CHAPTER 23 – TRANSATLANTIC COOPERATION
16:10 (Washington Time)
Monday, December 2, 1940
Washington-Hoover Airport
Washington, D.C.
United States
The British passengers of the American Army Air Corps C-47 DAKOTA transport aircraft looked with bemusement through their windows as their plane was rolling on the ground towards the air terminal of the Washington-Hoover Airport. Situated near the Arlington National Cemetary, the installations of the sole airport to serve directly the American capital could be described at best as limited, if not to say primitive. The dirt strip they had landed on was cut in the middle by a public road, with the vehicle traffic having to be stopped temporarily by guards every time a plane landed or took off. The airport was also dangerous for planes, being in close proximity to a factory high stack, a huge dirigible hangar, a high voltage line and a public waste dump. The new British foreign minister, Sir Anthony Eden, looked at all that and wondered aloud.
‘’By jove! I think that the Bombay airport was better equipped than this.’’
Mike Crawford, sitting besides Nancy two row behind Eden, reddened with embarrassment, prompting Nancy in gently touching his arm while whispering in his ear.
‘’Don’t worry, Mike. The new national airport will open soon early next year.’’
‘’Thanks for sparing my ego, Nancy.’’
Brigadier General Menzies, head of the British Secret Services, who was sitting just behind Eden, then saw something that displeased him seriously.
‘’Sir Anthony, I see what appears to be a crowd of reporters and photographers in front of the air terminal building. Somebody blew the secret about our visit.’’
Eden swore when he saw the reporters, numbering over fifty. His visit to Washington, meant to discuss with President Roosevelt a joint armaments production program, was supposed to be a secret. So much for discretion!
‘’Bloody hell! How did they learn about our visit?’’
Hearing that, Nancy got up from her seat and went to bend over Eden’s shoulder.
‘’Sir Anthony, this is only a theory of mine but the source of this leak may be the ex-American ambassador in London, Joseph Kennedy. He was just replaced by President Roosevelt and is a staunch partisan of American isolationism, especially where the war in Europe is concerned.’’
‘’You may well be right on that, Colonel. Thanks!’’
As Nancy was returning to her seat, Eden got up and faced rearward, looking at the members of his delegation.
‘’May I have your attention, please. It seems that our visit to Washington will not be as discreet as we wished. I will however ask you to stay mum about the true goals of our trip. If questioned on that subject by reporters, say simply that I am paying a courtesy visit to President Roosevelt, in order to reaffirm the friendship between our two countries. If you are asked about Lieutenant Colonel Laplante, say that she is simply one of my personal aides.’’
‘’Some reporters could interpret that in a spicy way, Sir Anthony.’’ Said Nancy with a malicious smile. ‘’You may have to explain yourself to your wife on your return to London.’’
Many in the plane laughed, while Eden smiled, amused.
‘’That would be quite a juicy way to put them on a false track about you, Colonel. We will see how things will go from here and will adjust our story if need be.’’
‘’Uh, things may already be getting more complicated, Sir Anthony.’’ Warned Brigadier Menzies, who was still looking outside through his window. ‘’I see a group of civilians carrying large banners, just along the crowd of reporters.’’
All the occupants of the plane then looked outside, towards the terminal. Mike Crawford swore before looking at Eden.
‘’Sir Anthony, I’m afraid that this group is made up of members of an isolationist lobbying organization called ‘America First Committee’. That group is rather small but is very influent right now.’’
‘’Damn! We will have to play it tight, then.’’ Said Eden, frustrated.
Their plane finally stopped in front of the terminal, a two-storey building of modest size that also supported the control tower. A convoy of large official cars then rolled towards the plane, stopping by its side as the passenger door of the C-47 was opened. When Anthony Eden exited the plane first, he was greeted with a vigorous handshake by the American Secretary of War, Henry Stimson.
‘’Welcome to Washington, Sir Anthony. I hope that your trip was comfortable.’’
Eden smiled weakly at that question: his trip had taken two days and three stopovers, including a change of plane in Newfoundland.
‘’I am afraid that the trip and change of time zones have reduced my brain to mush, Secretary Stimson. I will need a good night of sleep before I could see President Roosevelt tomorrow.’’
