“The Jageddin?!”
“The very same.”
“Not bad…”
Say what you want – but there is a certain charm in not having to think about much and just doing what you’re told…
“So, you just lie there and get better. Were it not for this stupid incident with the overseers, you could’ve gotten started right now, but as it is, we’ll have to wait.”
“You know, I’m well enough to go home, to Mordor, as it is.”
The invisible man chuckled: “Why do you think you’re going to Mordor?”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s very simple, really. You’re a wanted man, or at least we’re anticipating such an eventuality; as you’ve seen, the Elves are very thorough. Whereas you must work, rather than hide – two very different tasks.”
“All right; where, then?”
“Think. What’s the best place to stash stolen goods? In a policeman’s attic. What’s the darkest spot? Right under the lamp. Get it?”
“You mean to say…” Kumai said slowly; he felt cold in his gut, because all the pieces of the wonderful puzzle that was his miraculous escape began to fit into a very different picture: a clever ruse. “You mean to say that I’m staying here, in Gondor?”
“No. To be honest, it would be tempting to hide you in Gondor, nor would it be too difficult in any other time. We were working on this option, but had to abandon it. The thing is, right now the King and the Queen are jockeying for position in Minas Tirith; both have their own secret services which spy on each other, so it would be real easy to attract their attention purely by accident. So, unfortunately, no local option for us. But the world is not limited to Gondor and Mordor… By the way, were it the Reunited Kingdom trying to use you, they would most likely have sent you to Mordor: between them, the army and the counter-intelligence service of the victorious nation could have set up an ‘ivory tower’ for you bar none. Do you agree?” Silence fell for a couple of seconds.
“Damn! Is it so obvious on my face?”
“Without a doubt – although I can’t see your face in this dark. In other words, let the experts worry about such things and do the job you know how to do, all right?”
“Please accept my apologies, Superintendant.”
“Don’t worry about it. As long as we’re on the subject: the people you’ll be working with at that ‘university’ got there in a variety of ways; many are your good friends. You can discuss anything your heart desires with them – student parties, news of the Resistance, philosophy – anything but the story of how you got there. Loose talk on the subject can cost a lot of people their lives – both my colleagues, like our mutual friend in Mindolluin, and your colleagues still in the hands of the enemy. I say this with utmost seriousness and responsibility. Do you understand, Engineer Second Class?”
“Yes, Superintendant.”
“Very good. Get well soon and move on.”
“Congratulations, Mongoose.” Cheetah straightened up in his armchair and looked over the Secret Guard lieutenant standing there at attention. “I have examined your report on Operation Mockingbird. Six men rescued – great job. The Service thanks you.”
“His Majesty’s servant, sir!”
“At ease, Lieutenant. Sit down, this is no parade ground. So the retreat from Mindolluin happened under the emergency option?”
“Yes, sir. The last man I’ve watched – engineer Kumai, number thirty-six on our list – got into a stupid mess the day before the planned escape. The local warders turned him into chopped liver, and I had to fix him up real fast; to be honest, first I thought that there was no hope. I did save and extract him, but this completely exposed me: the snitches reported the healing, and… In other words, your boys from the backup team showed up just in time.”
“Yeah,” Cheetah grumbled and looked at the shabby walls of the safe house with visible disgust, “quite in time… Two dead bodies, three wounded, Her Majesty’s entire Secret Service is frantically looking for a Mordorian spy: a swarthy man with small scars around the mouth. Meanwhile, the police is looking for an escaped convict of the same description… I think, lieutenant, that it’s high time you changed climates; get packing to go South, to work in Umbar.”
“Yes, Captain, sir!” “Here, examine this dossier. Baron Tangorn, Faramir’s Umbarian resident before the war. We have reasons to believe that he is doing the same thing we are doing – looking for Mordorian experts and documents for his prince; there are indications that soon he’ll show up in Umbar. Your task is to capture Tangorn and get all the information concerning this Ithilienian venture out of him. His Majesty considers this operation to be of exceptional importance.”
“May I treat him harshly to get the information?”
“It won’t work in any other way; judging by this dossier, the baron is not the kind to buy his life with the secrets he’s been trusted with. In any case he’ll have to be disposed of after the interrogation, since we’re formally allied with Ithilien, so this whole story must not become known.”
“How will he come to Umbar – in an official capacity or?..”
“Most likely ‘or.’ You have an important advantage: it appears that Tangorn doesn’t know that he’s being hunted. He may even stay openly in a local hotel, at least at first, and then his capture will not be a problem. But the baron is an old hand; if he detects something amiss, he’ll disappear in that city like a frog in a pond.”
“Understood. Will I operate independently, alone?”
“Independently, but not alone. You’ll have three sergeants – choose them yourself, out of our people. If you find him quick, that should be more than enough. But if you spook him…”
“That can’t happen, Captain, sir!”
“Anything can happen to anyone,” Cheetah responded in annoyance, involuntarily glancing at his foot. “Anyway, while searching in the city you may not ask the local station for help, which is a great pity: they have a lot of manpower, and, more importantly, excellent contacts in the local police…”
“May I know why?”
“Because we have information that the Elves are very active in Umbar and there’s a strong pro-Elvish underground there. Under no circumstances may Lórien find out about your operation – this is the strictest order – and I’m concerned with leaks: our people are in the shortest supply, and all the resident spies in Umbar are regular people…” Cheetah hesitated a little and finished in a humdrum sort of tone: “You will have a G-mandate, just in case.”
Mongoose looked up at the captain, as if to confirm what he heard. So this is what ‘His Majesty considers this operation to be of exceptional importance’ means. A G-mandate allows a member of the Secret Service to act in the name of the King. In overseas operations this can be necessary for only two reasons: to give a direct order to the ambassador or to depose (or eliminate on the spot) the local chief of station…
Part III – The Umbarian Gambit
He was a self-made counter-terrorist, “part soldier, part copper, part villain,” as he liked to say, and he belonged to the fabled generation of his trade. He had hunted Communists in Malaya and Mau Mau in Kenya, Jews in Palestine, Arabs in Aden, and the Irish everywhere.
Chapter 36
Umbar, the Fish Market