Return From the Inferno (29 page)

"The fools," the doctor cursed at his own superiors. His 241

panic rising when he was unable to hear his own voice, "The bloody fools. .."

He watched with growing despair as more of the big American helicopters landed, dropping off more troops. There were several firefights going on around him. The multitude of muzzle flashes was almost blinding, but he knew it was a hopeless cause. The copter vs. jump jet dogfight had been painfully brief. He could see four Fourth Reich aircraft were down and burning out on the far runways, with a handful of survivors turning to the south in retreat.

And now a new element. High above the base, he saw four enormous C-5 cargo jets circling, gradually getting lower, obviously preparing to land.

About twenty NS defenders were making their way back toward the medical officer, their puny resistance quickly falling apart in light of the sudden, overwhelming American attack.

"What shall we do?" one of these soldiers asked the doctor.

But the medical officer could only shrug and desperately point to his injured, bleeding ears. By this time some of the Americans were peppering the hangar with small arms fire while others were dashing about, securing key positions around the huge air base. And all the while, more helicopters were landing all over the tarmac.

The medical officer cursed that this would be the day that he was the officer in charge of the air base. In past wars, a German officer in his situation would simply take out his pistol, put it to his head and pull the trigger. The medical officer would have done just that, but he didn't have a pistol.

"Ubergabe!" he finally called out to the retreating NS troops, once again, unable to hear his own voice. "It is time to surrender . . ."

It took only another ten minutes for all the shooting to stop around the Bundeswehr Four Aerodrome.

242

The medical officer was now one of forty Fourth Reich soldiers bound by his hands and feet and placed in a long line parallel to the base's main taxiway, prisoners under the watchful eyes of two dozen heavily armed United American troops.

From this vantage point, the doctor could see just how dicey an operation the sudden UA assault had been. Many of the helicopters that arrived at the tail end of the strike literally came crashing down to the tarmac, their blades barely turning, obviously out of fuel. The holds of these choppers, as well as most of the other aircraft, were not filled entirely with UA soldiers either.

Rather, they were carrying ragged, incredibly thin men who the doctor knew must have been POWs from somewhere.

Why would the Americans bring along so many obvious noncombatants? It was a question the medical officer would not soon find an answer to.

The quartet of enormous C-5 cargo planes had come in for a landing, followed by the Harrier jump jet. No sooner had the four unmarked C-5s rolled to a stop when their huge hinged doors opened and a small army of soldiers came charging out. The medical officer glumly recognized their uniforms right away. Blue with red piping, the soldiers were units of the super elite Free Canadians'

Special Forces.

Just as soon as these troops disgorged, the emaciated POWs were directed to the big C-5s, many of them having to be carried by stretcher into the maw of the gigantic airplanes. As soon as one of the C-5s was filled, its pilots turned the huge airplane back out to the main runway and took off, rising slowly and heading to the north. All four were gone within twenty minutes.

Throughout it all, the doctor was simply amazed at the gall and cunning of his enemy. Once the POWs were gone, he could almost count the number of UA soldiers walking about. They had in fact taken over the Aerodrome on as much bluff and bluster as manpower.

243

And, of course, they had the help of the man flying the Harrier jump jet.

The medical officer had kept his eye on this pilot ever since he'd landed in the Harrier. He'd directed the loading of the UA POWs and the deployment of the Free Canadian troops. He'd conferred at length with the pilots of the UA helicopters, some of which had taken fuel off one of the C-5's and were now airborne again flying protective orbits around the air base. He'd also helped locate and comfort the handful of UA troopers who were wounded in the initial, lightning assault.

Now this man was walking right toward him, accompanying several UA officers.

He was tall, dressed in an all black flight suit, carrying a laser-sighted M-16 and wearing a black futuristic crash helmet.

Flipping up the visor on this helmet, the pilot made his way down the line of Fourth Reich prisoners, studying each one. When he reached the spot in front of the medical officer, he stopped and leaned over him.

"Doctor?" he asked.

But the medical officer could not hear him. Instead he pointed to his injured ears and shrugged.

