Swords Made of Letters

[edyzmedieval]

Thank you very much.

[edyzmedieval]

Chapter XII - Secret Briefing

Small step forwards.

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9:45 PM
Intelligence Villa
Westminster, London
United Kingdom


"Have a seat, Horace."

Stuffy it was, filled with the smell of leftover cigar smoke that embedded into the tapestry, the chairs and even the curtains. On the second floor of a small Victorian villa a couple of streets away from the major landmark of the neighbourhood, the meeting room hoisted a number of plush velvet chairs around an ivory coloured lacquered table. Two windows brought enough light into the room where it was only Horace and Lord Howe. The chief of the intelligence sat down at the top of the table, with Horace standing by the chair on the opposite end, casually slouching into the chair with his hands folded.

"I'm listening Horace. You've made a fuss of it, and you're accusing a member of the Parliament. That's no easy thing."

Horace straightened his posture, drawing his jacket downwards to project a feeling of strength. And to buy more time.

"Lord Howe, I don't do this lightly. And I was supposed to turn this in to my superiors anyhow since I had enough of this."

"What did he ask you to do, Horace?"

"Follow his mistress. He was afraid he was cheating on him."

Howe raised an eyebrow, almost smiling. "His mistress, cheating on him? Doesn't he have a wife?"

"He does, Sire."

Howe smirked. He cleared his throat, making his heavy, throaty voice even stronger. "Dubious. Continue, Horace."

"Lord Beckett has known Miss Mathilda for quite some time already, I believe that it's already been a year." Horace shifted slightly on his legs. "More than a year in fact. We discovered the information leak quite late."

"A shame." Howe brushed his hands against his fists, his eyes straight on his subordinate.

"She was... well known to us. In fact, she is the daughter of a diplomat, which raised some alarms.

"And nobody bothered to tell him that?"

"Nobody listened to us, Lord Howe."

Howe raised his head, his eyes viewing Horace at an odd, titled angle. "Nobody?"

"Beckett gave us no importance."

"Good job, Beckett. Go on."

"I had been following her for almost a year when the first reports came to me."

"A year. Good job, Horace!"

Horace shifted again. "Sire, I tried to warn him."

"Relax, I understand. Go on."

"Bekcett employed me privately and I followed her continuously for some time. Initially it was just a number of nights, then it became my entire off duty."

"And why did you stop?"

"With her, I wanted to tell her that I had enough and that Beckett was following her, so just be careful. Turns out she was married already, so she was cheating on Beckett, but with her own husband."

"Who's the husband?"

Horace tapped his shoulders. "Air force officer, probably a pilot. Maximilian Elbe."

Howe flicked his hand in the air, implying that he wanted more info. "Anything we know about him?"

"Not much as of this moment. I found out what he had been looking for through a report passed down to me by my colleagues in the Internal Security department. Multiple people reported of a tall man lurking around various important objectives for days on end, sometimes seen with a photography camera in hand too."

"What exactly are those objectives?"

"Do you have a map, Sire?"

Howe's assistant brought a large map of the United Kingdom three minutes after the request, which the two men unfurled on the table. Patches and patches of various sizes and colours were applied on certain spots around the map, indicating various levels of importance for the places highlighted by these items. Horace held up four fingers.

"Four different objectives. One just south of London, an armament factory. Second one slightly westwards close to Cornwall is a power station supplying the whole south of the country. Third, eastwards, close to Grimsby, he was spotted around the naval dockyards which he did again in the north close to York."

Howe pointed to the patches. "Right, all of these are of national security importance. How sure are we it's the same guy?"

"Extensive notes taken by our Internal Security, based on what the locals were telling us. He did not use the same car twice but it was easy to recognise him by the third try. They had one man follow him throughout the journey."

"All right, but how do you know him?"

"Mathilda told me who he is."

Howe brushed his palm over his face. "Fair. Did you send her in?"

Horace nodded. "Yes, Sire. She's on her way to the interrogation room in our central headquarters."

"Good." Howe returned to his chair and picked up the jacket he left on the back of the chair. "Horace, I'm off to the headquarters. Return to the scene, find out more information about him and keep an eye on Beckett."

Howe drew up his man, locking his grey eyes on Horace's own.

"I don't trust Beckett. Follow him."

----

[Arnulf Floyd]

Thanks for update

[edyzmedieval]

Chapter XIII - Carry It Out, Officer

A new chapter, focused on Elbe.


