Chapter 2 - Hamburg
The small, converted bomber butted its way against a headwind as it flew north-east out over the North Sea. Garrison sat just outside the cabin, talking to the crew while he followed their route on a map as they fought their way to their destination. He looked out the window and recognised the West Frisian Islands passing to the south of them, the last time he'd seen them was at sea level from the deck of an MGB as they'd sailed away from the Netherlands.
The pilot pointed to a small dot of land ahead of them in the middle of the sea. "There's Heligoland Lieutenant, we'll go past and then head south-east to your drop zone near Marne."
Garrison nodded and patted the pilot on the shoulder. "Thanks, I'll get my men ready." He turned round to see his team watching him intently. "Alright, get hooked up and ready to go, the Captain doesn't want to hang around." He took his place at the end of the queue as Chief attached his line first, followed by Goniff, Casino and Actor, they waited as the co-pilot stood by the hatch. A sudden blast of cold air and a loud rushing noise accompanied the opening of the exit, the jump light turned green. "Go!" shouted the airman: Chief disappeared out into the darkness without hesitation, Goniff closed his eyes and launched himself out, Casino crossed himself, muttered a quick prayer and followed, Actor took a brief look and then jumped. Garrison waited until he saw their parachutes open and leaped out after his men, he felt the static line attached to his deployment bag become taut, pulling it out of the container on his back, there was a jerk as the parachute opened and he began his descent. He peered ahead and saw the dark shapes below him floating down to the ground.
The sky lit up with blasts of flak as the plane disappeared back out over the coast, the fused shells from the anti-aircraft guns detonating at altitude, generating large clouds of fast-moving shrapnel heading in all directions like a deadly fireworks display. Garrison kept a close eye on the parachutes below him as they descended, praying that none of the team would be wounded or their chutes destroyed. He hit the ground, rolled on landing, gathered up his chute and ran towards where he knew his men had come down, he breathed a sigh of relief as he saw all four standing upright, rolling up their parachutes and hiding them.
Chief ran over and pointed north. "Kraut patrol over there, headin' this way. Saw 'em on the way down. We gotta move outta here before they find us."
Garrison nodded and looked around. "You got any idea where we are Chief?"
Chief pointed north-east. "We're just west of Marne, the Elbe is behind us to the south, Hamburg's about fifty miles that way Warden."
Casino picked up his mission bag, looked around apprehensively and gave a huge sigh. "What the hell we doin' in the middle o' Germany? I don't like this one little bit."
Garrison swung his rifle over his shoulder. "What's the matter Casino, too many Krauts?"
The safe-cracker snorted. "Too many armed Krauts Warden, don't mind the unarmed ones."
"Knock it off," hissed Chief as he looked north. "The patrol's just up the road and comin' fast, they must've seen us come down."
Garrison looked at everyone and picked up his bag. "You heard the man, let's get out of here. We'll head towards Marne and pick up a ride, Chief, you're on point lead the way." The four men followed their scout and melted into the darkness. The German patrol roared down the road, machine guns and spotlights scanning the area as they searched for the intruders, they passed on without finding any sign of the Gorillas having been there.
GG-GG-GG
Chief called a halt just outside Marne, the team stopped and settled down in the shelter of a small copse of trees. Garrison took out a shielded torch and looked at his watch. "Nearly midnight." He looked at the town and then at his scout. "Think you can find us a car?"
"No sweat Warden." Chief glanced over at Actor. "You wanna get in some practice?"
Actor stood up and stepped forward. "Why not, but if I'm hot-wiring the car you're doing the talking if we meet anyone Chief."
Chief turned to Garrison with a smile. "Hope you know where the local lock-up is Warden, 'cos that's where we'll be once I open my mouth."
Garrison shook his head as he watched the mismatched pair walk away towards the town, the tall, eloquent, sophisticated conman and the quiet, deadly scout, he knew Actor was in good hands.
The two men walked into the quiet town and looked around for a suitable vehicle. Chief held up a hand, tilted his head and listened, he smiled as he sniffed the aroma drifting towards him on the breeze. He waved for Actor to follow as he followed the scents and sounds that turned out to be coming from a bakery. They watched as two men loaded a van with freshly baked produce, Chief turned to his companion. "Think Goniff would like it if we turned up in that?"
Actor grinned. "I think we all would. Remember our deal."
Chief sighed. "You sure?" Actor nodded. "Ok, but be ready to run." He waited until one of the men went into the bakery and locked the door behind him, he walked over to the man standing by the van. "Good evening Sir, do you know what the time is?"
The man frowned a little as he tried to make out the accent, but there were a lot of people coming from all over the place now. He looked down at his watch, "Its..." He crumpled as Chief hit him hard and caught him on the way down, he started to drag him down a side street. "Your turn Actor."
