The Next Mission

By: AliasCWN

Sam Troy stared at the bullet riddled jeep in disgust. They were headed home from a rough mission that had already cost them one jeep; now the other one was done too. The steady stream of steam spraying out of the radiator was a clear indication that they had a serious problem. With a growl of frustration, he turned away to give some thought to how they were going to get home.

"Tully, take a look at the patrol car, maybe we can salvage one of them to take us home."

Nodding without a word, Tully gave the jeep one last longing look before he plodded through the loose sand toward the German vehicles.

Mark Hitchcock paused from dragging the bodies of the German crew to one side to ask, "Need any help?"

"Don't know yet, I'll let you know." Tully rolled the matchstick in his mouth and surveyed the two patrol cars. At first glance they looked like they had given up the ghost too but Tully noted that none of the bullets had hit the engines. With a tired sigh, he began a careful inspection of both vehicles.

"Hitch, grab a shovel and bury those guys." Hitchcock nodded wordlessly and headed for the jeep to find a shovel.

"I'll help Hitch, the digging will go faster with two of us." Jack Moffitt passed Troy on his way to the jeep.

"See if you can find a depression and start digging there. The less time we spend here the better." Troy looked around them at the miles of dunes and frowned. This patrol had caught them off guard and destroyed their transportation. With only one jeep they had been forced to take turns walking next to the vehicle to keep the engine from overheating. The Germans had simply hid and waited for them to get close. Only their constant vigilance had saved them. He didn't think there would be any other patrols among the wadis, but he wasn't willing to bet their lives on it.

"Tully, any chance we can use one of the cars?" He called impatiently, still watching the hills around them. The response was unintelligible. He turned to look toward the German cars to ask again when he realized why the response was so muffled. All he could see of the young soldier was a pair of legs sticking out from under the patrol car. With a grin, he walked over to lean down near the car, "Tully, how's it look?"

"Seen worse Sarge." Was the laconic answer.

"Yeah, but will it run?"

Tully turned his head to peer over at the face of his sergeant. "Sarge, this ain't no tinker toy, these things are complicated."

Troy rolled his eyes, trying to hide his amusement at Tully's language despite the seriousness of the situation. "All I ask was if it would run."

"Yeah Sarge," Tully sighed, "I think it may run. I'll try it in a minute and let you know for sure."

The sergeant nodded and straightened his back with a creak and a groan. The long mission had taken a toll on more than just the jeeps. Resigned to the loss of the jeep, Troy began to collect their gear and anything else they could salvage from the disabled vehicle. The sound of the German engine turning over was a welcome one.

"Tully, pull the 50, we may need it before we get home; this bucket is no speed demon." Troy dropped the first armload of supplies into the back of the patrol car.

The private nodded again and started toward the jeep without a word.

"Will it get us home?"

Tully paused and glanced back at the German vehicles. "It ought to, as long as we don't get any more bullet holes in it."

"Bite your tongue! We have enough trouble without asking for more." The sergeant grinned, his mood improving now that they had wheels to carry them home again. "What about the other one?"

"Nope." Tully shook his head. "That one is done. We can salvage some rations, water, and gasoline from it, but it won't take us anywhere."

The sergeant nodded thoughtfully, thankful for the one they were able to salvage. He helped Tully pile all the supplies into the car, including all the extra gasoline and water. The German cars were air cooled and didn't require water for their radiators, and it was unlikely that they would need all of it for drinking, but old habits die hard and he wasn't about to leave it behind.

"Tully, take a rifle and stand guard, I'll help Hitch and Moffitt finish the graves." Finding a shovel in the back of the patrol car, Troy went to help with the grisly task.

Sweaty and tired, the three men threw the last full shovels of dirt on the final mound. Moffitt reached into his pocket and pulled out a string of dog tags. He handed them to Troy who tucked them into his pocket without looking at them.

"I'm glad I don't have to write those letters." Troy handed the shovel to Hitch. "I guess we can say a few words over them. I don't know what religion they were, but I guess it doesn't matter, they were men. I don't suppose they would mind if we were to say a little prayer for them." Troy bowed his head and the others did the same. The sergeant recited a short psalm that he knew before giving them a few moments of silent prayer. His quiet 'Amen' was repeated solemnly by the others.

"Did Tully get a car going?" Moffitt's softly spoken question broke the stillness.

