Chapter Two, Part Seventeen10.24pm, Saturday 26th January, 1906, Opposite Geneva Central StationA cold wind blows off the lake into the city, and the first of many flakes of snow are starting to fall from the heavy sky above onto the huddled gentlemen grouped together around the warmth of
von Fersen's ever-present pipe. They stand opposite Geneva Central Station, and they eagerly hatch their cunning plan in conspirational whispers.
After two or three minutes of fruitless discussion about tea and sandwiches,
Winston Smith holds forth.
“I see two ways of getting in: the gentlemanly way, and the American Way.
The gentlemanly way is to knock politely at the front door at the turn of the hour, and demand of the two porters that they allow us access to the luggage locker. Hopefully, the Germans aren't already there. I must confess that I do not have full confidence in this plan. It seems to me to lack a certain
je ne sais quoi, as you Brits like to say.
The American Way rightfully requires the use of plenty of explosives, namely, "G"'s explosive ammunition that he brought back this afternoon, to comprehensively evaporate the wall of the left luggage area, thus giving us the advantage over any Germans who may or may not be there, but also, perhaps and unfortunately, giving us the everlasting enmity of the Swiss Police. We shall then elegantly stroll back to the airship and make away with the contents. On both a personal and a professional level, this is the plan in which I have the most faith. Now, all those in favour say aye.”
A chorus of “ayes” echoes quietly in the deserted street; only one lone voice dissents.
“I say,” says
“G”, “That doesn't seem terribly polite to me. Are you sure we can't just knock?”
Gentlemanliness Increased! Insistence on the Gentlemanly Way!
10.27pm, Saturday 26th January, 1906, A side road next to Geneva Central StationThree gentlemen stand well back from another in the dimly lit side street next to Geneva Central Station, as this fourth gentleman kneels and holds his rifle to his shoulder, aiming at the wall mere feet away.
Mr Winston Smith holds his walking
bat stick firmly in his right hand; from under his finely detailed solid gold eye patch watches
Mr August von Fersen, clasping his trusty hunting rifle; next to the Swede, who is still smoking his pipe despite the presence of a considerable quantity of explosives just feet from his head, stands
Mr Henry McGeenyton, wielder of a monocle and a double barrelled walking stick with tastefully embroidered tartan trim.
The kneeling fourth man is known to them only as
“G”: it is he who is aiming the considerable quantity of explosives at the wall directly before the intrepid spies. He looks up at Smith; his glance moves from the American, to the Swede, to the Englishman.
“Ready?”
The three other gentlemen nod.
“And you're sure we can't just knock? Or use the doorbell? We could telegram to announce our arrival beforehand?”
The other three gentlemen shake their heads. “G” looks back down to his rifle muttering something to himself about perhaps writing a letter or maybe sending the butler.
He switches his rifle to fully automatic, and holds down the trigger. Everything before him disappears in a flash of smoke, dust and fire [5].
10.28pm, Saturday 26th January, 1906, A side road next to Geneva Central Station“G” ejects the empty magazine. “I say, chaps. That seems to have done the trick! Let's go before the blasted forces of law und order arrive.”
The left luggage area lies naked before them! As “G” signals the all clear, Winston Smith strolls in, walking
bat stick in hand, for all the world looking like an English gentleman taking his Sunday stroll. As the three other spies follow him in he suddenly halts and turns: he hears movement through the door on the far side of the room [5]!
The left luggage area is a large room comprised of several rows of tall and heavy metal lockers. One side of the room has no wall; the other side has a door, which leads to a small left luggage area office and counter. One may assume that the ten large explosions which a minute ago rocked the silent city night and destroyed part of the train station may have alerted the police and passers-by; however, the contained area in which they occurred probably caused such echoing as to make it slightly confusing to discern the exact location of them. Wait, actually, probably not very confusing. There were just ten large explosions. Make haste!
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Topic: Roll to Be a Gentleman Spy - Chapter Three Part Twenty One. (Read 74951 times)