The pilot asked again. "Send the Doctor?"

Again, all the medical officer could do was shrug.

It was obvious that the pilot was growing more angry with him by the second.

"Are you a doctor?" the pilot demanded. "We have injured men out here . . ."

The medical officer was getting the gist of the message, but far be it from him to volunteer his services to the enemy-especially in his hearing-impaired condition. So he simply shrugged again.

Suddenly the pilot leaned over, grabbed him by his tunic collar and gave him a hard slap on the side of his head.

"Are you a Goddamn doctor or not?"

Suddenly the German felt the buzz leave his head. His eyes 244

went wide, and so did his mouth. The sharp, hard slap had had an instant miraculous effect.

"Danke! Danke!" he began screaming with joy.

He could hear again.

245

The trio of Fourth Reich Field Marshall's paused for a moment before entering the Amerikafuhrer's chambers.

"What if he doesn't agree with our assessments?" Dritte asked, nervously fingering the silver-plated Iron Cross hanging around his neck. "He may choose to see it all in a much different way. And then ..."

"He can be dealt with," the aggressive Zweite declared, harshly cutting him off.

"Perhaps." said Erste. "But then again maybe not. Then what?"

Zweite sniffed at the concerns of his compatriots.

"Then we just kill him," he said, lowering his voice a notch. "Right here and now."

Erste and Dritte gulped audibly as Zweite knocked once and entered the huge ornate room. The Amerikafuhrer was lounging on a long couch located at the far end of the pinkish room. He was wearing a long satin dressing gown, tackily decorated with gold-leaf swastikas and many items of jewelry.

"Your Excellency, may we talk with you? Erste said. "It's very important."

The young, rather girlish blond-haired man motioned the three officers to come forward.

"You all look worried," he said in his singsong voice. "I think I can tell when you are worried."

"We are definitely not worried, sir," Zweite countered.

246

"Just the opposite, sir. We are supremely confident."

"But something has happened," the Amerikafuhrer said. "All that shooting last night. What was it all about? I've been trying to get a straight answer all day."

The three Nazi officers hesitated for a moment.

"The United Americans attempted a prison break last night, sir," Erste finally said. "At the Dragon's Mouth. Using helicopters and deception."

The Amerikafuhrer was clearly stunned. "Another one?"

Zweite quickly stepped forward. "Yes, but our Tod Schadel troops killed most of them," he lied. "Many of the prisoners died too. Killed by the guns of their own countrymen."

"They killed their own people?"

"Yes, sir," Zweite replied. "In fact, we believe this was the point of the whole operation."

The Amerikafuhrer tugged nervously at his frilly Nazi gown.

"But why would they do that? What was the point?"

"Propaganda," came Zweite's quick reply. "As you know, sir, these Americans crave the martyr image."

The Amerikafuhrer turned to Erste, the man he trusted the most.

"How many American helicopters were involved in this operation? One? Two?"

Erste gulped. "Several dozen . . ."

"Several dozen?" the top Nazi leader asked, incredulously. "How could several dozen helicopters get through our air defenses?"

"They destroyed a key radar station," Erste admitted. "One still under construction about thirty miles down the river. They were able to fly low after that, and gain entrance to the city's airspace. They were covered with strings of ceremony lights, just like our other aircraft. This way they came in ... well, unnoticed, sir."

The Amerikafuhrer's face turned pale then red.

"Just like that?" he demanded.

247

Once again the Marshall's chose not to speak.

"There must be someone held accountable for this," the Amerikafuhrer declared.

"The officers at the radar station. Or their superiors. Someone."

Zweite stepped forward again and clicked his heels. "I will order a round of executions in the morning," he declared. "And that will be the end of it."

The Amerikafuhrer sighed heavily and reached for a banana from his overflowing fruit bowl. Dritte stepped forward and toadily peeled the banana for his high commander.

"What else?" the young man asked his officers, his tone indicating that he really didn't want to hear the answer.

