1967 - Have This One on Me (17 page)

‘Come on!’ Girland exclaimed. ‘Fast now!’

They followed him up the hill.

Thick white smoke began to cascade up into the sky from where the helicopter had crashed. The slight wind took the smoke away from them. Girland suddenly stopped. The others crowded around him. He looked at Jan.

‘We could have started a forest fire, couldn’t we?’

Jan looked at the swirling smoke and nodded.

‘Yes ... listen’

They could hear the roar of the flames, the crackling of burning trees and the smoke was becoming denser. They could also feel the heat of the blaze.

‘The wind’s taking it down the hill,’ Girland said. ‘If the wind changes, we could be in trouble. We’ll go down this side of the hill.’ He turned to Worthington. ‘Give Jan your gun.’

Worthington hesitated, then reluctantly handed the gun to Jan.

‘We two go first,’ Girland said to Jan. ‘Come on.’

As they started down the hill, the smoke swirled overhead.

In a few minutes, Girland thought, there would be an umbrella of smoke over the hill, and they would be invisible to the probing eyes of a helicopter pilot. They need not worry about keeping to the trees. They could now take the quickest way down.

The crackling and the roaring of the flames as the flames leapt from one dry tree to another made a terrifying sound. The heat was becoming intense.

Moving fast, leaving the other three well behind, Girland and Jan slid, slithered and ran down the narrow mountain path through the forest, heading towards the valley.

Suddenly Girland pulled up and Jan nearly cannoned into him.

‘Listen!’

Faintly above the sound of the forest fire, they could hear the barking of dogs. The two men looked at each other.

‘Do you think we are moving right into them?’ Jan asked his face smoke-streaked and worried.

‘We’ve got to get down, ‘ Girland said. ‘Let’s get this organised. I’ll go on. You wait here for three minutes, then you come after me. Tell the others also to wait three minutes before coming after you.’

Jan nodded and Girland again started down the path. He was now very alert, his eyes searching the ground ahead of him. There was a lot of cover: big boulders, trees and patches and high grass. It was difficult to get a clear view. He continued on down, gun in hand, aware the barking of dogs was getting nearer.

He finally reached a thick clump of shrubs. He paused.

Below him was a road, beyond the road, a forest. He hesitated, then as he was about to slide down the bank to the road, he heard a halftrack armoured truck coming up the road. He got behind a tree.

The halftrack with four young soldiers, all carrying automatic rifles, sitting in it, chugged by. The sun reflected on their steel helmets. He waited until the halftrack continued past, climbing the twisting hill road, then he slid down the bank.

He ran across the road and dived down the bank into the forest.

He stopped, turned and waited. He could hear another halftrack coming up the road. He looked anxiously across the road and saw Jan coming down.

Jan also heard the halftrack and he stopped short. Both men, either side of the road, watched the vehicle pass.

Girland climbed back up the bank.

‘Stay with the others,’ he called. ‘See them across. I’ll go on.’

Jan nodded.

Girland turned and began the sharp descent through the trees.

Jan waited for the others to join him.

The barking of the dogs grew louder.

As Budovec brought the helicopter to a bumpy landing, and then slumped over the controls, Smernoff opened the cabin door and jumped to the ground.

The three soldiers, guarding the landing ground, came forward at a run. Their young, immature faces were excited.

‘Get him out!’ Smernoff barked. ‘He’s hurt.’

Without bothering further about Budovec, Smernoff walked quickly across to where his jeep was waiting.

His stride faltered slightly when he saw Malik standing by the jeep. His dark cruel face tightened, then he joined Malik who was staring up at the hill, watching the helicopter hovering against the blue sky. There came a rattle of automatic weapon fire.

‘What do they think they’re doing?’ Malik rasped. ‘Are they firing at them?’

Furious, Smernoff looked skywards. There came a faint bang of a revolver shot. As the two men watched, the helicopter h e e l e d out of control and smashed down into the forest.

Immediately, there was an explosion, and a moment later part of the forest was in flames.

‘Girland!’ Malik snarled. ‘The fools. Didn’t I tell you with Girland you just can’t mount a straightforward operation?’ He watched the smoke come down in great dark waves, blotting out the forest. ‘Now, we have a forest fire. The wind is taking it away from them. Why haven’t you caught them before now?’

