CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
_End of the Beginning_
The echo of Senior Lieutenant Petrovski's words seemed to lingertauntingly for ages and ages. Nobody else spoke. Nobody could think ofanything to say. The stillness of dawn stole in through the broken andshattered windows, and lent to the place the atmosphere of a longabandoned tomb. Dawson tried desperately to think of something tosay--anything that would remove a little of the bitterness that wasstamped all over the Russian girl's face. Not one bit of what hadhappened was her fault, but that didn't make any difference to her. Sheaccepted the fault as her own, and it showed plainly in the bitter lookon her face.
"Well, that just tightens things up a little," the words finally came tohis tongue, and popped off. "We've just got to shift into high gear alittle sooner. The big idea now is to get Ivan Nikolsk to a good Russianhospital, and get him there fast. Right?"
"True enough," Freddy Farmer grunted, and stared at him hard. "But Ifancy there are one or two little details to be worked out, what?"
"Right!" Dawson shot right back at him. "And that's where you and I canearn a little of what they pay us. Look, Senior Lieutenant, just whereis this Nina's house? Can you tell me exactly, so I'd recognize it whenI saw it?"
"But of course!" the Russian girl replied, and brightened up a little."It was in that mosaic aerial map. You recall those two roads thatformed a Y by those star-shaped fields? You remember speaking about theshape of those fields, eh? It is that house right there in the top partof that Y."
"Check!" Dawson cried eagerly, as he instantly pin pointed the spot onthe memory picture of that aerial map in his brain. "Yes! I know justwhere it is. Now, another question. Are there many Nazis roaming aroundhere? I mean, could you and Agent Jones get to this Nina's house withoutbeing stopped and picked up?"
"The Nazis would never see us!" the Russian girl said almost scornfully."Too many times have I--"
"Okay, and sorry," Dawson stopped her with a grin. "I didn't mean thatthe way you took it. Okay, then. Answer me this, if you will? CouldFarmer and I get to that house without being nailed?"
The Russian girl flashed him a searching look, and then laughed softly.
"What a Russian girl can do, the Captains Dawson and Farmer cancertainly do!" she said. "And much more skilfully, no doubt."
Dawson hesitated the fraction of a second, half expecting a crack fromFreddy. But the situation was too serious for the English youth toloosen his tongue in a retort.
"Well, that's all I want to know," Dawson finally said with a grin. "Nowlook, Senior Lieutenant. You and Agent Jones slide over to this Nina'shouse, and get ready to move Nikolsk out of there. You know, wrap him upin blankets, if there're any around. But, more important, try to checkon the movements of any Nazis who might be around. Meanwhile Farmer andI--well, we're going to take a little walk. However, we'll join you andAgent Jones as soon as we can. But it might not be until nightfalltonight. So don't get worried if we take that long."
"I say, what's up old thing?" Agent Jones broke into the conversation."Just what do you and Farmer plan to do? A walk to where, may I ask?"
"Sure, go ahead and ask it," the Yank air ace chuckled. "The answer isthat I am not quite sure, right now. However, the B-Twenty-Five is outfor us, now. So Farmer's and my job will be to dig up some other meansof travel, and dig it up in a hurry. We'll do our darnedest, anyway. AndI promise, we'll both show up at Nina's sooner or later. So is it okayfor us to split forces and get to work? Or has one of you somethingbetter thought up?"
None of the other three seemed to think much of Dawson's suggestion foraction. The looks on their faces showed it. But not one of them couldthink of any better suggestion, so no protests or arguments wereforthcoming. Dawson gave them three long minutes to think of something.Then he nodded, and stood up.
"Okay, time flies!" he said. "The Senior Lieutenant, and Agent Jones,head for Nina's house, and get Nikolsk ready for travel. And maybeyou'll get a break, Jones. Maybe Nikolsk will come to long enough torecognize you and do some talking. That's why I think you should go withthe Senior Lieutenant instead of with us, see?"
"But of course!" Jones gasped as his face reddened slightly. "I didn'tthink. Naturally. Sorry, Dawson."
"Skip it, pal," the Yank grinned at him. Then, stabbing a finger atFreddy Farmer, he said, "Boy! On your feet, and come with Papa. Andwatch those big feet, too. The less noise, the better our chances."
"Really?" the English youth snorted, and made a face. "Well, if itwasn't for the situation, and the fact a young lady is present, I'd tellyou, my good man, to--"
"But of course you won't!" Dawson shot at him. "So pipe down,sweetheart, and let's get going. By nightfall at the latest, you two.Keep your fingers crossed!"
With a grin and a wave of his hand at Senior Lieutenant Petrovski andAgent Jones, Dawson turned and led the way out through the slantingdoorway, and sharp left into the thick woods that edged that side of thehouse. He kept going until he was a good two hundred yards deep in thewoods. Then he slid to the ground and crawled into some of the heavyundergrowth. Freddy Farmer crawled in right beside him, and even in thebad light Dawson could see the library full of questions that gleamedin his pal's eyes.
