The Value of Trust

By: AliasCWN

Chapter 2

"And you actually saw the others in that German camp?"

"Yes Sir." Moffitt confirmed. "Private Pettigrew and I watched them for half an hour while they were milling about in the compound."

"You're sure that they were our men?"

"Yes Sir. You said that Captain Harrold was the convoy commander. I served with the Captain for nearly a year Major; I was able to recognize him, even from a distance. He was among the prisoners."

"Yes, Captain Harrold, I would hate to lose the Captain to the Germans. He is a fine officer with lots of experience." The Major straightened in his chair and looked up at Troy and Moffitt, who stood in front of his desk. "All right gentlemen, you have permission to try a rescue of the prisoners. Draw what supplies you will need from our stores. I'll have my clerk draw up the necessary forms." Once the clerk had been informed of what would be needed, the Major wished them luck.

The two sergeants saluted and left the office.

"Here are the forms you need." The Corporal said as he handed them the papers. "Do you know where to take them to get them filled?"

"Yes Corporal, we've been on and off this base enough to know our way around." Moffitt assured him.

"If they give you any problems have them call me and I will confirm the orders." The clerk told them before returning to his own paperwork.

"We'll do that." Troy assured him with a smirk. Meeting Moffitt's eyes, he smiled and shrugged at the abrupt dismissal from the corporal. Neither man looked back to notice the clerk watching them leave with a concerned look on his face. "Good luck guys." He mumbled under his breath as the two sergeants departed the building.

"In quite the hurry to get rid of us, wouldn't you say?" Moffitt smiled at Troy.

"So it seems." The American sergeant answered. "Maybe they just want us to get going and get their guys back."

"Some things just can't be rushed." Moffitt said softly. "You do know that they may be waiting for us?"

"Yeah, but it wouldn't be the first time. We won't go rushing in if that's what has you so worried."

"No, it's something else."

"Spill it Doctor, just what is bothering you?"

"I don't know exactly. Something seemed off with the prisoners. I don't know what it was, but there was definitely some tension in the air. Captain Harrold was wounded but his men didn't seem to be too concerned about him. It was almost as if they were avoiding him." Moffitt shook his head, puzzled.

"Let's get our supplies, collect Hitch and Tully, and go take another look. Maybe we can figure it out when we get there."

"Right. Tully and Hitch will most likely be with the jeeps. They haven't had time to make any friends around here and they wouldn't go off without permission anyway."

"Then let's go find the jeeps and get those supplies. I want to get an early start on this rescue. The Krauts probably won't keep those prisoners at the base for very long; they'll want to send them to a processing center."

Moffitt kept the rest of his thoughts to himself as he followed Troy to the motor pool. They found the privates waiting by the jeeps.

"Hitch, Tully, get the jeeps fueled up and ready to move out. Moffitt and I will go get the supplies we may need." Troy began issuing orders. "We'll be right back."

"Right Sarge." Hitch responded. Tully got to his feet and began to inventory their supplies.

"Sarge."

"Yeah Tully?"

"We could use more ammo for the 50's."

"Anything else?"

"Gas."

Troy handed Tully the forms for the gasoline. "We'll get the rest of the supplies while you and Hitch take care of the jeeps. I want to get out of here as soon as possible."

"Gotcha Sarge." Tully drawled.

The two privates were doing the last of their checks on the jeeps when the sergeants returned with the rest of the supplies.

"Get these stored and be ready to go." Troy told his privates. Hitch and Tully nodded and took the supplies and began storing them in the vehicles.

Moffitt pulled out their maps and began to plot the course back to the German camp. As Troy approached he raised his eyes to look the other sergeant in the eye. "Is something wrong?"

"No, Hitch and Tully are storing the supplies. Do you have the course plotted?"

"I think so." Moffitt nodded, dropping his gaze to the map. "If we use this old camel trail we can travel faster and avoid the open desert. We'll have to keep an eye out for Arab spies, but I don't really expect to run into any this far from the base."

Troy studied the map as Moffitt ran his finger along a dotted line across the desert. "You think they may have the trail watched closer to their base?" He raised his head to get an answer from Moffitt.

Moffitt nodded, nearly certain that that would be the case. "I think we are safe, at least to here." He pointed at a spot on the trail. "After that, we could run into German spies anywhere along the trail.

"That's going to slow us down." Troy answered with a frown.

"Not really." Moffitt continued. "I believe if we follow these hills, and stay close to the base, we may be able to slip past anyone watching the trail. Our jeeps don't make a lot of noise and we are able to navigate the rocky paths where heavier vehicles would have a difficult time. They may not be watching this area due to the lack of easy accessibility. We can leave the trail here, follow along the hills here, and approach the base from the opposite side. They won't be expecting us to approach from that direction. Maybe we can sneak in and surprise them that way."

Troy was grinning by the time that Moffitt got done explaining his plan. "You may just have something there Moffitt. We'll try it your way. Let's shake it."

The British sergeant stowed the maps under the seat of his jeep and took his usual seat. Tully climbed into the driver's seat and waited for Troy and Hitch to get settled.

"Lead the way Doctor." Troy called with a wave of his hand.

Tully hit the gas and his jeep, under Moffitt's guidance, led the way off the base toward the German compound.