[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

and think about how many Gei mans died because of traitors and scum in the
Great War. Thi time it will be different." He caught sight of one of the
securit. officers beckoning him from the door that led through to the rea of
the building. "I have things to do. If you take my advice, Sei geant, you'll
learn to control that tongue of yours. Schooldays ar over now"
Making a mental note to recommend that somebody talk t the sergeant's
commanding officer, Stolpe walked across to th security officer and was
ushered into a passage. It had room opening off it at the near end and farther
back led to cells. Th security officer indicated the medical room, and Stolpe
entere to find an SS major and second lieutenant watching while a pc lice
doctor and an assistant stood by the table in the middle c the room, examining
the first of the four bodies that had bee:
brought in a half-hour earlier.
"What happened?" he asked in a neutral voice. From the par of the face that
hadn't been shot away, he judged the man on th slab to have been middle-aged.
One shoulder of his jacket wa covered in a mess of congealed blood and tissue
mixed wit] splintered jawbone. The doctor was cutting away the clothin while
the assistant went methodically through the pockets and laid the contents out
on a side-table.
"Three of them were spotted receiving something from a small boat at night a
couple of days ago near Rostock," the major said. "The other one joined them
later, and they began traveling south with a truck full of turnips."
The other corpses were still on the floor, lying covered on the litters they
had been carried in on. Stolpe stooped to turn back the first cover to reveal
Page 174
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
a teen-aged youth in a blood-
soaked overcoat riddled with holes. 'Any idea where this boat was from?" He
dropped the cover back.
The major shook his head. "It slipped away before anyone could get close. The
coast guard was alerted but failed to intercept it. That was why we decided to
let the reception party go and keep them under observation-to see what they
were up to." He shrugged. "The boat? From Denmark or
Sweden, possibly.
or maybe even from a British submarine."
The third body was of a man with a mustache; there was a single neat hole in
the side of his head. 'And?" Stolpe prompted.
"The instructions were bungled, and some oafs at a road checkpoint about ten
miles from here tried to detain them. They turned out to be armed, and they
resisted. Two of the guards were killed, but the others managed to keep them
pinned down while we were called out. The rest you can see."
Stolpe turned back the fourth cover to find himself looking at the almost
serene features of a woman who looked as if she had been quite attractive. Her
face, however, seemed unnaturally low down as she lay facing upward; Stolpe
realized it was because her head had no back to it. "She was the last," the
major explained. "Suicide-through the mouth."
'A shame." Stolpe replaced the cover and straightened up.
-- 'And what were they concealing beneath the turnips that was worth so much
sacrifice?"
file:///F|/rah/James%20P.%20Hogan/Hogan,%20James%20P%20-%20The%20Proteus%20Ope
ration.txt (144 of 203) [2/4/03 10:58:32 PM]
file:///F|/rah/James%20P.%20Hogan/Hogan,%20James%20P%20-%20The%20Proteus%20Ope
ration.txt he asked.
"Nothing. But the truck had a false bottom. What was inside was interesting.
Come and see-
it's next door." The major nodded to the lieutenant to carry on and led Stolpe
back into the passage and along to one of the cells. Inside, an SD security
officer and Erwin Poehner, Stolpe's colleague from the Gestapo office, were
unpacking several large bundles that had been sealed in rubberized canvas. The
items they had already taken out were arranged on the cell's two bunks.
Stolpe picked up a strange, black, one-piece, hooded garment made from a
greasy, rubbery material. He examined it curiously for a while, and then
tossed it back down to look briefly at, in turn, some kind of transparent face
cover, with valves and tubes fitted to it; a body-harness with peculiar metal [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

  • zanotowane.pl
  • doc.pisz.pl
  • pdf.pisz.pl
  • thierry.pev.pl

    •