Having recovered La Résistance agent Duplix from occupied France, MI6s Enhanced Team are now planning an audacious mission deep within Germany itself. The team consists of 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.

Hanslope Park, October 1942

After a couple of days, during which the team discuss several options for Operation Knox within the area of Nordhausen, Captain Ledman and Major Hoffman once again summon us to a briefing. They have spent the last forty eight hours pulling together all of the intelligence that they have on the area surrounding Khonstein and Ledman immediately launches into what they know.

They have been able to confirm with the RAF that only one of the three entrances into Kohnstein was reported to have been destroyed, the RAF boys also confirmed that some specialist equipment was removed from the rubble and taken away, but they do not know where it was taken to. The area around Kohnstein is sparsely populated, forested, and the only things of note are the airfield and Kohnstein itself. Based on the size of the base and the constant flow of transporters it was assumed that Kohnstein must be involved in either fuel production or weapons manufacturing. However, with the intelligence provided by Duplix, it could have also been used for the production of the mysterious chemical that lead to the creation of the enhanced.

Ledman goes on to discuss the fact that Nordhausen is in the heartland of Germany and therefore there are very few troops in the vicinity, the airfield has a complement of approximately two hundred troops which is by far the greatest concentration of troops for miles in any direction. There is, however, a good road and rail network and so movement of resources and troops is easily achieved.

At this point in proceedings Major Hoffman spoke up for the first time;

The way I see it chaps, is that there are a couple of significant questions that need to be answered. One: How do you intend on getting in? Stealth or subterfuge? Two: It’s a large complex and there are no obvious signs of a workforce, so where are they being housed? Is there a significant underground complex at Kohnstein? Your number one priority, obviously, has to be the discovery of any intelligence relating to the chemical. And if possible, securing a sample of it. If Kohnstein is not the site of the chemicals manufacture, you must try and find any intelligence on where it is being produced or where any stocks have been transported to. That about cover it Ledman?

Captain Ledman nods eagerly in agreement with his commanding officer, and then looks around at us.

Over the course of the next hour we elaborate on our plans for Operation Knox. We plan to parachute in and stealth to the target. We will then use our unique talents to scout out the area and gather as much intelligence as possible. Our preferred escape route will be to steal a plane from the airfield and get back to England. Failing that we also formulate plans to exit via Denmark. We also request travel documents and papers for a German civilian doctor and a German nurse, that will give us the option of moving about in plain sight if required.

Captain Ledman and Major Hoffman seem pleased with the plans, and the levels of fallback plans should things not go to, well, plan. And they leave us to begin making preparations for our transport and false documents. The rest of the day and evening pass uneventfully, and we spend most of it making ourselves familiar with the maps of Nordhausen and the surrounding area as well as Doctor Jackal looking at all of the potential exit routes and committing them to his most amazing memory. Eventually I head off to bed leaving the others in our huts common room still working.

I had only just got off to sleep when I was shaken awake by Madeline. She told me that it was just gone twenty three hundred hours and we had been summoned by Captain Ledman to an emergency briefing in ten minutes. I quickly threw on some combat fatigues and rushed out to meet the others in the briefing room. When I arrived Henry was passing out cups of coffee, I don’t know what was in it but I was instantly awake after just a couple of sips, and both Captain Ledman and Major Hoffman were present.

A quick glance at the board showed me hastily pinned up maps of Ireland and in particular the Galway area of the west coast. Both MI6 officers looked agitated, and for once it was Major Hoffman who started the briefing;

Right chaps, we have a problem. We have intercepted communications between a German spy in Whitehall, codenamed Maulwurf, and their contact in Ireland. It would appear that this Maulwurf has got their hands on some very important intelligence and requested immediate extraction. We don’t know who Maulwurf is, or what information they have got, but if they have requested such rapid extraction it must be big.

Captain Ledman carried on the briefing. Maulwurf’s contact is codenamed Falltur and it is believed that they are a resident of the village of Clifden, County Galway on the west coast of Ireland. Clifden has a population of roughly two hundred, and it’s most noticeable feature is a ruined castle overlooking the inlet. Falltur replied in a coded message to Maulwurf and told them to go to Clifden for a U Boat extraction. That was two days ago, and there were no details of timings in the message.

Major Hoffman speaks up again;

Ireland is declared as a neutral country, and despite the fact that they have sympathy with the Allied side of this war, they would not countenance a military operation on their soil without express permission from their government. But we are not going to ask for their permission, so this is strictly off the books. If it all goes south only give you name, rank and number. Inform the authorities that you are part of the 57th Infantry based out of Buckinghamshire.

