A Dead Man in Athens by Michael Pearce Read Free Book Online Page A

the Government generally.
    As he matured, or, as his sister put it, his nasty work turned him nastier, he began to develop a political sense of his own. He could see the internal politics in most places.
    And certainly in the harem. But the politics he could see there didn’t seem to tie up at all with the sort of politics that these blokes seemed bothered about. War? They must be joking. But the Greek representative and the Ottoman representative hadn’t seemed to be joking.
    ‘You know,’ he said hesitantly to the Second Secretary, as they walked along the corridor together, ‘I’m really not convinced that the cat’s death was political. Not in your sense of the word, at any rate.’
    The Second Secretary stopped.
    ‘Listen,’ he said, ‘in the Balkans everything is political.’
    At lunch he found himself sitting opposite another Englishman, who had, apparently, arrived in Athens only a few weeks before. His name was Stevens and he was an engineer.
    ‘Aeroplanes,’ he said to Seymour.
    ‘Ah, yes. The new Bl´eriot machines. I saw two of them yesterday.’
    ‘Bl´eriot machines?’ said the First Secretary. ‘I wouldn’t have thought there was enough work to keep you going, Mr Stevens.’
    ‘The Government’s ordering three,’ said Stevens, ‘and it’ll be my job to service them. I’ll have to build up servicing facilities. Because there could be more.’
    ‘More?’ said the First Secretary. ‘What on earth would they want more for?’
    ‘The war,’ said Stevens. ‘If it comes.’
    The First Secretary looked at his plate.
    ‘Ah, yes,’ he said. ‘The war.’
    ‘But I still don’t see –’ said the Second Secretary. ‘I mean – what use would they be?’
    Stevens put down his knife and fork.
    ‘What use would they be?’ he said incredulously. ‘Why, they would make all the difference. Look, suppose you’ve got mountains, right? As you have in Greece. Lots of them. And there’s an army on one side of the mountain and an army on the other. The one that’s got Bl´eriots would be able to know what the other was doing.’
    ‘Yes, but you could send someone to take a look, couldn’t you?’
    ‘In any case, Mr Stevens,’ said the First Secretary, smiling, ‘this is Greece. Everyone knows what everyone else is doing.’
    ‘Yes, but you’d know it much more quickly,’ said Stevens. ‘And if you sent someone on foot, the army could have moved by the time they get back and reported.’
    ‘Armies have managed all right so far,’ said the Second Secretary.
    ‘But have they managed all right? This would improve things. The generals would have more information.’
    ‘Would that improve things?’
    ‘And in any case,’ said Stevens earnestly, ‘it’s not just information. You could drop things.’
    ‘Bricks and things, you mean? But wouldn’t that be dangerous? You might hit someone –’
    ‘Bombs,’ said Stevens.
    ‘Bombs!’ said the First Secretary, aghast.
    ‘I don’t think that’s very sporting,’ said the Second Secretary.
    ‘It’s the way it’s going to be,’ said Stevens.
    ‘But that’s – that’s terrible! It would transform –’
    ‘Exactly,’ said Stevens, picking up his knife and fork again and plying them with relish.
    ‘Have you come across a Miss Metaxas?’ asked Seymour, some time later. ‘I gather she’s interested in – what was it that you called it? – servicing Bl´eriot machines.’
    ‘Oh, yes. But that’s the private machines. I’ve seen her with the mechanics. You don’t often see a woman – but she’s quite good. For a woman, I mean.’
    ‘She works as a mechanic ?’ said the First Secretary.
    ‘That’s right, yes,’ said Stevens. ‘On the private machines. There are three of them. That’s a lot, you know. For a place like Athens. I’ve met the people who fly them, too. They’re amateurs, of course. But good. They could come in handy if it really does get to war. They’d need training, of course, but with