Her Cold War

Chapter Nine

The idyll was broken when I was summoned to the embassy the following morning.

It was no great secret that it had become the main centre of intelligence operations in the Mediterranean since the Cyprus crisis had started to escalate but I was surprised to see a familiar face.

I did not know his name or rank but it was the same officer who, back in the U.K., had presented us with the dossiers outlining the German mission.

He ushered me into a side room and invited me to take one of the two arm chairs. He then poured tea before sitting down himself. As he did so I blurted the question that was uppermost in my mind.

"Is there any news of Xander?"

It had been ten weeks since Nurembourg. As planned, Lily had set off in company with Raisa before my harebrained scheme to try and free Xander and Clara had even taken place. Lily had only agreed to it on the basis that the ensuing chase would serve to divert attention from the attempt to get Raisa over the Czech border.

Fearing to use public transport they slept rough and walked the two hundred kilometres to the forest at Haidmuhle where they were able to cross by night. They eventually made another border crossing into Austria and travelled to Linz. From there they were able to make contact and get themselves extracted.

For our part we took to the country roads and dumped the car outside of Neustadt. Once Xander and Clara were over their shock it was clear that Clara was in a bad way mentally. My original idea was for us each to make our own way as best we could but it was obvious that Clara was not up to it.

She and Xander had papers for three, to include Riasa if they had been successful, which would take them out through Poland but that now looked like a suicidal option.

I had papers for two to get back out the way I came in through Rostock. I told the others that they should use them and I would try and make my own way but Xander shot me down. My photo ID was good for the journey and Riasa's would be passable for Clara but if neither was an obvious match we were asking for trouble.

Reluctantly, I agreed to go with Clara and leave Xander to her own devices. She said that she would make as much 'noise' as possible to try and draw off the chase.

To Clara's dismay I took the decision to travel south at first and we holed up for nearly two weeks near Erfurt. It then took a further twelve days of disjointed bus journeys before arriving back at the coast where there was a wait of more than a week before we could make a clandestine crossing.

In Denmark Clara and I were split up and I was flown to London. I was interrogated over a number of days during which I began to think that my loyalty and motives were in question. Only when the debriefing was finished was I congratulated and assured that Lily and Raisa had made it too.

The only missing piece of the jigsaw was Xander and I now looked earnestly at this man desperately hoping that he had the answer.

"It appears that Xander made it across the Czech border but, unfortunately, she was taken by the StB. If they connect her to East Germany she will almost certainly be sent back. The good news is that the StB contacted us. We recently broke up one of their cells in London and they are talking about a swap."

"But that's good news, isn't it?"

"It would be except that their man is of far greater value to us than Xander is for them. Under the present climate I would not want to lay money on the decision."

I replied angrily.

"They must agree to it!"

"If it was my decision...but unfortunately this one will come from the top."

I did not trust myself to say anything else and I stood up abruptly.

"Please sit."

I held myself in check and did as he asked.

"I have good news for you. As of now you have been promoted; not one rank but two."

Strangely, rather than the kudos, my first thought was to calculate what this would mean for me in terms of income. A deeper examination revealed my excitement at the possibility that this would allow me to set up home...and I knew exactly with whom I wanted to do it.

My reverie was disturbed as he continued.

"There was, however, an ulterior motive for bringing you to Cyprus. The Russians and their proxies are agitating behind the scenes here in a very big way. The East Germans, in particular, are exerting pressure on the Turks.

In your report you thought that you recognized someone in a Stasi vehicle. We now believe that it was a positive identification."

The import of his words stunned me but he continued unabated.

"We now believe that she is here in Nicosia leading their efforts in Cyprus. At least two of the Turkish attaché staff are known to frequent the underground lesbian haunts and we think that is how she will attempt to work a way in."

He hid it well bit I noted the slightest hint of distaste in his voice as he used the word 'lesbian'.

"We want you and Miss Dernham to gain acceptance and find her for us."

Again, that slight pause as he linked Lily and I in a less than an entirely professional manner. His attitude was beginning to rankle and my reply was terse.

"If what you suspect is true she would be the highest ranking female operative in the Stasi hierarchy with unlimited resources at her disposal. You would be asking us to take an enormous risk."

I recognized, in that moment, that I had no fear for myself but my concern for Lily manifested itself as a painful constriction in my chest.

"Can we refuse?"

"It would be a purely voluntary mission but, if you chose to undertake it, it might carry significant weight when it came to a decision on Miss Everett."

So there it was, out in the open. It was no less than blackmail. Xander would be swapped out of Czechoslovakia if Lily and I were prepared to go up against the woman we formally knew as Major Margo Natherson...