Another Exhausting Mission

By:AliasCWN

Chapter 5

The Arabs traveled until nearly dark before making camp. Their leader led his band into the wadi and gave orders for tents to be set up. The prisoners were taken to a tent and left inside.

Troy caught Dietrich as the officer stumbled through the door.

Dietrich sighed and sank gratefully to the ground.

"You all right Captain?"

"I'm fine Sergeant," Dietrich nodded. "It was a long ride and I'm just not used to traveling on the back of a horse."

"Just be glad they were worried about your column or we may have had to walk all the way. They wanted to move fast or they wouldn't have let us ride."

"How do you know they were worried about my column and not your men?" Dietrich demanded.

"They never saw my team," Troy reasoned. "We don't even know if they're still out there."

Dietrich gave Troy a tired smile. "Don't we? Your team does have a reputation for rescuing your teammates."

"Your men threw an awful lot of lead at them," Troy replied. "We don't know if any of them were injured. They may very well be on their way to a hospital. We can't count on them Captain."

"I suppose you are right," Dietrich admitted with a sigh. "As odd as it may seem, I suppose I was counting on their loyalty to you to save us."

"What about your column?"

The officer shrugged. "They may return and they may not. You said they didn't even stop to check on me."

"No," Troy admitted, "they slowed down next to the halftrack but by the time I got out from under that dead guard they were already too far away to risk calling to them. The last thing I wanted to do was draw the attention of the Arabs."

"They probably think I'm dead," Dietrich nodded.

"Wouldn't they come back to retrieve the bodies?"

"Yes, but it could be hours before they do that. Our tracks will be long gone by then and they may never find us."

"Then I guess it's up to us."

"Just what so you have in mind Sergeant?"

"I don't know yet," Troy admitted, "but I'm working on it."

"It might be a good idea to work fast," Dietrich suggested dryly, "the longer we stay here the better our chances of winding up dead."

"Worried Captain?"

Dietrich glanced at the door and nodded. "Yes Sergeant, I am."

"There are four guards outside," Troy announced a short time later. "They have two in front and two around the back. We can't take on four guards alone. We're going to have to wait until some of them go to sleep."

"What if they don't go to sleep?"

"Then we improvise," Troy grinned.

"Four guards, they must consider us dangerous prisoners," Dietrich mused. He glanced around at the bare interior of the tent. There was nothing in there was wasn't absolutely essential, and that included bedding. The captain had scooped a bed out of the sand and was lying on the pile. The interior was pitch dark since there was not a lantern or candle to offer any light. He scooted into the sand and tried to get some sleep despite Troy's pacing.

"They'd be right," Troy grinned. "They just don't know how dangerous yet. Maybe we can correct that problem."

"You and your men are quite adept at that sort of thing," Dietrich admitted. He opened one eye and looked at Troy. "Have you come up with a plan?"

"Not yet," Troy began, "but I'm…"

"…working on it," Dietrich finished for him. "Please do so quietly so that I can get some sleep. Wake me up when you're ready to leave." The officer rolled over onto his side and fell asleep.

"What makes you so sure you're going with me?" Troy asked of the sleeping officer. When he didn't get an answer he went back to pacing.

The Arabs retired for the night leaving only a few guards to watch over the camp. The four guards outside of the tent still moved about giving Troy little opportunity to slip past them. The hours wore on and the sky began to lighten.

There was soft thud from outside, followed by another. Troy turned at the sound of a knife slicing through the side of the tent. Running toward the sound he saw the last rays of the moon shining through the hole in the tent wall.

"Troy."

"Moffitt," Troy answered. Turning toward the sleeping officer he prepared to wake Dietrich. The captain was already awake and watching him.

"I wasn't completely sure you would take me along," the German admitted.

"You'd better get moving or we'll leave you behind yet," Troy growled. He offered a hand and Dietrich reached up and took it.

"Hurry!" Moffitt hissed.

Troy shoved Dietrich through the slit in the tent wall and followed after him. The two Arab guards lay side by side on the ground next to the tent. Tully and Hitch were crouched next to them watching for the guards in the front. They both grinned at Troy as he rushed past.

"Move it!" Troy growled. He took the rifle that Moffitt handed him. Waving Dietrich ahead of him he followed Moffitt through the darkened tents toward the edge of the wadi. Tully and Hitch followed.

