THE LOOKING GLASS WAR by John LeCarré

“It’s a nice spot,” he repeated finally; “I like it.”

“Good,” said Haldane, as if he didn’t give a damn.

Avery went with him to his room to see if he could help.

“What’s your name?” Leiser asked. He was more at ease with Avery; more vulgar.

“John.”

They shook hands again.

“Well, hello, John; glad to meet you. How old are you?”

“Thirty-four,” he lied.

A wink. “Christ, I wish I was thirty-four. Done this kind of thing before, have you?”

“I finished my own run last week.”

“How did it go?”

“Fine.”

“That’s the boy. Where is your room?”

Avery showed him.

“Tell me, what’s the setup here?”

“What do you mean?”

“Who’s in charge?”

“Captain Hawkins.”

“Anyone else?”

“Not really. I shall be around.”

“All the time?”

“Yes.”

He began unpacking. Avery watched. He had brushes backed with leather, hair lotion, a whole range of little bottles of things for men, an electric shaver of the newest kind and ties, some in tartan, others in silk, to match his costly shirts. Avery went downstairs. Haldane was waiting. He smiled as Avery came in. “Well?”

Avery shrugged, too big a gesture. He felt elated, ill at ease. “What do you make of him?” he asked.

“I hardly know him,” Haldane said drily. He had a way of terminating conversations. “I want you to be always in his company. Walk with him, shoot with him, drink with him if you must. He’s not to be alone.”

“What about his leave in between?”

“We’ll see about that. Meanwhile do as I say. You will find he enjoys your company. He’s a very lonely man. And remember, he’s British: British to the core. One more thing— this is most important—do not let him think we have changed since the war. The Department has remained exactly as it was: that is an illusion you must foster even”—he did not smile— “even though you are too young to make the comparison.”

They began next morning. Breakfast over, they assembled in the drawing room and Haldane addressed them.

The training would be divided into two periods of a fortnight each, with a short rest in between. The first was to be a refresher course; in the second, old skills, now revived, would be related to the task which lay ahead. Not until the second period would Leiser be told his operational name, his cover and the nature of his mission; even then, the information would reveal neither the target area nor the means by which he was to be infiltrated.

In communications as in all other aspects of his training he would graduate from the general to the particular. In the first period he would familiarize himself once more with the technique of ciphers, signal plans and schedules. In the second he would spend much time actually transmitting under semi-operational conditions. The instructor would arrive during that week.

Haldane explained all this with a certain pedagogic acrimony while Leiser listened carefully, now and then briskly nodding his assent. Avery found it strange that Haldane took so little care to conceal his distaste.

“In the first period we shall see what you remember. We shall give you a lot of running about, I’m afraid. We want to get you fit. There’ll be small arms training, unarmed combat, mental exercises, tradecraft. We shall try to take you walking in the afternoons.”

“Who with? Will John come?”

“Yes. John will take you. You should regard John as your adviser on all minor matters. If there is anything you wish to discuss, any complaint or anxiety, I trust you will not hesitate to mention it to either one of us.”

“All right.”

“On the whole, I must ask you not to venture out alone. I should prefer John to accompany you if you wish to go to the cinema, do some shopping or whatever else the time allows. But I fear you may not have much chance of recreation.”

“I don’t expect it,” Leiser said. “I don’t need it.” He seemed to mean he didn’t want it.

“The wireless instructor, when he comes, will not know your name. That is a customary precaution: please observe it. The daily woman believes we are participating in an academic conference. I cannot imagine you will have occasion to talk to her, but if you do, remember that. If you wish to make inquiries about your business, kindly consult me first. You should not telephone without my consent. Then there will be other visitors: photographers, medical people, technicians. They are what we call ancillaries and are not in the picture. Most of them believe you’re here as part of a wider training scheme. Please remember this.”

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110

Leave a Reply 0

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *