NO REST FOR BIGGLES

by Captain W. E. Johns

IV. SINISTER DEVELOPMENTS (Pages 43 – 52)

“As soon as Biggles saw Christophe’s face he knew from the expression on it that something had happened; that his attitude had changed; so he prepared himself for what he suspected was going to be a difficult session. Christophe’s first words confirmed his surmise. “Come right in – copper,” ordered the negro. He spoke quietly, smoothly, with a hint of a sneer, and a slight emphasis on the last word”. Biggles didn’t answer. So Hollweg had heard, and betrayed him, was the thought that flashed through his mind. Christophe tells him “You weren’t wise to come here”. “Biggles, old campaigner that he was, knew that in a clash, mental or physical, the man who first relinquishes the initiative is already half-way to defeat. Wherefore, even in the present circumstances, he was determined not to yield an inch of ground. “Before you start patting yourself on the back you’d better have a good look at yourself and see how wise you are”, Biggles tells him, adding “Mind if I sit down” Biggles pulls out a chair, takes a cigarette from the case on the table and sits. “Smart guy, eh,” sneered Christophe. “Let’s not waste time tossing bouquets to each other,” suggested Biggles. “This isn’t a question of being smart. It’s a matter of common sense. If anyone is behaving like a fool it’s you, for supposing you can get away with what you’re doing here. You say I’m a copper. Okay. Let’s agree you’re right. That means I was sent here to give this joint of yours the once-over. That, in turn, means several people – too big for you to handle – know I’m here”. “By the way,” Biggles asks, “who told you I was a police officer?” he inquired. “A little birdie”. “Hollweg” asks Biggles. Christophe looked surprised. “How would he know?” Biggles asks “Who was it?” and Christophe says “I’ve got pals”. Biggles says he has been told that Christophe plans to set up a black empire and Biggles warns him “It’s when people start making laws to suit themselves that the ship starts to rock. Hitler found that out. So did Mussolini. So did your great-granddad. But they all found it out too late. You’re heading for the same rocks. Carry on for your empire; but you won’t get it interfering with other people’s property. That’s sound advice. Think it over”. “I don’t need your advice” Christophe tells him. Christophe asks Biggles “Where’s Colonel Rayle?” and Biggles tells him there isn’t any Colonel Rayle. “I created him in order to find my way here. I knew the moment you monkeyed with my compass. So did other people, because I was being watched”. Biggles asks who is behind the racket, but Christophe says he is the boss. Biggles says “Surely your own common sense tells you that you can’t fight the British Empire plus the United States”. “What can they do? This is Liberia, a free country” he is told. “At this juncture a black came into the room and put a piece of paper in front of Christophe, who read the message. And as he read it his expression changed again. His dark eyes switched to Biggles’s face. “Seems like my pals outside know about you,” he remarked. (“Seems like my pals outside know about you” – see page 46 – is the illustration opposite page 30). Christophe says they are sending someone to come and have a talk with Biggles. “Don’t forget that my pals will soon be along to have a little talk with you,” returned Biggles drily. Another man comes in and he has Ginger’s parachute. Christophe’s expression hardened. “Who was in the that plane with you?” he demanded harshly. “A friend of mine” Biggles replies adding, that he hopes he has gone home to tell his chief where he is. Christophe says “Your friend has killed a man. Shot him”. “He must have had a good reason” Biggles tells him. “That’s murder” says Christophe. Biggles replies “So you say. Murder’s a subject you probably know more about than I do”. Christophe says the rest of the tribe will be thirsting for Biggles’ blood. “I shall do my best to see that they stay thirsty”. Christophe signals for Biggles to be taken away. His parting shot is “My pals outside seem to know you plenty”. “They’ll know me even better by the time I’ve finished here" says Biggles. Biggles is returned to the wire enclosure, well satisfied with the interrogation, which had, he thought, told him more than he expected. Biggles tells Tony Wragg and General Mander that the people here must have private radio and