Maria translated Hiram’s reply to Jose. “He wants two crates now.”
Hiram agreed. He shook Jose’s hand, then turned and walked back down the trail to collect the six remaining grenade launchers from the rest of Team Two. He kept the more modern weapons out of sight. Advanced weapons like the nearly silent M22 rail guns would be too tempting a tool for the leftist Maquis. And if the Maquis decided to share those weapons with their good buddies in Stalin’s Communist regime, the death toll would rise ever higher. When planning the trade, he feared his new business partner might share the grenade launchers with the Red Army. But Russia, in the effort to overpower her enemies with firepower, had already developed a similar weapon. The Milkor grenade launcher was a hell of a lot more accurate at longer range, but not a giant technological leap forward.
Hiram took three trips back up the trail to gather the launchers and the crates of ammo. By the third trip, the advancing flames were now only a few dozen yards away from Team Two’s position. He handed the last armload over to one of Jose’s men and turned towards Maria.
“You and Sarah can teach them how to use and maintain the weapons later. Right now, we need to get moving before we all burn to a crisp.” Maria translated for Jose and his men. The men started heading away from the flames with their new toys in hand, leaving Jose behind.
“One more thing,” Hiram said. “You two need a new call sign.”
“How about Raven?” Sarah asked. “They’re very clever birds, and I hear the English Crown is very fond of them.”
Hiram nodded assent and said, “Raven it is.”
Maria then turned and hugged Hiram, whispering a thank you in his ear.
“Go with God.” Without another word, she headed off down the road, adjusting the straps of her pack as she walked. He turned to hug Sarah. “You’re our best hope.”
Sarah pulled away. “If I can get an audience with Eisenhower.”
“You might have to convince Churchill and Roosevelt as well.”
She smiled and shrugged. “It has to be easier than stomaching another of those terrible protein bars.”
Hiram tried to laugh. “Hopefully, we’ll see each other on the other side of this.”
Sarah hugged Hiram once more and took off down the road after Maria, backpack in hand. When she caught up, Maria put an arm around her. They looked like children on their way to school, small and innocent. Jose and his men would pay a hefty price if anything happened to them.
Hiram and Jose shook hands once more. Jose followed his men back to the road. Hiram turned and headed back down the trail. He looked back once and saw Sarah hoisting her pack onto her shoulders. God forbid that should fall into the wrong hands. Then he shook his head. You’ve taken precautions. Sarah has the self-destruct code for the C2ID2. She understands the dangers. She can be trusted. Along with the communications interface, her pack contained a Mossad Icarus drone, which provided a secure, long distance method of communication. Once Sarah and Maria reached Gibraltar, she would use it to signal her arrival and Hiram would make good on his deal with the Maquis. Assuming they make it to the Rock, and assuming the British let them in.
Just then his C2ID2 chimed, indicating a radio call from Deborah. He tapped an icon and said, “Deborah?” He had managed to steal away for a few minutes to talk to Deborah every day since he left to meet Team Two. They most often spoke in the evening when he could find a quiet, secluded place to talk. Her call surprised him. “What’s wrong?”
“We’re all fine. But Hiram, the French police discovered our old campsite a few hours ago. We retrieved some audio from the listening device you left behind. Before the booby trap detonated, we heard a policeman say that the prisoners transferred to Drancy from Camp Joffre will be shipped east by the middle of next week.”
He had covered their tracks getting to the first site, but they departed in a more carefree manner leaving obvious clues that people had been squatting in the woods. Still, the police discovery of the first campsite surprised him. Hiram pictured the policemen discovering the second campsite, coming upon his soldiers. The image led one of the men to Deborah. His heartbeat quickened. He had to get to her.
In the background, Barbara shouted, “We save the families!”
