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forefinger. “We don’t have time to waste, so I’ll fill you in as much as I can at this point. The man chosen for this enterprise will be on his own in a foreign country, hostile territory, without support from this service or the government. You’ve shown yourself capable of handling those conditions or you wouldn’t be sitting here right now, but I would like to know why you want to go.”  
    Harris examined his cigarette thoughtfully. All his prepared rhetoric fled his mind and he spoke his feelings plainly.
    “The whole world is going to be turned upside down by this war, sir, and we can’t escape it. I want to get into it early and help out on the right side. If we say that it has nothing to do with us, before we know what’s happened that will change, and by then it might be too late.”
    “That’s all you have to say, Dan?”
    Harris frantically searched his consciousness for some brilliant final comment, some pithy remark that would convince Forrest the operation could not possibly proceed without him. But he’d never been a talker and he came up empty.
    “Yes, sir, that’s it,” he said firmly, as if reinforcing a point of staggering weight.
    Forrest nodded slowly, dropping the cover on the file he held. “All right, son. Fair enough. You’re dismissed.”
    Harris rose, unable to look at Forrest for fear of the rejection he might see in his face.
    He was notified that he’d been chosen the next day. Elated, he was already packing when Forrest sent for him to inform him of the details.
    Lieutenant Gray accompanied him into the hot, bright morning. The two men strolled across the compound, loud with the droning of bees and the incessant chirping of cicadas. They were swatting at the gnats which swirled around their heads like shifting clouds as Gray said, “They wanted God for this mission, Harris, but I guess you’re the next best thing.”  
    Embarrassed, Harris said nothing.
    They stopped outside Forrest’s office. Gray, a slight first lieutenant with the air of a man who could take care of business and keep his mouth shut, extended his hand.
    “I envy you,” he said, as Harris shook it. “Good luck.”
    Harris nodded.
    “At least you’ll be escaping these goddamn bugs,” Gray added, and Harris grinned. Gray trotted down the wooden steps of the building as Harris knocked on Forrest’s door.
    Forrest stood up as Harris entered and he too shook his hand. “Congratulations, Captain,” he said, gesturing for Harris to be seated. “In order to reach you we bypassed some very fine men.”
    Harris sat in a chair facing Forrest’s desk, and noticed that there was an enlarged map of France taped to the wall behind the major’s head. So it was to be France. His heart began to beat faster. He’d thought so.
    Forrest folded his arms and surveyed the younger man. He had a kindly, ascetic face, like the housemaster in a British public school, and behind his back the men called him “Mr. Chips.”  
    “You’re facing a challenge, Dan,” Forrest began, “but I have every confidence that you’re equal to the job. Relax and just try to take in as much as you can. This is only one of several briefings you’ll receive, but I’ll lay out the general details of the plan today.”
    Harris’ gaze shifted from the commander’s face to the map, and Forrest smiled. “As you may have guessed from the decor,” he said, “you’ll be going into occupied France to work with a newly formed Resistance group. The target is in the northeast sector, in an area called Meuse. The Germans moved in there about a month ago.” With a pointer, the major indicated the town of Bar-le-Duc, a dot on the map highlighted by a flagged pin. “Just beyond Bar-le-Duc, here, is the village of Fains-les-Sources. Bar-le-Duc isn’t really a big town, and Fains is nothing more than a village. Neither place would seem to be of much interest to the Germans, and so it is curious that they chose to set up shop in the