Disclaimer: The Rat Patrol is not my property. They come out to play sometimes, then I send them home.

Author's note: The Nazis started the trend. Their drug of choice was Pervitin, an early version of crystal meth in a pill form that they patented in 1937.

Historians estimate that the German military consumed roughly 200 million methamphetamine pills during WW2. They also produced chocolates that contained 13mg of the drug, far more than the regular 3mg pills. With the help of Pervitin, German soldiers could march for days on end without stopping, going without sleep for up to 50 hours.

Pervitin had many adverse effects, however. These included dizziness, sweating, depression, hallucinations, and addiction. Some soldiers died of heart failure, while others shot themselves during drug-induced psychoses.

Creative license will now begin.

Going Without Sleep

By Suzie2b

Hitch called Troy over to the jeep, where he'd just decoded a message from headquarters. "Hey, sarge, there's a message for you!"

Troy hurried over and took it. As he read it, his expression went from curiosity to concern. "Are you sure about this?"

Hitch gave a nod and said, "I went over it twice to be sure."

"I guess we'd better get this over with then." Troy called to his other two men, "Moffitt, Tully, we have a mission."

The two men abandoned what they were doing and walked over to the jeep. Moffitt asked, "What is it?"

Troy handed the message to Tully and said, "We're going to the base at Liyyun. Charley's been arrested."

Tully quickly looked at the message. "Drugs? There's gotta be a mistake!"

Moffitt took the piece of paper and read it as Troy said, "I'm sure there is, but Captain Boggs wants us to check into it."

#################

The nearly two hour drive to Liyyun was tense to say the least. After being let through the gate, the Rat Patrol went directly to headquarters.

They were in Major Peterson's office. He produced a satchel and explained, "Not long after Charley delivered her dispatch to Captain Andrews, she came to me with this."

Troy picked up the satchel and handed it to Tully. After a quick inspection, the private said, "This isn't hers, major."

"That's what she told me." Peterson opened a desk drawer and withdrew a box. He set it on the desk and said, "These were in the satchel."

The four men gathered closer to see what was in it. Moffitt picked up one of the small vials and read the label, "Pervitin."

Peterson nodded. "We found twenty-five vials with thirty tablets in each."

Tully questioned, "What's Pervitin?"

Moffitt replied, "A German version of methamphetamine."

Hitch asked, "What's it used for?"

"The Germans give it to their soldiers. It allows them to stay alert and march nonstop for up to fifty hours. However, it has terrible side effects." Moffitt looked at Major Peterson and said, "Methamphetamine isn't illegal, sir ... though I believe it should be. Why was Charley arrested?"

Peterson said, "She hasn't been exactly 'arrested'. Call it protective custody."

Tully asked, "Is Charley in danger, sir?"

"She might be. Whoever this stuff belongs to will likely want to get it back."

Troy said, "What do you want us to do, major?"

"I want you to find out who this satchel belongs to. This drug may not be illegal, but it is highly addictive. I'd like to stop the distribution of it, even if it's only here in Liyyun."

"We'll do our best, sir. Can we talk to Charley?"

Peterson nodded. "She's under guard in the visitor's quarters. Your names are already on the approved list. Your quarters are in the same building."

##################

After dropping the jeeps at the motor pool, Troy, Moffitt, Hitch, and Tully hurried to the visitor's quarters. Their room was next to the one a guard was stationed at. They dropped their packs in their room before going next door to talk to Charley.

The guard checked for their names on the list and knocked once before opening the door enough to say, "You've got visitors."

They heard Charley say, "Thanks, Tom. Let them in."

When the four Allies walked in, Charley looked up from the book she was reading and grinned as she recognized them. "Hi, guys!" She quickly stood up and met Tully halfway for a hug and said, "I wasn't expecting you."

Moffitt said, "Captain Boggs contacted us and would like us to help find the owner of the satchel you picked up."

Troy asked, "Can you tell us how you came to have that satchel instead of your own?"

Charley sat down and gathered her thoughts, then said, "Well, when I got here with the convoy, I went to headquarters to deliver my package to Captain Andrews. I stopped at a secretary's desk to ask where the captain's office was. She told me and I started to walk that way, but she stopped me and said that I couldn't take my satchel with me." She sighed and shrugged. "I didn't question it … maybe I should've. Anyway, the secretary pointed to a table and told me to leave it there while I made my delivery. So I got the package out and left my satchel there."

