Collected Fiction (1940-1963)

by William P. McGivern

THEY left the plane and started across the clearing where the lieutenant and the girl were packing away the remains of their lunch.

  The jungle was quiet and there was only the whisper of a breeze moving the brush. Night was dropping quickly.

  “It seems as if we’re on another planet,” Ann said, glancing about at the brooding darkness of the jungle. “It doesn’t seem possible that there’s another human within a thousand miles of us.”

  A twig snapped suddenly at the edge of the clearing. The lieutenant looked up quickly, his lean face tense.

  His hand started for the revolver at his belt, but a harsh voice suddenly said, “Please, do not move.”

  The brush parted and two uniformed figures moved into the clearing. Each held a German Luger in his right hand, and the muzzles of the guns were pointed unwaveringly at the three Americans.

  CHAPTER VI

  “GERMANS!” Jing whispered tensely in Tink’s ear.

  Tink took her hand in his and held it tightly.

  The Germans stopped a dozen feet from the Americans. Their breeches and leather jackets were stained and torn, and their eyes were red-rimmed with fatigue. But the hands that held the guns were steady as rocks. They both wore wings over the sharp peaks of their garrison caps.

  “Permit me,” one of them spoke, his voice harsh and mocking. “Captain Myers, of the Luftwaffe, at your service.” He gestured negligently to the man who stood beside him. “Oberleutnant Schmidt, my navigator. You are Americans?”

  Lieutenant Diggles stood up slowly. “Yes, we are Americans,” he said. “We crashed here a week ago. My cameraman’s leg was broken.”

  “What a coincidence,” the German captain said. “We too crashed, but many miles from here. We are on our way to the coast. This territory is temporarily in British hands and isn’t too healthy for our Nordic blood.”

  He glanced at the plane and then back to Lieutenant Diggles.

  “Can your ship be repaired?”

  He intercepted the warning glance the lieutenant flashed at Ann, and smiled.

  “I see,” he said. He looked at the gray service truck that was parked on the opposite side of the clearing. “Your ship can be repaired. I gather the young lady came here in the truck from some nearby allied field with the necessary equipment. How convenient.”

  “What do you mean?” Lieutenant Diggles said.

  “We will need your plane to make our escape,” the captain said. “Frankly our chances of working our way through this territory to the coast are not good. But we can fly to one of your bases from here in the matter of an hour or so. Tomorrow we will repair your plane. And now we will eat.”

  Ann angrily dropped the large tin food receptacle at their feet.

  “There,” she said, “with all my love. “You’d take it anyway.”

  “Quite right, my dear,” the captain murmured. “We Germans discovered long ago that only fools and weaklings ever ask for anything.”

  He looked steadily at Ann until a slow angry flush colored the girl’s cheeks.

  “How lovely you are, my dear,” the captain said, bowing slightly. “This may be the start of a beautiful friendship.” His voice suddenly hardened again as he swung on Lieutenant Diggles. “We need sleep. My comrade, Oberleutnant Schmidt, will watch while I rest, and I will watch while he rests. If you have any foolish ideas of resisting, get rid of them before they cause you trouble. I warn you, if you make a move we will shoot the girl first.”

  He sat down on the ground beside the container and opened it greedily.

  “While we are eating,” he said, smiling gently, “I think you had better gather some moss and make me a nice comfortable bed.” He gestured impatiently with his gun as the American lieutenant hesitated, his face hardening angrily.

  “You had better do as I say,” the captain murmured, “or I might find it necessary to put a bullet through one of your arms. That wouldn’t be pleasant. Quickly!”

  He chuckled contentedly and dug into the food container as the American lieutenant began to gather armfuls of moss and spread them on the ground.

  THE next morning, under the armed supervision of the German officers, the job of repairing the plane was begun. The American lieutenant had prepared an inventory of the damage and the type and number of replacement parts that would be needed.

  Captain Myers studied the list for a while and then ordered the lieutenant to get busy.

