Room 40 by Dominic Hayes

Author:Dominic Hayes [Hayes, Dominic]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-02-21T22:00:00+00:00

A streetlamp illuminated a patch of grey cobblestones in Lombardstraat. A figure in a cloth cap and greatcoat emerged from the dark into the soft pool of light. Alexander Szek looked the other way along the empty street; at the far end, another figure stepped into the road. A quick glance around confirmed there was no obvious means of escape.

Abruptly he brought up a hand to cover his mouth, but the attempt to staunch the nausea was unsuccessful, and he bent over and vomited onto the pavement. When he straightened, the man under the streetlight was beckoning. Alex’s shoulders slumped, and he advanced reluctantly.

The shadows underneath the stranger’s hat were so dark that even up close, he wasn't able to make out all the details of the man’s face. Yet some characteristics, the narrow eyebrows, a silver thread of a scar along one cheekbone and the stranger’s height and build suggested they were acquainted. As the man wrapped an arm around his shoulders, he knew this was Karl Smets, the spy who had coerced him into copying details from the German’s secret codebook.

'You’re shivering,’ Smets said in the now familiar gravel voice. 'There’s no need to be afraid.’

If the words were meant to comfort, they had the opposite effect. 'I have given everything you asked for,’ Alex whined. 'More than you were expecting. I'm keeping my part of the bargain.’

Smet’s large hand gripped Alex’s arm. 'You are. I’m not going to hurt you, believe me.’

They had moved away from the lamp, and Smet’s face was unreadable in the darkness.

'Let’s go for a walk.’ Smets released his hold and led the way.

Further along the street, Alex glimpsed the doorway to his house and hung back. A hundred thoughts streamed through his brain.

But Smets had paused too. 'You will go home before the curfew. But only after we’ve finished our little chat.’

Alex shuddered, then matched the slow ambling stride of the older man.

'By now you must be familiar with forwarding messages to Berlin for onward transmission.’

'Yes.’ The surprise was clear in his reaction; perhaps he would not be punished after all. 'I get a few to send every month.’

'Is there a special format?’

'Yes. They begin with who the cablegram is from and to and their respective ranks, and the date and time. A code represents the destination country. The message body follows, and it is signed off by the initials of the sender.’

'So you know the code to forward a message to South America?’

Alex kept his curiosity from showing. 'Of course.’

'What happens to the original signal?’

'I place it on the pile. At the end of each day, they are bound up and filed.’

'And have you ever sent cables to the Consul-General in Valparaiso?’

Alex considered the question. 'I think so. Maybe one or two last month.’

'What route does the cable take?’

'I code the text and send it to Berlin by Wireless/Telegraph. Nauen recodes the signal and transmits it to Valparaiso. Valparaiso re-sends the note to wherever the vice-admiral is.’

'Suppose he is at sea?’

'Then the cable is sent to the nearest port.

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