The Expendable Spy

Adam Bede was hustled into a waiting car, driven to an airfield somewhere, dressed in an aviator's sheepskin and squeezed behind a laconic pilot in a tiny aircraft. There is not enough room here, I can't breathe, he wanted to say. But the plane was already taxiing down the runway, and he held on for dear life. Hours later he saw below him an aircraft carrier which looked like a toy in a large pond. The noise from the engines was deafening. Adam was sure that his hearing had suffered permanent damage. The pilot turned, gave him a friendly grin and pointed down.

What are you doing, Adam wanted to say. He can't possibly expect to land on the deck of this tiny ship. But that is precisely what the pilot proceeded to do. We're going to die, Adam knew, and tried to think of asking for forgiveness of his sins, but before he could start enumerating them, they had landed.

The pilot gave Adam a cheery wave and disappeared. Adam slowly relinquished his grip on the plane. 'Hurry up, sir, please,' a friendly voice addressed him. A large Petty Officer pulled him out of the plane, and propelled him to the side of the carrier, toward a contraption attached to one of the masts.

'Just get in here, please, sir.' The Petty Officer strapped him into a bucket, and the bucket began to move.

Oh, God, what now ? Adam saw that there was a wire strung from the aircraft carrier's mast down to another much smaller vessel floating besides it, and that his bucket was inexorably descending to that vessel. It reached the deck, strong hands grabbed it and lifted him out.

'Welcome aboard, Mr. Bede. I'm Lieutenant Commander Tolliver, Captain of His Majesty's Destroyer Drake. We'll try to get you to Oran as quickly as possible. In the meantime we'll try to make you comfortable aboard our ship.'

Adam could not breathe. The ship had started to move and was cutting through the waves with great speed. The aircraft carrier was already far behind. The deck was lurching up and down, side to side, and the masts - the masts were dipping and rising, rising and dipping. Adam stumbled to the railing and heaved, and heaved.

'Oh, I'm sorry you do not feel well,' Tolliver said. His face showed total equanimity, but Adam was sure that a contemptuous grin was lurking somewhere. He knew the attitude of those fortunate mortals who were immune to seasickness toward those so afflicted. They thought it funny.

Adam pulled himself up to his less than considerable height and said with as much dignity as he could muster: 'Please show me to my quarters.'

'Certainly.' The captain signaled to one of the junior officers near him. 'Ensign Roberts will accompany you.'

'This way, sir.' Adam followed the Ensign toward a stairwell leading down into the interior of the vessel. The Ensign began to climb down and Adam attempted to follow. At that point, the ship appeared to encounter a larger than normal wave. There was a sharp sideways movement, and Adam lost his footing and plunged down, down to the bottom of the stairwell.

Pain. Pain. Adam's head hurt, and his left leg was in agony. He tried to open his eyes, but the swaying of the ceiling above him made him dizzy. He closed his eyes again, and mercifully lost consciousness.

He had no idea how much time had passed when he woke again. He opened his eyes and tried to look around. The ceiling was still swaying rhythmically. He closed his eyes briefly. Ah yes, I'm on a ship. He looked around. He was lying on a bunk bed. Another bed on the other side of the room - cabin, he realized, contained a figure completely swaddled in blankets. At the other side of the cabin were shelves and a table filled with medical equipment. There was the unmistakable smell of disinfectant associated with doctors' offices.

He remembered where he was. This must be the sickbay aboard the destroyer. What happened to me ? He took inventory of his body. There was a bandage on his head, but he felt little pain there. What seemed more serious was his left leg. He felt with his hand. The leg was completely encased in a cast reaching almost up to his groin.

What a disaster ! This is my fault for not holding on to the railing properly. He remembered his mission. How am I going to get to Bobo in Oran, when I'm incapacitated?

He closed his eyes again. The swaying was making him ill. But above all, he felt sick about himself. The first time, my country asks me to do something important, and I fail before I even get started.

When he opened his eyes again, Captain Tolliver was sitting on a chair pulled up to his bunk.
'How do you feel, Mr. Bede? ' he asked gently.
'Rotten. Please tell me exactly how I am.'
Captain Tolliver waved to a figure behind him. 'I'll let our ship's surgeon do that.'
The doctor bent over Adam. 'You have a bad wound on your forehead. It took twelve stitches but I think we have that under control. I can't tell yet whether you have a concussion, but I doubt it. Your eyes are clear and your evident dizziness can be attributed to seasickness. We'll have to watch that. The principal problem is a fracture of your left femur. I have set it to the best of my ability and immobilized it with a temporary cast, but it should really be X-rayed as soon as possible. Unfortunately, we don't have X-ray equipment aboard.'

Adam closed his eyes for a moment in despair. Then he looked at the Captain.

'I must find a way to accomplish my mission in Oran. It's vital.'

'Well, Mr. Bede, my orders are to get you to Oran as quickly as possible, to get you ashore in the most circumspect manner in some cove out of sight of the French Navy, and to pick you up again, if possible, after you have accomplished your mission. And come what may, I must rendezvous with my squadron by July 2 at certain coordinates. Normally, I could have given you twenty four to thirty six hours in Oran. I don't know or want to know what your mission is, but I don't see how you can get around without help.'

'That is obvious. Would any of your ship's complement volunteer to help me ? I can assure you that my mission is crucial.'

'No,' Captain Tolliver said, regretfully. ' I can't allow any member of my crew to go ashore in potentially enemy territory. You are a civilian, Mr. Bede, but if one of my men is caught in civilian clothes, he would be treated as a spy. And given the secrecy of your mission, I can hardly imagine that you could accomplish it accompanied by someone in a Royal Navy uniform.'

A voice croaked from the bed on the other side of the cabin: 'I'll do it. I can help you.'

'Who is that?' Adam asked with astonishment.

'This is someone we picked up from a sinking boat just a few hours ago. I don't know any more than that,' the Captain said.