The Fighting Agents Part 16

He waited for her to respond to that, and then, when she did not, went on, "Obviously, I was wrong. The only response to my letter was the telephone call just now. When Whittaker left here, after telling me that I was 'out of my mind' for having you in the school, he said that he was going to see the colonel. I had the impression he meant both about his coming here and about you."

"He's known Colonel Donovan all his life," Cynthia said softly.

"And so have you," Baker said.

Cynthia looked at him.

"You want me to go to Colonel Donovan?" she asked.

"I thought you might consider it," Baker said. "For what a fraternal organization would call 'the good of the order.' "

"I'm going to see Colonel Donovan," Cynthia said. "I intend to graduate from this school."

"I thought perhaps you could make it clear to him why this whole sequence of events is so distressing to me," Baker said.

Cynthia's mind was rus.h.i.+ng ahead.

"If I'm to go to Was.h.i.+ngton in the morning," she said, "what do I do about turning in my equipment, settling things?"

"I'll take care of that for you myself," Baker said.

2.

It had taken a long time for Cynthia to go to sleep, and she had gone to sleep angry.

And she had awakened still angry, and had grown angrier with the realization that there was not going to be time to pack and dress and eat breakfast, too, and that she was just going to have to miss breakfast.

There was a small silver lining to the black cloud, she thought. It would be the first time that Greg had seen her dressed up in anything fancier than a skirt and a sweater, or wearing any makeup except a faint touch of lipstick. She had a moment to enjoy that before thinking that it probably would be better if he didn't get to see her that way. It would fuel what she suspected he felt for her.

When she carried her luggage downstairs, he was in the entrance foyer. It was the first time she had seen him dressed up, too. He was in his pink-and-green lieutenant's uniform, wearing his new silver parachutist's wings.

He smiled when he saw her.

"Baker said you would be going to Was.h.i.+ngton," he said. "He didn't say why, and he didn't tell me how pretty you are in your civilian clothing."

"Good morning, Greg," she said.

She wondered what his destination was, and when they had pa.s.sed the checkpoint, she asked him.

"I don't know," he said.

Cynthia leaned forward and asked the driver, "Where are you taking Lieutenant Hammersmith?"

"The house on Q Street," the driver replied. "He's to see Chief Ellis."

"What's the 'house on Q Street'?" Greg Hammersmith asked.

"It's a mansion near Rock Creek Park," she said. "We use it as both a safe house and sort of a hotel for transients."

"You've been there before, I gather."

"I used to run it," she said.

"And am I permitted to ask where you're going?" he asked.

"I'm going there too," she said.

"And am I permitted to ask why?"

"No," she said. "I'm sorry."

"Then, in the short time remaining to us, Miss Chenowith-" he began.

"Don't, Greg," she said. "Please don't-"

"What I was going to say, you have apparently figured out all by yourself," he said.

She looked at him and met his eyes, then averted her eyes and avoided looking at him on the rest of the way to Was.h.i.+ngton.

When she walked into the kitchen, she asked the cook if Chief Ellis was around.

"In the dining room with Captain Whittaker," the cook replied.

"Come on, Greg," Cynthia said, aware that her temper was up and not caring.

Captain Whittaker and Chief Ellis were eating either a late breakfast or an early lunch. They were having eggs with their steaks, she saw, so it had to be breakfast.

"I think you know Miss Chenowith, Chief," Whittaker said when he saw her. "Otherwise known as 'Super-woman. 'And I don't know the name of the gentleman with her, but he is the one who almost came to her aid when I publicly humiliated her."

"d.a.m.n you!" Cynthia flared.

"My name is Hammersmith," Greg said coldly.

" 'My name is Hammersmith, Sir, Sir,' " Whittaker said. "We try very hard to observe the military amenities around here, don't we, Chief?"

"Yes, Sir," Ellis said. "That we do, Sir."

"Sit down, Cynthia," Whittaker said. "Take a load off. Have a bite to eat. We have several hours to kill."

Glowering at him, she walked to the head of the table and stabbed the call b.u.t.ton on the floor with her toe.

"For a moment, there, I thought she was going to slug me with her purse," Whittaker said. "Didn't it look that way to you?"

