Passenger to Frankfurt Read online

you places of power in that country in the good times to come.'

  'You insinuate that this is a world movement. Is that true?'

  'Of course it is. Rather like one of those hurricanes, you

  know, that have names. Flora or Little Annie. They come

  up out of the south or the north or the east or the west, but

  they come up from nowhere and destroy everything. That's

  what everyone wants. In Europe and Asia and America.

  Perhaps Africa, though there won't be so much enthusiasm

  there. They're fairly new to power and graft and things.

  Oh yes, it's a world movement all right. Run by youth and

  all the intense vitality of youth. They haven't got knowledge

  and they haven't got experience, but they've got vision and

  vitality, and'they're backed by money. Rivers and rivers of

  money pouring in. There's been too much materialism, so

  we've asked for something else, and we've got it. But as its

  based on hate, it can't get anywhere. It can't move offthe

  ground. Don't you remember in 1919 everyone going about

  with a rapt face saying Communism was the answer

  everything. That Marxist doctrine would produce "^ heaven brought down to a new earth. So many noblf 112

  fliwing about. But then, you see, whom have you got to work i1!' r.e ideas with? After all, only the same human beings

  ,'u've always had. You can create a third world now, or so

  everwne thinks, but the third world will have the same

  neopie in i1 as me nrst world or the second world or whatever

  names you like to call things. And when you have

  the same human beings running things, they'll run them the

  same way. You've only got to look at history.'

  'Does anybody care to look at history nowadays?'

  'No. They'd much rather look forward to an unforeseeable

  future. Science was once going to be the answer to

  everything. Freudian beliefs and unrepressed sex would be the

  next answer to human misery. There'd be no more people

  with mental troubles. If anyone had said that mental homes

  would be even fuller as the result of shutting out repressions

  nobody would have believed him.'

  Stafford Nye interrupted her:

  'I want to know something,' said Sir Stafford Nye.

  What is it?'

  Where are we going next?'

  South America. Possibly Pakistan or India on the way.

  And we must certainly go to the USA. There's a lot going

  on there that's very interesting indeed. Especially in California--'

  'Universities?' Sir Stafford sighed. 'One gets very tired of universities. They repeat themselves so much.'

  They sat silent for some minutes. The light was failing,

  but a mountain peak showed softly red.

  Stafford Nye said in a nostalgic tone:

  'If we had some more music now--this moment--do you

  know what I'd order?'

  'More Wagner? Or have you torn yourself free from Wagner?'

  'No--you're quite right--more Wagner. I'd have Hans ^aehs sitting under his elder tree, saying of the world:

  Wad, mad, all mad"--'

  'Yes--that expresses it. It's lovely music, too. But we're not mad. We're sane.'

  'Eminently sane,' said Stafford Nye. "That is going to be

  vv'i^^' Therels one more ^^K I want to know.'

  theF01'11'11'8 you won>t teu me- But I've 80t to know- Is that golng to be ^y fun to be got out of this mad business tha_ we're attempting?'

  ^t course there is. Why not?'

  113

  'Mad, mad, all mad--but we'll enjoy it all very mud

  Will our lives be long, Mary Arm?'

  'Probably not,' said Renata.

  That's the spirit. I'm with you, my comrade, and m

  guide. Shall we get a better world as a result of our efforts!

  'I shouldn't think so, but it might be a kinder one. It'

  full of beliefs without kindness at present.'

  'Good enough,' said Stafford Nye. 'Onward 1'

  114

  Book 3

  AT HOME AND ABROAD

  In a room in Paris five men were sitting. It was a room

  that had seen historic meetings before. Quite a number of

  them. This meeting was in many ways a meeting of a different

  kind yet it promised to be no less historic.

  Monsieur Grosjean was presiding. He was a worried man

  doing his best to slide over things with facility and a charm

  of manner that had often helped him in the past. He did

  not feel it was helping him so much today. Signer Vitelli

  had arrived from Italy by air an hour before. His gestures

  were feverish, his manner unbalanced.

  'It is beyond anything,' he was saying, 'it is beyond anything

  one could have imagined.'

  'These students,' said Monsieur Grosjean, 'do we not all

  suffer?'