Smernoff wiped his sweating face.

‘It is just a matter of time,’ he said. ‘We’ll catch them. They are surrounded.’

‘You should have had them by now!’ Malik said in disgust.

‘Look at that blaze! How can your troops get up there now?’

‘Well, Girland and the others can’t get down either, so they will have to go down the other side of the hill,’ Smernoff said.

‘I have three hundred men there waiting for them ... men and dogs. It’s just a matter of time.’

‘Give me a cigarette,’ Malik said.

‘Here ... don’t you ever smoke your own?’

Malik lit the cigarette and drew the smoke into his lungs.

‘I don’t want them killed,’ he said, leaning against the jeep. ‘They must be captured alive.’

‘How can we capture a man like Girland alive?’ Smernoff demanded. ‘That isn’t possible!’

‘I want them alive,’ Malik said. ‘I will make you responsible if any of them are killed. I must have them alive. They have information we need.’

‘Why didn’t you say so before?’ Smernoff said, exasperated.

He ran across to the radio truck, parked under the trees.

Malik again looked at the hill, watching the orange-coloured flames, hearing the crackling of the burning trees, seeing the vast umbrella of smoke, and even from where he was standing, feeling the intense heat.

* * *

The wind had veered to the southeast, and now smoke was beginning to settle over the tree tops, making a curtain of thin mist.

Girland moved silently through the forest, gun in hand, his eyes probing ahead.

He could no longer hear the dogs barking. In the far distance, he could hear the sound of the fire, and the occasional sharp crackle as some dry tree was caught in the approaching flames.

He kept on. seeing the edge of the forest ahead of him and the sunlight now misty with smoke.

Then he stopped abruptly. He heard voices. He slid behind a tree, listening. A man was saying something in Czech. Satisfied that there was no one in the forest, Girland again moved forward and then saw a steep bank ahead of him that led down into a narrow road. Moving like a ghost, he approached the edge of the forest, and sheltering behind a tree trunk, he looked down on to the road.

A big, covered army truck was standing by the grass verge.

Three soldiers, sweating in the heat, clutching automatic weapons, stood by the truck as their N.C.O. gave them instructions.

Girland surveyed the scene, then moved cautiously back.

He saw Jan coming through the forest and he waved to him.

Jan joined him.

‘There are four men down there,’ Girland said, ‘and a truck. We can grab the truck, use their uniforms and get to the frontier. What do you think?’

Jan nodded. He pulled Worthington’s gun from his hip pocket.

‘You’ll have to handle it ... I can’t speak the language,’ Girland said. ‘Put the fear of God into them. They’re all young. I’ll be covering you.’

Jan nodded again and moved forward. He reached the top of the bank. Girland was right behind him.

They looked at each other, then Girland nodded.

At the top of his voice, Jan yelled, ‘Don’t move!’

The four men froze. Slowly, the N.C.O. turned his head and looked up at Jan, saw the threatening pistol and turned a whitish green.

‘Drop your weapons!’ Jan snapped.

The automatic weapons clattered to the ground.

‘Turn around! Keep your hands still!’

Mala, Blanca and Worthington now joined them. Girland slid down the bank and collected the rifles which he loaded into the truck.

Jan came down the bank and joined him.

‘Tell them to take their uniforms off,’ Girland said, stepping back to cover the four men with his gun.

Jan snapped the order. Hurriedly and with panic, the four men stripped off their uniforms and dropped them into the road.

Girland found a coil of rope in the truck. He cut it into lengths. While Jan threatened the four men, Girland tied their hands and legs. Then they lifted each man into the truck.

‘Warn them if they make a sound they will be shot,’ Girland said and then he beckoned to the two girls and Worthington to come down to the road.

Ten minutes later. Girland and Jan wearing the Czech uniforms, the two girls and Worthington sitting on the floor of the truck, both Blanca and Worthington, guns in hand, the truck moved forward, with Girland at the wheel.

Jan was wearing the N.C.O.’s uniform that scarcely fitted his broad frame. He held an automatic rifle across his thick thighs.

‘Now where do we go?’ Girland asked.

‘First to the left, up the road. Don’t drive fast.’

They could hear the helicopter droning overhead.

