and ambush. 62
The major had formed his own evaluation of the offer, and of the individual who made it. He thought little of either, but they needed those extra guns. ‘How many of you are there altogether?’
‘There are just the six of us. We lost five men yesterday when we tried to enter a Russian dump. Some were taken alive, so by now we will be known.’
Without question Revell accepted the girl’s statement. The efficiency of the Russian interrogation methods was well known. Both the military police, the so- called Commandant’s Service, and the military arm of the KGB were expert in extracting the truth. Anyone falling into their hands would tell everything before they died. No wonder this handful of renegades wanted out, and their desperation only made them all the less trustworthy.
‘You’re with them?’ Despite the submachine gun, and the familiar way in which she handled it, Revell found it hard to believe that the girl was a full member of this ugly crew.
‘Yes. I had been conscripted as a telegraphist into the Territorial Workers Militia. The Soviets killed all our officers, and were sending us to Russia as a labour battalion, because we would not provide a firing squad to shoot civilians who had been stealing from them.’ She threw a look of contempt at her companions. ‘I would never work for the Russians, so I ran away. This is as far as I could get.’
Hyde had been sidling nearer to the officer while the exchange went on, and now he whispered from behind the hand he held over his lipless mouth. ‘I’ve got a smoke grenade. We could be out of here before this lot know what’s happening.’
Though he didn’t hear the words, the shaven-headed East German sensed that something was going on and took a threatening pace forward. He indicated with jerking movements of his submachine gun that he wanted them to move apart.
‘Well?’ Hyde held his ground.
‘No, we can use their firepower. It’s our transport they want. I reckon we can trust them until the job’s done.’ Revell spoke to the girl. ‘Tell your ugly friend we’ll do a deal.’
While Revell, the girl, and bullet-head held a discussion to iron out the details of the arrangement, Hyde and Libby withdrew to a corner. ‘Can’t say I’m too keen on this, Sarge. Do you think he knows what he’s doing?’
‘I bloody hope so. It’s not just his neck he’s sticking out. Mind you. he’s right about them being OK until they find out where the skimmer is; it’s after that things could start to get a bit hairy. I wouldn’t put anything past this lot.’
‘I know someone who won’t like this arrangement -Clarence.’ Libby accepted a cigarette and a light from Hyde. ‘As far as he’s concerned, once a Commie always a Commie. He’s quite likely to blow their heads off the moment he sees them.’ ‘I can’t see the major being too happy about that if it happens. So we’d better keep an eye on him, hadn’t you.
The heavy emphasis wasn’t lost on Libby, ‘I’m not his bloody keeper.’
‘You are now. I’m not having this job and my pension buggered up, just because one of my blokes takes it into his head to shoot GDR deserters into decent imitations of lace curtains with dum-dums. Anyway, you’re the only one he really gets on with.’
That was something Libby could not deny. He and Clarence had lost much in the war. For the sniper though the loss of his family, a part of his mind and his humanity at least had been sudden and complete. For Libby fate had reserved a more spiteful piece of cruelty. Two days before he and Helga were to be married, the Russian armour had plunged into West Germany: the border town of Ratzburg where she lived with her grandfather had been one of the first to be overrun. All he could do now was keep looking and hoping. To do so he had to stay in the Zone, and he’d stay there for as long as it continued to exist, and he lived.
Revell concluded his discussion through their interpreter and
The major had formed his own evaluation of the offer, and of the individual who made it. He thought little of either, but they needed those extra guns. ‘How many of you are there altogether?’
‘There are just the six of us. We lost five men yesterday when we tried to enter a Russian dump. Some were taken alive, so by now we will be known.’
Without question Revell accepted the girl’s statement. The efficiency of the Russian interrogation methods was well known. Both the military police, the so- called Commandant’s Service, and the military arm of the KGB were expert in extracting the truth. Anyone falling into their hands would tell everything before they died. No wonder this handful of renegades wanted out, and their desperation only made them all the less trustworthy.
‘You’re with them?’ Despite the submachine gun, and the familiar way in which she handled it, Revell found it hard to believe that the girl was a full member of this ugly crew.
‘Yes. I had been conscripted as a telegraphist into the Territorial Workers Militia. The Soviets killed all our officers, and were sending us to Russia as a labour battalion, because we would not provide a firing squad to shoot civilians who had been stealing from them.’ She threw a look of contempt at her companions. ‘I would never work for the Russians, so I ran away. This is as far as I could get.’
Hyde had been sidling nearer to the officer while the exchange went on, and now he whispered from behind the hand he held over his lipless mouth. ‘I’ve got a smoke grenade. We could be out of here before this lot know what’s happening.’
Though he didn’t hear the words, the shaven-headed East German sensed that something was going on and took a threatening pace forward. He indicated with jerking movements of his submachine gun that he wanted them to move apart.
‘Well?’ Hyde held his ground.
‘No, we can use their firepower. It’s our transport they want. I reckon we can trust them until the job’s done.’ Revell spoke to the girl. ‘Tell your ugly friend we’ll do a deal.’
While Revell, the girl, and bullet-head held a discussion to iron out the details of the arrangement, Hyde and Libby withdrew to a corner. ‘Can’t say I’m too keen on this, Sarge. Do you think he knows what he’s doing?’
‘I bloody hope so. It’s not just his neck he’s sticking out. Mind you. he’s right about them being OK until they find out where the skimmer is; it’s after that things could start to get a bit hairy. I wouldn’t put anything past this lot.’
‘I know someone who won’t like this arrangement -Clarence.’ Libby accepted a cigarette and a light from Hyde. ‘As far as he’s concerned, once a Commie always a Commie. He’s quite likely to blow their heads off the moment he sees them.’ ‘I can’t see the major being too happy about that if it happens. So we’d better keep an eye on him, hadn’t you.
The heavy emphasis wasn’t lost on Libby, ‘I’m not his bloody keeper.’
‘You are now. I’m not having this job and my pension buggered up, just because one of my blokes takes it into his head to shoot GDR deserters into decent imitations of lace curtains with dum-dums. Anyway, you’re the only one he really gets on with.’
That was something Libby could not deny. He and Clarence had lost much in the war. For the sniper though the loss of his family, a part of his mind and his humanity at least had been sudden and complete. For Libby fate had reserved a more spiteful piece of cruelty. Two days before he and Helga were to be married, the Russian armour had plunged into West Germany: the border town of Ratzburg where she lived with her grandfather had been one of the first to be overrun. All he could do now was keep looking and hoping. To do so he had to stay in the Zone, and he’d stay there for as long as it continued to exist, and he lived.
Revell concluded his discussion through their interpreter and
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