The Odin Mission (12 page)

Tanner laughed. 'I reckon you're still a bloody kid, Mac. How old are
you?'

'Eighteen, Sarge. A fully grown man, I am.'

'And so, old enough to carry a rifle and go to fight a war,' added
Larsen.

'Yes, sir,' said MacAllister. 'Although I admit this wasn't quite what
I'd imagined.' Larsen sighed. 'Me neither, Private. Me neither.'

The sky was darker now and would be even more so once they were within
the shelter of the dense wooded slopes. 'We should get going,' he said. 'Those
are dark clouds. We could be in for some snow up here.'

By the time they were nearing the
seter
,
the cloud lay low over the mountain. Snowflakes
were falling.

'Bloody hell,' cursed Tanner. 'Of all the luck.'

'This is not good,' said Larsen.

'It might be all
right in the valley,' added Nielssen, 'but up here . . .'

Tanner was
pleased to see that the guard outside the
seter was
awake and alert. Hepworth asked him whether they had managed to find food and
if the front had fallen back. 'Yes to both,' Tanner replied. Inside, most of
the men slept, although they soon stirred with the arrival of the recce party.
The two Norwegian officers passed round the food with, Tanner noticed, considerable
fairness. Nielssen produced a Primus stove and a mess tin, then put on some
water to boil. The men eagerly crowded round.

'I'm gasping for some tea,' said Kershaw, prompting an enthusiastic
muttering of agreement from the others.

'Only coffee, I'm afraid,' said Nielssen.

'Perfect, sir,' said Sykes, quickly. 'Anything wet and hot will be pure
nectar.'

Tanner went over and crouched down beside Gulbrand, then looked at the
civilian still sitting next to him. He was curious about this fellow - what was
a gaunt-faced, middle-aged man doing with these troops of the King's Guard? A
politician or diplomat perhaps? He wanted to ask, but reminded himself that it
was not his concern why these men were here or what they were doing; after all,
he hated people nosing into his own business and saw no need to pry into
theirs.

The man eyed him, then leaned over and dabbed the colonel's brow. 'It's
not good,' he said. 'He's getting a fever.'

'That probably means his blood's infected.' Tanner opened Gulbrand's
greatcoat once more.

The colonel stirred. 'Ah, you're back, Sergeant.'

Tanner continued to peel back his clothing. The smell as he lifted the
tunic was overpowering. Gangrene was setting in. Probably septicaemia too. The
antiseptic hadn't worked; Tanner had never really thought it would. That shard
had probably taken soiled cotton and serge with it into Gulbrand's side and
liver. A bit of gentian violet couldn't have performed the miracle the colonel
needed.

'It's all right,' said Gulbrand. 'I know I'm going to die.' His voice
was low and hoarse.

'I'm sorry, sir. If you'd let us take you down the mountain .. .'

'It would have made no difference. But that's not the point.' He
gripped Tanner's arm. 'Tell me, Sergeant, can I depend on you?'

'To get your men to safety? I don't know, sir. We've a few problems
just at the minute. But you can depend on me to do my damnedest. I've no
intention of getting myself killed or spending the rest of my life in some
Jerry prison camp.'

Gulbrand released him, then turned to the civilian. 'Sandvold? Will you
leave us alone a moment?' The man got up and walked to Nielssen. Gulbrand
watched him, then said, 'We should be with the King. We are, after all, his
bodyguard. I have been in His Majesty the King's Guard for nearly twenty years.
My loyalty is total. The King knows that. It's why he chose me for this task.'
Tanner listened without saying a word. 'The ninth of April was a terrible day,'
Gulbrand said. 'A terrible day..

The Germans had attacked Oslo. Everyone had been completely unprepared
and it quickly became clear that the capital would fall. Prime Minister
Nygaardsvold was persuaded by his government that they should leave Oslo and
head north where they could continue to govern and manage the crisis away from
German guns. The King was informed of the decision and immediately agreed that
he and his son, Crown Prince Olav, should go with them. Shortly after, he
called for Gulbrand. King Hakon wanted a dozen men to act as his bodyguard and
for the rest of the Guard to follow to Hamar as quickly as possible. Gulbrand
was to remain with the King, who entrusted to him a number of documents and
jewels for safe-keeping. The King had made him swear to keep them about his
person at all times.

