A Major Problem
By: AliasCWN
Chapter 11
"So you lost him in the dark?"
"Yes sir." Troy nodded. "It was just us against the Germans and the Arabs. We couldn't be sure that there weren't others out there too. Moffitt and I went out looking for those tanks but we couldn't find them."
"Are you sure you looked?" Major Russell demanded. "You seemed determined to let them escape right from the beginning."
"We weren't trying to let them escape Major; we just didn't want them to wipe out your unit. There's a time to fight and a time to back off and wait for a more opportune moment." Troy argued.
"The Sergeant and his men were involved in both battles Major. If I recall correctly, it was his unit that captured Major Horst." Captain Beauregard tried to defuse the argument before it got out of hand. "They even disabled a few of the tanks before your unit arrived."
"That doesn't explain why they were so determined to prevent me from interrogating that German captain. Where were they when he escaped?"
"You weren't going to interrogate him Major," Troy answered hotly. "You were talking about torture, plain and simple."
"The Germans use it."
"We're not German."
"We were prisoners of the Arabs when he escaped." Moffitt reminded the officer.
"So you say." Major Russell answered.
"Look at their wrists Major." Captain Beauregard urged. "Those rope burns seem pretty conclusive. And they are fresh; I saw the sergeants earlier tonight and those rope burns weren't there then."
"What about their privates?"
"My men didn't have anything to do with the Captain's escape." Troy insisted.
"They were there."
"Where Major?" Troy asked.
"They were at the prison compound when the Captain escaped." Major Russell answered smugly.
Troy spun on his men. "Is that true?"
"Yeah Sarge." Hitch admitted as Tully nodded.
"What were you doing there?"
"We were walking past on our way to our jeep when we ran into Lieutenant Day and Sergeant Lester. We stopped to talk a few minutes. No one told us about the Captain's escape until later. Lieutenant Day and Sergeant Lester can tell you; we were still talking to them when Captain Beauregard sent for us."
"They couldn't have been involved unless you suspect your own men too." Troy declared as he faced the Major's angry stare.
"He's correct Major, I saw them walk past our door just before Major Horst was brought to our tent. I sent for them as soon as I heard about the escape. I don't see how they could have been involved."
"Then the sergeants were!" Major Russell yelled.
"We just determined that they had been captured by the Arabs. How could they have been involved?"
"This isn't the end of this!" Major Russell declared. "I am going to see all four of them court martialed."
"If you want to make out a report I have a courier leaving for headquarters tomorrow, you can send it with him." Captain Beauregard suggested.
Major Russell stomped out of the tent, furious that he'd lost some of his prisoners.
"You're excused Sergeant but don't leave the base until I've had time to look into these accusations. I'm sure Major Russell will be sending a report and I want to be on top of things if headquarters wants any more information."
"Yes sir." Troy led his men out of the tent toward their assigned quarters. "Why didn't you tell me that you were at the prison compound during the escape?" Troy demanded of the privates as soon as they were alone.
"You didn't ask." Hitch answered with a shrug. "We didn't know anything was going to happen when we went there. Like we told the Captain, we were on our way to our jeep when we ran into the lieutenant and the sergeant. We were talking to them when the Captain called us and told us about the escape."
"The major wants our heads and I don't want you two involved."
"Is that why you left us behind?" Tully asked without looking up from the deck of cards he was shuffling.
It seemed an innocent enough question but Troy knew his men well.
"Don't ask Tully."
"That could work both ways." Tully drawled as he shuffled the cards again. He still didn't look up at the sergeants.
"It would seem that our efforts were for nothing." Moffitt suggested softly.
"I thought we were a team." Hitch did look at the sergeant. He managed to look hurt without pouting.
"We are." Troy answered gruffly. "But some risks don't need to be taken.
"Says who?"
"It was my decision." Troy responded. "Moffitt said you should have a choice but I didn't want to involve you. What you don't know can't hurt you."
"Maybe it can." Tully drawled. "The Major seems intent on blaming us anyway."
"But you didn't do anything." Troy argued. "You can swear under oath you had nothing to do with it." Troy caught the look that passed between the privates and he paused. "What did you do?" He asked suspiciously.
"Nothing."
"What do you mean nothing? What aren't you telling me?"
"We didn't do anything Sarge." Hitch explained. He lowered his voice. "Not even when we saw those Arabs helping Dietrich escape."
