Morina & the Switching Spell Ch. 16

Chapter 16: D-Day is announced, and another body switch.

Note to readers: Before June 6, 1944, the Normandy invasion was known as Operation Neptune, not D-Day. Even the name of the operation was considered a military secret and was uttered within military circles on a need-to-know-only basis. I have used the term D-Day here and in future chapters for the benefit of present-day audiences.

31 May 1944, Wednesday.

The pilots were back after another successful mission of heavy night bombings. There were casualties, of course, but the rate was far lower than expected, and it was easy to get caught up in the general exuberance and a feeling that the tide of war may be turning. Radio reports from underground resistance operatives in northern France and parts of Germany confirmed the damage to weapons depots and vital German infrastructure as well as the untold deaths and casualties to the civilian population.

We tried not to think about the casualties or the countless civilians in northern Europe who were just as innocent as the thousands of Londoners and other English men, women, and children whose homes were bombed or burned and whose lives were lost in this global conflict. But what other choice did we have? Herr Hitler declared the supremacy of the Aryan race and all others would be enslaved or killed as his empire expanded throughout Europe and beyond.

It was nearly sunrise when the mission debriefing was held in the mess tent. Colonel Drummond had me attend that meeting and relay the reports I received from the underground to the pilots. He was careful to instruct me not to mention anything about the civilian casualties. The pilots gave a tired cheer after hearing about the success of their efforts from my report.

By the time the debriefing was over, the sun was up, and it was time for the morning administrative meeting. Agatha arrived with dispatches from London, pressing one envelope with large red letters marked "most secret" into Colonel Drummonds hands. She whispered something excitedly into the Colonel's hands before taking a seat beside me.

"What is it?" I whispered.

"You'll see!" she replied in an excited voice.

The Colonel broke the seal and tore open the envelope. His gruff facial expression changed into an excited grin as he read the contents of the letter inside. When he was finished reading, he started to put the letter down, only to pick it up again and reread it. When he was finished a second time, he carefully folded it and put it back into the envelope. He swallowed and cleared his throat.

"Gentlemen! . . . and ladies. What I'm about to tell you is top secret and is not to be shared beyond this tent. D-Day, known as Operation Neptune, has been set for next Monday, June 5^th," he announced as calmly as he could.

That was only 5 days away. He paused briefly to allow the impact of that information sink in. Whispers were heard murmuring excitedly among the officers and staff seated in front of him. Like him, it was hard for his audience to contain their excitement. The Colonel waited until he had their full attention again.

"I shouldn't have to tell you how important it is that no word of this gets out to the enemy," he said.

"Sir! Do we know where the landings will be?"

That was Squadron Leader Porter.

Porter was the Nazi mole! Surely, he would leak the date of the landings to the enemy!

"No, Mr. Porter, I've not been given that information, and I'd advise you not to make any further inquiries about the location. London is taking great pains to keep that information secret. The success of the entire operation is dependent upon it," Colonel Drummond replied.

The remainder of the meeting was fairly routine, except for the very end. Colonel Drummond looked at me and smiled.

"Miss Spellman, would you stand up, please?" he asked.

I looked around cautiously before slowly rising to my feet. This could hardly be a public reprimand or a request for another report, not with the smile Colonel Drummond was sporting.

"It has been brought to my attention through Major Locke and my secretary Lois, that we have an ace pilot and a true hero in our midst. During our surprise attack yesterday, Miss Spellman boarded Lefftenant Lucarelli's P-47 and shot down three enemy aircraft, saving her brother's life and quite possibly this entire airfield," he announced.

The officers and staff in the tent gave me a round of applause. I blushed and was about to sit down when the Colonel stopped me.

"Please remain standing, Miss Spellman. Whether you're aware or not, you have the record for the second-highest number of enemy kills among the American pilots at this airfield. Only your brother has more . . . just one more, and he did that yesterday. You deserve an air medal for that achievement. Unfortunately, since you are a woman and not an official member of the Army Air Force, you are not eligible. I am sorry. I can only award you with our recognition and gratitude," he said.

He ended the meeting with that but called me over afterwards.

"I will look for some other way of rewarding you, but in the meantime, my orders for you not to leave the base still stand. As skilled as you may be as a pilot, you're much more valuable to me here on the ground. Is that clear?" he asked.

