Cross of Fire by Colin Forbes Page B

logical. Now, I will address my troops ...'
    The tank commanders assembled in the drill hall had been served a good meal. De Forge often quoted maxims of Napoleon. One of his favourites was 'an army marches on its stomach'. A loud cheer went up as de Forge appeared in full uniform on the raised platform at the end of the hall. Then the chant began.

    'Pour France ... Pour France ... Pour France,..'

    De Forge silenced them by raising his right hand, palm open, shoulder high. The soldiers, who had jumped to their feet at his appearance, sat down and leaned forward. At the end of the front row a certain Lieutenant Berthier, lean and clean-shaven with fair hair cut very short, watched his commander intently.
    'Soldiers of France,' de Forge began in his magnetic voice, 'the time is approaching for action. Paris - not Berlin - will become the capital of the New Europe. It will be your skill, your courage which will bring all this about. And you are not alone - your help in bringing in the harvest assures us of the support of the farmers. And beyond that we have our friends in high places - in Paris. You are the iron barrier against which the foreign scum will break their unwashed skulls ...'
    He had to pause as his audience broke into a thunder of cheering and applause. He continued speaking for another half hour, a natural orator of compelling power. His climax, which lifted off the roof, was typical.
    'None of this is for me, as you well understand. It is for France...!'
    He acknowledged the three minutes of wild applause with a solemn, aloof expression, hands clasped behind his back, then walked off the platform, disappearing through a side door where Major Lamy waited.
    'They would die for you, my General.' Lamy commented.
    'They may have to. Now, drive me to the villa of Mademoiselle Jean Burgoyne. I need some active relaxation.'
    De Forge was married but rarely visited his wife, Josette. She lived in an expensive apartment in Bordeaux where she held 'salons' - parties for influential and artistic celebrities. He had married her because she had been the daughter of the Minister of Defence at that time. A career move.
    Jean Burgoyne was an attractive Englishwoman whose vitality had appealed to de Forge when he met her at a government reception in Paris. He always felt need of her when he had made a speech.
    As Lamy drove him to the villa the Chief of Intelligence glanced at his chief. De Forge was staring ahead, presenting his famous profile to his subordinate.
    'That reference, General, to friends in Paris was a clever remark. Most confidence-inspiring. And true.'
    'What would not have been clever would have been a reference to an even stronger ally. General Lapointe, next to myself the most important member of the Cercle Noir.'
    'Lapointe is vital.' Lamy agreed.
    French military power rested on the force de frappe, the formidable group of long-distance rockets deep in silos on a plateau to the east. And the rockets were armed with nuclear warheads.

    One of the soldiers who had listened most closely to de Forge's address did not immediately return to barracks with his comrades. Lieutenant Berthier, protected against the Siberian cold, walked by himself across the parade ground. As he strode along Berthier repeated to himself the speech he had listened to word by word. He had an excel lent memory but wished to be sure every sentence was imprinted on his brain. When the time came for him to report the contents of the speech he wanted to be word perfect.

    Tweed moved fast the following morning. Paula found herself sitting next to him aboard Flight SR951 - bound from Geneva for Basle, the Swiss city at the north-west tip of the country where the French border meets the German frontier.
    The flight took off promptly at 7.10 a.m., was due to touch down at 7.55. Paula glanced behind them, saw the seats were empty, as were the seats in front. No damn wonder: they'd had to get up at five in the morning. She still kept her voice