A Temporary Situation
By: AliasCWN
The music played softly as Mark Hitchcock worked on cleaning the dirt and old gun oil out of the mechanisms of the 50 caliber machine gun. He looked up as Pfc. Clyde Tanner stepped up next to him.
"Do you mind if I change the station?"
Hitch looked toward the radio and frowned. "What's wrong with the station that's on?"
"Nothing." Tanner gave Hitch a sheepish grin. "I was just hoping to be able to listen to that German radio broadcast they give every night. "
"German broadcast?" Hitch frowned again. "That's in German; it's not one of those broadcasts that they do in English to try to crush our moral."
"I know." Tanner admitted. "My grandparents were German and I learned the language growing up. I don't get much chance to practice it since my grandparents died. My father refuses to speak it."
"You speak German?"
"Yeah, but I don't tell just anybody. You wouldn't believe how suspicious some people get when they find out my grandparents were German. Besides, if headquarters found out they'd have me stuck in some office somewhere translating German radio messages."
"At least you'd get to practice your German." Hitch grinned.
"Yeah, but I'd hate being stuck inside. I joined the army to fight, not sit in an office."
Hitch laughed. "I know what you mean. My folks wanted me to take a nice safe job in an office somewhere. It wasn't for me either." Hitch glanced over at Troy sitting by their small fire. "Maybe you ought to tell Sarge you speak German, he won't stick you in an office."
"Will he question my loyalty since my father and grandparents were German?"
"Not as long as you don't give him a reason." Hitch assured him.
"Okay, I'll mention it to him." Tanner agreed. "Now, about that radio broadcast, may I change the frequency?"
"Sure, go ahead." Hitch nodded.
A few turns of the knob and a voice speaking in German floated across the small camp. The speaker was speaking fast and low, almost as if he didn't want anyone to overhear him. Tanner reached for the knob to change the frequency again, still searching for the broadcast. Something the speaker said caused him to stop in mid-reach. Reaching under the seat he grabbed a small pad and pencil.
Hitch paused in reassembling the 50 to watch as Tanner scribbled furiously on the pad.
"What are you doing, translating?"
Tanner waved him to silence with an impatient gesture. He continued to write even after the transmission ended. Finally he put the pencil down and looked at Hitch. "Didn't you say you had to leave your British sergeant at the base hospital after he was wounded?"
"Yeah, Doc caught a bullet and we had to leave him there when we got a new assignment. The doctors said he could rejoin us once his wound healed. He's still there waiting for the okay to come back. Why?"
"Did he say when he was going to be released?"
"No." Hitch answered, standing up to face Tanner. "What's going on? What did you hear?"
"I think your sergeant caught a ride back with a convoy headed this way."
"How do you know that? What did you hear Tanner?"
"What's going on here?" Troy demanded as Hitch raised his voice. "Turn that radio off and keep your voice down." Troy threw Hitch a warning look before he turned to Tanner. "Sound carries on the desert; I told you you could play the radio if you kept it low."
"Sarge, he heard some German talking about Moffitt." Hitch interrupted.
"Moffitt? What about Moffitt?"
"I didn't hear any names." Tanner insisted.
"Then how do you know he was talking about Moffitt?" Troy demanded.
"Maybe I should start from the beginning." Tanner suggested.
"You do that Tanner, but make it fast. What do you know about Moffitt?" The sergeant's voice dropped to a low growl in warning.
Tanner took a deep breath and began. "I was telling Hitchcock that my father and grandparents were German. My grandparents moved to the United States just after the First World War. My father was raised here and he is a loyal American." Troy nodded for him to go on as Tanner paused. "My grandparents spoke a lot of German and they taught me. It's what we spoke in their house. My parents wouldn't let me speak it in our house. They said we should speak English because we were Americans."
"Get to the point Tanner!" Troy demanded.
"I just wanted you to understand Sergeant; I am a loyal American despite my heritage."
"Nobody is questioning your loyalty, only your information. And I'm not really questioning that since I don't know what you heard, so get to the point!"
"Okay. I asked Hitchcock if I could listen to a German broadcast so I could practice my German, only when I changed the frequency, I didn't get the broadcast. What I got was some German telling another guy where to ambush an American convoy. He gave coordinates and an approximate arrival time."
Troy glanced at Hitch with a look of confusion.
"Okay, I'm interested, but what does that have to do with Moffitt?"
"He mentioned that a member of the Rat Patrol was traveling with the convoy, returning to his unit. He claimed he was a British sergeant and he described him for them. He even specified which truck he was riding in." Tanner paused. "They're going to attack the convoy and try to take your guy alive for interrogation by the Gestapo. They figure it's the perfect chance since the rest of you aren't around."
"And they didn't mention a name?"
"Not that I heard, but the guy who was going to attack the convoy said he had files on all of you that included pictures and names."
"Moffitt wasn't due to be released for another couple of days."
"Maybe they left him out early." Hitch suggested. "They've had a lot of fighting up that way, maybe they needed the bed."
"They could have kept him on the base."
"Maybe he healed quicker than they expected."
"Maybe." Troy admitted. "Did you get the coordinates of the ambush?"
Tanner held up the paper he had been writing on during the radio transmission. He had the coordinates and as much as the conversation as he could remember. Troy read the hurried writing with difficulty.
"Do you need me to read it to you?" Tanner asked. "My handwriting is nothing to brag about."
"No, I get the idea."
"When do we leave Sarge?" Hitch asked with a worried frown.
"Call Tully, we'll leave as soon as I plot a course." Troy reached under Moffitt's seat and pulled out the cylinder containing their maps. Dumping the maps on the hood of the jeep, he looked for the one he wanted.
"What can I do?" Tanner asked.
"Help Hitch finish that 50 if he hasn't already. Check and make sure we didn't leave any evidence of our presence here for anyone to find."
"Right Sarge."
The sergeant found the ambush coordinates on the map and checked the distance against his watch.
"What's up Sarge?" Tully stopped next to the jeep to put his machine gun into the holster. "Hitch says we're moving out."
"Yeah, Tanner overheard a message saying the Germans are going to attack one of our convoys. We're going to see if we can help out."
"Okay."
"Tully, I'll ride with you and give you the rest of the details on the way. Tanner can ride with Hitch."
"Hitch is driving? I thought Tanner was supposed to drive until Moffitt gets back."
"We need to move fast and I'm not sure Tanner can keep up. They can change places after we get there."
"Going down pretty soon huh?"
"Real soon, and I'm not sure we can get there in time. We have a long way to go and I'll give you the details as we drive."
Tully nodded and climbed behind the wheel. He gave Hitch a wink and frowned when he got a worried look in return. "Is something wrong Sarge?"
"Drive Tully, I'll explain everything."