The Worst Thing Raid

by good4now

Things go wrong for Moffitt and Troy during a routine mission and they take shelter in what they think is an abandoned house. It's up to Tully and Hitch to rescue them from Dietrich and to reunite a defecting Wehrmacht general with his young daughter.

From his vantage point high above the shore, Troy watched the activity below and admired the efficient smoothness of the operation.

The moment that the inflatable boats touched the sand, there were men swarming all over them, unloading them in a quick and orderly fashion. Their cargo, crates of explosives, was handed from man to man until it was safely stowed into the waiting trucks farther up the beach.

Moffitt stood in the back of the jeep leaning over the Browning. "How's it going, Troy?" he asked, quietly.

"Looking pretty good. I think that they're almost done." Troy lowered his binoculars. He turned and looked up at Moffitt, squinting in the early dawn.

Moffitt nodded. "Good news. This was an inspired choice of location for the delivery." He looked around, taking in the coastline. "Very quiet here, miles away from anything." He nodded towards the house that stood down the road from where they were parked. "And quiet neighbors, as well. All in all, a very easy morning of it. If only every mission was like this, eh?"

Troy grinned and nodded. He and Moffitt were only along for the ride, to help provide cover for the delivery and then to escort the trucks of explosives back to their base. As Moffitt would say, it was a piece of cake.

Still looking at the house, Moffitt frowned. "Recon did say that the house is empty, didn't they?"

Nodding, Troy turned and trained the binoculars back on the shore. "Yep." He chuckled suddenly. "Why? You thinking about moving in?"

"Well, it would be lovely, wouldn't it? House is a nice size, a garden out back, beautiful view of the sea. Wonderful place to raise a family, I'd think." His voice was wry, making it obvious that a family was far from his mind.

"Yeah." Troy laughed and watched as the backs of the trucks were closed and covered. One by one, they followed each other up the road leading from the beach. "You'll have to check with your real estate agent and come back when you've got that wife and kids. The trucks have moved out. They'll be at the top at the hill in a few minutes."

Troy climbed into the jeep and thumbed the ignition. He turned back to Moffitt who had already braced himself in the back. "Ready?"

"Absolutely. There's a cup of tea somewhere calling my name."

Nodding, Troy pulled out to meet the trucks.

They had driven almost to the rendezvous point when Troy heard the roar from behind. He looked up at the sky and saw two Messerschmitts, flying low.

"Ah, bloody hell," he heard Moffitt say, right before he heard the fifty start chewing through rounds as Moffitt started firing at the planes.

Troy kept driving, straight and fast towards where they had been to meet the trucks. He hoped that Moffitt was holding on as the jeep bounced violently on the rutted road.

The planes opened fire. Troy heard the first explosion before he felt the ground shake. Ahead, one truck exploded into flames and then the next. And then the next, until all that was left of the trucks were burning shells.

Grinding the jeep to a quick halt as close as he dared to what was left of the trucks, Troy couldn't do anything but stare at the wreckage. Silently and helplessly, he watched as the trucks burned. He tried not to think of the men that were trapped inside for which they could do nothing. He looked back miserably at Moffitt was staring at the wreckage, open mouthed.

There was a new noise and Moffitt and Troy turned their heads up and back at the same time. Another German plane was approaching, this one slower, but no less deadly. It was a bomber, coming to finish whatever part of the job that the fighter planes hadn't.

"Take cover!" Troy yelled over the steadily increasing din of the plane's engines.

Moffitt didn't have to be told twice. He jumped out of the back of the jeep and ran in a low crouch back in the direction in which they had come. Troy followed him closely. When they heard the whine of the first bomb being dropped, Troy grabbed Moffitt's arm and pulled him over the side of the cliff.

Troy had no idea when or where they were going to land, but as he tumbled down the slope with the explosions ringing in his ears, he hoped for the best.

"Sam!"

Troy opened his eyes. The blue of the sky and the sun swam in front of them. If he looked to the right a bit, he could see the blur that he knew to be Moffitt's face.

"Troy?" asked Moffitt, more tentatively. "Can you hear me?"

Moffitt's hand was gently shaking his shoulder. Troy groaned and tried to sit up. "I can hear you but I'm surprised we're both not deaf from the bomb blast."

"Well, I'd be lying if I said that my ears weren't ringing like the Bow bells at noon and that I didn't have a splitting headache." Moffitt put a hand behind Troy's back and helped to support him into a sitting position.

Troy waved Moffitt's hand off when he was finally sitting upright. Grimacing, he looked up. They'd fallen almost half the way down the cliff.

"A ways up, isn't it?" Moffitt squinted back up at the point where they had jumped. Then, he looked down. "But on the other hand, it's still quite a ways down, so thank goodness for small favors."

"Yeah." Troy mentally began to take an inventory of what hurt and what didn't. All in all, considering the distance that they'd fallen, he didn't feel that bad. "You okay?"

Moffitt nodded. "Mostly." He looked sheepish. "I think that thanks are in order. I believe that you managed to break most of my fall."

Troy rolled his eyes. "Great. You're welcome." At least Moffitt was skinny, he thought. Troy supposed that it could have been worse.

---

Troy had had at least some hope that the jeep would be all right.

As it turned out, his hope was unfounded. While the jeep wasn't completely flattened, they weren't going to be driving it anywhere any time soon.

Moffitt swept some of the rubble off the hood and looked at Troy. "Perhaps the radio still works?"

Troy nodded and lit a cigarette as Moffitt fiddled with the radio. After several tries, he threw the headset back into the jeep with a disgusted look.

"Hopeless, huh?" Troy wasn't really surprised. It looked as though the jeep had gotten the worst of the flying debris.

"Yes, hopeless." Moffitt loosened the cloth around his neck and used it to mop his forehead. He squinted down the road where the trucks still burned and then he looked at the house. "Two choices, I suppose."

"Start walking or go check out the house?"

"Yes, those seem to be the two." Moffitt looked thoughtful. "It will only be a matter of time before Tully and Hitch are along when we don't show back up to camp."

Troy nodded. The whole incident had likely been observed by the ship that had been sitting just off the coast. HQ probably knew about the entire thing by now. Considering the attack, it was unlikely that the Brass would assume that Moffitt and he had survived. But Hitch and Tully wouldn't give up that easily, Troy knew. As soon as they were able, they would come out here looking for them.

So, whether they walked or whether they stayed put, in the end the result would be the same, Troy decided. When he shifted his weight from one leg to another, his decision was made for him. A shooting pain traveled up his ankle and all the way through his leg. He wasn't surprised. He had wrenched his ankle when they had been climbing back up the cliff and it had hurt like hell when he'd done it. He had hoped that it would pass. It hadn't. There was going to be a limit, he knew, to how far he was going to be walking.

Noticing his discomfort, Moffitt nodded briskly. "Right then, house it is. I'll grab our things and we'll be off."

Troy watched as Moffitt agilely jumped on the back of the jeep and started to dismantle the fifty. Leaning against the jeep to take some of the weight off his ankle, Troy watched him. "Need some help?"

Moffitt stopped what he was doing and grinned down at him. "No, seems to be the least I can do. Considering that I fell on you earlier."

Laughing, Troy took another drag of his cigarette.

---

In minutes, Moffitt had assembled everything that they needed and they made their way slowly to the house.

The house had suffered some damage from the attack. Most of the windows were broken out, either from stray machine gun fire or from the force of the blast when the bombs had detonated.

Despite the damage, it looked to be in good enough shape to afford some shelter until the cavalry showed, thought Troy.

Dropping their gear just inside the door, Moffitt paused and looked back at Troy. Troy nodded and drew his gun. Moffitt did the same. After they'd gone through all the rooms on the first floor, Troy was hopeful that Recon had been right for once. The place appeared to be empty.

They both holstered their guns and looked at each other.

"I suppose that we should make ourselves comfortable," said Moffitt, visibly relaxing. "And we should probably take a look at your ankle." He rummaged through the things that he had brought with them and brought out the first aid kit. He held it up to Troy who took it.

"Thanks. It just feels like a sprain. I think that I'll be all right."

"I hope so. I can tell you that a broken ankle is a pain in the arse out here. There's always bloody sand in your cast." Moffitt bent down and started sorting through the contents of one of other the bags that he had brought in with them.

Troy wasn't surprised when, with a grin, Moffitt brought out a tin of tea. Troy shook his head. He'd never understand the English, he thought. The stuff tasted like dirt but yet, they weren't able to do anything without it.

Moffitt looked up at him questioningly. It took Troy a moment to figure out what he wanted. "Oh, yeah. Permission to brew up," he said finally, with a wave of his hand.

A brilliant smile was given in return.

Troy took another cigarette from his packet and lit it. He leaned against the wall and watched Moffitt as he puttered around the kitchen whistling "Amazing Grace" until his ankle began to throb insistently. Looking for somewhere to sit down, Troy found a small sitting room off the kitchen. He sank gratefully into one of the arm chairs. Easing off his boot and sock, he looked at his ankle. Black, blue, and swollen, it was ugly but it only looked to be a bad sprain.

Of all the rotten luck, thought Troy, though he supposed he should just be glad that it wasn't broken.

Pulling a petit point stool over to where he was sitting, he elevated it and reached for the first aid kit. Removing a strip of bandages, he wrapped his ankle carefully and then re-wrapped it. Satisfied with his work, Troy sank back into the chair, foot still resting on the stool. He let his eyes droop closed.

"I say, Troy?" Moffitt called from the kitchen. "There seems to be some coffee in here." There was a pause. "Real coffee. And it smells decent, for coffee, at any rate. Did you want me to make you some? Not that I'm an expert at it, but I'll certainly try."

"Sure, sounds great. It's got to be better than Hitch's coffee."