"Yes, sir, I understand sir," I replied.

"Very well," he said, as he turned to go back to his desk.

"Colonel, sir?"

"Yes, Miss Spellman?" he replied, turning back around.

"For the record, sir, it was an instinctive reaction. I saw the empty plane and I knew we needed as many planes in the air as we could get. I never meant to disobey your orders and I certainly didn't do it for recognition or a medal," I said sincerely.

I was really speaking for Lee, who was in my body at the time. But I knew my words reflected his motivation.

"I know that, Miss Spellman. Like I said at the meeting, that is the mark of a true hero," he said smiling as he turned and walked back to his desk.

Agatha was waiting for me outside the administration tent.

"What did he say to you after the meeting?" she asked.

"Basically, that I'm still grounded and can't leave the airfield," I replied.

As we walked to the communications tent, Agatha changed the subject.

"Are you going to tell Amanda the date of D-Day?" she asked.

"You heard what the Colonel said. We're not supposed to tell anyone. Despite all that praise at the meeting, I'm still in his dog house. Besides, I have a better idea on how Amanda can help us with this information, although she's going to hate me for it," I replied.

When we got back to the communications tent, Agatha pulled a replacement jar of contraception potion from her bag and handed it to Amanda.

"You two look excited. Anything important happen at the meeting?" Amanda asked.

"One of the secret dispatches Agatha brought from London had the date of D-Day in it," I explained.

"It's about time! When is it?" Amanda asked, excitedly.

"We've been ordered not to tell anyone," I replied.

"Morina, I'm not anyone. I'm your partner and tent mate. You've got to tell me. You know you can trust me to keep it secret."

"I'm sorry, Amanda, but it's important that I don't tell you. There's something that I need you to do."

"What?"

"Nigel Porter was at that meeting, and I'm concerned that he might try to pass that information along to the Nazis. I want you to help me monitor the airwaves for any communications with the Germans. If you can find the date of D-Day through the radio or even from rumors around the airfield, then we'll know that Squadron Leader Nigel Porter is behind all this," I explained.

"I can do that even if you tell me the date," she replied.

"Possibly. But I know you, Amanda. Not knowing is going to drive you crazy. I need that obsession from you to look for information leaks. You're much better at finding even the slightest detail that way," I explained.

"That's evil! But it's a brilliant idea," Agatha remarked, giggling a bit.

"You are a devious witch, Morina. This as bad as the torture Aggie and I did to you on the first day we met. We're even after this," Amanda said, disdainfully.

"I understand and I'm sorry, but what the two of you did to me was way worse than this. I'm not trying to punish you for that, I'm doing this because it's the best way I could think of to get you hyper-focused on monitoring the radio for information leaks to the Nazis," I explained.

Amanda dominated the radio for the rest of the morning, searching various frequencies in an effort to find any hint or traces of information that would reveal the date of D-day. I shared with her my notes about the previous German communications I overheard. Those usually took place in mid to late morning and it was still too early for that.

Out of curiosity or frustration, Amanda would ply me for hints or clues about the date, even promising me sexual favors and intimate details about sex with Lee, but I wasn't budging.

When Lee stopped by after his daily plane inspection, Amanda threw herself at him, practically raping him in front of me, begging him to reveal the date of D-Day. It was only after Lee finally convinced her that he didn't know the date himself that she stopped kissing and undressing him.

"You mean Reena knows and she's not telling you?" he asked Amanda, looking at me.

"Your sister's an evil witch. She wants to use me to look for information leaks," Amanda explained.

Lee's facial expression changed as he absorbed the full implications of Amanda's words. He seemed to be impressed with me, at least that's what I read into the look he gave me. Then he smiled mischievously and turned to Amanda.

"Okay, I lied to you. I do know the date of D-Day, but you're going to have to work harder than that if you want to get it out of me," he said, trying to keep a straight face.

I started to giggle and did my best to hide it for Lee's sake. But it didn't matter, Amanda wasn't buying it either.

"Oh, fuck off. You're just as bad as your sister! Go and beat your wanker like all the other horny guys around here," she said, turning her back to him and heading back to the radio.