The tall conman walked casually to the front of the van, lifted the bonnet and froze as he saw the unfamiliar mass of wiring, he jumped as he felt Chief come up to stand next to him. "Get on with it," he hissed.
Actor reached tentatively for a wire and stopped as Chief's hand grabbed his, he looked up to see the scout gazing intently down the road and listening. "Kraut patrol headin' this way, sounds like two trucks. You do the talkin', I'll see to the van. Just tell 'em we got engine trouble, after all it's the truth."
Actor turned to face the road as Chief busied himself under the bonnet. Thirty seconds later two trucks pulled up, a window was rolled down and a stern face looked out. "What is happening here?"
Actor smiled and waved at the van. "We are supposed to be making deliveries but the van has broken down. My cousin is fixing it so we can get going, we have to be in Brunsbüttel in less than an hour."
The officer glared at the tall man. "Have you seen a group of men acting suspiciously round here recently, has anyone you don't know passed through?"
Actor rubbed his chin thoughtfully for a moment. "Possibly, Herr Leutnant, some men did come through here a few hours ago, they asked for directions to Meldorf. There was about six of them, they said they were going there to look for work but I haven't heard of any jobs going there for some time. Does that help?"
The officer nodded. "Yes, you have been very helpful."
Actor smiled, reached into the back of the van and gave the Leutnant a warm loaf of bread. "For your journey. I hope you find who you are looking for."
"Thank you." The window was wound up and the patrol headed north towards Meldorf.
Chief stood up and closed the bonnet, he walked round to the driver's seat, reached under the dashboard and started the engine, Actor jumped in the passenger beside him and they set off down the road.
GG-GG-GG
An hour after Chief and Actor had left to go to Marne a nondescript, tan coloured van pulled up by the men waiting in the copse of trees, the conman got out of the passenger door, waved towards the back and smiled. "Chief thought you might like this one."
Goniff looked at the writing on the side and gave the conman a hopeful look. "Does that mean what I think it means?"
Actor nodded. "Yes Goniff, 'Bäckerei' does mean Bakery. We waited until they'd finished loading, Chief thought you'd be starvin'."
The thief looked at Chief as he walked round from the driver's side to join them and gave him the thumbs up. "Good on yer mate, I'd die of hunger without you."
Casino looked at the van and then up at the tall conman. "Did you hot-wire it?"
Actor shook his head. "No, it was beyond my meagre skills. Chief did speak German to the driver before knocking him out. I conned a Kraut patrol into going the wrong way while he was working on the van. I guess we both played to our strengths tonight."
Chief stopped next to him. "Actor sent 'em north, that's 'em off our backs for a while." He smiled at his team mate. "Could understand a lot of what you said, guess the lessons are sinkin' in."
Garrison gave them a crooked smile. "Well done, both of you."
Goniff ran round to the back of the van, flung open the door and breathed in the scent of fresh bread and … "Pies. There's pies in here."
Chief walked back to the driver's seat. "Better get goin' before the van's missed."
Goniff needed no urging as he jumped in the back with an eager look on his face. Garrison waved Actor and Casino in after him, he grabbed a warm loaf of bread. "Save some for us," he ordered as he closed the door and took the passenger seat next to his scout, he broke the bread into two pieces, the yeasty scent filled the air as he handed one to Chief. "Let's go."
GG-GG-GG
Dawn was breaking as they neared Elmshorn, Chief looked at Garrison. "It's about twenty more miles, you wanna hole up somewhere or take the risk an' go on?"
Garrison looked around and weighed up his options. "Let's find somewhere to shelter for the time being, I don't want to push our luck, I doubt even you could get away if we were chased driving this jalopie."
Chief nodded and pulled off the road onto a dirt track, it lead to a large barn in the middle of a ploughed field. Garrison leaped out, opened the barn door and waited for Chief to drive inside before closing it again. They walked round to the back of the van and opened the door, Garrison peered in at the happy, well-fed passengers. "Did you leave anything for us?"
Goniff grinned as he held out the biggest pie, he'd put it to one side and protected it against Casino's advances, he offered it to Garrison. "Warden! Would we leave you 'n Chief out? Pas de quoi 'n bon appétit."
Garrison took the pie and breathed in the meaty aroma. "Come on Chief, we'd better eat this before Goniff changes his mind."
Chief shook his head. "It's alright, you have it Warden," he gave Garrison a knowing look. "Ain't gonna take anythin' away from you."
Garrison stepped forward and spoke quietly. "I thought we talked that through the other night. There are some things I'll let people take but I draw the line when it comes to what's important. I won't let anyone take you, I don't care who it is I'll fight them, even if it's Fremont, you can believe that."
