Ormaie 23.XI.43 JB-S
- The narrator picks up the story the next day. Von Linden comes in and yells at the guard who has been treating her so badly that all she can write is nonsense.
- The narrator also reports that Engel has clearly been crying.
- What's up with the Nazis not acting like Nazis today?
The narrator titles the next section "Special Operations Training."
- We're back in April 1943 now, right after Eva Seiler's violent interrogation.
- The narrator is given some time off to think about whether she wants to continue in this line of work.
- She goes home, where her mother says she'll want to know every detail of what happened after the war is over, and the narrator replies that she'll never be able to tell.
- On this trip, her French nanny knits her a lovely new pullover from old wool—the same pullover that has been such a comfort to her in France.
- The narrator admits that she loves playing Eva Seiler, but the higher-ups think she needs a change, so she agrees to go undercover in France as a wireless operator.
- The average life expectancy of a wireless operator in enemy territory is six weeks, and she has been in France six weeks today.
- The narrator describes the training she did for this operation in the summer and early fall of 1943: finding her way around an unfamiliar city, learning lots of code, going through fake interrogations, and essentially playing at being a spy, which sounds like more fun than actually being a spy.
- And finally comes the waiting and waiting to go "operational."
The narrator titles the next section "An Irregular Ferry Flight."
- This begins the story of how Maddie ended up being the one to drop the narrator in France.
- Everyone involved in Operation Dogstar (the narrator's mission) gathers at the RAF Special Duties base sometime in October 1943.
- This includes Maddie, the narrator, Jamie (call sign John), and Michael, the pilot Maddie flew to France with a few months ago.
The narrator titles the next section "Operation Dogstar," which is the name of the operation that sends her to France.
- She begins by talking about Ormaie and how horrible it is now. She has a personal connection because her grandmother was from Ormaie, so she visited family there before the war.
- She also says she chose to study German because she loves it, and she hates Hitler for taking away any opportunity to experience Germany.
- Now she flashes back to that night in October.
- Everyone involved in Operation Dogstar is sitting around listening to the radio for their secret signal.
- They get the signal, but their squadron leader (call sign Peter) still hasn't arrived—then Peter's wife calls to say that Peter has been in a car accident and won't be able to fly tonight.
- There's a lot of confusion and arguing over what to do, and the narrator finally suggests that Maddie fly the plane.
- Jamie tries everything to convince them that this is not okay, but finally Maddie says she can authorize her own flight.
- Maddie calls her commanding officer and doesn't really give him any details, so he tells her to go ahead.