Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine, Vol. 44, No. 4, April 1980

“Yes, it does,” the NCO agreed with a nervous wince. “And, as a matter of fact, so does mine. My name is Edgar Smith.”

Captain Garrett W. Cross arrived two hours later. He was an athletic man in his early twenties with sand-colored hair and hard gray eyes. Although he treated Lansing with proper military courtesy, his manner was still brisk and businesslike.

“Sergeant Smith met me at the gate and explained why you’re here.” Cross told Lansing as he escorted him downstairs into the basement corridor once more. “We must discuss this matter privately.”

The captain moved to the barred S-2 door and unlocked it. He ushered Lansing inside before securing the entrance.

“I didn’t think my clearance was sufficient to enter another unit’s intelligence section,” the Major remarked.

“I’m authorized to clear you concerning a ‘need to know’ security matter.” Cross replied. “However, what I’m going to tell you must be regarded as strictly confidential. Not one word of this can appear in any written reports, documents or other official or unofficial papers.”

Cross led Lansing through a short corridor to a thick steel door. Unlocking the tomb-like entrance, the Captain and Lansing stepped into a small conference room with four metal chairs surrounding a Plexiglass table. Cross closed the door and slid a thick steel bolt into place before he spoke.

“How familiar are you with ABC warfare, Major?” he asked.

“ABC? That’s Atomic, Biological and Chemical, right?” Lansing replied.

Cross nodded. Slowly pacing along the artillery-red carpet, the Captain locked his hands at the small of his back as he continued. “To put it simply, we were conducting an investigation to determine the possibility of a special ABC device to be adopted for USAEUR defense purposes.”

“What sort of device, Captain?”

“All I can tell you is its codename was SMITTEN.”

“Germ warfare? Isn’t that contrary to the Geneva Convention?”

“Actually, we know the Soviets and the Chinese and many of our so-called allies are working on chemical/biological weapons. However, SMITTEN was not some sort of man-made plague, as one reads about in cheap spy novels. It was a project similar to the proposed neutron bomb.”

“You’re using the term was as if to indicate the past tense.”

“Indeed,” Cross confirmed. “SMITTEN was abandoned last month. Mind you, we were only considering the possibility of SMITTEN. We were not conducting chemical, biological or nuclear experiments in the Federal Republic of Germany or anything like that. To the best of my knowledge, there is no ABC research in progress by the USAEUR.”

“But you still believe Lieutenant Benton was trying to say ‘SMITTEN’ before he died?”

“It does seem the most likely possibility.” The Captain shrugged!

“ ‘S M’ may also mean ‘Smith’ or ‘Smothers’.”

“Are you suggesting either of my men would want to kill my executive officer?” Cross frowned. “What reason would they have?”

“You’d have a better idea about that than I,” Lansing replied. “However, it is obvious Lieutenant Benton and Sergeant Smith didn’t get along very well.”

“No, they didn’t,” Cross admitted, extracting a pack of cigarettes from his jacket. “Smith tended to regard Benton as a Leftwing radical and the Lieutenant considered Smith to be a Right-wing reactionary.”

“Were either of their assessments accurate?”

“Not really.” The Captain lit his cigarette with a sleek butane lighter. “They both exaggerated the other’s, politics. Although, frankly, I’m much more conservative then Benton was, but not to Sergeant Smith’s extremes.”

“So you were stuck in the middle of their arguments.”

“Sometimes, yes.”

“What did Benton and Smith think of the SMITTEN project?”

“Well, Benton was horrified by it. He favored an international ban on nuclear weapons and he thought wars should be avoided by special committees in the United Nations.” Cross sighed. “Of course, Smith’s attitude was exactly the opposite. He favored SMITTEN, considering it a valuable weapon for our NATO and USAEUR defenses. He was very angry when the project was rejected. He accused Benton of undermining SMITTEN, encouraging that it be scrapped.”

“How did you feel when SMITTEN was turned down?”

“I was disappointed. From what we completed of the investigation concerning possible use for SMITTEN, my personal conclusion was very similar to Sergeant Smith’s. I believe SMITTEN could have been a useful defense weapon. I think it was more practical and stable than the neutron bomb and many more conventional weapons. However, Lieutenant Benton’s attitude had nothing to do with the project being rejected.”

“Why was SMITTEN scrapped?”

“Washington killed it,” Cross explained, gesturing helplessly with his hands. “Actually, I suppose they were right. The Salt Treaty is supposed to reduce our number of nuclear weapons so SMITTEN may have angered the Russkis. Besides, ever since the Three-Mile Island mishap, public opinion toward nuclear energy is very negative.”

“But Sergeant Smith still blamed Lieutenant Benton for SMITTEN’s demise?”

“Yes, he did.”