A Secret Kept
By: AliasCWN
Chapter 7
The guard walked past the end of the wadi and circled back toward the camp. He glanced up at the guard on the top of the slope and waved. The guard at the top waved back, nodding as he did so. The slope of the wadi blocked the moonlight from reaching the valley floor, forcing the guard to walk in darkness as he finished his circuit. A faint sound drew his attention and he paused to listen. He was in the second half of his turn on guard duty and so far it had been just another boring job. The sound didn't repeat itself but he continued to listen for a minute, more out of boredom than concern. After a full day of being out in the sun, his senses were dulled by fatigue, but his sergeant would have his head if he didn't at least listen for another sound. He silently cursed his superiors for putting him in this position. They should realize that after a hard, hot day, he needed rest. When the sound didn't repeat itself, he turned and continued his circuit. Knowing his sergeant would be angry if he was late in is rounds, he hurried to make up for lost time.
Behind him, a shadow detached itself from the darkness and moved stealthily toward the camp. The dark figure reached the parked vehicles and dove underneath them. A moment later a second shadow followed the first. From beneath the halftrack, the two men studied the sleeping camp.
"About seventy-five men," Moffitt whispered into Troy's ear. The commander's tent is at the far end. The closer ones are the enlisted men."
The other sergeant nodded. "Only one of them has guards in front of it."
"The commander's tent is still…" Moffitt stopped in mid-sentence as Troy pushed against his shoulder. They both fell silent as the guard made another circuit.
"Okay," Troy whispered as the guard continued to move away. "The commander's tent is still lit. That could mean he has one of the prisoners in there."
Moffitt shook his head. "If he had one of the prisoners in there, he would have guards inside or standing outside of the door."
"Inside then," Troy suggested, "I don't see any outside." Troy shifted to track the guard.
"That is going to make things a bit more complicated," the Brit added.
"I was hoping that he would wait and let his superiors interrogate the prisoners." Troy growled. "Either way, we need to know."
The two men slid out from under the halftrack and used the other vehicles for cover as they worked their way deeper into the camp. When they reached the end of the vehicles they had to proceed more cautiously. They were both aware that just because the tents were dark, that didn't mean that everyone inside was asleep. One small sound could alert the whole camp, with them in it. As they were passing the second tent, they heard whispering from inside. Moffitt paused to listen while Troy continued. Troy stopped and looked back when he realized that the other sergeant was no longer behind him.
When the Brit caught up to him Troy gave him an inquiring glance.
"Collecting information," the Brit explained.
Troy raised an eyebrow.
"Nothing related to the mission," the Brit explained with a sigh.
Troy shook his head and crept past the next tent. Both men froze as a figure exited the tent and stomped off to another one. Both sergeants lifted their weapons but the lone soldier never looked back. The watched as he ducked into a tent in the next row. Someone inside the original tent came out and shouted something after him and went back inside. There was some grumbling from inside the tent the sergeants hid behind, but no one else came out.
Moffitt tapped Troy on the arm and motioned for him to keep moving. The two men crept up behind the tent with the guard out front. The tent was silent, not surprising since the prisoners would not want to draw attention to themselves. Hoping that neither of the prisoners would wake up and call out, they prepared to enter the tent. Troy pulled his knife and looked over at Moffitt. The Brit nodded and shifted so that he was in a position to meet the guard if he circled the tent.
The knife cut through the tent fabric with ease. There was a slight ripping sound that the sergeants didn't think was loud enough to be heard by the guard. Still, both men froze to listen for any reaction to the noise. When there was no reaction, Troy pulled the fabric apart and stepped into the tent.
His eyes quickly adjusted to the difference in light. He felt the eyes on him before he spotted the still figure on the ground. Neither man moved as they stared at each other. It only took Troy a moment to realize that the man on the ground was not Captain Caine. His next realization was that the man on the ground was bound and gagged. Troy turned to motion for Moffitt to join him.