Moffitt laughed in return and Troy smiled as he heard more clanking around the kitchen.

Suddenly, Troy frowned and opened his eyes. He ran his finger across the table that was beside his chair and looked at it.

No dust.

Fresh coffee in the kitchen.

Troy opened his mouth to ask Moffitt the obvious question. Distracted by the feel of a gun being stuck in his ear, Troy never began his sentence.

He didn't need to. He had the answer to his question.

---

"Herr Dietrich?"

Dietrich looked up from the map that was spread across his desk. "Yes, Bader?" He half returned the boy's salute before going back to studying the map.

"Excellent news, Herr Hauptmann! There will be no need to intercept the convey carrying the explosives."

Frowning, Dietrich looked up from the map again. "Really? Why?"

"The air strike was successful. The trucks were completely destroyed. Aerial photography has confirmed it."

For the first time that day, Dietrich allowed himself a genuine smile. "That is good news, Leutnant." A thought occurred to him and the smile dropped. "And what of the Rat Patrol?"

Bader shrugged. "Aerial photography confirmed the area to be clear. No survivors."

Dietrich continued to frown. He found that hard to believe. "Has the area been checked?"

Looking at him like he was crazy, Bader shook his head. "No, it did not seem necessary, I am sure. The fighter planes were followed by a bomber. The area has been cleared, without a doubt," he repeated.

Dietrich rolled his eyes. Obviously, the boy had learned nothing from his last encounter with the Rat Patrol. Unless he himself personally saw the bodies, Dietrich would continue to believe that Troy and Moffitt were alive, even if a bit singed around the edges. Experience had taught him to expect no less.

"Well, we should check it. Get some men together. We'll leave in a half hour," Dietrich ordered.

"Yes, Herr Hauptmann!" Bader brought his hand up to his furrowed brow in a salute. He was willing to obey the order but obviously still not agreeing with the logic behind it.

Dietrich picked up a folder and tapped it on the desk. "Interestingly enough, we have been asked to go there for an unrelated matter."

"Yes, Herr Hauptmann?" Bader reached out for the folder. "May I?"

Dietrich considered the request and then shrugged. He handed him the folder and waited while Bader read the contents.

Bader looked up, confused. "But this cannot be true. There must be some mistake."

"I would also like not to believe it. But, I have read the evidence and I am convinced that it is true." Dietrich took the folder back from Bader.

"But, Herr General Herzog? A traitor? How can that be possible?"

Looking at Bader, Dietrich took in his truly shocked expression. For a moment, he felt sorry for the boy. "Well," he said with a sigh, "the pressures of war make people do strange things, Bader. My understanding is that the General disappeared in France. It is assumed that the French Partisans absorbed him into their underground system."

Bader sat down across from Dietrich, shaking his head. "I served under his son's command. Never a more noble soldier or one truly more committed to the Fatherland was there. Before he was killed, of course."

Dietrich frowned, wondering for a moment if he should be concerned that most of Bader's commanding officers were dead. There was a war on, so he supposed that was as good of an explanation as any for the unfortunate trend.

"I just cannot believe it," said Bader again.

Turning his mind back to the general, Dietrich could admit that the news had been a shock to him as well. The Herzog family had, as did his own, a long history of military tradition. If Herzog had decided that the fight for the Fatherland was no longer fighting, Dietrich had to wonder what that had to mean.

"Yes, well, his youngest child, a daughter has also disappeared from Berlin," said Dietrich.

"And his wife disappeared with the girl?"

"His wife is recently deceased, I believe. The girl is all that the family that he has left." Dietrich pointed to the map of the coast line. "You see, Bader, General Herzog is the owner of a house that is here. He and his family often occupied it on holidays, prior to the war, of course."

Bader looked at him, blinking.

"And, interestingly enough, Intelligence indicates that the general is being taken there by the Americans to meet his daughter."

---

Slowly, Troy raised his hands and turned his head a fraction to see who was holding the gun. To his surprise, it was a woman.

The cold butt of the gun dug farther into his ear and he turned his eyes forward again.

"Take it easy," said Troy, making his voice as soothing and calm as possible. "I'm not going to hurt you. I didn't think anyone was here."

"Sind Sie allein?" the woman asked.

Troy could hear the suspicion in her tone, but he had no idea what she had just said.

Obviously, Moffitt understood her. "Nein, nicht so allein, Fraulein," he answered.

The gun dropped from Troy's ear and he heard the sounds of a struggle behind him. Turning, he saw Moffitt holding a slight woman from behind, her blond hair falling in a curtain over her face.

With little effort, Moffitt took the gun from her hand and held her firmly. "Well, I'm afraid that I've lost my faith in Recon again." Moffitt gave Troy a look of mock disbelief.

When the woman raised her head, Troy was shocked. "Moffitt, she's just a kid!"

Moffitt nodded, checking the gun that he had taken from the girl. "Yes, Troy, a child. With a gun that, thankfully, was not loaded." He drew the girl closer. "So, tell me, Fraulein, sind Sie allein?"

The girl narrowed her mouth and looked at Moffitt, not saying a word. She hit him, connecting solidly with his arm. Moffitt grimaced and grabbed her other hand. He looked Troy. "She can't be more than fourteen or fifteen." He increased his hold on the girl who was fighting back wildly. "Wie alt sind Sie, Fraulein?"

The girl looked at him with wild eyes. "Ich bin siebzehn," she spat at him, finally.

"She says that she's seventeen. Not sure I believe her, but who I am to argue?" Moffitt studied the girl. He looked back at Troy. "I also find it highly unlikely she's here alone, even though she says that she is."

Troy looked at her. "Do you speak English?"

The girl said nothing.

Moffitt gave her a shake. "Answer him, Fraulein," he ordered.

"Easy there, Moffitt!" Troy saw tears threatening to spill from her wide blue eyes. "You're scaring her."

Moffitt was unmoved. "Have you forgotten that just minutes ago, she had a gun to your head? Don't let her angelic looks or her crocodile tears fool you, Troy. She's most likely just as dangerous as any of the other Germans that we come in contact with out here." But, despite his exasperated tone, under Troy's glare, Moffitt loosened his grip on her arm.

"Get your filthy hands off of me!" the girl said, angrily, in English. "My father is a Wehrmacht General! His enemies are my enemies, and you are enemies of the Fatherland! I demand that you leave this house!"

"Ah, well, see there?" Moffitt tightened his hold on her arm again and pulled her roughly to him. "She can speak English. Quite well, in fact."

"We're not going to hurt you," Troy told the girl again, though Moffitt was doing little to give the statement credibility. "Right, Moffitt?"

Moffitt heaved a sigh and let the girl go, taking a step back from her and eyeing her warily.

Troy smiled at the girl. "Come on, let's all be friends here. What's your name, Fraulein?"

The girl looked from Moffitt to Troy and then back to Moffitt.

"Ada," she said, finally.

"Pretty name." Troy continued to smile at her. "Isn't it a pretty name, Moffitt?"

"Lovely," said Moffitt, drily, crossing his arms across his chest. "So, Fraulein Ada, your father is a general? What is your surname?"

"Herzog."

Moffitt grinned faintly. "Not such a pretty name. But still, a good strong German one." He repeated the name. "Though not one I'm familiar with. Troy?"

Troy thought about it, but the name didn't ring any bells for him. The guy must be newly stationed in Africa, or they would have heard of him. It struck him as odd that the General would bring his young daughter with him to Africa, but then Troy thought of all the other officer's children from both sides who had crossed his path in the desert. Hardly sound parenting in his opinion, but he supposed that they all must have their reasons, just as he was sure that General Herzog had for bringing Ada there.

"Well, Fraulein Herzog, I am Sergeant Moffitt and this is Sergeant Troy." Moffitt gave a small bow. "The pleasure is ours."

"It's nice to meet you," said Ada, her tone dripping with acid. "Now get out of my house." She stamped her foot and pointed commandingly towards the door.

It wasn't much of a stretch to believe for Troy to believe that her father was a general. "Your house?" he asked, looking at Moffitt.

Ada nodded. "My house."

"Well, we will get out, as soon as our friends come for us. Until then, you're stuck with us."

"Das ist sehr wonderbar! Genau das, was Ich brauche, mehr schmutzige Amerikaner und Englisch!" Ada snorted and put her hands on hips.

The sarcasm in her voice was obvious. Troy looked at Moffitt for a translation of her words.

Moffitt chuckled and shook his head at her. "No, sorry to disappoint you, Fraulein, just dirty Americans. I'm the only filthy Englishman of the lot." He looked at Troy. "She doesn't seem to think much of us, I'm afraid."

"Maybe we'll grow on her." Troy shrugged. The girl was still glaring contemptuously at them both. "Or, maybe not." He sighed and looked up at Moffitt. "Search the rest of the house. I can't believe that she's here alone."

"No, I can't say I do either. I'll be back." Moffitt drew his revolver. He nodded at the girl. "You'll keep an eye on her? Don't let her size fool you. She's got quite a punch."

He rubbed his arm where Ada had struck him earlier and left the room.

---

Tully looked at Hitch. "So, you think that they're all right?"

Hitch nodded and blew a bubble. "Sure they are."

"Well, why aren't they here?" Tully knew that he shouldn't have let Hitch talk him into taking that two day pass. He blamed himself. If they're been along, Moffitt and Troy would have made it back, no problem.

"Don't know. They always get into trouble when they go out alone. Need us to keep 'em straight." Hitch shrugged, not seeming concerned. "Neither one of them are great drivers, especially not Moffitt. Maybe they wrecked the jeep. "

"Sounds like the Krauts wrecked everything, from what I heard." Tully scratched his head. "Hey, you don't think that Boggs wants to see us to tell us they're dead, do you?"