Troy shook himself and nodded. "Let's shake it. I don't want to stick around here to wait for a search party to come looking for these guys." Troy called to Tully and they climbed into the bulky patrol car. Hitch and Moffitt crawled into the back, leaving the driving to Tully and the navigation to Troy.

Moffitt squinted up at the sun. "We have about six hours of driving before it gets dark. That should get us pretty close to our lines before we stop to camp."

"Close but still in German territory." Troy agreed. "We'll need to find a camp and continue in the morning, I don't want to risk night driving."

The others nodded, too tired to offer any argument. None of them liked night driving, not even to get home sooner. For an evening meal, Hitch dug out the rations and they ate them cold, standing around the car. They buried their trash and resumed their journey, eager to get as close to the home base as possible before stopping for the night.

"Moffitt, did you find us a wadi to use for a camp?" Moffitt was holding the map, looking for a secure site to camp. The sun was setting and darkness descended swiftly on the desert making it imperative to find a camp quickly.

"This is still German territory Troy, not just any wadi will do. Our troops have traveled through here but the enemy still controls this entire region." Moffitt sounded distracted.

"I know that!" The long mission and the hot sun had left Troy tired and overheated. "Just find us a wadi we can claim as our own."

Moffitt looked up at the impatient tone. He smiled as their eyes met before he dropped his to the map again. Pointing with a grubby finger, he indicated the wadi he had chosen. "There is one about five, six miles ahead that should do nicely. It will be dark by the time we get there but it offers us shelter and cover. It's large enough to hide the car but small enough that we can defend it if needed."

Troy turned to look at the map. "Okay, give Tully the directions. We'll have to be careful going in, Jerry likes these wadis too."

A half hour later found them gathered around the patrol car with rifles in their hands.

"Tully and Moffitt, go left. Hitch and I will go right. If you spot any soldiers, try to take them out quietly. Hopefully we'll have the element of surprise here. Even if they heard us, they heard a German motor."

The others nodded and checked their weapons to make sure they were ready for fast use if necessary.

"Let's shake it. If there's no one there, we can get some sleep." The other three smiled hopefully as Troy led the way out of their small wadi toward the larger one that Moffitt had chosen.

A faint sound alerted Troy as he approached the wadi. The rustle of cloth on dry brush helped him locate the sentry. Giving Hitch a heads up, he sent the younger 'rat' to take the guard. Moving to the side, he continued onward, watching for the next danger to present itself. He sensed, rather than heard, the next man. Slipping silently around the brush, he readied himself to bash the rifle against the head of the second sentry.

"Hey Sarge!"

Troy started and crouched involuntarily. The sound of Hitch calling to him had alerted the man in front of him. Cursing his young driver, he waited to see what situation would develop.

"They're American Sarge, they're our guys."

Hitchcocks call had not only alerted the man before him, Troy could hear more men calling in hushed whispers. There were more men hidden in the wadi than he had expected; too many for a mere German patrol.

"Who's out there?" A rough, raspy voice called to Hitch with a New England accent.

"He's got me Sarge, but I think he's American." Another voice, young and nervous, joined the shouting.

"Identify yourself." The raspy voiced sergeant responded.

Troy could see shadows moving uneasily around the wadi. Moving quickly, he pushed his rifle barrel into the back of the man hiding in front of him.

"Stand up real slow."

The startled soldier froze at the command.

"Lay your rifle down and stand up slow and careful." Troy prodded the soldier with his rifle to encourage him to comply. The soldier leaned to the side and placed his rifle on the ground. Standing up, he tried to turn. Troy hissed at him before leaning down to retrieve the weapon. "Who are you?"

"Pvt. Irwin Keller." The soldier answered in a shaky voice.

"What outfit are you with?"

"We were with a convoy going out to meet the Fifth. We got attacked and our truck got separated from the others." Pvt. Keller explained hurriedly.

Troy sighed. "Put your hands down and tell your sergeant that we're coming in." Pvt. Keller slowly lowered his arms and tried to turn again.

"Call to your sergeant Private." Troy prodded him with the rifle to get his cooperation.

"Hey Sarge, they got me too." Pvt, Keller yelled "They want to come in."

"Tell them to drop their weapons and come on in then." The sergeant called back.

Troy chuckled before he lowered is gun. "Not a chance Sergeant, our guns go where we go." He hesitated a moment before he continued. "Permission to enter the camp?"

There was a pause before the raspy voiced sergeant laughed and called back. "Okay, come ahead, but be careful how you hold those guns."