  'This is more than students. It is beyond students. What

  can one compare this to? A swarm of bees. A disaster of

  nature intensified. Intensified beyond anything one could

  have imagined. They march. They have machine-guns. Somewhere

  they have acquired planes. They propose to take over

  the whole of North Italy. But it is madness, that! They are

  children--nothing more. And yet they have bombs, explosives.

  In the city of Milan alone they outnumber the police. What

  can we do, I ask you? The military? The army too--it is in

  revolt. They say they are with les jeunes. They say there is no

  hope for the world except in anarchy. They talk of something Aey call the Third World, but this cannot just happen.'

  Monsieur Grosjean sighed. 'It is very popular among

  the young,' he said, 'the anarchy. A belief in anarchy. We

  know that from the days of Algeria, from all the troubles from which our country and our colonial empire has suffered.

  And what can we do? The military? In the end they back ^e students.'

  The students, ah, the students,' said Monsieur Poissonier. I He was a member of the French government to whom

  | fte word 'student' was anathema. If he had been asked he

  j Would have admitted to a preference for Asian 'flu or even

  F1" outbreak of bubonic plague. Either was preferable in

  mind to the activities of students. A world with no stuts

  in it! That was what Monsieur Poissonier sometimes

  ,�

  dreamt about. They were good dreams, those. They did no;

  occur often enough.

  'As for magistrates,' said Monsieur Grosjean, 'what ha;

  happened to our judicial authorities? The police--yes, the are loyal still, but the judiciary, they will not impose sen

  tences, not on young men who are brought before them

  young men who have destroyed property, government pro

  perty, private property--every kind of property. And why

  not, one would like to know? I have been making inquiries

  lately. The Prefecture have suggested certain things to me.

  An increase is needed, they say, in the standard of living

  among judiciary authorities, especially in the provincial areas.'

  'Come, come,' said Monsieur Poissonier, 'you must be

  careful what you suggest.'

  'Ma foi, why should I be careful? Things need bringicf

  into the open. We have had frauds before, gigantic fraud. and there is money now circulating around. Money, anc

  we do not know where it comes from, but the Prefectur-.

  have said to me--and I believe it--that they begin to gs;r />
  ' I'll an idea of where it is going. Do we contemplate, can was contemplate a corrupt state subsidized from some outskisource?'

  'In

  Italy too,' said Signer Vitelli, 'in Italy, ah, I cou'd tell you things. Yes, I could tell you of what we suspec

  But who, who is corrupting our world? A group of indu:

  trialists, a group of tycoons? How could such a thing be s>.

  This business has got to stop,' said Monsieur Grosjea' ,

  'Action must be taken. Military action. Action from the Air

  Force. These anarchists, these marauders, they come fro'?!

  every class. It must be put down.'

  'Control by tear gas has been fairly successful,' said Poiasonier

  dubiously.

  'Tear gas is not enough,' said Monsieur Grosjean. 'T ie

  same result could be got by setting students to peel bund rs

  of onions. Tears would flow from their eyes. It needs me e than that.'

  Monsieur Poissonier said in a shocked voice:

  'You are not suggesting the use of nuclear weapons?' I

  'Nuclear weapons? Quel blague! What can we do w "'

  nuclear weapons. What would become of the soil of Frar .;

  of the air of France if we use nuclear weapons? We < "'

  destroy Russia, we know that; We also-know that Ru;

  can destroy us.'

  'You're not suggesting that groups of marching and dem

  strating students could destroy our authoritarian forces'? 118

  %

  "That is exactly what I am suggesting. I have had a

  warning of such things. Of stock-piling of arms, and various

  forms of chemical Warfare and of other things. I have had

  reports from some of our eminent scientists. Secrets are

  known. Stores--held in secret--weapons of warfare have

  been stolen. What is to happen next, I ask you. What is to

  happen next?'

  The question was answered unexpectedly and with more

  rapidity than Monsieur Grosjean could possibly have calculated.

  The door opened and his principal secretary approached

  his master, his face showing urgent concern. Monsieur

  Grosjean looked at him with displeasure.

  'Did I not say I wanted no interruptions?'

  'Yes indeed. Monsieur Ie President, but this is somewhat

  unusual--' He bent towards his master's ear. 'The Marshal

  is here. He demands entrance.'