For the first time, Tully saw Hitch's confidence waver. It was unusual that Boggs would send for them, instead of Troy. Heck, the man didn't even talk to Moffitt much unless Troy was around.

Hitch chomped on his gum for a while in silence. "Nah," he said finally, "he probably just wants to tell us to go out and pick them up."

Tully snorted. "Would've done that anyways."

Hitch grinned.

"Hitchcock! Pettigrew! Get in here, on the double, Captain wants to see you!" barked the lieutenant, sticking his head out of the tent flap.

Tully looked at Hitch and they went into the tent.

It took a moment for Tully's eyes to get used to the darkness. When they did, he saw Boggs standing beside a guy in a German uniform. Tully blinked and then squinted. They guy looked like a general. He looked at Hitch, who frowned like he couldn't believe his eyes.

"Gentlemen, come in. I want to introduce you to General Herzog. Formerly of the Wehrmacht," said Boggs.

Tully nodded. He and Hitch stepped forward and let Boggs introduce them. The guy must be a deserter, Tully decided. Things must not really be going so good for the Krauts, he thought, if their generals were switching sides.

"Pettigrew and Hitchcock, I'd like for you to take General Herzog to the coast of Algeria to collect his daughter. An armed escort will meet you there. Then, they'll take both of them to AFHQ. I expect you to accompany them, as well." said Boggs, motioning them over to the map. He pointed at their initial destination and then traced the course. "I'm counting on you to make sure that they make it there safely." He inclined his head to the General. "I can't tell you how important General Herzog's information will be to the Allied war efforts."

"Yes, sir," said Tully and Hitch together, saluting.

Boggs returned the salute crisply and then turned back to the German general.

"Sir?" asked Tully, tentatively.

"Yes, Private?" Boggs turned around.

Tully thought that he looked like he had forgotten them already. "Um, sir, you wouldn't have happened to have heard anything about Sergeant Troy and Sergeant Moffitt would you? They okay?"

Boggs ignored the question. "You'll saddle up at 1300 hours. You'll both take a jeep. They should be ready for you down at the motor pool. You're dismissed until then."

Hitch and Tully saluted again before turning and walking out of the tent.

Outside, Tully reached into his pocket and pulled out a matchstick. He grinned at Hitch. "Did you see where we're going?"

Hitch was grinning, too, and almost skipping along. "Yeah, that's where Troy and Moffitt were."

Tully nodded. "And Boggs said to take two jeeps. Wonder if that means that he thinks that they're still out there somewhere."

"Well, that's what I heard, buddy." Hitch clapped Tully on the shoulder. "Even if it's not what he said."

---

Moffitt returned to the sitting room and sank into the chair beside Ada.

She gave him a dirty look. Moffitt ignored her. "Well, she is alone."

"Really?" Troy still wondered what the girl was doing in a house in North Africa all by herself.

"Ah, well, she wasn't always alone, it seems. There's a dead woman upstairs." Moffitt sighed heavily and ran a hand over his face. "It looks as though she was standing to close to one of the windows when it blew. Glass shards hit a few major arteries. She bled to death rather quickly." He snuck a look at Ada who was staring sullenly forward and then looked back to Troy. "Rather grim scene, I'm afraid." He swallowed and shook his head.

Troy looked at Moffitt and noticed for the first time that under his deep tan that he looked pale and shaken. Troy could imagine that what Moffitt had seen upstairs must have been pretty gruesome. For some reason, it always was harder for him when it was a woman, thought Troy. He knew that Moffitt would take care of seeing to the body and he was glad.

He wondered if Ada had seen the dead woman. If she had, then her reaction to them coming in the house made sense. She probably blamed them for the woman's death. A cold feeling of dread swept Troy when he realized that the dead woman might be the girl's mother.

"Ada," he asked gently, "who was she? Who was that woman that Moffitt found upstairs?"

"She brought me here," the girl said softly, her eyes shiny with tears again. "She met me after the BDM meeting and told me to come quickly with her. I had never seen her before, but she had a letter from my father. She told me I was in danger and that she was bringing me here to meet him."

"She told you that you were going to meet him here? In Africa? Where did she bring you from?"

"Berlin." The girl sighed and looked around the room. "I have been here before. We used to come here on holiday. We had many fun times here. Good memories. Vati loves this place. She told me that he was going to meet me here."

Moffitt gave Troy a sharp look.

Troy narrowed his eyes. If what the girl was saying was true, there was a German general on his way there. He could be alone, or he could be bringing a whole column with him. Either way, thought Troy, it wasn't great news.

---

"So, we're stuck here, in the middle of nowhere with the daughter of a German general. A German general who is most likely on his way here, if she can be believed." Moffitt sighed. "Well, if that just isn't perfect.''

Troy leaned his head against the wall and took a long drag of his cigarette. "Yeah," was all that he could say.

"And in addition, she may be quite possibly the most uncooperative girl I've ever met," said Moffitt.

Troy snorted and raised his eyebrows. "Not hard to tell that you don't have any sisters."

Moffitt smiled faintly. "Did you hear what she said? About the dead woman coming to meet her after the meeting? The Bund Deutscher Madel meeting?"

"Yeah. The BDM meeting. What's that? The German equivalent of the Girl Scouts or something?"

Moffitt considered the statement. "Well, I suppose that you could say that," he said slowly, "though I'm relatively certain that the Girl Guides aren't teaching their young ladies about the evils of the racial impurity or how to meet a boy with the perfect Aryan features in order to breed the Master Race."

Troy shook his head, still not understanding.

"It's the girl's chapter of the HJ, the Hitler Youth, Troy." Moffitt settled back in his chair and crossed his ankle over his knee. "The Nazis don't waste much time. They begin brainwashing their children beginning at a rather early age."

"That's just propaganda, right?" Troy had heard the stories of German children being taught to hate and kill, but he'd never believed them. He'd just assumed that it was something that the Ministry had come up with to illustrate the evil of the Nazis.

"No, Troy, it's not. I lived in Germany don't forget, with my family, prior to the war. I saw a lot, even though I was young."

Troy nodded. The shadow that crossed Moffitt's face before he started speaking again was hard to miss.

"Membership in the Hitler Youth was strongly encouraged for all German boys ten years of age and older. I wasn't a German citizen, of course, but I had several mates from school who were ardent members. And me, not wanting to be left out, tagged along with them to their meetings and their games."

"So what are you trying to tell me? That you joined up?" He shook his head at the idea at Moffitt, who hated violently hated all Germans, being a member of the Young Hitlers. "What was wrong with just being a Boy Scout?"

"No Boy Scouts, Troy, outlawed you see." Looking far away, Moffitt frowned at his memories. "I was just a child, much younger than Ada. I was only interested in my friend's stories about having fun. Camping, games, shooting guns. What boy wouldn't want to join in? And, I could speak German as well as any of them and one of the boys gave me a uniform so I could attend with them."

Troy lit a cigarette and contemplated what Moffitt had told him so far. "Keep going."

"What they were teaching us as children was tantamount to brainwashing. Week after week, it was feed to us in small bits so that we'd barely notice."

"Like what?" asked Troy, still skeptical.

"Well, let's see. 'I swear to devote all my energies and my strength to the savior of our country, Adolf Hitler. I am willing and ready to give up my life for him, so help me God.' That was the oath that the youngest children took upon joining. Then, you add in all of their false views on genetics and the rest of Europe. It makes for quite an education."

"Nice." Troy snorted at the vision that he had of a bunch of kids chanting in front of the Nazi flag and a picture of Hitler.

Moffitt shook his head. "Believe me Troy, it was very seductive, very appealing. They made it so," he whispered, looking horrified at his memories.

Troy was amazed. He'd have to believe that Moffitt had been a smart kid, who hadn't even been born in Germany. It was a telling story that he'd been sucked in. But, Moffitt wasn't done with the story quite yet.

"One day, my father caught me singing one of their songs. You see, I hadn't bothered to question or even think about the horrible words that were leaving my mouth." He looked at Troy. "And, they were truly horrific. I can't even repeat them. Not even now."

"Your father wasn't happy, I take it?"

Moffitt shook his head, his brow furrowing. "I think he was shocked, at first. He asked me to repeat the song line by line and then asked me where I had learned it. I told him what he wanted to know and he got very angry, the angriest that I've ever seen him. Gave me the beating of my life." He shrugged. "I deserved it, of course. I should have been thinking for myself. I was old enough to know right from wrong."

Moffitt was quiet for a few moments, obviously reliving the painful incident in his memory. Finally, he looked up at Troy. "We moved back to England shortly after that."

Troy whistled. "That's some story."

"Yes. Unthinkable isn't it? That someone would teach an impressionable child to hate. To believe in an ideology that's inhuman. To be made to believe that certain groups of people aren't even human. That Hitler is God," he said in a whisper. "It's evil, Troy."

"Yeah, it is." Troy didn't know what else to say and Moffitt looked drained. He wasn't surprised when Moffitt got up and moved to leave the room.

Before he left, Moffitt stopped and turned, framed in the arched doorway. "Actually, now that I think about it, it very well may be one the reasons that I decided to enlist. Why I felt so strongly about fighting in the war. There's no place for that kind of thought, imposed upon children no less, in a civilized world."

Nodding, Troy had to agree.

---

They had driven half way to the coast when Hitch had motioned for them to stop at a small village.

Hitch had disappeared in search of some water for his jeep, leaving Tully and the General alone.

The General seemed to be an all right guy to Tully. His English was good and so was his conversation. After listening to the General tell him about his young daughter, Tully had finally worked up enough nerve to ask the question that had been on his mind since he had met the General.

"Sir?" Tully removed his helmet and raked his hand through his hair. He looked down, suddenly shy. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Certainly, my boy, what is it?" the General said. He smiled and passed the canteen to Tully.

