Heimatfront Episode One - The Girl and Her Tank

Baderberg

III

BADERBERG

There was a small welcoming party already waiting for them in front of one the nearest structure, a single-floor office building by the looks of it. Emi killed the engine and then the three occupants got out of the car while the group approached. In the center and front of the group was Anni Schon, the leader of the grouping. A young adult, she was evidently older than the three maidens standing in line just behind her.

Maria evaluated them quickly while Schon made the presentations.

Anja Königsberg was Schon’s second-in-command. As so she was the one responsible for directly ordering the girls detached to the farms. She was young, probably of the same age as Maria, and had an unwavering arrogant smirk in her face.

The taller among the present teenage girls, Monica Kayserling had brown hair and used glasses. Seemingly calm and passive, there was a faint fluttering in her dark eyes which Maria couldn’t really place. Or maybe it was just her imagination playing tricks on her.

Finally there was Ursel Koehne. Short and with dark hair and darker eyes, she seemed to be the meek one of group.

All of them seemed quite presentable in their BDM uniforms, the shirts plainly white, contrasting with the black ties, and the skirts dark blue. The old Agnes grinned while she was talking to Schon, something she rarely did, the constant scorn having become an intrinsic part of her own face, or so Maria had thought.

“I reckon you had some breaks in your quota?” Agnes asked the young leader, going directly to the issue.

“We’ve had some problems with the water.” Schon replied, shaking her head. “It has been tampered with.”

“Sabotage?”

“Probably not, at least the local police doesn’t think so. It might be something natural, but…”

While the leaders talked Maria used the moment to inspect the space around her. To the north a few trucks were standing in front of a set of warehouses, being loaded with supplies.

To the east there was a garage where the agricultural tractors were parked. There were also several smaller structures which comprised of barracks, office buildings, a mess hall, and so on. A little further away to the east were the stables where the animals were sheltered during the night. Now they were happily grazing in the nearby hills under the vigilance of some of the BDM girls.

Beyond the small cluster of buildings was a large white warehouse with big gates which seemed abandoned for some reason, the white paint already peeling away.  The wide fields where the crops grew spread across the hills just behind the ominous building. It actually was an amazing view, and Maria’s attention was quickly drawn by the frantic activity.

“On another note, what about the tanks I was told you had here?” Agnes asked while she also studied the installations around her. “Can you repair them?”

Schon seemed surprised by the sudden change in the subject, but she had to know Agnes would touch the issue at some point. Maria still remembered how surprised the older Führerin seemed when she saw that topic in the report which sent her there, even commenting on it out loud.

“I believe they are.” Schon replied, recovering surprisingly fast. “But we aren’t specialists in military equipment by any stretch of the imagination. We need some informed opinion regarding that.”

“That can be provided.” Agnes turned at Maria, who was still glancing around, seemingly oblivious to the conversation, but paying attention nonetheless. “Nitzschmann, can you give it a look?”

Regardless of how it was put, that was not a question and Maria knew it very well. She straightened.

“Ja, mein Führerin.” She said, her voice level.

Schon turned at the girl named Anja. “Can you show her the way?”

The girl with the confident smile straightened in reply, but said nothing to her leader. She then glanced at Maria beside her.

“Please come with me.” And she immediately turned on her heels and walked away, shocking Maria with her straightforwardness. The BDM did have some military undertones and the girl was evidently used to it, but its members were still girls and were used to idle chitchatting and overlong goodbyes even in formal occasions. Anja didn’t do anything like that and dived directly into the problem. Maria liked that, she thought while she stepped up her pace to match Anja’s.

“So, where to?” She asked her. Anja pointed at the ominous white building in the far edge of the complex.

“Why, the big hangar over there of course.”

Maria nodded in acknowledgement, somewhat trying to hide her moment of self-depreciation. Of course it was the large rusty building, it wasn’t like there was something else around large enough to hold big combat vehicles.

“So tell me,” Anja started, “why are you coming with me to do this and not someone from the nearest military base? Do have any experience with tanks?”

At first Maria dismissed the question as simply an excuse to make a conversation. But then she noticed the side glance Anja was giving her, a glitter in the corner of her eye as some gears turned in her head. Used to the politicking of large workplaces as she was, she could guess that girl was up to something. Better to play safe for the moment.

“You can say that.” She replied, her voice still level, although with a hint of uneasiness. She couldn’t avoid it. Referencing the subject always brought terrible memories to her mind, things she preferred to forget. “And the nearest military base is too far away.” She added while smiling. “I’m still the most practical solution at the moment.”

They kept walking in silence for a while, but the hangar was still some minutes away, so Maria thought it would help the time pass faster if they indeed chatted a little. She asked: “A question… How did you got tanks anyway?”

Anja shrugged.

“The Army used to have a test field not far from here. When it was bombed in the last year they decided to move their assets somewhere else, but left here what they couldn’t repair at the time.” She smirked ironically at Maria. “So they could come back later to retrieve them.”

“Why do you find it funny?”

“I don’t find it funny. Amusing, maybe. They never came for the tanks. So many things have been going wrong with the country, it seemed, why can’t this be one more of them, right?”

The hangar was now so close it almost dominated Maria’s field of vision. It was hard to have a real notion of its size from afar but the thing was indeed massive. The two girls halted in front of the main gates, solidly shut and with rust forming around its edges.

“How…” Maria was still glancing up. She was used to large facilities but finding something like that in the middle of nowhere was indeed surprising. “Why do you have a building like this?”

Beside her Anja was looking for the keys in her pockets. Maria’s question made her smirk widen as she pondered her answer.

“This complex started off as a Luftwaffe airbase in the 30s.” She replied, pride in voice. “But was later repurposed when they built larger airfields. This stayed here, though. It’s kind of cool, isn’t it?”

Having found the key she wanted, Anja moved forward and opened the lock closing shut the small Judas gate at the edge of the main gate.

“I guess it is.” Maria conceded, her voice almost a whisper.

“Then wait until you see what’s next.” Anja spouted back with a chuckle.

She opened the door and gestured for Maria to enter first. She’d been right, what waited inside was indeed an impressing sight.