The train for Hamar had left at seven that morning. 'Imagine what that
was like,' said Gulbrand. 'To leave the capital. It felt as though we were
running away. It was hard to bear.' But, in truth, they had had little choice.
Norway was a peaceful country - a neutral country - and her armed forces were
ill-equipped to deal with such an invasion. 'A mobilization order was announced
that same morning,' Gulbrand told him, 'but it was too late. Far too late. Most
of the men fighting in the valley here have had no training whatsoever. They've
been given a uniform and a rifle and sent off to fight. Those serving in the
standing Army will have had just eighty-four days' training. That's not even
three months. We in the Guards, of course, train all the time, but even so, our
equipment is poor so our training has been limited. All my men, Sergeant, can
fire a rifle as well as anyone, but that's not enough to stop these bastards.
We've got no tanks, no anti-tank weapons, no mines. We don't even have any hand
grenades. Our field guns are old. We've got some machine-guns but few men have
had any training on them. My God, there haven't even been enough uniforms. Half
the men have been issued with 1914- pattern. So, you see, we had no choice but
to leave Oslo.'

The train took them to Hamar, but by evening word reached them that
German forces were on their way to capture them so they boarded another train
for Elverum. Two days later a German delegation arrived, offering peace terms,
which had been rejected. It was shortly after this that Gulbrand had been
summoned by the King. His son, Prince Olav, had also been present, but
otherwise they had been entirely alone. King Hakon had a task for Gulbrand. In
the chaos of their departure from Oslo, they had left someone behind, a man
named

Hening Sandvold.
The King wanted Gulbrand to go back to Oslo and fetch him. 'I'm afraid I still
cannot tell why he is so important,' said Gulbrand. 'I made a solemn vow to the
King and Prince Olav and I am not prepared to break it. Not even now. But I
will tell you this: if Sandvold fell into the hands of the Nazis, it could have
catastrophic consequences, not only for Norway but for Great Britain and all of
the free world too.'

Tanner looked over towards Sandvold, now standing by the door, a lost
and wistful expression on his face. Whoever he was, whatever he did, it was
clear he was a fish out of water up here in the mountains with these soldiers.

He turned back to Gulbrand. 'How did you get him then, sir?'

'By keeping it simple,' the colonel replied. 'The King told me to take
whatever men I needed but I decided to take just three others: Larsen, Nielssen
and Lieutenant Stunde.' He trusted them, and each had different skills. Stunde
spoke fluent German, Nielssen was strong, an excellent athlete and experienced mountaineer.
Larsen was clever and good at thinking on his feet. All were first- class
shots. They had left their uniforms in Elverum and headed to Oslo. The city was
calm, and although the sight of swastikas was hard to stomach, they were
surprised by how few German troops were there. They found Sandvold easily
enough and although he was initially reluctant to leave, when they showed him
the King's personal letter to him, he eventually conceded. 'We all have to do
things we wish we didn't have to.'

Getting back to Elverum had been more difficult.

They had driven
whenever they could, stealing cars and ditching them whenever they drew near a
roadblock. They had walked many miles too. When they eventually reached
Elverum, the King and the Government had long since gone, but the monarch had
warned him this might be so. His instructions had been to catch him up if he
could, otherwise to find the British and get Sandvold safely across the sea to
England.

Having retrieved their uniforms, and with the Germans never far behind,
they had headed north from Elverum, had nearly been caught hiding in a barn and
soon after shot at by aircraft. They had been forced to abandon their transport
again and cross the mountains. It had been a difficult four-day journey. On the
second day, Lieutenant Stunde had broken his leg. They couldn't carry him so
had been forced to leave him. 'It was,' said Gulbrand, weakly, 'the worst
decision I have ever had to make. We found a
seter
,
and hoped someone would find him, but we knew there was little chance of that.
Poor Roald. It would have been kinder to put a bullet in his head. So, you see,
I couldn't ask Nielssen or Larsen to make an exception for me. And, in any
case, I couldn't allow the enemy to catch me. What if I told them something
when I was delirious?'

