayal. If the matter is to be proceeded with at all such preliminaries should be got on with right away. But I will not risk so much as an eyelash unless you are prepared to give me here and now some evidence of your good faith.'

'Very well. At least I am certain of this much. It is to be an Anglo-American operation and the Commander in Chief is to be the American, General Eisenhower. The Task Force Commanders will be Generals Patton and Mark Clark and the G.O.C. British troops General Sir Kenneth Anderson.'

'Good. What you tell me is of great interest. We heard a rumour that this General Eisenhower had been appointed C-in-C; yet we could not believe it, because until recently he was only a Major General, and can have had little experience of war.'

Gregory shrugged. 'None of the Americans has; but he was their Chief Planner, and is General Marshall's blue-eyed boy.'

'That explains the matter,' Kasdar nodded, and went on briskly. 'Now tell me about the Order of Battle of this expeditionary force.'