Troy groaned.
"They can honestly say that they did nothing." Moffitt said softly.
"Yeah, I guess it's all in the wording." Troy sighed. "The Major told us to go do something and we did." Troy looked at his men and sighed. "I guess we'll just have to word everything carefully, say as little as possible, and hope it all blows over before anyone figures it out."
"That Major isn't going to let it go." Tully predicted.
Troy didn't answer. He dropped to his cot and closed his eyes.
"Did we thank you for coming to our aid?" Moffitt asked in the silence.
"Anytime." The two younger men answered together.
"As long as we are confined to base we may as well get some sleep." Moffitt suggested. He copied Troy's example and stretched out on his cot.
"There is one good thing about all of this." Hitch suggested.
"What's that?" Tully asked when Troy only glared.
"The Major's so busy trying to nail us he forgot about the planned interrogations."
All four men were asleep in their tent when the Captain sent for Troy the next morning. The sergeant slipped out as the others slept and followed the messenger to the Captain's tent.
"Come in Sergeant."
Troy ducked into the tent and saluted the Captain. He glanced around quickly, expecting to see MP's waiting for him. He did his best to hide his relief when he didn't see any.
"I spoke with Lieutenant Day and Sergeant Lester."
"Yes sir?"
"They confirmed the story your men told. I don't think Major Russell can make a case against them without accusing his own men too."
"I will stand by my men Sir. They didn't do anything to help the Captain escape." Troy answered fervently. "If the Major tries to blame them I will take full responsibly for their actions or inactions."
"I'm sure you would Sergeant." The Captain responded. "But I don't think that will be necessary. I just thought you would want to know that the lieutenant and the sergeant are willing to sign a statement clearing your men if it comes to that. The rope burns on your wrists and those of Sergeant Moffitt should be enough to verify your stories. You reputation can't hurt either." The officer smiled.
Troy nodded. "Thank you sir, I must admit, I was a little concerned."
"I wouldn't worry about it Sergeant." The Captain repeated. "The real reason I sent for you was to update you on your concerns about the Major's plans to interrogate prisoners."
"Has he started sir?"
"No." The Captain picked up a file off of his desk. "Apparently headquarters has been getting a lot of reports on the Major's behavior lately. They sent someone to evaluate his mental health. The doctor arrived this morning."
Troy remained silent, waiting for the officer to continue.
"Major Russell will be returning to headquarters today with his new doctor. He's been relieved of duty until he passes a psych exam. Lieutenant Day says he has been in his tent ranting against you and your men since last night."
"Are they going to hold a hearing to investigate our involvement?"
"Should they Sergeant?"
"Everything we said was the truth Captain. We were unwilling prisoners while the Captain was being rescued. Hitch and Tully did nothing to help the Captain escape." Troy repeated. "We argued with the Major because we hate the methods the Gestapo uses. We didn't want any part of acting like them."
"I understand Sergeant, and I completely agree. It was a huge load off of my mind to see the doctor and know that headquarters was going to take a hand in preventing the Major from carrying out his plan. It's very unlikely that the Major will ever be allowed to try his little experiment."
"I hope not Captain."
The Captain gave Troy a tiny smile and turned to put the file back on his desk. "Good job Sergeant. I'm glad no one got seriously hurt during the escape."
"Captain Dietrich isn't bloodthirsty sir. He wouldn't kill unnecessarily. He wouldn't want to give us any more reason to chase him than we already had. He was wounded, I'm sure he didn't want to have to dodge angry troops all the way home."
"The next time your paths cross close up, thank him for his restraint." The Captain gave Troy that little smile again. "Tell your men they are off the hook Sergeant. I think we should put this matter behind us. In fact, it would please me if we never mentioned it again. Your restriction to base is lifted. Will you be going out on patrol right away?"
"No sir." Troy met the Captain's eyes. "We didn't get much sleep the last couple of days. Since the danger seems to be over for now, I think we'll just stay on base and catch up on our rest."
"Very good Sergeant, I'll let you get back to it. Dismissed."
All the way back to his tent Troy replayed the conversation in his mind. The nuances had been subtle, but he was fairly certain that the Captain knew. Not only knew, but had given his unofficial blessing. Troy slipped back into his tent and slept a dreamless sleep until the others woke him up.
