Dawn breaks bloody
Feb. 9, 1945 04:45
Gemeiner Letum dropped his stationary pad and fumbled for his rifle. Was it his nerves or did the guard tower just shake? He peered down the ladder hatch and saw a figure moving up. Gott! At the last second, he relaxed. “You better be glad of that cheap perfume you wear, Chief Engineer Raptor! I almost shot you!”
“Huh? Oh, don’t be so jumpy. You would never last a day in das boot. I am bringing you some hot coffee.”
“Danke, that is very nice of you.”
The Chief settled down on a stool next to Letum in the small, dark guard tower. “If I were running this operation, I would have rope ladders so you could pull them up after you. How do you write in this light?”
“I don’t want to affect my night vision, it is not so good to begin with.” He took a sip of coffee. “So, Task Force tells me you guys sank three tankers off the Irish coast.”
“Ja, they light up the sky, very warm, too, I tell you. The Old Man has nerves of steel, too, we had a starshell hit the sky right above us. The enemy can see in the dark now, some new secret weapons….what was that? Did you feel the tower move a little….?”
07:20
Sirens went off across the base. With dawn creeping over the sky, the men of U-13 and the Kamp raced to the East guard tower. Even in the dim light, blood was everywhere. A mangled corpse hung from the searchlight, which was smashed.
“It’s Raptor!” shouted Fincuan from the guard tower. He’s dead…and partially eaten. At least chewed well.”
“Hullo, what’s this?” shouted SandyCaesar the fisherman. He stood before a second body, tangled in the concertina wire by the base of the guard tower.
“Mein Gott, another man lost?” wailed Penelope, disheveled and worn from her long night in Mercy’s Inn. “Oh no! It’s young Letum, he’s.…” She wiped her hands on her grimy, stained apron and covered her face in anguish.
“Nein, he’s alive!”
“Get the medic,” shouted Seaman Aramike. “Where is that damn Oberfeldwebel UnderseaLcpl? He’s the only man trained for this situation.”
They pulled Letum free of the wire, his face scratched and battered, masked with blood. “Get him to the cafeteria, get an infirmary set up at once!”
Dawn broke with sorrow as one man lay dead and another comatose and badly battered.
DAY BEGINS