"Easy does it, sweetheart," Dave said softly, and held up a restraininghand. "I know you think I'm nuts, pal. But I couldn't very well explaineverything in there. Besides, I wouldn't be able to explain everything,because I haven't caught all the angles yet myself."
"Yes, you are quite balmy, or seem so," the English youth replied with agesture. "But I've seen you just as balmy in one or two other tightcorners. So I'll wait and listen before I make up my mind one way or theother. Well, just what is steaming in that head of yours?"
"The word is cooking, not steaming," Dawson chuckled. "But skip it.Look, Freddy. As I get the picture, the Nazis--Gestapo, or maybe noGestapo--have stolen the play from us. Naturally, if they've found theB-Twenty-Five, as the Senior Lieutenant says, they know for sure thatthere is somebody behind their lines. Right? Okay. However, I've got afeeling that there is one thing they _don't_ know."
"Go on," Freddy Farmer grunted as Dawson paused. "What?"
"They don't know _how many_ of us are here," the Yank replied quickly.
"But the B-Twenty-Five must indicate to them that--!" the English youthmanaged to say before Dawson interrupted.
"Sure, but so what? That bomber can mean one of two things to them. Thatit brought over a full crew to do something. Or that a couple of guysflew it over to take _others_ back. And if the Gestapo is mixed up inthis, they must feel sure that the B-Twenty-Five is here to take othersback."
"Which is just about the truth," the English youth grunted gloomily.
"So that's just why we've got to step in and make them change theirminds!" Dawson shot at him. "We've got to make them think that only twoof us came over, and, finding out that our plans were shot high wide andhandsome because the bomber was captured, that we called off the dealand lit out for home as fast as we could. See?"
"I most certainly don't see!" Freddy Farmer growled, and scowled. "Whatkind of raving is this, anyway?"
"Too bad I haven't got a pencil!" Dawson grated. "I could draw you apicture. Stop thinking of food, and concentrate, will you, pal?"
"I'll take you up on that remark later!" Freddy snapped. "Of course I'mconcentrating. But are you talking sense?"
"I'll try to put it in words of no more than five letters," Dave sighed."Now, here it is. We must make them think that only two people came overin that B-Twenty-Five. Two guys, who planned to make a secret landing atnight and pick up--well, pick up one, or two, or half a dozen otherpeople on this side. The Nazis can pick their own number from one toten. Okay. The bomber is captured by them, so we've got to make themthink we got scared, called off what we had hoped to accomplish, andbeat it back to the safety of the Russian front. Got it, so far?"
"Yes, I think so," Freddy replied. "So far. But how do you propose tomake them think we've given up and gone back? And just
how do you planfor us to go back?"
Dawson jerked a thumb off to the right.
"That very trick airdrome of theirs," he said shortly. "And a couple ofthose single-seater Messerschmitt One-Nines. We--"
"But a Messerschmitt One-Ten will carry two!" the English youthinterrupted. "In fact, they carry a radioman, also, which makes three."
"My, how you know your airplanes!" Dawson snapped. "Shut up, andlisten, will you? Two single-seaters will mean to them that only _two_guys are on their way home. So they'll naturally figure that _only twoguys_ came over in the B-Twenty-Five, see? So, as I was saying, we swipetwo single-seaters from their trick airdrome and high-tail for theRussian front. And--Now, keep your shirt on, and let me finish! And ofcourse they come chasing after us. Well, we let them get a good look atus taking it on the lam. Get--"
"_Lam_, Dave? I--"
"So your education's been neglected, but skip it for now!" the Yank saidquickly. "We let them see us escape. Let them see us get well overRussian-held ground, so they are forced to turn back. Well, a fewminutes later we do the same thing, see? We've got to work it so it'llbe almost dark by then. Anyway, we breeze back, kill our engines, andmake a dead-stick landing in _that field close to Nina's house_. TheNazis, thinking that we've given them the slip, will probably relax theguard on the B-Twenty-Five. So at Nina's house we pick up the others,sneak back, and rush the one or two guards that have been left with thebomber. We take care of them, pile aboard, and off we go to a Moscowhospital with Nikolsk. And who knows? Maybe by then Agent Jones willhave learned everything from the poor devil's own lips. Well? Okay, ordoes it smell? And if so, then you tell one, pal!"
"It's all quite mad, of course," the English youth said after a longmoment of silence. "However, it's no more barmy, I fancy, than a fewother things we've tried, and we've always managed to come out on top sofar. There are three big question marks, though. One, can we steal thetwo single-seaters? Two, can we land near Nina's house without beingseen, or heard? And three, will they reduce the guard over the bomber sothat we can overpower them quickly enough? After all, we only have anautomatic apiece. However--"
Freddy paused and shrugged. And Dawson nodded, and grinned.
"Check!" he said. "There's only one way we can find out those answers.That's to take a crack at it."
"And I always did like London at this time of the year," Freddy Farmermurmured softly with a long sigh.