‘’In that case, I can assure you that the Willard Intercontinental Washington Hotel is most comfortable, Sir Anthony. If you will take place in my car, the other cars will take care of your delegates and their luggage.’’
‘’Thank you, Secretary Stimson. Do you know by chance how these people in front of the terminal learned about our visit?’’
Stimson threw a frustrated look at the reporters, who were shouting questions in their direction.
‘’I would like to know as well, Sir Anthony. The President certainly wanted to keep your visit discreet. Well, let’s ignore these people and get in the car.’’
Showing a typically British phlegm, Eden followed Stimson to the large sedan at the head of the convoy, while the other passengers of the plane set foot on the airfield. Eden however stopped besides the car, shocked, when the reporters shouted questions at a redoubled pace, not at him but towards Nancy Laplante.
‘’MISS LAPLANTE, IS IT TRUE THAT YOU ARE FROM THE FUTURE?’’
‘’MISS LAPLANTE, ARE YOU HERE TO GIVE SECRETS FROM THE FUTURE TO THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT?’’
‘’DOES YOUR VISIT MEAN THAT THE UNITED STATES WILL JOIN THE WAR, MISS?’’
Eden looked at Stimson, who appeared as shocked as him.
‘’How could they know all this? This is supposed to be classified information.’’
‘’I don’t know but I certainly will have someone dig into that, Sir Anthony.’’
As he was taking place in the back seat of the sedan, Eden looked with worry at Nancy Laplante, who was supervising the unloading of the trunks containing her special equipment. She was wearing a female British dress uniform but also wore a gun belt. A number of reporters suddenly bent under the simple chain that marked the zone reserved for aircraft and ran towards Nancy despite the futile efforts of the handful of policemen present. The rest of the reporters then followed, along with many of the protestors, surrounding Nancy and her precious trunks and assaulting her with questions. Now livid, Stimson, grabbed the shoulder of the Secret Service agent sitting in the front passenger seat of his car and pointed the reporters surrounding Nancy.
‘’Chase away those jackals and don’t mind becoming physical!’’
‘’Yes sir!’’ Answered the agent, who then stepped out of the car and called other agents to help him.
Near the plane, Nancy was now as tense as a loaded spring as reporters and protesters pressed against her and the trunks containing her equipment. Mike Crawford was doing his best to keep the crowd away from her but was simply overwhelmed. While the reporters shouted questions at her, protesters, some with placards clamoring against the entry of the United States in the war in Europe, were aggressively taking her to task. A few protesters were even trying to intimidate her by pushing and insulting her, or were trying to get at the trunks of equipment. Despite all this, Nancy was more worried about a potential assassin mixing up with the crowd. There was after all a rather large Nazi movement in the United States called ‘The Bund’, complete with swastikas, Nazi uniforms and portraits of Hitler. Now would be an excellent occasion for them to try to get at her. Scanning constantly her surroundings for a possible gunman or sniper and ignoring the questions thrown at her, she suddenly noticed a man standing on the roof terrasse of the terminal building. He was partially hiding behind a corner of the control tower and was pointing something at her. Nancy’s blood froze at once: she had seen often enough snipers during her career as a war correspondent in places like Beirut, Bagdad and Mogadishu to be able to recognize the stance of a man holding a rifle. Her right hand flew to her pistol, while her left hand grabbed Mike Crawford’s right shoulder, who stood between her and the sniper, pulling him down as she herself crouched quickly. The loud ‘crack’ of a bullet missing her head by a few inches just before the bullet hit the ground behind her. As the reporters and protestors around her froze or turned around to see where the shot had come from, Nancy got back up, holding her GLOCK 17 pistol in a two hand stance and pointing it at the sniper. Nearly all the rifles of this time were of the bolt action type and needed two or three seconds to chamber a new round and point again at the target. For an expert in combat pistol shooting like her, two seconds was nearly an eternity. The sniper, situated about 35 meters away, didn’t have time to shoot a second time before Nancy shot once. She saw the head of the sniper jerk backward before he crumbled to the ground. Not wasting a second, Nancy started to run at once towards the terminal, pushing the reporters and protesters out of her way. The Secret Service agents that were coming to disperse the crowd saw her running towards them with a pistol in her hand and hesitated, not realizing yet fully what had happened. Nancy shouted at them as she was about to run past them.