  The Marshal? You mean--'

  The secretary nodded his head vigorously several times

  to show that he did mean. Monsieur Poissonier looked at his

  colleague in perplexity.

  'He demands admission. He will not take refusal.'

  The two other men in the room looked first at Grosjean

  and then at the agitated Italian.

  'Would it not be better,' said Monsieur Coin, the Minister

  for Home Affairs, 'if--'

  He paused at the 'if as the door was once more flung

  open and a man strode in. A very well-known man. A man

  whose word had been not only law, but above law in the

  country of France for many past years. To see him at this

  moment was an unwelcome surprise for those sitting there.

  'Ah, I welcome you, dear colleagues,' said the Marshal.

  'I come to help you. Our country is in danger. Action must

  be taken, immediate action! I come to put myself at your

  service. I take over all responsibility for acting in this crisis.

  There may be danger. I know there is, but honour is above

  danger. The salvation of France is above danger. They march this way now. A vast herd of students, of criminals

  who have been released from jails, some of them who have ronimitted the crime of homicide. Men who have committed incendiarism. They shout names. They sing songs. They call

  �n the names of their teachers, of their philosophers, of those

  who have led them on this path of insurrection. Those who

  will bring about the doom of France unless something is done. You sit here, you talk, you deplore things. More than that

  oiust be done. I have sent for two regiments. I have alerted th& 119

  air force, special coded wires have gone out to our neighbouring

  ally, to my friends in Germany, for she is our ally now in

  this crisis!

  'Riot must be put down. Rebellion! Insurrection! The

  danger to men, women and children, to property. I go forth

  now to quell the insurrection, to speak to them as their father,

  their leader. These students, these criminals even, they are my

  children. They are the youth of France. I go to speak to

  them of that. They shall listen to me, governments will be

  revised, their studies can be resumed under their own auspices.

  Their grants have been insufficient, their lives have been

  deprived of beauty, of leadership. I come to promise all this.

  I speak in my own name. I shall speak also ia your name,

  the name of the Government, you have done your best, you

  have acted as well as you know how. But it needs higher

  leadership. It needs my leadership. I go now. I have lists of

  further coded wires to be sent. Such nuclear deterrents as can

  be used in unfrequented spots can be put into action in such

  a modified form that though they may bring terror to the

  mob, we ourselves shall know that there is no real danger

  in them. I have thought out everything. My plan will go.

  Come, my loyal friends, accompany me.'

  'Marshal, we cannot allow--you cannot imperil yourself. We must . . .'

  'I listen to nothing you say. I embrace my doom. Bay destiny.'

  The Marshal strode to the door.

  'My staff is outside. My chosen bodyguard. I go now to speak to these young rebels, this young flower of beauty

  and terror, to tell them where their duty lies.'

  He disappeared through the door with the grandeur of a leading actor playing his favourite part.

  'Bon dieu, he means it!' said Monsieur Poissonier.

  'He will risk his life,' said Signer Vitelli. 'Who knows? It is

  brave, he is a brave man. It is gallant, yes, but what wil' happen to him? In the mood les jeunes are in now, they might kill him.'

  A pleasurable sigh fell from Monsieur Poissonier's lips

  It might be true, he thought. Yes, it might be true.

  'It is possible,' he said. 'Yes, they might kill him.'

  'One cannot wish that, of course,' said Monsieur Grosjesr

  carefully.

  Monsieur Grosjean did wish it. He hoped for it, thou?1 a natural pessimism led him to have the second thougL

  that things seldom fell out in the way you wanted them 10. 120

  Indeed, a much more awful prospect confronted him. It was

  quite possible, it was within the tradiions of the Marshal's

  past, that somehow or other he night induce a large

  pack of exhilarated and bloodthirsty students to listen to

  what he said, trust in his promises. End insist on restoring

  him to the power that he had once held. It was the sort

  of thing that had happened once or wice in the career of

  the Marshal. His personal magnetism Wis such that politicians

  had before now met their defeat when they least expected it.

  'We must restrain him,' he cried.

  Yes, yes,' said Signer Vitelli, 'he (annot be lost to the

  world.'

  'One fears,' said Monsieur Poissonitr. 'He has too many

  friends in Germany, too many contacts, and you know

  they move very quickly in milita
ry matters in Germany.