  “And remember,” he added. “I am completely familiar with these machines, so don’t make any foolish attempt to sabotage the plane. And I also know how long each job should take, so I will not tolerate any stalling. Now get busy! We intend to take-off before dark tonight. Oberleutnant Schmidt will help you and also see to it that you don’t do anything foolish.”

  All through the heat of the day Lieutenant Diggles worked on the plane, replacing damaged parts, inspecting every instrument; and the oberleutnant dogged his heels, watching his every move with small, suspicious eyes.

  Finally the lieutenant straightened up from the undercarriage where he had tightened several loose bolts, and wiped his streaming face with a grease rag.

  “That does it,” he said, and he couldn’t keep the bitterness from his voice.

  Captain Myers was lying in the shade watching the American work.

  “Excellent,” he said heartily. “Are you sure that everything is in good shape?”

  “Perfectly sure,” Tom Diggles snapped.

  The captain nodded contentedly.

  “Now, if you’ll be so kind as to clear away the brush from the clearing and swing the plane about, we won’t impose on your hospitality any longer. One other thing,” he added, with a soft little smile, “if the plane isn’t in excellent working order it will be most unfortunate for the young lady.”

  “What do you mean?” Tom demanded.

  The German captain flicked a speck of dust from his breeches before replying.

  “Because,” he murmured, “she is coming with us.” He smiled. “She looks as if she might be amusing under different circumstances. So you see it would be a great pity if the plane wasn’t in excellent condition. Because if it crashes, she will crash also. Are you sure now that there isn’t something you’ve overlooked? Some little detail which just escaped your mind?”

  “I said the plane was ready to go,” the young American lieutenant told him frostily, “and I meant it.”

  “I’m quite sure you did,” Captain Myers smiled, “but still the best of us are sometimes forgetful.”

  “What about my cameraman?” Tom asked. “That leg of his needs medical attention badly. Will you take him along too?”

  The captain shook his head.

  “I’m not interested in his condition,” he said.

  “I didn’t think you would be,” Tom said grimly. “You may get away with this Captain,” he said, and his voice was as hard and cold as ice, “but if we ever meet again I think you’ll regret what you are doing.”

  “I admire your sense of the dramatic,” Captain Myers smiled, “but it is extremely unlikely that we will ever meet again. For when we take-off from this place you will be bound securely to one of these trees. It’s only a logical precaution; you must see that. But after we leave there won’t be anyone left to set you free, so you will undoubtedly have a nice long wait before anyone happens along this way. The chances are that some hungry animal with no discrimination will find you a satisfying meal. But it will have to be very hungry before it will eat an American.”

  He leaned back, smiling at his joke. “Now get busy, my young friend, before I decide to shoot you immediately. Your usefulness to me is over, but I enjoy seeing you clear away rubble, and slave like a stupid mule under my orders. That is quite satisfying to me, but I will forego that satisfaction and kill you quickly if you don’t get busy.”

  IN AN hour’s time the American lieutenant had cleared a section of the ground and, with Oberleutnant Schmidt’s help, had swung the plane about to face it.

  Captain Myers g
ot to his feet then and walked across to the lean-to where Ann was changing the dressing on Red’s broken leg.

  “You will “not have time to finish that errand of mercy,” he said ironically.

  “I understand you are taking me with you,” Ann said evenly.

  “That is correct,” the captain said. He smiled and bowed politely. “Don’t look so cold, my dear. In Nazi Germany there can be a great future for a young woman who is both intelligent and beautiful.”

  “Listen, you Nazi rat,” Red yelled, “if you lay a hand on her I’ll tear your head from your shoulders.”

  The captain clapped his hands together in mock applause.

  “Bravo!” he cried. “Spoken like a true American. Full of fury and indignation and stupidity.” He gestured sharply to the oberleutnant.

  “We must be leaving,” he said. “See that these two are bound securely.” The oberleutnant worked with methodical speed and thoroughness. He removed the American’s belts, forced them to sit with their backs to thick trees and bound their arms behind them, with swift sure loops of the stout leather.