"Um, well, it's none of my business, sir, but . . . Why are you switching sides? I mean, you being a general and all."

The general looked thoughtful and leaned against the jeep. "My wife was killed almost six months ago in an air raid in Berlin."

"I'm real sorry to hear that, sir." Tully supposed that could make even a general reconsider things.

The general nodded, accepting the condolences. "And my son, he died almost a year ago in the war. My daughter, Ada, is my only living family. When I went home to see her after my wife was killed, I was amazed. She was so different."

Tully nodded. "All grown up?"

"You expect that as a father, for your children to grow up." The general looked hard at Tully. "It wasn't that change that concerned me."

"What was it, sir?"

"Germany has changed. The leaders have changed. The people have changed. My daughter had changed." The general shrugged. "And I do not like into what she has changed. What she is saying, what she is doing, and what she believes now is not acceptable to me." Shaking his head, the General sighed. "I cannot continue to have her there. She cannot remain in Germany."

"No sir," said Tully, agreeing, but puzzled as to what the General was trying to tell him.

"Let me ask you, Private, would you fight in this war if you didn't believe in America? Or if you didn't believe that what your country was doing was right?" The General looked serious.

Thinking about it, it didn't take long for Tully to shake his head. "No, sir, I don't think that I could."

"Well, then, there is your answer. I cannot believe in what my country is doing to its people, especially the children. And I did not realize it until I saw my daughter and her friends."

Tully nodded, but still wondered what had changed that had been so bad. There were more questions that he wanted to ask but Hitch returned shortly after that. It was hard to have a serious conversation over the roar over the jeeps as they flew through the desert, and his questions went unanswered.

Tully continued to think about the General and his daughter as they drove on.

---

While they were eating lunch, Troy realized that he hadn't seen Ada in a while.

"Moffitt, where's Ada?"

Moffitt shrugged. "Last time I saw her, she was in one of the rooms upstairs. Most likely plotting to kill us, I'd think."

"Come on, Moffitt, she's just a girl."

Moffitt fixed him with cold eyes. "Haven't we had this conversation, Troy?"

"Yeah, I guess so." Troy looked down at his plate, thinking back to Moffitt's stories. "Do you think she's hungry? We could take her some grub."

Moffitt snorted. "She's hardly likely to starve, Troy." He continued to eat.

"There's some food left over, right?"

"Yes. Plenty." Moffitt continued to eat. "Which is good, because I'm starving. Must be the salt air."

Troy grabbed Moffitt's plate.

Moffitt looked at him and sighed. "Oh, all right. I'll take her some. I'm sure that her refusal will be most charming." He continued to grouse, going into the kitchen to make a plate for Ada.

Troy shook his head as Moffitt stomped up the stairs with the food and a glass of water on a tray. He settled himself back into the arm chair and propped his foot again on the stool.

It was only a moment before Troy heard angry voices coming from the upstairs.

Shortly afterwards, Moffitt came down the stairs. He was holding his hand to his head and he looked unsteady.

"Moffitt? What happened?" Troy sat up, concerned.

Taking his hand away from his head, Moffitt looked at Troy. Open mouthed, Troy looked at the bloody gash in Moffitt's forehead.

"She said something about us being her captors as soon as I offered her the tray. And that she wouldn't give us the satisfaction of eating our poisoned food," Moffitt explained, his head steadily dripping blood.

"Captors? Poison?" Troy couldn't understand why the girl would think such a thing. Moffitt might have been a little rough with her, but they hadn't done anything to hurt her or even threaten her. She still had the run of the house and they'd tried to be pleasant to her.

"Yes. At which point, I invited her to leave us. Told her that we wished her no harm and that we certainly didn't want to keep her against her will." Moffitt swiped at his head and grimaced when his hand came away bloody. "She, of course, refused. Said that she'd rather see us dead than leave us in her house."

"And?"

"Not sure that it was a threat. Seemed like more of a promise." Moffitt shrugged. "Then she hit me in the head with a book. Rather hard, I might add. It was a rather large book, you see." He blinked and steadied himself against the balustrade. "You know, I never actually ever appreciated the value of the phrase 'seeing stars' before now," he said, thoughtfully. He looked around the room and blinked.

Troy had decided that Moffitt had little talent with children. "She's okay, isn't she?"

"Is she okay?" Again, Moffitt touched his hand to his head and winced. He gave Troy an evil look. "Yes, she's fine. Didn't touch a fine strand hair on her yellow head. Though, I won't say that I didn't think about it."

"Moffitt, she's only a kid. She's scared."

"Sincerely, I believe that we should tie her up. She's not safe, Troy." Moffitt moved from the stairs. He bent down and reached into one of the bags. When he straightened up, he held up a length of rope to Troy.

Troy shook his head firmly. "We are not tying her up. We're two grown men, she's a kid, we'll be okay." He looked at Moffitt's head wound and frowned. "Well, we should be, anyway. Did she take the food?"

"Oh for God's sakes, Troy! She practically broke my skull and you're worried if she's had enough to eat?" Moffitt threw the rope back into the bag. "No, she flatly refused it just as I predicted."

"I'll go up and talk to her. You're probably not helping matters." Troy was reasonably sure that Moffitt's attitude towards Ada was at least partially to blame for her lashing out at him.

Moffitt looked at Troy like he was insane. "You're taking your life into your own hands, old man."

Almost at the point where he was going to lose his patience, Troy took a deep breath and willed himself to be calm. "Moffitt, she is a kid. She's alone. She's scared. She's not some hardened Nazi," Troy repeated, starting to feel like a broken record.

Shaking his head, Moffitt made a disgusted noise in response.

"Just because you let a little girl get the better of you . . ."

Moffitt threw up his hands in frustration. "Oh, fine, go up there, Troy. But, watch her. Because, mark my words, she might be the death of someone if we're not careful."

Troy raised his eyebrows. "Don't you think that you're being a little unreasonable?"

"Unreasonable? For goodness sake's, Troy. What is it going to take?'' Moffitt snorted. "Let's just hope that your trusting nature isn't the death of you."

Moffitt grabbed the first aid kit and turned on his heel leaving Troy staring after him.

---

Troy stood in the doorway of the room, leaning against the wide wooden frame that surrounded it.

He watched Ada for a while. She looked relatively small and harmless, he thought. Her hair, which had been hanging loose the last time that he had seen her, was now braided and circled her head. He thought that she looked like the illustrations from the Heidi storybook that his mother had read to him when he was a kid. It certainly did nothing to reinforce Moffitt's insistent position that she was a danger.

On the floor, beside the bed, was a large volume of an encyclopedia. It was probably the book that she had hit Moffitt with, Troy realized. Interesting choice of a weapon, but there didn't seem to be much else around. He admired her resourcefulness, even if Moffitt hadn't been in the right frame of mind to do so.

Still watching her, Troy wondered what was going through her head as she laid there. Was Moffitt right? Would she kill them, he wondered if she had a chance? He still found it hard to believe that Ada would be capable of something like that, despite all of Moffitt's insistence to the contrary. In Troy's experience, a girl her age would be thinking about clothes, dates, and movie stars. Not about killing someone.

"Hey, there," Troy finally said. "When was the last time you ate, Ada? We made some food. Don't you want some?"

"Ich würde lieber verhungern," she answered, still not looking at him.

"English, please? I'm sorry. I can't understand you when you speak German."

"The other one speaks German." Ada turned towards Troy and studied him with narrowed eyes, as if he were playing a trick.

"Yeah, and he speaks about a hundred other languages, too." Troy laughed. "It's kind of his thing."

"Oh." Ada propped herself on her elbow. She gave him a small smile. "Not your 'thing?'"

Troy laughed again and shook his head. "Nope. Most definitely not my thing." He smiled at her for a few moments until she looked away shyly. "You sure are pretty when you smile. You should do it more often."

The girl's fair cheeks tinged pink. The smile grew wider and she sat up on the bed.

Troy was pleased to see that he was managing to charm her. He looked forward to telling the story to Moffitt. "Sure you don't want something to eat?"

Troy hobbled closer and offered her the plate. Thinking about Moffitt's bloody forehead, he made sure to kick the heavy volume out of her reach before he got too close.

She looked at the food for a moment and then took the plate, smelling it suspiciously. Ada looked at up at him with untrusting eyes.

Nodding, he took a bite from the plate. Making a huge show of it, he chewed it and swallowed. Troy offered her a fork and she took it. Ada took a cautious bite, rolling the food on her tongue.

"Not bad," she finally said.

"Glad to hear it. I'll tell Moffitt. He made it. Not sure that it will make up for you clocking him in the head, though. He's going to be sore about that for a while." Deciding that he was safe, Troy sat down in the chair beside of the bed.

"Sore?" Ada stopped eating and looked at him.

"Um, not happy?" Troy translated.

"Good, I am glad that he is unhappy."

"Not a very nice thing to say," Troy chided, shaking his head.

"He is mean." Ada sounded very much to Troy like the child that she was.

"Well, he's had a hard time lately. He just found out his brother got killed a few weeks ago. He hasn't really been the same since then."

Troy looked at her, watching for any shred of sympathy. When she looked at him, he didn't see any, just a chilling interest in Moffitt's brother's death.

"Oh. In the war? Fighting? Like you?" she asked.

"No, he was a little boy. He got killed by the German bombs in England." Troy shook his head. "Terrible isn't it?"

"No."

Troy looked at Ada thinking that she must have misunderstood what he had said. He opened his mouth to repeat what he had told her.

Ada cut him off with a curt shake of her head. "English and American bombs hit Germany every day, lots of people die there, too. It is part of the war. Your friend's brother was not the first, he will not be last to die in England."

"Yeah, well, that's true, but it's still terrible."

