Colonel Berry

Chapter Twenty-Three

David sat cradling his snifter of Armagnac, listening with Evelyn and Henry as John related the background of the Service's connections. "Once we saw the war was not soon to end, we began expanding our network in Switzerland, and the geography of Schaffhausen made it a natural place to start."

John swirled his snifter and put it to his nose, smiling at David. "Your appearance on the scene last June was serendipitous. So much so that it was suspicious, and we had to do an exhaustive background check."

David nodded. "And that had been done by the time I arrived in London, else I would not have met with R."

"Exactly. And that's how we found records which would have otherwise remained obscure. Battle dispatches, notes recommending your field commission, appointment to Company Commander."

David felt his face warm, and he tried to hide it by nosing the Armagnac. 

John continued, "George Skipworth is highly respected in railroad circles, British, French and Swiss. His meeting you at your first dinner here last June was to begin the process of connecting to the Swiss network with which he was working."

"Is he still around" I've not seen him since..." David paused and thought. "Since before Christmas."

"He is, but he prefers to work at digging in the field rather than sitting in an office administering."

"As do I." David shrugged. "But it appears R has other ideas about my usefulness." He pulled the folded page from his pocket, opened it and scanned. "He has appointed me to take charge of all covert operations from Switzerland into Germany."

Evelyn and John nodded in unison, then John spoke. "He confirmed my recommendation last week."

"Hmm. So, I'm the last to know."

Henry chuckled. "I'm now out of the immediate loop, so I'm with you."

David pursed his lips, then looked at John and asked. "Are you aware of Horst Frankenthal?"

John shook his head. "Who is he?"

"He's directed by Karl, and he runs teams into central Germany. Areas well away from both the French and the Russian Fronts.

"Seems wasted activity," Henry said.

"It's as far away from French and Russian aerial bombers as possible, and well beyond their present and conceivable range. New factories are under construction or being planned there, and among them, BASF is clearing a huge piece of land to the west of Leipzig, likely a safer site for their ammonia synthesis. We've been anticipating a move for a long while now."

"They need massive energy for that."

"Exactly! I've tasked Horst with finding sources of coal and petroleum gas in the vicinity."

"Also hydro-electric sources," Henry added.

"He said the land is too flat for that."

"In the immediate area, yes. But sixty or seventy miles to the south, the Bohemian border is the crest of a mountain range which rises to over three thousand feet. I rambled along its spine many years ago."

David nodded. "And their transmission technology is advanced. We've seen that much of the central Rhein is strung with high-tension lines, a hundred thousand volts and more I was proudly told."

Evelyn laughed. "I'm always amazed by the information you extract."

They continued the discussion of the new factories, then David focused, "Be wisest to let them expend their resources in building the plant first, then target the power sources shortly before production begins."