Shadows of the World » Band of Brothers

43: Surprises are Foolish Things

"Surprises are foolish things. The pleasure is not enhanced, and the inconvenience is often considerable." - Jane Austen, Emma

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The four of them sat gathered in the living room, the light of early evening filtering in through the windows. All eyes were on Thomas as they anxiously awaited their next mission briefing. He stood in the centre of the room holding the envelope in his hands and looked between each of them individually before beginning to tear it open.

Juliette, Will, and Martin watched him closely, sitting there all scrunched together on the sofa with hardly a breath exhaled between them as they awaited their next deployment. When Tom's eyes widened upon reading the first page, they each of them glanced frantically to each other, stiffening up. Tom generally made the effort to be as stoic as possible when delivering these briefings, just like Alex had been, so for him to have made a visible reaction was worrying. Jules prayed that they weren't being sent back to Paris.

Tom raised his eyes from the first of the sheets of paper, his jaw having gone slack and his eyebrows raised skyward. He was silent for a few moments, his gaze flickering between the three of them, before he breathed out a small laugh.

"Our house arrest will no longer be necessary, it seems," is all he said. The trio on the sofa's eyebrows all furrowed simultaneously.

"What do you mean?" Will asked, and then Tom began to smile.

"Remember that invasion of Normandy?"

"Oh, you mean the one we've been trying to cover up for the past nine months?" Martin replied sarcastically.

Jules laughed lightly whilst Tom nodded, unbothered. "Yes, that's the one."

"What about it?" Jules prompted.

Tom laughed a little bit. "They want us to drop into Normandy alongside our beloved yanks."

"They want what?" Martin asked. Jules and Will had both been shocked into silence. Martin's jaw had dropped.

"They want us to parachute into Normandy with the paratroopers," Tom repeated, turning the sheet of paper around so that they could all verify that what he was saying was true. "The yanks don't know anything about it yet, of course, though they're all aware through gossip that they're due to be part of a big invasion of Europe. As we speak, however, they're all being shut into an airfield a ways away from here so that there's no information leaks. My guess is the intelligence officers are about to find out, at least."

"Has a day been decided on, then?" Jules wondered, referring to the invasion.

Tom nodded. "Fifth of June. The paratroops are due to find out on the third, in advance of the ground forces because they'll be the first to set foot in Normandy. Along with us, of course."

Will looked between Jules and Martin before turning his inquisitive gaze back on Thomas. "Why are we jumping with them? Why not just how we always do it?"

Tom smiled sheepishly. "Haven't gotten that far. Give me a sec." Then he read further down first the page, and even halfway down the second, before glancing back up at them again. "Mainly, it's good cover. We'll be hidden amongst them, so the Germans wont be heading towards parachutes with the specific interest of capturing spies. Obviously, this would be incredibly helpful for us in case of getting caught - we'll be taken in as prisoners of war instead of enemy agents. Not so helpful for you, Jules, but what can you do?"

Juliette shook her head at him, but a smile was threatening to reveal itself on her lips. "What's the job, Thomas? Or are they really that desperate for the manpower that they're sending us to invade too?"