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14th of December 1938
9:32 PM
South of Stuttgart
Baden-Wurttemberg Region
Germany


A certain sound, formed by the gushing of rain stomping on the pavement, on the earth and on the cars. That sound formed a nighttime orchestra that echoed throughout his mind, like a little blanket put behind his back to shield him from the cold. It was cold outside, a dreary December night in the south of Germany where everyone stood huddled around fireplaces and not outside waiting for official permission to continue. They stopped at a military checkpoint, approximately thirty miles south of the city of Stuttgart, heading for a military retreat deep in the woods of Baden-Wurttemberg. The watchman checked their papers and phoned in at the headquarters for clearance, which Elbe and his driver duly received after another inquisitive glance from the young guardsman. The Mercedes sedan roared onwards, the heavy radial tyres munching through the muddied gravel road that led to the military retreat. The twelve minute road to the retreat through the dense forest was not particularly welcoming as the trees themselves cast heavy shadows over the road, a slight mist and a game of darkness floating above the two yellow electrical eyes of the car.

Twelve minutes onwards and the car braked in a small plaza, each side of the square central point flanked by a certain type of military building. To the west and north were three military barracks, guarded behind by a taller armoury while in the midst of the plaza, slightly off centered towards the east, stood an imposing villa with a watch tower. Eight cars were parked beside the entrance of the villa whilst three armoured personnel carriers stood by the entrances of the barracks. The whole plaza was silent, mist roaming around the tops of the armoury and the villa, the only sound being the drenching of the rain as it flushed through the graveled paths.

Elbe's driver drew up the Mercedes at the entrance, forcing Richard as quickly as possible outside the car and into the villa. The intelligence officer entered the foyer of the villa, immediately greeted by two uniformed men who smiled at him. Maximilian Ober and Richard Muller. Both of them good friends of his, both of them in the army. And both of them his liaison with the miltary. Maximilian, of average height but with a charming smile and golden tresses by his sides, stepped forwards and gave Elbe a heavy hug.

"You gained weight, Richard. Aachen must be good for you," quipped Maximilian.

Elbe faked a brushing of Maximilian's tresses. "Don't get too confident Ober, I'm here to get your position. Aachen is boring."

"Well, not for long it won't be. Up we go, come on!" replied Maximilian.

They hurried to the first floor of the villa and were ushered inside a command room filled with military maps hung on the walls, automatic rifles were dropped on an adjacent table, uniforms were tossed in a corner. The villa was a military compound, a local headquarters, and it showed. Two men stood huddled around the map

"Good evening Richard." said one of the men.

Maximilian glided around Elbe and put himself between the two generals and Elbe.

"Richard, allow me to introduce Herr Gunter and Herr Willich." Gunter, rather tall and his head covered by the army cap nodded whilst Willich, shorter but with a rather fierce expression stood motionless. "They will be your liaison, Richard."

"Herr Gunter, Herr Willich, glad to meet you."

Neither of the two men said anything except but give the smallest of nods. Gunter, with a rather economic flick of his hand, motioned Elbe closer to him and to the map.

"Herr Elbe, as we understand, you command the Aachen group. Correct?"

"Correct, Herr Gunter."

"Good. As we know, Aachen is very close to the border and will be of imperative importance to our future operations that we may decide to conduct. All of them are considered."

"All?"

"Yes, all of them. That includes military options, Herr Elbe."

Elbe scratched his nose, slightly bowing his head. "Understood, Herr Gunter."

"Good. How many men do you have? I have been told you have 26 in total."

"Forty six in total, but twenty of them are auxiliaries."

"Strong enough. Have they carried out missions before?"

"Yes, they have."

"Good, very good. How fast are they? Do you rate them as capable?"

"Yes."

"Then you have a mission."

Gunter took a long cane from the table and pointed westwards of Stuttgart, somewhere along between the Ardennes Forest and the city of Strasbourg, converging around the pocket of Colmar.

"The Maginot Line."

Herr Gunter smiled for the first time to Richard. "Carry on with it, Herr Elbe. Maximilian here will guide you."

"Herr Gunter, please, if I may, I already had a meeting with Oberkommandant Wilhelm. He traced some guidelines for me already."

"Correct, Herr Elbe. Oberkommandant Wilhelm is our superior and he wanted to judge how eager your team is to carry the duty for our fatherland. He judged as you as capable so he sent you to meet with us, to get your actual orders. Now, if you will excuse us, we have to plan other things."

"Yes, Herr Gunter."

"Carry it out, officer. And fast."

Despite knowing very well his job, Elbe left the room with a smirk and a sour taste in his mouth. Gunter's orders were demeaning. A simple pawn he was now. He scurried down the stairs with Maximilian in tow who grabbed him by the arm as he was about to exit the villa. Maximilian looked at him directly in the eye, raising his chin slightly.

"Your reaction is odd."

"My men are more capable than just sabotaging some railway lines, Max."

"Those are the orders, Richard."

Richard brushed aside his friend's arm. "Guard your place, I'm sick of Aachen, get ready to step in my place and me in yours."

"I'm not worried. Just make sure you take Gunter's place instead."

Elbe smiled.

"Happy sabotage, Richard!"

"It will be. I didn't come for another pointless meeting just to get some useless orders."

---

[Arnulf Floyd]

Thanks for another excellent update for this good story

[edyzmedieval]

Thank you so much!

