the Director said. “If we send orders to recalibrate...”
“That can’t be it, sir. The transmissions are technically fine. It’s something about the messages themselves. The way that the girl is transmitting.”
“What do you make of it?”
“Honestly, I don’t know.” Eleanor hated to admit her uncertainty. “Either she’s broadcasting under dire circumstances or under duress or...” She faltered, the words almost too unbelievable to say. “Or it isn’t Marie who is actually broadcasting.” She took a deep breath. “I’m worried, sir, that we’ve been compromised.”
His eyes widened. “How is that even possible? We run that scenario a hundred times in setting up the radios. Even if one of the machines was captured, the Germans would need the crystals and the codes and the security checks. No agent worth his salt would ever give that up.”
Or her salt, Eleanor thought, hoping that he was right. “Whoever it is might not have the security checks, if this message is any indication. But the radio and the crystals, if taken together, are a real possibility.”
“You’re trying to read tea leaves, Trigg. We need to stick to facts, what we know.” Eleanor so often wished for a crystal ball like the one the witch had in that American film, The Wizard of Oz, to see what was happening in the field. Once she’d even dreamed she had one, but it was clouded and dark.
The Director leaned back in his chair, puffing on his pipe. “Even if you are correct, what do you want me to do about it? Are you suggesting that we stop transmitting altogether?”
Eleanor faltered. Doing that would mean leaving the agents out in the field with no connection or lifeline back to headquarters—alone. “No, sir.”
“Then what?”
“I think Marie’s radio should be shut down until it can be fully verified.”
“But she broadcasts for Vesper network, which is the largest in-country. We’d be crippled. It would shut down operations.” Eleanor noted with a bit of pride how integral the women had become to the fight in such a short amount of time. A year ago the men had doubted the women could help at all—now they could not function without them.
“I thought you said the girls were up to the task, Trigg. I believed you, staked my name on it.” There was an accusatory note in his voice. The men made mistakes, too, Eleanor wanted to point out; it was what had given rise to the need for the women’s unit in the first place. But the women had taken over the radio operator duties with increasing frequency in the past year, making this look very much like their problem.
“They were, sir. That is, they are.” For the first time in as long as she could remember, Eleanor felt unsure of herself. “It’s not the girls. Something is wrong over there.”
The Director continued, “News of your unit has reached Churchill, you know. He’s dead pleased about it.” For the prime minister, that was high praise.
But it did not make the problem go away. “Sir, as it is, we have no way to know if the information we are sending is actually being retrieved by our agents. If we can’t shut them down to verify, then I think someone should go over and check. Visit the units personally.”
“I suppose you think it should be you.”
“I do want to go,” Eleanor admitted.
“We’ve been through all this before, Trigg,” the Director huffed. “With your renewed citizenship application pending, I can’t get your papers through. Even if I could, I wouldn’t send you into the field. You know too much.”
“Send me anyway,” Eleanor pleaded again. The Director blinked with surprise. Eleanor was usually so rational and detached. There was a note of desperation in her voice now. She needed to see what was really going on over there, whether or not the girls were all right. She realized her own misstep. She had gotten too close—and for that reason alone, he would say no.
“It’s out of the question,” he said firmly.
“I have to see what went wrong. If you won’t send me, at least shut down her set until we can verify matters.” He did not respond. “When I took this on, you promised me complete control.”
“Over your girls, yes. But not the whole bloody war. This is part of something much bigger. The invasion is coming and every day of the full moon that we don’t drop personnel and supplies is an opportunity missed.”
“But, sir, if the information about the drops are conveyed over the compromised radio,