Chapter 6 – One Drink, Many Glasses

The citizens of Colchester watched in amazement as a heavily armed, obviously German flying boat swooped gracefully in to land on the Colne, throwing up clouds of spray. The blunt hull settled in the water and created a churning bow wave as the plane surged forward. The engines roared as it powered upriver, leaving a wide, roiling wake lapping on the river banks and then throttled back as it headed towards the shore. They stared, open-mouthed as it coasted gently up to the moorings outside the Red Dragon normally used by pleasure boats before the war. The three engines shut down, the propellers stopped and five men climbed out, tied up the plane, hauled their mission bags out of the fuselage and strode purposefully into the pub.

Garrison walked up to the bar, accompanied by Chief and ordered five pints with whisky chasers. The pub landlord had been shocked to see an enemy plane moor up outside his pub and its crew march in, he was even more surprised to hear an American accent, he poured the drinks in a confused daze. Garrison thanked him and put the drinks on two trays, he and Chief carried them back to the rest of the team who were sitting at a table next a window where they had a good view of the plane.

Everyone picked up their whisky, Garrison raised his glass and tilted it towards his team. "Here's to another successful mission. Great work guys."

Goniff peered out of the window to see a large crowd gathering on the shore by the plane. "Looks like we've been noticed, there's gotta be over a hundred people out there," he smiled as a thought struck him. "Lookin' at a Sea Dragon outside the Red Dragon."

Casino finished his whisky and gave the Warden a questioning look. "Hey, do we get to keep that flyin' canoe? We took it and possession is nine tenths of the law."

Goniff nodded. "Yeah, spoils of war and all that. It'll come in handy for getting' us around on missions. You can fly it Warden, Chief'll be your co-pilot 'n navigator and we'll man the guns. Just think no more paddlin' rafts from subs or MGBs, we could just fly in and then float to our destination."

Actor laughed. "And what happens when the only way in is by parachute? It can't very well return on its own, did you think about that Goniff or were you only bothered about not being seasick?"

The irrepressible thief emptied his glass and grinned. "If we can't take it with us then we'll leave it parked here and get someone else to fly us. Come on Warden, what do you think?"

Garrison rolled his eyes. "I think I need another drink." He waved at the landlord and pointed at the empty glasses on the table. "Can we get another round?"

When the drinks arrived Actor picked up his whisky and tilted it towards Chief. "To our prize pupil who managed to save the day."

Casino lifted his glass. "To my teachin' that helped him open his first safe."

Goniff butted in. "Yeah mate, but it was my lessons that got him up there in the first place."

Actor regarded the two men. "He spoke German to a Kraut before he did any of that." The three cons started to argue who had taught what and whether Chief had used it first.

Chief held up a hand to quieten the squabbling. "You're all forgettin' one thing, the Warden's been teachin' me far longer than you."

Goniff picked up his glass. "I haven't seen him givin' you lessons. What's he teach you?"

Chief looked over at Garrison. "Strategy 'n tactics."

Goniff looked puzzled. "What?"

Garrison smiled. "Chess, Goniff. I've been teaching Chief to play chess."

Goniff grinned as he understood. "I thought you was just playing a game to pass the time. So that's what you were doin'."

Casino's brow suddenly wrinkled, he leaned forward and pointed a finger. "Speakin' of that, what have you been doin' Geronimo? You've been goin' off and not tellin' us what you've been up to. You plannin' on leavin' the team?"

Chief found himself the target of three intense stares that increased to four as Garrison looked over at him. He put down his glass and took a deep breath. "No, I ain't leavin'. I already told the Warden what I was doin'"

Actor puffed on his pipe. "Well then, you can tell us too Chief."

Chief looked at his glass. "I was meetin' up with Drummond, he's a friend."

Actor narrowed his eyes. "Sergeant Major Drummond? Our old combat instructor, the one you kept beating in training? Isn't he in Major Richards' chain of command?"

Garrison felt the same apprehension that he'd felt a few days ago. "I heard he's heading up Special Operations now. Has the Major contacted you? Is he trying to recruit you?"

Chief turned to look Garrison full in the face. "I told you Warden, I ain't goin' nowhere, not with Richards not with anyone. This is my team and I ain't leavin' it, ever."

Garrison saw nothing but truth and sincerity in Chief's eyes, he breathed out a silent sigh of relief that he wasn't going to lose his friend. "I believe you."

The conversation was interrupted by a loud screech of brakes outside, they watched as six MPs ran up to the plane and started questioning the crowd, some of them pointed in the direction of the pub, the MPs drew their guns and headed towards them. Chief stood up to position himself between Garrison and the approaching soldiers, he stopped when the Warden put a hand on his arm. "They're on our side Chief, no fighting the MPs ok?"

Chief sat back down again and watched the Military Police with an amused expression as they burst into the bar and looked around, brandishing their weapons. Casino gave them a casual, disinterested glance over the top of his glass, took a large swallow and set it down. "What seems to be the trouble officers?"

The MPs approached. "We're looking for the Germans that landed that plane. Do you know where they are?"

Garrison looked up at them calmly and waved his hand to include himself and the men sitting round him. "That would be us and we're American, not German. Garrison, Lieutenant, 926314, Special Forces out of Colchester, we're based in the mansion next to the army camp."

Casino leaned forward. "Yeah and you can give us a lift back there when we've finished our drink, shouldn't take more'n an hour or two."

Goniff smiled and then winced as his shoulder twinged. "Yeah, one drink comes in many glasses mate and I need a lot of glasses after what we've been through."