“You think you can find thirty willing and able?” Hiram said.
“At least thirty,” Deborah said. She headed for the trucks.
A rustling in the woods near the Citroën drew the eyes of a few of Hiram’s soldiers and they adjusted their weapons to fire.
“Hello ladies,” Trembley said as he emerged from the darkness and raised his arms. No one pulled the trigger, but the tension in the clearing lingered well after the soldiers relaxed.
“I’m hoping you’ve got good news,” Hiram said.
“The five-man patrol along the base of the hill is moving like clockwork. We should be able to avoid them fairly easy.”
“What about the town?”
“No signs of life. Looks deserted. Of course, it’s still early.”
Irene’s eyes lit up as she spoke. “Then, we won’t have to worry about a lot of civilian casualties when we blow our way into Switzerland with one of your nuclear weapons.” Deborah almost laughed as she translated.
“How welcome do you think we’ll be in Switzerland if we set off a weapon of that magnitude?” Hiram asked.
When Deborah finished translating, Irene shrugged.
“Sarah’s last transmission said the Americans have arranged for the Swiss to accept us on the condition we’ll be let into the United States,” Charlotte said.
“I’m not sure our neutral friends would honor such an arrangement if we kill a couple dozen of their border guards,” Hiram said.
“Have you got a better idea?” Trembley asked.
“I don’t know,” Hiram said. “We could follow a couple of combat robots up the ravine. We’d probably make it.”
“If a machine gun burst hits one of the trucks, the casualties are going to be high,” Deborah said.
Hiram glanced at Charlotte’s display. “Zoom in on the town.” She adjusted the view and he moved closer to look. “What’s this?” he said pointing.
“Church?” Charlotte said.
“A mostly intact church,” Trembley said. “I looked over the steeple pretty carefully, searching for spotters or snipers. Didn’t see anyone.”
“You think I could get a clean shot on the checkpoint from there?” Hiram said.
“Good possibility,” Trembley said.
“I could clean out the checkpoint at the bottom of the hill before our convoy comes into sight. That would give us a little more time. How many guards did you see?”
“I counted five heat signatures,” Charlotte said.
“Can you shoot that distance?” Deborah placed her left hand on top of Hiram’s right, which was trembling slightly.
“Yes, I can shoot,” Hiram said defensively. Turning to the others, he said “Deborah and I can visit the church and check out the sightlines from the steeple. And maybe pick up Captain Petain along the way. Trembley - you and Team Charlie will head up this hillside and get in position to take out the upper checkpoint. If we can take out both checkpoints, we’ll send a pair of combat robots up the ravine to eliminate the machine gun nests in these areas.”
“That leaves the guards at the top of the ridge.” Trembley smiled. “And I think your soldiers are quite capable of knocking out a few stragglers.”
56
0225 hours, Tuesday, August 18, 1942, Les Alliés, Doubs Department, Occupied France
Hiram stared at his C2ID2 display as Deborah drove the railbike into Les Alliés. “Turn left here,” he said. “Petain should be moving down the right side of the street.”
Deborah swung the bike in a tight arc, and the tires offered a half-hearted squeal on the cobblestone street. Petain, a couple hundred meters ahead, turned at the sound. As Deborah accelerated towards him, Petain cut into an alley to his right and disappeared.
Deborah pulled up to the alley. She slowed to make the turn, then slammed on the breaks.
Hiram pitched forward into the cowling of the sidecar. He put his foot out to steady himself and the impact shot a fresh and intense surge of pain up through his leg. He hissed.
“Sorry,” she said. “I didn’t expect the stairs.”
In the alley, several flights of stairs, broken by short flat stretches, led up to the next cross street. Petain had made it about two-thirds of the way up.
“We can go around and cut him off,” Deborah said.
“Let’s see if I can slow him down a bit first.” Hiram brought his sniper rifle to his shoulder. “Might give us a blood trail to follow if he decides to take cover in one of these buildings.” Hiram settled his weapon’s sight picture on Petain’s lower back, then lowered it to put a bullet into his right leg. Hiram’s left arm trembled as he tried to bite back the pain in his ankle. The sight picture wobbled a bit too low. He corrected and jerked the trigger.
Petain’s head exploded in a red mist.
Hiram said nothing as he lowered his rifle and settled back into the side car.
Deborah put a hand on his shoulder. “Plan B it is.”
Deborah parked the railbike a block from the church. The sign in front said Église de Sainte-Foy. Hiram leaned against a shed with his weapon ready while Deborah crept up the steps to the rear entrance. If she ran into trouble, his bad ankle would hinder his ability to help her. Deborah disappeared through the door and the helpless feeling grew.
Five minutes later, her voice came across his C2ID2. “All clear.”
Hiram hobbled his way up the stairs and into the church. He had never been inside a Catholic church. He recognized the altar and crucifix mounted on the wall behind it, but the layout was unfamiliar. He said a brief prayer asking forgiveness for using a house of God to kill. They needed God’s protection, now more than ever.
Deborah met him at the base of the curving staircase that led up to the steeple. “No need for you to make the climb,” she said. “The checkpoint is beyond the curve of the hillside. Can’t see anything.”
“Kak,” Hiram said. Without a clear shot at the lower checkpoint, they needed to scratch the effort to sever the communications lines. He stood at the bottom of the staircase, admiring the brave woman before him and wondering why he hadn’t taken both Deborah and Danette away from this madness. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he was setting them both out as targets◦– as sacrifices◦– to save the others.
“Hawk, this is Raven, over.” He jumped at the sound of Sarah’s voice coming from his C2ID2.
“Raven, this is Hawk. Good to hear your voice, over.”
“Hawk, Falcon’s request has been approved.”
“Raven, say again.”
“Hawk, ETA for the British SAS Commandos is fifteen minutes. Touching down in the field north of Les Alliés.”
“Roger, Raven,” Hiram said. “We’ll be waiting for them. How many?”
“Two full troops. Thirty-two soldiers, plus Major Thompson and Sergeant-Major Wilkes.”
Deborah’s eyes widened along with her smile.
“Roger, Raven.”
“Good luck Hiram. I’ll see you all on the other side,” Sarah said. “Raven out.”
Deborah’s hands flew up into the air and she let out a relieved laugh. “We’re finally going to get some help,” Deborah said.
“It shows how badly they want the nukes,” he replied. “And I’ll be surprised if that’s all they want.”
Deborah helped Hiram hobble over to a pew near the back of the church. He contacted his team leaders and Trembley via C2ID2 and passed along the good news.
“Trembley◦– I could kiss you,” Hiram said.
“Not necessary, Hiram. I’ve got a team of lovely ladies over here that are a bit more appealing. I’m taking Irene with me to coordinate with Major Thompson and his men. Maybe she’ll be the lucky one.”