  They might leap at the opportunity.'

  'Ban dieu, bon dieu,' said Monsieur Grosjean, wiping his

  brow. 'What shall we do? What can we do? What is that

  noise? I hear rifles, do I not?'

  'No, no,' said Monsieur Poissonier wnsolingly. 'It is the

  canteen coffee trays you hear.'

  "There is a quotation I could use,' said Monsieur Grosjean,

  who was a great lover of the druna, 'if I could only

  remember it. A quotation from Shakespeare. "Will nobody

  rid me of this--"'

  ' "turbulent priest,"' said Monsieur >oissonier. 'From the

  play, Becket.'

  'A madman like the Marshal is worse than a priest. A

  priest should at least be harmless, though indeed even His

  Holiness the Pope received a delegation of students only

  yesterday. He blessed them. He called them his children.'

  'A Christian gesture, though,' said Monsieur Coin dubiously.

  'One can go too far even with Christian gestures,' said

  Monsieur Grosjean.

  Chapter 14 CONFERENCE IN london

  In the Cabinet Room at 10 Downing Street, Mr Cedric

  Lazenby, the Prime Minister, sat at the head of the table

  and looked at his assembled Cabinet without any noticeable

  pleasure. The expression on his face was definitely

  121

  gloomy, which in a way afforded him a certain relief. Hs

  was beginning to think that it was only in the privacy

  of his Cabinet Meetings that he could relax his face into

  an unhappy expression, and could abandon that look which

  he presented usually to the world, of a wise and contented

  optimism which had served him so well in the various

  crises of political life.

  He looked round at Gordon Chetwynd, who was frowning,

  at Sir George Packham who was obviously worrying, thinking,

  and wondering as usual, at the military imperturbability

  of Colonel Munro, at Air Marshal Kenwood, a tightlipped

  man who did not trouble to conceal his profound distrust

  of politicians. There was also Admiral Blunt, a large formidable

  man, who tapped his fingers on the table and bided

  his time until his moment should come.

  'It is not too good,' the Air Marshal was saying. 'One

  has to admit it. Four of our planes hi-jacked within the

  last week. Flew 'em to Milan. Turned the passengers out, and

  flew them on somewhere else. Actually Africa. Had pilots

  waiting there. Black men.'

  'Black Power,' said Colonel Munro thoughtfully.

  'Or Red Power?' suggested Lazenby. 'I feel, you know,

  that all our difficulties might stem from Russian indoctrination.

  If one could get into touch with the Russians--I really

  think a personal visit at top level--'

  'You stick where you are. Prime Minister,' said Admiral

  Blunt. 'Don't you start arseing around with the Russkies

  again. All they want at present is to keep out of all this

  mess. They haven't had as much trouble there with their

  students as most of us have. All they mind about is keeping

  an eye on the Chinese to see what they'll be up to next.'

  'I do think that personal influence--'

  'You stay here and look after your own country,' said

  Admiral Blunt. True to his name, and as was his wont, be

  said it bluntly:

  'Hadn't we better hear--have a proper report of what's

  actually been happening?' Gordon Chetwynd looked '< 'wards

  Colonel Munro.

  'Want facts? Quite right. They're all pretty unp&iatable.

  I presume you want, not particulars of what's beea ^P'

  pening here so much, as the general world situation?'

  'Quite so.'

  "Well, in France the Marshal's in hospital still. Two

  bullets in his arm. Hell's going on in political circles. Large

  tracts of the country are held by what they call the Youth power troops.'

  You mean they've got arms?' said Gordon Chetwynd in

  a horrified voice.

  'They've got a hell of a lot,' said the Colonel. 'I don't

  know really where they've got them from. There are certain ideas as to that. A large consignment was sent from Sweden

  to West Africa.'

  'What's that got to do with it?' said Mr Lazenby. 'Who

  cares? Let them have all the arms they want in West Africa.

  They can go on shooting each other.'

  'Well, there's something a little curious about it as far

  as our Intelligence reports go. Here is a list of the armaments

  that were sent to West Africa. The interesting thing

  is they were sent there, but they were sent out again. They

  were accepted, delivery was acknowledged, payment may