Read Online THE LAST GOOD WAR: A Novel by Paul Wonnacott - Free Book Online

the university. He would no longer object.”
    “So you liked the academy when you got there?”
    “Well, yes and no. I started out with a concentration on artillery; that seemed the closest to mathematics. In a sense, it was. But if you have a knack for math, you quickly get bored with parabolic trajectories of shells. And in combat, the artillery works from tables; they don't do their own calculations.”
    “Sounds as though you were disappointed. Why didn't you switch to the university after the first year?”
    “I had a lot of friends. In the military, the sense of comradeship is remarkable. You know that some day your life may depend on your friends. And I became very interested in the cavalry; I've always loved horses.”
    “So we have the same two interests—mathematics and horses. You picked horses; I picked math.”
    “Put that way, horses seem pretty trivial.” Kaz spoke gently, without the hint of offense.
    “Not at all. Not at all. With the grim international situation, it's obvious, how important our armed forces are.” Anna waved her hand in front of her face, attempting to shoo away a fly. She put her hand back on the sofa. Close once more, but not quite touching.
    “You found your niche; you seem unusually good at mathematics.”
    “It's in the genes.... My grandfather was a cousin of Marie Curie.” Again, he seemed impressed.... “I'm also radioactive,” she added with a smile. “I glow in the dark.”
    “My little glowworm.”
    Anna suddenly realized that she and Kaz were alone. She hadn't noticed; twenty minutes earlier, Krystyna and Pawel had slipped away. She felt a warm glow. Kaz was different—so unlike the boys she dated in high school, who were so... so shallow . Even Ryk, the fun-loving Ryk, always seemed to be skating along the surface. She'd known him since she was fourteen, but somehow she wondered if she really knew him at all. She was so much more comfortable with Kaz. Now, after only one evening, she felt as though she had known him for years.

6
Steckered
    When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.
    Sherlock Holmes,
The Sign of Four
     
    T he next afternoon, Anna curled up in a well stuffed chair and began to read Anna Karenina . This was, she realized, the first time in several years she had enjoyed the luxury of sitting down with a novel. When Krystyna dropped by to pick her up for the evening's festivities, Anna demurred; enough parties for the time being. Krystyna smiled quizzically. Anna responded: I'll be going out with Kaz on Saturday. That's the first time he can get away.
    For the next three weeks, Krystyna got the same answer: Anna would be seeing Kaz. Then, on Tuesday of the following week, Anna received a message: a telegram from the “Special Meteorology Project” for her to return—at once. At this time of day, she couldn't contact Kaz by phone to break their date. She wrote, and then rewrote, a telegram to him; and rewrote a follow-up letter at least half a dozen times, saying how much she hoped to get back to Warsaw.
    There was no need to be concerned. Three days earlier, Kaz had put in for a transfer to a base near Poznan. It would come through quickly; many officers were eager to transfer the other way, from Poznan to Warsaw.
     
    W hen Anna got back to the “Special Meteorology Project,” she was surprised at the upbeat mood. Substantial progress had been made with Rejewski's machine, although undeciphered messages were still piling up. The following day, Henryk reappeared, carrying a large case. He called the group of four together and opened the case with a flourish. Inside was an Enigma machine with an attachment—something like a small telephone switchboard, dotted with round holes or sockets, each labeled with a letter. A tangle of cables connected the sockets in no apparent order.
    “That,” announced Henryk, pointing to the switchboard, “is a plugboard, or, as the Germans call it, a