"Mandy, I didn't mean to upset you. I'll leave you alone, but if I find out the date before you do, I'll let you know," he said as he left the tent.

"I don't blame you for being upset with me, Amanda, but don't take it out on my brother. You were more than willing to take advantage of Lee and offer your body in exchange for information. You can hardly blame him for trying to get into your panties after you made him horny," I pointed out.

"You may be right, Morina, but I've been waiting for this for so long. Now that I know it's close, the suspense is killing me. You have no idea how cruel this is for me."

"I knew it was cruel when I came up with the idea and I hate myself for it. Maybe I am evil, but I want to nail Nigel Porter, and this was the only way I could think of to catch him red-handed."

Fortunately for Amanda, she wasn't kept in suspense very long. Shortly before 1100 hours, the German radio communication came on the air. I made a mental note to myself to learn German.

By now, I was convinced that "Himmelsfürst" was our mole in England and Nigel Porter's code name. It was from "Himmelsfürst" that Amanda and I clearly heard the words, "fünfter Juni" and "Montag."

"I think that's Monday," Amanda said, checking the calendar, "that's the fifth. Is that the date? June fifth?"

"It is. That's the date set for D-Day," I confirmed.

"Shit! That means the Nazis know the date of the invasion."

"But it also means we have our proof! Nigel Porter is our mole," I exclaimed.

"Now what? He's a warlock. We can't just walk up to him and put him under a spell; and if we tell the MPs, he can bewitch them and resist arrest," Amanda replied.

"We can let Agatha know and she can get word to the rest of the coven and maybe even the warlock council. I can also let John know. He's on the Warlock Council and he should be powerful enough to take care of Porter single-handed," I suggested.

"What about Lee?" Amanda asked.

"I don't want to risk that again. It's too dangerous for Lee to confront Porter alone. Even if he wins, Squadron Leader Porter is a superior officer and Lee could be court-martialed afterwards," I reasoned.

"I hadn't thought of that. Maybe I should go and find Aggie," Amanda suggested.

"Good idea. I'll stay here and guard the radio," I replied.

Amanda was gone for almost an hour. Agatha was with her when she returned.

"Are you sure that was Nigel's voice you heard on the radio?" Agatha asked.

"He was speaking in German, so it was hard to tell exactly who it was. But he knew the date of D-Day, so who else could it be? You saw him there at the administrative meeting this morning," I noted.

"Morina, headquarters sent that date out to all the top officers, not just Colonel Drummond. Even the King and his entourage know about it. It could be almost anybody," Agatha explained.

"But it can't be just anybody. That signal came from some place close by. Maybe he's using the radio in his plane to send the messages," I pointed out.

"I don't know. I've had some of the ground crew watching him. If he went to his plane to use the radio, someone would have seen him," she argued.

"Perhaps he has a radio in his tent. He could ward it off and send the messages from there. Let's search his tent," I suggested.

"We'd have to do it when he wasn't around. Maybe during a mission or at one of the debriefing meetings," Amanda suggested.

That got me thinking, "Wait a minute. What happens when we find the radio? He's a warlock. Even the three of us working together wouldn't be able to disable him. We could get hurt . . . or worse."

"I could make an amagae potion. If we can trick him into drinking it, it will remove his magical abilities for 24 hours," Agatha volunteered.

"I thought amagae potions were banned," I replied.

"Maybe in the States, but not here. Besides, we're at war, if we don't stop him, hundreds of thousands of people will die, including witches and warlocks," Agatha argued.

"It's worth a try. Maybe I can slip it into his coffee when he's distracted. But when can we search his tent?" I asked.

"I can make the potion tonight and have it ready by tomorrow morning," Agatha proffered.

"Let's try for during the morning debriefing tomorrow," I suggested.

***

About an hour after lunch, we had a surprise visit from John.

"I'm so glad you're here. Amanda and I found proof of our mole," I told him.

He looked surprised.

"What sort of proof?" he asked.

I explained about the radio communications we had been monitoring, especially the one signal that seemed to be sent from someplace nearby.

"We heard him tell the Nazis the date of the invasion," I concluded.

"So, you've been briefed about June fifth, have you?" he asked.

