The Christmas Breakdown
By: AliasCWN
The night sky was clear and the stars glittered brightly as the two small jeeps traveled along the deserted desert road. Each of the four men had their coats pulled tightly around them to keep out the numbing cold of the night air. No one spoke as they traveled, each one lost in his own thoughts. They normally tried to avoid traveling at night, but this night was a night for exceptions.
This night they wanted to return to their own base, still several hours away. Night driving was dangerous for any number of reasons, but tonight was less dangerous since this wasn't a usual night. Tonight, a cease-fire had been negotiated. They couldn't let their guard down completely, but the need tonight wasn't as great as usual. Tonight, they could stick to the road and not have to dodge rocks that could tear the bottom out of a jeep.
If their luck held, both the Germans and the Arabs would be busy preparing for their own celebrations. Like most of the Allies, they also celebrated Christmas.
The jeeps had traveled cautiously, staying out of sight for most of the night, but at midnight the cease-fire had begun. At midnight they had moved to the road and took the faster route to the base. The plan was to drive all night if need be so that they could enjoy the festivities on the base.
"I can't wait Sarge."
Troy looked at his driver and smiled. The excitement in the younger man's voice was contagious. "We'll make it."
"I know," the blond nodded. "Another two hours and the base will be in sight. I hope everyone hasn't already gone to bed."
"Not likely," Troy snorted. "The cease-fire is for forty-eight hours. The celebration will probably last at least that long."
"They have to rest sometime," Hitch reasoned.
"Not all at once."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Hitch gave Troy one of his trademark smiles and turned back to his driving. "We're making good time."
The sergeant nodded.
They continued on in silence. The jeep behind them started to fall behind and the sergeant glanced back to see what was happening. When Tully and Moffitt continued to get further and further behind, he slapped Hitch on the shoulder and told him to stop. Tully's jeep limped up next to Troy and stopped.
"What's going on Tully?"
"Not sure Sarge," Tully answered. "She was running fine until just a little bit ago. Now she's losing power."
"Can you fix it?"
"Won't know until I find out what's wrong." Tully was already out of his jeep and walking around to lift the hood. "Hitch, can you hold a light for me?"
The blond looked toward Troy for permission.
"Go ahead, Moffitt and I will stand watch." Troy reached for a weapon as Moffitt did the same.
The two sergeants split up and walked down the road in different directions. The terrain around them was mostly flat so it would be hard for anyone to sneak up on them. The few hills around them were low and separated from the others by wide, open areas. If they had to break down, this was as good a place as any.
Troy glanced back at the jeeps. Both privates were under the hood of the jeep, lost in their search for the problem. The sergeant turned back to watching the road. Back at the base he had a foot locker stuffed with gifts for the other members of his team. He had sent for them months ago and had had one devil of a time keeping them secret. He had spent many a night on guard picturing his friends faces when they opened their gifts. As far as he was concerned, their reactions when they opened the packages was what made Christmas so special for him. He glanced back at the jeeps again and hoped that they wouldn't miss the celebrations.
Moffitt turned his back on the jeeps but he could still hear the two privates talking as they worked. Until this the return to the base had been uneventful. Everyone's feeling the Christmas spirit he thought to himself. In the deserts of North Africa, he felt closer to the season than anywhere else. Not that they didn't decorate and sing carols in England, they did. It just seemed easier to picture Christmas in the sands where he was nearer where it had all begun. There were plenty of stars in the dark velvety sky, but none that he could say would lead him home. He smiled for a moment. The stars would lead him home, but only because he knew how to navigate by the stars. This wasn't his first Christmas in the desert, but it was his first Christmas here with this team. He had enjoyed seeing their reactions to their first Christmas in the sands, near the ancestral home of the Savior. Like him, they all seemed to feel the spirit stronger than usual. Maybe it was just homesickness that accounted for the intensity, he didn't know, but he knew that the effect was real.
"Sarge!"
Moffitt turned as Tully yelled.
"What is it?" Troy yelled from where he stood guard.
"We have a problem."
"Great," the sergeant muttered under his breath. "What's wrong?"
"I found out what's wrong and I need to replace a part."
"So, replace it."
