Bahn prepared much the same meal for tea and supper as for lunch, leaving Macurdy wondering whether it was his larder or his skills that were limited. Hansi returned late and said little, as if preoccupied, and disappeared into the room he shared with Alice Gwynne. By then Anna had tired of reading aloud, and there being little else to do, she and Macurdy went to their room and also got ready for bed. From Bahn, Anna had gotten a pallet, sheets, and blanket for Montag. As usual, he would sleep in his underwear, which now at least were clean, while Anna had a nightgown sent by Alice.
She had turned on a tiny night light, installed because of the blackout curtains, turned off the table lamp and sat down on one of the two chairs. Macurdy took the other, and they talked quietly. In German; if anyone was listening at the door, they wouldn’t catch words, but they’d probably recognize the language. Anna asked what Macurdy had beamed to his test target, and grimaced when he told her: an image of the man’s face, an image that would not be banished, with worms coming first from the nostrils, then the mouth, then the eyes.
Then she told what she’d learned with her telepathy. Some he’d observed for himself, in demeanors and auras: Bahn had changed from hostile probably his normal state in new situations-to bored and indifferent. Alice Gwynne had changed from suspicious to friendly. And Hansi had designs on Anna’s body. He was no longer an uncertain adolescent; now he considered any attractive female a sexual target.
“Despite sleeping with Alice Gwynne,” Anna added, somewhat bemused. “And Alice is exceptionally attractive, wouldn’t you say?” She paused. “Of course, Lieutenant Schweiger is, too. They make a handsome couple.”
Macurdy said nothing. Hansi had been a good-looking kid, but gawky. Maturity had filled him out, and increased his selfesteem. And his sexual ambitions.
“When do we notify Grosvenor Square?” Anna asked. “Schweiger intends to keep us here, keep close control of us. He’s afraid we will do something foolish. Also, something may happen that he will recognize you.. For a moment, Macurdy didn’t answer. There was still another consideration, more important than rounding up this Abwehr ring, and time was limited.”
“Does he know the invasion date?”
“He was thinking about that on our way back from your little demonstration. There had been a specific target dateMay 1st-but it was abandoned some time ago. Now they expect it at the beginning of June. Apparently it requires moonlight. And the Allies are bound to worry about dangerous information leaking, so they’ll want to move at the earliest date possible.”
Macurdy couldn’t help remembering the snafus in Algeria and on Sicily. Both had turned out all right the Sicilian drops had been remarkably effective despite everything that had gone wrong–but this was so much bigger! So much was riding on it! So many lives would be invest!
“We’ll act as soon as possible,” he said.
“Good.” Anna yawned. “Goodnight, Kurt. I’m going to bed.”
He watched as she stepped to the bed, lay down and pulled the cover over her, then he lay down on his pallet across the room. Hansi considered Anna sexually desirable, he thought, and he was right. She was not actually pretty, but her features were pleasant. Attractive. And despite Berta’s appraisal, she was not scrawny, just small. Wiry perhaps. Wiry might be exciting in bed.
From across the room, Anna spoke in an undertone. “Kurt?” . “Ja?”
“Come and sit by me. I have things to tell you.”
With a sense of unease, he went to her bed and sat on the edge. She sat up, holding the covers to her shoulders. Her aura told him she was sexually aroused.
“We are a strange pair,” she murmured. “I read minds, or in your case moods, and you read auras. We do not easily keep secrets from one another.”
He nodded, saying nothing, recalling how neither of them had discerned the other’s intention to turn themselves in. “I have not had much affection in my life,” she went on, “particularly in recent years. I have had to be very watchful, very guarded, avoid friendships. At times I have been horribly lonely.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. In English. “Curtis, I want you to hold me. Make love to me.”