"You sonofab.i.t.c.h," Cynthia said.

"Nice to see you, too, Miss Chenowith," Whittaker said.

The cook appeared.

"Yes, Ma'am?"

"I'd like some breakfast," Cynthia said. "Greg, are you hungry?"

"I missed breakfast," he said.

"Bring us, please, the same thing they had," Cynthia said.

"You may sit down, Lieutenant," Whittaker said.

Lieutenant Hammersmith didn't move.

"I'll rephrase," Whittaker said. "Sit down, Lieutenant."

"d.a.m.n you, play your games with me, but leave Greg alone."

"'Greg'?" Whittaker parroted mockingly. "Wonder-woman to the rescue of 'Greg'?"

"You really are a b.a.s.t.a.r.d, Jimmy," she said.

"You miss the point, Cynthia," Whittaker said. "The one thing I demand of my subordinates when I'm off saving the world for democracy is what they call instant, cheerful obedience."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Cynthia flared.

"I'm about to go into the Philippines," Whittaker said. "If the lieutenant here is half the radio wizard Dougla.s.s tells me he is, and if I'm convinced he'll take orders, he's going with me."

"That's operational information," Cynthia flared. "That's Top Secret. I'm going to tell Colonel Donovan you've been running off at the mouth again, and Ellis, d.a.m.n you, too, you're my witness."

"Oh, you've got the Need-to-Know, Cynthia," Whittaker said. "You're the control."

She looked at him and saw in his eyes that he was telling the truth.

"I'm not thrilled about you being my control, frankly," Whittaker said. "But it was the only way I could think of to get you out of that school."

"Why did you do that?" Cynthia snapped. "What gave you the right?"

"I already told you," he said. "I love you, and all's fair in love and war. This seems to be both, so anything goes."

"d.a.m.n you, Jimmy!" she said, furious that she felt like crying.

"That may pose certain problems between us, Captain," Hammersmith said.

"How is that?" Whittaker asked.

"I'm in love with her, too," Greg Hammersmith said.

"Oh, Greg!" Cynthia said.

"From this point, then, Lieutenant, you are advised not to turn your back on me," Whittaker said.

"Fair enough," Hammersmith said.

"You look vaguely familiar to me, Lieutenant," Whittaker said. "Do we know each other?"

"No, Sir," Hammersmith said.

"He's the actor, Captain," Chief Ellis said. "Greg Hammer? "

"Oh, yeah," Whittaker said. "I'll be d.a.m.ned. How'd a movie star get in the OSS?"

"I'm a friend of Stan Fine's," Hammersmith said. "When the Army announced that I would be stationed as an instructor at Fort Monmouth for the indefinite future, I asked him to get me out of it."

"I'm really sorry you told me that," Whittaker said. "I always find it difficult to cut the throats of friends of friends of mine."

"Catch me asleep," Hammersmith said. "I'm very vulnerable when I'm asleep."

"You just volunteered to run around in the Philippines, Lieutenant," Whittaker said. "How do you feel about that?"

"I thought I had to prove I was a radio wizard first," Hammersmith said.

"That was before you told me you have the hots for our girl . . . ," Whittaker said.

"d.a.m.n you!" Cynthia said.

"Obviously," Whittaker went on, "I could not go off to run around in the jungle and eat monkeys and leave you here to pursue yon fair maiden by yourself."

"Obviously not," Hammersmith said, and chuckled.

d.a.m.n it, Cynthia thought, Cynthia thought, they like each other! they like each other!

3.

FERSFIELD ARMY AIR CORPS STATION BEDFORDs.h.i.+RE, ENGLAND 7 FEBRUARY 1943.

First Lieutenant Henry "Hank" Darmstadter, U.S. Army Air Corps, a stocky, round-faced young officer of twenty-three, was not sure why he had volunteered for a "cla.s.sified a.s.signment involving great personal risk" or why he had been accepted.

As a simple statement of fact, rather than from modesty, he understood that he was not the world's greatest airplane driver. There was proof of this. He had twice-once in basic and again in advanced-been sent before the elimination board. The first time, the reason had been simple. He had suffered airsickness.