Griffin W.E.B. - The Corps 08 - In Dangers Path

«They wouldn't be sure our Chinese would be there by the time they got there,» McCoy said. «And that's bandit country.»

«Bandit country?» the DDO asked.

«Warlords, sometimes aligned with Chiang Kai-shek, sometimes with the Communists, and always ready to steal whatever they can from anybody. They don't operate in the Gobi because there's not much to steal there, and also because they use the caravans to smuggle things into Russia and India.»

«According to Zimmerman,» Banning went on, pointing to the map as he spoke, «Ulaanbaatar is

the

marketplace, the transshipment point, so to speak, for caravans moving all over that area. Into the interior of China, to India, and, for that matter, into Russia.»

«Have you been there, Sergeant?» the Deputy Director (Operations) asked.

«Yes, sir.»

«I think we're at the point where we can come up with some sort of plan,» Pickering said, «and start putting it into execution… even though whatever we start will almost certainly have to be changed. I hate that, but I don't think we have any choice.»

There were no objections.

«Okay, Ed, tell us what you and McCoy are thinking,» Pickering said.

«Given that the priority, sir, is establishing reliable communications with the people in the Gobi,» Banning replied, «I think we should get Zimmerman and radios to China—into Ulaanbaatar, if that can be done—as quickly as possible.»

«Zimmerman, radios, and gold,» McCoy said. «Any radios we can put our hands on right now. With hand-cranked generators. We can get better radios into the Gobi on the airplane. Airplanes. What we have to do is set up communication with those people.»

«Fritz,» Pickering asked, «did you ever send anybody with a magic clearance to Chiang Kai-shek?»

«What's that all about?» the DDO asked. «What about Chiang Kai-shek and MAGIC?»

«I had dinner with the President, Frank Knox, and Admiral Leahy just before I went back to the Pacific… When the hell was that?»

«Fourteen October 1942,» General Rickabee furnished from memory.

»… where I learned that the President had decided to bring Mountbatten and Chiang Kai-shek in on magic. Over the objections of Knox and Leahy.»

Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten, the great-grandson of Queen Victoria, commanded Allied operations in China, Burma, and India.

«Why?» the DDO asked incredulously. «That strikes me as a hell of a good way to compromise magic.»

«Which, I think, is why Leahy and Knox objected,» Pickering said. «But the point is that he told me to find people with a magic clearance we could send to India and China. This, of course, took place before the President decided to send me over here?»

«The answer to your question, General,» Rickabee said, «is that I had just about decided to send Colonel Banning to Chungking. This, of course, was before

you

decided to send him over

here

.?'

«Do I detect a needle in there somewhere. General?»

«No, sir,» Rickabee answered with monumental insincerity.

«Chungking is where we want to send Colonel Banning now, right? And Sergeant Zimmerman,» the DDO said, then added: «And presumably Captain McCoy?»

«That makes sense, Ken,» Pickering said, looking at McCoy.

«Aye, aye, sir,» McCoy said.

«If we send Banning to Chungking—Chiang Kai-shek—now,» Pickering said, «that would mean we would have a magic communications team we control. And it would give us Special Channel communications.»

«Yeah,» the DDO said, and then asked, «Does the President want Chiang Kai-shek to have unlimited access to magic material?»

«I don't know about the President, but I don't think Frank Knox and Admiral Leahy do,» Pickering said. «Which means we would have in Banning someone who could immediately give to Chiang Kai-shek magic material which would be of interest to him. And not—«

«I take your point, General,» the DDO said.

«What about the cryptographers?» Banning asked. «I'm sure the British would be delighted to have some of their men trained—«

«But if we have our own men, that wouldn't be necessary, would it?» Pickering interrupted. «The question is, do we have anyone?»

«Me, sir,» 2nd Lieutenant Hart said. It was the first time he had opened his mouth.

«Yeah,» Pickering said thoughtfully.

«No,» Rickabee said. «You need Hart.»

«McCoy?» the DDO asked. «Or do you plan to use him operationally?»

«I don't think Ken should have a magic clearance,» Pickering said.

Which is one way of telling me I'm going into the goddamned Gobi Desert

, McCoy thought.

«Hart,» McCoy asked, «how long did it take them to teach you to operate the machine?»

«Four, five days, before they'd let me at it by myself,» Hart said.

«The Easterbunny,» McCoy said, looking at Pickering.

» 'The

Easterbunny'T

the DDO asked.

«Second Lieutenant Robert F. Easterbrook,» Pickering said. «One of the officers I brought with me.» He turned to McCoy. «Yeah,» he said. «Where is he?»

«I sent him over to the Smithsonian,» McCoy said. «To improve his mind.»

«Where's he staying?»

«With me, sir. He and Zimmerman.»

«That must be cozy,» Pickering said, smiling.

«I can give you Sergeant Rutterman,» Rickabee said. «He told me he's going stir-crazy in Washington, and I told him the first thing that came along…«

«Could he teach Easterbrook what he has to know?» Pickering asked.

«Yes, sir.»

«That would give us two. We need three, at least,» Pickering said.

«General,» Hart asked, «do you think Colonel Waterson has had time to select and train two of his officers? I'm thinking of Moore, sir. That would also give Colonel Banning an analyst.»

«Fritz, you're right,» Pickering said. «I really can't do without Hart.» He turned to Hart. «As soon as we're finished here, George, Special Channel Colonel Waterson and tell him that as soon as he has two people up and running with magic, he should be prepared to send Lieutenant Moore to… Where do I tell him to send him?»

«We've got a couple of days to determine that,» Rickabee said.

«You know what to say to Waterson, George,» Pickering said.

«Aye, aye, sir.»

«Is there a magic machine at this country club I keep hearing so much about?» Pickering asked.

«There is, for training purposes, but I don't think it's connected with the network. Or, for that matter, has current codes,» the DDO replied.

«All you need is the machine, sir,» Hart said, «to teach someone how to use it.»

«We're going to need a staging area and quarters,» Pickering said. «And despite the patriotic generosity of American Personal Pharmaceuticals in offering their quarters, I think maybe we better move to the Country Club.»

«No problem,» the DDO said. «And I'm not even going to ask what American Personal Pharmaceuticals has to do with anything.»

Banning and Rickabee chuckled.

«I'll call out there and tell them to give you whatever you need,» the DDO went on. «What do you think that will be?»

«Quarters for Lieutenant Easterbrook and Sergeants Zimmerman and Rutterman,» Pickering said. «On-call quarters for Banning, McCoy, and Jake. A place to store the radios and whatever else we're going to send to China. On that subject, Jake, I don't think Banning will have the time to go to Collins Radio. You can do that, after you and McCoy lay your hands on what is immediately available.»

«Aye, aye, sir,» Dillon said.

«I think the thing for us to do,» Pickering said, «is to chew over what we've decided. We've made a lot of decisions here today, and we're going to have to change some of them, I'm sure. I think we should get together again tomorrow. Or the day after tomorrow. I presume we can find a secure room out there?»