Outbreak
By:AliasCWN
Chapter 10
"Really Sergeant." Dietrich frowned as he looked up from his meal to find Troy and Moffitt standing in front of him.
The Captain and his column had stopped for a lunch break and a rest after four dull, boring days of patrol. His lunch had been delivered by an orderly and he had been looking forward to a quiet meal in his own tent. When someone walked in without asking permission, he was prepared to discipline his orderly, only it wasn't his orderly who had disturbed his solitude.
"Hello again Captain." Troy flashed a bright smile, knowing that it annoyed the German officer.
Dietrich sighed deeply. "What is it this time Sergeant?"
"A little trade Captain."
The Captain raised his eyebrows in surprise. It wasn't the answer he had expected. "All right Sergeant, I'm interested. What are we trading?" From the determined look on the American sergeant's face, he decided that arguing would be a waste of time. The sergeant didn't look like he would take no for an answer.
"A name, or names, for a name."
"And just what name would that be?" Despite his displeasure at seeing them in his tent, Dietrich was intrigued.
"The name of the visitor who is planning on dropping by your base tomorrow, or soon after." The sergeant explained with a sharp gaze.
"What visitor?"
"That's what we want to know. Is he the guy we're hunting?" Troy's sharp gaze searched the German's face for any lie.
"I have no idea who you're talking about Sergeant." Dietrich replied coolly.
Troy paused, staring the Captain down, considering his answer. "Have you been back to your base since we talked last?"
"No."
"All right Captain, then maybe you haven't received the message yet."
"What message?" Dietrich demanded impatiently, forgetting to keep his voice low. "How is it that you know about my messages before I am even aware of them?"
"Quiet Captain." Moffitt warned, putting a finger to his lips. "If your orderly comes in we may be forced to hurt him."
The warning had the desired effect. Dietrich took a deep breath and calmed himself. "Answer the question Sergeant Troy." His lowered voice fairly rumbled with indignation.
"We were visiting a certain base and overheard part of a certain conversation." Troy answered, twisting the facts just a bit.
"What base? What conversation?"
Troy shrugged nonchalantly. "Fair is fair Captain. You answered our question; not quite the way we wanted, but as best you could. This is our half of the trade; we were visiting Colonel von Krieg's base last night. It seems that he had several unfortunate accidents over there."
"What kind of accidents?"
"Rockslides, explosions, fires, those kinds."
"You're telling me that you attacked the Colonel's base?"
"Yeah, we are." Troy admitted. "Maybe you can trade that information for some favors with your superiors."
"I don't need favors from my superiors Sergeant." Dietrich replied with ice in his tone. "I earn my respect; I don't need any help from you."
"Then it can be our little secret Captain. Use it or not." He continued. "I guess I should point out that we used the door this time instead of making our own." He grinned at the German's furious expression.
"If that's all, you can get out now." Dietrich growled through clenched teeth.
"We're leaving Captain." Troy acknowledged. "We have two 50's covering the camp so sounding the alarm would be a really bad idea."
"Get out!" The Captain snarled, barely containing his fury.
They left, making it back to the jeeps without the alarm being sounded.
"I do believe that you angered the good Captain." Moffitt laughed as he glanced back toward the German camp.
"I don't know why, we used the door." Troy grinned innocently.
"Maybe he doesn't like unannounced guests." Hitch suggested
"We couldn't ask the guard to announce us, there wasn't one." Troy defended their surprise visit.
"From now on I have a feeling that the Captain will put a guard on his tent even if he's not in it." Moffitt smiled.
"It wouldn't bother us." Troy smiled. "We wouldn't visit the Captain in his tent if he's not in it."
"Did we learn anything from this visit?" Moffitt asked, sobering.
"We learned that Dietrich earns his own respect. We learned that he doesn't need our help in that department. And we learned that they are keeping secrets from the Captain for some reason."
Tully, who had been listening quietly to the conversation, shifted his matchstick and cocked his head. "What kind of secrets Sarge?"
"That's what we're going to find out Tully."
