In the heat of the Egyptian desert, L Detachment were engaged in a war of nighttime raids and stealth missions. Four remarkable individuals had recently joined them in their efforts. Mademoiselle Mimi Dubois, La Résistance fighter and mistress of skills; Miss Madeline Forsyth, SOE operative and a living shadow; Sven Hyse, Norwegian Resistance soldier and shapeshifter; and Doctor Jackal, timid physician with his less than timid friend Mister Hades.

Qareti, Egypt, July 1942
The morning after our intelligence-gathering mission Captain Stirling called all the teams in for a briefing. He was very pleased with the success of the incursion, with only one team experiencing any problems. Moreover, that was only due to them encountering a far larger force than was expected. They had almost completed their reconnoitre when they were discovered, and they had fought a rapid retreat and evaded capture.

Captain Stirling goes on to say that due to additional intelligence discovered by one of the teams, he gives a slight nod towards us, the timetable for the sabotage runs has been moved forwards by twenty four hours. We will be returning tomorrow night with the intention of laying low during the day and then sneaking in under the cover of darkness to disable any artillery or armour at our designated target locations. The briefing breaks up and each team begins to focus on getting their kit and vehicles ready.

I remember noticing that every team had a mechanic who was maintaining their vehicles, I decided to slide under one of the jeeps next to one of the soldiers whose hands were deeply ingrained with engine oil. I asked him to talk me through the basics of maintaining a vehicle in the desert and obviously he obliged, as he was pointing at some piece of equipment I gently touched his arm for a moment. I then knew that he was pointing at the jeep’s leaf springs, and that they needed to be checked over before each mission as a suspension failure in the middle of the desert could prove fatal. I thanked him and headed for our own vehicle to carry out checks of my own with my freshly ‘borrowed’ skill.

Later that afternoon we received a visit from Stirling, he told us that our mission would be slightly different to the other teams. Our primary objective was to secure the information with regards to the German troop movements, if we were successful then we should prosecute our secondary objective of destroying any artillery and armour at the target site. To enable us to destroy the artillery that we had already spotted, Captain Stirling tells us that we will be issued with two explosive charges and four pencil timers.

He asks if there is any other equipment that we require, both Sven and Madeline request silencers for their pistols and Captain Stirling says that his Lieutenant will source them for us. He tells us to be prepped and ready to roll at dusk and then heads off to talk to the next team. A couple of hours later Lieutenant Wiseman returns with the silencers and the explosives.

By twenty two hundred, six vehicles travelling in convoy disappear into the desert night.

As soon as we are clear of the camp I closed my eyes and gently placed my hand on Madeline's arm and, with her permission, 'borrowed' her ability to see in the dark. While Madeline and I had trialed this before, this would be the first time that we had done it under mission conditions. The first time that I had mimicked another's power for use in the field. It felt like a momentous occasion, and when I opened my eyes I could see as if it was a bright sunlit day. Seeing my face, Madeline smiled at me and said;

Good! Isn't it!

The downside of mimicking someone else's power is that it takes it out of you, and I was very glad that all I had to do for the next hour was sit in the back of the jeep while Sven was at the wheel and Henry navigated. By the time that we reached the rendezvous point I was feeling myself once more. As with the scouting mission, Captain Stirling had a quick word with each team and then we all went our separate ways heading for our individual targets.

As soon as we set off I 'borrowed' Madeline's power to turn into shadow. We were now ready to attempt our plan. Sven slowed to a stop when Henry said that we were about two miles from our target, he hopped out of the jeep and changed into his special suit. He then changed again, but this time into a desert bird. He soared off into the night sky towards Qareti. I remember sitting in the dark awaiting his return, I had never realised how alive the desert becomes at night and how tense you can become waiting before a mission. After about thirty minutes a bird lands on the front of the jeep, then hops down onto the sand and transforms into Sven.

We may have a problem!

