_Steel Nerves_
The sudden change from sunset's glow to murky shadows blinded Dave for
a moment as he entered the room followed by Freddy Farmer. His vision
cleared in a moment or two and he saw that the room into which he had
stepped was fitted out like an air operations center. There was every
conceivable kind of a gadget. He saw radio sets, plain wireless sets, a
row of field telephones, and what-not. Many of the instruments he saw
fitted to the walls, or attached to tables, were complete mysteries.
The whole scene, however, reminded him of a visit he had made three or
four years ago with his father to the experimental laboratory of the
General Electric Company at Schenectady, New York. The only difference
was that sane men had been in charge at Schenectady.
Suddenly, Dave pulled up short, and the blood pounded in his temples
as he saw the big hulk, Colonel Comstadt, seated in a chair in the
corner. The Gestapo man was chewing on a hunk of meat he clutched in
his big paws, but most of it was on his chin and down the front of his
tunic. He paused to leer and make sound deep in his throat.
"So the two little babies finally woke up, eh?" he rumbled. "That is
good. I was getting lonesome. Perhaps we can have some more good sport,
eh?"
"Sure!" Dave flung at him. "Just as soon as I find me a crow-bar, you
lop-sided car barn!"
The Gestapo man dropped his hunk of meat and lunged up on his feet.
"What is that?" he roared. "A cow barn?"
"That'll do even better!" Dave snapped at him, and set himself to dance
to the side in case the Gestapo man came after him.
If that was the big brute's intention, he did not have the chance to
carry it out. General von Peiplow glided in front of him with the
stealthy movement of a jungle panther.
"I will talk with them first, Colonel Comstadt," he said in a voice
that was almost a purr. "Perhaps later you will have another chance
to ... er, entertain them. For the present, that is all, Colonel."
The Gestapo man's eyes seemed to glow red. He clenched his big hands.
He moved his lips but no words came from them. Then slowly he lowered
his eyes before the other's steady stare.
"I receive my orders from _Herr_ Himmler," he muttered.
"And I receive mine from _Der Fuehrer_!" General von Peiplow said
softly. "You will wait outside, Colonel!"
The Gestapo man hesitated a fraction of a second longer, then shrugged
and moved toward the door. The look he flung Dave as he passed by was
like a white hot knife driving deep into the Yank's heart. In spite of
himself, Dave gulped and shuddered slightly.
"A nuisance, but necessary at times, is Colonel Comstadt," he heard von
Peiplow say. "But sit down, Gentlemen. Perhaps we will not find his
return necessary, eh?"
Dave didn't reply to that, nor did Freddy Farmer. They simply exchanged
glances and then dropped into the chairs the Nazi indicated with a wave
of his hand. General von Peiplow seated himself behind a huge desk,
clasped his hands on top of it, and smiled at them benignly.
"And, now, shall we start our little talk?" he asked after a moment or
so.
"Shoot," Dave said and folded his arms on his chest.
"Oh, quite!" Freddy murmured and did the same thing.
General von Peiplow chuckled softly and nodded his head.
"Brave men, both of you," he said. "I admire bravery and great courage,
even in my enemies. At times, though, bravery can be utter stupidity.
This, I am afraid, is one of those times. Do you want to be brave, or
stupid?"
"I want to play around with one of those gliders," Freddy said, and let
his gaze roam over the assortment of electrical gadgets. "Do you mind,
General?"
"I'm afraid I do," the German replied with a smile. "But I see what you
mean. You have sharp eyes, and a great interest in technical things,
eh?"
"Some," Freddy replied easily as Dave wondered what in heck the
two were talking about. "I'd say, though, that we're considerably
more advanced than you Jerries. For one thing, we don't have to use
auxiliary engines, at all."
"That is a lie!" General von Peiplow shouted in a loud voice. "I know
all that you're doing along that line. _Donder!_ You _Englanders_ have
hardly begun research work in that field."
"Have it your way, if you like," Freddy said with a nonchalant shrug.
"Perhaps what I saw them doing at Bristol was simply a mirage, a dream."
"Now, I know you lie!" von Peiplow snapped. "Bristol, England, is in
ruins. The Luftwaffe bombers have reduced it to dust. They.... Why do
you shake your head?"
"Because I think it's a blasted shame!" Freddy said. "A rotten, mean
trick!"
"It is war!" von Peiplow replied curtly. "It is necessary to bomb your
cities and towns to make you fool English realize that...."
