Rendezvous Page #3

PENCILS, ERASERS,

EYESHADES, PAPER CLIPS.

DOES THAT MAKE SENSE?

CAN'T FIGURE

IT OUT, EH?

NO, SIR. IT CERTAINLY IS A PUZZLE TO ME.

WELL, LET'S TAKE

A HYPOTHETICAL CASE.

SUPPOSE YOU WERE IN

CHARGE OF THIS OFFICE

AND YOU'D BEEN HUNTING HIGH AND

LOW FOR MONTHS FOR A CODE EXPERT,

A FELLOW WITH THE NOM DE

PLUME OF ANSON MEREDITH,

A FELLOW YOU THOUGH YOU REALLY NEEDED.

AM I BORING YOU?

THEN SUPPOSE:

YOU FOUND OUT THA

HE'D BEEN COMMISSIONED UNDER

HIS REAL NAME IN THE ARMY,

SOME OTHER BRANCH THAT DIDN' NEED HIM NEARLY AS MUCH AS YOU DID,

AND THAT HE WAS LEAVING FOR AN

EMBARCATION POINT THIS MORNING.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

EXACTLY.

TAKE LIEUTENANT GORDON TO MAJOR BRENNAN.

WOULD I BE:

COURT-MARTIALED, SIR,

IF I ASKED:

WHO GOT ME INTO THIS?

YOU HAVE YOUR:

ORDERS, LIEUTENANT.

YES, SIR.

SHALL I-SHALL I ANNOUNCE

YOU NOW, MISS CARTER?

CARTER...

CARTER.

SO YOU GOT ME:

INTO THIS, HUH?

NOW, PLEASE.

DON'T GET EXCITED.

YOU CAN DO JUS AS MUCH GOOD OVER HERE

AS YOU CAN:

OVER THERE.

AND I THOUGH IT WOULD BE-

YOU THOUGHT! WHO ASKED YOU TO THINK?

WHAT BUSINESS:

IS THIS OF YOURS?

WHAT'S ALL

THIS NOISE?

HONOR AND TRADITIONS

OF A MAN'S FAMILY-

NOTHING IS:

SACRED TO HER.

WHAT WILL MY CHILDREN

THINK OF A FATHER

WHO FOUGHT FROM:

BEHIND A DESK?

CHILDREN?

CHILDREN?

IT'S PURELY HYPOTHETICAL, UNCLE STEVIE.

MY DEAR NIECE TO THE

ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF WAR-

LIEUTENANT GORDON, WILL

YOU REPORT TO MAJOR BRENNAN

OR MUST I ARRANGE

A MILITARY ESCORT?

I'LL GO, SIR.

MAYBE THIS'LL TEACH

ME A LESSON:

NOT TO LET MYSELF GE PICKED UP BY STRANGE WOMEN.

THANK YOU.

I WAS ORDERED TO REPOR TO MAJOR BRENNAN, SIR.

OH, YES.

COME IN. COME IN.

I'M LIEUTENAN WILLIAM GORDON, SIR.

OH, YES,

LIEUTENANT GORDON.

DELIGHTED:

TO KNOW YOU.

I'VE ADMIRED

YOUR BOOK FOR YEARS.

THANK YOU.

LET ME SEE,

IT WAS CALLED...

OH, ROBERTS...

WHAT WAS THE NAME

OF THAT GORDON BOOK?

HOW TO ENCIPHER AND

HOW TO DECIPHER, SIR.

THANK YOU,

ROBERTS.

I NEVER CAN REMEMBER

NAMES AND TITLES.

ROBERTS HAS BEEN REMEMBERING

THEM FOR ME FOR THE LAST 10 YEARS.

YOU DID WRITE:

THAT BOOK, DIDN'T YOU?

YES, SIR.

IT SOLD 5 COPIES.

I BOUGHT 3 OF THEM.

WELL, YOU'RE VERY MODEST, LIEUTENANT.

THE BOOK IS:

VERY WELL KNOWN:

AMONG STUDENTS:

OF CRYPTOGRAPHY.

DO YOU KNOW:

WHAT THIS IS?

WIRELESS INTERCEPT.