As they reached the turning and as Girland swung the truck down the long, narrow lane, they saw a jeep coming fast towards them, sending a cloud of dust behind it.

‘Get under cover!’ Jan shouted through the rear window.

Hurriedly the two girls and Worthington dragged a tarpaulin that was folded against the side of the truck over them and the four bound soldiers. They lay flat, the tarpaulin covering them.

There was a young, fat officer and two soldiers in the jeep.

The officer waved to Girland and the jeep stopped. Girland brought the truck to a standstill.

The officer glared at him.

‘Where do you think you’re going?’ he demanded.

Girland had no idea what he was saying. He looked at Jan who leaned across him and made a sloppy salute.

‘Orders, Comrade Lieutenant,’ he said. ‘The divisional commander instructed me to return to headquarters.’

The Lieutenant got out of the jeep.

Girland thumbed back the safety catch of his revolver. He hid the gun down by his side, his face expressionless.

‘Who is your divisional commander?’ the Lieutenant barked.

‘Colonel Smerzh,’ Jan said placidly.

The Lieutenant stepped hurriedly back.

‘What are you waiting for?’ he exclaimed. ‘Get along!’

Girland, at Jan’s nod, engaged gear and the truck moved past the jeep.

‘Well ... well ...’ Girland grinned. ‘What was it you said?’

Jan told him.

‘Smerzh is an important man. I’ve often seen his photo in the papers. I took a chance.’

‘It worked.’

‘We have a little less than a hundred kilometres before we reach the frontier,’ Jan said. He turned around and called to Blanca. ‘You can come out now.’ He smiled encouragingly at the girls as they emerged from under the heavy tarpaulin.

Girland slightly increased the speed of the truck. He was feeling more confident. After some thirty minutes of fast driving, they came to a main road.

‘Better get under cover again,’ he called.

Reluctantly, Blanca pulled the heavy tarpaulin over them.

Once on the main road, they began to pass army trucks heading in the opposite direction towards the forest fire. Once, a fat, fiery-faced Sergeant leaned out of his jeep, and shouted at them.

Girland ignored him and kept on. Watching in his driving mirror, he saw the jeep was also keeping on.

A helicopter came low and buzzed them. Jan leaned out of the window and waved. Seeing the steel helmet, the pilot waved back and veered away.

They drove for a further forty kilometers, meeting little military traffic, then rounding a sharp bend, Girland saw a road block ahead. Two halftrack-armoured cars were across the road.

Four soldiers and an N.C.O. were standing in the middle of the road.

‘Here’s trouble,’ Girland said as he slowed the truck. ‘I leave it to you.’

Both thumbed back the safety catches on their weapons as the N.C.O., a young, heavily built man came up to the truck.

Jan spoke rapidly to him. Girland had no idea what he was saying, but whatever he said, it had the acquired effect.

The N.C.O. nodded and stepped back. He waved to the soldier sitting in one of the halftracks who started his engine and moved the vehicle out of the way.

‘Go ahead,’ Jan said quietly.

Girland engaged gear and moved the truck past the roadblock, then he accelerated and drove the truck fast down the long, straight road.

‘I think we’re through now,’ Jan said. ‘I gave him the same story. This Colonel must be quite a man.’

But he wasn’t to know that the N.C.O. reported the movements of every vehicle that passed through the circle that Smernoff had drawn on the map.

Smernoff was sitting at the two-way radio in the farmhouse, listening in to the reports as they came in. Malik was pacing up and down, his hands clasped behind his back, his face stony and angry.

Voices kept repeating ‘Nothing to report. Smoke making the operation difficult. The dogs are frightened by the fire.’ There was a long pause, then a voice came in, ‘Division Seven. A truck with two soldiers returning to headquarters, ordered by Colonel Smerzh.’

Smernoff stiffened. He flicked down a switch.

‘Division Seven,’ he said sharply. ‘Repeat your message. Colonel Smerzh is not directing this operation.’

There was a confused pause, then the voice said, ‘Repeat: a truck with one N.C.O. and a soldier returning to headquarters, ordered by Colonel Smerzh.’

Smernoff pulled a large scale map towards him.

‘Give me the location.’

‘Square ten ...’

Sensing something important was happening, Malik came to stand behind Smernoff as he studied the map.