Tully asked, "Were there any others on the table?"

Charley nodded. "There was one other satchel. After I made my delivery to Captain Andrews, I noticed the second satchel was gone. I assumed the one that was there was mine and picked it up as I walked by. I noticed it wasn't mine when I opened to put Captain Boggs' reply in it."

Troy asked, "When did you find the drugs?"

"When I was looking for something that would tell me who it belonged to. That's when I went straight to Major Peterson. The secretary called him and he came out to talk to me. He took the satchel with the drugs and said he'd check into it. That's when the major put me in 'protective custody' and I've been here ever since. I had to send the package back to Ras Tanura with the returning convoy."

Hitch questioned, "How long ago did this happen?"

Charley said, "Almost three days now."

Moffitt asked, "This secretary ... did you notice a name?"

"Lieutenant Curry."

Troy gave a nod and said, "We'll start there. Let's go."

Tully kissed Charley on the forehead and said, "I'll check with you later."

#################

Back at headquarters, the Rat Patrol went to the secretary's desk. The woman sitting there had a name tag that read 'Lieutenant Bann'. Troy asked, "Can you tell us where we can find Lieutenant Curry?"

Bann looked up at the four men and smiled. "She's off duty today. I couldn't say for sure where she might be, but she did say something about getting her hair washed and cut. You could try her quarters…"

Troy, Moffitt, Hitch, and Tully followed Lieutenant Bann's directions to the women's quarters. They quickly found a door with the number 18 on it and knocked. A young woman opened the door and smiled as she asked, "Can I help you?"

Troy replied, "We're looking for Lieutenant Curry."

A voice inside the room asked, "Who is it, Beth?"

She opened the door farther as she said, "These four guys want to see you, Mary."

Lieutenant Curry was sitting at a table, a towel around her shoulders, with her wet hair combed out. Troy said, "We need to talk to you, lieutenant."

"Come on in then." Curry checked them over and said, "I don't recognize you. What can I do for you?" They stepped inside and Beth closed the door. "I hope you don't mind, but we're in the middle of a haircut."

"Not a problem, lieutenant. We just have a few questions for you." Beth walked around them to get to the table and picked up the scissors to resume the haircut as Troy said, "I understand you were on duty a few days ago when a dispatch was delivered to Captain Andrews by a young woman."

"Yes, I remember her. Apparently she picked up the wrong bag when she left."

"Charley said there was another satchel on that table when she left hers, but there was only one when she came out. Did you happen to see who that second satchel belonged to?"

Lieutenant Curry said, "Another courier that had come in a few minutes before her. His name is Harris … PFC Larry Harris."

Moffitt asked, "Is he based out of here, lieutenant?"

"Yes, he is. He had just returned from a delivery off base that day and was reporting to Captain Wilson."

"Do you know where we might find Private Harris?"

Curry said, "If he's not in the courier's office, he could be anywhere making deliveries."

Troy said, "All right. Thank you, lieutenant." Outside again, he turned to his men. "Moffitt, you and Tully go back to headquarters and see if Harris is there. If he's not, find out where his quarters are."

Moffitt asked, "Where will you and Hitch be?"

"We're going to take a look around. Maybe we can glean a little information on that Pervitin. We'll meet in the mess hall in an hour."

#################

Troy and Hitch wondered around base for a half hour, but didn't hear any mention of the drug. They wandered over to the mess hall and sat down—Troy with a mug of coffee and Hitch with a cinnamon roll and milk.

Ten minutes later, after watching the people come and go, the sergeant got an idea. He had been eyeing a group of GI's at another table. When they all left but one, Troy quietly said to Hitch, "Wait here. I'll be right back." He walked over to the young soldier and sat down. "Maybe you can help me."

"Sure, sarge. What can I do for you?"

"I've heard that there's a drug circulating that helps men stay alert for long periods of time. Do you know anything about it?"

The young man looked at Troy suspiciously. "I might. Why are you asking?"

Troy looked around and scooted his chair a little closer, then quietly said, "My men and I spend a lot of time in the desert. I was thinking that, if this drug is for real, we could do longer, more thorough patrols if we didn't have to stop to rest every night."