"What are we going to blow up next Sarge?" Hitch asked eagerly. The others laughed.
"I think we're going to hold off on that until we know more about what we're dealing with Hitch." Troy smiled indulgently.
"How are we going to find out? I thought you said that Dietrich wasn't much help."
"He wasn't." Troy replied thoughtfully. "But maybe Colonel von Krieg was more help that we knew." The others waited, not understanding his logic.
"Think about it." Troy urged, looking earnestly at the three faces watching him. "Why would they keep the visit a secret from the base commander?"
"A surprise inspection?" Tully suggested.
"No." Troy shook his head. "They might not tell Dietrich about that, but that's no reason to keep it from Colonel von Krieg. They told the Colonel about the visit but didn't mention a name. If it was a surprise inspection they wouldn't have warned the Colonel about the visit either. If it's not an inspection, why not put the name on the report? Remember, it sounded as if the Colonel already knew who was coming; so why not put it in the report?"
"When you put it that way, it does sound rather suspicious." Moffitt admitted.
"You're thinking that they don't trust Dietrich with the information?" Hitchcock asked.
"Maybe someone knows that he has friends among the Arabs. Maybe they didn't think that he would agree to what's happening."
"A lot of maybes." Moffitt observed.
"Right now that's all we have." Troy defended his guesses.
"And I thought that our Army kept a lot from us." Hitch remarked dryly.
"Our Army wouldn't do something like this." Troy stated with certainty.
"So how do we prove it?" Hitch persisted.
"We need to pay another visit." Troy said quietly.
"Dietrich is going to get tired of seeing you Sarge." Hitch warned, only half joking.
"Not Dietrich, not this time."
"Then who?"
"Colonel von Krieg."
"How are we going to get back in?" Hitch asked in disbelief. "We can't create another rockslide and the one we made will be pretty well cleaned up by now."
"Unless we aren't going in." Moffitt guessed, noticing the tiny smile on Troy's lips.
"I don't think that we need to go onto the base." Troy confirmed. "The Colonel's visitor isn't actually there yet."
"How will we know which way he's coming?" Tully wondered aloud. "There are three different roads leading to that base, he could be using any one of them."
"We'll split into two teams and get help to cover the third road."
"Who Troy?" Moffitt asked although he suspected that he already knew the answer.
"We'll ask Dhakhil."
"If this guy is carrying the virus we could be putting Dhakhil and his men at risk." Moffitt argued. "Besides, I thought that you said we had to stay away from the Arabs."
"We'll signal him and talk to him from a distance." Troy explained. "If we explain the problem I'm sure he'll be willing to help. He can watch the road and just signal us if he spots anything. Once we see the car we can join up again and deal with it. Dhakhil and his men won't need to go near them."
"It might work." Moffitt admitted. "Dhakhil is fair minded and he did give us four days."
"Tomorrow is day four." Tully reminded them.
"There may be another problem Troy." Moffitt, for once, sounded unsure of himself.
"Like what?"
"I may be sick."
Three faces turned toward him in shock.
"Say that again." Troy demanded.
"I may be sick." Moffitt repeated. "Remember, I spent almost an entire day in those tents where the owners died."
"That doesn't mean that you're going to get sick." Troy argued.
"My stomach had been bothering me since yesterday." The Brit admitted. "I don't feel right Troy. There's nothing to worry about just yet. I can still do my job; but I thought that I should warn you."
"If you're sick then all of us are exposed." The other sergeant stated the obvious. "None of us can risk returning to the base until we get to the bottom of this. If there is a cure, we need to find it."
"I'm sorry." The British sergeant looked miserably around the small circle of faces. "If I hadn't gone off to visit Mahiteem none of this would be happening. None of you would have been exposed."
"No," Troy shook his head sadly, "we drew this assignment, it had nothing to do with you visiting Mahiteem. Hitch,…Tully,..are you feeling all right?" Both privates nodded. "Let me know right away if you start feeling any of the symptoms." He ordered harshly.
"What are the symptoms?" Tully wanted to know. "I thought that you said that we didn't know what the symptoms were."