  Red twisted in pain and beads of sweat broke on his forehead. But not a sound passed his tightly locked lips.

  Ann watched the scene with hot, dry eyes. Her cheeks were flaming with an anger that was too deep for tears.

  “You beasts!” she cried. “You inhuman beasts! You can’t leave these men here to die.”

  “That is where you are wrong,” Captain Myers smiled. “You don’t appreciate our philosophy yet. It isn’t that I enjoy doing this, but it is necessary, therefore it must be done. When you have spent some time with me you will better understand our methods and principles.”

  “You have none,” Ann cried, in helpless fury. “You’re like jungle beasts masquerading in human form. There isn’t a decent emotion in your body.”

  “Perhaps you’re right,” the captain said blandly. “But our method is successful and that is what counts.”

  “But how long will it be successful?” the American lieutenant asked quietly, but there was a better anger in his voice. “For every one of us you kill there are a thousand to step forward to take our places. And even the Nazis can’t kill enough to silence every man who is joining the fight against them.”

  “I am not interested in these idle discussions,” the captain said. He nodded to the oberleutnant. “You may put the girl aboard now. And it might be a wise idea to bind her also. She is a bit too temperamental to be left loose. She might do something foolish. We must save her from herself.”

  The oberleutnant pinioned the girl’s arms behind her before she could make a move, and with his own belt, strapped her elbows tightly to her sides.

  He led her to the plane and helped her inside.

  WHEN the girl had disappeared into the plane, Jing turned furiously on Tink.

  “If you don’t do something, Tink, I’ll never speak to you again,” she blazed.

  “I’m trying,” Tink said desperately. He scratched his head anxiously. “Let’s go inside,” he said.

  They went aboard the plane. The German oberleutnant had shoved the girl into a chair and was standing at the controls, just in front of her.

  “Couldn’t we untie her?” Jing suggested

  “How?” Tink said miserably. “We can’t reach the straps on her elbows. They’re too high.”

  The German officer was bent over the controls and Jing looked at him with a sudden speculative gleam in her eyes. She glanced at the small, stout boots that Ann was wearing and then looked up again at the stooped form of the German. And as she made a mental measurement, an odd smile curved her lips.

  “Tink,” she said, “I think I’ve got it.”

  “Got what?”

  “A way to untie the girl.”

  “How?” Tink asked excitedly.

  “Watch.”

  She crept under the chair until she reached the booted feet of the girl. With an inch-long piece of straw in her hand, she raised herself on tip-toe and moved aside the cuff of the girl’s trousers.

  Tink watched her in open, undisguised bewilderment.

  “What’s the idea?” he asked.

  Jing didn’t bother to answer. With a prayerful, beseeching expression on her face, she jabbed the tiny piece of sharp straw against the girl’s bare ankle.

  “Ouch!” Ann cried.

  Instinctively her foot lashed out and, without deliberate intent on her part, the stout toe of her shoe collided with the most prominently exposed section of the German officer’s anatomy. She hadn’t kicked him purposely. The movement of her foot had been simply a reflexive reaction against a sharp little scratch on her ankle.

  Oberleutnant Schmidt straightened with an indignant cry and with both hands clasped the injured section of his body. He swung about and glared angrily at Ann.

  “So?” he cried. “You are up to schweinhund American tricks already!”

  “I didn’t mean to kick you,” Ann said. “I’m not sorry, of course, but it was quite accidental. And I wish more accidents would turn out so satisfyingly,” she added scathingly.

  “We will make sure that no more ‘accidents’ like that happen,” the German snapped.

  He grabbed a piece of wire and bound her ankles together. Then he lifted her from the chair and dumped her to the floor.

  “Now there will be no more smart tricks,” he cried.

  “I can still bite,” Ann said grimly, from the floor, “and all I want is a chance.”

  THE oberleutant laughed and turned back to the controls, and Ann twisted herself on one side and stared helplessly at the wall of the cabin. And in that position the straps that secured her elbows were touching the floor.