"You act as though you expect me to be upset at the story of the death of an Englander?" Ada looked at Troy calmly. "When they have killed so many loyal innocent German citizens?"

"But, Ada . . . He was just a little boy. He had nothing to do with the war."

"Even a little boy is the enemy. You cannot expect me to feel sorry for your friend or his brother? Your friend would kill a German as soon as look at him. You would, too, I know. And I am sure that you have." She turned her clear blue eyes to him. "And I understand that. Completely."

Troy realized that his mouth had dropped open during her speech and he closed it. "Really? You understand that?"

Ada nodded. "Of course. If I could, I would gladly join in the war. I would fight to destroy the enemy."

"Would you? It's not as romantic as it sounds. Trust me."

"It's the highest honor. Enemies are enemies. Enemies kill each other." Her tone was matter of fact and coldly flat. "That is what a war is. Death is a necessary part of victory. Your friend should be proud. Dying during a war is a great honor, even if you are not in battle. His brother died a hero's death." Finised with her food, Ada put her plate aside. "I work in a hospital sometimes. I see lots of German wounded soldiers, so brave, but I am not upset for them. Even when they die. They are our heroes and their lives are a small price to pay for our victory."

"Do you truly believe that, Ada?" Troy could admit that he had hard enough time believing that himself most days. However, this child before him seemed to be coldly accepting of it. There was something about the whole conversation that was almost morbidly fascinating to him while at the same time it was making him feel distinctly ill.

Emphatically, she nodded. "Of course I do."

"Look, we don't mean you any harm." Troy pointed to his neatly bandaged ankle. "It's just that I can't walk very well. We're only going to stay here until someone comes for us."

Ada shrugged and picked at the tufting of the quilt that covered the bed. "I hope that you are gone by the time my father comes, or you will be sorry. Even though you are nice, it does not change who you are. I would be sorry to see you die, but . . ." Ada shrugged and looked at him with icy eyes. "You are our enemy."

And enemies kill each other, thought Troy, remembering what Ada had told him just a few moments before.

He looked over at her and noticed that Ada's calculating gaze had fallen on the gun at his side. When he caught her, she looked up at him and smiled sweetly, her eyes suddenly round and innocent.

Troy felt a chill sweep through him.

---

Moffitt sat in the window seat, one of the Thompsons cradled in his lap, watching the road with a pair on binoculars.

"So, she still seems very certain that her father is coming?" he asked, not turning his head away from the window.

"Yeah, she seems pretty sure." Troy lit a cigarette. "I don't think she has any idea about when, though."

"Well, let's hope that Tully and Hitch come along prior to that." He finally looked at Troy. "Have you given any thought to what we'll do if he does come along? And we're still here?"

Troy came over to the window and rested part of his weight on the seat. His ankle actually felt worse than it had earlier that day. He wasn't going to be running anywhere if the General did show up, that was for sure, he thought.

"Should I take silence as an indication that you don't have a brilliant plan to get us out of this?" Moffitt asked, looking out the window again.

"I don't know. It's not a good situation, is it? You got any ideas?"

Moffitt nodded. "Yes, one, but you wouldn't like it." He didn't elaborate further.

He didn't need to, Troy heard what Moffitt wasn't saying loud and clear. "We're not going to blast out of here and use Ada as a hostage, if that's your plan, no way. She's just a girl."

"A particularly dangerous girl that hates us and wishes us dead with her every breath," Moffitt muttered.

"What was that Moffitt?" Troy asked, even though he had heard every word.

"Desperate times, desperate measures, you know. Just considering all of our options. You're right of course," Moffitt said, doing his best to sound sincere and failing miserably. "So, what are we going to do if Herr General does pay a visit before Hitch and Tully come for us?"

"I don't know. I'm going to have to think about it some more."

A silence fell between them.

---

Troy smoked another cigarette. Moffitt seemed to sulk.

"How's that plan coming?" Moffitt asked after a while, binoculars still trained on the distance.

Troy glared at him.

"We can always go back to my original plan, you know." Moffitt had a thin smile on his face.

Troy wasn't sure if he was kidding him or not.

---

Bader slowed the car and looked at Dietrich as they drove by the wreckage of the burned out trucks. Little remained but the blackened frames of the vehicles.

Dietrich nodded in satisfaction at the destruction. As they passed the wrecked American jeep, Dietrich motioned for Bader to stop. Getting out the car, Dietrich went over to the jeep. He noted that the rubble that covered it and then noticed that the Browning had been dismantled.

Frowning, he walked back over to the car. "Drive on, Bader. I smell a rat. Or most likely more than one." He motioned to the truck that was following them to start moving again as well.

"Yes, Herr Hauptmann. Do you think that Troy and Moffitt survived the attack?"

"Of course they did, Bader. Would you expect any less?"

"No, of course not, Herr Hauptmann,''' Bader answered despite his earlier confidence. "Where do you think that they are?"

Dietrich pointed to the house that lay just ahead. "If I were a betting man, Bader, I would say in there."

"In Herr General's house?"

Dietrich nodded in satisfaction. "Yes. If we're especially lucky, and we've timed this right, we're going to kill five birds with one stone."

---

Troy hobbled up the stairway as fast as he could, carrying the other Thompson that Moffitt had brought with them.

Trying Ada's door he found, that it was locked. "Ada?" he called.

"Go away, I am not coming out until my father arrives."

Troy rolled his eyes. "Good. Don't come out. At all. Not until your father comes for you or until one of us comes for you and tells you to come out. Ada, do you hear me?"

He put his head against the door. He heard nothing but silence on the other side. "Ada! Do you understand?" Troy yelled, looking over his shoulder and down the stairs. It would only be a matter of time before the Germans arrived. The last thing that he wanted was Ada to get caught in the crossfire that was certain to occur.

"Yes! I understand! I am not stupid, Sergeant!"

"Good," muttered Troy. He moved down the stairs as quickly as he could and joined Moffitt at the front door.

"Well, company finally appears to be coming. Have you come up with that plan as of yet?"

Troy shrugged. "I think that we'll just play it by ear."

"Brilliant." Moffitt grimaced. "Right, then. By ear it is." He looked up the stairway. "Is the girl in her room?"

"Yeah." Troy looked at him with warning. He could practically see Moffitt's mind working. "Don't go getting any ideas, okay? I said no."

"Just making sure that she's safely tucked out of the way, that's all," Moffitt murmured. "I'll go cover the rear door. You'll cover this one?"

Troy nodded and wondered where Hitch and Tully were when they really needed them.

---

"Well, well, well," said Tully, chewing on his matchstick.

He looked over at Hitch and motioned for him to pull his jeep over to the side of the road. Hitch nodded and they parked both jeeps off the road.

"What is it?" Herzog asked. "We are just a few miles from the house. Why are we stopping?"

Tully didn't answer. Instead, he grabbed the binoculars and trained them on the house. Hitch came over and stood beside of him.

Tully frowned and handed Hitch the binoculars. Hitch took them and looked at the house for a moment before lowering them.

"Great," Hitch said, his tone relaying that what he saw was anything but.

Tully nodded and looked at Herzog. "I don't guess that you were expecting any other guests were you?"

"I don't understand?" Herzog looked from Hitch to Tully.

Hitch popped a bubble. "The house is lousy with Germans. Car parked out front and then a truck parked a little further down the way. Looks like the place is surrounded." He looked at them. "I guess the cat's out of the bag, General. It looks like we're not the only ones that know that you're switching sides."

"Maybe they're just after Troy and Moffitt," said Tully.

"Nah," said Hitch. "Even Dietrich wouldn't come out here, all this way, with that much back up just to get at them. I'd say that he knows about the General and was hoping that he could get all of us at one time."

Grinning, Tully shrugged. "Not without a fight."

Frowning, the General shook his head. "Ada, my daughter, is in that house. We have to get her out." He looked from Hitch to Tully. "I will not go with you to Algiers without my daughter."

"Well, we're not going to argue with you. We think our sergeants are in that house. And we're not going any where without them, either."

"You think that your sergeants are in the house with my daughter?"

"Don't worry, General, Sergeant Troy won't let anything happen to your little girl. He'll make sure that she's safe." Tully looked at Hitch who nodded.

Hitch removed his glasses and cleaned them on his shirt. "Well, this makes things hard."

Tully silently agreed. It would be easy enough to go down there and shoot the place up, grab Troy and Moffitt and get out. But, there was the little girl to consider. He tried to think of a way to get them all out without causing a huge fire fight. He didn't have much luck. Looking at Hitch, he could tell that he hadn't been able to think of anything either. They were up the plum crick it seemed.

Finally, Tully looked at the General. "Any ideas, sir?" The guy was a general after all, he thought, and he had as much as stake as the rest of them. It wouldn't hurt to ask him, even if he was German.

The General looked at Tully and gestured for the binoculars. "May I?"

Tully handed the General the binoculars. The General looked at the scene for several moments and then nodded. He handed the binoculars back to Tully.

"Yes, gentlemen, I believe that I do have a plan. Would you like to hear it?"

---

Dietrich had instructed the men from the truck to surround the house and to raise an alarm if anyone approached, but not to fire unless it became extremely necessary. He also instructed Bader to leave his sidearm holstered. Dietrich did the same.

If the intelligence was true, there was a young girl in this house with General Herzog, Troy, and Moffitt. Dietrich had no desire to accidentally catch a child in the crossfire. And from what Dietrich knew of Sergeant Troy, he wouldn't take that chance either.

Cautiously, Dietrich pushed the door open with Bader a step behind him. "Hello?" Dietrich called. "Is anyone here? Sergeant Troy? Herr General? Fraulein Herzog?"

Not surprisingly, a gun was shoved in his ribs. Dietrich raised his hands and he nodded at Bader to do the same.