The British sergeant slipped into the tent and took in the situation in one glance.
"Find out who he is," Troy whispered in Moffitt's ear.
Moffitt knelt next to the Arab and warned him to stay quiet. The Arab nodded with eyes as big as saucers. The sergeant reached around and untied the gag. "Tell me your name."
The Arab looked past Moffitt to Troy. The American sergeant was pointing his rifle at the prisoner and looking fierce. "My name is Mohammed Abdala."
"Are you the man Captain Caine came out to meet?"
Mohammed nodded fearfully. The sadness on his face convinced the sergeant that he was not the one who had betrayed the captain to the Germans. "Please, they are interrogating the captain as we speak. The German commander is a cruel man and his methods are harsh."
Moffitt nodded and glance at Troy.
"Cut him loose," Troy ordered quietly. "He can wait behind the tent while we rescue the captain. If we are discovered, he's on his own. He'll have to get out of the camp any way he can."
Moffitt nodded and reached for his knife. He quickly began to translate what Troy had said.
"I speak your language," the Arab informed them. "I will wait outside." He climbed awkwardly to his feet and began to rub the circulation back into his limbs.
"How many guards are in with the captain?"
Mohammed hesitated.
"We need to know so we can rescue him."
"There were two when they took me to the German swine. He didn't think I was worth questioning. He said he would let others question me. He was more interested in the captain."
"Do they stay in the tent when the prisoner is inside?"
Mohammed nodded. "One stands by the prisoner and the other stands by the door."
The three men ducked out through the slit in the tent and made their way the rest of the way across the camp. The sergeants left Mohammed to find a hiding place behind the tent while they prepared to rescue the captain. There was a loud crack from inside the tent and both sergeants winced at the image of flesh hitting flesh.
"Tell me!" a voice shouted in English. There was another crack and a groan.
Troy looked over at Moffitt and reached for his knife. With one swift move he ripped open the side of the tent. They were both inside before the startled Germans could react. Troy threw his knife, killing the guard by the door. Moffitt stepped forward and grabbed the one standing by Captain Caine by the neck. With his other hand, he reached up and twisted his head. The guard went limp as his neck snapped.
Troy hit the German commander with the barrel of his rifle. The German officer fell to the ground without uttering a sound. Troy stood over him, anger clear on his face.
"We aren't here to commit murder," Moffitt stated quietly. "We can take him along if you want."
"No," Troy responded, "it's going to be tough enough getting out of here without dragging him along."
Moffitt nodded and cut the ropes holding Captain Caine in the chair. The officer slid to the ground. Troy and Moffitt both reached for him, supporting his weight between them. Troy indicated that they should leave. They helped the captain through the hole in the tent and half-carried him toward the waiting jeeps.
They were back at the vehicles before Troy realized that Mohammed was not with them. He peered into the darkened camp, looking for the Arab. After several minutes he decided not to wait. Helping the captain to his feet, they prepared to head for the jeeps.
Just as they left the cover of the halftrack, the Arab rejoined them. He stayed on their heels; a knife glinting in his hand. Moffitt noted the blade and warned the Arab not to start anything. They wanted to escape undetected because the captain wasn't in any shape to run. They slipped past the guard and left the wadi the way they had entered.
Troy and Captain Caine were the first to duck out of the wadi. Moffitt stayed behind to guard their exit. They were about to leave cover when the captain grabbed Troy's arm and pulled him to the ground.
"What's wrong?" Troy asked as he checked the officer for additional injuries.
"There's a guard on top of the hill. He'll see us if we break cover now." The captain warned.
"Don't worry about him," Troy answered as he continued to move forward. "That's Hitch. He'll keep watch until we reach the jeeps."
The officer grunted some sort of reply and allowed Troy to lead him forward. He pulled back again when he realized that Moffitt was no longer with them. Pulling free from Troy's grip, he spun to search for the other sergeant.
"What now?" Troy growled.