"I believe you Warden." Chief's blade snicked open in his hand and the sharp blade cut through the crisp pastry. "No-one's tryin' to take me away from you or the team and there's no way I'm gonna leave, alright?"
Garrison looked around as he took his half of the pie. "Alright, now we've sorted things out let's sit over there and enjoy our meal in peace."
Casino watched the two men walk away, passed a cigarette to Goniff and screwed his face up in bewilderment. "Takin' Geronimo? Who's takin' him? What was that all about Limey?"
Goniff shook his head as he lit a match. "Buggered if I know mate. The Warden's had a bee in 'is bonnet about somethin' for a couple o' days now."
Actor narrowed his eyes as he observed Chief and Garrison, he turned to his team mates. "The Warden's obviously worried about something and it's to do with Chief. Maybe that's why he didn't show up at the pub the other night, the Warden stopped him going out."
Goniff glanced up at the tall conman. "Do you think someone's trying to take Chief from us? He wouldn't think of goin' would he?"
Casino shook his head vehemently. "No way baby, Geronimo's too loyal to Garrison to leave the team." He looked over at the two men as they sat companionably, eating their food, he looked up at Actor as well. "Do you think someone's tryin' to take him?" he asked uncertainly.
Actor tapped Casino on the arm and took a cigarette, he lit it, inhaled and blew out a cloud of smoke. "Hope not, but you never know with the Army, they don't treat us like normal soldiers, we're property not people to them."
"You said it babe." Casino crossed his arms and leaned against the van. "So what's Geronimo been doin' the past couple weeks? Why's he going to the camp and who's he meeting up with? Garrison said he saw him talkin' to someone. You gotta admit he's been very secretive."
Goniff looked thoughtful. "Yeah, but he can't go anywhere, he's gotta serve his time for the duration and six months just like us."
Casino snorted and gave the thief a jaundiced look. "Where does it say he's gotta serve it with us Limey? Any team would jump at the chance to get their hooks into him and Garrison knows it, that's what's got him worried."
Actor nodded thoughtfully. "You're right, but I don't think Chief'll do anything like that. Something's going on though and Chief's right in the middle of it."
Garrison looked over and called out. "Will you all get some rest, we'll leave as soon as it starts getting dark. Goniff you take first watch, Casino take second, Actor third, I'll take fourth. Chief you've done all the driving so take it easy until we leave tonight."
GG-GG-GG
The baker's van pulled up on a dark, quiet street in the suburbs of Hamburg. Garrison and Chief got out, walked to the back, opened the door and surveyed the carnage inside, Garrison shook his head. "Did you really eat all that food? That was enough for a small town."
Casino snorted and jerked a thumb. "Not if you got a Goniff Warden, I swear he can eat more'n a plague of locusts."
Garrison looked at the safe-cracker and noted the crumbs decorating the front of his coat. "I'm sure he had some help," he commented drily.
The thief shrugged and pointed to a tray of six bread rolls. "Managed to save you an' Chief somethin'."
Garrison stretched out a hand, grabbed the rolls before they could disappear and passed three over to Chief. "You're too kind Goniff, you sure you can spare these?"
Goniff glanced at Chief meaningfully. "Sure, wouldn't wanna lose anyone, would we?"
Garrison munched on a roll as he surveyed the derelict, bombed out buildings around them, he pointed to one that seemed to still have a roof. "That'll do, get your gear out of the van, Chief can you dump it and check out the area on the way back?"
Chief nodded, climbed back in the van and waited as the others removed the mission bags and any leftover food before setting off, he drove slowly for a mile and then abandoned the vehicle in the remains of a collapsed apartment block. The journey back was uneventful, he ghosted from building to building, using the shadows to hide his progress until he spied the house they were using as a temporary base. He stood outside and waited until he saw who was on guard, he watched as Goniff mooched past the door and slipped inside.
Garrison was cleaning and checking his pistol, he looked up as his scout walked over and sat next to him. "Isn't Goniff on watch?"
Chief nodded. "Uh huh, how'd you think I got in so easy?"
Garrison sighed as he holstered the gun. "I wouldn't be surprised to find a whole panzer division parked in here in the morning."
Chief leaned back and stretched his legs out in front of him. "No patrols and no tanks out there Warden, we're safe for now."
Half an hour later Casino tapped Goniff on the shoulder and took over watch duty. The thief wandered in, looked at Chief and gave him an artless smile. "Hello mate, how long you been here?"
Garrison gave the thief an exasperated glare. "He's been here forty minutes and he came in through that door you were supposed to be guarding."
Goniff smiled his ingratiating smile. "Well, It is Chief, what'ya expect Warden?"
Garrison shook his head. "Unbelievable."