WELL, I SUPPOSE IT'S AN

ENEMY WIRELESS MESSAGE

THAT YOUR OPERATORS

PICKED OUT OF THE AIR.

EXACTLY.

WE KNOW THEY:

ARE COMING FROM:

SOME POWERFUL SENDING

STATION BELOW THE BORDER.

AND WE SUSPECT THEY CONTAIN

INFORMATION GATHERED IN THIS COUNTRY

BY ENEMY:

ESPIONAGE AGENTS.

NOW, THE MEXICAN

GOVERNMEN:

TRIED TO LOCATE:

THE STATION FOR US

BUT SO FAR,

WITH NO SUCCESS.

WE CAN'T READ THESE.

DO YOU THINK:

YOU COULD?

I THINK SO.

BUT WILL YOU?

NO, SIR.

HMM?

BECAUSE IT'S AN "I LOSE

IF I WIN PROPOSITION."

HA HA! I DON' UNDERSTAND YOU.

IF I DECIPHER THEM, I'LL

GET WHAT I DON'T WANT:

A PERMANENT BERTH

BEHIND A DESK.

BUT THIS IS:

THE ARMY, MAN.

YOU'VE GOT TO DO

AS YOU'RE TOLD.

I WAS BROUGHT HERE

AGAINST MY WILL, SIR.

BUT I CAN'T BE MADE TO

THINK AGAINST MY WILL.

YES, I KNOW

EXACTLY HOW YOU FEEL.

THANK YOU.

LOOK, HERE.

IF YOU SUCCEED IN

MAKING ANYTHING OF THESE,

I MIGHT BE ABLE TO ARRANGE

FOR YOU TO HAVE A WACK

AT THE ENEMY:

AT A LITTLE CLOSER RANGE.

IS THAT A PROMISE,

SIR?

THAT'S ALL,

LIEUTENANT.

REPORT TO MR. GARDNER

IN THE DECODING ROOM.

YES, SIR.

P-N-

P-N-

O- Q-R-R-

O- Q-R-R-

F- T-N-O.

F- T-N-O.

YES? YES,

THIS IS GARDNER.

WELL, TRY THE SECONDHAND BOOKSTORES.

WE'VE GO TO HAVE COPIES

OF ALL THEIR SHORTHAND SYSTEMS!

I DON'T CARE!

PAY ANYTHING!

SAY, I BEG

YOUR PARDON BUT-

DON'T INTERRUPT. I TOLD

YOU NEVER TO INTERRUPT.

R- N-P...

R- N-P...

NEW INTERCEPT, SIR.

O- T-O-T-L-

O- T-O-T-L

DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING

ON THE TABLES!

OH, YOU'RE

THE NEW MAN.

THERE'S A DESK

OVER THERE.

JUST SIT DOWN. I'LL BE

WITH YOU IN A MINUTE.

L- F-R-O-N-O-Z-

L- F-R-O-N-O-Z-

GOOD EVENING,

LIEUTENANT.

GOOD EVENING.

I HOPE YOU LIKE YOUR DESK, LIEUTENANT.

TABULATE THEM INTO LETTER GROUPS

- TWO LETTERS.

NOW, THIS IS

A FREQUENCY CHART.

SOUNDS VERY COMPLICATED,

BUT IT REALLY ISN'T.

ENABLES US TO FIND HOW OFTEN

EACH LETTER APPEARS IN A MESSAGE.

THIS IS A REGULAR

PRINTED ALPHABET.

NOW, WHAT I WANT YOU

TO DO IS TO PUT A CHECK

NEXT TO EACH LETTER EVERY TIME

IT APPEARS IN THESE INTERCEPTS.

IT'S THE FIRST STEP

IN BREAKING THE CIPHER-

EXACTLY WHA THOSE MEN ARE DOING.

TAKE YOUR TIME. AND BE

SURE YOU'RE ACCURATE.

ACCURACY IS THE FIRS ESSENTIAL IN CIPHER READING.

IT DIDN'T WORK,

SIR.

WELL, IT MAY WORK

BY A MATHEMATICAL FORMULA.

TABULATE THE NUMBER OF LETTERS

BETWEEN ALL REPETITIONS.

