XI
LAST SECOND CHANGES
By the end of the evening the two boys decided they've had enough of slave work and impressing teenage girls with their physical prowess, if nothing else, and went to retrieve their bicycles. Anja and Maria also decided to call it a day. It was time to bring the tanks back to the barn.
In the way back Anja thought it would be interesting to experiment some formations, see if the tanks could perform tactical maneuvers adequately. They've already did it a few times, and to Maria it seemed like a waste of fuel. After all the efficiency in maneuvering depended more on the crew's training than on the machine itself. But she decided to play along anyway.
The first attempts at moving in formation went pretty much as expected. Even with such a small squadron the girls kept getting lost and unsure about how to keep pace with each other, especially with the three machines having such different performance specs.
Surprisingly, though, after a few tries they've they were actually managing to make some basic formations, and they did so once more that day. It was surely the heavy discipline hammered into the girls kicking in. If she had the time and the authorization, Maria believed she could train them to perform at least well enough for parades and such.
Of course that the tanks would be taken from them in just a few days, so no need to dream too high.
Then sun was already setting when the girls killed the engines and started to abandon the hangar to get back to their barracks. The twilight sky was red that day, something that made Maria felt uncomfortable for some reason.
She decided to ignore the fact and concentrate on the hangar gates closing in front of her. She made a point in only turning away when everyone was out of the building and all the gates and doors locked. And usual, it was Ysabelle, always excited to work with all of those machines, who was pressing the switch which controlled the old gates. They slammed close with a great uproar, and then the girl went to close the Judas gate and lock it for the day.
"It's always impressive, isn't it?" Maria turned to face Anja. She didn't even notice she stayed behind.
"Yes, I guess."
Anja was holding her hands behind her back, her expression unusually somber.
"Have you given any thought to the conversation we had when we first brought the 38-tee out of this hangar?"
Those ideas again? Maria had actually dreaded the day this conversation would come around again. It was inevitable, it seemed.
"I still think it's wrong." She honestly admitted. "We should deliver these tanks and if the Soviets come too close we should then attempt to escape to the Baviera."
The other girl glanced away, exasperated.
"Is that your solution, to run away?"
"It's the more realistic solution, Führerin."
Anja put her hands behind her back, walked in a circle, and approached Maria from the other side.
"We are BDM, Nitzschmann. We will not be allowed to leave our post. And I will not stand idly while the enemy ravages our land! I will fight them out and die defending this country and my friends if I have to!" She glanced around to see if no-one was listening, and added, her voice a whisper. "You know those idiots in Berlin would just leave us to the enemy then allow us to escape our duty."
There was no way to negate that fact. Maria was too smart to ignore the lunacy which had taken hold of the Reichstag. The conversation was taking a toll on her tired body and mind. She was trembling and for a moment she couldn't even think clearly. She simply said: "Yes, I know…"
"Then help us survive! You know about military tactics! More than any of us!" Anja was now clenching her teeth, almost begging. "Help us."
"You're planning an insurrection, Führerin Konigsberg." It was time to start calling things by their names.
The situation didn't escalate further only because at that moment they heard Ursel approaching them, calling them by their names. Anja and Maria turned to face her, the later actually relieved for the interruption. But the vice-leader wouldn't let her escape that easily. They would continue the conversation on some other occasion.
"We'll talk about this again." She whispered to her before glaring at the incoming girl. "What's the matter, Ursel?"
"I-it's Schon." She said, trying to catch her breath but also seemingly even more nervous than her usual self. "She wants to talk to you two."
Anja and Maria traded glances before hurrying to Schon's cabinet knowing it would be better to not let the leader waiting too long for them.
Two minutes later Anja was already knocking at the wooden door. A faint voice coming from the other side asked them to enter and so they did. Schon was sitting behind her desk, leaning over the right armchair, her chin planted on her hand. She had a deeply thoughtful expression and barely moved when the girls entered. For half a minute her most important actions were to glance at the girls and ask them to sit in the two simple chairs placed in front of the desk.
When she broke that pose Schon immediately glanced at Maria.
