Disclaimer: The Rat Patrol is not my property. They come out to play sometimes, then I send them home.
Author's note: churchlady63 wanted a sequel.
No Love Lost
By Suzie2b
It had been weeks since Captain Dietrich had been transferred to his own base hospital after he'd been shot. He would've lost his life if not for the four Allies known as the Rat Patrol. And he still wondered why … why did they do it? They could've taken him to one of their own field hospitals where he would've been sent to a POW camp. They could've let him die, but chose to give him a blood transfusion … and it was Sergeant Troy's blood that saved him.
Dietrich had finished the breakfast that had been brought to him in his quarters and was now getting dressed for his first day back on duty … "light" duty according to the doctor. He supposed a day or two of paperwork would ease him back into the tasks he preferred.
When the captain stepped into his office and saw the pile of paperwork on his desk, he gave a furtive sigh and shook his head. His aide stepped up behind him and welcomed Dietrich back, "Willkommen zurück, Hauptmann."
Dietrich stepped further inside as he said, "Danke, Unteroffizier."
The aide quickly walked around the captain to place another stack of files on the desk, then turned and asked Dietrich if he needed anything, "Brauchen Sie etwas, Herr?"
Dietrich told him he needed nothing at moment. "Im Moment nichts."
After a slight bow, the aide left, closing the door behind him.
Dietrich went to the window behind his desk and opened it. He noticed a patrol just heading out and it appeared that Hauptmann Werner was in command. Dietrich thought, "He is a good man. However, I wish it were me instead."
Then the captain turned back to his desk and looked down at the files and paperwork again. Well, there was no way around it, so he may as well get started.
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Dietrich worked through the morning, but it didn't look like even a dent had been made in his workload. He rubbed the back of his neck as he stood to stretch the muscles in his back. Looking at his watch, he saw that it was half past noon and his stomach rumbled to make a point. Dietrich got his hat off the coatrack. As he closed the door behind him, he told his aide he was going to the officer's mess hall for some lunch.
When Dietrich entered the mess hall, he saw that there were a few, but not many, other officers there. He greeted them politely and went to get his lunch.
The captain sat alone at a table, lost in thought as he ate. He tried to reason what possessed Sergeant Troy and his men to risk their very lives to save his. Dietrich remembered something that Sergeant Moffitt had said to him and thought, "'You may be the enemy, captain, but you are first and foremost a human being.' Why do I remember that so clearly? I remember very little else."
Dietrich finished his meal and went back to his office to again immerse himself in his work. Which he did until he noticed that the sun was going down. He gave a tired sigh and picked up the telephone receiver. Dietrich dialed a number and waited for the man on the other end to answer. He then ordered that his dinner should be brought to his quarters. Then he closed the window, got his hat, and turned out the light as he left the office.
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For two weeks Captain Dietrich's days were the same. A never ending stack of paperwork. He longed to get out of the office and back to the desert. He wanted to stop thinking about the Rat Patrol and the incident that he couldn't get out of his mind.
Dietrich went to see the doctor one afternoon to have his wound checked and was pleased when the doctor told him he could resume his normal duties. The captain immediately took the form letter, signed by the doctor, to the base commander, Oberst Roth.
Roth read the letter, then looked at Dietrich. "You are feeling well then, captain?"
Dietrich nodded. "Yes, sir."
"Well, we won't stand on ceremony. There will be a patrol going out in the morning. You will be its leader."
"What sector, colonel?"
Roth stood as he said, "Here, I will show you on this map."
As he stepped up next to Oberst Roth in front of the map tacked to the wall, Dietrich thought, "Finally, a distraction."
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The next morning Captain Dietrich was awakened when his breakfast, the one meal he enjoyed in solitude, was brought to him. Then he got ready to go out on patrol. He felt a bit anxious, but he was also excited.
The sun was on the horizon when he joined his men as they readied the halftracks. When all provisions were done, Dietrich gave the order to head out.
