eyes.
~~~
Kapitan Wolff and Leutnant Richter stood on
the bridge of the conning tower. On the deck below, ten sailors
with rifles-at-arms stood brace-legged as the U-boat gently pitched
in the long swells of the Labrador Sea. Beneath the deck gun’s
barrel lay the five shrouded corpses of Hoffmann and the shore
crew. They were covered, like children at a sleepover, under one
large flag of the German Navy.
“The Navy attracts the bravest men,” Wolff
addressed his crew. “When we enlisted, we knew we’d sail into
danger. Here we face not one enemy but two. As men at war, we
battle each other. But the sea lies waiting to scuttle us all.”
Richter nodded his approval. It was a good
speech, short and simple and true. And after they’d done this hard
thing and returned below, they would drink schnapps to toast the
dead and living alike.
“Today we mourn the passing of our comrades,
and bid them farewell and Godspeed. Our mission here is complete,
and its success will carry halfway around the world. In this, they
served the Fatherland well.” He brought his hand up, not in the
stiff-armed Nazi salute, but with elbow high and bent, fingers to
his brow. “Heil Hitler.”
“Heil Hitler,” the soldiers echoed.
Wolff nodded to Richter, who barked,
“Present arms.”
Ten sailors raised their rifles at 45-degree
angles.
“Fire.”
The ten rifles crackled like a shot of chain
lightning across the bow.
Wolff called out, “Send them on their
way.”
Five sailors handed their rifles to adjacent
men, and each kneeled to grip the handles of a stretcher. To the
edge of the heaving deck they went, tilted their stretchers and
slid the corpses from beneath the flag. The shrouded corpses, with
chains at their ankles, dove out of sight.
~~~
Before the light faded, Agatak and Shogan
climbed the ridge. Agatak was weary and felt like he carried a
20-pound stone in his stomach, cold and heavy and too hard to shit.
They returned to the headland, seeing en route that the dead were
gone. From the cliff, they looked down on a deserted beach. The
gulls rose in a cloud of anger and birdshit, shrieking at being
disturbed from their nests. Agatak knew how it felt.
The men from the yellow boats had left
something on the summit. A wooden platform with brackets sat bolted
into the rocks. Atop it were two boxes, one wood, one metal. Next
to the wooden box a long slim spear stood upright. Atop the metal
box was a short mast with something like an arrow at the top, while
halfway up were four arms with small cups that spun in the wind.
Agatak stuck his spear into the orbit of the cups, brought them
banging to a halt. He fingered the metal cups. He withdrew his hand
and the cups resumed their humming spin.
“What is it?” Shogan said.
“I don’t know.” Agatak ran his hand up the
radio antenna, admiring it, made of steel and straight as an arrow.
He laid his spear down and took out his skinning knife.
He removed the brackets at the base of the
antenna. The steel spear was now his. He dismantled the anemometer
spindle too, removed the cups and pocketed them. Nothing else
interested him for now. Later, they’d come back to dismantle the
platform for its wood.
Inside the wooden box, something hummed and
chirped. Agatak used his knife to force open a panel, revealing
within a smaller metal box with a gauge and a dial and wires
connected to the other metal box. He turned the knob and the box
whined. Agatak picked up a rock and hit it. The thing shrieked like
a bird. Shogan picked up a rock as well and they beat it until it
was silent.
~~~
Aboard the U-boat, the radio operator sat
with earphones gripping his skull, fingers adjusting dials and
switches. Above the steady shudder of the engines came a buzz of
static from the radio. The operator’s hand was twitchy, signaling
his frustration with the apparatus.
Wolff and Richter entered the compartment.
The radio operator pulled off his earphones.
“No luck?”
~~~
Kapitan Wolff and Leutnant Richter stood on
the bridge of the conning tower. On the deck below, ten sailors
with rifles-at-arms stood brace-legged as the U-boat gently pitched
in the long swells of the Labrador Sea. Beneath the deck gun’s
barrel lay the five shrouded corpses of Hoffmann and the shore
crew. They were covered, like children at a sleepover, under one
large flag of the German Navy.
“The Navy attracts the bravest men,” Wolff
addressed his crew. “When we enlisted, we knew we’d sail into
danger. Here we face not one enemy but two. As men at war, we
battle each other. But the sea lies waiting to scuttle us all.”
Richter nodded his approval. It was a good
speech, short and simple and true. And after they’d done this hard
thing and returned below, they would drink schnapps to toast the
dead and living alike.
“Today we mourn the passing of our comrades,
and bid them farewell and Godspeed. Our mission here is complete,
and its success will carry halfway around the world. In this, they
served the Fatherland well.” He brought his hand up, not in the
stiff-armed Nazi salute, but with elbow high and bent, fingers to
his brow. “Heil Hitler.”
“Heil Hitler,” the soldiers echoed.
Wolff nodded to Richter, who barked,
“Present arms.”
Ten sailors raised their rifles at 45-degree
angles.
“Fire.”
The ten rifles crackled like a shot of chain
lightning across the bow.
Wolff called out, “Send them on their
way.”
Five sailors handed their rifles to adjacent
men, and each kneeled to grip the handles of a stretcher. To the
edge of the heaving deck they went, tilted their stretchers and
slid the corpses from beneath the flag. The shrouded corpses, with
chains at their ankles, dove out of sight.
~~~
Before the light faded, Agatak and Shogan
climbed the ridge. Agatak was weary and felt like he carried a
20-pound stone in his stomach, cold and heavy and too hard to shit.
They returned to the headland, seeing en route that the dead were
gone. From the cliff, they looked down on a deserted beach. The
gulls rose in a cloud of anger and birdshit, shrieking at being
disturbed from their nests. Agatak knew how it felt.
The men from the yellow boats had left
something on the summit. A wooden platform with brackets sat bolted
into the rocks. Atop it were two boxes, one wood, one metal. Next
to the wooden box a long slim spear stood upright. Atop the metal
box was a short mast with something like an arrow at the top, while
halfway up were four arms with small cups that spun in the wind.
Agatak stuck his spear into the orbit of the cups, brought them
banging to a halt. He fingered the metal cups. He withdrew his hand
and the cups resumed their humming spin.
“What is it?” Shogan said.
“I don’t know.” Agatak ran his hand up the
radio antenna, admiring it, made of steel and straight as an arrow.
He laid his spear down and took out his skinning knife.
He removed the brackets at the base of the
antenna. The steel spear was now his. He dismantled the anemometer
spindle too, removed the cups and pocketed them. Nothing else
interested him for now. Later, they’d come back to dismantle the
platform for its wood.
Inside the wooden box, something hummed and
chirped. Agatak used his knife to force open a panel, revealing
within a smaller metal box with a gauge and a dial and wires
connected to the other metal box. He turned the knob and the box
whined. Agatak picked up a rock and hit it. The thing shrieked like
a bird. Shogan picked up a rock as well and they beat it until it
was silent.
~~~
Aboard the U-boat, the radio operator sat
with earphones gripping his skull, fingers adjusting dials and
switches. Above the steady shudder of the engines came a buzz of
static from the radio. The operator’s hand was twitchy, signaling
his frustration with the apparatus.
Wolff and Richter entered the compartment.
The radio operator pulled off his earphones.
“No luck?”
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