Faked Passports by Dennis Wheatley

Author:Dennis Wheatley [Wheatley, Dennis]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2012-07-10T05:56:08+00:00

Chapter XIX

The Undreamed of Trap

'OH, come!" Gregory protested. "They won't interfere with is; our plane is a Belgian make and it has the British markings. The Russians won't fire on a neutral."

"I'm afraid you're wrong there," grunted the official. "That's just what they have been doing. They shot down two Swedish Manes and a Dutchman this morning."

"Were they civil planes or owned by volunteers who had offered their services to Finland in the event of war?"

"Civil planes, sir. Two were caught in the first raid at nine twenty five. They had just taken off and were flying south when they ran right into the Russians coming up across the Gulf; the other was shot down as it was coming in and about to make a landing on the airport at about ten minutes to one."

"But why; Russia is not at war with Sweden or Holland?"

The official shrugged. "You've seen what they've done in the city, sir, and most people would tell you it's because they're a lot of cut throats who delight in murder; but if you want my honest opinion it's because these Russians are an ignorant lot they don't know the markings of one country from those of another and they're not taking any chances. They regard any plane that's not one of their own makes as a potential enemy and shoot it down."

"That's pretty rough on the civilian pilots and their passengers; but the sky's clear now and I don't suppose there'll be another raid for a few hours, at any rate, so I think we'll chance it and get out while the going's good."

"I'm sorry, but that's impossible. As I've told you, the airport's closed until further orders and no planes of any kind are to be allowed off the ground."

Gregory was getting worried, but he tried not to show it as he said: "That's all very well as a precautionary measure; and it's only right that every pilot should be warned what he may be letting himself in for if he goes up; but once you've issued the warning it's the pilot's own responsibility."

"Oh, no, it's not," the official disagreed quickly. “Finland is responsible for the safety of neutrals as long as they're flying over her territory. If we had a decent Air Force we should be able to protect them from attack. As we haven't, the only thing we can do is to protect them against themselves by refusing to allow them to go up. It wasn't our fault that those three were shot down this morning but we shall have the job of explaining to their Governments how it came about and, naturally, we don't want to explain any more such incidents if we can possibly avoid it."

"What are you going to do if I insist on going up?" Gregory hazarded.

"The air port police would prevent your taking off, sir, and I'm sure you don't want to give us any unnecessary trouble when we have so much on our hands already."

"Of course not," Gregory agreed.

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