"Put the gun down, Sergeant, we have no plans to start shooting." Dietrich looked at Troy.

"Glad to hear it, Captain. You're an unexpected guest." Troy nodded at Bader. "And you brought your little friend. Well, I guess the more the merrier."

Bader turned red, but said nothing.

Despite himself, Dietrich could barely contain his amusement. He saw Moffitt coming towards them with a machine gun. It was a sobering sight.

Moffitt lowered his gun. "Dietrich? What are you doing here?" He looked at Troy. "What is Dietrich doing here?"

"Hell if I know." Troy shook his head. "Chasing us, probably."

"Well," said Dietrich, inclining his head. "You are partially right."

---

So far, so good, thought Tully about the General's plan.

He'd marched them straight up to the house at gun point. The Wehrmacht soldiers were obviously too well trained to question a general. Tully could tell that they thought that it was a little weird that one of their generals was out in the middle of nowhere with two American prisoners. But, still, they weren't asking any questions.

The general had barked some orders at them in German while Hitch and Tully stood there with their hands up, looking at each other. After a while, Tully had to quit looking at Hitch. He was afraid that he was going to start laughing.

Tully had understood only two words of the entire conversation between the Germans: Hauptmann Dietrich. He wasn't too surprised. He'd looked at Hitch at that point and raised his eyebrows. He still wondered if Dietrich had been after Herzog or after Troy and Moffitt. There was little way to tell by the soldier's reactions to Herzog. Tully realized that Dietrich, in the true tradition of all officers regardless of what side that they were on, probably wasn't in the habit of telling his enlisted men why they were going somewhere. He just counted on them to do the right thing when all hell broke loose.

Funny how that didn't change, no matter which side you found yourself on, thought Tully.

The conversation continued in German and Tully had some more time to think on things. So, he thought, it was unlikely that Dietrich's men knew that Herzog was switching sides, but Tully still asked himself if Dietrich knew.

Looking up at the window, Tully noticed a face staring down at him. It was a girl with blond hair. He figured that she had to be Herzog's daughter. He caught Hitch's eye and Hitch looked up, too. The girl looked interested in the scene below. Tully wondered if she was scared, seeing all these soldiers with guns. She was probably wondering where her daddy was, he thought. Feeling sorry for her, he caught the General's eye and then looked up. The general moved slightly over and then followed Tully's glance. The smile that he quickly hid and the answering smile and small wave from the girl confirmed to Tully that he had been right.

So, Tully mused, Dietrich was inside. So was the girl. Tully had to assume that Troy and Moffitt were inside, too.

He tried to imagine what they were all doing.

---

"What?" asked Troy incredulously, looking to Moffitt. "So, let me get this straight, Dietrich. General Herzog is coming over to our side?"

Dietrich nodded and put his hands behind his back. "It would seem so. Don't tell me that you don't know anything about this, Sergeant Troy. I find that very hard to believe."

Troy shook his head. "We didn't. We just happened to find ourselves in the neighborhood. I've got a bum ankle and our jeep is busted. The house seemed like a logical place to find shelter."

"Certainly Herr General's daughter might have said something about him coming here to meet her?" asked Bader. "Certainly, she would have told you why."

Moffitt made a sound that Troy thought sounded suspiciously like a giggle that he had tried to cover up with a cough.

Glaring at him before looking back to Dietrich, Troy shook his head. "She knew that she was meeting her father here, but she had no idea as to why."

"And neither did we," said Moffitt. "Trust me, Dietrich; Fraulein Herzog doesn't know anything about this."

"Know what?" asked Ada, coming up behind Dietrich. "Herr Hauptmann, I see that my father is outside. I would like for you to take me to him. And," she said, inclining her head at Moffitt, "do not believe anything that he says. They have been keeping me prisoner here!"

Dietrich gave Moffitt and Troy a look.

Moffitt shrugged. "She's not a terribly huge fan of us, Dietrich. You may do better, on the other hand. If you get my meaning."

Troy looked at Ada, angry. "Ada, I thought I told you to stay in your room!" he bellowed.

"I do not take orders from you, Sergeant." She calmly looked at Dietrich and inclined her head. "I saw my father outside. He is outside with two American prisoners and a dozen Wehrmacht soldiers."

"Two American prisoners? It looks like your friends have arrived, Sergeant Troy." Dietrich looked at Bader. "I'm sure that it's some sort of ploy. Go and see that the men know what is actually going on."

Moffitt tripped Bader as he went towards the door. "No so fast, little one." He trained his pistol on Bader's head. "No one is going outside, Dietrich. Not me, not you, not your little Leftenant. Got that?"

"Would you shoot me in front of a child?" asked Bader, from the floor. "I do not think so."

Moffitt didn't miss a beat. "Troy wouldn't. But I would."

Bader swallowed and quit talking.

Dietrich's eyes narrowed as he noticed that Troy had also drawn his gun. "Fraulein Herzog, do you know why you were brought here?"

"Ja, ja, bei der Erfüllung meines Vater." Ada looked at Dietrich like he was an idiot. "Why do you think that I am here?"

"No, Fraulein, do you know why your father is coming to meet you?" Dietrich asked again, patiently.

"I was told that I was in danger by the woman that brought me here." Ada looked at Dietrich. "Do you know why, Herr Hauptmann? Has my father told you?"

Troy looked at Moffitt who was grinning at the ridiculousness of the whole thing. The general's daughter was a firm Nazi, the general was about to become a deserter from the Fatherland. It was going to make for a strained family relationship, to say the least.

"Dietrich," Moffitt said, "Fraulein Herzog is a very strong supporter of the Reich. She is very proud of the Fatherland and hates all that oppose it." He looked at Ada. "Does that just about sum it up, Fraulein Ada?"

"Ja," she said with a fierce nod. She looked at Dietrich and drew herself up with pride. "I am a leader in the BDM. Heil Hitler!"

Troy thought that Dietrich looked a little sick as he watched the young girl give him the stiff armed salute. He didn't return it. He just looked at Troy and Moffitt. "She is a Nazi?"

Moffitt touched his forehead which was still oozing blood through the bandage that he had applied hours earlier. "Painfully so, I'm afraid. Death, destruction, and the wrath of the Fuhrer to all who oppose the Nazi cause. Heil bloody Hitler."

Troy could tell that Dietrich was giving a great deal of thought to this situation. Dietrich was silent for several moments. He sat down on the arm of one of the chairs and lit a cigarette.

Ada looked at Dietrich with her nose wrinkled in distaste. "You know that the Fuhrer opposes cigarette smoking. It is your duty as a German to keep your body healthy."

Dietrich looked at her. "Thank you for those words of advice, Fraulein." Blowing a thin plume of smoke, he sighed. "Well, this complicates things. Bader." He looked down at the Bader and then up at Moffitt. "Perhaps you should take Fraulein Herzog to another part of the house and stay with her. Then we can all settle our . . . differences."

Troy nodded and Moffitt shrugged.

Moffitt offered his hand to help Bader off the floor. Bader accepted the hand and nodded his thanks to Moffitt. However, as soon as he was standing, he hit Moffitt solidly under the jaw. Moffitt staggered.

Bader ran for the back door of the house and Moffitt started after him.

"Moffitt! Let it go," ordered Troy. "You walk out there and you'll get yourself shot or captured. You heard the girl. There are a dozen of them out there."

"Yes, but there's two of us out there and I'd make three. I'd say that's an even fight." Moffitt, though obviously disagreeing, stood where he was, working his jaw to check the damage.

Dietrich shrugged. "It's all going to end the same way, regardless, Sergeant Moffitt. You're not going to win this one. I suggest that we, as Sergeant Troy would say, get this show on the road."

Troy looked at Moffitt. "I say that?"

"No." Moffitt tilted his head and looked thoughtful. "Though, it might make a nice change from 'shake it.'"

Dietrich ignored them and focused again on Ada who had been watching the exchange with little interest. "Fraulein Ada, would you leave us? For just a few moments?"

Ada looked at Dietrich, obviously accepting his orders as an officer in the Wehrmacht. "Ja, Herr Hauptmann," she said, giving the hideous party salute again.

Dietrich merely nodded in response.

Troy looked at Dietrich who was still sitting calmly on the arm of the chair. He raised his gun at him. "That wasn't very smart. The girl's gone. What's to keep me from shooting you?"

Dietrich stubbed out his cigarette. "Absolutely nothing, I suppose." He sighed. "Perhaps it would be easier if you did. This girl will be devastated when she finds out that her father is a traitor. If we take him, then the SS or the Gestapo will kill him. She will be left all alone."

Moffitt snorted. "She very well might kill him herself."

Troy looked at him sharply.

"But yet, I cannot let you take him to your HQ. He knows too much and is far too important. Though, it's unlikely that she will go with you if you take him. And I believe it to be a condition of him going with you is that Fraulein Herzog is taken, as well. I am not sure there is going to be any clear winner in the outcome of this situation." Dietrich shook his head.

"Surely, she's not going to question her own father. Not in the end at any rate. If we take him, she'll go with him," said Troy, shaking his head. Ada was a kid. Kids followed their parents. That was the way that it worked.

Moffitt and Dietrich both looked at him.

"I wouldn't be so sure, Troy," Moffitt said. He looked at Dietrich. "Does it bother you? I saw your face when she gave you the Party Salute. Does it bother you that your people have taught their own children to hate even their parents if the cause deems necessary? I'm sure that you were a member of the HJ, weren't you Dietrich? You know what these children are taught. I imagine it's worse now that the war has started."

"Shut up," Dietrich told Moffitt.

Troy looked at Dietrich. His jaw was clenched and a vein stood out from his forehead. Moffitt had obviously struck a nerve. Moffitt opened his mouth to say something else, most likely to grind some more salt in the wound that he had opened, but the sound of the back door slamming stopped him.