"I don't mean that," Freddy Farmer interrupted evenly. "I mean it's a
dirty shame nobody has told the population of Bristol that their city
is in ruins. Imagine living in a house day after day, and night after
night, and nobody telling you it's really nothing but dust! They'll be
no end surprised, General, when they find out. Or is that a new Nazi
technique? You bomb a building flat and don't even tell the people in
it? A very queer war, I say!"
"And very amusing, your little joke, Flight Lieutenant Farmer!" the
German said tight lipped. "We _know_ what happened at Bristol. We have
cameras and reconnaissance planes, too, you know. Enough of this
foolish talk, though! There is something else much more important.
Flight Lieutenant Dawson! What about the message you mentioned? What
message?"
Dave scowled and acted as though he were reluctant to answer the
question. General von Peiplow leaned forward on the desk and fixed Dave
with a steady stare.
"Do we need Colonel Comstadt's help to refresh your memory?" he
murmured softly.
"Take it easy," Dave grunted. "I'm just thinking up the answer. A
message, you say?"
"A message," the Nazi repeated quietly. "You three pilots came over
here for a special reason. The reason was to take photographs of this
area. Ah, yes! I examined your burnt planes personally, and saw the
fire charred camera in each. There was also a camera in the third
plane. The one that was shot down in flames on its way back to England.
Yes, you came over to take pictures. Naturally, we Germans always
prepare for the unexpected. And so we were prepared to greet you three
R.A.F. gentlemen. My pilots could have shot you down with no trouble at
all. However, I was curious. I desired to find out how you happened to
come straight to this area."
"I should think you could guess that!" Freddy Farmer suddenly cut in
scornfully. "The chaps in the plane that returned last Tuesday night
told us some funny business was going on at this spot. So, Air Ministry
simply ordered us to buzz over and take a picture or two. Dave and I
met up with a bit of hard luck. But the third chap's pictures will tell
Air Ministry all it wants to know. If you're a brainy chap, General,
and I must admit you don't look a bit like Colonel Comstadt, you'll
evacuate this area in a hurry."
General von Peiplow smiled at Freddy, but there was no warmth in his
smile, and less in his eyes. The deep rooted hatred for a superior race
glittered in their depths.
"It is plain to see that you are truly English to the very core!" the
German presently snapped. "Nothing but lies, and more lies, come from
your lips. No wonder your country is doomed to defeat by German arms.
I will correct your lies. Not one of those British Lockheed Hudsons
returned to its base last Tuesday night. They were _all_ destroyed. I
saw that with my own eyes, for it was I who had charge of destroying
them! And Air Ministry did not send them over to _this_ spot. They
were high and on their way farther inland when they suddenly met their
doom. No, it was something else that sent you three straight to _this_
area today. As for your comrade, the third one? Believe he escaped
back, to England, if you wish. I am telling you, though, that he is
dead!"
General von Peiplow directed a curt nod at Freddy Farmer, and then
turned his attention to Dave.
"And now that message," he said. "What message? Where did it come from,
and who...?"
The German suddenly stopped, and his eyes flew open wide in amazed
consternation.
"That swine I sent back?" he choked as though questioning himself. Then
with a vicious shake of his head, "But that is impossible! Impossible!
He was dead, and he had been thoroughly searched."
Dave leaped at the opportunity presented as General von Peiplow let his
voice trail off and sat scowling into space.
"Stay with it, General!" Dave said. "You're getting close! You're
getting mighty warm. Just stay with that poor fellow you murdered and
dumped out over England. Give up? Want a little bit of a clue?"
The Nazi Luftwaffe high ranker seemed not to hear Dave. He stared at
space for a moment longer, then suddenly dug two fingers into his tunic
pocket and pulled out a wrinkled bit of paper. Dave, seeing it, caught
his breath sharply, and impulsively started to reach into his own tunic
pocket. The paper von Peiplow held in his hand was the pencil drawn map
Colonel Trevor had given Dave before the take-off from Eighty-Four's
field. It didn't require a single guess to know that Freddy and he had
been thoroughly searched while they were unconscious.
Von Peiplow studied the map a moment and then looked up at Dave.
"And the message that went with this?" he asked. "The information it
contained?"
Dave swallowed hard and steeled himself. He reached up and tapped a
finger on his head.
"In here," he said evenly. "And you can whistle for it. But don't _you_
know what's going on over here?"