"We don't," Troy growled in frustration. "Just let me know if you start feeling anything that's not normal." The two privates exchanged meaningful looks before they nodded silently.
"I really am sorry Troy."
"Forget it Doctor, there's nothing we can do but find the cure." Troy eyed his friend worriedly. "Any idea how long we have?"
"Until tomorrow, that's all the time that Dhakhil gave us."
"I don't mean with the Arabs Moffitt, I meant….well, you know what I meant."
"Ah, yes, I see." The other man answered. "No, I'm afraid that I have no idea. From all of the signs in the tents, it's a slow process."
Troy looked relieved. "All right, that gives us a little time. Hitch and I will go talk to Dhakhil. You and Tully wait here until we get back."
"Do you think Dhakhil will help us Sarge?" Tully asked doubtfully. "He said that we had four days, he never offered to help."
"We'll find out Tully."
"Troy, I think that I should go." Moffitt interrupted.
"No need Moffitt, Dhakhil speaks English well enough for us to understand each other. We'll talk to him; I want you to rest for tomorrow."
"I think that I should go. The Arabs think that we are spreading this, perhaps if they know that I am sick, they will believe that we knew nothing about it."
"If they know you're sick Doctor, they might decide to keep you from spreading it any further. Hitch and I are going and that's final."
Moffitt nodded in defeat and conceded the point.
Three and a half hours later found Tory and Hitch back near where they had started. Gathering scrub brush, they lit a signal fire atop the hill next to the oasis where they had burned the tents. It wasn't long before they saw Dhakhil and his men cautiously approaching. Troy walked toward them, holding up a hand to stop them within shouting distance.
"Dhakhil, we've come to ask for your help."
"Where is English?"
"We left him behind with our other jeep to guard a road."
The Arab studied the two soldiers carefully, perhaps looking for signs of the illness.
"What is it you ask of us?"
"We have a lead on this illness." Troy informed him. "But there are too few of us. We need to question a German officer who is arriving tomorrow."
"What can we do?" Dhakhil asked again.
"There are three roads leading to the base." Troy called. "We can watch two of them, but we need someone to watch the third one. If you could send someone to watch the third road and warn us if the Germans are using that one, we may be able to solve this."
"And if this is the one spreading the disease, how would we stop it?" The Arab sounded confused but not unwilling.
"All we ask is that you tell us if the Germans are using that road." Troy assured him. "Once you signal us, we will deal with the Germans. If they are the ones responsible, we will find out."
The Arabs conferred among themselves for several minutes. Troy sighed with relief as Dhakhil nodded an agreement. "We will do this thing. We will watch and signal you if we see anyone."
"Thank you." Troy proceeded to tell the Arabs where the road was and how to signal if they saw anyone. He assigned them the road nearest to the oasis as they were traveling on horseback.
Hitch watched the Arabs warily. The last time that they had had a problem with them, the Arabs had accused them of kidnapping their holy man. Dietrich had used men disguised as the Rat Patrol and let a ransom note reinforcing the deception. Hitch and Tully had been held hostage while the sergeants had been freed to clear their names. Rescuing the holy man from Dietrich had been child's play compared to their present problem.
"Some of Dhakhil's men didn't look too happy about helping. I hope Dhakhil can handle his men."
"He did all right the last time Sarge." His driver answered thoughtfully as he blew a bubble and popped it. "They wanted to kill us before sunset but Dhakhil wouldn't let them. He kept pointing at the sun and shoving them away from us. Tully said that he didn't think that Dhakhil really wanted to murder us."
Troy hadn't heard this before and he turned to look at his driver. "Why didn't you tell me this before?"
His driver shrugged. "Dhakhil sent them back to their tents and nothing happened. Then you and Doc returned with their holy man and they turned us loose."
"Yeah." Troy remembered how close they had come to losing both privates. "Let's move, I want to be in position before dawn."
They had rejoined the others only to find Tully standing guard while Moffitt slept.
"I told him to save his strength Sarge." Tully explained when Troy asked about the other sergeant. "He says he's not feeling any worse but I figured, why take the chance?"
