Heimatfront Episode One - The Girl and Her Tank

Undisclosed Desires

VII

UNDISCLOSED DESIRES

The engine surged to life, making a loud crackle flood the large but still limited space of the hangar. The driver pulled the control lever and the armored vehicle rolled forward, clearing from the line of half-disassembled hulls and the gates beyond. Once it reached the open space in front of the hangar and halted all hands started to clap in excitement.

That was the first true measure of success the work team has had since it all started almost three weeks before. Sure, they had already made controlled tests with the engines, both linked and unlinked to the transmissions, but seeing one of the tanks actually moving on its own, roaring like a powerful beast released from its cage, was something else entirely.

Even Maria couldn’t contain a satisfied grin as she traded glances with the other three girls inside the now idling Panzer 38(t). She had decided that would be the first machine to be made operational. Although the beloved Panzer IV would have been her first choice in any other situation, she had more parts available for the 38(t) since the beginning, as well as the only working battery, and the parts for the remaining tanks weren’t available until they’d arrived just a few days ago.

The inside of the tank was cramped and hot, and it was hard to imagine how four men much larger than those teenager girls would fit inside. Then again it was a machine that was supposed to be simple, practical and cheap. In spite of it all, Maria actually liked the 38(t) a lot. It had an almost comical-looking conical turret set over a boxy hull and four large wheels on each side. If there was a tank in the world one could describe as ‘cute’, the 38(t) would be it.

“So, everything’s running smoothly?” Anja asked, glancing at Maria from the radio operator’s post. Maria was right behind her, in the loader’s position, inside the turret.

“It does seem so.” Maria peeked through the hatch, giving a good look at her surroundings. Everything seemed to be still attached and the gray smoke coming out of the exhaust pipe flowed normally. She went back inside. “It seems we did a good job on this one.”

“Not bad for a backwater farming complex run by a bunch of girls, huh?”

Maria shook her head in consent.

“Very well! What about taking it for a ride, then?” Anja smirked at her two minions, Monica, in the gunner’s position, and Ursel, the driver. They smiled back at her, but Maria was less excited with the idea.

“I don’t think we should-“

“Why? Do you distrust your own work?”

“It’s not that…”

The vice-leader of the grouping straightened in her seat and pointed at an imaginary point beyond the steel plating in front of her.

“Then we’re set. Take it to the outer fields, Ursel.”

“All right!” The shy girl seemed much more confident as the driver of the tank and lost no time in moving the levers to propel the ten-ton machine forward. Both she and Anja knew how to operate an agricultural tractor and operating a tank wasn’t that different, so Maria had gave them some basic instructions on how to drive the military machine. And at least Ursel seemed to be getting the gist of it.

“We should really test it more thoroughly before we start messing around.” Maria told Anja, almost shouting due to the rumbling of the engine, placed right behind the fighting compartment.

“Ah, don’t be a killjoy! If you say this thing is ready, I’ll believe you.” She then took a dried sweet potato out of her breast pocket and gave it a bite. Why did she kept food in there Maria couldn’t explain.