  Tink patted Jing solemnly on the shoulder.

  “You,” he said, “are a genius.”

  “Oh, hurry,” Jing cried. “You can untie her now, can’t you?”

  “Sure thing,” Tink said.

  He was tugging at the prong of the buckle when Captain Myers climbed aboard and said. “We are ready to leave, Schmidt?”

  “Right away,” the oberleutant said. He turned the ignition switch and the smooth, powerful roar of the twin motors was soon reverberating in the cabin.

  The captain smiled down at Ann and nudged her with the toe of his boot.

  “And how is our spirited and beautiful prisoner?” he asked genially.

  “Hurry, Tink!” Jing said pleadingly.

  “I’m trying,” he said, through set teeth. But the prong of the buckle was under pressure and he couldn’t budge it.

  “Not very talkative, eh?” Captain Myers murmured. “Well, you’ll change that attitude soon enough.”

  He turned his back to Ann and nodded to his junior officer.

  “Whenever you’re ready,” he said, “you may take-off. I will take the controls when we get in the air.”

  The oberleutnant released the brake and the plane started forward slowly. And at that same instant Tink put all his strength into one last effort and the prong slipped from its hole in the leather and the straps hung loosely on the girl’s arms.

  Ann felt the pressure of the straps release and she moved her arms incredulously. She was free! In some miraculous fashion the buckle must have slipped.

  She raised herself cautiously to a sitting position. There was no time to remove the wire from ankles; the captain was standing directly in front of her and the gun at his hip was within reach of her hand.

  She reached for it, and with one quick motion, jerked it from the holster. The captain spun around, his hand snapping frantically to his hip, but he was too late. He found himself staring into the muzzle of his own gun, held unwaveringly in the hand of a girl who looked as if she would relish shooting the eyes out of his head.

  “Tell him to stop the plane!” Ann snapped, and there was no mistaking the grim gesture she made with the gun. She was ready to fire—immediately!

  “Schmidt! Stop!” Captain Myers said frantically.

  The oberleutnant looked o
ver his shoulder and his eyes widened with sudden incredulous horror as he saw the gun pointing at his head.

  He stopped the plane and swung around in the pilot’s seat.

  “Don’t shoot!” he said, his lips trembling so that he could hardly get the words out.

  “Open the door and get out,” Ann said grimly. “And I wouldn’t advise you to make a run for it.”

  THE oberleutnant stood up and moved slowly toward the door, but when he passed behind the captain, he suddenly ducked low, slipped to one side and dove for the girl.

  She shot him in the right shoulder without changing expression. He fell at her feet, moaning softly.

  “I didn’t like doing that,” Ann said quietly to the captain, “but I borrowed a little of your philosophy for the moment. They fight fire with fire in America, and we can learn to fight you with your own tactics if that’s the only way we can exterminate Naziism.”

  The captain licked his lips and said nothing.

  “Now back up,” the girl said.

  When the captain backed away, the girl unwrapped the wire from her ankles with one hand and then stood up, still covering the German with his gun.

  “Open the door and step out,” she ordered.

  Tink and Jing hugged each other as the captain climbed out of the plane with the girl close behind him, pointing the gun squarely at his head.

  Red and the young lieutenant watched the two emerge from the plane with incredulous expressions on their faces.

  “I don’t believe it,” Tom Diggles said feebly. “It’s a mirage.”

  “You’re still underestimating the air corps maintenance,” Ann said. “We’re pretty substantial.”

  Red yelled happily, “That ain’t the half of it. Where’s the other kraut-head?”

  “In the plane,” Ann said, as she came to a stop before them. “He’s not feeling awfully good right now.” She jabbed the gun into the captain’s back. “Get down on your knees and untie those two men,” she said.

  When the lieutenant climbed to his feet he grinned at the girl.

  “Will you pardon me a minute, I’ve got a little job to handle?”

  “What, Tom?”