The Cross of Iron (53 page)

‘Come over here,’ he ordered curtly. Turning round, he saw that Steiner was leaning easily against the wall. ‘Stand at attention.’ Steiner took a half step forward and let his arms dangle. ‘You’ll learn that too,’ Stransky snapped. At that moment Triebig entered. At the sight of Steiner blood rushed to his pallid face. ‘You called me, sir,’ he said to Stransky.

Stransky lit a cigarette, placed the used match carefully in an ash tray, and nodded. ‘How far has my bunker progressed?’

‘The men have started,’ Triebig reported. ‘It’s slow work; the ground is very hard.’

‘How deep is it now?’

‘About a foot and a half.’

‘The bunker is to be ten feet deep. Sergeant Steiner will work on it tonight until that depth is reached.’

‘Tonight?’ Triebig exclaimed, astonished.

‘Tonight; in fact he is to begin at once. Give him the necessary tools. I shall hold you responsible for having that bunker ready by tomorrow morning.’

‘Yes, sir,’ Triebig stammered. Steiner had listened with an impassive face. Now Stransky turned to him. ‘You wait outside.’ He remained silent until Steiner had left the room. ‘I intend to play a different tune with that fellow now,’ he said then.

‘Did he refuse?’ Triebig asked in alarm.

Stransky shook his head. ‘I’ve changed my mind. We are going to call the whole thing off. You go to see Kiesel tomorrow morning. Listen carefully.’

While he explained his plan, he kept striding back and forth in the room. Triebig listened attentively, and the worried expression slowly passed from his face.

Outside, Triebig found Steiner standing with hands in his pockets, a cigarette drooping from his lips. ‘Come along!’ Triebig ordered him. They walked around the house to the back garden.

‘You’ll find tools here,’ Triebig said, pointing to a spot along the wall of the house. In spite of the darkness Steiner could see freshly turned earth and a dark rectangle in the ground. He went up to it and glanced in. Then he turned to Triebig, who was watching him uncertainly. ‘What are you staying around for?’ he asked without removing the cigarette from the corner of his mouth.

‘I want you to know that I have nothing to do with this business.’ 

‘That’s fortunate for you,’ Steiner murmured. Since Triebig made no move to leave, Steiner took a step toward him. ‘I’ve heard that you suffered a terrible loss today,’ he said. ‘But bear up. There are plenty more of that type around.’

Triebig stared at him with hatred. His voice shook as he said: ‘I have only one wish, and the commander shares it. We could court-martial you or get rid of you some other way. But we want to have the pleasure of seeing you croak.’

Steiner smiled. ‘You’ll have to take good care of yourself if you want to outlive me.’

‘You’re an idiot,’ Triebig said hoarsely, ‘an idiot and a stupid fool.’ His voice dropped to a whisper. ‘Do you think anyone would believe you?’

‘Brandt would,’ Steiner said. ‘But if I wanted to tell tales, I would have done so long ago.’

‘And if you had, it would be your word against mine, and you may be sure an officer would be believed rather than you, of all people.’ He laughed contemptuously. ‘You lost your chance, Steiner. You had me until you left the bunker and not a second longer.’

‘That may be,’ Steiner replied. ‘But you’re too insignificant to be worth jawing about. You’re so insignificant you’re not worth the bullet I’m going to send through your filthy hide one of these days. Not worth it, but I’ll have to do it sooner or later. Go on, get out of my sight.’

Triebig clenched his fists in helpless fury. ‘Thank you for the warning,’ he snarled.

‘You’re entirely welcome,’ Steiner said coldly.

Triebig stood for a second leaning forward as though he were going to topple over, or spring upon Steiner. Then he turned on his heel and stalked off. As Steiner looked round he saw to his surprise two figures emerge from the dark background of the garden and come toward him. He recognized them immediately.

‘Where are you two coming from?’ he asked, shaking his head. 

‘Over there,’ Schnurrbart replied, jerking his thumb over his shoulder.

‘It was highly interesting,’ Krüger murmured, lighting a cigarette.

‘Did you hear what we were talking about?’

‘Not quite,’ Schnurrbart said. ‘But it was interesting anyway. Are you coming along?’

‘Not at the moment,’ Steiner said. ‘I have to dig out the commander’s bunker tonight.’

The two stared at him unbelievingly. ‘Who says?’ Schnurrbart asked softly.

‘The commander.’

