Chapter 31: Be prudent.
6:22 am
The Volkswagen Kübelwagen with Eva, Kay and El on board hurtled across the training ground, a boundless plain dotted with a few trees and a shooting range where Black Sun tanks practiced hitting targets.
Sometimes it reminds me of my school...
Kay thought, then turned to Eva:
"Can I ask you a question, Eva?"
"Tell me as well!" She replied.
"Do you know why Hilda hates the tankhatlon?"
As a reaction to that question, Eva braked sharply, giving her a fearful look.
"What's wrong with you now?" El asked, surprised.
"If Hilda hears you mention the tankathlon, she sends you out to sweep the streets until 2038 (and beyond)!" She warned her.
"Hilda is not here. Ergo, you can easily explain it to us." Kay answered, trying to reassure her.
Initially Eva remained silent, with her eyes downcast. Then she decided to speak:
"As I imagine you know, tankathlhon is a different sport from panzerfahren… In fact, there is only one rule: only light tanks, such as the Panzer I, can participate. And due to the lack of a real regulation, the participants sometimes committed disloyal or violent acts, other times they put the safety (and life) of other participants or spectators at risk. Over the years the intolerance of citizens and institutions has increased more and more: some spectators injured in Barcelona, a dead competitor in Palermo, a damaged house in Athens and so on. Thus, one day, due to the protests of groups of citizens and associations, the tankhatlon was finally made illegal, even though some members of the European federation of panzerfahren had proposed to regulate it."
"And what does Hilda have to do with all this?" El asked her.
"In the past, some of our students gave life to tankathlon matches or clandestine 1 vs 1 matches. Someone was injured… Or even she ended up in a coma. These misfortunes have increased Hilda's hatred of the sport."
Kay nodded.
"This don't surprise me… And what measures did you initiate to counter the phenomenon?"
"She set in motion the Gestapo and the SS. The first had eyes and ears everywhere, and gathered information of all kinds. The second dealt with the arrests. Once some of our comrades organized an underground match using a pair of stolen Panzer IIs. During the fight, one of the two tanks involuntarily fired at some female spectators."
Both Kay and El were horrified at the revelation.
"There… Were there any casualties?" She asked the dark-haired girl.
"No, but a couple of female spectators were injured."
"And then?"
"The police arrived at the scene and arrested both the participants and the spectators. The injured were transported to the hospital by ambulance, including the two organizers of the clandestine match."
"Why them too?"
"Leading the police patrols was Göring herself. When she saw what had happened he became enraged and beat them bloody. It took three SS to block her, if not…" She left the sentence hanging, as if she was afraid to finish it.
So even before Eva's death he could be brutal…
Kay thought.
"She came down hard on it." El commented.
"Yeah. But what did you want her to do when she saw some of the female spectators injured by machine gun fire?" Eva asked them.
"Through their arrogance, their imprudence and their disregard for the rules they put the lives of their companions at risk. They deserved a lesson, and Göring gave it to them." She added.
"And since then Hilda has started to see red whenever the tankatlhon was mentioned."
"Exact. Since then, here on board, no one even dares to mention that name."
"It doesn't surprise me…" Kay stated, thinking back to Hilda's reaction the night before.
Eva let out a sigh.
"For your own good it is better that you devote yourself solely to the panzerfahren. No tankathlon or one-on-one duels. If you do…"
"We understand, we will stay away from it." The blonde girl, who had understood the hint, interrupted her.
Relieved, Eva smiled.
"Better... Now let's continue the journey."
After a few moments the car took off again.