The Undaunted (Book 2 of The Undesirables)

Chapter 50: The Choir Boy

They didn't have time to bury the bodies. The best they could do was to drag them deeper into the woods so they'd be harder to spot from the dirt road. Bobby kicked at the snow but couldn't hide the bloodstains so he quickly gave up.

The thwarted NKVD arrest cost them time, but they made up for it by steeling the jeep. It was loud, its thick tires churning snow and gravel and its un-muffled engine roaring with a throaty growl. Bobby scolded himself for not hearing it sneak up on them before learning from Jack that the NKVD men had arrived early, cut the engine, and waited for a half hour.

They couldn't afford to arouse suspicion from the sentries at Sredneia airfield, and the jeep's broken windshield was a clear give away that something bad had happened, so they ditched the truck before they arrived and walked the last mile.

Sredneia was pitch black. If there was anyone up and working, blackout curtains prevented light from leaking outside. That was standard operating procedure – the Russian Air Force didn't want to announce the location of their air bases to hunting German bombers.

But it also meant they were almost on top of the looming sentry tower before they spotted its dark timbers against the almost equally dark sky. "Halt!" warned the alert look-out, who had spotted Bobby's group before they had spotted him.

"It's me," Jack said through his painful split lips, "and Bobby."

"Lieutenant Wright?" wondered the sentry, "what are you doing out there?"

Bobby recognized the voice. It was Sergei, one of the airplane mechanics. He must have drawn the short straw and was stuck with morning watch from 4 to 8 am. It was unlucky for him, but lucky for Bobby. Sergei was an excellent card player who had been bleeding Jack dry for weeks, so they knew each other well.

"Went out to make sure Bobby got home safe," Jack replied. He shrugged. "Couldn't wait I guess."

"How you doing, Sergei?" Bobby said. "Good to see you again."

"Good to see you, too, Lieutenant Campbell. Welcome home." There was a brief pause and then: "Who are the ladies?"

"Soldiers from Pavlov's house," Bobby replied, "escorting me back to base. I figured the least I could do was buy them a drink."

"Sure," agreed Sergei, "that's the least you could do. Welcome to Sredneia, ladies." Bobby detected something unwelcoming in Sergei's voice. Was he suspicious? Did he see that Jillian was dressed as a civilian? Or that the four of them were splattered with blood? Bobby didn't think so. It was still too dark. Sergei must have thought Bobby's intentions toward the female soldiers were less than honorable and was expressing his disapproval. "I think I'm gonna wake Lenka up, too," Bobby said, "see if she wants to join us."

"I'm sure she will," said Sergei, his voice noticeably brightening. Bobby had guessed correctly – Sergei was looking out for Lenka and making sure Bobby wasn't two-timing her.

Bobby unlatched the gate of the perimeter fence. It was well maintained and so rolled easily on its track despite the snow. Bobby tried to close it quietly behind him, but that proved impossible. His skin crawled as the gate slammed shut and the chain links rattled.

But now they were inside, and the advantage of being inside was that all the sentries' eyes were pointed outward. That's how Jack had managed to fuel the planes, almost without getting caught, and how Bobby walked straight to the landing field, also almost without getting caught.

"Jack, you take Karen, I'll take Jillian," he said, as they approached the dark planes. Bobby reasoned that Karen was smaller than Jillian, and so she would be less painful leaning on his bruised ribs. He also didn't relish another tongue-lashing from Karen.