Page 9 of The Secret Librarian
‘And what exactly would I be doing, if you were to recruit me for the IDC?’ she asked, trying to hide her excitement. ‘If I were to be posted overseas.’
‘After a short period of training, you’d be sent overseas to a neutral country, specifically to seek out newspapers, books and other texts to help us gather information on the enemy,’ he explained. ‘You would essentially be operating under the guise of working for the Library of Congress – an innocent librarian collecting all newspapers and other information for the purposes of preservation.’
She smiled. ‘Which would essentially only be half a lie.’
‘Precisely,’ he said. ‘Your mission would in fact be to photograph and send back copies of enemy publications, on microfilm of course; however no one other than you would know that. To put it bluntly, our agency strongly believes that accessing enemy publications could provide vital information that might help us win the war. It’s important we read Axis newspapers and recently published books as quickly as we can, and we need those publications here, for our intelligence bureau to access in Washington.’
Avery took a deep breath. ‘Would I be in danger, if I agreed to such a role?’
‘Yes,’ he replied bluntly. ‘There’s little doubt that you would be in some danger as a foreign national, but I’m confident that if you go about your business, focusing only on doing the job assigned to you, then you would be unlikely to draw attention.’
Avery blew out a breath this time, hardly able to believe what he was telling her.
‘If I agreed to this opportunity,’ she began, thinking through her choice of words carefully before continuing, ‘would I be able to tell my family where I was going? How exactly would I explain this to my parents? Would it be a secret?’ She half laughed. ‘What I’m trying to say is, I’ll need a way to explain this to my father.’
‘Well, the answer is yes and no. They will know your cover story, which means they’re aware of your location, but they won’t know the full extent of your work. All you’ll tell them is precisely what you’d tell anyone who asked wherever you’re posted – you’re there to obtain all newspapers and texts from all countries, as a record of history, for your work as a librarian. They don’t need to know that we’re in fact searching enemy publications for clues, but they can be told how badly your government needs you.’
‘For the Library of Congress,’ she said.
‘Precisely.’
Avery suddenly felt hot all over, and she dabbed at her upper lip with the back of her finger. She also moved her arms from her sides slightly, hoping she didn’t have sweat marks on her blouse.
‘Do you have any further questions for me?’ Kilgour asked.
She interlinked her fingers, frantically trying to think of intelligent questions she could ask and failing to come up with any.
Kilgour cleared his throat and glanced at his watch, as if he had somewhere else to be or perhaps someone else to meet.
‘The crux of the matter is that we need men and women with special skills to join the IDC. Being overseas isn’t for the faint of heart, but my understanding is that you’ve fought your way to succeed in a man’s world already, Avery.’
She met his steady gaze, understanding that he was probably a man few people ever said no to.
‘So can we count on you, Avery?’ he asked.
She felt her hands begin to tremble and she balled them into fists, taking a deep breath and meeting Kilgour’s steady gaze.
‘I’m flattered that you think I’d be suitable for the role, truly I am, and I’m immensely interested in helping my country,’ Avery said, feeling an unfamiliar flutter inside of her as she forced her words out. ‘But I need to think about it.’
His lips formed a tight line as he stared back at her, before finally speaking again.
‘I’m only in town for one more day,’ he said. ‘I’ll give you my card, but I have to tell you that you won’t be offered this kind of opportunity again if you turn this one down.’
Avery rose, smoothing down her skirt before reaching for the card he extended. ‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘And I understand the time constraints, I just need time to consider your proposal.’
He blinked wordlessly at her, then rose and walked a few steps behind her to the door, quietly, as if waiting for her to fill the silence with words. She couldn’t tell if he was disappointed or whether he’d expected her not to give him an answer on the spot anyway.
Her heels sank into the carpet as she walked, and her heart sank at the same time, feeling as if she’d already made a mistake in not giving him a straight answer.
I need to be braver. I came here hoping to be offered an opportunity. I walked through this door hoping to be given the chance of a lifetime. This is everything I’ve ever wanted. What’s stopping me from giving the man an answer here and now?
Avery reached for the door handle, but then just as quickly dropped her hand and slowly turned around. She knew if she didn’t make a decision now, if she wasn’t brave enough to just say yes, she would regret it for the rest of her life.
‘I’ll do it,’ she said, sounding breathless even though she wasn’t.
A smile spread across Kilgour’s face. ‘You had me worried there for a moment, Avery.’
‘Thank you for the opportunity,’ she said, as he shook her hand a little too vigorously. ‘I promise I won’t let you down.’