"I'm afraid that won't work either, Flight Lieutenant Dawson," the Nazi
said in his soft but deadly toned voice. "The spy we caught and sent
back to England with our compliments could never have taken this map
back with him. He was searched too thoroughly."
"Who says he brought it back?" Dave taunted him. "So you give up? You
don't want that clue?"
"Clue?" the German muttered with a frown.
"Sure, clue!" Dave said lightly. "Don't you want to find out how you
stumbled? How all the dope about this place dropped into the hands of
British Intelligence? All the dope on your new weapon you _think_ is
going to make it possible for you to hold the occupied countries no
matter how many troops your boss, Hitler, withdraws? Gosh! You're not
_really_ surprised, are you? You mean you didn't even _guess_ that
British Intelligence was wise to you? Freddy! That's another bet you
owe me. My hunch the Nazis were completely in the dark was absolutely
right."
"Good grief, yes!" Freddy Farmer gasped. "But I would have been willing
to bet anything, Dave! I was sure that they...."
"Silence!" von Peiplow thundered. And for the first time uncontrolled
rage showed on his good looking face. "What clue? Tell me, or I'll call
in Colonel Comstadt this instant!"
"Call him in, the big ox!" Dave snapped back. "But I'm giving you
the clue, anyway. Here it is. Have you got false teeth, General von
Peiplow?"
The Nazi stiffened in his chair, and for a second his eyes went glassy,
as though he had received a terrific punch on the nose.
"False teeth, false teeth!" he sputtered. Then slamming a clenched fist
down on the desk, "So that was it? He had a hollowed-out false tooth!"
"Hand him the gold medal, Freddy," Dave said out of the corner of his
mouth. "You're nearer than I am."
If General von Peiplow heard the remark it bounced off him like a
pebble off a tin roof. He was shaking his head like a boxer getting
up off the floor at the count of nine. For a moment or so Dave and
Freddy could have been a thousand miles away for all the attention the
Luftwaffe high ranker paid them. Presently, though, the muscles of his
face ceased jitter-bugging around and he fixed them both with a brittle
stare.
"So that swine did carry information back to England?" he said in a
voice that promised death for those who had searched Colonel Trevor's
dead brother's body. "That was the message you spoke of, eh? Well, I
must thank you for mentioning it. Now, you will tell me what it said.
Exactly how much did that swine find out?"
Dave shrugged and folded his arms across his chest. Freddy also
shrugged and calmly scratched an imaginary mosquito bite on his right
ankle. The corners of von Peiplow's mouth tightened slightly and his
clasped hands whitened a bit at the knuckles.
"I have already said I admire you two as brave men," he said evenly.
"And I have also said that courage can also be stupidity. You two
are young. You have your whole lives before you. True, you are my
prisoners, and I cannot permit you to return to England. However, I
can make you very comfortable on this side of the English Channel. And
I can give you my word that once Germany has won the war we will see
that you are given high and most satisfactory positions in the Reich's
commercial air industry. Now, would that not be better than ... than
suffering tonight at the hands of Colonel Comstadt? Would that not be
far better than perhaps not seeing tomorrow's sunrise?"
"It might rain tomorrow, and there wouldn't be any sunrise," Dave
grunted.
Von Peiplow whistled air through his clenched teeth.
"A man is a fool to joke with death!" he bit off. "It is regrettable
that you are but mere boys. But you have taken up arms against a
Germany struggling to live, and so your young age cannot save you. You
play at being grown men, and so you shall be treated as grown men.
Answer my question or I will order Colonel Comstadt, and his men, to
force the answer from your lips. _How much does British Intelligence
know?_"
Dave's head was roaring and it felt as though in the next second it
were going to fly off his shoulders. His heart was a lifeless lump
of ice in his chest, and the very air he breathed seemed to burn the
walls of his lungs. Just the same he closed his lips tight and stared
defiantly back at General von Peiplow. He heard not so much as a murmur
from Freddy Farmer. So he knew that his pal was also giving the German
the silence treatment.
Von Peiplow glanced first at one, then at the other. After a moment or
so he bobbed his head and banged both hands palms down on the desk.
"Very well, then!" he barked and pushed up from his chair. "You wish
to be fools, so...."
The Luftwaffe high ranker did not finish the rest. He cut himself off
short as there came a sudden mighty bellow of wild alarm from outside.