After the halftracks, along with a light Panzer tank were off the base, the captain turned to watch the gates close. He sighed and sat down in the passenger seat, putting his mind on the map in his hand.
However, as the morning dragged on, Dietrich occasionally found his thoughts on other things. The desert was quiet at the moment … to the point of being boring … but what if they ran into the four Allies known as the Rat Patrol. Would he, in good conscious, fight? What if one of them were shot? How would he feel? Dietrich thought, "This is a war after all. People get shot and killed every day. It is not my place to decide who lives or dies … but what if…"
Finally he shook those thoughts out of his head to concentrate on the task at hand.
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After a stop for a quick lunch, Captain Dietrich headed west to crisscross the other half of the sector. At one point he had his patrol stop among some dunes and sent two of his men up for a look around.
The captain watched the men climb quickly, then suddenly drop to their bellies at the top. He saw one of them look through binoculars. Then, as one of them ran down, Dietrich got out of the halftrack.
His man said, "Es gibt ein Wasserloch nicht weit entfernt. Die Rattenpatrouille ist da."
Dietrich asked if he was sure of who they had seen, "Sind Sie sicher?"
"Ja, Hauptmann."
Dietrich followed the soldier up the dune, careful to get down and crawl the last few feet. With his own binoculars he got a closer look at the waterhole and the men that were there.
Yes, it was indeed Sergeant Troy and his men. Dietrich could plainly see through the sparse trees Troy and Sergeant Moffitt going over a map on the hood of one jeep. Private Pettigrew looked to be putting water in the other jeep's radiator. The captain located Private Hitchcock on watch at the waterhole's perimeter.
One of the captain's men suggested they could easily go on the attack and have the Rat Patrol in custody before they knew what was happening.
Dietrich quietly said, "Nein."
Confused, the soldier started, "Aber Hauptmann..."
In a more commanding voice, the captain repeated, "Nein." Then Dietrich told his men to stay and watch the Allies until they leave the waterhole. He carefully backed away before turning to return to his halftrack, where he got in and slammed the door shut a bit harder then was necessary.
His driver cautiously asked if there was a problem and Dietrich replied saying that everything was just fine. He took a deep breath to calm himself and thought, "Next time, Sergeant Troy. Things will be much different."
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Hitch was on the perimeter of the waterhole on watch. Suddenly a reflected light flashed. He searched the top of the dune where it came from, then called, "Hey, sarge!"
Troy looked up from the map he and Moffitt were using. "What is it, Hitch?"
"I think we're being watched."
Troy walked over to where Hitch stood. "Where?"
Without pointing, Hitch said, "Top of that dune at our 11:00. I saw a reflection of the sun and now I swear there are two heads up there."
Troy squinted and saw what Hitch had seen, but wasn't sure until one of them moved. "Okay, this is a German sector, so my guess is that's who's watching us. Let's not give away we've seen them. Just get ready to go like normal."
"Right, sarge."
Troy went to Tully and informed him what was going on, then went back to Moffitt to do the same.
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The two German soldiers watched as Troy and Hitch spoke, then the sergeant turned and walked away. Soon after, they saw Hitch abandon his post to go to one of the jeeps. Then Tully dropped the hood of the other jeep and get in behind the wheel.
After Troy said something to Moffitt, the Germans watched the sergeant fold the map and put it away before calmly joining Tully in their jeep. As Troy slid into the seat next to Hitch, he stared out at the dune one last time before the jeeps were started and then headed out into the desert in a direction that took them away from the men on the dune.
The Germans waited until the jeeps were out of sight before going down to report that the Rat Patrol were gone.
Captain Dietrich gave a silent nod. Then he showed his driver on the map where they were going next … in the opposite direction from that of his adversaries.
There was no love lost between the captain and the four Allies, but for this one time he would let them go. For some insane reason he had felt compelled to do what he did. And as the German patrol filed out from behind the dune, Captain Dietrich wondered what he would tell Oberst Roth if he is questioned about the incident. Whether or not the colonel wanted answers, he would never regret the actions he'd taken that day.