The soldier relaxed a little. "Yeah … yeah … I know about it. It would probably work for what you're talking about." He took a small vial from his shirt pocket and said, "This is what you and your guys need." He put it in Troy's hand. "Give it a try. If it works for you, I'll hook you up with my supplier. I think he just got some in. By the way, I'm Private Fred White."

The two men shook hands and Troy said, "Thanks. I appreciate it."

#################

When Moffitt and Tully showed up in the mess hall, Moffitt explained, "We didn't find Harris at headquarters, but Captain Andrews was able to get his file." He laid a folder on the table. "Under the circumstances, and with permission from Major Peterson, he's loaned us Harris' personnel file."

Troy pulled the folder over in front of him and opened it. The first page had Private Harris' photograph on it along with a description. There was nothing remarkable about the guy—Five foot eight inches in height, brown hair, and hazel eyes. He came from a small Midwestern town and was drafted when he turned nineteen.

Moffitt said, "Captain Andrews told us that Harris has been wounded twice. He has a scar on his left shoulder from a bullet and another from an Italian bayonet on his right forearm from hand-to-hand combat. That might help us identify him if he gives us trouble."

Troy flipped through the pages and said, "I see he got shot last year. But there's nothing about the knife wound."

"I mentioned that and the captain said it takes a while to get things updated. The knife wound happened about three months ago."

Troy told Moffitt and Tully about his encounter with Private White.

Tully asked, "His he still here?"

Hitch replied, "He left a few minutes before you guys came in."

Troy said, "Well, Harris' quarters are listed here. If we don't find him on base, we'll go see if he's home later. Hitch, you and Tully head out and look around north of headquarters. Moffitt and I will take a look around south."

"Right, sarge."

After the privates left, Troy took one last puff on his cigarette before snuffing it out in Hitch's empty plate. He looked at Moffitt and said, "Let's get started."

#################

Hitch and Tully searched the base, but didn't locate Harris. They took one last look in the mess hall on their way back. Dinner was being served and they searched the crowd carefully with no luck.

Hitch sighed. "Should we go to our quarters and wait for sarge and Moffitt?"

Tully said, "We may as well. It's gettin' dark. I'd think Harris would be done with his duties for the day. Maybe they'll find him in his quarters."

"Hey, wait a sec. That's the guy Troy talked to this afternoon."

"Where?"

Hitch didn't want to draw attention by pointing, so he said, "Second table from the back, on the right. There's three guys sitting with him. He's the one with the lightest hair."

Tully gave a nod. "There's room at the table next to them. How 'bout some dinner while we're here? We might hear something interesting."

#################

Troy and Moffitt arrived at the mess hall looking for their two men about a half hour later. They easily spotted Hitch and Tully, got their dinners, and sat down with them.

Moffitt smiled. "When we didn't find you in our quarters, we thought you might be here."

Troy said, "I take it you didn't locate Private Harris."

Hitch shook his head. "Not a sign of him, sarge. You two have any luck?"

"None. We even went to his quarters, but his roommate hadn't seen since this this morning."

Tully said, "We did hear something interesting though."

Moffitt asked, "Oh? And what was that?"

Hitch replied, "We sat here because Fred White was sitting at that table next to us. We heard him tell three guys at the table with him that his supplier didn't have the 'stuff' they wanted at the moment, but he would have it sometime tomorrow."

Tully said, "The others weren't too happy about it, but they didn't have a choice."

Troy said, "That means that either Harris is getting more of the Pervitin from whoever is supplying him, or he knows who took his satchel."

"You don't think he'd go after Charley do you?"

"It's a possibility, Tully, but she should be safe with a guard on her door."

Tully thought for a second, then asked, "Can I stay with her tonight?"

Troy replied, "I don't see why not. We'll bang on the door when it's time to get up."

#################

Tully met Troy, Moffitt, and Hitch in the hallway early the next morning. First they went to Private Harris' quarters, but he'd already left. Then they went to the mess hall for some breakfast, hoping to either find him there or he would show up before they left. However, they had no such luck.

They then went to headquarters. In the couriers office they found one of Harris' counterparts. When asked where Private Harris was, he said, "Don't really know. Larry took his deliveries and told me he had to do something before he started his rounds."

As they hurried out of headquarters, Tully said quietly, "This isn't good."