Moffitt raised his gun and Troy did the same. Dietrich also drew his side arm. None of them were exactly certain as to who was coming through that door.

The first person that Troy saw was a German general, Herzog, he assumed.

The general had his hands in the air.

Great, thought, Troy. Bader had informed Dietrich's men that Herzog was a traitor and now they were bringing him in at gun point for Dietrich to deal with.

But, to Troy's surprise, it was Tully who followed the general with his gun pointed at his back. Moffitt looked at Troy with raised eyebrows. Dietrich merely shook his head and lowered his gun again.

"Hey there, Sarge," said Tully.

"Good to see you, Tully." Troy grinned. "General Herzog, I presume? It's nice to meet you, sir." Troy saluted and Moffitt nodded at the general, smiling.

"Likewise, I am sure." The general lowered his hands and returned the salute. He looked at Dietrich. "Hauptmann Dietrich. It is nice to see you again, my boy. It's been years."

Dietrich saluted. "You as well, Herr General Herzog. Though I wish that it was under better circumstances."

"Yes, well, it can't be helped." Herzog looked around the room. "Where is my daughter, Dietrich?"

"I asked her to leave the room. I thought that it might be better that way. We had some things to discuss." Dietrich looked at Tully. "Where is Leutnant Bader?"

"Oh," said Tully, shifting his matchstick to the other side of his mouth. "By the time he came out, we'd already captured the general here."

"What?" Dietrich looked confused.

"Yeah, Captain. We captured the general." Grinning like the Cheshire Cat himself, Tully shrugged. "Your men sure do want to make sure that their generals stay healthy. They didn't argue at all when we asked them to cooperate."

Dietrich closed his eyes for a moment. "And Bader? Where is Bader?"

"Oh, he tried to tell them what was really up, but by that time, none of your guys still had their guns." Tully explained. "So, we clobbered the little guy. Hitch got him real good."

Dietrich pursed his lips and said nothing.

Moffitt gave a snort of laughter.

It was all Troy could do not to laugh himself. "So what happens now, Captain?"

"I imagine that you will be taking General Herzog with you." Dietrich looked from Moffitt to Tully to Troy and then finally the general. "I seem to be at a disadvantage. My Leutnant is most likely unconscious. My men are apparently defenseless and without weapons." He looked at his gun and then put it down on the table beside of him. "I could begin shooting, but it would be relatively pointless. I suppose it's too late, Herr General, to ask you to change your mind?"

The General shook his head. "No, my boy. I won't."

"Well, I guess that's it then." Troy looked at Tully. "You want to go out and shoot out the tires of the trucks and the Kubelwagon? Oh, and take care of the radios, too."

Tully looked delighted. "Bazooka?"

Troy considered. "I think that might be a little bit over the top."

"Oh."

"Go to it, Tully. Make sure that no tire survives. Then go back out with Hitch and make sure that none of Dietrich's guys get any ideas about being heroes."

Tully nodded.

"Is that necessary Sergeant Troy?" asked Dietrich. "You are going to strand us here."

"Yeah, it is. I don't want to have to worry about running into you and your men a few miles down the road."

Moffitt smiled. "It's not that bad of a place to be stuck, Dietrich. You could take your men for a day at the beach. They might enjoy the holiday from the war."

A few moments later, shots were heard as Tully dispatched the tires and radios of the vehicles.

"General, do you want to call for your daughter? She's been waiting for you." Troy didn't miss the apprehensive look that both Moffitt and Dietrich gave him. They were still taking this whole thing too far, he thought. Ada would be delighted to see her father, he was sure, no matter whose side he was on.

"Ada! Come see your Vati!" the general called loudly.

Troy barely moved out of the way in time to avoid the girl as she threw herself into her father's arms. He smiled as the two hugged. He looked at Moffitt who was frowning, unmoved by the reunion.

"Vati," said Ada, "it is so good to see you! I have been waiting for you for days!"

The general hugged his daughter tightly. "It is good to see you, little one." He kissed the top of her head. "Are you ready to leave? Do you have all of your things gathered?"

Ada pulled away from him. "We are not staying here?"

"No, liebchen, we must go. We are going into Algiers. You will like it, I promise. It will be a very nice change from winter in Berlin."

"All right, Vati, I will get my things." Ada disappeared up the stairs.

General Herzog watched her go. "Lovely girl, is she not?" he said, every bit the proud father.

Dietrich nodded. "Very pretty. Resembles her mother."

"Yes." The general nodded and sighed. "I miss her mother. It will be good to have Ada back with me." He looked at Dietrich. "Berlin is no place for a young girl alone. Too much danger. Too many bad influences that corrupt."

"Is that your motivation, General? If so, I am sure that we could have Ada situated in several places that will remove her from the dangers of the war," said Dietrich. "Perhaps Switzerland? Or Sweden? Norway?"

The general shook his head. "No, it is more than that, though it is part of it. I do not like what our children are being taught, Dietrich. I am not fighting this war so that some madman and his devout followers can teach our children to hate."

"Amen," said Moffitt.

The general looked at Moffitt before turning his attention back to Dietrich. "You are very lucky, you are here, Hauptmann. All you see is sand. Do you know what I see, Dietrich? Young people, Ada's age, being killed in the camps." The general looked horrified. "Can you imagine? Girls her age and younger, being rounded up, and being killed. Just because they are not 'pure.'"

Dietrich said nothing.

"Do you want to know what made my decision for me? It was not one a made lightly as I am a career soldier. You can appreciate that, can't you, my boy?" When Dietrich didn't respond, the General continued to talk. "There was a family that lived on our street. A mother, a father, a little girl. The girl was one of Ada's playmates when they were small. Well, about a year ago, the family disappeared. I assumed that they were taken to the camps. But, no, not so. They were in hiding, in the cellar of a house that was not very far away from their own. But, a few months ago, they were found. Captured, sent to the camps. They are all dead now."

Dietrich's face was rigid now. Troy watched his jaw clench and unclench as he listened to the story.

"And," continued the general, "do you know how they found them? Well, it was Ada and another of her friends. They turned them in. It was her duty, Ada said, because they were not pure. She was very proud of herself." The general's face had become red. "I explained to her what would happen to them. She was unconcerned because they were 'subhuman.'" The general shook his head sadly. "Gentlemen, I cannot let my daughter become a monster like the one that runs our country!"

Still, Dietrich said nothing.

"So, General," Moffitt asked softly, "what's going to happen when she finds out that you are a traitor to the Reich?"

"Vati," called Ada from the stairs, "I am ready to go."

Herzog blinked at Moffitt. "I am her father."

"I hope that's enough, sir," said Moffitt.

Ada came over and stood beside her father. She put her bag on the floor and looked at Dietrich. "Are we going with Herr Hauptmann, Vati? Is he taking us to Algiers?"

Herzog looked at Troy and Moffitt. "No, Ada, we are going with the two sergeants and their men."

Ada blinked. "What? But, Vati, they are the enemies. Why would we go with them?" She looked utterly confused by the situation. She looked from her father to Dietrich as if she was hoping that one of them would give her an explanation.

Moffitt pointed his gun at Dietrich. "Fraulein Ada, we have taken your father and Hauptmann Dietrich prisoner. You all will be coming with us, I'm afraid." He looked at Troy.

Troy catching on, nodded. "That's right, Ada." He looked at Dietrich.

"I am afraid that it is true, Fraulein Herzog." Dietrich nodded at the general and then at Ada before raising his hands. "We are their prisoners." He cocked an eyebrow at Troy. "You are taking me with you, as well?"

Troy thought about it. He'd rather just have Dietrich out of the way. "No, I think that we'll leave you here, Captain. With your men. Day at the beach?" He jerked his head towards Moffitt. "You said that you had some rope?"

Moffitt nodded, already rummaging in the bag. "Oh, goodness, we've got plenty."

"Good, tie the Captain up, Moffitt."

"With pleasure!" Moffitt wasted no time as he lashed Dietrich's hands behind his back.

It wasn't lost on Troy, however, that Moffitt was taking pains not to bind him too tightly.

"This is ridiculous!" said Ada, looking from Dietrich to her father. "Do something!"

"There is nothing that we can do, Fraulein Herzog. We are beaten." Dietrich looked woefully at the girl and hung his head.

Troy admired his acting ability

"This is not how soldiers of the Wehrmacht act!" Ada cried. "You are supposed to fight the enemy to the death. For the Fatherland!"

"That's fiction, Fraulein," Moffitt said, moving to tie the general up now with another length of rope. "A good soldier knows when the odds are against him and lives to fight again another day."

"Coward," Ada spat at Moffitt.

"Perhaps, but I'll live longer than a brave idiot." When he finished securing the General, Moffitt came towards Ada with the final length of rope. "Your turn, I'm afraid, Fraulein. Hands behind your back."

Ada shook her head. She looked at her father desperately. "Vati! You have to do something!"

"There is nothing to do, Ada. Do as they say," the General said. "No one will get hurt that way."

As Moffitt came towards her, Ada stepped backwards until she ran into the table that was behind her. Turning her head, she looked back as her hand came into contact with the table. The next thing Troy knew, the girl was holding a gun. It was Dietrich's weapon, the one that he had laid on the side table.

"Put your guns down!" Ada ordered Troy and Moffitt.

Looking at each other, they complied.

"Ada! You are being foolish," yelled the General. "This is not a game!"

Shaking her head, Ada looked at Troy. "You are very nice. But . . ."

"But I'm the enemy. And enemies kill enemies," Troy finished, remembering their conversation earlier that afternoon.

He looked at Moffitt. Hadn't he said that Ada would be the death of them? But Moffitt was too shocked to give him the smug look that Troy knew that he deserved.