"I can't Sarge, I don't think I have a spare with me."
"Can't you make due? Fix the old one or something?"
Tully made a face. "No Sarge, I can't fix the old one. If I can't find a new one, this jeep isn't going anywhere."
"Okay," Troy grunted. "Did you look in the spare parts box?"
"That's the first thing I did," the private responded.
"Search the jeep then, maybe one fell out of the box into the back of the jeep."
"I'll look Sarge but I don't remember ever putting one in there. It's not something I need very often."
"If the jeep won't run without it then we obviously need it," Troy argued.
Tully made another face. "I can't carry a spare for every part in the jeep."
The sergeant sighed. "Okay Tully, look just in case."
The Kentuckian shrugged. "I'll look Sarge." He turned back to the vehicle and started rummaging around in the back of his jeep.
Hitch held the flashlight as Tully moved the boxes around. A glance at his watch showed that they had lost nearly an hour messing around with the jeep.
"Can we hurry this up?"
"Sure Hitch," Tully growled, "I'll just magically snap my fingers and make a new part appear. I wouldn't want to keep you waiting."
"I'm sorry," the blond answered. "I just really want to get back to the base." He looked so depressed that Tully couldn't leave it alone.
"Me too Hitch, only I can't fix this jeep with a part I don't have with me." He paused as a thought occurred to him. "You wouldn't happen to have any spare parts in your jeep, would you?"
"Not me," Hitch answered. "I have spare belts, rotors, a distributer cap, extra oil, and tape to fix any leaks in the hoses, but I don't carry spare parts."
"What do you call all of those things?" Tully asked with a grin.
"Necessities," Hitch answered with his own grin.
"Necessities that also happen to be spare parts."
Hitch shrugged with a sheepish look on his face.
"Shine that light over here, I can't see a thing." Tully leaned into the jeep again.
Hitch did as he was told and Tully dug clear to the bottom of the jeep. He took everything out until only the metal floor of the bed remained.
"Nothing," Tully grunted. "Let's check your jeep before I have to tell Sarge it's no go."
"Sure, but I don't have any," the blond agreed with confidence.
They searched the other jeep without any luck. Tully straightened and began to put everything back into the jeep where it belonged. "Well, that does it, I'll have to tell Sarge I can't fix the jeep."
Hitch nodded and the flashlight bobbed in his hand. "He's not going to be happy."
"Tell me about it. Heck, I'm not happy," Tully answered. "I was hoping to reach the base tonight too. We're going to miss most of the celebrations. With only one jeep it's going to take us longer to get there."
"Maybe we can call the base and have the captain send someone out to get us," Hitch suggested.
"Maybe," Tully agreed, "but that's going to take almost as long. We'll have to wait for them to get here and then we have to go there."
Hitch frowned and nodded his agreement. "That's if the captain sends someone and they aren't too drunk to find us."
"Thanks for that thought," Tully groaned. He sighed as he finished packing the jeep. "I guess I should go tell Sarge."
"I'll keep looking," Hitch offered.
"Don't bother," Tully answered, "I already looked."
"I'll look anyway," Hitch replied.
Tully's shoulders slumped as he nodded and walked away. He went to talk to Troy. Hitch could hear Troy groan as he got the news. The two of them began to walk back toward the jeeps.
"Troy!"
Troy, Tully, and Hitch all turned at Moffitt's call. The Brit pointed toward the hill in the distance that overlooked the desert road. In the bright moonlight the four soldiers watched as three men on camels rode along the top of the hill at a stately pace. The three Arabs looked neither right nor left as they traveled.
"I wonder who they are," Moffitt commented as the men rode on. "They look like they have some standing in the community. The trappings on the camels suggest wealth." The Brit pointed out his observations to the others who were gathered around him.
"They make me think of the three wise men," Hitch whispered into the silence. "Where do you think they're going?"
"I don't know Hitch," Moffitt answered as he watched the riders. "It's unusual, to say the least, that they are traveling at night. Men of their wealth don't usually travel without guards either. I wish I had my field glasses so that I could see them better."
"Where did they come from?" Troy asked in a low gravely voice. "I was watching the hills in the other direction and I didn't see them coming."
"Perhaps they were camped in a wadi," the Brit suggested.