#################

Charley's breakfast was delivered at precisely 0600 hours, as was usual. After eating, she was escorted to the shower room by her current guard, Private Will Thomson. After he made sure the room was empty, she went in for her shower while Thomson waited in the hall.

Back in her quarters, Charley quickly got bored. She finally sat down at the small table with a book that her other guard, Private Tom Carry had brought to her on the first day of her incarceration.

#################

It took a couple of days for Private Larry Harris to discover who had taken his satchel after he'd left headquarters with the wrong one. At first he'd been angry when he went to get the vials of Pervitin and discovered he had someone else's satchel. He immediately went back to headquarters, but didn't find his anywhere.

Harris inquired around and found out that another courier had been there when he was with Captain Wilson. He had been in a hurry when he was leaving headquarters that day and vaguely remembered the second satchel. Harris wasn't paying attention when he picked up the one he thought was his.

Once the private discovered where Charley's quarters were, Harris decided to go make a trade. He got to the visitors quarters and quickly found the room he was looking for. He knocked. There was no answer. He knocked again and put his ear to the door. Silence. Obviously there was no one home. After finding the door locked, Harris looked at his watch and decided he had time to wait. He tucked himself into a dark corner nearby and squatted down to watch the door.

The wait wasn't long. Charley and Private Thomson appeared in the hallway. Harris watched as the private unlocked the door, Charley thanked him, and she went inside. The Thomson took his place next to the door.

Harris briefly wondered why there was a guard, but he really wanted his satchel and the drugs that were in it. He stepped out of the shadows and walked over to the guard. "Hey, I need to talk to the girl."

Thomson took the list out of a pocket as he asked, "Name?"

"PFC Larry Harris. Why?"

Thomson checked the alphabetized list, then said, "You're not on my list. I can't let you in."

Harris frowned. "Check it again. You probably just missed it."

Thomson looked at the list for a second time, but when he took his eyes off the other man, Harris gave him a chop on the side of the neck. As Thomson began to go down, Harris caught him and lowered the unconscious guard onto the chair that had been placed next to the door for the guards use. He whispered, "Sorry about that, but I really need to talk to her."

Harris then knocked on the door and heard Charley call, "What is it, Will?"

He opened the door and stepped inside. "Sorry for the intrusion…"

Startled, Charley stood up and questioned, "Who are you? Where's Private Thomson?"

Harris closed the door as he said, "Your friend in the hall will have a headache when he wakes up, but he'll be fine."

Charley demanded, "Who are you?"

"My name doesn't matter. What matters is that I picked up your satchel by mistake." Harris dropped the satchel he was carrying on the bed and said, "All I want is to trade yours for mine." He pointed at the one on the bed. "Don't worry. Everything's in there … even the pistol."

Charley chewed her bottom lip as she watched him nervously, then said, "Umm … thank you for bringing it to me … but I don't have yours here."

Harris frowned. "Where is it?"

"When I discovered it wasn't mine, I took it back to headquarters."

"All right. I'll just go get it…"

Charley swallowed. "I … I gave it to Major Peterson."

Harris knew the answer before he asked, "And why did you do that?"

"I … umm … found your drugs."

Harris sighed. "Now we have a problem." He picked up Charley's satchel and retrieved the gun.

#################

The Rat Patrol arrived at the visitors quarters at a dead run. They went in cautiously. Troy and Moffitt drew their pistols when they saw the guard slouched down on the chair.

Hitch checked for a pulse and whispered, "Alive."

Troy leaned close to the door and could hear muffled voices inside. There was an argument going on. He reached for the doorknob and carefully turned it. Troy nodded to his men, who took up position on either side of the door, before he slowly began to push it open.

Harris had his back to the door and didn't realize it had been opened until a hinge gave a soft squeak. Without seeing who it was, and basically assuming it was the guard, he grabbed Charley and spun around holding the young woman in front of him. Harris got off a shot that buried itself in the doorjamb and forced Troy to duck for cover.

Troy called, "Private Larry Harris?"

Harris growled, "Who wants to know?"

"Sergeant Sam Troy. Major Peterson would like to have a talk with you."

"Not a chance!"

Troy said, "Let the lady go, Harris. There's no need for this to get ugly."

Harris said, "I'll let her go when you let me leave here!"

"Where would you go? You won't be able to hide on base long before you're found."

"I know my way around. I'll grab a jeep and drive away. I do it all the time and no one will miss me any time soon."

