For Your Eyes Only

Special Operative Ada Mortimer

It was a routine operation – you were dropped in Switzerland, and made you way across the border into Austria. Your target was a disused ammunition dump, left over from the war. Intelligence suggested that there was some activity underground, and with the reports of developing long range munitions, your mission was to photograph the site and to find any evidence of military activity. But something went wrong. Maybe you were ratted out, maybe the guard at the border suspected something. Either way, it ended with you on the wrong end of a German rifle. This in itself proves the mission not a total loss – if the Germans are this keen to preserve the privacy of this site, something must be going on.

You are taken to an official looking building. You have been trained well – you pick out every detail of your journey, and note the position of guards outside the building, even the insignia on their uniforms. You analyse potential escape strategies as you are marched into the building foyer. This appears to be a town hall, but has been adapted to serve as a military intelligence post. The last thing you see is a soldier in a lieutenant’s uniform marching towards you with a black cloth bag in his hand. He places it over your head and you are lead away. With your sight removed, your other senses take over. You are lead 50 paces forward, then turn right, 100 paces more. The hallway smells of furniture polish – it must have been cleaned recently. A tap drips to your right, whilst 2 men talk about the lunch in the canteen. One has a heavy Bavarian accent, the other a more urbanised voice. Every small detail may have some significance; every scrap of information may help your escape later. A door is unlocked and opened, and you are led down a flight of stairs, and along another passageway. The air is damp, and every sound echoes. Another door is unlocked and opened, and you are led inside, then the door is locked behind you. You hear the guard’s footsteps echoing back along the corridor and up the steps. Most people would start to panic now – even a seasoned soldier, but you remain calm. This is standard interrogation procedure – bag over the head to promote disorientation, they’ll leave you down here for a couple of hours, even though it’ll seem like more. A local ranking officer – maybe the lieutenant you saw earlier - will interrogate you. He’ll come on heavy at first, then pretend to be trying to help you – to try and cut you a deal. All you have to do is give him something useful. But when your silence is all he gets, they’ll bring someone else in – a specialist. And that will be your chance. At least that’s the way it normally goes…

Sure enough, a couple of hours pass by, and you hear the footsteps coming down the hall again. The door to your cell is unlocked and you allow yourself a knowing smirk underneath the hood. You are led further down the corridor, and taken into another room and sat down. The guard is so busy untying the hood that he doesn’t even notice you taking his keys. Easy. Your eyes quickly adjust to the low-light conditions in time for you to see the lieutenant enter the room, followed by another guard. You inwardly smile again at the predictability of it all, but this time, you show no emotion – nothing that might give you away. A light is switched on, allowing them to see your face, but blinding you briefly. The lieutenant looks at the travel documents that the guards took from you upon your capture, “Now then Miss… Morris. What can you tell me about the events of earlier today?”

You keep to the story that you created before you left England, “My name is Harriet Morris, and I arrived here to help out at the Bregenz orphanage – to help look after the children orphaned by the war – the war that your army started by the way, and instead of being welcomed, a soldier points a gun at me and then I find myself in this God-awful place. I demand to see whoever is in charge here and I demand an explanation for your terrible behaviour!” you bluster.

The lieutenant seems somewhat taken aback by your fierce accusation, “I am sorry Miss Williams, but perhaps you can explain to me what you were doing in the place where we found you, when the Bregenz orphanage is 20 miles North of here.”

“Well Captain” you reply, knowing full-well that you are giving this man an ill-deserved promotion “The truth of the matter is that my guide - a somewhat disreputable fellow in hindsight – ran off last night, taking many of my belongings with him. This morning, I simply set out to try to find someone in authority who could help me.”

“Now Miss Williams – Sarah, I am afraid that you wandered into a restricted area. I am not quite sure how you managed to evade the guards that I had posted, but we will investigate your story, and if it proves to be true, you will be free to go. IF it proves to be true. Until then, I am afraid that we must take you back to your cell. I hope this is not too much of an inconvenience.”

“Inconvenience!” you scream – in truth, quite enjoying your performance. “I’ll show you an inconvenience. I refuse to say another word until you let me speak to your superiors!”

“In good time, Miss Morris, in good time” comes the reply.

With that, the guards take you back to the cell. Your performance must have convinced them, because they do not replace the hood upon you. No matter, all you wanted to do was to buy some time. When you reach the cell, the guard reaches for his keys, and on realising that he does not have them, asks his colleague to lock the door. You know that he won’t report the loss straight away, not wanting to be put up on a charge for dereliction of duty. By the time they find out what happened, you’ll be long gone.

