Sniper's Honor(112)

“She practically blew his head off. Half his neck is gone.”

“Good Christ. Is that why the town is burning? I can see the smoke.”

“These fucking Russians must be taught. Never mind that, I have my dog teams out—”

“I thought you had burned out all the cover so that she couldn’t hit—”

“I don’t know how. She must have shot from a thousand yards. I don’t know, it doesn’t matter, we have the dog teams out, and I have the rest of my men in panzerwagens, and we will now travel to the road up to your position. Please put all your men on interception duty. This woman must be caught.”

“Wasn’t your explicit responsibility to protect—”

“I don’t report to you, either, Von Drehle. Now, I know the SS lieutenant general has had a chat with you, so if you value your men and dream of a postwar future, you will give this assignment your total commitment. I would put all my men out there in the net; this woman is obviously a tricky bitch, and I hope you are up to handling her.”

“I will do my duty, yes, as I am a soldier until peace is declared, Captain.”

“You radio me this channel the second you learn something or there has been a development.”

“Is that an order?”

“Goddammit, Von Drehle, don’t play games with me. I speak for the lieutenant general, the entire SS, the SA, so when I tell you to do something, that is the authority I bring to the conversation, and if you doubt that, you radio Muntz yourself for a clarification. End transmit.”

“End transmit, Ali Baba,” said Karl to a dead microphone.

He rose. By now a few men had gathered outside.

“Well,” he said, “the Russian woman sniper they call the White Witch has cast a magic spell on Dr. Groedl. She magically turned him into a corpse. That means I want you in the woods on picket duty, all of you, because I have been informed that she has been flushed by dogs and may be in transit to our picnic area. She has to be taken alive.”

“In the meantime, suppose the Russians attack and we are out there looking for a girl?” Deneker asked.

“I don’t set these priorities, but they have been set. And you can grumble all you want, but you have a stake in the outcome, too. I have been told by Brigadeführer Muntz that if we do capture her, once she is turned over to the SS, we are formally released from the hold-at-all-costs mandate. We can blow Ginger and get out of here. Next stop, Hungary. I’m told he’ll send us off on two weeks’ leave and have us reassigned to the Western Front with the rest of Two Fallschirmjäger. You may still die, but it won’t be by a Russian bullet, just a shiny American one from Hollywood or someplace like that. So do your goddamned duties. And if anyone sees Bober out there, send him in to me. Now do it, quick quick quick.”

An hour or so passed. The men in the woods on picket rotated so they didn’t get too bored. Wili Bober arrived, and Karl briefed him on the situation.

“So, catch this woman and we can get home in time for Christmas, eh?” Wili said. “I guess blowing up the bridge, plus all the other jobs, the seven Russian strong points, the railroad yards, the T-34 refueling yard, and several other things weren’t worth it, but this gal sniper wins us the class prize.”

“Wili, I can’t figure out how their minds work. Why this one is so important to them and they didn’t even notice the bridge is pretty mysterious to me, too. It must be some spy shit or something.”

“I guess for once, the game is working to our advantage.”

“I want to get you out of here before the SS sends you to Dachau. You’ve been daring them to for years. Sending people to Dachau seems to be the order of the day ever since that guy blew up the Austrian.”

At that moment both involuntarily flinched. Screaming came across the sky.

They turned and, from their vantage point four thousand feet up, could see the exhaust flames of seventy-two Katyushas rising from a point of the horizon, a fleet of radiant darts sent howling to the accompaniment of the banshee scream each emitted as it rose, and in the next second the whole horizon seemed to light up as the sound of thousands of the things hurling airborne filled the sky.

“Here they come,” said Karl. “Vacation’s over.”

“They’re still a long way away,” said Wili.

“We’ll be engaged by nightfall, if I don’t miss my guess. Through Yaremche and straight down the Yaremche road to Ginger. And if they get here, this is where we stay.”

“I hope the boys catch the White Witch. She’s our only chance.”

“I better talk to my new boss, the great and wise Captain Salid.”