Blackout - Connie Willis

“But he’s a child!”

“He’s what? Seventeen? In 1940, seventeen-year-olds are lying about their age and joining up and getting killed by the Germans. And what does age have to do with anything? One of the evacuees at the manor when I first arrived wanted to marry me, and he was only three.”

“Oh, dear, do you truly think-?” Polly looked back up the street. “Perhaps I’d better not ask him to help me with any more research.”

“No, that would be cruel. He’s trying to please and impress you. I think you should let him. You’re only going to be here-how long?”

“Two weeks, if the lab can find me a drop site. I expected them to have found one by the time I got back, but they still haven’t.”

“But they’ll find you one eventually, and then you’ll go to the Blitz-is this one real-time or flash-time?”

“Real-time.”

“And you’ll be gone how long?”

“Six weeks.”

“Which is an eternity for a seventeen-year-old. By the time you come back, he’ll have fallen in love with someone his own age and forgotten all about you.”

“I don’t know, I was gone nearly that long last time…” she said thoughtfully. “And just because someone’s young, it doesn’t mean their attachment’s not serious. On my last assignment-” She bit off whatever she had been going to say and said brightly, “I think it’s much more likely he’s trying to impress me with his research skills so that I’ll help him convince Mr. Dunworthy to let him go to the Crusades.”

“The Crusades? That’s even more dangerous than the Blitz, isn’t it?”

“Far more dangerous, particularly when one knows where and when all the Blitz’s bombs will be falling, which I will. And it’s less dangerous than-Sorry, I’ve been doing all the talking. I want to hear about your assignment.”

“There’s nothing much to tell. It’s mostly washing up and dealing with children and irate farmers. I’d hoped I might meet the actor Michael Caine-he was evacuated when he was six-but I haven’t, and-I just thought of something. You might meet Agatha Christie. She was in London during the Blitz.”

“Agatha Christie?”

“The twentieth-century mystery novelist. She wrote these marvelous books about murders involving spinsters and clergymen and retired colonels. I used them for my prep-they’re full of details about servants and manor houses. And during the war she worked in hospital, and you’re going to be an ambulance driver. She-”

“I’m not going to be an ambulance driver. I’m going to be something far more dangerous-a shopgirl in an Oxford Street department store.”

“That’s more dangerous than driving an ambulance?”

“Definitely. Oxford Street was bombed five times, and more than half its department stores were at least partly damaged.”

“You’re not going to work in one of those, are you?”

“No, of course not. Mr. Dunworthy won’t even allow me to work in Peter Robinson, though it wasn’t hit till the end of the Blitz. I can understand why he wouldn’t let me.…”

Eileen nodded absently, listening to the bells of Christ Church tolling the hours. Four o’clock. They’d stood there talking to Colin longer than she’d thought. Perhaps instead of going with Polly, she should go to Oriel and find out when Transport closed.

“… John Lewis and Company…” Polly was saying.

Or she could ask Polly to ask Mr. Dunworthy to ring Props and approve the lessons over the phone for her.

“… Padgett’s or Selfridges…”

I could go to Props, Eileen thought, pick up the authorization form, go to Oriel, and have Polly meet me there.

“But I daren’t dare push too hard,” Polly said, “or he may cancel it altogether. He’s thought this entire assignment was too dangerous from the beginning, and when he finds out-” She stopped, frowning again.

“Finds out what?” Eileen asked.

Polly paused. “How many tube stations were hit,” she said finally, and Eileen had the feeling that hadn’t been what she’d intended to say. “I’m going to be spending my nights sleeping in the Underground stations.”

“The Underground stations?”

“Yes, there weren’t enough shelters when the Blitz began, and the ones they had weren’t particularly safe, so people began sleeping in the tube stations. I’m going to camp out there nights to observe the shelterers,” she said, and Eileen must have been looking as worried as she felt because Polly added, “It’s perfectly safe.”

“Provided you don’t stay in one of the ones that was hit,” Eileen said dryly. They reached Balliol’s gate. “Polly, I’m not going to go in with you.” She told her her plan, then stepped up to the porter’s lodge. “Mr. Purdy, do you know how late Transport stays open?”

“I’ve got their hours here somewhere,” the porter said, shuffling through papers. “Six o’clock.”

Oh, good, there’d be time. “Is Mr. Dunworthy in his office?”

“I believe so,” Mr. Purdy said. “I only just came on duty, but Mr. McCaffey said Mr. Davies came through an hour ago looking for him, and he’s still here, so I assume he found him.”

