AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Lower that muzzle, Corporal,” Cronley ordered. “Herr Schröder has been declared one of the good guys.”
A look of enormous relief flashed over Schröder’s face.
Not that I doubted what Gehlen said about Schröder wondering if he was about to be shot, but if I needed proof, there it was on Schröder’s face.
“Pass the word,” Cronley continued. “And then find First Sergeant Dunwiddie and ask him if he’s free for lunch.”
“Yes, sir,” the corporal said.
“Come with us, Schröder,” Gehlen said. “And while we have lunch, I’ll try to determine where you’ll be most useful around here.”
—
“So, what we’re going to do now,” Dunwiddie said, as the discussion about the airplanes and Schröder and his men died down, “is send a couple of trucks—probably it would be better to send four—to Sonthofen to pick up the other airplane, the mechanics, and the parts. Right?”
Cronley made a Time out signal with his hands and announced, “I’ve been thinking.”
“That’s always dangerous,” Tiny said.
“Kurt, now that you know what’s going on here, what about your men?” Cronley asked.
“What Hauptman Cronley is asking, Schröder,” Mannberg said, “is (a) whether you trust them to keep their mouths shut about what they might see here, and (b) whether they understand what will happen to them if they talk. We simply cannot have them talking, even to their wives.”
It took Schröder a good fifteen seconds to frame his reply.
“Two of them served with me in the East,” he began. “When I tell them the same security protocol we had there will apply here, they will understand. If they don’t wish to subject themselves to that protocol, I won’t bring them here.”
“And the third man?” Mannberg asked.
“He is a brother of one of the men who was with me in the East. If he is reluctant to accept the protocol, then I will not bring either of them here.”
“How long would it take you to hold this conversation, conversations, with them?” Cronley said.
“Do I understand that I am to return to Sonthofen with the trucks?”
“Answer my question, please.”
“Thirty minutes or so. No longer than that.”
“And how long would it take to tell them, ‘Say nothing to anyone, I will return here shortly’? With confidence that they would obey that order?”
“You’ve lost me, Jim,” Dunwiddie said.
“It would take me twice as long to say that than it did for you to say it. Because I would say it twice, to make sure they understood.”
Cronley nodded, then turned to Tiny.
“What’s going to happen now is that Schröder and I are going to fly back to Sonthofen. When we land, Schröder will deliver that little speech to his men. I will then get out of Storch One, and Schröder will immediately get in Storch One and fly back here. I will then get in Storch Two and fly it back here. When I land, you and Schröder and four trucks will go to Sonthofen, pick up the mechanics and the parts, and drive very slowly and carefully back here.”
When he saw that everyone was considering his remarks with what appeared to be little enthusiasm, Cronley provided amplification.
“If we fly Storch Two back here, that will (a) get it out of Sonthofen immediately, (b) eliminate the risk of it getting damaged while moving it by truck, and (c) questions will not be raised by anyone about a Storch with U.S. Army markings being driven down the roads to here.”
Gehlen and Mannberg nodded their understanding and acceptance. Schröder’s face remained expressionless.
Tiny asked, “And I’m going with the trucks? Why?”
“Because, Marshal Earp, you have your marshal’s badge with which you can dazzle anybody who wants to ask you about anything.”