15
1830 hours, Monday, August 3, 1942, south of Périllos Pyrénées-Orientales Department, Vichy France
For three days, Hiram and the remaining seven women of Team Two hiked back in the direction of Camp Joffre. He pushed them toward the camp site south of Périllos. They kept to the woods, crossing main routes only when necessary. Drones scouted ahead. Twice the drones spotted patrols and the team was forced deeper into the woods, adding considerable distance to their trek. On day three, seven weary soldiers marched into camp. Before their packs slid off their shoulders, the welcoming party surrounded them. Danette, Barbara, Camille, Joanne, Diane, Ida, and Myriam were the first to put their arms around the weary travelers. The others joined in, all eager to greet the incoming team. Though their feet hurt and bodies ached from the kilometers traveled, they embraced their comrades and settled in to conversation, sharing the highs and lows of their journey.
As Hiram watched his troops, Deborah came to join him. “Sarah and Maria?” her words dry and distant.
“They’re on their way to England,” he said.
Sarah and Maria had accepted Hiram’s plan, despite the fear of not being able to carry it out. Now he had to offer the same information to the other former maids, starting with Danette and Deborah.
“I’ll explain, but first I need to talk to you and Danette,” he said. He led the two women out of the camp. A few of the others watched them leave, though no one seemed interested enough to tag along. They walked until the voices from the camp died away. He said nothing, still trying to work up the courage to tell these two women the whole truth. They had to understand.
The three came to a gully and Hiram climbed down, signaling the two women to follow. Deborah, I need you to translate for Danette.”
Deborah nodded.
Danette looked from Hiram to Deborah, confused.
“No matter what I’m about to say, you have to translate.”
“Well get on with it,” Deborah said.
“My name is Hiram Jonah Halphen,” he said.
She hesitated, but repeated his words in French.
Danette rattled off a few words. Deborah shook her head and said something in return. Both women looked at him.
“My father was Moshi Jonah Halphen,” he said.
Danette listened, struggling to understand.
“His father was Jonah Silas Halphen.” Hiram waited for Deborah to translate.
“And his father was Silas Hiram Halphen,” he said.
Deborah translated. Danette shook her head and said something slow and uncertain.
“She says that Silas Hiram Halphen is her son.”
“He is,” Hiram said.
“That doesn’t make sense,” Deborah said. “It must be a family name, but I didn’t think you two were related. Why is this important? And why have you dragged us all the way out here to tell us about your family tree?”
Danette touched her fingers as if counting. When she finished, she looked at Hiram and spoke.
Deborah translated “Silas is her son and your great-grandfather?”
He nodded. Danette’s head tilted to the side, like that damn dog trying to decipher human words.
Hiram looked at Deborah. “I’m not from America. I was born in the independent nation of Israel in the year 2020, and joined the Israeli Defense Force in 2038.”
“And I’m Danette’s fairy godmother,” Deborah snorted, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
“Listen to me.” Hiram ignored the interruption. “I was on a mission in the city of Wah, in India. Something happened with my pod. An accident I guess. Sarah seems to understand it better than I do. When I went into the pod it was the year 2050 and when I finally climbed out through the portal, I found myself i
n the year 1942.”
Danette moved in front of Hiram, touched his face. She turned to Deborah and talked.
“She says you have his eyes.”
Then, as unexpected as it was, Danette wrapped her arms around him. She started speaking again, but this time Deborah did not translate. Danette’s words were vibrant, excited. Deborah’s eyes, however, burrowed into him.
“You lied to us,” Deborah said. “You lied to me.”
“I wanted to tell you, especially you. I didn’t know what to say,” Hiram said. Danette released him and took a step back, giving Deborah room.
“Through this whole damn war people have been lying to us. They told us they put us in that prison to protect us, to give us our own space to be with our own people. They promised if we worked hard no harm would come to us. Then you tell us they plan to kill us. Maybe you are the one who has been lying the whole time.”
“It’s the truth and if we don’t stop this war, the prisoners at Drancy are going to die much sooner,” Hiram said. “We changed the timeline.”
“And now the future’s changed?” she said. “I don’t believe it.”