‘Well, what do you know,’ Krüger growled. ‘This gets more interesting by the minute.’ He turned to Schnurrbart. ‘I’ll get the fellows.’ Without waiting for an answer, he sped off.

‘What’s the idea?’ Steiner asked.

Schnurrbart hunched his shoulders. ‘Do you think we’re going to leave you here alone? Six will do it a lot faster.’

‘You’re mad,’ Steiner muttered, swallowing hard. ‘What were you doing here anyhow?’

Schnurrbart sat down on the ground. ‘Seemed as if you’d been gone a long time and we got to wondering. Krüger thought we ought to take a look around here, so we started out. Just as we reached the house we saw you and Triebig going round the back. That looked funny, so we waited until Triebig left. That’s all.’ 

‘That’s a lot,’ Steiner said, taking a deep breath. He fought against the impulse to place his hand on Schnurrbart’s shoulder.

‘They’ll be right along,’ Schnurrbart said, fussing with his pipe. Steiner looked at his watch. It was shortly after ten. Suddenly they heard a voice speaking loudly in the street. Schnurrbart jumped to his feet. ‘That’s März,’ he said worriedly. ‘What’s he doing here.’

Hasty footsteps sounded along the path from the street. A moment later five men appeared around the corner of the house. Steiner recognized the foremost as Lieutenant März. ‘What’s going on here?’ März inquired sharply. Behind him came Faber, Maag and Kern, anxious looks on their faces. Krüger stepped up to Schnurrbart and answered his questioning look with a shrug. ‘We ran into him on the way,’ he whispered. ‘When he heard what it was about, he insisted on coming with us.’ He looked at Steiner, who was answering the company commander’s question. He merely repeated the commander’s order.

‘And why was such an order given?’ März asked curtly.

‘I don’t know. We were having a pleasant chat.’

‘By chat you mean-?’

Steiner smiled. ‘A private conversation.’

‘With the commander’s approval?’

Steiner rubbed his chin. His smile broadened as he murmured: ‘I am cautious by nature.’

März considered for a few seconds. Then he ordered Steiner to begin work and turned to the others. ‘You return to your quarters.’ Seeing their disgruntled expressions, he added: ‘If it turns out that the sergeant needs you, you’ll be informed.’

The men grinned significantly at one another. With encouraging nods to Steiner, they straggled off. März stayed long enough to see Steiner jump into the pit and pick up one of the spades. Then he turned away and went out along the garden path to the street.

Back at his headquarters, he telephoned Kiesel at once. The conversation took some time, since Kiesel had to check with Brandt. When März laid down the receiver, he smiled with satisfaction. He waited a little while. Then he picked up the telephone again. Stransky answered sleepily. März apologized for disturbing him at this late hour; he had received a telephone call from Regiment, he said. ‘I hear that Steiner is supposed to be with you now,’ he went on. ‘The lieutenant-colonel wants him sent to regimental headquarters at once.’

He fell silent, raising his eyebrows and listening intently. It was so still at the other end of the line that for a moment he thought Stransky had hung up. Then he heard Stransky again, speaking tensely and with effort: ‘Very well, he will leave immediately.’ März heard several noises he could not interpret. Then the hum in the receiver stopped. The indifferent voice of the operator asked: ‘Are you through?’ März listened, not answering. ‘Are you through?’ the voice asked again. Then, after a short pause: ‘I am disconnecting.’

März turned to the window and looked out across the water. The mountains gleamed as though coated with frost, towering gravely into the star-sown sky. The night upon the mountains wore a sparkling diadem above a dark face, and stooped low over the sea, over the still surface of a curved mirror. As he saw, with a strange, constricted feeling in his breast, how sky and earth held one another in close embrace, he was conscious of a mute melancholy. Never before had he been so painfully aware of the banalities that filled his days to the very brim.

Triebig was startled out of sleep by the persistent shrilling of the telephone. Cursing, he groped his way unsteadily to the table. He came wide awake as soon as he heard Stransky’s voice. ‘Come over here!’ Stransky ordered him. ‘At once.’

Triebig stammered something and began dressing with feverish haste. He was so frightened that he was still trembling when, a few minutes later, he left the house. Before he entered the command post he tiptoed around the corner of the house and made sure that Steiner was still working. Then he went in rapidly. Stransky received him in a state of agitation such as Triebig had never before seen him display. He stood behind his desk, leaning forward with arms braced and shouted in a voice altogether out of control: ‘Where the devil have you been? Didn’t I say to come at once.’