Troy prodded Pvt. Keller ahead of him toward the camp. The two men picked their way among the rocks to the bottom of the wadi. A thick bodied sergeant stood waiting for them, his rifle pointed their way.

"That advice works both ways Sergeant. My men have a 50 caliber machine gun, you don't want to start anything you can't finish." Troy held his own rifle loosely in his arms.

"Tell your men to come in Sergeant." The other man stressed the word 'sergeant'.

"Not yet." Troy replied, eyeing the camp. "First I need to know who you are and what you're doing here." He noted a truck parked off to one side with the hood raised. When the sergeant repeated the story that Pvt. Keller had told him, Troy started to relax. "Hitch, bring your friend down."

A moment later the blond appeared with a frightened young private in tow.

"What about the rest of your men?" The sergeant asked suspiciously.

"Who?" Troy asked with a grin.

"What about the 50?" The man Hitch had brought into the camp asked.

"It's still in the car. We didn't want to lug it around unless we needed it, it's heavy." Troy shrugged at the look of disbelief.

"Two men, we let ourselves be taken by two men." The sergeant grunted in disgust. "What is this army coming to?" He looked into the grinning face of Sgt. Troy and had to grin himself. "Who are you guys?"

"Long Range Desert Group. We were on our way home from a mission and planned to use this wadi as a camp tonight." Troy noted the looks of relief on all the faces around him. "So what are you doing so far from our lines?"

"We were part of a convoy like I told you. When the convoy got hit we got separated; our driver got us lost." The sergeant glared at a young private who hung his head in shame. "We drove around a while trying to find the convoy before we found this wadi and decided to stay put until help could arrive. If you have a radio we would be grateful if you would radio our position to headquarters. Maybe they could send someone for us, our radio took a hit in the battle."

"Sorry." Troy told him with regret. "Our radio died with our jeeps. We had to commandeer a jerry patrol car or walk."

"That explains the strange motor we heard." The sergeant replied. "Could you at least tell someone where we are when you get back?"

Troy nodded agreement while looking around at all the soldiers standing around them. Many of them were showing signs of dehydration and sunburn. "Been on the desert long?"

"We just got here. This was our first trip off the base." The sergeant snorted. "I hope that this isn't a sign of things to come."

"A little advice." Troy nodded at the troops. "Have your men drink more water, dehydration is a serious problem."

The sergeant hung his head. "We don't have any water, we drank it all. We're out of food too. The convoy was supposed to go straight through so we didn't bring any extra supplies." He lifted his head to see Troy smiling.

"Good thing we found you then, by tomorrow you'd have been in real trouble." Troy twisted to look at the other side of the wadi. "Tully, bring the patrol car in here. It looks like we're going to have company in camp tonight."

The soldiers looked from Troy to Hitch in confusion.

"You lied about how many men you have with you." The sergeant accused as he smiled at Troy. "Is that any way to start a friendship?"

Troy laughed. "It's how we stay alive. I'm Sam Troy by the way." He indicated the British sergeant who had appeared unnoticed at the edge of the group of men. "Meet Sgt. Jack Moffitt. That's Hitch. Tully will be here soon with the car. Remember, it's German, but it's ours; no shooting at it."

The raspy voiced sergeant smiled. "Sgt. John Wheeler." He went on to name all the men around them. Troy soon lost track of which name went with which face. Tully drove into camp as the introductions ended.

"Tully, Hitch, hand out the water we took from the patrol cars. Pass out some of those rations too." The two privates nodded and were soon surrounded by eager men waiting for the water and food.

"I don't feel so bad now." Sgt. Wheeler told Troy as he watched the scene.

"Why is that?" Moffitt asked curiously.

"We didn't get taken by two men, there were four of you and you did have a 50 caliber machine gun." Wheeler smiled and jerked his chin at the 50 packed into the back of the patrol car.

"Well Wheeler, we won't tell anyone that the 50 never left the car if you don't." Troy replied with a smile.

"Deal." Wheeler snapped. "Are you guys heading straight back to the base in the morning?"

Troy nodded.

"Do you think you could tell someone where we are? I don't think we can make it walking."

Troy realized that they hadn't resolved that issue yet. "What's wrong with your truck?"

"It just quit. Nobody can figure out what's wrong with it, not that it really matters, we're almost out of gas anyway."

Troy and Moffitt exchanged looks and both of them smiled at the sergeant. "Why don't we see what we can do." Troy looked toward the patrol car. "Tully, you and Hitch take a look at the truck. If you can get it running, fill the gas tank and give it a drink."

