'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.'
'I don't know it,' Gregory spread out his hands. 'But I may be able to get it for you in a few days' time.'
'That, and the date of D-Day and the objective. All these I must have if to do as you wish is to be worth my while.'
I will do my best; and I have already given you something for nothing. It is up to you now to investigate the situation and, if possible, to arrange for one of the tugs to be available on the Essex coast early in November. I suggest that you come here again at the same hour on Saturday next. That is, the 31st; by then both of us should be in a position to say whether we are able or unable to carry out our sides of the deal.'
The Moldavian agreed and left soon afterwards. When he had gone Gregory mixed himself another very stiff whisky and soda. In one way the interview had terminated far better than he had thought at all likely. They had actually agreed on a possible means of getting Sabine out of the country, and with out the dangers and delays incumbent on transporting her to Eire. But he had had to pass on some of the secret information that he had extracted from Sir Pellinore the previous night. He could not think that the Germans were going to derive any important benefit from learning the names of the principal Commanders of the expedition; but, all the same, that had been graded 'Most Secret,' and the knowledge that, owing to him, it would shortly be known in Berlin made him gulp the whisky down more quickly.
How he was to keep the ball rolling on Saturday was a matter that he did not yet care to think about. It was clear now that Kasdar was not prepared to go through with the business unless he received his pound of flesh; and to give it to him without one drop of good red blood seemed practically impossible. It could be done only by positively split-second timing. That meant, Gregory knew, that during the final preparations for Sabine's rescue he would be walking on eggshells; and he knew too that if he went through them he would deserve to be shot.