“Michael Davies?”

Mr. Purdy nodded. “Miss Churchill, you have a message from Colin Templer. He said to tell you he’s looking for you and-”

“He found me,” Polly said, “but thank you. Eileen, I’ll tell Mr. Dunworthy to ring you at Props-”

She shook her head. “I’m coming with you.”

“But I thought you were going over to Props.”

“I am, but first I want to ask Michael if he’s doing VE-Day, and if he is, if he’ll swap assignments with me. Or he may know who is.” She started across the quad with Polly in her wake.

Michael was sitting on the steps of Beard, tapping his foot. “Are you waiting to see Mr. Dunworthy, too?” Polly asked.

“Yes,” he said impatiently. “I’ve been waiting for an hour and forty-five minutes. I can’t believe this. First he louses up my assignment, and now-”

“What’s your assignment?” Eileen asked.

“It was Pearl Harbor, which is why I sound like a damned American-”

“I thought you sounded odd,” Eileen said.

“Yes, well, I’ll really sound odd in Dover. I’m doing the evacuation of Dunkirk. With less than three days’ prep. That’s why I’m here-to see if he’ll move it back-”

“But-” Eileen said confused. “They evacuated children from Dunkirk?”

“No. Soldiers. The entire British Expeditionary Force, as a matter of fact. Three hundred thousand men in nine days flat. Didn’t you attend any of your first-year history lectures?”

“Yes,” she said defensively, “but I didn’t decide on World War II till last year.” She hesitated. “The evacuation of Dunkirk is in World War II, isn’t it?”

Michael laughed. “Yes. May twenty-sixth to June fourth, 1940.”

“Oh, that’s why I don’t know about it-”

“But Dunkirk was one of the major turning points of the war,” Polly interrupted. “Isn’t it a divergence point?”

“Yes.”

“Then how can you-?”

“I’m not. I’m observing the organizing of the rescue in Dover and then the boats as they come back with the soldiers.”

“You said you were supposed to go to Pearl Harbor,” Polly said sharply. “Why did Mr. Dunworthy cancel it?”

“He didn’t,” Michael said. “He just switched the order around. I’m doing several different events.”

“Is one of them VE-Day?” Eileen asked.

“No. I’m observing heroes, so it’s all crises-Pearl Harbor, the World Trade Center-”

“Are any of them near VE-Day?” Eileen asked. “In time, I mean?”

“No, the Battle of the Bulge is the closest. It was in December of 1944.”

“How long will you be there for that?” she asked.

“Two weeks.”

Then he wasn’t the one doing VE-Day. “Do you know of any historians who are doing assignments in 1945?”

“Nineteen forty-five…” he said, thinking. “Somebody told me somebody was doing the V-1 and V-2 attacks, but I think those were in 1944-”

“Did Mr. Dunworthy’s secretary say how long it would be before you could get in to see him?” Polly interrupted. “He needs to approve driving lessons for Merope-I mean, Eileen-and Props is only open till five.”

“No,” Michael said. “All Mr. Dunworthy’s new secretary said was, was I willing to wait. I thought he meant a few minutes, not the whole damned afternoon, but it can’t be too much longer, even if Dunworthy’s reaming out a historian.”

“Why don’t you go over to Oriel and reserve the Bentley, Merope-I mean, Eileen?” Polly said to her. “We can tell Mr. Dunworthy he needs to ring Props and authorize your lessons, and they can ring Transport. It will save time all around.”

“I will,” Eileen said. She turned to Michael. “You don’t know anyone else who’s observing 1945?”

“No. Ted Fickley was supposed to be doing Patton’s advance into Germany, but Dunworthy canceled it.”

“Why?” Polly asked with that same alertness.

“I don’t know,” Michael said. “Ted said he couldn’t get any reason out of the lab. All I know is Dunworthy’s switched four drops and canceled two others in the last two weeks.”

Eileen nodded. “I was just over at the lab, and Linna said he’d made over a dozen schedule changes. Gerald was there, and Mr. Dunworthy had just postponed his drop.”

“Where was he going?” Polly asked her.

“I don’t remember. It was something to do with World War II as well. Not VE-Day, though.”

“Are all the drops he’s changing World War II?” Polly asked Michael, sounding worried.

“No. Jamal Danvers was going to Troy. And my roommate, Charles, is scheduled to go to the lead-up to the invasion of Singapore, and Dunworthy hasn’t changed his.”

“And he hasn’t changed either of ours, Polly,” Eileen said. “Polly’s doing the London Blitz,” she explained to Michael. “She’s going to be a shopgirl in a big store in-where did you say?”

