Chapter 2 - Warsaw

The plane headed north on its way over the North Sea. It climbed high before turning east to fly over Denmark and continued on over the Baltic Sea, after a while it turned south. Garrison followed the curving route on a map which he'd spread on his knees. From here the flight was going to describe a long loop down towards Warsaw to the first drop-off point before turning back north west to the second drop outside Gdansk, then it would cross the coast and head back home the way it had come.

Actor, Goniff and Casino stood at the door ready to parachute out. Actor turned round. "You're sure about this Warden?"

Garrison smiled. "Get going, Chief and I'll be fine. Good luck." Actor nodded and the three men leaped out of the plane.

Garrison looked at his scout. "You could've gone on the easy mission instead of Casino. I know you gave him the opportunity to save face by offering to swap with him."

Chief shook his head. "No, Casino's job's crackin' safes, my job's watchin' your back and that's what I'll do."

The plane turned north west towards Gdansk. Garrison sat back against the fuselage and watched his scout get ready for the drop. He admitted to himself that he did feel a lot safer with him standing at his side than any of the others on the team. Chief had saved his life twice on their previous mission to France and told him in no uncertain terms that he'd continue to live longer if he accompanied him on future forays, Garrison realised he couldn't argue with that logic.

Chief attached his line and waited for the order to jump. He felt Garrison's presence behind him as he hooked on, the pair of them watched the red light and the co-pilot standing next to them. The light changed to green and the co-pilot pointed to the rushing darkness outside the door. "Good luck lads. GO."

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Actor landed and checked on the other two. They seemed to have landed in one piece. He looked up to the sky and imagined he could see the plane disappearing in the distance. He watched as Casino and Goniff gathered their chutes, walked over and looked at him expectantly. He suddenly realised that he was the man in charge and giving the orders, he looked at the two men and pointed to the chutes. "Let's get these hidden and find our contact."

Half an hour later they were plodding across a muddy, ploughed field. Casino had been moaning non-stop about the rough terrain and how he was sure he'd fall over and twist an ankle in the dark. Goniff halted and looked around. "You sure you know where we are Actor?"

Actor took out the map and looked at it with the aid of his small torch. "I'm sure we're going in the right direction, not far now," he said uncertainly.

Casino snorted. "Never had this trouble with Geronimo around, he never gets lost. The one time we need him and he's off with Garrison!"

Goniff chuckled. "Oh so you admit Chief's useful now he ain't here to help. Come on mate shouldn't be much further to go."

Casino muttered something that Actor couldn't make out. He put the map and torch away and let out a deep sigh. This was different to when he'd led the team in Norway to rescue Garrison, that had been out of necessity, he'd volunteered to lead this mission and was now seriously thinking he needed his head examining. How the Warden did this every day without shooting them all was beyond him. He looked towards the end of the field and saw a large wooden gate set in the stone wall, he gritted his teeth and headed for it.

A car switched on its headlights as the three men climbed over the gate, they stood still and blinked in the glare, they heard a door open. Actor raised a hand to shield his eyes. "Chopin."

A deep voice floated back. "Paderewski." A large shape walked towards them, held out a hand and spoke in heavily accented English. "Welcome to Poland, my name is Milosz."

Actor breathed out a sigh of relief and held out his own hand. "Thank you Milosz. My name is Actor, this is Casino and this is Goniff."

The large man looked at the blonde thief standing in the harsh light. "Goniff, that is Jewish for thief is it not? Are you a Jew?"

Goniff gave him a puzzled look and shook his head. "No mate, it's a nickname I was given in London 'cos I nicked things."

Milosz didn't know that word. "Nicked?"

"Um you know, stole, pinched, borrowed."

Milosz considered this. "Did you ever return any of the things you 'borrowed'?"

Goniff smiled. "Only the stuff that was worthless."

Milosz laughed and clapped Goniff on the shoulder sending him staggering across the road. "I like you, maybe you 'borrow' some stuff from the Germans for us, we won't give it back either." He lead the way back to the car and waited for them to get in. Actor sat in the front and the other two piled in the back.