‘’SNIPER ON THE ROOF!’’
She still had to push away an agent that seemed not to believe her and entered the terminal by its main door, then ran up the stairs leading to the terrasse. With her pistol held with both hands and ready to shoot, she pushed open the terrasse access door and jumped on the terrasse, pointing her pistol towards the rear corner of the control tower while scanning quickly her surroundings. The sniper lay in his blood, very still, while a rifle equipped with a scope and a long silencer was at his side. Still scanning visually the terrasse around her, Nancy approached cautiously the sniper with her pistol pointed. She soon saw that her bullet had hit the man in the throat and had then gone through his spine, killing him instantly. She recognized the man after a few seconds: he was a Soviet clandestine agent who would be unmasked after the war in the history she knew. His face was familiar to her since she had written and assembled a detailed report with picturest on Soviet spies in the United States just before her trip.
The first American agents soon emerged on the terrasse, their revolvers pointed. Keeping her own pistol pointed towards the ground, she threw a severe look at the three agents now facing her and pointing their weapons at her.
‘’This is how you protect your important guests, you clowns? Lower your weapons and help me instead to check if this man had an accomplice.’’
As they hesitated too much to her taste to lower their revolvers, Nancy raised her voice, close to losing patience.
‘’HEY, YOU TWITS! WAKE UP! YOU LET A SNIPER GET CLOSE TO GUESTS OF YOUR GOVERNMENT. NOW, LOWER THOSE DAMN REVOLVERS!’’
A fourth American agent then stepped on the terrasse and embraced the scene before shouting an order.
‘’Lower your guns! Check if that sniper had a getaway car ready nearby.’’
As he said that, Nancy heard a car speed away and ran to the guardrails of the rear façade. She saw a four door sedan that was accelerating away on the road behind the terminal. She however could not be sure if this was an accomplice fleeying or simply someone panicking because of her pistol shot. She thus didn’t shoot, despite the fact that she was confident that she easily could have hit the car. Now truly pissed, she faced back the American agent that seemed in charge.
‘’Now that your government has proved incapable of keeping a secret or of protecting V.I.P. guests, would you mind being kind enough to chase away those reporters and protestors, or will I have to do the job myself?’’
The agent tensed up, offended by her remarks.
‘’Miss, you are not in Great Britain now and you do not make the law here. Holster your pistol before I confiscate it.’’
‘’Excuse me? A foreign dignitary that you were supposed to protect just got shot at and you want to disarm her? If your government really wants the technological information I am bringing, then it better do a better job as a host. In case you are interested to know, this man on the ground is named Jake Golos and he is a Soviet spy. Now, if you will excuse me, I will go make sure that my special equipment is safe.’’
She walked towards the access door of the terrasse, her pistol still in one hand. The head agent then shouted at her.
‘’MISS, YOUR PISTOL!’’
Turning her head, she stopped briefly but kept her pistol in her right hand.
‘’First, you may call me ‘Colonel’ instead of ‘Miss’. Secondly, nothing tells me that there are no other assassins left around, since you failed to secure this terminal before our arrival. Be assured that your President will hear about this lamentable security debacle.’’
Ignoring from then on the American agents, Nancy entered the building and walked down the stairs, only to hit a crowd of reporters and photographers waiting for her at the foot of the stairs. Repeated camera flashes partially blinded her as Mike Crawford was brutally clearing his way to her through the reporters. He finally got to her and examined her anxiously.
‘’Are you okay, Nancy? Where is the sniper?’’
‘’I’m alright, Mike. As for the sniper, he is dead, on the terrasse. I hope that somebody is watching my equipment right now.’’
‘’Sir Menzies and two of his men are watching it. Sorry if I took some time to get to you, but some of the protestors and reporters wanted to open your trunks.’’
‘’You did what you could, Mike. Don’t worry about that. Let’s get back to the plane and the cars.’’
Ignoring the questions shouted by the reporters, Nancy followed closely Mike, who opened the way for her with liberal use of his elbows and shoulders. When they emerged outside, they saw that Stimson and Eden had come out of the lead sedan and were anxiously waiting for them, while Menzies and two British agents stood besides the precious trunks. Nancy went directly to the two politicians, stopping at attention and saluting Eden after holstering her pistol.
