Kingdoms Fall - The Laxenburg Message (22 page)

           
“Captain, there are a number of other military men there – do you recognize the
uniforms?” asked Sandes.

           
“Some, yes,” Gresham answered. “Most of them, I believe, are the uniforms of
Greece, of course. And there, below Sir Ian, are several French officers. The
others, beside Zannas, are Serbian officers.”

There were another two dozen or so Greek and
foreign civilians on the stands as well, and Gresham noted the many large,
well-armed Gendarmes stationed around both Venizelos and the British Generals.
He was pleased to see that his warning had been heeded, but it was still a risk
for the Prime Minister to be standing outdoors in plain sight where any able
rifleman could shoot.

In the bay, a second British transport ship had
arrived that morning. Four tenders were carrying troops and supplies from the
transport ships to the pier. Gresham recognized the colors of the Tenth Irish
Division, which he knew had also been involved in the landing at Suvla Bay. So,
he concluded, troops were already being taken off the peninsula. A full
evacuation of the Gallipoli peninsula was certain to follow.

On the pier, the British troops were lining up
and waiting for the order to march. Someone must have put the fear of God into
the men, for they were deathly silent and still. In addition to the troops,
another tender was unloading horses and crates of supplies onto the pier. Evidently
the British had brought their own rations and were expecting no hospitality
from the Greeks. At last the first companies were assembled and inspected, the
officers had mounted their horses, and the parade march began.

The troops passed the reviewing stand and
dipped their colors in salute, but the soldiers remained calm and serious.
Their uniforms shone and their rifles were polished. Led by the mounted
officers, the troops marched up Lagkada Street. Gresham learned that the troops
would encamp on a farm a mile outside the city. There would be no troops
allowed in the city itself, no fraternization, and no unpleasant incidents that
might raise tensions with the Greek government. The crowd of Greeks and Serbian
refugees remained quiet, in awe of the sight of the well-armed, battle-hardened
troops who kept their eyes focused forward and ignored the occasional cheers
and catcalls.

The formal part of the landing ended quickly,
although there would clearly be more troops, more horses and more supplies
arriving throughout the day. Wilkins left with the dignitaries in a long
procession of sedans, but Gresham assumed he would see Wilkins later in the day
and hear what had been going on with Venizelos.

As Gresham and his British Red Cross friends
were preparing to return to the hotel, something caught his eye. Two men in
military uniforms stood on the opposite side of the street, casually watching
the parade and smoking cigarettes. Gresham had not seen the formal dress
uniforms with the heavy gold braids before, but he knew what they were: German
infantry. Right there on the street in Salonika, two German officers were
watching the British landing. Gresham could only shake his head at their
audacity, but he understood the two men had every right to stand and watch the
parade. They made no pretense of being anything other than German soldiers and
could see and say whatever they liked. And there was no reason Gresham could
not watch them.

It seemed very unlikely that the uniformed
Germans had anything to do with an assassination plot or the disappearance of
Athos. Nevertheless, Gresham supposed they might be in contact with the German
agent he was seeking, so he excused himself and followed the officers. He kept
a fine distance, in case he himself was being watched and followed by spies.
His task was not difficult, since the German officers walked only a few blocks
before entering their own hotel. Gresham walked on and passed the hotel without
a glance. While there was only a remote possibility the Germans would be of any
use, he had nothing better to go on and decided to spend a day trailing the
officers. A block further on he entered a restaurant and sat by the window.
From there, he could see the entrance to the Germans’ hotel. He ordered lunch,
and waited. Six hours later, he was still waiting. The officers had not come
out of the hotel (unless they had gone out through the back, he thought). He
wanted to meet with Wilkins, however, so he headed back to his own hotel just
as the sun was beginning to set and a light rain began to fall.

           
“David, there you are. I have finally caught up with you,” said Wilkins,
smiling, when Gresham entered his hotel lobby. Wilkins looked exhausted and
stayed seated on the wooden chair.

           
“I am glad to see you, James. I saw you in the stands this morning; I thought
perhaps you had made some new friends.”

           
They shook hands warmly, and Gresham led Wilkins quickly up to his room so they
could speak freely. Gresham’s room was still dingy and filthy, and he couldn’t
help but wonder if Reta was in her room at that moment waiting for him. Gresham
poured some rum for himself and offered his friend a glass as Wilkins told
Gresham what he had been doing in the days since they had parted in Athens.

           
“I simply pray that, whatever the outcome, my name is not attached to it. To be
perfectly honest, I have serious doubts that the son of an English Lord should
be involved in overthrowing the ruling monarchy of a European nation. It’s not
that I have anything against Venizelos – I greatly admire him, in fact. But let
he who is without sin cast the first stone, you know.”

           
“Is that what you’ve been discussing with Hamilton?”

           
“Ha, ha! Certainly not. In fact, David, I must tell you that Sir Ian has been
recalled to London, and he will go from here directly to Gibraltar. The
Gallipoli campaign has ruined him, and General Monro is being sent from France
to evacuate the peninsula.”

“I’m not surprised, as you well know. But as
for the troops there, will they be brought here to Salonika?”

“Some, but for a time far fewer than the
150,000 initially planned, I suspect. The British Salonika Force will have one
mission for now: To keep central and eastern Macedonia in the hands of Greece.
General Mahon’s orders prohibit him from ranging farther north than Lake Doiran
on the Serbia border.”

“Then they have given up on Serbia altogether.”