An Arab stepped out of one of the tents as the sergeants passed. Seeing the intruders he opened his mouth to shout the alarm. Tully and Hitch turned as one and clubbed him into silence with their rifles. Another Arab stepped out to investigate and met the same fate.

Moffitt picked up the pace as they reached the edge of the wadi. Dietrich and Troy reached the top right behind him. Tully and Hitch had stayed behind to cover them when they crossed the open so Troy and Moffitt stopped to cover them as they climbed the slope.

The sun was peeking over the hills sending a gray light to chase away the night. Below the Arabs were beginning to stir.

"You waited long enough to come in," Troy whispered to Moffitt as they lay side by side on the sand and watched the privates claw their way to the top of the hill.

"We didn't want the Arabs to see us coming," the Brit replied. "We held back until dark and then had to search the wadis to find their camp." Moffitt grinned self-consciously. "I really didn't expect them to ride this far before stopping for the night."

"Thanks for coming for me."

"I had to," Moffitt answered.

"Had to? Why?"

"I think Tully and Hitch would have mutinied if I had done anything else," the Brit explained with a smile.

Troy laughed and checked on the progress of the two privates. They were about halfway up the slope and moving steadily. The camp was starting to come alive and the sergeants focused their attention on covering their men.

Behind them Dietrich had reached the jeeps and paused to catch his breath. Looking behind him he saw both sergeants ignoring him to watch the Arab camp. He glanced at the jeeps. He could take one of them and make his escape. Troy and his men could fit in the other one. He glanced at the jeeps again and noticed that there weren't any rifles in sight. It would be dangerous to go unarmed but he would have the fast little vehicle to outrun any danger. Taking a step toward the jeeps he glanced behind him again.

Hitch and Tully had just reached the summit of the hill and were coming toward the jeeps. Moffitt and Troy were just turning to follow the younger men. He sighed; his window of opportunity had just closed. Standing next to the jeeps he waited for the four men to reach him.

"Get in the jeep Captain," Troy ordered as he dropped his rifle into the boot and climbed behind the 50. "That camp is waking up and they're going to be missing us any moment."

Dietrich slid into the seat beside Troy's driver. The jeep nearly jumped out from under him as they made their escape. Behind him he heard the first alarms being raised in the Arab camp. Holding on, he prepared for a fast, rough ride.

The jeeps burst out onto the desert floor as the first rays of sun reached over the hills. Both drivers were hunched over their steering wheels concentrating on putting distance between them and the Arab camp. The jeeps fairly flew across the distance. The hills around them made Dietrich nervous and he was glad they were finally going to be traveling over a flatter terrain. Neither jeep slowed as they raced between the many hills still dotting the landscape.

Dietrich was looking behind when the jeep suddenly swerved, throwing him into Private Hitchcock. He grabbed for support and twisted to see what had caused the abrupt change in direction. He expected to see Arabs swarming out of the surrounding hills; instead he saw his own column trying to head them off.

Troy's jeep ducked between two hills and into a gap that led away from the column. Shells began to drop around them but the little jeep quickly out distanced them. Dietrich couldn't help but admire the skill of Troy's driver as they deftly dodged the shells without losing any speed. He looked back to see Troy watching behind them and clinging to the 50.

Tully saw the column about the same time that Hitch spotted it. While Hitch swerved into the gap, Tully was already past it and there was nowhere for him to go. Circling around he tried to follow the other jeep but several patrol cars rushed to cut him off. A gap appeared between the next two hills and Tully headed for it but a halftrack managed to get in his way and forced him to bypass the escape route. Shells began dropping all around him, each one closer than the last. Tully turned to try to get around a halftrack but Moffitt waved him off. He saw the reason a moment later when another halftrack pulled out of the gap he had intended to use.

Tully circled again but the Germans were closing in.

"It's no use Tully," Moffitt called. "They have us surrounded. If we keep fighting we'll both be killed, and Troy wouldn't like that."

Tully nodded and stopped the jeep. Putting his hands in the air he watched the Germans approach.

"At least Troy got away," Moffitt commented from the rear of the jeep.

"With Dietrich," Tully added with satisfaction.

"With Dietrich," Moffitt added thoughtfully.