EITHER WE'LL FIND A COMMON

FACTOR OR WE'LL GO CRAZY.

PERSONALLY, I THINK

WE'LL GO CRAZY. OH!

DOES EVERYBODY AROUND

HERE GET LIKE THAT?

WE DO DURING:

THESE TIMES.

WHEN THE ENEMY HAS

SOMETHING ON THE FIRE,

THEY FILL THE AIR

WITH PHONY MESSAGES

TO COVER UP:

THE REAL ONES.

SO, THEN WE KNOW THA SOMETHING HOT IS HAPPENING,

BUT WE DON' KNOW WHAT.

SO, THE ARMY HECKLES THE

INTELLIGENCE DEPARTMENT.

THE INTELLIGENCE

DEPARTMENT HECKLES US.

WE HAVEN'T GO ANYBODY TO HECKLE.

SO, WE HECKLE

OURSELVES.

YOU MIND TELLING ME HOW LONG

YOU'VE BEEN HECKLING YOURSELF HERE.

IT TAKES 3 MONTHS TO GE ON TO THE FUNDAMENTALS.

I CUT MY EYETEETH

ON FUNDAMENTALS.

THAT INTERCEPT CAME

FROM BELOW THE BORDER.

WE CAN PRESUME IT'S EITHER IN

IT OBVIOUSLY:

BECAUSE "E" IS THE MOS

AND YOU'VE GO NO Es THERE.

IT CAN'T BE GERMAN BECAUSE

YOU'VE GOT A FLOCK OF Qs THERE

AND THERE ARE:

NO Qs IN GERMAN.

IT CAN'T BE SPANISH

BECAUSE IN SPANISH

"Q" IS ALWAYS

FOLLOWED BY "U"

AND YOU'VE GO NO Us THERE.

WHAT DID YOU SAY

YOUR NAME WAS?

GORDON.

MAJOR BRENNAN SENT ME.

WHY DIDN' YOU SAY SO?

GLAD TO HAVE YOU.

WE CAN USE YOU.

I HOPE YOU'VE GO A GOOD CONSTITUTION.

WHY?

YOU'LL NEED IT.

HAVE A CHAIR.

SIT DOWN, LIEUTENANT GORDON. SIT DOWN.

NO, THANK YOU. I'VE

GOT A DATE IN FRANCE.

I'M IN A HURRY

TO KEEP IT.

CAN I BORROW THAT?

GARDNER, HAVEN' YOU HAD ENOUGH?

GO HOME:

AND GET SOME SLEEP.

LET LIEUTENANT GORDON

HAVE A CRACK AT IT.

THANK YOU, SIR!

YOU MIGHT REPOR TO ME IN THE MORNING.

WELL, I'LL ONLY BE HERE

FOR A LITTLE WHILE, SIR.

I'D CERTAINLY LIKE

TO GET AWAY.

COULD YOU TELL ME

WHERE I CAN REACH YOU?

I'M AFRAID NOT.

WELL, IS THERE

ANY CHANCE THA:

I CAN MAKE THA FIRST BOAT, SIR?

I'M ALMOST CERTAIN

YOU COULDN'T.

GOOD NIGHT, LIEUTENANT.

GOOD NIGHT.

MAJOR BRENNAN.

MR. GRAYSON WILL ESCOR YOU TO THE BRIDGE.

YES, SIR.

HERE'S THE CODE BOOK,

CAPTAIN.

THANK YOU, SIR.

WE'VE DONE EVERYTHING IN OUR

POWER TO ENSURE ITS SECRECY.

I UNDERSTAND,

SIR.

THE RENDEZVOUS POSITION WILL

BE RADIOED TO YOU AT SEA.

GOD SPEED YOU,

CAPTAIN.

WE'VE BEEN ON THE WRONG TRACK ALL NIGHT.

IT ALSO PROVES THAT I'M NO GOING ANYWHERE FOR A WHILE.

NEW INTERCEPT, SIR.

THE INTELLIGENCE

DEPARTMENT REPORTS

THAT IT MAY:

BE IMPORTANT.

IT'S BEEN SENT 8 TIMES

THE LAST TWO HOURS.

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