‘’There was a sniper on the roof, equipped with a rifle fitted with a scope and a silencer, Sir Anthony. He is now dead. I recognized him as a Soviet agent by the name of Jake Golos, who ran a spy network in New York. I suspect that an accomplice just fled by car after I killed Golos, sir. I can now add the Soviets to the list of those who want me dead, Sir Anthony.’’
‘’But, why would they want to kill you, Colonel?’’ Asked Henry Stimson, confused and frustrated. Nancy gave him a no-nonsense look.
‘’Because Stalin is probably scared that I will reveal to you his future plans of conquest of Eastern Europe, Mister Secretary. One of the things that we wanted to discuss with your government was a detailed report on Soviet spy networks inside the United States. Believe me when I say that these networks thoroughly infiltrate your government and include a considerable number of highly placed officials.’’
She then spoke firmly to Anthony Eden.
‘’Sir, in view of what has just happened, added to what whe know about those Soviet networks, I have no other choice but to keep my technological information to myself until a complete sweep of those networks can be effected. Giving my information now to the American government would be tantamount to giving it direct to Stalin, sir.’’
Stimson froze, horrified, as Eden nodded his head at Nancy.
‘’I concur with you, Colonel. The lack of discretion concerning our arrival did nothing to reassure me.’’
‘’But, but President Roosevelt is expecting to receive you tomorrow morning, Sir Anthony, with the information brought by Lieutenant Colonel Laplante.’’ Objected Stimson. Eden sighed, thorn between the need to protect Nancy’s information and his wish to conclude quickly a cooperation pact with the Americans.
‘’Secretary Stimson, please understand that Stalin and the Soviet Union constitute in Prime Minister Churchill’s opinion a long term threat at least as great as the Nazis. We simply can’t risk providing indirectly to Stalin the information we got from the future. I thus suggest that the director of your F.B.I. talks with General Menzies and Lieutenant Colonel Laplante, so that he could neutralize those Soviet spy networks quickly.’’
‘’But, this could take weeks! We can’t arrest hundreds of people, especially if they are government officials, without further proof than just your documents: a judge would free them at once for lack of proof. The F.B.I. will need time to organize the surveillance of suspected spies and collect files on them. On the other hand, our industries are already on standby, waiting for your technological information to start producing new weapons. They can’t stay inactive for very long.’’
‘’Mister Secretary, if I could make a suggestion.’’ Said Nancy. ‘’One quick way to neutralize those Soviet spies would be to revoke their government security clearances, which would then force them out of the way without the need to have to prove their guilt in front of a judge. A security clearance can be suspended or revoked in an instant, without the need to provide an explanation. Some key persons will however need to be arrested at once, before they could alert the members of their networks. Armed with the information I have on those networks, a good interrogator should easily be able to make them confess by offering them plea deals.’’
Brigadier Menzies, who had approached the trio, then jumped in the conversation.
‘’I support the suggestion from Lieutenant Colonel Laplante, Mister Secretary. We already have arrested dozens of Soviet spies in England and most of them confessed when we confronted them with what we already knew on them. Withdrawing a security clearance would be a quick, effective way to take any Soviet spy out of the loop until the F.B.I. could build legal cases.’’
‘’Hum, I believe that this idea has merit.’’ Said Stimson, desperate to gain access to the British technological information. I will alert the F.B.I. as soon as I am able to drop you at the Willard Intercontinental Hotel.’’
‘’I believe that the F.B.I. will have to be involved even sooner, Mister Secretary.’’ Said politely Nancy. ‘’A gunman just tried to kill a foreign dignitary invited by your government. That would make it clearly a federal police case.’’
‘’You are quite right, Colonel.’’
‘’Then, I am ready to wait here for the arrival of the F.B.I., since I am the main witness in this affair. I will also take that opportunity to bring myself to Director Hoover the file on the Soviet spy networks that I have in my briefcase. That way, things will be able to start quickly.’’
‘’Thank you for your cooperation, Colonel.’’ Said Stimson before calling in the head of his security detail. ‘’Mister Fielding, have you alerted the F.B.I. yet about this assassination attempt?’’