Gulbrand's teeth were chattering now. Beads of sweat ran down his face.
His skin looked sallow, his eyes hollow, even in the dim light. 'I have
entrusted Larsen and Nielssen with the jewels and papers, but what I ask of you
now is of far greater importance. You must get Sandvold to safety somehow. To
the coast and Britain.'

'All right,' said Tanner, 'you have my word. I'll try. But why me? Why
aren't you saying this to Larsen or Nielssen?'

Gulbrand coughed, which evidently caused him further agonies.
Eventually he sank down again. 'They are officers, yes, second lieutenants, or
fenriks,
as we call them, but
Nielssen should be a sergeant or less. The Norwegian Army did away with
non-commissioned officers a few years ago. Now men train as NCOs for a couple
of years, then spend a year as a sergeant before being promoted. Larsen is
different, but he is not the leader you are. I've watched you, Sergeant. You
are in command of these men, not Henrik Larsen. And I think you have more
experience than the rest of us put together.' He smiled weakly. 'Yes, Sergeant
tanner, and you are already a decorated soldier.'

Tanner was embarrassed. 'Thank you, sir.'

'Don't thank me,' said Gulbrand. 'It is a thankless task I have given
you. But you will have the eternal thanks of my king and country if you
succeed, and I suspect your own as well.' He closed his eyes, grimaced, then
said, 'One last thing. Trust no one. And kill Sandvold rather than let him fall
into enemy hands. Kill him and destroy any papers he may be carrying. If the
others try to stop you, kill them too. Do you think you can do that?'

'Yes,' said Tanner. 'One thing, though, sir. Do the Germans know about
him? Are you being followed?'

Gulbrand gasped. 'I don't think so. Why would those planes have tried
to kill us? Sandvold's no use to them dead. But they mustn't get him, d'you
hear?' He gripped Tanner's sleeve. 'They mustn't get him.'

Tanner left Gulbrand.
What a mess,
he thought.
The
whole bloody show.
He thought
of Captain Cartwright and Lieutenant Dingwall, prisoners now along with many
others. He wondered if anything remained of the company; or even anything of
the battalion. It was hard to accept. A damned stupid waste of lives. And now
he had the extra burden of Hening Sandvold. He had no idea what was so special
about him. A scientist, he supposed. What those boffins knew was beyond him;
the world was changing so fast. He just hoped that in Sandvold's case it would
be worth it.

It was after eleven and he stepped outside to find the snow falling
heavily now. Christ, this was all he needed. He wanted to get going, move off
this God-forsaken mountain, try to catch up with the Allies while they still
had a chance. He prayed it was snowing in the valley too - at least then the
front would be held up as they were.

'We can't move in this.' It was Sykes, taking his turn as sentry. 'Just
in case you were thinking of it, Sarge.' Tanner said nothing, so Sykes added,
'They're only scrawny tykes. They're probably not as fit as you are, Sarge.'

Tanner breathed out heavily. 'Yes, all right, Stan. I've got the
message.'

'Christ, it's dark out here,' Sykes said, banging his helmet against
the side of the
seter
to knock off the snow. 'You were having a long
chinwag with the colonel, Sarge.'

'We've got to take the Norwegians with us,' said Tanner. 'That civvy -
he's special. A boffin or something. Anyway, we've got to get him to safety.
Preferably back to Britain.'

'Where's the front?'

'Not at Oyer.'

Sykes tutted.
There's a surprise.
'So where
are our boys?'

In the hands of the Jerries,
thought Tanner. 'Not so far. A few miles. It's so
bloody frustrating. I just want to get going. Sodding Norwegians.'

'Well, we can't
go anywhere in this,' said Sykes again.