Designated Targets

“I am sorry, Ms. Atkins,” said Halabi. “I didn’t mean to come across as a smart arse. I’m sure it must be very difficult.”

“No more so than your own situation.”

“Lieutenant Poulsson is from Norway,” Harry told her.

The light suddenly went on for her. “Ah. I see. The heavy water plant.”

“Yes, Captain,” said Poulsson. “It is still there. We know it. And they know that we know. It’s a most unfortunate situation. What you would call a sticky wicket, I believe.”

Halabi understood now that she’d been summoned to London to receive orders concerning one of the key facilities in the Reich’s atomic program. Most likely, they wanted her to destroy it. Norwegian commandos had originally attacked it in 1943, after an earlier raid by British forces had failed abysmally. In this world, however, that first raid had yet to take place. And there was every chance that the Nazis knew all about the way things were supposed to play out.

They may even have had access to a copy of the Hollywood movie, or the BBC miniseries that told the story of the “the heroes of Telemark.”

“Unfortunately, we have no land attack missiles left,” Halabi said. “But surely the Havoc does? Or one of the Task Force surface ships? They could take it out without any fuss at all.”

Churchill grunted in exasperation. “Indeed they could, Captain. But Prime Minister Curtin will not release any of the forces currently assigned to the defense of Australia. And the Clinton’s battle group, or what remains of it, is still in the Pacific en route to San Diego. It will be some time before they’re in any position to help. Assuming, of course, that they would. Admiral Kolhammer seems to think of himself as something akin to a Chinese warlord, and he reacts to direct orders as if they were nothing more than gentle suggestions.”

The destroyer captain said nothing.

When it was obvious she wouldn’t take the bait, Churchill waved the issue away with another irritated mumble. “Well, we’re not here to discuss your colleagues, or their continued refusal to accept the new realities. I need you and His Highness to undertake a mission of the utmost importance. The destruction, as you certainly must have surmised, of the heavy water factory in Telemark.”

“Is there some reason it has to happen immediately?” Halabi asked.

Jens Poulsson spoke up. “We maintain contact with some of our sources at the plant. The Germans are about to move ten thousand gallons of heavy water. We do not know where, but regardless, they cannot be allowed to do so. They must have learned of the original raids that took place in your history. So they have decided to act quickly.”

“But if your source is still alive and in touch,” she reasoned, “the Germans obviously cannot possess perfect knowledge of the plant’s history. Otherwise, they’d know about him. They must have picked up scraps here and there from the lattice cache on the Sutanto. But not the whole story.”

“It hardly matters,” countered Churchill. “The point is, they must be stopped. And the plant must be taken out of action—permanently. If they succeed with their atomic program, we will be utterly defenseless. And if Britain falls, it will make it just that much harder for the U.S. to strike, particularly at such a great distance.

“I fear, Captain Halabi, that the Axis powers are now less interested in global conquest than they are in holding their current gains, and they hope to do so by getting access to these ‘weapons of mass destruction,’ as you call them. They want Britain and, I suppose, Australia, largely to deny America any base usable for a counterattack.”

“I see,” said Halabi before addressing the Norwegian. “And you have some plan in mind, I suppose.”

“We do,” replied Poulsson, “but it requires your help, and the prince’s, for it to have any chance of success, particularly at such short notice.”

“No notice, really,” said Harry.

“Indeed,” the SOE man conceded.

Halabi looked down and realized she was standing next to William Pitt’s writing desk. Somehow, it seemed very small. “You’ll need the Trident to move Major Windsor’s men, and Lieutenant Poulsson’s, too, I imagine. Into Norwegian waters, for the assault.”

“Exactly,” confirmed Harry. “I’ll be taking two squads. Poulsson and two others will come with us. We’re to rendezvous on the ground with local resistance fighters who will get us to the plant. We’ll need to chopper in and out.”

“Can you do it?” asked Miss Atkins.

Halabi did not reply immediately. She took a few moments to consider the variables as best she could: the need to sneak past the Kriegsmarine; the chance that, with forewarning, the Nazis would simply be waiting for them in the fjords or at the plant itself; the odds of making it back after the strike alerted the Germans to their presence; the possible cost of losing the Trident, balanced against the risk of Hitler getting his hands on a nuclear weapon. This last one was the most important consideration of course.