"Sergeant Moffitt, he's not behind us."
"He stayed behind to make sure our escape wasn't noticed. He'll be along shortly. We have to keep moving Captain. They can move faster than we can."
The officer hesitated a minute but then followed Troy at a stumbling pace. He jerked again when a dark figure appeared out of the darkness. He finally recognized Moffitt's driver and continued toward the jeeps. Tully nodded at Troy and helped support the captain. They made it to the vehicles and Tully immediately began to pull the covers free.
Captain Caine leaned heavily on the fender of the first jeep while Troy and Tully uncovered the second jeep. He was still struggling to catch his breath when Troy suddenly tensed. The sergeant spun and reached for a rifle.
"It's us Troy." Moffitt's voice floated out of the darkness. There was a catch in the British sergeant's voice.
Troy straightened and rushed to meet the other sergeant when he saw that he was supporting Hitch.
"What happened?"
"I'll explain later," the Brit answered curtly. "Right now, we need to get out of here before the alarm is sounded. The guard on the hill is going to be missed. Tully hurried over to help Hitch into his jeep. They placed him in the passenger seat and Moffitt turned to Troy. "You are going to have to drive. I don't have time to stop the bleeding. Hitch is going to have to keep pressure on the wound until we can find a place to stop."
Tully slid into his seat and waited for Mohammed to take the seat next to him. Moffitt climbed into the back and stood behind the 50. Troy didn't take the time to question Moffitt's decision. He told Captain Caine to sit on the radio while he drove.
The jeeps left the shelter of the small wadi and headed for the open desert. The engines weren't loud, especially since they had to maintain a slow pace to avoid damaging the jeeps on objects hidden by the dark. Troy's mind created various scenarios explaining the injury to his driver. He hadn't settled on one yet when Moffitt directed Tully into another small wadi. They shut the engines down and the Brit jumped to the ground.
"How did it happen Hitch? I didn't hear any alarms." Troy twisted in his seat to face his driver.
"It was an accident Sarge," Hitch answered between clenched teeth. The blond was still putting pressure on the wound.
"An accident? I need more than that." Troy gave his driver a warning look that made it clear he wanted a complete explanation.
Hitch sighed and looked over at his sergeant. "It was an accident Sarge. That Arab thought I was a German. It was a reasonable assumption; I was wearing a German great coat and standing guard above a German camp." Hitch ground his teeth as another jolt of pain hit. "When he saw me looking at Moffitt, he thought I was going to shout an alarm. He threw his knife before Doc could stop him. He was running up the hill to finish me off when Doc grabbed him. I think he was going to slit my throat Sarge. I'm sure glad Doc was there."
"A knife? Where did he get a knife?"
"Don't know Sarge, but I'm glad his throw was low."
"Press down a bit harder on that, you're still bleeding," Troy ordered. He climbed out of the jeep as Moffitt stopped next to Hitch with the medical kit.
"Moffitt?"
"It was an accident Troy. Mohammed was only trying to protect me."
"Where did he get the knife?"
Moffit glanced at the Arab before he answered. "He took it from the column commander's tent. He went in after we came out."
Troy continued to stare at Moffitt until the Brit went on.
"He killed the commander," the Brit explained. "He was beaten too Troy; it wasn't just the captain."
"He could have gotten us all killed."
"He said he was protecting his family. According to him, the commander was the only one who knew his identity. He says he couldn't have gone home as long as that officer was still alive."
"Great," Troy growled.
Moffitt worked on Hitch's leg while Troy kept a wary eye on the Arab. The two men stared at each other over the hood of the jeep.
"All done," Moffitt announced as he tied off the bandage that bound the private's leg wound. "That should hold until we reach the base. I will want to look at it again when if stop again before we get there."
Hitch nodded. "Thanks Doc. It feels a lot better."
The Brit smiled. "The morphine may have a lot to do with that."
"Maybe," the blond chuckled. "I'll let you know when it wears off."