The Desert Search Raid

By: AliasCWN

Chapter 4

"Sarge."

"Yeah Hitch?"

"How many more of these holes are we going to dig?"

"I don't know," Troy answered. "I guess that's up to Captain Boggs."

"I guess Doc and Tully are enjoying this." He dug his shovel into the sand. He hadn't asked to get out of digging duty yet. He wasn't sure he really wanted to. That last thing he wanted was for the sergeants to think he couldn't hack it.

The sergeant laughed. "Yeah, I guess. I think they're hoping to make some great historical discovery."

Hitch stopped digging to look at the sergeant. "Do you think it's possible?"

"Why not?" Troy shrugged. "Moffitt says there are ruins buried in the sand all over this desert. Most of them are of no historical importance, but you never know. You know how Moffitt explained that the desert is always changing. Who knows, maybe the wind has moved the sand off of some famous city and they'll find it." The sergeant smiled at the thought. "Can you imagine either of them if that happens? We'd never get them back to the base. We'd never be able to live with them again either. I don't know if I want it to happen or not. On one hand, I'd be happy for them, on the other, it would change things too much."

Hitch nodded and went back to digging as he thought about what the sergeant had said. "Sarge?"

"Yeah?"

"Would Doc stay with us if he found something like that?"

This time it was Troy who had to think about the question. "I don't know Hitch. Technically, he's still a soldier, but if it was really important… I just don't know. The British government might decide that his discovery was more important than his work with us."

"He could come back after the war and study it."

"He could," Troy agreed, "but the powers that be sometimes don't think like that. I hope he would stay with us, but I don't know."

The blond nodded and continued to dig.

"Are you worried about losing Moffitt?"

"Aren't you? He's the only one of us who speaks German and Arabic. He knows the desert. He has lots of friends who have helped us out from time to time. We'd lose all of that if we lost Doc. He's good for this team Sarge, and he's a friend."

"Yeah, he is," Troy admitted.

"So, aren't you afraid of losing him?"

"I wasn't until you brought this up," Troy growled. "But I really don't think we're going to lose him. The British Army could take him away from us at any time, but they haven't. I think they realize how valuable he is where he is."

"You think so?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Then I hope he finds what he's looking for, either him or Tully."

"Do you think Tully would come back after the war if he found something big?" Troy waited for an answer. He realized that he really didn't know just how much Tully had become invested in Moffitt's chosen field of study.

Hitch didn't even hesitate before he nodded. "Doc has told Tully so many stories about ancient civilizations that I think he would. He really seems interested in what Doc does. If either of them made some important discovery, I think Tully would jump at a chance to come back and study it, with or without Doc. But I think he'd like it better if Doc was here too."

The sergeant shook his head and smiled. "Who would have thought a moonshine runner from Kentucky would end up studying ancient ruins in North Africa. This war has changed a lot of lives, and it isn't done yet."

"Would you come back?"

"Me?" Troy looked surprised. "Not for a pile of rocks. Maybe to see Tully or Moffitt."

Hitch's shovel hit something solid. The blond froze, a look of shock on his face. Dropping to his knees, he began to dig with his hands.

"Wouldn't Doc and Tully be surprised if you were the one to find some ancient treasure?" Troy grinned at the possibility.

"I don't want to find anything Sarge. I'd be happy to leave that up to Tully, or Moffitt."

"Maybe it's just another jackal skeleton."

Hitch looked up hopefully and nodded. He continued to dig. "It's metal, Sarge." He continued to dig with his hands.

Troy's apparent lack of interest was lost at the announcement. He dropped to his knees to help his driver. "What is it?"

Hitch just shook his head and kept digging.

"Maybe we should call Moffitt."

Hitch nodded without stopping.

Troy lifted his head and spotted the other sergeant near the jeeps. "Moffitt! Get over here."

"What is it, Troy?" The Brit replaced the cap on the canteen and walked over to where the other two were on their knees. Wiping sweat from his face, he leaned over their shoulders. "What have we here?"

"Hitch found something," Troy answered.

"Something interesting?"

"We don't know," Hitch panted. "It's metal, and it's long." He continued to move the sand away from his find. Since it was metal, he wasn't worried about uncovering a body.

Moffitt dropped to his knees next to the rapidly growing hole. "Can I help?" The usually unflappable sergeant didn't even try to hide his excitement.