“Oxford Street,” Polly said.

“The Blitz?” Michael said, sounding impressed. “Isn’t that a divergence point?”

“Only certain parts of it,” Polly said.

“But it’s definitely a ten. How did you talk Mr. Dunworthy into it? I had a hell of a time talking him into letting me do Pearl Harbor, especially after what happened to Paul Kildow.”

“What happened to him?” Polly asked sharply.

“He got hit by shrapnel from a cannonball at Antietam,” Michael said. “It was nothing, only a superficial wound, but you know how over-protective Dunworthy is. He refused to let him do any of the other battles in his assignment.”

“Perhaps that’s why he’s been canceling drops,” Eileen said. “Because he decided they were too dangerous. All the ones he’s canceled are battles and things, aren’t they?”

“I need to go,” Polly said abruptly. “I’ve only just remembered, I was supposed to have a fitting this afternoon. I must get to Wardrobe.”

“But I thought you were going to show me how to open the Bentley’s doors and-”

“I’m sorry, I can’t. Perhaps we can do it tomorrow.”

“But I thought you had to report in to Mr. Dunworthy,” Eileen said. “Do you want me to tell him-?”

“No. Don’t. I’ll come back after my fitting. I really must go. Michael, good luck at Dunkirk-I mean, Dover,” she said, and hurried off.

“What was that all about?” Michael asked, looking after her.

“I’ve no idea. She’s seemed distracted all afternoon.”

“She is going to the Blitz.”

“I know, but she’s done heaps of dangerous assignments. She’s much more likely to be worried that Mr. Dunworthy will cancel her drop. At least I needn’t worry about him canceling mine because it’s too dangerous. Unless Alf and Binnie set fire to the manor or something.”

“Alf and Binnie?”

“Two of my evacuees. I’m observing the children who were evacuated from London.”

“Which was when?”

“September of 1939 to the end of the war. Didn’t you attend any of your first-year history lectures?”

He laughed. “I meant, when are you there?”

“Till May second, which is why I didn’t know about Dunkirk.”

“If the evacuation lasted till the end of the war,” he said, “maybe you can talk Dunworthy into letting you stay on to do VE-Day. Or you could just not come back.”

She shook her head. “The retrieval team would come after me. And even if I could elude them, staying would mean I’d have to put up with Alf and Binnie for another five-”

“Merope!” someone called.

Michael turned and looked across the quad. “Someone’s looking for you.”

It was Colin Templer. He loped up to them. “Do you know where Polly is?”

“At Wardrobe,” Eileen said.

“I thought she said she was coming here.”

“She was. She did. She came to see Mr. Dunworthy, but he’s in with someone, and she couldn’t wait.”

“What do you mean, he’s in with someone? Mr. Dunworthy’s not here. He’s in London. He won’t be back till tonight.”

Eileen turned to Michael. “But you said-”

“That damned secretary of his!” Michael exploded. “He didn’t say a word about Dunworthy’s being gone. He just asked if I’d care to wait, and I assumed-”

“This is dreadful!” Eileen said. “Now what am I going to do about my driving lessons?”

“How late tonight?” Michael asked Colin.

“I don’t know,” Colin began, but Michael was already striding up the stairs and into Mr. Dunworthy’s office. “You said Polly’s over at Wardrobe?” Colin asked Eileen.

She nodded, and Colin took off at a run. Michael came back, shaking his head. “He won’t be back before midnight at the earliest. He went to see some temporal theorist named Ishiwaka. And here I wasted an entire afternoon-no offense,” he said. “It’s just that I didn’t have enough time to get ready for this drop as it is, and now-”

“I know. I only have two days, and now I’ll have to wait till tomorrow to get my driving lessons approved.”

“No, you won’t,” he said, digging in his pockets. “I got permission from him for lessons in piloting small craft when I thought I was going to Pearl Harbor. If he didn’t fill it out…” He pulled out a slip of paper and unfolded it. “Good, he didn’t. He just signed it. Here.”

“But won’t you need it?”

“Not till I get back from Dover,” he said. “I’ll tell him I lost it and need another form.” He handed it to her.

“Thank you,” she said fervently. “You’ve saved my life.” She looked at her watch. If she hurried, she could make it to Props and get the driving authorization before they closed. “I need to go.”

“So do I,” he said, walking her back to the gate. “I need to go memorize the map of Dover and the names of the boats that participated in the evacuation, all seven hundred of them.”