“Yes, I would say so, for now at least.
However, we will preserve Venizelos, and that means we will save Greece.
Venizelos intends to set up a Committee of National Defense with himself,
Alexandros Zannas and General Zymvrakakis unofficially in control of the whole
northern third of Greece. That brings me to the next matter. Venizelos has
asked me privately if we will go to Serbia to find the Serbian Premier Pashitch
and King Peter and arrange for the Serbian army to be brought safely into
Greece. There is tremendous concern that the King and his government will be
captured.”

“Have you discussed that with Hamilton and
Mahon?”

“I have, and they are convinced it is the only
reasonable course of action. The Serbians resist, naturally; they hope that
retreat will not be necessary. We receive regular dispatches from the Serbian government,
and the ministers have already retreated to Prishtina. But it is unclear how
long they will be able to stay there with the Austrians advancing. The Serbians
will not reply as to the whereabouts of King Peter, and we believe he is in
hiding. Time is of the essence, as the Bulgarians are expected to cross the
border any hour. But it is most urgent that the Serbian forces be preserved, so
that when Venizelos is ready, the armies of Greece and Serbia, together with
British and French will be prepared to take back Serbia, or at least stand a
reasonable chance of doing so.”

“My orders, such as they are, certainly allow
me to undertake the journey, but I don’t feel I have completed my task here in
Salonika yet.”

“If you mean the German agent, I can assure you
that Venizelos is quite protected now that you have warned Zannas. Zannas is
also chief of Greece’s intelligence service, you see, and he certainly knows
his business.”

“It’s not simply a matter of what this one
agent might attempt to do. We must send a message to the Germans to stay out of
Salonika altogether. Our contact here is lost, I presume dead, and my only
other lead is rather tenuous, but I would like to spend one more day following
up.”

“I can help you there, if I may. But then we
must get to Serbia as quickly as possible.”

“I would appreciate that. I plan to return to
the German officers’ hotel in the morning and track them if they ever emerge,
in the hope that they will lead me to their agent. Could you spend a day
watching the front of the hotel, so that I can watch the back?”

“Certainly, I can easily dodge Mahon for a day.
The sheer complexity of the landing has everyone running around like rabbits.
No one knows where anyone is located.”

Before long, with a great quantity of rum
inside him and a sleepless night preparing for the first British landing in
Salonika, Wilkins fell asleep on Gresham’s bed. Gresham, however, was wide
awake. After only a moment’s hesitation, he stepped into the hallway and locked
the door behind him.

Now that the British were in Salonika, the
hotel had grown much quieter. Gresham stepped lightly down the hall and up the
stairs to the third floor. It was astonishing how nervous he felt. His heart
was racing, as he stood before Häberlin’s door. He was genuinely afraid she
would not wish to see him again. At last, he collected his courage enough to
knock. He heard her stepping to the door.

“Who is it,” said Häberlin quietly through the
door.

“It’s David. May I come in?”

He heard a bolt thrown back, and the door
slowly opened on the darkened room. David stepped in, uncertain where she was
standing. He shut the door and bolted it behind him. Then she reached out to
him, and he found she was undressed. He took her in his arms and kissed her.
Her mouth was moist, her thin body was firm, and her skin was soft and warm.

“Have you had a very busy day with all your
British friends?” she asked, in a teasing voice that melted David’s heart.

“Not very. I missed you at the landing. Didn’t
you wish to see the British come ashore with Miss Sandes and the doctors?”

“Of course, but the Hellenic Red Cross has sent
a delegation to Salonika at last. I was at their headquarters this morning to
arrange for my new assignment. I will be working in the refugee hospital as
soon as the tents arrive.”

“That’s wonderful.”

Then she kissed him, and neither had reason to
speak again for a time.

           
Gresham spent the entire next day in a courtyard a block from the back door of
the German officers’ hotel; Wilkins was in the café overlooking the front door.
As Gresham feared, there was no hint of the German officers, and he was
becoming uncertain whether they even remained in Salonika. As the sun set, a
light rain began to fall and the air was chilled. Gresham realized he would
need to buy winter clothes before he left for Serbia.

           
At the end of the day, Wilkins was waiting for him in another café some blocks
away. “Any luck?” Gresham asked.

           
“They did come out for a while just before noon. I followed them, but nothing
seemed terribly out of place.”

           
“I wonder why they are here in Salonika at all. Didn’t they meet anyone or go
anywhere? One would imagine they are at least counting the British ships in the
bay or the troops who are landing.”

           
“It may be a humanitarian mission,” said Wilkins.

           
“How do you mean?”

           
“After they stopped to eat, the two Germans went to the Hellenic Red Cross
offices for a time. It looked rather like they are in charge of it. The only
other people in the office were a large civilian gentleman and a very pretty
young nurse, and they were all speaking German together.”

           
Gresham had turned very cold.

           
“Tell me about the nurse?” he asked.

           
“Thin, terribly short blonde hair, but quite lovely in every other respect.”

           
“Tomorrow we will go to Serbia, James. Find out as much as you can about the
Serbian King’s location. We will need a horse cart at least, if you can get it.
We will leave the city before mid-day. And I don’t suppose your friends on
Aeneas
have some winter clothes to spare?”

           
That night at his hotel, Gresham went to Flora Sandes’ room first.

           
“Excuse my intrusion, Miss Sandes. May I speak with you?”

           
“Of course, Captain. Please come in.” She was dressed in her usual
military-like attire including her heavy leather boots, and Gresham was
surprised to find her room spotlessly clean. In addition, she had had her bed
removed and had been sleeping on her own camp bed. It was quite obvious to
Gresham that if Miss Sandes had been born a man, she would have enlisted in the
infantry, as she was well suited to and coveted the lifestyle of a soldier.