“Why would I lie?” He tried to calm himself. “It doesn’t matter. I am from the future. And there is a reason I needed to tell you now.”
Danette touched Deborah who returned a venomous look. Deborah talked with Danette for a minute before looking back at Hiram. “Tell us.” Her eyes lightened a little.
“I have a plan to end the war.” Hiram told Deborah and Danette about the nuclear weapons, though neither voiced similar concerns to Sarah’s. He explained the technology as simply as he understood it, hoping they’d grasp the possible impact of using such a device. Deborah listened and translated. Danette nodded, asking a question now and then. “If we can detonate the weapons in strategic locations, we’ve got a hell of a chance to end this war.”
“I’ve sent –“
“Salaud!” Bastard. A new voice joined the conversation. Hiram whipped around to see Barbara climbing down into the gully. She looked at Deborah, spoke as though accusing.
“She wants to know why you didn’t tell us about these weapons before.”
“How long have you been there?” he said to Barbara. Deborah translated.
Barbara threw out a few more words.
Deborah said, “She says ‘long enough. You gave us simple weapons that can kill one man at a time when you have something that can destroy an entire army with one blow.’”
Hiram looked at Deborah. “The weapons I have can destroy an entire city.”
Deborah did not translate.
“We save the families,” Barbara said.
Hiram said nothing.
“We save the families!” Barbara said, her eyes even more disconcerting than the night she took the hunter’s life.
16
2030 hours, Monday, August 3, 1942, south of Périllos Pyrénées-Orientales Department, Vichy France
Despite exhaustion from the forced march, there was little time to rest. Everyone had been briefed on the plan and understood the timetable. The prisoners at Drancy would be shipped to Auschwitz within a matter of days. If they were still destined for Auschwitz.
During the long walk from Catalonia, Hiram had taken the opportunity to train Team Two on the use of the communications and surveillance equipment he extracted from Jacob’s pod. Each woman operated a drone during the hike. On one three-hour leg of the journey, Agnes followed a large red deer through the woods until it met with a small herd and settled down for a mid-morning snooze. She sent the drone down into the trees when the deer stepped into a dense patch of woods. The drone stayed close, maneuvering through the trees no more than ten feet above the hilled landscape. Nora, Simone, and Ester showed similar talent flying the drones, while Vera and Charlotte picked up on the details captured by the drones. From a shallow wolf’s footprint in the mud, to a French soldier’s hideout camouflaged as a hunting cabin, they picked up on the little details needed to keep the group safe. Hiram had use for their skills.
Now, the time had come to reorganize the women into smaller teams, assigning one newly trained communications specialist to each team. As they sat down to enjoy a well-earned rest and a not so delicious meal, Hiram called for everyone’s attention.
“We are all so thankful to be reunited today. It’s been a long journey. But, it’s not over.”
Deborah translated.
“We should leave tonight,” Barbara said, Deborah translating. “We should all go to Drancy with your nuclear weapons and destroy everything in our path, starting with the Vichy government.”
“We can’t do that,” Hiram said. “The weapons leave residual contamination. We can’t move through the area where we detonate one of the weapons. And, we intend to minimize civilian deaths as much as possible.” Deborah translated his words, which prompted an immediate outburst from Barbara and several other women.
“They want to know why we should care about the French Gentiles – they do not care about us?” Deborah said.
Hiram shook his head. “If we kill off innocent people, no matter their beliefs, we are no better than these Nazi sympathizers.”
“Fuck the French. We save the families,” Barbara shouted. She’d learned that much Hebrew along the way.
“You want to kill millions of people to save our families?” Danette retorted in French, Deborah once again translating for Hiram’s sake. The discussion degenerated quickly into a shouting match.
Rosette, who hadn’t expressed an opinion on any topic since the rescue, began yelling at Barbara. She charged the smaller woman, knocking her to ground.
