The Iron Storm by CW Browning (classic literature books TXT) 📕

his dinner jacket. “What are you doing all alone in Brussels?”

“Who says I’m all alone?” she teased.

“Well you haven’t mentioned anyone in the past hour that we’ve been talking. Are you here with someone?”

“No, you’re quite right about my being alone.” Evelyn reached out and took one of the offered cigarettes. “I’m a secretary for a very prominent businessman. He asked me to come to deliver some papers to his associate. He was to have come himself, but got delayed in Zurich. Of course I was only too happy to do so, and now I have a few days holiday in Brussels.”

“How fortunate for you.” Jens leaned forward to light her cigarette. “And for me. I’m having a wonderful time.”

“So am I.”

“Would you like another drink?” he asked, motioning to the waiter again.

“Yes, all right.” Evelyn watched as he ordered another round and glanced at his empty glass. Jens had been drinking steadily throughout dinner, but wasn’t showing the slightest tendency towards inebriation. She would have to try something else to get him to talk about his work. Clearly the alcohol wasn’t doing the trick. “I don’t know how it is that I haven’t come to Brussels before now. It’s not as if it’s so very far away from Paris.”

“No, it isn’t.” He tilted his head and studied her for a moment. “Do you like Paris?”

“Oh yes, I love it. Have you ever been?”

“No. Like you, I’m not sure why, but I’ve never gone. I’m hoping to change that soon.”

“Well, if you really want to go, you’d best do it soon. Who knows how much longer...” her voice trailed off and she forced a smile. “Well, it doesn’t matter, does it? I’m sure Paris will always be Paris.”

“These are definitely uncertain times we’re living in,” he said slowly. “I don’t think it will be long now. An invasion is inevitable.”

“Do you think so too?” Evelyn blew smoke up towards the ceiling and looked at him. “I’m afraid no one in Paris wants to talk about it, but we’re all thinking the same thing. Is it the same here?”

“Oh yes. We know it’s coming.” Jens shrugged. “For all of our determination to remain neutral, we all saw what happened to Norway. The Germans don’t care about neutrality, not really.”

“You said you work in the government offices?”

“That’s right.”

Evelyn smiled and tapped her cigarette ash into the glass ashtray on the table. “I suppose you must hear and see more than most. If you think an invasion is inevitable, then I suppose all my hopes to the contrary are dashed.”

He looked at her and his lips twisted wryly. “I’m afraid it wouldn’t do to hold on to many of those hopes,” he said gently. “I believe it really is inevitable. The only question is when.”

“You said you work with radios, didn’t you?”

“Yes.” Jens fell silent as the waiter approached with their drinks, setting them on the table. As soon as the man left, he smiled at her sheepishly. “I’m afraid it’s rather dull work to most, but you seemed very interested this afternoon.”

“Oh I am! As I said, I had a friend who was very clever with them. He built his own wireless set and used it to listen...well, he listened to the Germans, actually,” Evelyn said, lowering her voice. “His good friend actually managed to crack one of the codes that the naval stations used to communicate with Berlin.”

Jens stared at her, his mouth dropping open. “No!”

She nodded. “Yes. Of course, it was all ancient Greek to me, you understand. But his friend actually discovered that the Germans were invading Norway a few hours before they got there.”

“Why...but that’s amazing!” Jens lowered his voice and leaned forward. “We’ve been trying to break their codes for months!”

“You have?” Evelyn opened her eyes very wide and stared at him. “I thought you worked for the government offices here, sending messages?”

“That’s not entirely true. I do work for the government, but I’m with the Belgian State Security.”

Evelyn swallowed and felt her heart leap. The Belgian State Security was Belgium’s intelligence division. If Jens really did work there, he would be a veritable wealth of information to take back to Bill, if she could get him to divulge it.

“The State Security?” she repeated. “What’s that?”

“It’s...well, I...we...intercept messages from the Germans and try to decipher them,” Jens told her, his voice low. “We’re part of the intelligence division, you see.”

“Oh!” Evelyn reached for wine, her eyes very wide. “Do you mean...you’re trying to do what my friends were doing in Norway?”

Jens smiled faintly. “Yes, I suppose so. But where we are only trying, it appears that your friends in Norway actually succeeded.”

“It didn’t do them much good, in the end,” Evelyn said, remembering Peder laying in the snow with blood pouring from his leg. She repressed a shudder and forced a smile to her lips. “But if it makes you realize that it can be done, then I suppose that’s something.”

“It is indeed.” Jens stared at her for a long moment. “You’re the strangest girl, Marie. I never tell anyone what I do all day, but here I’ve just told you and I don’t even feel like it was a mistake.”

“It wasn’t,” she assured him with a light laugh. “My lips are sealed. And anyway, who would I tell? I don’t know anyone in Brussels but you!”

Jens’ countenance lightened and he chuckled.

“That’s true, isn’t it?” Sitting back, he reached for his drink. “Nevertheless, I still feel strange. It’s as if I’ve known you for months, rather than just a few hours.”

“Please don’t feel strange. I may be a lowly secretary, but I’m not a fool. I know we’re all on the verge of being torn apart by this war. I’m certainly not going to do anything that will make it worse for us.” She was quiet for a moment, then she looked across the table into his eyes. “Do you think it will happen soon?”

Jens didn’t answer immediately. He took a final drag of his cigarette, then