Draft Chapter Five

The Story so far:-

Majors Lovelow and McKinley have orders to kill Oberstleutnant Stein Schmidt-Meyer – an experienced interrogator who has as his prisoner, Lieutenant Edward Clark.  The British officer has detailed information of Churchill’s whereabouts during today’s invasion of the South of France.  Now read on:-

Schmidt-Meyer discusses the Allied need for a deep water port with Hauptman Koch and how war is changing, becoming obscured by men with other motives.  He then accuses Clark of being a spy and opens the case Clark had with him.

 

He takes out an olive-coloured object, the size and shape of a lunchbox, from the attaché case.  Placing it on the table, he flips up a lid to reveal a number of knurled rotors on one side, six wheels along the front inscribed with letters of the alphabet, and a jack socket on the other side.

“A variation on your M two-hundred-and-nine portable coding machine,” he says.  “But with an electrical input.  Interesting.”

He runs a finger over the wheels, then takes out his Luger sidearm and lays it alongside the machine.

“This device looks special.  Is this what this code book is for?”

Schmidt-Meyer removes a small manila notebook from his jacket and holds it up in front of Clark.

“We found it on the floor of the Lysander aircraft you came here in.  The one we captured intact three kilometres from where you were taken prisoner.  It is something to do with you, isn’t it?”  He pauses.  “You are the future that I fear, aren’t you?  Well, today, you should fear me.”