The Iron Storm by CW Browning (best fiction novels to read .txt) 📗

a fight, and the Netherlands were taken completely by surprise. The only ones who seem to have had some inkling of what was about to happen were the Belgians, and all they had time to do was alert their army along the border. Did you know there’s a battle raging for control of Fort Eben-Emael? It’s the most heavily fortified fort on the Maginot Line. If that falls, Holland falls.”

“So I heard. The Germans parachuted in. Landed on the damn roof.”

“Exactly.” Bill paused and thought for a minute. “Has that ever been done?”

“Not that I’m aware of.”

“Fantastic. So in addition to their so-called Blitzkrieg, we also have to worry about paratroopers.” He shook his head and reached for a cigarette himself. “The Luftwaffe is going ahead of them and bombing the bridges and communication towers. They’ve even started bombing in France. Nancy is getting hit, as well as Metz. I’m even hearing rumors that they’re moving towards the Ardennes. The entire thing is a complete shamble.”

“Not a complete shamble. The BEF and French army are meeting them head-on in Belgium. Once we stop Hitler’s main thrust, he’ll have nowhere to go but back.”

Bill snorted inelegantly. “Do you really believe that?”

Jasper sighed and shook his head. “No.”

“I thought not.” Bill puffed out his cheeks and exhaled loudly before lighting his cigarette. “And now here we are.”

“Were you able to get word to your man on the continent who was compromised when that letter went missing?” Jasper asked after a moment.

“No. He makes contact through a man in Lille, but we’ve been unable to reach him.”

“Where is he? Is he in France?”

Bill blew smoke up towards the ceiling and then looked across the desk at Jasper, his face suddenly drawn and tired.

“No. He’s in Brussels.”

“Good God.”

“Precisely. As of five o’clock this morning, we’ve lost radio contact with all our agents in Belgium and Holland, courtesy of the Luftwaffe.”

“Does he know anything about the rest of the network?”

“Only the name of his contact in Lille, which is an alias.”

“Well that’s something at least,” Jasper grunted, leaning forward to put out his cigarette in the ashtray on the desk. “When the Gestapo find him, they won’t get much out of him.”

“If they find him. I’m not giving up hope yet. He’s an enterprising young man, and far from stupid. If there’s a way out of Belgium, he’ll take it now that the invasion has begun.”

“And you’re happy with him leaving his post?” Jasper asked, surprised. “I would think you’d want him to remain and continue.”

“There’ll be nothing to continue once the Germans take over. I’d rather he made his way to France. He has skills that go beyond his position in Brussels. He’s the one I was most excited about, more’s the pity.”

“Even more so that when you talked your Jian into working for you?” Jasper asked, a faint smile on his lips.

“Perhaps about the same,” Bill said with a quick grin. He sobered again quickly. “She’s caught in the middle of all this again, you know. She’s in Brussels now. Every time the Jerries invade somewhere, she’s stuck in the middle. It’s like she’s a magnet for them.”

“Given her role, it’s hardly surprising. She’s bound to be in the hot spots. That’s where all the good intelligence is,” Jasper pointed out. “You can’t keep her out of the muck forever, Bill. She’s got to get dirty, along with the rest.”

Bill grunted and was silent for a moment, sucking on his cigarette. Finally, he sighed and sat forward, putting it out in the ashtray.

“At least she’s better prepared this time around,” he said. “Unlike Norway, when she had nothing to help her out of it.”

“Better prepared? How’s that?”

“I took the opportunity of giving her a crash course on coding while she was laid up in bed after her last invasion. She now has a current codebook and has been refreshed on using a wireless radio to transmit to us from enemy territory.”

“Well that’s better than nothing. Have you heard from her since this morning?”

“No. But if I know her, she’s busy getting out of Belgium ahead of the German army. She’s no fool. She knows what will happen if the SS get there before she gets out.”

“Then let’s hope she does it again,” Jasper said, standing. “She’s our only link to the Soviet agent, never mind whatever she’s bringing back with her. If the Germans get to her, there goes our hold on Shustov.”

“Lyakhov is important, of course, but I’m more concerned with getting her back in one piece. We’ll need her in France if things keep going the way they are, and you and I both know that she will invaluable there.” Bill stood and walked around the desk. “Aside from the fact that I don’t want to be the one to have to tell Madeleine Ainsworth that her daughter was killed in Belgium.”

“Or worse, that her daughter has been taken captive by the Gestapo,” Jasper agreed.

“If the Gestapo try to take her alive, they’ll be faced with something they’re not prepared for,” Bill said humorously. “I think they’ll be very surprised indeed, if it comes down to that.”

“Oh?” Jasper grinned at him. “Does she have a secret weapon you’re not telling me about?”

Bill laughed. “Hardly. She has a gun, that is all. But I don’t imagine the Germans will be expecting a pretty little thing like her to pull out a Browning P-35 pistol.”

Jasper chuckled and opened the door. “No, I’d imagine that will give them something of a start. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that, eh?”

He went out the door and Bill watched it close, then the ready grin was wiped off his face. That had been close. At Evelyn’s insistence, Jasper had no idea of her martial arts skills. No one did, not even her fighting instructors in Scotland. They had marveled at how quickly she had excelled in hand-to-hand fighting, never once suspecting that she might have prior, and extensive, experience. They had made it this long without