‘I had to dress,’ Triebig replied, shaking.

Stransky’s face flushed. ‘Dress!’ he bellowed. ‘A soldier is always dressed, even when he’s in bed with a woman. Come over here! Where is Steiner?’

‘Working at your bunker, as you ordered,’ Triebig whispered, hesitantly stepping closer to the captain.

‘You are to take him to Regiment at once,’ Stransky said. ‘Regiment wants to see Steiner today, now. At’—he looked at his watch—‘at eleven o’clock. Do you know what that means?’

Triebig moved his lips soundlessly. He was so stunned by the news that he was unable to speak. In one sudden vision he saw disaster descending upon his own head. ‘It must be the report.’

Stransky nodded fiercely. ‘Certainly. Brandt must somehow have got wind of what happened tonight, and I’ll lay ten to one that that damned sneak März is behind it.’

‘You should have expected that,’ Triebig said tonelessly.

Stransky threw him a scornful look. ‘Of course I expected it; do you think I don’t know that I’m spied on every step of the way here?’ He laughed sarcastically. ‘Those gentlemen underestimate me. I’ll show them that a captain is a captain and a sergeant still a sergeant no matter how many times he crawls behind the back of the regimental commander.’ He began pacing the room.

Triebig moistened his lips with his tongue. ‘What do you intend to do?’

‘I need time,’ Stransky replied. ‘No matter what, you must speak to Brandt before Steiner sees him. Tell Brandt that I prefer to forgo the Iron Cross because it is beneath my dignity to have a decoration depend on the signature of a subordinate whose undisciplined conduct has bordered on open mutiny. Tomorrow I intend to send a written report to Regiment on his behaviour. You will also tell the commander that it is asking too much to expect me to seek a favour of a man with a criminal record who has every reason to wish me ill because a single word from me would suffice to put him where he has long deserved to be: up against a wall.’

Triebig gasped. ‘The lieutenant-colonel will..

Stransky cut him off with an angry wave of his hand. ‘The lieutenant-colonel,’ he said loudly, ‘will not be able to ignore the justified complaint of a battalion commander. I am thoroughly sick of being treated like a stupid boy by a sergeant who thinks he’s under the protection of the regimental commander. If my complaint is not accepted, I shall disregard channels and address myself directly to Division. I want you to repeat what I have said to the lieutenant-colonel word for word.’

‘Wouldn’t you prefer to give it to me in writing?’ Triebig asked anxiously.

Stransky sneered. ‘I should think not. They’re quite capable of twisting a noose for me out of anything written. It will be quite enough documentation for me to present my complaint on Steiner in writing tomorrow morning. And now repeat what you are to tell the lieutenant-colonel.’

He sat down at the table and while Triebig, acutely uncomfortable, repeated his words he made brief notes on a sheet of paper. When Triebig finished, he nodded his approval. ‘In general outline that is what we discussed this afternoon in case Steiner refused his signature. Put a bit more strongly, but that does no harm. One must not allow oneself to be intimidated; it’s essential to keep on the offensive. Start at once.’

Triebig left hurriedly. He returned first to his quarters, then went round to Steiner, who was standing up to his chest in the pit. Steiner looked up indifferently when he was spoken to. ‘Come along! You’re to go to Regiment.’

Steiner concealed his surprise, although he could not understand what Brandt could possibly want of him at this late hour. Since Triebig did not explain and strode rapidly ahead, he asked no questions. He regretted being weaponless, especially since Triebig was wearing his pistol. But then he smiled scornfully. As long as he did not turn his back on Triebig, the fellow would take care not to reach for his gun.

They had meanwhile passed through a good dozen black tunnels of streets, and he was gradually losing his sense of direction. At rare intervals they encountered a bored sentry who stood in front of a door and regarded them inquisitively. Their way led finally out of the confusion of tenement houses into a dark street lined by trees on both sides. Steiner glanced at his watch and discovered that they had already been walking for more than twenty minutes. At that moment they were hailed sharply. ‘Regimental command post?’ Triebig asked. Steiner saw the dim silhouette of a man who approached and asked for the password. ‘Kuban,’ Triebig returned, adding: ‘The commander is expecting us.’ By now the sentry had apparently recognized the officer’s uniform; he clicked his heels. On the right a wall loomed up out of the darkness; they passed through a gate guarded by another sentry. A short flight of steps led to a front door, and they entered a long hallway. ‘Wait here,’ Triebig said.