Sven tells us that our hiding place from our last incursion seems undiscovered and safe, however there is now a German tank in the center of the village. He briefly describes it and Madeline says that it sounds like a Panzer IV. All I know is that our mission just got a lot more dangerous.

I jump into the driving seat and slowly manoeuvre us back into our previous hiding spot where we can overlook the village. As I am doing that Sven heads back in to try and gather more information about the tank. Henry settles back into his watching position with Madeline alongside him while I go about the job of camouflaging the jeep and our watch position. At one point, Henry swears blind that he saw the bird Sven land on top of the tank and hop about in front of the drivers viewport.

Once Sven arrives back he confirms that he did indeed land on the tank, and that it was occupied by two German troopers. It looks like the enemy has set a watch, all be it only over the tank, this time. Madeline suggests that we should head in and get the job done, and I agreed with her. Doctor Jackal, however, put on his best Captain Stirling impression and repeated word for word what Stirling had said. We were to lay low during the day and then sneak in under the cover of darkness to deal with the artillery and armour.

Madeline looked at me and then at Henry.

We can at least go in and retrieve the information about the troop movements.

And so we agreed. Madeline and I would go in as shadows with Sven providing watch in bird form, we would grab the information and return it to Henry as quickly as possible. Henry would then commit it all to his remarkable memory and we would return the information the same way that we took it in the hope that it’s theft would never be noticed. By this time it was three o’clock in the morning, or oh three hundred hours as Stirling would say. We slipped over the edge of the sand dune and crawled into the shadows at the bottom of it, I then followed Madeline’s lead as we both slowly became part of the shadows that we were hiding in.

It was the oddest sensation that I have ever felt, it was definitely the thinnest that I have ever felt. The feeling of being two dimensional, of sliding along the ground and up walls. The ability to slip through the smallest of holes or under the edges of doors, it really gave you a different perspective on the world around you. We moved from shadow to shadow around the southern edge of the oasis and eventually slid under the door of the building housing the radio room. Inside there were several camp beds, most of which were occupied. We continued on into the radio room where again we found two more occupied beds.

Madeline flowed up onto the table and after a long moment to memorise the position of everything, gathered up all of the radio transcriptions and maps, and as she touched them they turned to shadow like her. She then moved towards the radio, she later explained that she was making a mental note of the frequency that the Germans were using, before heading out of the room and back towards our watch post. I followed.

Madeline hands Henry all of the documentation and he settles in under the jeeps camouflage netting to scan through it all. Thinking that it will take him a while to commit all of that to memory we settle down to watch the village. However, after only a matter of six or seven minutes Henry reappears and says that he is done. We look a little surprised, but head back in and retrace our journey to return the papers and maps. Dawn’s first light is just beginning to show by the time we make it back to the watch post.

The village wakes up and we watch it go about it’s routine, worshipers attend to their prayers, farmers attend to the flocks, and the Nazis attend to their guns. Mid-morning and the three German tank  troopers and their officer climb into their tank and close the hatches. There is a tremendous roar as the tank’s engine turns over and then the tank trundles out of the village and begins to loop around to the west. I remember the tension that fell across our hiding place as we wondered if we had been spotted, and we all breathed a sigh of relief when after twenty minutes the tank reappeared and once more took up it’s position in the centre of the square.

Once more during the afternoon the tank went for a short patrol, Sven believed that it was making sure that it was completely operational by running for a short while. We waited out the daylight hours, rotating watches and grabbing sleep where we could. The sun disappeared behind the dunes and the village began to quieten down. By twenty two forty five hours we had decided on our plan and began to head in.

Sven once more donned the guise of a bird and flapped up into the night sky, he was to watch from the centre of the village and raise the alarm should trouble show it’s Nazi face. I slipped over the edge of the sand dune and using the power borrowed from Madeline, merged with the shadows and began making my way towards the artillery pieces. Madeline, however, had the hardest task. She had to deal with the tank. She slid over the lip of the sand dune and slid into shadow, in her hands she carried two grenades.