Hitch stopped digging and looked over his shoulder at the sergeant. "You can dig it out if you want. That way, if it's important, you can claim the find."

"I couldn't claim your discovery Hitch."

"Why not Doc? You're the one who chose this spot to dig." The blond moved out of the way. "And this is your area of expertise. I'm no archeologist."

"Are you sure?"

"Sure, I'm sure," Hitch nodded. He looked over at Troy. "I'll go relieve Tully on guard. He'll be interested if it turns out to be something old."

"Thank you Hitch." Moffitt was on his knees digging before Hitch got to his feet.

The blond smiled at Troy's amused expression and went to take over on guard duty.

Tully felt guilty for not taking over for Hitch when the blond had grabbed a shovel and followed Troy. When he noticed Moffitt join Troy and Hitch, he hoped the blond hadn't found a grave. Then he noticed their body language. It looked like they may have discovered something. He wondered what it was since Hitch was now heading his way.

"You didn't find some bones, did you?" Tully asked as Hitch drew near.

"Not this time," Hitch answered. "I'm taking over on guard. You might want to help Doc dig it out."

"Dig what out?"

"I don't know," Hitch answered, "but it's metal, and it's long. Doc is still digging. I hope it's something good so he can take credit for the find."

"I thought you found it."

"I did, but Doc chose the dig site. Besides, I'm not interested in getting famous for finding some artifact."

"Aren't you even curious?"

"Yeah, I guess," Hitch shrugged. "But I'll see it once Doc digs it out." The blond motioned toward the sergeants. "I thought you might want to be there to help Doc dig it out."

Tully grinned. "Yeah, I would, thanks."

With Hitch standing guard, Tully hurried down to help Moffitt. Even before he got there, he knew the British sergeant was excited about the find.

Moffitt tugged at the object, finally pulling it free. His face fell as he got his first good look at it.

"What is it Moffitt?"

"It's a sword," the Brit answered. He carefully brushed the caked sand away from the curved blade. "But I'm afraid it's not that old. A hundred years, maybe, but no more."

Troy sounded disappointed. "Hitch and I thought it might be important."

"It may prove to be," Moffitt mumbled absently. "Just because it's not that old doesn't mean it's not important." His fingers were sliding over the engraved inscription on the blade.

"Can you read that?"

The Brit heard the question and looked up. Troy was crowded close to the sword, staring at the blade. "I might be able to read it once it's cleaned up."

"I've seen swords something like it in the market."

Moffitt noticed Tully's presence for the first time. He held up the sword for the private to see. "It's not all that unusual. This design is still in use. It's popular among the guards for the various sheiks. I suspect that we will find that it belonged to one of them. Perhaps they were attacked here and it was lost in the battle."

Tully took the sword and held it up for a better look. "What are we going to do with it?"

"Take it back to the base, I suppose," the Brit explained.

The radio began to crackle and drew all of their attention. "Sounds like we're about to head home," Troy guessed. He brushed the sand from his knees and ran to the radio.

"Pegasus to Loki. Pegasus to Loki."

"Loki here," Troy answered.

"Loki, come home," the voice on the radio ordered. "Mission accomplished," the voice continued.

"Copy that Pegasus," Troy announced. "Loki is on the way home." He lowered the headphones and signed off.

"The convoy made it through safely?" Moffitt asked.

"Yeah, Dietrich was so busy following us apparently he didn't even notice the convoy."

"Then our fake treasure hunt fooled him?"

"Yeah," Troy grinned foolishly. "but I bet he's going nuts trying to figure out what we're doing."

"We knew we were being watched," the Brit smiled. "They may have even seen us dig up that sword."

"That's even better," Troy decided. "We may be able to use this trick again when we need to distract him. It's a good way to get our convoys through without trouble."

Moffitt looked around at the holes they had dug. "I was rather enjoying our little treasure hunt. I guess all good things must come to an end. I'll wrap our find and we can head back." He took the sword and wrapped it in a blanket and put it in his jeep. "We are heading back, are we not?"

"We are," Troy nodded. "There's nothing keeping us here."

"I'll grab the shovels," Tully offered.

Troy called Hitch down and they packed the shovels in their jeeps. Minutes later, they headed across the desert in a straight line for their base.