You wait until you hear the guards close the door at the top of the stairs. Quietly, you unlock the door to your cell, and take a cursory glance up the corridor – no-one around. Closing the door behind you, you make your way up the stairs to the door at the top, taking a moment to listen for signs of activity on the other side. You can’t hear anything, so slowly you open the door. There are a couple of soldiers at the other end of the corridor, but they are facing the other way – if you’re quiet, you can slip by them and up the staircase. Just as you reach the bottom of the stairs, you hear footsteps coming down them from above! Quick as a flash, you duck into a side room, hoping that there is no-one already in there. Fortunately, you have found yourself in what appears to be the cleaner’s cupboard – this must be where the smell of furniture polish was coming from! Your eyes focus on a peg in front of you, where the cleaner has left her apron – you can disguise yourself to further avoid detection. You quickly change into the clothes and pick up a bucket and mop. Upon opening the door, you see another pair of soldiers coming down the stairs – they hardly give you a second glance as you walk by them. Now, if memory serves, there should be a corridor at the top of the stairs, and any of the doors on the left should give you access to a window on that side of the building, and underneath those windows is where a couple of motorcycles were parked! And that’s how you plan to make good your escape.

You try the first door on the left – it’s locked. You feel inside the pocket of the apron, and sure enough, the cleaner has left her keys there. You quickly thumb through the keys on the ring, and select one which you think will fit the lock. A satisfying click indicates that your choice was the right one, and you open the door. None of your training, however, has prepared you for what you encounter on the other side of the door… There are two officers in British Army uniform sitting down and drinking tea! And one of them is Major Dewsbury – the head of your department at British Intelligence!

“Excellent” he exclaims. “Absolutely capital effort, Miss Mortimer. We weren’t expecting you quite so soon.” Seeing the look of disbelief on your face, he continues “I’m afraid that the mission you were on was a fabrication. A test. And a test which you passed with flying colours!”

“But the German soldiers…” you reply

“All ours Miss Mortimer. We have been able to procure this location for a few days – just enough time to put you through your paces.”

“But why?” you exclaim

“I’ll let Major Adams explain that” he says, gesturing toward his colleague.

Major Adams stands “Miss Mortimer, everything I am about to say is top secret. It must not leave this room. We needed to find an operative who could be able to go behind enemy lines, evade enemy forces - and if need be, escape capture by those forces. You have proved that you can do all three of those things.” He continues “I head up a specialist unit in His Majesty’s Army called Pegasus. We are planning an operation in France, which may well encounter enemy forces of unknown strength and composition. Normally, this wouldn’t worry me - my men have been well trained, but in addition to my men, there will be a civilian presence.”

“Civilians, Sir?”

“Yes, they possess certain skills which may provide invaluable. Your role in this mission will be two-fold. Firstly, I need you to keep an eye on them. I do not question the loyalty of most of them, however this is not something we can leave to chance. Secondly, your task will be to keep them out of trouble. We cannot afford for the enemy gain the upper hand.”

“It may be best for you to work under an assumed identity for this mission, I’ll leave the details to yourself and Major Dewsbury. The only person to know your true identity will be the leader of the mission, Lieutenant Savage. Now, if you’ll excuse me… I’ll leave the details with the Major here – see you at the briefing.”

Back in England, Major Dewsbury hands you your orders. You follow them to the letter, and you arrive at Ullesthorpe airfield four days later. You notice the high security surrounding the place. Dog patrols pace their way about the perimeter, and 2 tall observation towers look down upon you. Approaching the entrance, a heavy iron beam bars your progress. An armed Military Policeman walks up to you. “Papers.”, he says abruptly. You hand over your documents, and he casts his eyes over them. “Good afternoon, Miss Shaw, we’ve been expecting you. Please report to the briefing room. Third building on the left”. With that, he salutes and raises the barrier.

You enter the room designated as ‘BRIEFING’ and take a seat. Hushed whispers are being exchanged by some of the assembled people here. You look around. If these are your fellow comrades on the mission, then you wonder which ones Major Adams wants you to keep an eye on. An authoritative voice booms behind you, “For those of you that don’t know me, my name is Major Frederick Adams” The Major strides towards the front of the room and takes his place behind a lectern. “Most of you won’t know why you are here. I will now explain why it has been necessary to take extreme measures to bring you here.”

“Lights” The Major orders to a man at the back of the room. A second later, the lights are dimmed, and your attention is drawn towards a screen to the side of the Major. Another officer hands you a dossier, and switches on a small reading light in front of you.

“Recently, one of our operatives in Northern France intercepted a message. This message was heavily encrypted, but was decoded by our Intelligence and Logistics department. Ladies and gentlemen, the contents of this message are very worrying. You can find the letter in the first page of your dossier.”