[edyzmedieval]

Chapter XIV - A Den of Spies

Another chapter, this time focused on Reythier.

And also - one year since the first chapter!

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12th of December, 1938
3rd Arondissement
Strasourg
France
7:50 PM

By the sound of the cracked voice that buzzed through the police phone, Klaus seemed concerned. Often times he was concerned, scurrying from every police and intelligence headquarter with information, but his voice seemed unusually off to Reythier. They had captured a man linked to the Colmar attack they had endured but as expected, the man refused to talk. What really worried Klaus, Alexandre guessed, were the items found on the man. And a name.

Six and a half hours from that phone call he arrived back in the local police headquarters in Strasbourg, driven by a military police officer through the rough country roads. Full of potholes, soiled by water that turned into a muddied abyss and occassional traffic jams by local cow herds, the road was mightily unpleasant. But Reythier had no choice. By now the Office of Counterintelligence had become suspicious so Reythier had to subject himself to the orders of scurrying away from the city centres and into the more desolate side roads. The military police officer drove him to the back of the intelligence headquarters, right into a small courtyard that housed four blackened cars with muffled headlamps. The courtyard was befitting the small conspiratorial house, a grey bricked house with two stories that was rather unassuming just on the edges of the city centre.

Two officers saluted Reythier as he entered, invited immediately into the commander's room.

Just beside a small corner table, smoking from an almost empty pack of cigarettes stood Klaus, hand over crossed legs, staring blankly towards the wall. His fedora cap stood on the table, drizzled with cigarette ash and obscured by a plume of smoke. He only rose his eyes towards Reythier as he entered.

"I feel more like a fireman than a policeman, Klaus," Reythier quipped.

Klaus raised one of his thin eyebrows, his grey eyes slightly narrowed. "Why?"

"I'm responding to issues rather than actively working to solve them. We're two steps behind, all we have is someone we captured by accident and we know some of our policemen were bribed." Reythier stood beside the table. "That's all."

"Who turned against their country, you mean."

"That too."

Klaus held up from the table two sheets of scribbled, yellowy paper. "Recruitment papers from our fellow man. Reinhard Muller is his name, he's downstairs in his cell, he won't talk."

"Why are we so worried about him?"

"He's part of a group called the Aachen cell."

"Why is that so important?"

"All right, let me show you."

Klaus rose from his chair, extinguishing his cigarette in a rather slow movement. He walked towards a large map of the border in the corner of the room, dragging himself along to the edge of the map where the city of Strasbourg stood. Just north, approximately 150 kilometres away, stood the old city of Aix-La-Chapelle. Or as it was called today, Aachen.

"The Aachen group has been in the counter-intelligence objectives for a couple of months now after we have discovered intense activity just over the border near the city. I know it's not far off from the Saarland where they took over recently, but the activity, the sabotage, the intelligence gathering and the men they sent to spy on the Maginot line have got us quite concerned. Simply put, they are the headquarters of all of the sabotage and subterfuge activity in this area and there has to be a way to counter them." Klaus pointed to the papers. "I hope Herr Reinhard will help."

"You're hoping too much."

"He's a good source. Maybe he will talk."

"Why exactly is Aachen group so important? Every other group is just as important."

"They coordinate, as I've told you. They coordinate the whole border with us and I will not be surprised if Colmar, Maginot line and all of their activities are linked."

"It might be the same group, you mean."

Klaus nodded slowly. "That's right."

"I'm going downstairs."

From the warmth of the commander's room, the darkened stairs brought together not only a lack of light but also a cold gust that swept over the stairs and underneath his clothes. The makeshift prison cells downstairs were illuminated by a very dim light, almost casting no shadows against the walls. One of the officers at the entrance opened the prison cell, revealing a slightly more brighter light inside a cramped cell with only a small window to the world. Reythier entered the cell, a damp air that invaded his nostrils and serrated his sensitive airways. A midsized man stood on the floor

"Good evening, Reinhard."

Silence.

"I will be direct and blunt. The Aachen group, do you know of it?"

Silence.

"Nothing?"

Reinhard waved Reythier off. "I know nothing."

"Really? We have your papers."

"They are fake."

"Signed by you?"

"Fake."

"Very well then. Who are you with then? What group?"

"No group."

"Then what were you doing here?"

Reinhard looked at him, his gaunt appearance slightly jarring Reythier. "Farming."

Reythier laughed. "Funny. I will keep that in mind." Reythier rose his finger. "I am going to Aachen. Should I know something?"

Reinhard laughed. "Keep your head down."

Reythier bowed and left the cell, hearing the heavy lock click in the distance as he raced up the stairs. He returned to the warmth of the commander room only to see Klaus propped against the main table, looking in the distance at the map. Reythier tapped his friend on the back.

"I'm off to Aachen."

Klaus frowned. "What? Why?"

"No more reacting. We have to act on our knowledge, thin as it is."

"You're going alone?"

Reythier nodded. "Alone."


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