"Yes, Colonel Drummond announced it to the administrative staff this morning. Amanda heard through the German broadcast," I explained.

"I didn't know you could speak German," John said, turning to Amanda.

"I can't, but when I heard the word 'Montag,' it sounded close enough to 'Monday.' He said another word that sounded like June--," Amanda explained.

"Juni. He used the word 'Juni'," I interjected.

"That's right. He said 'fünfter Juni' and I figured it was the fifth of June," Amanda continued.

"Excellent work! That's exactly what that means; and you say you could identify the voice?" he asked.

"Not exactly. It was vaguely familiar sounding, but because it was in German, I couldn't say for sure if it was Nigel Porter's voice," I replied.

"I see," he said, thoughtfully.

"Aggie said that all the commanding officers are aware of the date, not just Nigel Porter. She suggested we search Porter's tent to look for a radio. We hope to do that during the debriefing meeting tomorrow morning," Amanda interjected.

He paused to digest the information.

"I hope you two aren't planning to do that alone. What happens when you find the radio? He could accuse you of planting it in his tent. That would make you the suspect," John noted.

"Morina, he's got a point."

"What do you suggest, John?"

"Let me think about this. Maybe I can arrange something. In the meantime, I stopped by to ask you for something," he said to me.

"What is it?"

"A lock of your hair. I'm still trying to arrange to have the Colonel allow you to leave the airfield for a few hours, but in the meantime, I miss you and would like some way of feeling closer to you," he replied.

"I thought that went out with the Victorian era," Amanda snickered.

I turned to Amanda, "You're just jealous. I think it's kind of quaint."

I lifted the hair in the back of my head to give John access, "Here, take what you want from underneath in the back."

He produced a small pair of scissors and carefully cut a few strands from the back. He held them up and showed me that he didn't take very much.

After he left, Amanda and I took turns napping, hoping to rest up for the mission tonight. But we were both so excited that neither of us managed to get much sleep.

Later that night, the B-26 bombers completed their mission with only some minor flak damage. The returning pilots were jubilant over the radio. It looked like everything was finally coming together. It all depended on D-Day.

***

1 June 1944, Thursday.

Just like yesterday, I was asked to attend the pilots' debriefing meeting and relay the information I was getting from the French underground about the effectiveness of the bombing run. There was a restlessness in the room and towards the end of the debriefing, one of the pilots raised his hand.

"Colonel Drummond, there are rumors flying about that D-day may be sometime this month, maybe soon. Can you give us any information on that, sir?" the pilot asked.

"The date of D-Day is considered to be top secret information and I'm not a liberty to confirm or deny any of the rumors you're referring to. Furthermore, I strongly advise you not to repeat any of the rumors you hear as a matter of national and international importance," the Colonel replied.

Lee approached me after the debriefing. The sun was just coming up.

"Has Amanda found out the date of D-Day?" he asked.

"She has, and Nigel Porter knows as well. We heard him broadcast the date to the Nazis over the radio," I replied.

"He did! Shit. What do you want me to do?" he asked.

"I don't want you to do anything. I've already spoken with John -- Lord Ayresdon about it and we're waiting for the right time to search his tent for a radio. We're going to need witnesses when we search, otherwise he can accuse us of planting that radio," I explained.

"Okay. Let me know when you need me," he said, giving me a kiss on the forehead.

He turned to go back to camp.

"Oh, and Lee?" I called.

"Yes?"

"I have to go to the administrative meeting. I'll be gone for a little over half and hour . . . I thought maybe you'd want to, ahem, 'interrogate' Amanda while I'm gone," I suggested, giving him a wink.

He hesitated for maybe a second before catching my meaning and breaking into a huge grin. He came over and gave me a big kiss on the lips.

"Thanks, Reena," he said as he ran for the communications tent.

Agatha and I sat together during the administrative meeting. Nothing new there. I kept looking over at Squadron Leader Porter throughout the meeting and he seemed as cool as a cucumber. Towards the end of the meeting, he caught me watching him and I had to be much more careful after that.

"I brought the amagae potion. When do we search his tent?" Agatha asked after the meeting.

"Amanda and I spoke with John. He told us to wait, and he will organize something more official, so we don't get into trouble," I informed her.