"Fraulein Herzog! Put the gun down!" ordered Dietrich, struggling against the ropes that bound his hands.

She shook her head. "No." Pointing the gun at Moffitt, Ada jerked her head towards her father and Dietrich. "Untie them, Englander. Or, I will gladly shoot you."

"Since you asked so very nicely." Moffitt slowly moved towards the general first, his eyes never leaving Ada.

Troy watched Ada who was watching Moffitt. She was small. It would be easy for him to overpower her take the gun away. He would just have to wait for his opportunity.

"More quickly!" Ada yelled at Moffitt.

Moffitt looked at her. "Difficult knot, see?" He pointed with flourish at the ropes that bound the general's hands. "It's taking me a bit, I'm afraid. Did they teach much about knots in the Bund Deutscher Madel?"

With Ada's attention on Moffitt and his pretend struggles with the ropes, Troy saw his opportunity.

He tensed, ready to pounce.

"Herr Hauptmann? Herr General? What is going on here?" A dishelved Bader looked around the room.

Troy groaned and looked daggers at Bader.

"Leutnant, please? Some assistance?" Ada asked, still holding the gun.

"Fraulein Herzog, what is going on here?" Bader looked confused.

Troy watched him take in the fact that Dietrich was tied up and that Herzog was also bound. Then Bader's eyes went to Ada who was holding the gun.

"These men, they were taking my father, the Hauptmann, and me prisoner." Ada drew herself up to her full height. "I have stopped them," she said proudly.

Bader started to laugh. He looked at Moffitt and Troy. "Is this some sort of trick? Some clever ruse of the Rat Patrol?"

"They were tying all of us up, Herr Leutnant. To take us prisoner." Ada looked at Bader as if he were thick.

Bader opened his mouth to speak.

"Bader . . ." Dietrich shook his head, slightly in warning.

"But Herr Hauptmann, this is all ridiculous. After, all why would the Rat Patrol be taking General Herzog and his daughter prisoner? After all . . ."

"Silence, Bader, you fool!" yelled Dietrich.

Bader turned red but stopped talking.

Troy almost felt sorry for Dietrich that his second was such an idiot. Moffitt was mouthy, Troy admitted, but he was far from stupid.

Troy saw the gun dip before Ada leveled it at him and Moffitt again. "Leutnant, what are you saying? Why wouldn't these Allied soldiers be taking us prisoner? We are all enemies."

General Herzog came towards his daughter. Moffitt had just finished untying his hands and he spread them out before him. ""Ada, there are some things that we need to talk about. They are not going to be easy for you to hear. But, you will need to trust that as your father, I know best."

"What things, Vati? What?" Ada blinked at him, confused. She looked from Moffitt to Troy to Bader and then to Dietrich.

"I do not wish to fight for Germany any longer, Ada. I cannot support Hitler and his causes." Herzog shook his head at his daughter. "We are going to help the Allies. We are going to help them win the war and stop the evil in our homeland."

"Vati, this must be a joke. You are trying to trick them, yes? Into thinking that you are not loyal to the Fuhrer, so that they will let us go?" Ada didn't lower the gun. Now it was pointed at her father.

"No joke, Ada. Come on, give me the gun," said Herzog, stopping a few feet from her. He held out his hand for the gun.

Ada looked at Dietrich and Bader. "Herr Hauptmann? This is not true?"

Dietrich sighed. "It is. Your father is going to Allied Head Quarters in Algiers. You will go with him."

"Nein! Nein!" said Ada, shaking her head wildly. There were tears in her eyes. "Vati, how could you?" She continued holding the gun level with his chest.

"As your father, you will have to trust me. Trust that I know what is best," Herzog said, obviously upset that his daughter was upset.

Shaking her head, Ada continued to cry. "No, I cannot. I will only have one father now. The Fuhrer!"

As if in slow motion, Troy saw Ada's finger tense to pull the trigger. She was going to shoot her father, he realized.

He leaped towards her.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Dietrich moving.

Troy hoped that one of them reached their target before Ada's bullet did.

---

"Sarge, I know you told me to go out back with Hitch, but I heard the shot . . . What the heck?"

Tully was standing where Ada had been standing, holding Dietrich's gun in his hand. Ada laid at his feet and Troy was laid out on the floor beside of her.

Moffitt and Bader were kneeling beside of Dietrich who lay sprawled on the floor. General Herzog was standing with a dazed looked on his face, shaking his head.

Troy looked up at Tully. "Check the girl, is she okay?"

Tully bent down beside of Ada. "I just think that when the lamp fell off the table that it hit her in the head. She's out cold, but I think that she'll be okay." Straightening up, Tully offered his hand to Troy. "You okay, Sarge?"

Troy took Tully's hand and stood up, careful of his bad ankle. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just knocked the wind out of myself."

"Well, you look a lot better than Dietrich does."

Troy looked at Dietrich. There was blood seeping from his side and soaking his shirt. Moffitt untied Dietrich's hands and then put a cushion under his head. Bader undid his commanding officer's shirt.

Troy looked at Moffitt. "What the hell happened? Is Dietrich okay?"

"The Captain dived in front of the General when Ada fired. He was hit." Moffitt gave a curt nod as he examined the wound. "But, it's not terrible. He'll certainly live."

Dietrich moaned and his eyes fluttered open. "Herr General Herzog?"

Hearing his name seemed to bring Herzog back to reality. He knelt down next to Dietrich. "Yes, my boy?"

"Fraulein Herzog." Dietrich swallowed. "Is she unhurt?"

Herzog looked at Troy and Tully. They nodded.

"Yes, Dietrich, she is fine," Herzog said.

"And you, Herr General? You are unharmed?" Dietrich groaned when Moffitt's exploration of his wound hurt him.

"Sorry," Moffitt said sincerely.

Reaching down, Herzog took Dietrich's hand. "Yes, my boy. I am. Thanks to you."

Nodding, Dietrich winced again as Moffitt worked on him. He squeezed the general's hand tightly. "I could not let a child kill her father. I just could not . . ." He gulped and his eyes fluttered.

"Stop talking, Dietrich!" ordered Moffitt. "You're just wearing yourself out."

Tully whistled and looked at Troy. "That little girl was going to kill her daddy?"

"I know Tully, I can hardly believe it myself," said Troy. He rubbed a hand over his face. "But I saw it."

He thought about all the terrible things that he'd seen during this war. This one was by far the worst.

"But, Sarge, why would she try to do a thing like that?"

Troy looked at Tully.

"The reason why we're fighting this war, Tully."

---

Tully and Hitch had returned with the jeeps.

Moffitt and Troy met them outside. General Herzog was already sitting in the passenger seat of Tully's jeep. Ada, tied up securely, was in the back of Troy's and Hitch's.

"Hey, Sarge," said Hitch. "Tully filled me in. Looks like I missed some crazy stuff while I was outside babysitting that bunch of Germans.

"You didn't miss anything, Hitch. I wish I hadn't seen it." Troy frowned at him. "Speaking of babysitting, you let one of your kids get away. That's what started this whole mess."

"Sorry, Sarge. I was doing just fine with the twelve of them. That little guy of Dietrich's was just too much. He got away from me and ran into the house as I was locking the rest of them in the garden shed. I had to decide whether to go after him or keep watching the others."

"Go on," growled Troy.

"He's such a runt and he didn't even have a gun, so I figured he wouldn't hurt much."

"Yeah, well he didn't need a gun. His big mouth almost got all of us killed."

"Including Dietrich," said Moffitt as he walked by, carrying the supplies that he had brought with him to the house. He stowed them in his jeep, saying a few words to the General before going to check on Ada.

Hitch's eyes followed him. Troy watched Hitch checking out the girl.

"Sarge, is it really necessary to tie her up? I mean, she's just a kid."

Troy looked at Ada. The sun was glinting on the gold of her hair and her complexion was rosy in the heat. He could hardly fault Hitch for his question. "Don't let her angelic looks fool you, Hitch. She's as dangerous as any other German that we run into out here. Maybe more so."

"What was that, Troy?" Moffitt asked as he came over to stand beside Hitch and Troy.

"Yeah, well, I guess I owe you an apology, Moffitt. I should have listened to what you were saying." Troy looked down at the ground before looking back up at the smiling Englishman.

Shrugging, Moffitt looked back to Ada who was sitting docilely in the back of the jeep, eyes staring straight forward. "Don't mention it. I have been a little, erm, unreasonable of late."

Tully came out of the house to join them. "Dietrich seems to be doing better. The little fellow is in there taking care of him. Even though Dietrich just got done telling him how stupid he was in English and then a whole lot of other stuff in German. Didn't sound too nice, that's for sure."

"Good to hear that the Captain is on the mend." Troy laughed and clapped Hitch on the shoulder. "Ready to move out?"

"Yeah, Sarge, I radioed ahead for the general's escort to meet us at the next town," Hitch said.

"Good. And we'll call for help for Dietrich when we get there." Troy looked to Moffitt to see if he had any objections.

Moffitt nodded. "Good plan."

"Hey, Sarge," Hitch asked Moffitt, "what happened to your head?"

Moffitt looked at Troy who lit a cigarette to hide his grin. "Let's just say . . . I was hitting the books. Tully? Are we ready?"

Tully nodded.

"Well, then Troy, let's a get this show on the road, eh?" Moffitt grinned.

Laughing, Troy shoved him towards the jeep. Still grinning, Moffitt jumped in the back of his jeep while Troy hobbled towards his.

Tully and Hitch just looked at each other.

"Huh?" Hitch pushed his cap up farther on his head. "What happened to 'Let's shake it?' Maybe Moffitt got hit harder on the head than we thought."

Shrugging, Tully started towards his jeep, ready to get the show on the road.