Actor turned to Milosz as he drove down the road to Warsaw. "Why did you ask Goniff if he was a Jew? Is there a problem?"

Milosz shook his head. "Not for me. It is the Germans who do not like Jews, they have taken hundreds to the camps, many areas of the city are empty of people. We have smuggled many Jews out of the country to safety, I just wanted to warn Goniff to be careful if he was. He shouldn't be bothered, he looks like a good Aryan man."

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Milosz drove slowly through the city and stopped outside a large abandoned apartment building. The front was covered in graffiti and a large yellow star was painted on the door. He took them inside and walked up the stairs to the second floor, he knocked on a door and waited. The door opened slowly and then quickly as the person inside recognised the visitor. Milosz waved them in and followed. Two stocky, dark-haired men were standing in the room, they had guns pointed at the visitors, Milosz waved his hands at them to lower their weapons. "These are the Americans who've come to help." He turned to the team and made the introductions. "These are Jedrek and Bartek."

Actor nodded at the men and noticed how similar they looked to each other. "Brothers?" he asked. They nodded back.

Goniff looked around. "What happened here? Why's this place empty?"

Milosz looked at him sadly. "Did you not see the star painted on the door? Jews used to live here. This is one of the buildings where everyone was taken away, we use it as a safe house now. Sadly it was not safe for the people who lived here."

Jedrek and Bartek walked out of the room and returned a few minutes later. Jedrek carried a tray loaded down with bread, butter, smoked cheese and ham. Bartek was carrying bottles of beer. They put everything on a table and everyone sat around tucking into the welcome meal.

Casino slathered butter onto the thick slice of dark bread and bit into it. The bread was heavy, moist and delicious. He took a piece of cheese and chewed it savouring the smoky taste, the ham was equally tasty. He promised himself that when he got back home he'd start going to old man Kowalski's delicatessen down on the corner. He looked at Goniff, he was eating his food with obvious enjoyment, but that was Goniff, he mused, you could give him day-old cold spam fritters and he'd be just as happy.

Casino looked at the three Poles he'd nicknamed Milo, Jed and Bart. Milo looked about forty, he was big and burly with large hands, calloused from hard work. Jed and Bart were in their twenties. He finished off his slice of bread and reached for another, if he survived the war old man Kowalski was definitely gonna get a new, regular customer.

Appetites sated the food was cleared away and a map of the city laid out on the table. Milosz indicated various points on the map. "We are here, German HQ is here. Once you have the information you need there is a telegraph at the train station here, send your message and we will arrange to get you out by plane."

Goniff looked up alarmed. "Ain't we meetin' up with the Warden and Chief? What if they need us?"

Actor shook his head. "You heard the Warden, Gdansk is over two hundred miles away. We're not even sure if the agent is being held there, we won't know that until we get the intelligence. If he is in Gdansk by the time we get there they could have gone..."

"Or been killed," chimed in Casino, ever the optimist.

Goniff gave him a look of denial. "No, don't say that. Besides the Warden's got Chief watchin' his back now, he won't let anythin' happen to him, will he Actor?"

Actor gave Casino a dirty look. "Garrison is in good hands Goniff. Chief is the best at what he does, otherwise the Warden wouldn't have picked him for the team. Don't worry Chief'll bring him home."

Actor turned to Milosz, hoping to change the subject. "We'll go and take a look at the Headquarters building tomorrow. In the meantime we might as well get supplies. Have you got a pencil and paper? Here's what we'll need."

Milosz's eyebrows rose as he read Actor's requirements. "We'll have no trouble getting these, but this is most unusual."

Actor smiled. "We are a most unusual team."

