Silence fell over the office as he worked, and Evelyn glanced at Anna. She was watching Peder with avid curiosity. Catching Evelyn’s look, she grinned sheepishly.
“I’ll admit I find it very interesting,” she whispered. “I wouldn’t mind learning myself.”
“I’m happy to teach you,” Peder said over his shoulder, making her start. “If you really want to learn, that is.”
“I do, actually,” Anna said. “I’m beginning to realize how handy it could be.”
Peder shot her an unreadable look and Evelyn’s eyes narrowed. He wasn’t a stupid man. If he had built this machine from scratch, and it appeared that he had, he was far more brilliant than most. He had to know what Anna was referring to, and after that briefly searching look he’d given her in the shop, Evelyn was confident that he knew something was out of the ordinary with her as well. He would have to be an idiot to think that none of this had anything to do with the war.
“I think I’ve got through,” he said after a few more moments, looking at Evelyn. “That was much faster than I was expecting. What do you want to say?”
“Are you ready to start transmitting now?”
He nodded. “I’m ready when you are.”
Evelyn cleared her throat and glanced at Anna. She wished Anna wasn’t in the room, but there was no help for it.
“Uncle George, I heard about Aunt Martha. I’m sorry I can’t be there. How sick is she? Do I need to come back?” Evelyn watched as Peder began transmitting the message, tapping it out in Morse code on a single metal paddle. “A storm is on the way and in three days, the good weather here will turn bad. I’m enjoying myself and meeting a lot of new people. If I must return, I’ll be sorry to leave, but happy to do so if it will help you.” Evelyn paused, watching, then, “Sign it as Jian.”
“Jian?” Peder repeated, glancing at her. “How do you spell that?”
“J-i-a-n.” She hesitated, then smiled. “It’s a nickname from when I was a girl.”
He nodded and finished a minute later. “Am I waiting for a reply?”
“If you don’t mind.”
“How long does that usually take?” Anna asked.
Evelyn shrugged. “It depends. Sometimes right away, and sometimes longer.”
Peder removed his headset and turned to face Evelyn.
“While we’re waiting, why don’t you tell me why you’re really here?” he asked pleasantly, crossing his arms over his chest and settling his dark gaze on her face.
Evelyn raised her eyebrows. “Pardon?”
“I just sent what I’m pretty sure was a coded message to London,” he said. “You could have done that from any other radio in the city, or from the embassy. Why me?”
She swallowed and saw Anna look at her out of the corner of her eye.
“Kristian said you were the best radio operator in Oslo,” she said slowly, keeping her eyes on his face. “I wanted to see for myself.”
Peder raised his eyebrows. “And?”
“And your machine is superior to anything I was expecting to find.”
“Who are you? And don’t tell me you’re Anna’s friend. Who do you work for?”
“I think you’ve already figured that out, haven’t you?” she asked softly.
There was a long moment of charged silence and then a reluctant smile pulled at his lips.
“I think so, yes,” he agreed, uncrossing his arms and reaching into his pocket for a packet of cigarettes. “Do you mind?” he asked, holding them up questioningly and she shook her head.
“No.”
“What are you doing in Norway?” he asked, offering them each a cigarette. Evelyn took one but Anna declined. “Are you here because you think the Germans will come? Or are you here because you think the British will come?”
He leaned forward to light her cigarette and Evelyn couldn’t stop the faint smile that came to her lips. She’d known he wasn’t stupid. He was just the type of person they could use.
“What do you think?” she asked.
He lit his own cigarette before shaking out the match and sitting back.
“I think Hitler will try anything. He’s arrogant, and his forces need the Swedish iron to keep going. Everyone knows Germany has none of their own. I don’t know if it will be Norway or Sweden, but I think he will try something.” He paused, then shrugged. “All the radio traffic out of Germany says as much.”
“You’ve been listening to them as well?” Anna asked. “Are all the amateur radio operators listening to the Germans?”
Peder grinned. “Well, they make it so easy,” he said with a laugh. Then he sobered. “I don’t know that all of the others are listening, but a few of us are. And I don’t like the amount of traffic that’s been going between the Kriegsmarine and the Wehrmacht lately.”
“What do you think it means?” Evelyn asked.
“I think it means that Hitler is planning something big for Scandinavia, but I don’t know what.” Peder frowned. “He’s guaranteed that he will not breach Norway’s neutrality. Perhaps it is Sweden he is looking to.”
Evelyn studied him for a minute. “What if it isn’t?”
His lips tightened.
“Then that’s a problem, and one that I think we’ll all have to face sooner rather than later.” He met her stare. “Is that why you’re here today? To know what I will do if the Germans try to invade Norway?”
The blunt question took Anna aback and she let out a soft, involuntary gasp, but Evelyn smiled slowly, unsurprised.
“I think I know what you will do,” she said. “Am I wrong?”
There was a long, heavy silence, then he grinned. “Somehow I don’t think you’re wrong very often.”
Evelyn let out a short laugh. “Oh, I’m wrong more often than I like to admit,” she told him. “But I don’t think this is one of those times.”
Anna looked from one to the other, a frown on her