Once again Captain Ledman fills in the specifics. We are booked on a ferry out of Liverpool tomorrow evening and we will be met in Dublin by a British agent who will provide us with transport and any equipment that we require.

We are to recover the stolen intelligence before it is transferred, discover the identity of both Maulwurf and Falltur and neutralise them. Whether that be capture or a more permanent solution. If possible, capturing a photograph of a German U Boat surfaced in an Irish inlet with a very recognisable landmark in the background might nudge the Irish in the wanted direction. Captain Ledman asks us what we would like supplied by our contact in Ireland, and what documents we wish for. We ask for silenced pistols and daggers, and Madeline requests enough explosives to cripple the U Boat. Doctor Jackal requests papers for an English Doctor and his new French bride.

Dublin, Ireland, October 1942

Just before six o’clock in the morning the Liverpool ferry docks in Dublin and Doctor Henry Shipman and his wife Marie disembark with their pet spaniel. They pass through very lax customs and head out into the streets outside the port where they find Rowan Sexton leaning on the bonnet of a car. Doctor Jackal steps towards him and says;

May the road rise up to meet you!

Rowan replies;

May the wind be always at your back!

Rowan hands Henry the keys to the car and tells us to place our luggage in the backseat as the boot is a little full. As he is just about to leave I shake his hand and ask him how to say goodbye in Gaelic, as he is telling me I ‘borrow’ his ability to talk the language. We climb into the car and drive out of Dublin towards the west. It is a beautiful drive through untouched rural countryside. And not a single sign of military action. Blissful.

Just before ten o’clock in the morning we are passing through Galway and heading towards Clifden, Doctor Jackal suggests that we stop at the Alcock and Brown memorial giving Sven the opportunity to scout out Clifden. The memorial is just over three miles, as the raven flies, from Clifden and Henry parks in a car park just off the beach. There is already a car there, but no sign of its occupants. Henry sits down on a rock and begins to sketch the memorial while his dog runs off into the undergrowth, a few moments later a raven takes flight from that same patch of undergrowth.

While Sven is aloft, we spot a couple walking hand in hand back up from the beach. I engage them in conversation and discover that they are holiday makers who are travelling up the west coast of Ireland. I ask them about their travels and listen intently as they tell me their highlights, thinking to myself that it will make a great cover story later on. The couple wish us farewell and drive off. Sven returns and confirms that there doesn’t appear to be anything untoward in the village.

We drive into the village and pull up outside the Clifden Arms Inn. We book ourselves a room and tell the landlady that we are on our honeymoon and that Henry is going to sketch the castle. We are surprised by her response;

Well isn’t that a coincidence. What with that nice English Professor here to do the exact same thing.

As Henry signs the guest book he gets a good look at who else is staying at the inn, there have only been two other guests signed in over the last couple of days. Professor Parker signed in two days ago and is marked as staying in room one, and a Sean O’Hennessy signed in yesterday and is staying in room two. As we are making a grand show of settling into our room, Madeline slips off of the deep black dog blanket that we have been carrying with us and slides down the corridor to search the rooms of the other guests.

In room two she discovers men’s clothing, two cases full of cutlery and a stack of price lists and order forms from a company called Cribben’s Cutlery. She then checks out room one and again finds men’s clothing, but this time also discovers digging tools and lots of archeology textbooks. Madeline also finds a passport in the name of Professor James Parker, and travel papers showing that Parker is a professor at King's College London and that he travelled from Fishguard to Rosslare. Madeline scrutinises the documents and is sure that they are not forgeries.

Madeline rejoins us and tells us what she has discovered. We decide that we will travel up to the castle and try to meet Professor Parker, while Madeline investigates the guesthouse. Doctor Jackal picks up his sketching equipment and I pick up the dog blanket, with Madeline hidden on it, and we walk through the village in the direction of the pub. Once we have reached the main road, at the back of the tenements, Madeline slips off of the blanket and slides towards the back of the guesthouse. She avoids a small group of children playing football along the back of the houses and gets to the rear of the guesthouse.

Meanwhile we stroll past Lowry’s pub and walk up to the castle ruins. As we arrive we can see a small bald man wearing a bow tie sat in the grounds sketching. Doctor Jackal and I engage him in conversation and ask him about the castle, he launches into a long diatribe about its construction and history. As he is talking I reach over and touch the back of his hand, he seems perturbed at my physical contact but is polite enough not to draw his hand away, and so I have the opportunity to ‘borrow’ his archaeology knowledge.

As Professor Parker’s knowledge of archaeology floods through my mind I realise quite how knowledgeable he is, and at the same time it dawns on me that he is more than likely not Maulwurf.