I slide out of the shadows under the artillery pieces camouflage netting, solidifying under the cover that they provide me. By twenty three thirty hours both guns are rigged with the explosives given to me by Lieutenant Wiseman and I crimp the tops of four pencil timers, two for each device as a precaution. I then change back into a shadow and move as fast as possible back towards the watch point.

While I am busy engaged in sabotage Madeline is sliding all over the tank. She probes gaps and weak spots looking for the best way to disable the tank with the equipment that she has. She eventually finds herself inside the tanks engine compartment. At that moment the peace of the desert night is shattered.

It is twenty three thirty nine and the darkness of the night is split apart by two bright flashes. The silence is sundered by two overlapping thunderclaps. The Germans in the tank are startled into action. The engine starts up and the turret rotates towards the enclosure, and the beacons that are the burning guns. There is a sudden explosion inside the tank’s engine compartment and fire begins to emit from it’s armoured engine compartment.

Lights come on around the village and troopers rush out into the open, pulling on items of kit and jackets. They are however, all armed. Most of them rush towards the compound fire, the tank commander walks towards the tank and starts shouting at the crew. He does not appear to be overly impressed with their observation skills.

I arrive back at the watch point to find that Henry has uncovered the jeep and packed up all of our kit ready to roll. I jump into the drivers seat and Doctor Jackal climbs in beside me ready to navigate us out. Minutes later Madeline reforms out of the shadows next to us. As she climbs into the rear seat she lets the grenade pin drop from her grip. Just before midnight a large bird alights on the back of the jeep. I start the engine and get us out of there while Sven changes back into human form.

El Imayid, Egypt, July 1942
All six vehicles arrive back at the base camp around oh four hundred hours. As everyone is heading off towards their tents, Henry catches up with Captain Stirling and asks if he can get pens and paper before everyone retires for the night. With a somewhat bemused look on his face, Captain Stirling gets one of his men to provide Doctor Jackal with what he requires. Henry heads for the central tented area where there is light and begins to draw.

Henry draws for the rest of the night and into the morning, he finishes just before we are summoned for a debriefing with Captain Stirling. Once again, Madeline gives an accurate account of our mission and Captain Stirling is surprised when she tells him that we have copies of the troop movement notes. He is even more surprised when she tells him that we are sure that the Nazis know nothing of the theft of the notes. His surprise reaches whole new levels when Henry hands him the copies that he has made.

He looks at Henry and passes comment that he only provided the paper last night. He is astounded at the level of detail that Henry has got into his maps, and the fact that he has annotated them with the English translations. For a moment he almost asks how Henry has done such a thing, but once again he stops short of actually asking the question. Captain Stirling thanks us for our work and he and his lieutenant leave us, as they walk away it is obvious that Stirling is still shaking his head at the accuracy of the documents that Doctor Jackal has provided him.

That evening the camp celebrates the success of the six missions. I dance. I drink. I sing. Even Henry has a good time. Several days pass in camp, during which Henry and I play some chess. I actually beat him. It was pure luck, I didn’t even ‘borrow’ anyone’s skill, I just lucked out. But it made an impression on some of the men in camp, especially on those that won money betting on me.

And then one day Captain Stirling approached us. He told us that we had exceeded his expectations on our first mission, despite the fact that we had been given the smallest target, and that he believed that he had something that we could assist him with. He went on to explain that a local tribesman had spotted a single vehicle and a dozen men searching a canyon in neutral territory. The canyon is in the middle of nowhere, one hundred and twenty miles south of our current location and about twenty miles north of the closest village in that area.

Stirling has no idea if the information is accurate, or if it means anything. But he is also a man who believes in checking every lead to be on the safe side. We agree to go, and Captain Stirling tells us that he believes it will take us about twelve hours to get to the target site and suggests that we travel by day and avoid villages. We leap into action and by fifteen hundred hours the four of us are in the jeep heading south with Sven at the wheel.