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The next morning dawned bright and clear. A nondescript car pulled up just down the street from the German Headquarters building. Actor and Milosz got out and walked into a nearby café, they ordered breakfast, which was a slice of bread topped with kiełbasa sausage. They also ordered kefir, a fermented milk drink, and strong coffee. Actor smacked his lips as he tasted the kefir, it had been a long time since he'd had it. The slightly sour, deliciously creamy and refreshing taste took him back to the time many years ago when he and Maja had enjoyed it sitting on the terrace of her mansion after long nights of passion. He smiled as he took another sip and wondered where she was now.

He was disturbed from his reverie by a dig in the ribs from Milosz, he pointed. "Generaloberst Wolf." Actor watched as the General strode into the building from his staff car, he was a tall, lean man about fifty years old. Actor narrowed his eyes as he went over the plan, it didn't involve any contact with Wolf but he wanted to get a feel of the man in charge. He continued watching the building to get a sense of how it worked, the shift changes, the personnel. He and Milosz moved from café to café so as not to arouse suspicion by staying in one place too long. At last Actor was satisfied, he motioned for them to return to the safe house.

Actor sat down and looked at Casino and Goniff. " Generaloberst Wolf runs a very tight ship. Everyone is on their toes and very scared of rank, this could work to our advantage as long as we have the right uniforms." He looked up as Jedrek and Bartek walked in with the uniforms he'd requested. They laid them out on the table and looked at the conman, Actor smiled. "These will do very nicely."

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Unteroffizier Weber sat at his desk and scribbled on a piece of paper, he was bored of reading all the documents that crossed his desk and wanted more excitement in his life. He heard the door open and sighed as he saw two figures enter the building. He gave them a dispassionate look that turned to terror as he saw the SS insignia of two flashes on the right collar and four silver pips and a stripe on the left collar of the uniform. He leapt to attention and extended his right arm. "Heil Hitler, Herr Obersturmbannführer."

Actor gave a half-hearted wave and fixed him with his best haughty SS glare. "I am Obersturmbannführer König, this is my aide Hauptsturmführer Krüger. We heard you have a captured allied agent in Gdansk, we have been ordered to Berlin to oversee his interrogation, apparently none of those fools there speaks Polish. When is he being taken? We wish to be there to greet him."

The corporal gulped, he remembered a document that had crossed his desk earlier in the day, he decided to be as helpful as possible to the high ranking SS officer. "He is being moved on the seven o'clock train from Gdansk, Herr Obersturmbannführer. If you leave now you will have plenty of time to meet the train when it arrives in Berlin."

Actor regarded the unfortunate man and gave him a thin smile. "That is good news. What is your name? I will report your helpfulness to your superiors."

The soldier smiled at the recognition and possible hope of promotion, he stood up straight. "I am Unteroffizier Karl Weber, Sir"

Actor nodded and turned to Casino. "Make a note of that Krüger. Thank you for your help Unterfeldwebel Weber." The man positively beamed as the two SS officers left the building.

Actor looked at Casino and Goniff and laughed. "I didn't think it would be so easy, that soldier fell over himself trying to help. Wolf has his men so scared of rank they'll do anything."

Casino smiled at Goniff. "Pays to be SS baby. Nobody argues with them!"

Actor nodded in agreement. "Let's get to the station and send the Warden the news."

Casino smiled. "Then we go home, our part in this caper is over."

Goniff grimaced and shook his head. "I still don't like leavin' the Warden and Chief here on their own, too much can happen."

Casino waved a carefree hand. "As the Warden said Limey, we can't be in two places at once, we've done our bit now they do theirs, piece of cake. They'll be right behind us."

Goniff took out his cigarettes and passed them round. "I don't know, I got a bad feelin' somethin's gonna go wrong, it ain't right splittin' the team."

Casino felt the same but he hid it under bluster, he laid one hand on Goniff's shoulder and took a cigarette with the other. "Look, it's the Warden and Geronimo, they can take out a regiment between them without breakin' a sweat. Garrison's got the brains to get 'em outta trouble and the kid'll watch the Warden's back, what's to worry about?"

Actor looked at Goniff. "I don't like it either, but there's nothing else we can do. Our pickup is arranged and we have to be ready to go in two hours. It's up to Garrison and Chief now."