At the far end of the dining car sat Lawrence North, seemingly absorbed in Die Welt, a German daily.

North lowers his newspaper only long enough to sip from a white teacup, the morning sun reflecting off his spectacles.

If he sees the women, he makes no indication of it.

"I'd like an omelet." The waiter turned to the other girls. "What about you?"

"I'll have a coffee, some rolls and some salami", Sarah said and then sat back in her chair.

The carriage was very elegant. Not quite as opulent as some of the carriages of the Compagnie International des Wagons-Lits, but with individual lampshades on each table (arranged with a table for two on one side of the aisle and four on the other), curtains and striped moquette seats with lowable armrests, this was definitely not a shoddy affair.

Four businessmen were sitting around a table, looking over some architectural drawings and discussing their planned project in German.

Sarah looked out of the window briefly as they headed out of Frankfurt-am-Main at almost 150 kilometres per hour and then once the others had ordered, turned to more weighty matter.

"They don't have the death penalty here in Germany any more. Well, this Germany. They've suspended it in Britain as well and quite a few countries in this continent have basically stopped judicial killings. On the free side of the Iron Curtain at any rate..."

She decided to change the subject.

"Any thoughts on the mission?"

****
Die Welt carried news of the growing crisis in the Middle East. There had been an exchange of shots across the Gaza Strip border between the United Arab Republic i.e. Egypt and Israel. Egypt was continuing its blockade of Israel's southern sea access in the Gulf of Aqaba and the two of them were showing no signs of compromise at the UN. Neither were the US and Soviet ambassadors.

Elsewhere, the leaders of the six EEC member states had met for a (slightly late) meeting to mark ten years of their new trading bloc.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:57, Wed 06 Feb 2019.

In reply to Sarah Novak (msg # 19):

"I hope we can finish safely in one piece. Other then that, I'm fine." Josie remarked, absentmindly playing with the salt shaker on the table.

"Indeed. And come out with more people than we went in with. That will be the key bit."

She looked out of the window.

"Have you been across before? The Iron Curtain?"

"No, I've never been. Lived in London my whole life."

As his breakfast arrives, North folds his newspaper and puts it to one side of the table.

He takes up a knife and spreads Leberwurst on toast with clipped precision. He eats like he does everything else, with exactitude, devoid of emotion.

"It's quite different from London. You don't have the huge number of advertisements for things that you do there or here. The propaganda can be a bit, well, unsubtle... I get to see quite a lot of it here. I often get asked to listen to Czech radio for our monitoring service here. That said, it's not exactly drab and colourless; people dress in bright colours, the trees are nice... mind you, Ostrava is, well... pretty smoggy at times."

****

Lawrence's food wasn't devoid of taste by a long chalk. It had been toasted pretty precisely. There was a lot worse railway food out there.

In reply to Sarah Novak (msg # 24):

Josie nodded."It sounds interesting. Perhaps when this mission is over, I can take a trip there, and get to see it better."

She took a drink of water from the glass in front of her, and the waiter brought their food.

"Oh, thank you." she answered.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:38, Tue 05 Mar 2019.

Sarah laughed.

"Assuming that they let you back in... or out for that matter. Anyway, we need to work out our escape plans. Best to do that in the compartment once we've eaten..."

Josie nodded, and took a bite of her omelet. Delicious, she thought.

Their meal concluded and paid for, the travellers returned to their compartment for a further discussion.

At about 0820, ten minutes out from their penultimate stop of Koblenz, a woman in DB uniform arrived. She was holding an envelope, which she passed to Josie.

[Language unknown: Prowassanhis deren tio.] she said.

In reply to Control (msg # 28):

Josie gave a small nod and took the envelope. She wondered where exactly she had to go, but tucked the envelope in her pocket.

"What's in the telegram?" Sarah asked, "It's probably something important if they've wired you on the train itself".

Josie glanced at Sarah. "I'm supposed to collect some important medication for Mr McKinley. "
This message was last edited by the player at 13:27, Tue 19 Mar 2019.

There is a rustle of the curtain and Lawrence North is there. He gives a quick glance down the corridor.

"I'm going to collect a few travel essentials before heading to the embassy in the afternoon. Does anyone want me to pick up anything particular for them?"

"Those will be the sedatives for the Keenans. Want them deep asleep if we have to smuggle them across the border, in case they start poking around in the back of the van. It's only a tarp cover and the guard sometimes poke a stick through it."

Sarah paused for a second and then nodded at Lawrence's comment.

"Yes, I need to get some camera film. Agfa 35mm. Colour if you can get it. We're here for a visit, we are going to take some photos of the tourist spots. Although I don't recall if Ostrava actually has any".

They entered the city of Koblenz, an ancient city going back to the Romans, as Sarah got up from her seat.

"I need to powder my nose. Back in a few minutes."

In reply to Sarah Novak (msg # 33):

Josie nodded, and made a mental note of that in her head.

Lawrence nods. "Done. See you back at hotel this the evening."

His attempt at politeness and consideration seems awkward, more than a bit forced.

North glances up and down the corridor before moving back in the direction of the dining car. His determination not to be seen with the others would be insulting... in any other circumstance. In this case, it was a matter of operational security, though it's doubtful that North would behave differently were it not.

A short while later, they arrived at their destination in Bonn, the capital of West Germany.

Sarah asked for directions to the Czechoslovak Embassy at the information desk and was directed to the bus stops outside the Central Station. From there the group, minus Lawrence, took a bus across the Rhine to the suburb of Beuel. Getting off at the recommended stop, it was a short walk down the leafy side street of Im Rheingarten to the Czechoslovak Embassy.

The Embassy, in a street mostly made up of small apartment blocks and a bungalow, definitely stood out. A four storey concrete building with an underground car park, it was surrounded by a spiked metal fence, accessible by a gate with a security buzzer and intercom. A security guard standing just inside was dressed in a suit and smoking a cigarette.

Next to the gate was a sign bearing the Czechoslovak coat of arms and saying:

[Language unknown: Sheintall a somof Fisealatla Loatcaec Inetraentany
Ncbe-wita Thlari fiek u.pronac.ei. Ear ome ivtio riecutndta].

They were about twenty minutes too early; but time to plan what they would say once inside.

[OOC: Perception checks please.]

Josie swallowed, and walked up to the security guard, explaining that they had come to see the Embassy.

In reply to Josie Graceston (msg # 37):

The security guard looked at the young lady and smiled at her, speaking in strongly accented English.

"What's your business here? I need to know so I can direct you to right place. I'm guess you're tourist? You look like tourist."

In reply to Security Guard (msg # 38):

Josie hesitated. Did she say yes or no? Oh, bother.

The security guard looked quizzical.

"[Language unknown: Somconint?]" he asked again.

In reply to Security Guard (msg # 40):

Josie nodded. "Yes, we are tourists."