Beneath Gray Skies (22 page)

Dowling put down the papers he’d been using to fan his face, and stared at Christopher. “Say that again.”

“The Confederacy contains well over 97% of the world’s known helium supply.”

“Christopher, do you realize what this means?” Henry sunk his face in his hands for a few seconds, and then looked up. “This means that the Confederacy has the ability, together with Germany, to make airships that could bomb the heart out of this city, if they’re launched from the Confederacy, and London, if they’re launched from Germany, and which aren’t as vulnerable as Zeppelins.” He thought a minute and looked at Christopher, puzzled. “Christopher, how on earth have you come to know all this?”

Christopher shuffled his feet and looked down at his desk, obviously embarrassed.

“Oh, I see,” said Henry, interpreting Christopher’s deference. “You’ve been talking to Virginia?”

Christopher nodded. “Her family’s in shipping, and wants to get into airships, she says. According to her, her father reckons you could build an airship that could cross from New York to London in half the time of a steamship. But like you say about hydrogen, they reckon it’s too risky for passengers, and folks won’t want to fly on them, and the money from the mail service probably won’t be enough to make it worthwhile to go in for airships. So her father’s been looking at helium instead. There’s a fair bit of helium in South Kansas.”

“Where does it come from?” asked Henry. The little science he had been taught at his expensive old-fashioned private school had never been his strong point, and he was somewhat unsure of himself when it came to technical matters.

“Oil wells,” replied Christopher. “And natural gas wells. Some of the best places for helium would seem to be in North Texas round Amarillo way, and South Kansas. It’s something that the prospectors have been testing for when they make their tests.”

“Oh, it really is an interesting little puzzle, isn’t it? Is this helium stuff difficult to obtain? And do you think the Germans know about it?”

“I don’t rightly understand it all, but yes, I think it is a mite tricky. Leastways, I don’t think the Confederates are going to be able to do it without some help from the Germans. I would be almost certain that the Germans know where the world’s helium comes from.”

“Well, well. That is interesting, isn’t it? I think you may just have told me something very important. We have a country that knows how to build airships—there’s no doubt that in the war, the Germans were the experts when we didn’t have a clue. And they’ve made friends with a country that can fill them with a gas that could make them safe. Let’s draw a picture, Christopher. These things could be used for war, but for the moment, let’s assume they won’t be. I’ll explain why in a minute. My guess is that they will use this as a way of getting some kind of publicity for both Germany and the Confederacy. We’ve been told that Jeff Davis is fascinated in airships and airplanes in any case, but if the Germans can build airships that are faster and more convenient than ocean liners, and they only fly to and from the Confederacy, then that shows off Germany’s technical talents, and it brings some money to the Confederacy.”

“I guess there’s some folks who won’t be too particular about who they travel with, so long as they can get from place to place fast enough.”

“Absolutely right. I’m sure there are a lot of people on both sides of the Atlantic who won’t care too much about flying with the Nazis or traveling to the CSA.”

“Do you really think that?” came Virginia’s voice from the other side of the room. Both men started.

-o-

“
V
irginia!” exclaimed Henry. “We never heard you come in.”

“I’ve only just arrived, and you two seemed busy, so I didn’t want to interrupt you, but then I overheard you talking about something I’m interested in, so forgive my interruption.”

“You are forgiven,” smiled Henry. “Please join us. Christopher has just been telling me about helium and how it may be useful to both the Germans and the Confederacy. Maybe you can add something to the discussion?”

“I’ll see if I can make a useful contribution, with pleasure.” She sat in the chair that Christopher held for her, and faced the two men. “Christopher and Henry, you were saying that you thought that people would happily travel on Nazi airships across the Atlantic to the Confederacy. I have to say that I disagree.”

“With respect, Virginia, what makes you say that?”

“The USA would never allow travelers to go between the CSA and the USA simply on account of a faster connection to Europe. And I’m willing to bet that the same would apply to Nazi Germany. Those guys are pigs—worse than pigs—you know what they’re doing to Jewish businesses and Jewish people over there?” Her face had become flushed with anger, and her bosom rose and fell most intriguingly. Henry stole a look at Christopher to see if he had noticed. He had. It was Christopher who replied.

“I hope I’m not speaking out of turn, Henry, but I don’t think that the Europeans will all feel the same way about the Nazis as you do, Virginia. What I found in Britain was that folks felt it was sad that the Nazis had taken over, but no-one reckoned they were going to be there for ever, and the whole of this Jewish business would stop pretty soon in any case.”

Henry nodded in agreement. “I hate to disagree with you, Virginia, but I have to agree with Christopher on this one. The links between European countries are probably closer than the links between, say, Vermont and Mississippi. We British may not like the Nazis, but we really have nothing against the Germans, even though we just fought a bloody war against them. No more than we have anything against any other European country, anyway.”

“You Europeans are all crazy.” Virginia laughed, but her face was still serious. “But just supposing Europeans could use this safe airship service between Germany and the Confederacy? What is there they can do in the Confederacy? Not a lot, is there? And like I just said, I don’t see the USA letting travelers in and out through the Confederacy.”

“A point occurs to me, Virginia,” Henry replied. “Remember that the people using this service are going to be very rich. They’re not going to be the average sort of steamer passenger traveling in steerage, and I think they have enough influence and money with all the governments concerned to make sure that they’ll always get their own way.”