The two privates nodded and headed for the truck. Noticing the raised hood, Tully had Hitch try to start it while he leaned over the fender to listen. Before long both privates were head first under the hood and elbow deep in grease. Tully worked on the engine as Hitch handed him the tools and helped where he could.

Wheeler watched as the two privates crawled around the truck. "You been here long Troy?" Wheeler took a seat next to Troy.

"A while."

"You sure seem to know what you're doing."

Troy shrugged and sipped a cup of coffee. "Jack's the desert expert. He grew up roaming the desert with his father."

"And the other two?"

"They've been here almost as long as I have. They joined me just after I got here." Troy glanced over at the two privates still crawling over the truck.

"Think they can get it running?"

"If they can't, nobody can." He glanced over at Wheeler. "There's still hope, they haven't called it quits yet."

"Would be nice." Wheeler cocked his head and watched them work. "I sure don't fancy waiting around here for the Germans to find us."

Troy nodded his understanding. The two men sat in silence drinking their coffee.

The sound of the truck engine starting brought a cheer from the assembled men. Troy quickly warned them of the danger of sound carrying on the desert, especially at night. The engine shut down and Hitch and Tully joined them at the fire.

"Ready to go Sarge. Gassed up and ready to leave bright and early." Tully wiped the grease and dirt from is hands. Hitch handed him a cup and Troy filled it for him.

"Good work you two. Grab something to eat and get some sleep. I'll take first watch, Moffitt second, then Hitch, then Tully." The men nodded and walked away to find some food.

"My men can help stand watch."

"No." Troy shook his head. "My men can handle it. Your men are dehydrated and worn out. Let them sleep tonight while my men stand guard."

Wheeler nodded and went to tell his men to get some rest. He watched Troy as he patrolled the perimeter of the camp. With an odd sense of security, he drifted off to sleep listening to the snores of his men.

First light found them waking to the smell of breakfast heating. Food and coffee had to be shared due to the number of men but there were no complaints, the mood was cheerful as they went about getting ready to depart the camp. Wheeler ordered his men to the truck only to be stopped by Troy.

"If it's alright with you Sergeant, one of my men will drive the truck."

Wheeler agreed with a puzzled look.

"If we get separated, my men can find their way home. We wouldn't want to lose you again."

Exhausted from the long drive and the even longer mission, Troy was not happy to be summoned to the Captains office the moment they arrived on the base. A soldier ran up to the patrol car before they had even climbed out.

"Captain Boggs wants to see you right away Sergeant."

Troy's shoulders slumped as he acknowledged the summons.

"Moffitt, take care of things here. I'll be right back." Troy looked around for Sgt. Wheeler but the other man was not in sight. His men were milling around the truck waiting for instructions. Troy headed for the Captains office.

Troy was immediately shown into the Captains office when he arrived. The Captain noted the dust and grime and the pinched features.

"Troy, I'm sorry to do this to you, but I have an important job for you. I know you just came in but I need you to go out again."

"We lost our jeeps Sir." Troy informed him. "We had to commandeer a German patrol car to get back."

"Requisition two new ones. This is a time sensitive mission." He called to his orderly. "Call the motor pool and tell them to get two new jeeps ready for Troy and his men. I want them ready immediately." The orderly nodded and the Captain turned back to Troy.

"Sir, my men need sleep."

"They can sleep as soon as they complete this mission. I promise Sergeant."

Troy sighed and resigned himself to going back out.

"You can even wait until after you get some rest to turn in your reports. I just need you to find a missing truck first."

That got Troy's attention.

"A missing truck Sir?'

"One of our convoys got hit and the truck got separated from the rest. We haven't heard from them since. It's loaded with fresh troops for the Fifth. The sergeant in charge, a Sgt. Wheeler, is an old friend. I want you to find them and bring them back Sergeant."

"Once they're back we can get some sleep?"

"Yes."

"And I wouldn't have to file my reports until after we got some sleep?"

"That's correct Sergeant."

"That's all you want?"

The Captain peered at Troy suspiciously. "That's all Sergeant."

"Can I go now Sir?"

Thinking Troy meant 'on the mission', he nodded.

"Good night Captain." Troy turned and opened the door to the outer office.

Captain Boggs was surprised and failed to react right away. "Sergeant!" He called belatedly.

Troy kept walking while speaking to someone in the outer office. "Sgt. Wheeler, the Captain wants to see you." Troy kept walking out the door.

'