"So tell Nitzschmann," she started, going directly to the issue, "what's the current state in the restoration of those tanks?"
"It's going accordingly to schedule, meine Fuehrerin." She replied, nodding slightly. "We have four vehicles in full working order and one more underway. Two of the chassis are unrecoverable."
There was nothing to be done regarding the 38(t) and the M3 which had to be cannibalized to recover their twins, but Maria thought it was a fair trade, taking into account that with their sacrifice they've had enough time and spares to work on the remaining vehicles. The only one giving more problems was the Japanese Type 89, mostly because the manufacturer, if it still existed after the American firebombings, was on the other side of the world and spares were hard to come by. Fortunately Ysabelle had managed to modify some extra parts, managing to at least put the engine in working order. That was a resourceful girl indeed. In spite of her initial annoyance with her hero-worship, Maria eventually came to the conclusion that she actually liked her a lot.
"Good. But they are able to be driven on their own?" Schon insisted.
"Absolutely."
"Very well." Schon straightened and looked at both young girls. "I've received an order from Central. The tanks will be delivered to a Panzergrenadier Battalion stationed nearby in a few days from now."
By this point Maria knew Anja well enough to guess that the news were making her tremble inside, although her expression seemed almost undisturbed. She'd grown to love the tanks and seeing them coming back to life was surely the most exciting thing to have happened since she was deployed there. Add that to her dreams about fighting off the invaders and whatnot…
"Any idea when will they come to receive them?" The girl asked, doing her best to hide her disappointment.
"They won't." Schon replied. "That's the issue. They claim to have no men to spare at the moment and asked us to deliver the vehicles to them."
"Really?" Now Anja almost betrayed herself with their enthusiasm. Schon might have noticed the hint of hope, but made no mention of it.
"Indeed. I've asked the central for instructions and they told me to make do as I can. So I want you to form a team to deliver them to the 77th as soon as possible. Minimal crews only. You depart as soon as the tanks are capable of getting out of here on their own." She finished her instructions by looking directly at Maria. The girl flinched instinctively.
"They will be ready, Führerin."
"Gut! Think about this issue. We'll deal with the details tomorrow."
When the younger girls left the cabinet, leaving Schon once again alone with her thoughts, Maria noticed the faint smirk starting to form in Anja's face. She only talked to her when they were in the outside once again. Night had settled in and only a few lights illuminated the core buildings of the complex.
"Do you know what this means?" Anja whispered, sounding like if she feared that talking too loud would somehow nullify what she'd just heard. "If we play our cards right this might become the chance we've been waiting."
Maria halted where she was, which made Anja turn back at her with a confused expression.
"You shouldn't…" She started. "Don't account for me in your plans. That's mean. And I will not betray Schon or any of the other leaders."
The vice-leader of the grouping lowered her head, snorting at her words.
"What a perfect soldier's daughter you are. If you don't want to come with us, then don't. You've taught us enough for the rest of us to take care of the tanks for a while, after all."
"But you don't want to simply get there and then come back in a truck, do you?"
"You know I don't." Anja now had her hands on her hips and didn't look like wanting to let the conversation drag much longer. She surely didn't want a killjoy like Maria to call her to reason. But, yet, Maria had to do it or she wouldn't be able to live with herself.
"Believe me, Konigsberg. You don't want to fight the enemy. You truly don't know what war is really like."
Anja stood there for a while, glancing at her. And then she simply turned and walked away. At that point Maria didn't know what to think anymore. For once she knew that if that girl had things her way then she and all of those who wanted to follow her would live through hell, dragged into something so horrible that even their worst nightmares paled in comparison.
But, on the other hand, she'd been living there for a month already. She knew those girls, she'd got acquainted with some colorful characters and even made a few friends. Could she simply turn her back to them and let them dive headfirst into the fire without being there to hold their hands? Could her presence made any difference whatsoever?
For the time being those were questions she didn't had any answer to. Once she got back to her bunk to try to sleep, they still lingered in her head, in a struggle which kept her awake while going nowhere.