she had responded had they began asking for the locations of arms drops and other valuable information. It was the thing she had feared most, though she had not quite understood it—or perhaps had not wanted to.
Eleanor studied the transmission, looking for answers that were not on the page. Her frustration rose. She had raised her concerns to the Director. Why hadn’t he listened?
“There could be ramifications across all of F Section,” the Director said. “I need your help assessing the damage, and figuring out how to mitigate it.”
Eleanor thought wildly about the messages that London might have sent to the field across that wireless set during that time, the information that they had unwittingly put into the Germans’ hands. They might have revealed safe houses, weapons caches—or worse yet, the identities of agents themselves. The southern circuits were less familiar to her because none of her girls had deployed to them. She would have to comb through the files. It would take hours—no, days.
Her blood chilled as she remembered her conversation with Vesper that night on the roof. He had mentioned a Marseille agent who had contacted the circuit, aided them in getting TNT. If the Marseille circuit had been compromised and had reached out to Vesper, the latter network might be compromised as well.
She had to warn them. Eleanor broke into a run. “Wait...” the Director called after her. But Eleanor didn’t stop as she sprinted down the stairs to the radio room.
“Marie Roux,” she ordered. “I need to send her a message.”
Jane looked puzzled. “She isn’t on the scheds for another twenty minutes.” Protocol prohibited transmitting to agents in the field off schedule. If the agent wasn’t at her radio, she wouldn’t be able to receive the message at all.
But Eleanor, in her desperation, needed to try. “Do it.”
Jane adjusted the set in front of her, set the frequency and crystals where she normally reached Marie. She sent a call over the wireless, testing if Marie was on the other line. There was only silence. “Nothing.”
“Try again.” Eleanor held her breath as Jane tried once, then again, to summon Marie over the radio.
A moment later, there came a clicking. “She’s there,” Jane said brightly.
Eleanor did not share her relief. “Ask her if there are parasols in Hyde Park.” The message was code for whether an airdrop had been received. She wanted to ask more directly about Vesper and whether he had returned safely. But given her uncertainties, she didn’t dare.
There was a pause as Jane used the worked-out key to code the message and send it, then more clicking. A moment later came the return. “The message says ‘confirmed,’” Jane said slowly as she decoded the letters.
“That’s it, just ‘confirmed’?” Jane nodded. The response was alarmingly brief. Eleanor wanted something more to authenticate that it was really Marie. “How does her fist print look?” she asked.
Jane shrugged. “With such a short message, it is absolutely impossible to tell.”
Of course. Eleanor hesitated. She needed to know more, but did not dare say much. “Ask if the parasols were red or blue.” Blue meant people; red meant supplies. Jane coded the message and sent it swiftly. There was a hesitation in the return, and uneasiness crept over Eleanor like a cold chill. Something wasn’t right.
“We’re going to have to end the communication soon,” Jane reminded. It wasn’t safe for the agents to transmit for more than a few minutes.
But Eleanor couldn’t stop. “Send this.” She scribbled a message on a piece of paper and handed it to Jane, whose eyes widened. “Have you seen Arlene O’Toole?” the message read. Using actual names over the radio was forbidden. Arlene was a trainee who had dropped out of Arisaig without ever making it through the course, though. She wasn’t in the field and they both knew it—as did Marie.
“Are you certain?” Jane asked. Eleanor nodded grimly and Jane began coding.
After she sent the message, the response came quickly. Eleanor read over Jane’s shoulder as she decoded the text: “Have seen Arlene. All is well.”
Eleanor’s blood ran cold. The radio was being run by an impostor.
She looked back over her shoulder where the Director stood and their eyes connected, sharing the full scope of the horror. The radio had been compromised...but for how long? Eleanor racked her brain for the messages that had been sent to Vesper circuit recently, assessing the damage. A few arms drops, perhaps. There had not been many new agents deployed, fortunately.