«Does that mean I'm to be given magic access?»
«I don't think so. For one thing, it would cause trouble with MacArthur. In SWPOA, only he and Willoughby have magic clearances. If I suddenly arranged for the Brisbane Station Chief to be placed on the list, MacArthur would think I had betrayed him. I don't want to do that.»
«Sir, I don't quite know quite what…«
«What I want from you are the names of two of your officers—now two of
our
officers—who (a) can be trusted with magic information; and (b) are junior to Pluto. I don't want anybody trying to tell Pluto how to do his job. Bear in mind that once they get magic clearance, they will no longer be available to do anything operational.»
«Let me think about that, sir,» Waterson said. «About the names, I mean.»
«Pluto will have the right of rejection,» Pickering said. «And then, once these men—one at a time—are taught how to encrypt and decrypt magic, Pluto will see that you have access to it.»
Waterson thought this over a moment, then said, «That will work.»
«Pluto and Moore are also analysts,» Pickering continued. «It would be nice if the people you select could be helpful in that area as well.»
«I think I have the guy,» Waterson said. «Let me think about it.»
Good. He's cautious.
«It would also be nice if he were a bridge player,» Pluto said. «A
good
bridge player.»
«You're a bridge player, Major? So am I.»
«So is El Supremo,» Pickering said. «Pluto, see if you can subtly let it drop to El Supremo that Colonel Waterson plays bridge.»
«Anything to get the camel's nose further into the tent?»
«Precisely,» Pickering said with a smile. He looked at Waterson again. «I want to make sure you understand the command structure,» he said. «I have just decided to name Major Hon and Lieutenant Moore to my personal staff. Appointments two and three.»
«Who's one?» Pluto asked.
«McCoy,» Pickering said, and met Waterson's eyes. «That way, if Director Donovan tells you to simply order either of them to do something, your reply is that you can't do that, General Pickering made it quite clear that they are not subordinate to you.»
Waterson nodded. «Sir? May I speak freely? Before these gentlemen?»
«Of course.»
«Question. I'm aware, of course, of the… relationship… between Director Donovan and yourself.»
«I thought you might be,» Pickering replied.
«The question: What are the chances of a truce?»
«I've been wondering the same thing,» Pickering said. «Frankly, 1 don't have high hopes. If the… relationship… between myself and Donovan is awkward for you, Colonel, feel free to ask Donovan to reassign you.»
«Oh, I don't think I'd want to do that, General. From everything I've heard, I think I'm going to enjoy working for you.»
«Four,» Pickering said.
«Sir?» Pluto and Colonel Waterson asked in chorus.
«Appointment Four. I need Banning. Fritz Rickabee won't like it, but whatever I wind up doing, I'm going to need Ed Banning to help me do it.»
«Yeah,» Pluto agreed thoughtfully.
That was not the proper military response
, Pickering thought,
but it means, Thank God that Pluto agrees with me
.
«General, I'm getting the idea you're going home soon?» Waterson asked.
«Tomorrow,» Pickering said. «I've got some goodbyes to say here, and then I'm going to Washington.»
Where, unless I'm mistaken
, Pickering thought, I
am going to get assigned one hellishly impossible project in the deserts of Mongolia
.
Chapter Four
note 16
Aboard Transcontinental & Western Airlines Flight 303
Above Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1530 16 February 1943
Fleming Pickering was not the only one traveling to the United States just then.
«And there it is, the City of Brotherly Love,» the pilot of the DC-3 announced to the two other pilots in the cockpit, gesturing out the windshield at the city below.
The two other pilots chuckled dutifully.
The pilot picked up his microphone, checked to see that the proper frequency was set, and called the Philadelphia Tower.
«Philadelphia, TWA 303, ten miles north at 3500. Request landing instructions.»
«TWA 303, Philadelphia. You are cleared as number two to an Eastern DC-
now on final to runway one-seven. The altimeter is two-niner-eight, winds are negligible.»
«Three-oh-three understands number two to one-seven after the Eastern DC-3 on final. I have him in sight.»
«Affirmative, 303.»
«You want to sit it down, Charley?» the pilot asked of the copilot.
«Thank you very much,» the copilot said.
With an exaggerated gesture, the pilot took his hands from the wheel.
«You've got it,» he said.
The copilot retarded the throttles and began a shallow descent.
«TWA 303, Philadelphia,» the radio went off again.
«Three-oh-three, go ahead.»
«Three-oh-three, be advised you will be met by a Navy ambulance and a medical team. You are requested to off-load the Navy patient before, repeat, before, you off-load your passengers.»
«Oh, shit!» Captain James B. Weston, USMCR, said, shaking his head. He was riding on the jump seat between and just behind the pilot and copilot.
The pilot looked at Jim Weston curiously, then reached for the microphone again. «Philadelphia, TWA 303. We will off-load the Navy patient first,» he said. Then he turned and looked at Weston again. «Do you know what's that about?»
«I'll bet that ambulance is for me,» he said.
«Something wrong with you?» the pilot asked with concern.
«Not a goddamn thing, but I am having trouble convincing the goddamn Navy about that,» Weston said, adding, «It's a long story.»
The pilot did not press for an explanation. He had earned his own wings as a Naval Aviator at Pensacola, and had tried to get back in the Navy after Pearl Harbor. They told him he was (a) too old and (b) there was a shortage of airline pilots because all the younger ones were going back into the service. Logic told him the Navy had been right, but he still felt a little guilty to be flying an airliner between St. Louis and Philadelphia instead of a Navy plane in the Pacific.
Especially when he saw a kid like this one, who didn't look old enough to be a captain, and wearing not only wings but ribbons representing the Silver Star, Purple Heart, and Pacific service.
For that reason, he had asked him if he would like to fly up front when he saw him get aboard. For the same reason, if the kid didn't want to talk about why the Navy had sent an ambulance to meet him, he wasn't going to embarrass him by asking.