Both women yelled and cursed as they struggled. Rosette gained the upper hand, slamming a fist into the smaller woman’s ribs. On the third strike, Barbara reached for a bayonet in its sheath at her waist. Hiram drew his Taser and let the twin darts fly. He hit Barbara in the ribcage. The two women were so closely locked together that they both collapsed in spasms until he released the trigger. Danette disarmed Barbara and Deborah pulled Rosette more than an arm’s length away. Both women lay on the ground in a stupor.
“What the hell was that all about?” Hiram asked Deborah when she straightened up.
“Rosette’s family lives outside Vichy. Her husband and children were not taken as part of the roundup. She told me a few days ago that she’s only one-eighth Jewish and her husband is all Gentile. One of her great-grandmothers was Jewish, the rest Catholics. She never even thought of herself as a Jew until the roundups began.”
“Her family is worth saving too,” he said. “We will not massacre the French people. Keep those two apart.”
Hiram gave the group a few minutes to calm down. Barbara, red-faced and irritated, stormed away from the group. Rosette wiped a smear of blood from her lip on to her pants leg. The others stood around waiting for further direction.
He looked back at each of his soldiers. The road had been hard for all of them. This most recent leg of the journey from Catalonia had taken its toll on him. Tomorrow, the road would lead them back to their families, hundreds of kilometers from the concealed safety of the forest. “No more arguing. Tonight we rest.”
Nora, the silent soldier who had traveled so far on foot with him, let out a sigh. “Barux Hashem!” Thank God!
* * *
0650 hours, Tuesday, August 4, 1942, south of Périllos Pyrénées-Orientales Department, Vichy France
“We’ve got a surprise for you,” Deborah said as Hiram finished his welcome but unappetizing breakfast of pod-food. Even pseudo-turkey medallions with gravy was preferable to another of the protein bars he’d been eating for the last several days.
“I don’t like surprises in the field,” he said. “They tend to get people killed.”
“You’ll like this one.” Deborah took his hand, led him over to the location of a parked sidecar motorcycle. Justine and Emma followed them. “Remember the French soldiers we ran into on our way from Vingrau? Emma and Justine went back for
the motorcycle a few nights after we arrived here. They snuck off in the night and wheeled the thing back into camp without anyone noticing.” The German-made BMW R75 was a very capable on and off-road machine and it had been altered. And then he saw pieces of one of the combat robots on the ground near the bike.
“What have you done?”
“It was Emma and Justine’s idea. Emma noticed that the wheelbase of the bike’s rear axle is almost identical to standard gauge railroad tracks here in France. She wondered if we could adapt the bike to run on the tracks. There’d be far fewer checkpoints to bypass if we took the railways instead of the roads, travelling at night. And, the rail lines are more direct.”
Hiram scratched the back of his head, still considering the demolished robot. “I can’t argue with that.”
“Justine figured out we could adapt the robot’s wheels into rail guides.” She pointed to the small wheels mounted beneath the bike, parallel to but offset from the bike’s native tires. “They can be retracted to allow the bike to run on the road.” She pressed one of the hand controls on the bike and the rail guides folded up and out of sight. “The guides will keep the bike’s tires centered on the rails, and if we slightly underinflate the tires, they’ll get a good enough grip to propel the bike.”
“That’s brilliant,” Hiram said. Justine and Emma beamed. “But what did you do with the robot’s drive system?”
“Take a look inside the sidecar.”
Hiram did as instructed. The drive had been connected to the rear axle of the bike.
“The solid rear axle is uncommon among sidecar motorcycles,” Justine said by way of Deborah’s translation. “Lucky those soldiers had this bike.”
“Where’d you get the gears?
Emma made a few dramatic hand movements as she spoke. “Ida was flying the recon drone around and spotted an abandoned tractor a few kilometers away,” Deborah translated. “A few of us went and removed the transmission, then carried it back here. We used the tools in the robot repair kit you left out.”
The Maids of Chateau Vernet Page 8