"What happened to you, Carter?"
The question came from Schultz, as he counted his way along the double rank of prisoners at morning assembly. He barely glanced at each man, but the cuts on Carter's face, where he'd been hit by splinters of wood the night before, would have been hard to miss.
Carter was playing dumb. "How d'you mean, Schultz?" he asked, with a perfectly beautiful blank look.
"Your face." Schultz leaned forward, peering at the damage.
"That? Oh, that's nothing," replied Carter easily. "Just some sort of rash. I guess I've been scratching it too much. It itches."
Schultz backed away so fast he nearly sent three men in the front row flying. "Is it contagious?"
"Gee, Schultz, I don't know. Maybe you should ask Newkirk. He had it first."
"When did he have a rash? I never saw it," said Schultz dubiously, turning his attention to Newkirk, while still maintaining a prudent distance.
"It wasn't on his face, Schultz," observed Hogan with a smirk. Newkirk, not best pleased by the turn of the conversation, nevertheless adopted a suitably embarrassed demeanour, accompanied by the kind of fidgeting usually associated with discomfort in unspecified locations. It had the desired effect; Schultz asked no more questions, and retreated to give his report to the Kommandant. It was probably a safe bet he wouldn't be visiting the barracks any more than he had to for the next few days.
"Which is handy, for us," said Hogan, once he and his team were safely in his office. "Close the shutters, Kinch."
He spread a map on the desk. "Okay, this is the target, about ten miles south of Bernsdorf, which places it fifteen miles from here. The information the Underground got for us is that it's part of a new early warning system, with additional units at Weizenfeld and Felsbrunnen. It's in the final stages of testing, and if it goes into full operation, it's going to make a lot of trouble for our bombers heading to the industrial region east of Hammelburg."
"What's so special about it, Colonel?" asked Newkirk, scratching his neck.
Hogan allowed the map to roll up. "Couple of things. Firstly, because the system uses three-point triangulation, it's very accurate for pinpointing position, trajectory and speed of any approaching aircraft. And secondly, they're using some new fast computer to work out the figures. The computer is at the Bernsdorf facility, which is also the central point of the whole system. So if we take out Bernsdorf, that automatically makes Weizenfeld and Felsbrunnen redundant."
"How much do we know about the place?" said Kinch. "Newkirk, do you have to do that?"
"It's Carter's fault," grumbled Newkirk, who was still scratching. "He put the idea in my head. Now I'm itching all over."
"Okay, settle down. Let's have a bit of focus, guys." Hogan looked at Newkirk, who subsided. "So far, Kinch, we only know the location. But we should have more information within a few days. Magdalena's managed to get taken on as driver to General Langbein, who's in charge of the project. Langbein prefers women drivers, apparently, even if it means having a civilian in the job."
"She says he's got busy hands," added Carter in a tone of strong disapproval.
"Don't you worry about Magdalena, Andrew," said Newkirk. "That lass can take care of herself." He should know; he'd struck out with her at their first meeting, and made no headway since.
"She's used to risky situations, all right," added Hogan, with a grin. "She's trying to get some more information about the installation - in particular, details of the layout and security. Once she has it, she'll be in touch with Karl, and arrange another meeting, probably in Hammelburg. After that, we'll be able to work out the details of the job. Carter, how are we off for supplies?"
"I got plenty of dynamite, but I'm out of detonators," said Carter, after a moment's thought. "We used the last ones on that munitions train job, last week. I sort of forgot to mention it."
"Carter, that's the third time this year you've run out." Hogan folded his arms, gazing at Carter with weary exasperation.
"Sorry, Colonel," replied Carter deprecatingly. "We blew up a lot of bridges last month. I guess I just lost track. You know how it is, when you're having fun."
Hogan sighed. "Kinch, contact London, see if they can include some detonators in the next supply drop."
"Will do, Colonel. Anything else?"
"Not till we hear from Magdalena. LeBeau - " Hogan broke off, regarding LeBeau with narrowed eyes and a faint smile.