Troy had allowed him to sleep until just before dawn. Running out of time, he woke him and sent him to watch the other road.
Dawn found all three groups hidden with a good view of the road. All three roads led to the base but they didn't converge until they were within a few miles of the front gate. A narrow valley in front of the base forced the roads to join and follow a single path the rest of the way. It would have made a good ambush spot if not for the fact that it was too close. If they attacked there they would have to worry about help arriving from the base before they could capture their target.
"You stay here and watch for a signal." Troy told his driver, leaving him with the jeep. Troy took his binoculars and climbed the hill above the road. Half burying himself in the sand, he settled in to wait. The sand would act as camouflage and protect him from the worst of the heat of the day.
"Sarge!" The yell from his driver snapped him out of his daze. The heat had been beating down on him for several hours and it was easy to lose your concentration under those conditions. "Sarge!"
"What?"
"Dhakhil is signaling!"
"Pass it on to Moffitt and Tully!" Troy yelled, extracting himself from the sand. Now that the action was near he was ready for action. Jumping into the jeep, he waited impatiently for Hitch to join him.
"They're on their way Sarge." Hitch announced as he slid into the driver's seat. The other jeep was only slightly behind them when they pulled in behind a hill that overlooked the road that Dhakhil had been watching.
The staff car was still several miles away, moving slowly over the road filled with pot holes and ruts. The sergeant studied it carefully as it approached. The staff car was alone, no patrol cars to act as guards, no halftracks to provide protection to the staff car's occupants. Troy wondered for just a moment if Dietrich may have warned them and this was all a trap. He swung around, using the glasses to search for tell-tale dust. Seeing nothing, he turned back to the car.
He heard Tully and Moffitt arrive but he kept his eyes glued to the approaching staff car. From experience he knew that Moffitt would join him at the top of the hill. Before long he heard the other sergeant scrambling for footing in the loose sand.
"What do you see?"
Troy turned, his friend sounded out of breath. "Are you all right?"
"Fine, what do you see?" Moffitt answered impatiently.
"You're fine? Last night you were feeling sick."
"I guess I slept it off." The other man answered casually, keeping his attention on the approaching car. "Where are the guards?"
Troy shook his head. "I don't know, I can't see any. Maybe he thinks he's safe because his visit is a secret."
"That could be the first real break we've had in this entire assignment." The Brit observed.
"Are you up to this Moffitt?"
"I'm fine Troy, that car is getting close."
With one final look at the other sergeant, Troy sighed. "All right, let's go."
The jeeps were moving when they jumped onboard. As they cleared their weapons their drivers picked up speed and raced along the back of the hill. At Troy's command they veered around the base of the hill and surprised the staff car.
To give him credit, the German driver reacted quickly. He spun the wheel to cut off one of the jeeps, forcing them both to pass on the same side. The little vehicles had to come around again, losing precious moments as the staff car raced for the base.
Approaching from the rear, the staff car was not able to cut them off and the two jeeps were able to separate and pin the German vehicle between them.
Hitch dropped back, allowing Troy the position where he could keep the car's passengers hugging the floor. Tully forged ahead and forced the nose of the car into the dunes next to the road. The German driver had no choice but to stop since his heavier vehicle sank into the soft sand on the edge of the road. He wisely chose to surrender rather than fight. His front seat passenger made a different choice; he picked up a machine gun and aimed it at Tully. Moffitt's 50 ended his life.
Hitch parked broadside behind the car so that it couldn't reverse. Troy grabbed a machine gun and rushed toward the rear doors. Moffitt called to the occupants to come out, hands raised, and to move away from the car.
The door opened slowly and a booted foot stepped out followed by a leg encased in a German uniform. The German officer carefully held his hands away from his sides. The next two people to crawl out were dressed in traditional Arab robes. Troy thought that they looked familiar but he couldn't remember where he had seen them before. Going back to his jeep, he pulled a small bundle out from under the seat and tossed it to Moffitt. "See if you can get them to talk."