Virginia nodded. “All right, Henry, I’ll grant that you might be right there. Money does seem to be the magic key that opens frontiers.”

“We really don’t want anyone to accept the principles of the Confederacy or Nazi Germany, or to take them seriously enough to give them money or to travel there,” said Henry. “My firm belief is that we must make it our job to make sure that the airship service between Germany and the Confederacy never gets off the ground.” He chuckled. “I don’t trust the Nazis and Herr Hitler as far as I could throw them, and I have only a little more respect for Jeff Davis and his crew. But I do think we have a few years of grace before they start to become a menace to the whole world. So, does anyone disagree with me?”

Virginia and Christopher looked at each other and shook their heads.

”Next question,” continued Henry. Where will they put the port for the airships?”

“The way we looked at it,” replied Virginia, “it has to be flat ground, and it helps to be fairly close to the coast, but not too close, to avoid squalls. Airships use water for ballast, and it’s useful to have water for emergency landings, so a lake or some water of some kind is a good thing to have nearby. It shouldn’t be too hot, but that’s something you can’t avoid in the Confederacy.”

“And getting there when you want to fly or from there when you arrive? Do you put it close to a big city?”

“Not close, but easy to get to. A good road, or better still, a railroad, allows passengers to get there easily.”

“I’d be willing to bet that the Germans have already looked at a map of the Confederacy and decided where they’re going to build their airship terminal,” said Christopher.

“I’m sure you’re right about that,” replied Henry.

“So if we could find out where this Airship Support Regiment was located, we would know where they’re going to build the terminal?” Christopher pressed on.

“Yes, we would, and we will be doing just that. Virginia, we’re going to have to get one of your people down in Richmond to help us with this. Would you mind arranging a meeting with Mr. Gatt, tomorrow morning if possible?”

“I’ll arrange it straight away,” she replied, and got up. The two men likewise rose to their feet. “I’m going over to that side of the building now, so it will be easy for me to do. Goodbye for now, the both of you. Thank you for the analysis.”

“The pleasure’s ours,” said Christopher, smiling. She smiled back at him, and was gone.

-o-

“
W
ell, Christopher,” said Henry, slumping back into his chair, and fanning his face with a buff file cover. “How are things in that general direction, if I may enquire?” looking over at Virginia’s empty desk.

“We’re friends, still,” said Christopher. “I’m playing things very quiet. But I have met her folks and we got on just fine.”

“Oh?” asked Henry, somewhat taken aback.

“I was playing the piano at her apartment one evening, and they walked in. Very rich, like you said. You could tell that from their clothes and the way they spoke. Virginia introduced me as someone from the Confederacy who was staying in Washington, and working for the British government. That sort of tickled their curiosity, and before I knew where I was, Papa Wasserstein and I were talking about the story of my life, and politics and all sorts. You know that they’re Jewish, sir?”

“Yes, I had sort of guessed that,” replied Henry.

“Well, I didn’t know that even here in the USA Jewish folks have a pretty tough time. I mean, it’s not as bad as it is in the Confederacy, but Papa Wasserstein was telling me that he wasn’t allowed to join a few clubs and that kind of thing because he was Jewish, and Virginia couldn’t go to the college he wanted for her, for the same reason. Anyway, I told him something about life down South, and he had to admit that even with all of these things, he had a better life of it in the USA than he ever would do in Dixie.”

“I’m delighted to see that you are getting on so well in this direction, Christopher. But please continue to be careful, for all our sakes. It looks as though Virginia’s going to be a real Godsend in the whole of this airship business, and I want her to continue helping us. But more importantly, Christopher, I don’t want to see you hurt if things go sour.”

Christopher looked solemn, and bit his lip.

“Don’t worry, Christopher,” Henry said. “I am sure that you have more than sufficient commonsense not to get into trouble. Now, I think we’ve done enough work for the day. How about a julep? You did a wonderful job when you introduced me to those things. And then let’s see if we can’t get you sitting at the piano at the bar for a while. I want to hear some more of your music—I’ve never heard anything quite like it before.”

To have this Britisher staying with her under a false name was the most exciting thing to happen to her in a long time.

T
he CBI agents never seemed to go away. Henrietta Justin looked out of her window, and saw the latest one slouched against her front gatepost. She wondered what he was waiting for. Surely they didn’t think that she was an active enemy of the Confederacy? Although she was against the whole idea of slavery, and she failed to share the religious beliefs of most Confederate citizens, having been brought up as a Catholic, she had never voiced these opinions too openly. Even though Catholicism was not completely forbidden by the Richmond government, Catholics were not looked upon with favor by the authorities, chiefly since obedience to the Pope implied disloyalty to the Confederacy. Every so often there would be reports of a Catholic priest or members of his congregation being arrested for treason. The Jesuits had long since been outlawed in the Confederacy as a source of dangerous outside ideas.

Every fourth year in November, as directed by the pastor of the Confederate Baptist Conference church she attended for form’s sake, she voted in the Presidential election, even though she sometimes wondered to herself why she bothered voting in elections where only one candidate was standing.

She didn’t think that the simple action of giving Christopher his freedom was enough to warrant this government—what would you call it? “Spying” was the only real word you could use for it. Every time she sent either Betsy or Horace off to the stores, they complained that they were being watched, and sometimes questioned. Of course, the CBI never questioned her when she went out, but she could always feel their eyes on the back of her neck, no matter where she went.