‘’Yes, Mister Secretary. A team should arrive in a few minutes.’’
‘’Good! Make sure that the F.B.I. treats Colonel Laplante with courtesy. If I ever hear that she was forcefully interrogated or accused in any way, then Director Hoover can expect to lose his job.’’
‘’I will pass the word, Mister Secretary.’’
With Stimson and Eden then returning inside their car and with the American agents finally getting busy dispersing the reporters and protestors with the help of a newly arrived contingent of local policemen, Nancy helped Mike load their luggage and the precious trunks full of equipment in a car of the convoy. Once this was done, she watched the convoy roll away, protected by two policemen while waiting for the arrival of the F.B.I. team. That team arrived in two cars and one van half an hour later. Thankfully, the agent in charge of the team proved to be both polite and comprehending, taking Nancy’s statement and reviewing with her the crime scene. He looked gravely at the dead man on the terrasse and at his rifle as one of his agents took pictures.
‘’Jake Golos, you said, Colonel?’’
‘’Actually, his official name is Jacob Golos, a naturalized Ukrainian immigrant. He led from New York a spy network of the Soviet NKVD. Before saying more on this, know that I have with me a detailed classified report about Soviet spies in the United States that the British government is ready to give to your director. I would thus like to meet Director Hoover as soon as possible after we are finished here, so that he can start a cleanup of those networks. This assassination attempt actually concerns a lot more than just me.’’
‘’Hum, I understand. You have that file with you, you said?’’
Nancy patted the briefcase in her left hand.
‘’Right here, Mister Ralston. Taking out quickly those Soviet spies will be critical for your government, so that we can exchange safely with it important technological information about new weapons.’’
‘’In that case, I will drive you myself to our headquarters right away. Let me just give some instructions to my men before we go.’’
Ten minutes later, Nancy sat with Ralston in his car, which rolled away from the airport and crossed the Potomac River via the bridge on 14th Street, entering downtown Washington. As they were approaching the building occupied by the Justice Department on Pennsylvania Avenue, Ralston thought for a moment that a car was following them. His rear view was however cut by a truck and he lost sight of the car in question. Dismissing it, he soon turned off the avenue and entered the underground garage of the headquarters. Having warned in advance by radio his superior to notify Director Hoover, Ralston guided Nancy around the huge building, leading her to the door of Hoover’s office. Hoover’s secretary gave a disapproving look at the pistol on Nancy’s hip before introducing her in Hoover’s office. A short, squarely-built man with a round face, Hoover came from behind his desk to shake hands with Nancy.
‘’Colonel Laplante, it is an honor to meet you in person. So many things have been said about you in the last months.’’
Nancy smiled in turn while pressing his hand.
‘’And it is an honor to meet the most famous policeman in American history.’’
Hoover raised an eyebrow at those words but didn’t remark on them, inviting Nancy to sit with him in a sofa.
‘’So, the Soviets tried to kill you at the airport. I don’t know if Sir Anthony Eden should be insulted by you stealing the show from him.’’
‘’Oh, I think that he is actually quite content about that: he is not an expert pistol shot, contrary to me, and would be dead if he would have been Golos’ target.’’
‘’What do you know about that Golos, Colonel?’’
‘’A lot!’’ Said Nancy before taking out of her briefcase the thick M.I.6 file on Soviet spies and handing it to Hoover, who immediately started to sift through it.
‘’He was heading a NKVD network from New York and also had agents and sympathizers here in Washington, including a number of important government officials. You will find in this file a detailed list of Soviet agents and networks operating in the United States, compiled with the help of information from the future. As you can see, the extent of those networks is quite alarming and they thoroughly compromise many government departments. That is unfortunately preventing me and Sir Anthony Eden from passing on to your government critical technological information needed by your armament industries. You may thus expect the White House to press you on this matter.’’
‘’I know, Colonel.’’ Said Hoover with meek smile. ‘’Secretary Stimson already contacted me on this subject, insisting about making the utmost speed in this dossier. On the other hand, your idea about revoking or suspending the security clearances of suspected spies is an excellent way to allow us to rapidly prevent those Soviet agents from accessing your information without involving an army of lawyers. Since you are the source of the information in this file, could you point to me the spies that will need to be neutralized the most quickly?’’
