Read Online Look Behind You (The Order of the Silver Star) by Elisabeth Wolfe - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Elisabeth Wolfe
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4
Uncloaked
May 5, 1941
Goering had temporarily reassigned Chris to Berlin for most of April to help coordinate intelligence for the campaign in Greece and Yugoslavia, which had suited Chris just fine. Cuchulain and Cleopatra could handle gathering intelligence on the SS warlocks well enough without him, and the move had gotten him out of the Paris Gestapo’s crosshairs for the short term. Plus, while he hadn’t been able to do a whole lot about Operation Marita, being in Berlin had given him the opportunity to gather more information about the “Arizona State game,” which had taken a sudden, highly surprising turn at Tobruk. Even now, as Chris finished his assignment in Berlin and prepared to head back to Paris, no one was quite sure what had happened the week after Easter. All that was clear was that the Australians had received surprise reinforcements from somewhere and had chased the Germans and the Italians out of North Africa in no time flat. The Australians had managed to take a huge number of prisoners, even with Rommel’s retreat; the entire Afrika Korps would have been captured had Rommel not disobeyed Hitler’s orders and withdrawn while he still could—not that Hitler cared about the loss of manpower as much as about the loss of territory, according to Nimrod. And there was some talk that the mysterious reinforcements had come from Texas.
The collapse of Operation Sonnenblume brought Rommel staggering back to Berlin, still wondering what had hit him. Chris happened to be walking down a hall within earshot of Rommel’s office just in time to spot Goering wandering into said office with clear intent to taunt. Curious, Chris found a convenient place to eavesdrop.
“What’s the matter, Rommel?” Goering jeered. “ Die Texanische Teufel haunting you?”
“There is more than one kind of devil in Texas,” Rommel shot back. “Our honored Mexican friend didn’t warn us about this lot.”
“Comanches? Apaches?”
“ Aggies .”
That surprised Goering. “Aggies?”
“Aggies. They didn’t send the Marines, the Air Corps, the pride of Annapolis or West Point—we were done in by El Bandito and the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets. They’re after Italy now, I think.”
“And who exactly is El Bandito ?”
“That accursed upstart Patton. Seems he read my book.”
“But why on earth would a unit of Texas infantry be in the British XIII Corps? We’re not at war with America yet. They elected Roosevelt because he promised to stay out of the war.”
“I don’t know,” Rommel wearily replied. “I just don’t know. But if the Aggies are that good… perhaps what we’ve heard about den Texanischen Teufel is true. The Aggies may even have had a fairy flag—their numbers seemed to swell without warning when their standard was raised.”
Goering was silent for a moment. “That’s not what you’re going to tell the Führer, is it?”
“No. No, he can draw those conclusions himself.”
Frowning, Goering left, which Chris could imagine was something of a relief to Rommel. And Chris also suspected that Rommel was thinking that if he never heard a certain fanfare and the words “Hullabaloo, caneck, caneck” again, it would be too soon. 13 Stifling a chuckle, Chris went on his way and wondered idly whether there might be someplace on the way to the airport where he could get some tacos to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. It was a bad idea, though, so he didn’t ask his driver.
He was still in a good mood when he got back to Paris and dropped his gear in his quarters. Cleopatra was supposed to meet him at Pont Royal by the Tuileries Garden, which was a couple of miles from his barracks, but the weather was so gorgeous, he decided to walk. Even the fact that he still preferred Paris, Texas, to Paris, France, was not going to get him down this day. The Allies had a major victory in hand; maybe the war wasn’t going to take long to wrap up after all.
He was relaxing at the foot of the bridge and
Uncloaked
May 5, 1941
Goering had temporarily reassigned Chris to Berlin for most of April to help coordinate intelligence for the campaign in Greece and Yugoslavia, which had suited Chris just fine. Cuchulain and Cleopatra could handle gathering intelligence on the SS warlocks well enough without him, and the move had gotten him out of the Paris Gestapo’s crosshairs for the short term. Plus, while he hadn’t been able to do a whole lot about Operation Marita, being in Berlin had given him the opportunity to gather more information about the “Arizona State game,” which had taken a sudden, highly surprising turn at Tobruk. Even now, as Chris finished his assignment in Berlin and prepared to head back to Paris, no one was quite sure what had happened the week after Easter. All that was clear was that the Australians had received surprise reinforcements from somewhere and had chased the Germans and the Italians out of North Africa in no time flat. The Australians had managed to take a huge number of prisoners, even with Rommel’s retreat; the entire Afrika Korps would have been captured had Rommel not disobeyed Hitler’s orders and withdrawn while he still could—not that Hitler cared about the loss of manpower as much as about the loss of territory, according to Nimrod. And there was some talk that the mysterious reinforcements had come from Texas.
The collapse of Operation Sonnenblume brought Rommel staggering back to Berlin, still wondering what had hit him. Chris happened to be walking down a hall within earshot of Rommel’s office just in time to spot Goering wandering into said office with clear intent to taunt. Curious, Chris found a convenient place to eavesdrop.
“What’s the matter, Rommel?” Goering jeered. “ Die Texanische Teufel haunting you?”
“There is more than one kind of devil in Texas,” Rommel shot back. “Our honored Mexican friend didn’t warn us about this lot.”
“Comanches? Apaches?”
“ Aggies .”
That surprised Goering. “Aggies?”
“Aggies. They didn’t send the Marines, the Air Corps, the pride of Annapolis or West Point—we were done in by El Bandito and the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets. They’re after Italy now, I think.”
“And who exactly is El Bandito ?”
“That accursed upstart Patton. Seems he read my book.”
“But why on earth would a unit of Texas infantry be in the British XIII Corps? We’re not at war with America yet. They elected Roosevelt because he promised to stay out of the war.”
“I don’t know,” Rommel wearily replied. “I just don’t know. But if the Aggies are that good… perhaps what we’ve heard about den Texanischen Teufel is true. The Aggies may even have had a fairy flag—their numbers seemed to swell without warning when their standard was raised.”
Goering was silent for a moment. “That’s not what you’re going to tell the Führer, is it?”
“No. No, he can draw those conclusions himself.”
Frowning, Goering left, which Chris could imagine was something of a relief to Rommel. And Chris also suspected that Rommel was thinking that if he never heard a certain fanfare and the words “Hullabaloo, caneck, caneck” again, it would be too soon. 13 Stifling a chuckle, Chris went on his way and wondered idly whether there might be someplace on the way to the airport where he could get some tacos to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. It was a bad idea, though, so he didn’t ask his driver.
He was still in a good mood when he got back to Paris and dropped his gear in his quarters. Cleopatra was supposed to meet him at Pont Royal by the Tuileries Garden, which was a couple of miles from his barracks, but the weather was so gorgeous, he decided to walk. Even the fact that he still preferred Paris, Texas, to Paris, France, was not going to get him down this day. The Allies had a major victory in hand; maybe the war wasn’t going to take long to wrap up after all.
He was relaxing at the foot of the bridge and
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