Troy whispered to Hitch and Tully, "Go around and try the window while I distract him." The privates took off and Troy turned back to talk to Harris. "It's not a good idea to go AWOL. The army will track you down…"

Harris shook his head even though no one could see it. "I'll be heading back to the states before they know I'm gone!"

Troy handed his pistol to Moffitt and said, "Look, Harris, just talk to me. I'm unarmed and I'm going to step into the doorway."

Harris hesitated, then said, "Okay, go ahead … but make sure I can see your hands."

Troy stuck his hands out to show that he wasn't holding a weapon, then slowly stepped into the open doorway with his hands at his sides.

Charley started, "Sam…"

Harris clasped a hand over her mouth. "Shut up!"

Troy asked, "You all right, Charley?"

She nodded.

Harris gave a small, dark smile. "Oh, so you two know each other. How quaint."

Troy said, "Yeah, I know her. I also know her husband."

#################

Hitch and Tully moved quickly around to where they could see Charley's window on the second floor.

Tully said, "We have to find a way up."

They started to look around and less than a minute later Hitch came up with a wooden ladder. "We got lucky."

Tully smiled. "Convenient, isn't it."

Hitch put the ladder up, but it wasn't quite long enough to reach the eaves of the roof. "Now what?"

"Not a problem. Just watch out when it falls." Tully scrambled up the ladder, then leaned back. As the ladder began to fall, he grabbed the eave and was able to pull himself up onto the roof. Tully looked down at Hitch and waved for him to come up.

Hitch had caught the ladder, then watched his friend climb like a monkey to safety. Then Tully signaled him to do the same thing. With a sigh, Hitch pushed the ladder back up against the building as he whispered to himself, "You have got to be kidding."

However, Hitch did do it, and with just a little help from Tully, he made it onto the roof.

When they peeked carefully through the window, Hitch and Tully saw Harris with his back to them, holding the gun to Charley's head. Luckily for them, Charley tended to keep the window opened just a bit to let air in.

The privates heard Troy say, "Do you really think you're going to get away? You've told me your plans. We'll know where to look for you."

Harris replied, "I'm smarter than that. I know how to lay low and pick the right time to get out."

Tully hooked his fingers under the window and carefully began to push it upward.

Unfortunately though, Harris heard the window slide and swung around, still holding Charley, to face Hitch and Tully. He got a shot off just as the two ducked back.

At the same moment, Moffitt stepped into the doorway as Troy took a step back. The sergeant shot Harris just under the shoulder blade. He went down while still holding his prisoner and landed on top of Charley.

Tully quickly climbed into the room, followed by Hitch, as Troy and Moffitt moved in to rescue Charley. The sergeants rolled Harris over and discovered him conscious and full of fight.

While Troy and Hitch struggled with the wounded man, Tully helped Charley to her feet and guided her over behind Moffitt. "Are you okay?"

Charley nodded. "I'm fine."

Troy and Hitch quickly got their prisoner under control and pulled him to his feet. Moffitt then held his pistol on Harris as Troy said, "Tie him up tight…"

Private Will Thomson appeared in the doorway looking groggy and holding a hand to the side of his neck. He looked around and asked, "What's goin' on?"

Moffitt didn't take his eyes off Harris as he said, "I'm afraid you've missed the excitement."

Troy smiled slightly at the curious look on Thomson's face as he said, "Go get the MPs. We have a prisoner for them."

Harris snarled, "I thought you said Major Peterson wants to see me."

Hitch grinned. "Oh, he does…" He pushed Harris into a chair and began to tie him up with the cord from the window curtains and said, "All in good time."

Moffitt asked, "Would you mind telling us where you've been getting the Pervitin you've been distributing?"

Harris' frown deepened. "Is that what this is about? Pervitin isn't illegal."

"But it is a dangerous drug and Major Peterson doesn't appreciate it on his base."

"What's he going to do about it? He can't court-martial me for selling a legal substance."

Troy said, "But he can for holding a hostage and threatening to kill her."

At that Harris became silent and stayed that way even as the MPs took him away.

#################

The next day, the Rat Patrol headed back to Ras Tanura with one passenger. The reports that Troy and Charley would write would be interesting, if not entertaining.

Captain Boggs wouldn't ask any question, though. At least not until he had to. Sometimes it's just better to not know the details that weren't included.