Mein Fuhrer,

The first results of Project Uber-Mensch are very encouraging. We have conducted a number of field tests, and save for a few difficulties that we must iron out, I believe that we are nearing successful completion of the project. It will bring to the end seven years of effort – seven years well spent when you consider the superiority it will give us over anyone who stands in our way. I will of course keep you informed of any progress.

Glory to the Fatherland.

“For a while, we have suspected that the Germans have been up to something. And now we know. Or rather we don’t know. For those of you who don’t speak German, ‘Uber-Mensch’ translates as ‘Super-soldier’. What is ‘Project Super-Soldier’? Why are the Germans in Northern France? These are the questions that I want you to answer for me. Therefore, I am sending you to the Ardennes region on a reconnaissance mission. The mission will be under the command of Lieutenant Savage. I want you to liaise with our operative – Captain Mason-Wickes, and find out what the hell the Germans are up to.”

“Given the time critical nature of this mission, you will be flying out at 11:00 hours. We would have preferred to go at night, but there is a scheduled civilian flight over the area which we will take the place of in order to not raise suspicion. If you read the second document in your dossier, you will see that the area of France that you are going to is an Alpha Sensitive area. This means that you should treat it as being behind enemy lines. I have been informed by Central Command that we will maintain a stance of plausible deniability if you are discovered or captured. We will not be sending reinforcements should this happen.” These last sentences send a shiver down your spine as you grasp the enormity of this statement.

“A note to the civilians amongst you - you are expected to follow the orders of the officer in charge at all times and obey the chain of command. You have of course, all signed the Official Secrets Act prior to this briefing, so I do not need to remind you that everything you witness during the course of this mission is NOT to be disclosed to anyone outside Pegasus Division on penalty of the harshest consequences. One final thing – due to the nature of the situation, Central Command has designated this as a ‘Damocles Imperative’ mission - that is a mission which could have worldwide ramifications.”

“That is all, ladies and gentlemen. Good luck and God Speed. God save the King.”

The lights go back on, and you are led out of the room to a bunkhouse.

The evening meal is a strange affair. There is a marked difference between the civilians, such as yourself, and the members of the armed forces. You and your peers are subdued, probably as you contemplate what lies ahead, whilst the military personnel have an excited buzz about them. You keep pretty much to yourself during the meal, but at the end, Lieutenant Savage approaches you and introduces himself. His confident manner and assuredness is somewhat comforting, and the aching in your stomach subsides.

After the meal, the soldiers make themselves busy preparing for the mission. You and the other civilians are led into a training room to learn how to parachute. Of course, you already know how to jump out of a plane, but you go along to maintain your cover. The session is lead by Sergeant Johnson, an infectiously enthusiastic man – although you are slightly worried for the rest of the students that their tuition boils down to jumping out of a plane and hoping for the best!

The rest of the evening is your own, and you decide that your time will be best spent getting a bit of sleep. In truth though, the events of the past 24 hours make it almost impossible. However, it seems as if your head has barely touched the pillow before you are woken by a private with a nice hot cup of tea. You dress quickly – the air is cold this morning and makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. The morning consists of a final briefing on the ‘theatre of operations’, and then the call comes in that the mission is ‘GO’. Once everyone is ready, you are lead out onto the airstrip where a twin-engined plane is warming up on the runway. Major Adams stands by the door, and gives each of you a sturdy handshake and a “Good Luck” as you board the plane. Sergeant Johnson makes sure that everyone is strapped in tightly before heading to the cockpit. As he returns and fastens his own seatbelt, the low hum of the engines increases in pitch and you feel the aircraft begin to edge forward. The plane speeds up and then suddenly you feel the ground drop away as you become airborne. You glance around you – your comrades seem to be either deep in contemplation, sleeping or praying. The hours pass, and you find the drone of the engines strangely hypnotic and relaxing.

You are woken from your reverie by a harsh buzz, and a red light illuminates above the aircraft door. The army personnel unstrap themselves, and then Sergeant Johnson sets about releasing everyone else. Before you rise out of your seat, he clips you onto a guy-line that runs towards the door. Once everyone is safely attached to the line, he pulls the door handle, and opens the cabin to the cold rushing air outside. Your breath is taken away by the conditions outside, as the Lieutenant performs one last check. The buzz sounds again, and the light turns to green.

“This is it chaps. Good luck!” He pats the first in line on the shoulder, and one by one they all throw themselves out of the plane. You feel a tap on your shoulder, and look out of the door at the horizon. The sun is already beginning to set. You jump out into the cold unknown…