"We have had more enemy activity, sir," Erste told him frankly. "Up north. In Bundeswehr Four . . ."

The Amerikafuhrer stopped eating the banana in mid bite.

"What kind of activity?" he demanded of the three.

"The land which plays right into our hands," Zweite piped up. "You see, the United Americans have made their move, Your Excellency. Just as dictated on the plans we secured."

"Explain that," the young man said. "And do so quickly."

Zweite took a deep breath. "We know from the secret documents recovered in the Argentine air crash that the United Americans were planning on attacking and holding a section of our territory. The idea behind this rather desperate strategy was to incite a public uprising.

"Now, it is obvious that the Americans covet the territory around Bundeswehr Four."

"That's insane!" the young leader erupted. "Even I know it would be foolish for them to try and carve out a piece of territory in the middle of our empire."

Zweite began sweating profusely He had a loaded derringer in his uniform pocket and at the moment it felt like it weighed a ton.

"Sir, this is obviously their way of trying to surprise us," he stammered.

"Instead of going for a piece of coastal territory, they've gone for something, well, unpredictable. Something

248

reached by helicopters and not amphibious craft. They've always been known for their unpredictability. The captured plans are rife with it."

"It's true, sir," Erste interjected. "During the Circle Wars, the Americans wore their unpredictability like a badge of honor. In fact, they're so damn unpredictable, that they are now very predictable."

The Amerikafuhrer let out a long sigh. "But these captured plans you so religiously adhere to," he said. "Do they not also contain references to purchasing tanks and other heavy equipment?"

"Yes, sir," Erste replied quietly. "And we believe the Free Canadians might be aiding them on just that aspect. In fact, Free Canadian cargo planes were seen above Bundeswehr Four district earlier today."

The Amerikafuhrer raised his hand. "Were they fired upon?" he asked urgently.

"No sir," Erste replied just as quickly. "They were quickly identified by our troops as cargo planes and therefore, they held their fire, per the

"Noninterference" decree. Besides, we know what firing upon the Canadians would involve and we have come to expect some minor Canadian involvement. They have traditionally given aid to the Americans, but we believe it is simply to mollify their own people, many of which yearn for the old, rather democratic days."

"The Canadians do not want an all-out war with us," Dritte dared to say. "They have too many people to protect. And they know that is a path we do not want to walk either."

"And what path do we want to walk?" the Amerikafuhrer asked wearily.

Zweite spoke up once again.

"We know what the Americans' plans are, sir," he reiterated, the small gun seemingly burning a hole in his uniform pocket. "We are now prepared to match them step for step."

"How so?"

Zweite calmly cleared his throat.

249

"By sending a very strong force against them, now!" he declared. "We can send five divisions against Bundeswehr Four immediately and surround them. It will take much less time than if we had to battle them on the beaches of the East Coast. Once they are encircled, we will blast away with these rebels. We can use our superior artillery, our superior tank strength. We can even use the Schrecklichkeit Kanone at Indianapolis. We will strangle them. We will crush them. And believe me, news of our victory will carry far and wide. Every sputnik in the territory will know the story. We will broadcast it, day by day, on the Volksradio. It will be both a stunning propaganda victory as well as a military one."

The Amerikafuhrer looked to the other two officers.

"Do you both agree with this strategy?" he asked them.

Both men hesitated for a heartbeat or two. Then they nodded.

"It is a sound plan," Erste said.

"Very sound," parroted Dritte.

The Amerikafuhrer sighed heavily once again.

"Then do it," he hissed at them. "And do it before my wedding. Do you understand?"

All three officers clicked their heels in agreement and then turned to leave.

"But there's one more thing," The Amerikafuhrer said, reaching for another banana.

The three Reich Marshall's stopped in their tracks.

"I was under the impression that the United Americans were leaderless," the Amerikafuhrer began, sucking on the un-peeled piece of fruit. "Despite their elaborate secret plans, you still consider them a 'rag tag army.' However, now with then-two raids on our prison and their activity up in Bundeswehr Four, doesn't it indicate some rather complicated military coordination?"