quietly if they needed to. The road below them was the only way through this particular part of the Ardennes. The road descended into the river valley and was the only way in and out of Dinant. The old province had not been disturbed by the Nazis yet. Since Belgium still held on to the belief that they were somewhat neutral in this war, some of the inhabitants were safe.
Em stared down the hill at the quiet landscape and once again thought about the absurdity of war. How could grown, educated men, century after century, fight the same nonwinnable wars? Would mankind ever wise up?
Em looked over the expanse and could just make out the other launcher through the evergreens. The crew below them were still celebrating. Em counted only five. He searched for the other two but could not see any movement, other than the five drinking comrades. Em could not believe it, but they had built a fire. They must feel so secure. Em had not felt secure since the last night in Hawaii, on the beach, talking to Katherine.
Em was about to poke Jack and ask where he thought Jeff was when one of the Germans threw his bottle into the fire. The noise echoed down the hillside. The Germans all reacted in different ways. Two of them just remained standing and drinking, and one of them stumbled into the fire. The other two began to fight. The one who still had a bottle seemed to be trying to save it while the other one was grabbing at it. The one with the bottle could be heard. Em did not speak German, but it was clear the fight was over the alcohol. The two who were still drinking were laughing. The one with the bottle was much smaller than the one trying to get the bottle. This amused the audience. The one who stumbled into the fire had recovered and was stamping at his boots with his left hand while the right hand held on to the liquor bottle. Not one of the five even wondered where their other two friends had gone.
Just then, Jeff reappeared as quietly as he had disappeared. He was not even breathing hard. “I got two of them, but we have to act fast, before they sober up and realize they are gone. Murph, you take Jack and get in front of the launcher. And, Jeffrey, you take Em and Philip. I am going under, so remember, fellas, quietly. They are still pretty busy, so we need to get this done quick. Then we will only have the element of surprise on them for a few brief minutes, so this is it. No turning back now.”
Em was behind Colonel Roth, and Sergeant Cannon was almost crawling toward the launcher. Em could now hear the fire as it crackled and sent embers into the sky. They reached the front of the launcher and looked under the axle and saw all five men now standing around the fire. The fight had subsided when one of the Germans had gotten another bottle from their truck. They were talking and not trying to be quiet. Em crouched lower and looked under the truck toward the front of the launcher. He could see the front axle and saw Jack’s and Captain Murphy’s shadows extending out from under the launcher. The moon was so low on the horizon that their shadows were stretching ten feet beyond the side of the truck. Jack’s shadow almost reached the circle of men standing around the fire. Both Jack and Captain seemed unaware of this disaster. One of the Germans threw another empty bottle into the fire, and the noise was piercing. The light from the erupting flames lit up the sky even brighter. Em felt exposed.
The bottle thrower turned and walked toward the front of the launcher. Em saw Jack and Captain Murphy instinctively retreat a couple of inches. Then he saw Jack’s shape transform and become pantherlike. The German walked right across the shadows without noticing a thing. He went around the front of the launcher and started to fumble around with a belt. He stumbled and laughed out loud at himself before tilting his head toward the sky and urinating. Em could hear the urine hit the ground. He saw Jack crawling out from under the launcher. He had his knife in his right hand. He was still low to the ground. The German kept on urinating. Em wanted to tell Jack to hurry up. He glanced back toward the fire and saw someone heading toward him and the rear of the launcher. Sergeant Cannon mirrored Jack’s movements. Em and Captain Murphy retreated to the other side of the launcher.
The German that was urinating in front of the launcher turned in Em’s direction, and just as he was about to scream, Jack pounced on him and sliced his neck in one swift movement. Em saw the German drop immediately. He never got to make a sound.
He turned to see Sergeant Cannon as he emerged from under the winch on the back of the launcher. The German reacted quicker than the one in the front of the launcher and got to make a sound before Sergeant Cannon broke his neck with the fastest hold and snap Em thought possible.
What am I doing here? Em’s mind was racing, but he told himself to calm down. After all, the three left at the fire were surely about to alert the other crew. When Em fell to his knees to look under the launcher toward the fire, he only saw Jeff dragging one body under the launcher. The other two unfortunates were lying lifeless beside the fire. The one who had stumbled earlier once again had his boot in the fire. Em reminded himself to never get on Christian Jefferson’s bad side. He had taken care of five out of seven of the unfortunate Germans.
“We only have a few minutes now, so nobody get squirrelly. Jeffrey, take Jack and Em and go over the top. Me, Philip, and Murph will go through the crevice. Don’t hesitate. Try to isolate them and show no mercy, fellas.” Jeff took off through the crevice with the colonel and the captain in tow.
“Start climbing, men.” Sergeant Cannon led them up the hill.
Em turned to see the fire still burning and the dead Germans surrounding the launcher. Em wished they could decommission it so it would never launch a death missile again.
The sergeant and the two airmen reached a vantage point high above the second launch site. They looked toward the crevice and were not surprised when they saw no movement coming from that area.
Em counted only six men. They were acting much different than the first group. It was all business over here. All six of them were continuously trading information. Em thought that none of them would be going to the bathroom until after the launch. The launcher was huge, but Em could not believe the size of the rocket. It had to be fifty feet long and five feet wide. It rose above the launcher and pointed toward the sky. The fins on the tail protruded beyond the sides of the launcher. They had to be twelve feet wide. Right away, Em did not want that rocket launched. The Germans seemed methodical. They seemed unaware of the destruction they were about to cause.
Em also knew that this was not going to be as easy as the first site. He looked once again toward the crevice and noticed at once the movement in the shadows at the far end toward the front of the launcher. He tried to make out the shapes but only saw slight movement among the evergreens. He knew right away that it was time to move. Jack and Sergeant Cannon were already descending the hillside. The six of them just might be going in guns blazing, Em thought.
When the Germans reacted to movement on the hillside, Em expected gunfire. He was astonished when it did not come. He could not believe how comfortable the Germans had let themselves become. When the six Germans were all looking toward the hillside, Jeff took care of one of them. He just happened to be the unlucky one in the back. When the others turned, Philip and Murphy pointed guns at them. When one of them screamed, Philip shot him. The shot rang louder than thunder. That’s when all hell broke loose.
The four other Germans raised their hands in the air, but when another one emerged from a tent that was just inside the forest, chaos erupted. Jeff was fighting one of the Germans, and Philip and Murphy had to retreat from the gunfire coming from the one who had come from the forest. Sergeant Cannon, Em, and Jack were running toward the rear of the launcher. Each of them held a gun in their hand now. Jack was running toward two of the Germans that headed behind the launcher. Em and Sergeant Cannon followed him. The lone German who stood near the fire was holding his stomach, and blood was dripping from his fingers. He had a look of shock on his face.
Captain Murphy and Colonel Roth had rolled under the launcher and come out the other side. The two Germans running from Jack ran straight toward the colonel and the captain. The Germans stopped and once again raised their hands. All of a sudden, it was quiet again. The Germans started talking. Philip poked one of them with his gun. The Germans got quiet.
Sergeant Cannon raised his gun and whacked one of the Germans over the head. He fell like a dead tree. Before the other could react, Jack whacked him. He too fell on the ground. Movement from under the launcher startled the five of them.
Then