Before the cry had been lost to the echo Dave heard the high keyed
whine of something tearing down through the air. Von Peiplow roared a
curse, leaped for the door and yanked it open. The terrified face of
Colonel Comstadt loomed for an instant in the doorway, then he came
lunging inside, almost knocking General von Peiplow off his feet. Dave
snapped his eyes out through the door opening just in time to see
one of the gliders dive straight into the ground not fifty feet from
where he stood. A loud explosion smacked against his eardrums, and the
blast almost knocked his feet out from under him. A flash of flame, a
spouting cloud of smoke, and then there was a five foot crater where
the glider had struck the ground. And there wasn't even a splinter of
the glider to be seen.
"Swine fools!" von Peiplow bellowed and shoved Colonel Comstadt to one
side, as he leaped toward the door. "Do you want to kill us all? Where
is Captain Meuller? Where is...?"
The Luftwaffe general choked off the rest as a white-faced Nazi flying
captain came rushing up and practically slid to a stop on the heels of
his polished boots.
"Ah, you are safe, Herr General!" he gasped. "Praise be to the gods for
that. I have never known such fear as this last moment. I...."
"Shut your mouth, you blabbering imbecile!" von Peiplow thundered at
him. Then with a savage gesture of his hand, "What is all this? Who was
at the control board?"
"I was, Herr General," the Captain said and wrung his hands. "But
something went wrong. The glider would not respond no matter what I
did. It went into a dive and I could not right it. Neither could the
pilot of the control plane in the air. The power glider went into a
dive, and never recovered."
General von Peiplow tilted his head and stared up at the faintly red
tinted sky. Unnoticed, Dave and Freddy had walked close to the door.
They looked up, too, and saw the Messerschmitt One-Ten that was sliding
down out of the air, obviously toward a landing field on the opposite
side of the woods.
"Who is in that plane?" von Peiplow suddenly snapped at the Captain.
"Lieutenants Himmer and von Lisk, Herr General," the other replied.
"They were up for a test. But I swear, Herr General, I did not know
even a small charge was in the glider! I gave definite orders that all
charges be removed for the test. It is the fault of Sergeant Reuter. I
will deal with him at once, Herr General. This thing will not happen
again! I...."
"I will deal with Sergeant Reuter!" von Peiplow snapped. "As for you,
Captain Meuller! You will leave tonight and rejoin your Squadron on
the Balkan Front. Fool! It was for you to make sure with your own eyes
that _no_ charges were in the glider. What if the thing had crashed
down into the underground hangars? There are enough high explosives
there to blow this part of France from off the face of the world. Now,
get out of my sight before I change my mind and have you shot for such
disregard of duty."
The German captain's mouth worked like a fish out of water, but he
said not a word. He shivered and his eyes went glassy with fear. He
hesitated one brief moment and then turned and slunk away like a dog
with its tail between its legs. Von Peiplow said something savagely
under his breath and swung around to re-enter his office. It was only
then he seemed to remember that Dave and Freddy were still there. He
shot them each a blazing look of annoyance and hatred.
"Well?" he boomed at them. "What have you to say? Go ahead, speak!"
"About what?" Dave stalled for time. "Gosh, General! What happened?
It's knocked everything right out of my head."
Freddy Farmer groaned softly, and put a hand to the side of his head.
"Something hit me," he mumbled. "I feel dizzy and faint."
General von Peiplow's lips curled in a sneer.
"You both lie, of course!" he snapped at them. "I know perfectly well
that you are only making believe. However, I have no time to fool with
you, now. I have other important things to do. So I will give you a few
hours to recover from your _injuries_, and decide whether or not you
wish to tell me the truth, or die!"
General von Peiplow emphasized his words with a curt nod, and swung
around to Colonel Comstadt.
"Take the prisoners and put them in the old repair shed!" he ordered.
"It has no windows. Only a door. You will stand guard at that door,
personally, and see that they do not attempt to escape. I am holding
you responsible, Colonel. If they try to escape ... you will stop them!
You understand, eh?"
The huge gorilla like Nazi smiled broadly and rubbed his two hands
together.
"Perfectly, Herr General, perfectly!" he said. "I will take the best of
care of them. And if they do not behave ... it will be a great pleasure
to teach them a few things."
General von Peiplow flashed the boys a cold smile, and then nodded at
Colonel Comstadt.
"Good!" he grunted. "Now, take them away!"