"If they were already camped, why did they start traveling now?"
Moffitt looked back at Troy and shrugged. "It's quite unusual."
"Maybe they're following a star Doc," Tully suggested. "Can't do that during the day."
Both sergeants gave Tully a skeptical look as Hitch shook his head.
The three men on camels started down the other side of the hill and the four men lost sight of them. All four of the Allies waited for them to reappear on the other side of the hill but they didn't, they were just gone. The desert flattened out again on the other side of the hill but the riders had vanished.
"Where did they go?" Troy demanded.
Moffitt shrugged. He continued to stare at the hill.
Hitch shook himself and turned back toward the jeeps. "I'm going to take one more look for that spare part."
"I told you, I already looked," Tully replied. "You saw me look. You held the flashlight. We don't have the part with us."
"Well, I don't have anything better to do," the blond retorted. "If we don't have one, we're going to be here a while anyway."
"We can have out own celebration Hitch," Troy suggested.
"I guess," the blond admitted. "Are you going to call the captain?"
"I guess I'll have to, we need the jeep."
"Okay Sarge, but I'm going to keep looking."
"I'll help," Tully volunteered. He smiled when Hitch looked up in surprise. He shrugged his shoulders and walked toward the jeeps. "I don't have anything better to do either."
Troy and Moffitt watched as the two younger men returned to the jeeps. As one they turned to look for the camels and their riders. "Where did they go?" Troy asked again. "Do you think we should take the other jeep and see if we can locate them?"
Moffitt shrugged. "There aren't any villages in that direction. The nearest one is several days travel by camel."
"Maybe they are just trying to get there before Christmas," Troy suggested.
"Perhaps Troy, but it's strange. It's highly unusual for them to travel after dark and alone. Despite the Christmas story, it's not normal. And I don't understand how they got so close without us spotting them sooner. And, where did they go? We should have seen them at some point as they rode away."
"They didn't seem threatening," Troy remarked.
"They didn't seem to notice us at all," Moffitt corrected.
"Yeah, that was strange," Troy admitted.
"Hey Sarge!"
Both sergeants turned at the call and began to walk back to the jeeps. "What now?" Troy muttered.
The Brit only shrugged and followed Troy.
"What is it Tully?"
Tully and Hitch were both grinning like fools. As the sergeants stepped up to the jeep Tully held out a cloth covered bundle.
"What's that?" Troy asked.
"IT's the part I need Sarge. Hitch and I took another look. I was sure I checked everywhere, but here it is. I can fix the jeep Sarge. Just give me about twenty minutes and we'll be ready to go."
Troy took the bundle from Tully and unwrapped it carefully. He looked over at Moffitt and saw the same look on the Brit's face that he was sure was on his own. "I thought you said that you didn't usually carry this part."
"I don't," Tully admitted. "In fact, I don't even remember getting it, or putting it in my jeep."
Troy looked over at Hitch.
"It wasn't me Sarge." Hitch held up a hand in protest. "I didn't put any spare parts in Tully's jeep."
"I hardly think it matters how it got there," Moffitt interrupted. "All that matters is that we found it. Once Tully and Hitch fix the jeep we can return to the base."
"We'll get right on it Doc." Tully took the part from Troy and reached for his tool box. Hitch took the flashlight and followed him to the front of the jeep.
"Tully said he searched the entire jeep earlier," Troy told the other sergeant.
"It wouldn't have been hard to miss it in the dark," the Brit suggested.
"He said that he doesn't carry that part as a spare."
Moffitt smiled. "Obviously he was mistaken."
Troy looked over at the jeeps where the privates were already at work. "Have you ever known Tully to make that kind of mistake?"
Moffitt followed Troy's gaze and shook his head. "No."
Both sergeants turned to look for the camels and their riders again. The animals and their human companions were gone. Above the hill where they had last appeared were three bright stars, just clearing the horizon. They were not part of any constellation that either sergeant recognized. The two men continued to watch the stars until Tully and Hitch yelled that the jeep was ready. Neither man commented as they took their seats and the jeeps resumed their journey.
The two jeeps passed through the gates of the base several hours later and into the midst of the Christmas celebrations.
