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Colonel Stevens asked.

"If that came up in the briefings, I'm afraid I missed it," "The British completely agree that de Gaulle spells more trouble than he is worth," Doug lass said evenly. "They suggested that it would be most convenient if de Gaulle were to have a fatal accident." 40 "My, my!"

Canidy said.

"Would they do it?"

"Certainly," Doug lass said.

"But neither Eisenhower nor the President is willing to go that far.

At least not yet. Eisenhower has suggested and Roosevelt has approved-another tack, If General de Gaulle learns THE SECRET WARRIORS N a33 that we have 'secretly' brought the admiral to England, perhaps he win find it in himself to be a bit more cooperative. He just might realize that he is only the self-anointed head of the French government in exile."

"Why bring in the admiral secretly?" Canidy asked. "If we officially imported the admiral, that would be a confrontation," Doug lass explained.

"Eisenhower doesn't want that confrontation if it can be avoided. If we secretly import him, while taking pains to make sure de Gaulle knows, that's something else. And, of course, the threat to replace de Gaulle with Admiral de Verbey will not be entirely a bluff. If Roosevelt decides that de Gaulle has to go, we'll have de Verbey in place."

"So we continue to let the admiral believ(! we're going along with his steal-the-battleship idea in order to make him behave in England?"

"It really is still under consideration," Doug lass said.

"It has gone from 'impossible' to 'possible, but probably not worth the effort."

"What about the plane? Is that just to make sure de Gaulle doesn't miss the admiral? Or is there anything else?"

"I'm impressed, Dick," Doug lass said.

"You're learning that simply asking questions often gives things away.

In this case, your concern is not necessary. Colonel Stevens knows all about the African flight. To answer your question, yes, the Navy plane is the backup aircraft for the African mission. As soon as you land in England, it will be taken to a guarded hangar and stripped of its seats, the way the Pan American plane has been. We hope that de Gaulle will believe the airplane has been reserved for the admiral's exclusive use and put in a hangar to await his pleasure. De Gaulle's been after Eisenhower to get him a personal C-47, and Eisenhower hasn't elected to give him one. We think de Gaulle's monstrous ego will be bruised."

"You are a devious man, Captain Doug lass,' Canidy said, chuckling.

"Somehow, that sounds like a compliment," Doug lass said.

"I guess around here it really is."

"Right up there with chicanery, fraud, and false pretense," Canidy said, "There's one thing," Doug lass said, "that I don't want you to think of as simply another stage prop in this scenario."

"What's that?" "We have arranged for a battalion of infantry to guard Whitby House," Doug lass said. "There are twelve hundred men in a battalion!"

--I thought a battalion was a bit excessive," Doug lass said. "But Eisenhower overruled me. He seems to feel that de Gaulle couldn't help but be impressed with the admiral's importance if we chose to guard him with that large a force."

"I could use maybe a company," Canidy thought aloud.

"The others could just be there and do what they normally do."

"Rather than make an issue of it, I decided just about the same thing," Doug lass, said.

"But I'd like to make the point that you're really going to have to guard him, Dick." Canidy looked at him curiously.

"You're suggesting something," he said. "The admiral didn't pose a real and present danger to de Gaulle so long as he was in New jersey," Doug lass said.

"He will at Whitby House. You'll have to keep that in mind. More important, you will have to impress it upon the commanding officer of the infantry battalion."

"This Brigadier de Gaulle seems to be a charming fellow," Canidy said.

"I think he really believes God appointed him to save France," Doug lass said.