“I don’t suppose you would mind repeating yourself, umm?” he said, the clipped, measured tones of an Oxford graduate wrestling with a rich Scottish brogue. When he was angry or excited, which, at the moment, he was neither, the brogue always won out.
Kate glanced over at Reggie, who was leaning against the doorframe, hat tilted back on his forehead. He shook his head as if to say, He’s all yours.
Kate put her hands on the top of the desk, smiled sweetly. “Okay, Mac, pull your dick out of your ear and listen up. I’m in no mood to repeat myself. The Estonians have interned the Polish submarine Eagle. Maybe that’s not news to you. But here’s the kicker. It looks like it is at the behest of their buddies, the Nazis, who are already pawing over it. Reggie and I saw one guy looking her over like he was checking out the latest Buick. Anyway, I don’t think your superiors would be happy to learn that you did nothing about it when you had the chance. So I’m here to see if maybe you’re interested in becoming a hero.”
McBride smiled. What a refreshing change. Nothing like your typical English woman, he thought to himself, but then again, he’d always heard that Americans were more volatile. More like the Scots. And by the look of this one, she definitely had some Scottish in her.
“What did you say your last name was?”
“I didn’t. It’s McLendon. Kate McLendon.”
“And mine is Goldberg,” Reggie added.
McBride began to beam. Scottish after all. He offered Kate a cigarette. She shook her head. He gestured at the chairs in front of his desk, motioned for Reggie to take a seat. McBride took his time lighting his own cigarette. “I suppose I deserved some of that,” he said. “But telling me to extract my, what did you call it, dick from my ear…a little uncalled for don’t you think?”
Kate settled awkwardly into the chair. She looked at Reggie for help.
“She’s upset,” Reggie volunteered. “It’s American, for,uh, a pickle. You know, cucumber in vinegar… ”
“I see,” McBride said. “Pickle, eh? I never liked them. Thank you, though. I’ll keep that in mind. Maybe I’ll have the opportunity to use it sometime. As to the point you were trying to make, Of course I know about the Eagle. I’m not sitting here with my – and here’s some Scottish slang for you – thumb up my Arse.” He emphasized his point by raising his voice and then swallowed hard, continuing on in softer tones. “In fact, I know your friends are being held in a once lovely sixteenth-century mansion in the old part of the city. The previous occupant, a wealthy Jew, owner of a local glass factory, had the place completely renovated. Wonderful man. Gave some of the best parties in town. About a year ago, however, he decided to relocate his family. Alarmed with the government’s move to cozy up to the Germans. So they left for Sweden all of a sudden. Smart man. Can’t say I blame him. Troubling news….. In any case, it seems it is the only place they could find on short notice to hold them all. Not a prison, but it might as well be. Built like a fortress, narrow windows, few access points, easily guarded. As for being a hero, most of them end up dead. And I’m not ready for that—not yet anyway. So what’s your interest in this matter?”
Kate settled back in the chair. “Nothing official. I mean, we’re not representatives of the U S of A, if that’s what you mean. We’re with North American News Service. We were in Poland doing some reports when the Nazis invaded. The boys on that sub got us out of Gdynia,” Kate said, “and we’re feeling obligated.”
“That’s N.A.N.S. for short,” Reggie added.
“My partner and I – well, we just couldn’t sit by and do nothing,” Kate said.
McBride nodded. “I see. What do you expect from His Majesty’s government?”
Kate waved her hands. “What else. We help bust my friends out of the clink—give ’em a chance to get their boat back!”
McBride smiled. After months of quiet, activity had suddenly quickened at this Baltic outpost of the British Empire. A few days earlier, the ambassador had dropped by his office. “I suppose you’ll need to see this,” he sneered, letting the slip of paper flutter out of his hand. It was brief. Just two words: “Winston’s back!” No wonder the ambassador was in a foul mood, McBride realized immediately. He was a die-hard Churchill hater from the first war. This was the worst possible news. McBride, on the other hand, felt energized. This would mean his recall back to England. He was sure of it. But more importantly, with Winston back at the Admiralty, maybe they had a fighting chance against the Huns. And then, an hour ago, a message from the old man himself: he was to do what he could to help the crew of the the Eagle. Just the kind of open-ended request that could get him back in the good graces of his superiors. Never hurt to do a favor for the Admiralty. And so McBride had pulled out his stamps. He always thought better when he had something to occupy his hands.
McBride gave an appraising look at the pair across from him. He’d always heard Americans were an idealistic bunch. News reporters, she had said. McBride took his time smoking, his mind racing with the outlines of a plan. Maybe they could do something after all. And these two could be a key. He felt the hair rising on the back of his neck. It had been a long while since he had felt the call of battle. Athena was surely singing at the top of her lungs now. He slapped his hands together. “All right,” he said. “It occurs to me that you two – news people – can go places that I cannot. I imagine the Poles could use a few weapons, don’t you think?”
“Guns? I don’t know about that….” Reggie said nervously. “And what would you be doing, Mr. Brave Navy Man?”
“I’m a bit too well known around here,” McBride said evenly. “Never know when I might run into someone who knows my face. Show up there, and the game would be up. We’ll have time and opportunity for one chance to help them. After that, it’ll be too late. And that means you two…”
“What do you have in mind?” Kate asked.
McBride related the plan. It was simple enough. Kate and Reggie would smuggle weapons to the Polish crew and relay instructions about what McBride was intending to do. McBride would set off an explosion nearby. In the distraction, the Poles could make a break for their boat. The rest was up to them.
Reggie glanced at Kate, a worried look on his face. “Sounds like someone could get killed.”
McBride stared at them. “I’m told the Germans will make the Eagle one of their own in a day or two. What do you think will happen to your friends after that?”
“Why, they’ll just be turned over to the Polish embassy,” Reggie sputtered. “Or let free. I mean, they haven’t attacked Estonia. It’s Germany they’re fighting.”
McBride didn’t respond. He didn’t need to. He finished his cigarette, stubbed out the end.
Kate decided for both of them. “Sounds good, Mac. When do we get started?”
“Are we under arrest?”
Commander Jaak Talli frowned. “Of course not.”
“Then can we leave?” Eryk asked.
Talli sighed. He was having trouble meeting Eryk’s eyes. He gazed at the chandelier that from high above dominated the room. “I’m sorry to say, no,” he said. “I have my orders. You are to stay here tonight until my superiors make arrangements with your embassy. We will bring in blankets. It is the best I can do…”
“Helluva way to treat your friends,” Eryk shouted, face reddening. He looked like he was going to take a swipe at the Estonian officer, but Squeaky stepped up, grabbed him by the arm. Eryk hesitated and then shook him off, making it a point to glare at Talli, and then the guards posted by the doors at either end of the room. He turned on his heels, crossed over to the chairs where the rest of the officers and crew of the Eagle were sitting, kicked a chair, and then picked it up and sat down.