‘’I certainly can, Director Hoover. In fact, you will find in the annexes the line diagrams describing these networks and their key agents.’’
Nancy spent a good twenty minutes commenting the file to Hoover and pointing important details to him. Hoover may have been known in her history as a bigot and a man who abused his authority in order to maintain his influence and position, but he also was an experienced, able policeman. In return, Hoover stayed most polite with her, not showing his habitual disdain for women who meddled in police affairs. When Nancy left him with her precious file, she felt that things were in good hands. Then going down to the reception lobby of the building, she exited on Pennsylvania Avenue, her briefcase containing her laptop computer carried with its transport strap across her chest. The Willard Intercontinental Hotel was situated on the same street, less than 600 meters away in the direction of the White House. She thus decided to walk in the cold, humid air of the early evening, following the north side sidewalk. Having already being the target of one assassination attempt today and knowing how notorious she would be in the United States, Nancy stayed alert along the way.
She had covered maybe 250 meters when she heard a car approach her at low speed in her back. Wanting to check that car without raising the suspicions of its occupants, Nancy stopped facing a shop front, pretending to examine the dresses exposed in the store. The street lamps along the avenue helped her see the reflection of a big four door sedan that was nearly level with her. Its windows were down and two men sitting on the right side were pointing objects at her. Reacting out of experience as well as instinct, Nancy crouched at once and took refuge against a parked car while grabbing her pistol. Loud bursts of automatic fire reverberated as she bent, shattering the store’s front and the windows of the car protecting her. As she hurriedly took off her briefcase and let it down on the sidewalk, she heard loud swears from the occupants of the car, followed by the noise of doors opening. The car then sped briefly to turn at the next, nearby intersection and stop, blocking the way to her hotel. The voices of three men exchanging short orders were then heard over the panicked screams of other pedestrians. Nancy felt a shock on realizing that the assassins were speaking in Japanese. Getting up in a flash and pointing her pistol in a two-hand combat stance, her holographic targeting sight activated, she saw less than ten meters away two men carrying heavy THOMPSON submachine guns loaded with drum magazines. The Asian men were going around each end of the car she had used as a cover, their weapons at the ready. Choosing the nearest gunman, the one to her left, Nancy shot once, hitting him in the heart. The man fell back, his index pressing on the trigger of his submachine gun and sending bullets all around, increasing the panic among the passersby, who were running away in all directions. Taking a quick sidestep, Nancy shot a second time as the assassin on her right was starting to fire a burst from the hip, peppering the car and sidewalk with .45 calibre bullets. Shot between the eyes, that gunman went down with a jerk of the head, spraying the next car with his brains and blood.
Nancy was stepping cautiously forward to check the gunman when she caught movement from the corner of one eye. Pivoting quickly to point her pistol, she barely had the time to see a young Asian man holding a long knife before a side kick took her pistol out of her hands. A ferocious smile on his face, her third attacker then jumped towards her while shouting a piercing scream. Nancy caught him in midair with a side kick of her own to his face. The man fell to the sidewalk but, demonstrating remarkable agility and reflexes, rolled back onto his feet to face her, his knife held in a combat stance typical of Japanese martial arts. Not wasting time to try to get back her pistol, Nancy took out from her gun belt her ASP telescopic baton, deploying it with a flick of the wrist. She then smiled to her opponent and bowed to him quickly before taking a combat stance of her own.
‘’AY! KIOKUSHIN KARATE!’’
The Japanese smiled on hearing her and returned her salute, then advanced quickly on her with a piercing scream, slashing with his knife. Nancy took two steps back while parrying the knife with her ASP baton, then struck her opponent with a lightning punch to the plexus. The man backed off from the hit, searching for his breath. He however proved incredibly tough, staying on his feet and still holding high his knife. The two combatants now having a healthy respect for each other, Nancy and the Japanese searched for new attack positions for a moment before resuming the fight. Nancy attacked first, using both her ASP and her feet, with her adversary managing to avoid a hit but unable in return to touch her. After a few seconds of a furious exchange they faced each other again, breathing fa