The War Without Honor Raid
By:AliasCWN
Chapter 3
His men had escorted Sgt. Troy to a cell and locked him in. The sergeant had gone quietly, offering no resistance. The captain had dropped by to check on him after his evening meal and found the sergeant sleeping peacefully on his cot.
Sleep wasn't coming quite so easily for Captain Dietrich. He paced his quarters restlessly, replaying the sergeants words over and over in his head. He tried unsuccessfully to convince himself that the American was lying. It was possible that his superiors had lied to him, or that their intelligence had misunderstood some piece of information that they had gathered. He would prefer any of those things over believing that his own government, German officers, would use these tactics. Even worse was believing that they would deliberately infect their own troops to carry out their plot. The more he considered it the more his head ached.
A knock on his door was a welcome distraction.
"Come in."
His second in command, Lt. Bernhart, opened the door cautiously. "I'm sorry Captain, I didn't mean to disturb you."
Dietrich waved the apology away with a sweep of his hand. "What is it Lieutenant?"
"I was wondering Sir, would you like us to double the guards in case the Americans try to rescue their leader?"
Dietrich considered the question while he eyed the young soldier before him. Lt. Bernhart had a sweetheart back in Germany. His parents were still alive, caring for his two younger sisters. They would all mourn the loss if he were to die in this war. The captain realized that it was a very real possibility that the youth might not survive the war no matter what he chose. His loss would be tragic in battle, just as the loss of any of his men was tragic, yet the thought that his own countrymen would deliberately sacrifice such a young life was repugnant to the captain. And to do it in such a way, it was hard to accept the truth of the sergeants' words.
"Captain?"
Dietrich realized with a start that he had been staring at his lieutenant for some time. With a shake of his head he brought his thoughts back to the question. Troy had said that he would 'stick around and wait' for his answer. The statement had had a ring of truth to it that Dietrich could not deny. "No Lieutenant, I don't think we'll have any trouble tonight. Allow the men to rest as much as possible, there may be a new assault in the planning stages."
"Very well Captain. I'll see to the regular guards then." Lt. Bernhart saluted and backed toward the door, watching his commander closely. He looked like he would have liked to say more but he refrained and left quietly. The door clicked shut, leaving Dietrich to his thoughts.
The captain resumed his pacing. The camp got quiet as the men sought their beds. Dietrich envied them their peaceful slumber. His own sleep, when it did finally come, was restless and filled with dreams of zombie-like soldiers calling to him and asking why he let them die. The faces of the walking dead were all familiar to him, he saw them every day as they dutifully lined up to follow his orders.
Morning found Dietrich up at first light as was his custom. As he performed his daily rituals of preparing for the day he did so with less than his usual energy. While he was shaving the face looking back at him from the mirror was pinched with exhaustion. Dark bags under his eyes attested to his lack of sleep. Throwing cold water into his face, he tried to concentrate on the days duties. He had some reports to write, perhaps he could finish them before his orderly arrived with his breakfast to disturb him.
The knock on his door was followed by the voice of his orderly announcing that his breakfast had arrived. Capt. Dietrich looked at the report in front of him and blinked at the writing. He held the pen in his hand but he hadn't managed to put more than a few sentences on the paper. Disgusted with his own lack of concentration, he threw the pen across the room, getting some small satisfaction out of the sound of it bouncing off the wall. With a heavy sigh he rose from his desk and went to greet his orderly.
"Is everything alright Captain?" His orderly had placed his breakfast on the table and neatly arranged his silverware. Pouring the coffee, he held the cup for the captain. His eyes widened when he saw the captain walk into the room. He immediately noticed the sunken eyes and drawn, haggard look.
"I'm fine, thank you. It was stuffy in here last night and I didn't sleep well is all. Perhaps you could air out the room today."
"Of course Captain, I'll do so at once." His orderly started to rush past him.
"No, no, it can wait. Do it this afternoon after I finish my paperwork."
"Yes Captain." The orderly fussed around the room stealing glances at his captain as he ate his breakfast. Dietrich was grateful that there was no more mention of his appearance as he hated making excuses. His orderly was another of his men who trusted him and willing followed his orders without question. Dietrich wondered how they would feel if they knew about the dilemma he found himself facing. Would they still follow him and trust him to do what was best for them? And was what was best for them good or bad for Germany? Did he even have the right as a German officer sworn to protect Germany to question any plan that her leaders thought necessary? Finishing his coffee, Dietrich realized that his headache had returned tenfold. Holding his head in his hands , he silently cursed Berlin and their foolish leaders. Then he cursed Sergeant Sam Troy for telling him any of this. He still hadn't decided who deserved it more. What he did know was that his twenty-four hours were passing quickly.
