Honor Bound (Honor Bound 1)

“Where exactly in the Bay?” von Lutzenberger asked.

“Approximately thirty kilometers east of Pipinas, Your Excellency,” Gradny-Sawz said. “The Americans, or so the story goes, were about to attempt to sabotage the Sundsvall—to blow a hole in her hull. To this end, they acquired a small motorboat. Their activities came to the attention of the Argentinean Navy, and a patrol boat was sent to locate them. The Americans refused orders to heave to, and a warning shot was fired. Unfortunately, the gunner’s aim was off, and the warning shot hit their vessel and sank it.”

“But there has been no official report of this incident?”

“I would ascribe that, Your Excellency, to Argentinean pride. It would be embarrassing for them to publicly acknowledge that their gunnery is not what it should be. And unfortunately, there were no survivors.”

“You’re sure of that?” von Lutzenberger asked.

“My sources inform me, Your Excellency, that a search of the area was made and no survivors were found. I doubt if there will be.”

Von Lutzenberger grunted.

“And do your sources confirm what the First Secretary has told me, Herr Oberst?”

“Yes, Sir. The details are essentially the same.”

“And do you both confirm that no one can connect these unfortunate events with anyone at the embassy?”

“I very much doubt if anything like that will happen, Your Excellency,” Gradny-Sawz said.

“Herr Oberst?”

“I think that the Argentineans and the Americans will both try to forget this incident as quickly as possible.”

“And, Herr Oberst, did your sources tell you whether these three unfortunates might be employed by the American Federal Bureau of Investigation or their Office of Strategic Services?”

“It seems, Your Excellency,” Grüner said, “that they were connected with the OSS.”

Von Lutzenberger looked at Gradny-Sawz, who nodded.

“Pity,” von Lutzenberger said. “If we could have tied them to the ‘Legal Affairs Office’ of the U.S. Embassy, we could almost certainly have had several people expelled as persona non grata. And what of the ship? The Sundsvall?”

“I believe that once her engines were repaired, she sailed the following morning.”

“And her master made no report of this incident?”

“Her master probably decided the less he had to with the Argentinean authorities, the better,” Gradny-Sawz said.

“Then she won’t be coming back?”

“She is to be replaced, Sir,” Grüner replied. “She was in these waters for almost two months; her stores were nearly exhausted.”

“The Bay of Samborombon is quite wide and quite empty. I would like to know how these Americans located the ship,” von Lutzenberger said. “Do you think someone in the Argentinean Navy, or elsewhere in the government, told them?”

“I don’t think that’s possible,” Gradny-Sawz said, almost indignantly.

“Anything is possible, my dear Anton,” von Lutzenberger said. “Since we know that people in the Argentinean military services and their government will confide in you matters they perhaps should not, I think we have to presume, don’t you, that there are people in the same places who talk to Americans about things they probably should not talk about.”

“There are even, my dear Gradny-Sawz,” Colonel Grüner said, “some Argentineans, in and out of the government, who hope for an Anglo-American victory.”

Gradny-Sawz gave him a cold look, but did not reply.

“If there’s nothing else, gentlemen?” von Lutzenberger asked, looked at the two of them, and then added, “Thank you for your time.”

[TWO]

The Monteleone Hotel