Now the Darkness Gathers by Shaun Lewis

Author:Shaun Lewis [Lewis, Shaun]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Endeavour Media
Published: 2018-12-19T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 20

Peter was feeling increasingly depressed by this short-notice intelligence operation. He felt certain his mission would be considered a disaster. Right from the start, events had gone badly wrong. He had failed to meet his contact on landing from D2 two nights earlier; indeed he had mistaken his contact for a German soldier out with his girlfriend. Fortunately, they were the more surprised in the encounter and had not made any enquiries of his presence on the shore at the late hour. He had then discovered the absence of his silk map. It must have fallen out of his pocket during his paddle ashore. Without it he only had a vague notion of where his contact lived. However, his luck had then changed when his guides had, by chance, found him walking towards the nearby village.

For the next two days he had pored over their maps of the island and that of its neighbour, Dune. The guides had taken him all around the island, but due to the recent sea state, he had not been able to get across to Dune. From all he had seen, this little island probably offered the best possibilities for an airstrip, but the main island offered a perfect harbour for a wartime navy. The island’s geology was perfect for the building of fortifications to protect the harbour and deter an enemy landing on the beaches. It was whilst surveying the harbour earlier in the day that his luck had taken another turn for the worse.

Yet again, he carefully withdrew a portion of one of the curtains covering the window of the parlour of his hosts. He peered into the darkness outside. There was still no sign of the two visitors he was expecting, but the increasing howl of the wind indicated that the sea state would be rising yet further. Would he manage to get off the island the following night, he wondered?

‘Here. Take a measure of this to calm your nerves, young man. Gazing out the window won’t bring them any earlier.’

Peter let go of the curtain and turned to face his host, an elderly Heligolander who remained loyal to Britain. The man was offering him a glass of whisky.

‘You’re right, of course, Niels. Thanks.’

Peter took the proffered glass and sat down, stretching his long legs out before the fire. The light of the fire supplemented that from the lantern swinging from the ceiling above the dining table, one of the few objects in the sparsely furnished room. From the kitchen he could hear Mrs Niels washing the pots after their supper. He took a sip of his spirit and cast his mind back to the events of the morning.

****

Peter and one of his guides were standing on the quayside, looking out over the harbour when he had heard two voices speaking loudly and in English. There was nothing uncommon in that, but the content of their conversation attracted his attention.

‘Make sure you get a decent shot of those submarine berths, Manners.’

‘Of course I will, Martin.

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