The Sleeping Beauty Raid-Chapter 3
"We're going to do what?" Chip Saunders stood face to face with Gil Hanley. "I don't believe this!"
"Those are our orders. Sgt. Troy and his men have accepted the assignment. They're working out the final details now. Our job is to help them in any way that we can." Gil faced Chip without flinching. "We have our orders Sargent." His voice softened. "All we can do is help to the best of our ability. This mission will happen with or without us. They ask for us. We've built a trusting working relationship with them."
Chip shook his head in frustration. "This is one crazy war."
"Troy did say that his man thinks crazy works for them. Remember?"
Chip laughed at the memory. Littlejohn had ask if the team was crazy and Troy had told him Pvt. Pettigrews' view on the matter. "Okay, we have our orders. We'll be ready." He was still shaking his head at the plan when Troy and his men returned.
They climbed out of the jeep and unloaded several bundles. Troy ordered his men to stash the bundles somewhere safe. The privates took them away as the sergeants stood talking in low tones. When they noticed him, Troy motioned him over. Saunders went reluctantly.
"Something wrong Sargent?" Moffitt had noticed his lack of enthusiasm.
"Are you guys sure about this?" Chip couldn't keep his reservations to himself.
Moffitt smiled. "I take it that Lt. Hanley filled you in on the details of the plan?"
"Yeah he did, and it sounds crazy."
"Just crazy enough to have half a chance of working." Troy added. "We wouldn't be going if we didn't think it had a chance."
"Half a chance." Saunders repeated Troys' own words back to him.
Troy shrugged. "Don't you ever take risks for a good cause?"
"When I have orders. One of the first things I learned in the army was to never volunteer for anything."
Moffitt and Troy exchanged grins. "This assignment is voluntary on your part too. All you have to do is say that you don't want it and we'll ask for someone else."
"Just try and back out now. You ask for us, remember?"
Troy nodded with a smile."I remember." He didn't mention that Saunders had specifically told him to ask for them if he were ever back their way. "It's not as bad as it sounds. We worked out a lot of the details with headquarters and G-2. The thing is, just like the last one, there is a strict time line we have to follow. We need to move out of here early tomorrow morning. There's an ambulance we need to catch."
Saunders nodded. "Okay, let's do this."
The privates had joined the rest of the squad. The sergeants joined them, their discussion ended in favor of other topics. Pettigrew was entertaining the crew with a story about how he and the young blond had been captured.
"And this Captain Ginter wanted to interrogate us. We had to stall for time so Hitch volunteered to answer all his questions. I'll tell you, by the time Hitch got done 'helping', that kraut didn't know which way was up." Tully began to repeat the contents of the interrogation as best he could remember them. The entire squad was chuckling and shaking their heads by the time he was done.
"I'd probably have shot you just on principle long before you had a chance to escape." Saunders laughed with the rest.
"Yeah, but that's the beauty of it Sargent." Hitchcock explained. "The captain didn't speak our language very well. He knew what I was saying but he was having trouble understanding it. He got lost in translation, you could say."
"I'd have shot you and then tried to figure it out." Saunders repeated.
"I'll keep that in mind Sargent." The blond returned with a smile. "But I have to admit, it was sort of fun."
"Like I said before," Littlejohn stated to everyones' amusement, "you guys must be nuts."
"Get yourselves something to eat. We leave at first light tomorrow." Lt. Hanley laughed with the others but quickly turned serious. "Be ready when the truck gets here."
"We going to walk again L.T.?" Billy Nelson ask. The others all stopped talking to hear the answer.
"We're taking a truck to their lines and from there we'll be riding in one of their trucks. We have to meet up with a few others when we get there." The lieutenant explained to his men.
"Ours or the underground?" Kirby ask.
"Germans." Hanley answered seriously. "No more questions. We can talk about it tomorrow." He gave them all a look that said the matter was settled. They took the hint and quit asking questions. The meal was eaten and the men settled in for the night. They shared the beer and the Scotch until it was gone. Tully and Hitch kept them entertained with stories from their adventures. The tales got wilder and wilder until Saunders and his men started calling them 'fish tales', stories that grew with each telling. They all laughed at the stories, including the men doing the telling.
Saunders sat back and watched the men enjoying themselves and as they laughed and swapped tales, he worried about the upcoming mission.