The monitor showed a rambling farmhouse surrounded on three sides by fields of grain. In an open area of dirt and grass between the house and barn, someone had placed a large number of painted white rocks and spelled the phrase FAMILLES ENVOYÉS VITTELCAMP and below it DÉPARTEMENT VOSGES followed by DANGER EXTREME.
“What is that?” Trembley peered at the monitor over Hiram’s shoulder.
“Video feed from a drone flying over a farmhouse where one of our people is being held,” Hiram answered. He read the words over again, considering the implications of the message.
“Huh,” Trembley said.
“Think of it like a film that you can see as it’s being made,” Agnes said.
“I’ll show you,” Nathalie said. She took out and activated her own display unit, which showed the view from a drone circling above their position. “Ida, step out into that clearing over there and wave your arms about a bit.”
Ida appeared on the display. Trembley looked back and forth between the real Ida out in the field to the one on the monitor. Once satisfied it was not a trick, he walked out into the field with Ida and searched the sky, shielding his eyes from the sun.
“You can’t see it,” Ida said joining him in his skyward search. “Too small and too far up.”
“It flies without a pilot?” Trembley asked.
“We tell them where to go, but they fly on their own,” Ida replied. “We have three in the air at the moment. One flying above us like this,” she made figure eight motions in the air with her finger, “one over Saint Chamond and one searching for two of our people near Saarbrücken.”
Hiram had only been half paying attention to the conversation the Babel Fish repeated in his ear. By the time he checked back in to the discussion, it was too late. He hadn’t intended to expose the drone technology to the Americans.
Protecting his team’s technological advantages for as long as possible would increase their bargaining power, but he couldn’t blame them for the drone lapse he had caused. To their credit, neither Nathalie nor Agnes had mentioned the Icarus drone also flying above them. The Americans and Brits knew about the C2ID2s. As for the portal technology, he wouldn’t disclose his piece de resistance, unless necessary.
Hiram looked away from the display and out to Trembley and Ida, still peering up into the sky and talking. Agnes stood close to him, focused more on the terrible words on the display than the thing that captured them.
“What do we do, Hiram?” Agnes said, her words soft, desperate. The Babel Fish failed to capture her emotion.
Before he could respond, Barbara pushed past Agnes and stood in front of him. She stabbed a finger at Rosette’s message on the display. “We go to Vittel now! We save the families!”
“We’ll send a team south as soon as it’s dark,” Hiram said. “We don’t want the railbikes spotted during the day.”
Satisfied with Hiram’s response, Barbara nodded then walked off with purpose, ready to kick everyone in gear to save their families. He returned Agnes’ display unit and said, “Keep an eye on the farm. Search for any signs it might be a trap. Find out how many people are in that house and the area around it.”
“We are going to save them,” she said. Hiram debated whether she was asking a question or telling him it was going to happen.
“We are going to try.”
She nodded and walked away with the C2ID2. Hiram doubted Agnes would look away from the display without more news to report.
Trembley, still searching for the drone above them, sidestepped his way back to Hiram. “What else do have hiding in your bag of tricks Hiram? I’d swear you practice witchcraft if we didn’t need what you’ve got to win this war.”
Hiram took out his own display unit and set it to show a map of France on which he’d already superimposed a line of demarcation between Occupied France and Vichy France. Working with Trembley, he added the locations of major German units and headquarters.
“Defensive preparations along the Mediterranean Coast are minimal compared to the Atlantic Wall,” Hiram said. “Except for the French fleet at Toulon.”
“I agree. I suppose the Germans think they can shift forces to the coast faster than we can mount an invasion from Great Britain, despite the limitations of the terrain. Movement from north to south in southwestern France is constrained by the mountains, dormant volcanoes, and river gorges of the Massif Central and the westernmost Alps. Their spies have probably learned we intend to attack western North Africa before invading Europe. At least we did until a few days ago.”
“For the sake of argument, if the fleet at Toulon no longer existed, and these two divisions belonging to 1st Army were also eliminated.” Hiram indicated the position of an infantry division near Moulins, across the demarcation line north of Vichy, and a panzer-grenadier division near Libourne, south of Bordeaux. “Then Vichy would have a difficult time repulsing a surprise invasion from the Mediterranean. What’s left of the German Army’s forces in France remain static divisions along the Atlantic Coast. They can’t move without significant transportation support.”
“Don’t forget the 2nd Waffen SS Panzer-Grenadier division here,” Trembley said as he pointed to Dijon in the Côte-d'Or Department. “They have a high-speed avenue of approach south along the roads paralleling the Rhone River all the way to the coast.”
Hiram studied the map, looking for a choke point. “Here, south of Valence,” he said. “Minimal casualties if we plug them up here.”
“If we put the eight divisions slated for Operation Torch ashore here,” Trembley indicated the broad sweep of coast from the French-Spanish border to Marseille. “And seize the passes coming down from the north before any additional German reinforcements arrive.”
“And hold them long enough for the rest of the invasion force to arrive,” Hiram said.
“But we leave a wide gap between the southern end of the Massif Central and the Pyrenees.” Trembley indicated a ten-kilometer-wide by fifty-kilometer-long valley of open farmland between Alzonne and Olonzac in the Aude Department. “That will be difficult to hold.”
“It’s sparsely populated farmland,” Hiram said. “We can use the atomic weapons there without a lot of collateral damage. It’s a lot easier to employ them as we retreat than to set them on ground we are trying to take.”
“Sounds like we have the beginnings of a plan,” Trembley said.
A plan that will speed the end of the war. But not one that will save the families. Hiram excused himself, saying he needed to go talk to his team. He found Agnes near her railbike.
“Can you cover for me for a little while? I need to do a little research. If Trembley shows up, let me know via C2ID2,” Hiram said. “Have you ever heard of Frontstalag 194?”
Once the translator completed its work, Agnes shook her head.
The camp must have been a minor one compared to Joffre. He found a quiet spot away from the group and sat down on a fallen tree. He searched for the unknown camp on the C2ID2, though he found few references that provided any detail. Initially, the place had been the spa town of Vittel with several well-known, glamorous hotels. Early in the war, a few of the buildings served as a hospital for French soldiers. Over a short period of time, Vittel transitioned into an internment camp for foreign citizens stuck in France during the German invasion. Vittel served as a poster child for the way an internment camp was meant to be run. The staff provided fresh, generous rations supplemented by packages from the Red Cross, running water, and medical care, and facilities for leisure activities. The guests at Camp Vittel had been encouraged to partake in leisure activities. They had even been allowed to receive mail and visitors from outside the camp.