LeBeau, who had slept poorly again, had not been contributing to the discussion. He was deep in his own thoughts, but the silence which fell around him forced him to surface, as if waking from a trance. "Pardon, Colonel," he murmured.
"Glad you could join us," remarked Hogan, still smiling. LeBeau lowered his eyes, ashamed.
"You'll be making the next rendezvous," Hogan went on. "We'll have to work out the details after we hear from Magdalena, but at this stage I don't want anyone using the emergency tunnel more than they have to, until we find out what the SS are doing in the woods, and if it was one of them who fired at us last night."
"Well, gee, Colonel, who else would it be?" asked Carter.
Hogan rubbed the back of his neck. "Okay, I admit they're the most likely, but it doesn't quite fit. When was the last time an SS patrol took one shot at us, and didn't follow it up?" He let them think about it for a minute.
"Maybe they'd split up," suggested Kinch at last. "If one of them was on his own, he might get spooked when he realised he'd missed the shot."
"He didn't miss it by much, did he?" observed Carter casually, rubbing his fingers over his cheek. LeBeau made a restless movement, but nobody else paid much attention to it.
"What if it was one of our own guards?" put in Newkirk.
"I don't buy it," said Hogan. "We would have heard something by now. Still, can't hurt to ask around. See if Schultz knows anything, either about the shooting or about the SS."
"Kinch or LeBeau better handle Schultz, Colonel." Newkirk leaned back, with a sideways glance at Carter. "If he sees me or Carter coming, he'll run a mile, in case he catches something nasty."
"Good point." Hogan suppressed a smile . "Kinch, you tackle Schultz. The rest of you sound out the other guards. Any questions?"
He gave them a moment to reply, then nodded in dismissal. "Okay, back to work. Hold it, LeBeau."
LeBeau stopped in his tracks. He might have known.
Hogan waited till Kinch had closed the door before he spoke. "What's with you today?"
"Nothing, Colonel." LeBeau held himself upright, and looked at Hogan with wide-eyed sincerity.
"Is that right?" Hogan paused, then said abruptly. "Where are the other three radar installations?"
LeBeau swallowed, then replied nervously, "One was at Weizenfeld." That was a safe bet. But beyond that he was stumped. "I'm not sure about the other two."
"You weren't listening, were you?" Hogan regarded him sternly.
"No, mon Colonel," admitted LeBeau. His voice dropped almost to a whisper.
"I expect better of you, LeBeau," Hogan went on. "I know it's not always easy, but we have an important job to do here, and we can't afford to let things slip. If you've got a problem, you deal with it, or tell me about it, or let it go. But you don't let it interfere with our work. Is that clear?"
"Perfectly clear, mon Colonel."
"Good. Now, is there anything you want to tell me?"
"No, sir."
"Good." Hogan went back to the map. "Because this will be the last time I go over anything again for your benefit. From now on, when I'm talking, you better be listening."
Ten minutes later, LeBeau came out of the office. He went to his bunk, and stood irresolute for a moment. Kinch had already gone in search of Schultz, but Newkirk and Carter were loitering.
"You all right, LeBeau?" Newkirk was looking at him with an expression of mildly concerned curiosity. LeBeau did not reply, and after a pause Newkirk went on. "You weren't half restless last night. Kept me awake half the night. You got something on your conscience? Or just dreaming about the lovely Magdalena? You want to watch those young widows, you know."
"Oh, very funny, Newkirk," LeBeau snapped back. "She's a woman of taste and refinement. Which is why you got nowhere."
Newkirk shrugged, but that one had hit the target, and without another word he headed outside. Carter, obviously trying not to laugh, followed. For a moment, LeBeau wondered if he should go with them, but if there was any threat to Carter's safety within the barbed wire, surely Newkirk and Kinch could handle it. Instead he climbed onto his bunk, and lay on his back, staring at the ceiling, trying to make sense of what had happened the night before.
He was deeply unsettled about Carter's near miss, unable to decide if it had been the event the night bird had come to predict, or if some more certain danger was still ahead. If he was to work it out, he realised he would have to confront something he'd long refused to look at.
He was going to have to return to the memory of the worst night of his life.