Tony points to a distant hut and says he thought he heard an engine running when the door was open and he thought he heard Morse coming through. Biggles says it’s a queer business. “Christophe is playing his own game. He’s getting assistance from outside. If I’m right in that then the people outside must be playing their own game, too. Which means that sooner or later one side will double-cross the other”. Biggles suspects “the Iron Curtain brigade” are supporting Christophe. Biggles explains that Christophe knew he was a copper, but Biggles thinks it wasn’t Hollweg that told him but that Christophe got the information via radio. “Now I’m waiting for his pals to arrive, and their intentions, I fancy will not be of the best”. Biggles takes the men into his confidence when he tells them “Keep it under your hats, but I’m not alone on this job. Three of my boys are around. One shouldn’t be far away, and two more, with a Halifax should be in the offing. By gosh! It’s hot. I must get a drink”. Biggles walks to the water tank and General Mander follows him. Mander says one of his secretaries, Al Cox, was in the States until a month ago and Mander asked him the latest news on the secret weapon. “He knocked me flat by telling me that the whole outfit had been stolen – not only the instrument but the special plane that been designed to carry it”. The plane was ready for a test flight “when one of the aircraft hands, a coloured man, jumped the cockpit and flew it off. It hasn’t been seen since”. For a moment Biggles was at a loss for words. “Then that must be the plane Christophe is using here!” Mander guesses it was Christophe who stole the plane. The black mechanic who took it was on the squadron books and was called Dessalines. Biggles asks “Hadn’t he something to do with Haiti, where, according to Christophe, his ancestor was Emperor?” “The man who called himself Emperor Dessalines was the negro slave who led the revolt against the French in Haiti a hundred and fifty years ago. Dessalines was actually the name of his master, a French planter – Jean Jacque Dessalines. The new boss called himself Emperor Jean Jacques I. He didn’t last long. He was bumped off by Christophe, who succeeded him, and he turned out to be an even more unspeakable thug than the man he had murdered”. (Jean-Jacques Dessalines - born 20 September 1758 – died 17 October 1806 – so it was 150 years ago as this book was written in 1956 – was the first Haitian Emperor. leader of the Haitian Revolution, and the first ruler of an independent Haiti. Initially regarded as governor-general, Dessalines was later named Emperor of Haiti as Jacques I (1804–1806) by generals of the Haitian Revolutionary army and ruled in that capacity until being assassinated in 1806). Biggles wonders if Dessalines and Christophe are one and the same man. The General says “If Christophe can pilot a plane then he may be Dessalines. If he can’t, then the Dessalines who stole the ship may be the man who’s flying it now. That means there’s two of ‘em in it”. Biggles speculates that couldn’t steal the secret weapon on their own and he wonders what do Christophe’s pals want out of it. If they want the secret weapon, then Christophe is holding out on them. The General thinks he is selling the stolen documents and using the money to build up his army here. It may not be easy for Christophe’s pals to get the weapon. “Don’t forget the wood around this outfit are crawling with blacks in Christophe’s pay. A Black Curtain against the Iron Curtain, as you might say” adds the General. The only way in is by air and Christophe has control of the air. The General says losing the secret weapon “is the worst crack we’ve had since we lost the atom bomb”. Biggles worries about Ginger in the forest where the natives seem to have orders to kill any white man they meet. Biggles and the General see an unknown aircraft come in to land at the airstrip. A jeep then arrives with two white men in. Biggles knows them both. “They were Iron Curtain agents. One, when he had been in collision with him in the West Indies, he had known as Zorotov* (a footnote tells us to ‘See Biggles in the Blue.’ Funnily enough, in Chapter 10 of that book Zorotov tells Biggles “We shall meet again”. “If we do, the pleasure will be all yours,” Biggles told him). The other was his old enemy, Erich Von Stalhein, one-time of the German Secret Service. So these, Biggles pondered, were Christophe’s “pals”.