The First Wave (16 page)
He kicked up little spits of sand that shot toward me as he walked off into the darkness, nursing his righteous anger, shaking his right hand as if he’d hurt it when I hit it with my jaw. Alone on the ground, spitting blood and feeling the ghosts of dead men at the back of my neck, I couldn’t figure out why I should bother to get up. We had been at war less than a year and I had been in the Army less than that, and already I was at the end of my rope. Beat and beaten up. Dead tired and almost dead half a dozen times. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like next week, and then next month, if I survived. Why couldn’t it be like it was for those MTB guys, all one big family, all in this together and all that crap? Instead, I get knocked on my ass by a guy who was once my friend and now hated me. My other good friend was as likely to blow his brains out as sneeze if he got bored, and it looked like my boss was head over heels with my prime suspect.
I started to laugh. I laughed and laughed, wanting to tell someone how funny it was. I looked around, but there was no one to tell, and that was pretty funny, too, so I laughed some more, pounding the sand with my fist until the laughter was nothing more than a long sigh. I was still alone, the wind blowing sand in my face, listening to the soft, rhythmic sound of waves breaking on the shore. I cupped sand in my hand and let it run out through my fingers, like a kid at the beach. I wanted desperately to see Diana, I longed for her to come and rescue
me
. I wanted to cry. Maybe I did.
“ORDERS ARE ORDERS, AND yours are as good as they get, straight from Allied Forces HQ,” said Harry. “So I’ll take you into Bône and wherever you need to go. Don’t expect anything else.”
Harry wouldn’t even look at me while he spoke. Instead, he glanced over his shoulder at the stern as the crew cast off from the dock and he eased his boat out, advancing the throttle slightly, bringing a deep, throaty rumble from the four diesel engines belowdeck. As he turned the wheel I saw he had a bandage wrapped around the knuckles of his right hand. I felt the bruise on my jaw and figured maybe we’d come out even, except for the part where I ended up flat on the ground.
It was a beautiful morning. The sea was calm and we were heading east, into the sunrise. I tried to cheer up and convince myself that Diana would still be in Bône and that soon I’d find her. I wondered what the day would bring, and fingered the Thompson slung over my shoulder. I was geared up with extra clips, my .45, a couple of pineapples that hung from suspenders, and an M3 combat knife, in case things got personal. My field pack was stuffed with first aid supplies, cigarettes, socks, and K-Rations. Dressed in warm olive-drab wool, with my Parsons jacket tucked in the back of my web belt, and all that gear, plus the helmet on my head, I figured a life preserver wouldn’t do me much good if I went in the drink.
I let the light winds whip around me as the boat gained speed and the shoreline faded into the distance off the starboard side. The air was clean and pure, with the promise of a new day. Salt spray kicked up around us as we sped over the low swells and Harry opened up at full throttle. I breathed in the fresh smell of salt air, and for the first time in a while I felt good, as if things might really turn out okay.
The rest of the squadron was out in front of us, their wakes splitting the sea like arrows pointing the way. I wondered what that would look like from the air. I gazed up, into the deep blue sky, wishing for some cloudy weather to ruin this crystal clear day. Just enough to keep the Luftwaffe from spotting us. Everyone else looked up too, every chance they had. We were running hard now, the only sound besides the engines was a rhythmic
thump . . . thump
as we sped over the low rolling swells. Behind the bridge were two turrets with twin mounted .50 caliber machine guns. They added a soft mechanical whine as the sailors manning them traversed the skies, watching for a glint of sunlight off metal to buy a few second’s warning.
“Tea’s brewed up, Captain,” came a voice from below deck.
“Bring up two cups, Stubbins.”
“Aye, sir.”
I took that as an opening.
“Thanks, Harry.”
“No reason to be uncivil, is there?”
“Then what do you call last night?”
“Here you go, sirs,” said Stubbins, coming up behind us and interrupting my attempt at a heart to heart. “I hope you like it dark and sweet the way Captain does, ’cause that’s what you got. No coffee here, sorry to say.”
Harry ignored me and stared at the sky. Stubbins held out two chipped porcelain mugs with one hand while he climbed the steps to the bridge. He was bald, scrawny, wore a stained apron over his khakis and looked like he’d been born with his sea legs. He didn’t spill a drop.
“Thanks,” I said.
“Aye, sir. Anything else, Captain?”
“Yes, ask Petty Officer Banville to join us.”
“Aye, sir.”
Stubbins stepped down from the bridge and we both sipped the hot, strong tea. I didn’t know what to say, but I was glad Harry at least tolerated me on the bridge. I watched him, and he looked like the same Harry I had met just a few months ago, but worn, tired, and thinner. He was about my age, with shiny blond hair that the breeze was blowing in every direction and whipping against his face. He was tanned, lines showing at the corner of his eyes from squinting into the sun, like he was doing right now. He had bags under the bags under his eyes.
“Pretty big boat,” I said, trying to make conversation.
“She’s a Fairmile D, newest model,” Harry said, not taking his eyes off the horizon. “Bigger than the boat I took you out on last. Over 115 feet long with a crew of twelve. She can do twenty-eight knots without even trying. And this time we have torpedoes, four tubes.”
“How long have you been with this squadron?”
“Less than a month.”
“Why’d you leave your boat in Scotland?”
“I didn’t. Keep a lookout, will you?” That was that.We stared at the sky and drank tea.
“Captain?”
We both jumped a bit at the voice, like a couple of nervous Nellies.
“Yes, ah, take the wheel, will you, Banville?”
Harry stepped aside and cupped his hands around the tea mug, planting his legs wide as the boat skimmed the waves. “Petty Officer Banville, this is Lieutenant Billy Boyle.”
“Welcome aboard, Lieutenant,” said Banville, taking his place at the wheel and looking straight ahead. “I’m going ashore with you and the captain, since I parlez fairly well. I learnt my French working trawlers between Boulogne and Brest, hauling everything from potatoes to scrap metal. Between the docks and the whorehouses, I managed to pick up a good bit of the lingo. I’ll do my best to get the point across when the time comes.”
“Banville’s a good man ashore as well as at sea,” Harry said. “I hear he can handle himself in a brawl.”
“That’s what comes of a misspent youth at sea,” said Banville with a wink. There was a scar at the corner of his eye and his nose had been broken at least once. He was a wiry, dark-haired guy with a scrubby beard, a knife on his belt, and a crumpled once-white naval cap on his head. He looked like someone you wanted on your side if you were walking down a dark alley, which we well could be before long.
Banville gave me the once over. “By the looks of that hardware I’d say we should expect trouble,” he said.
“I hope not,” I said. “We’re only looking for a couple of people but I like to be prepared.”
He looked at my jaw and swollen lip, then at Harry’s bandaged hand. “Good advice,” he said, as he turned back to stare over the bow.
“I’m going below for a radio check,” Harry said. “We’re supposed to contact your Major Harding back at base as soon as we land.” He left the bridge and Banville and I remained, swiveling our necks.
“So you knew the captain back in England?” Banville asked.
“We did a job together,” I said. “But he doesn’t seem too happy to see me again.”
“So I noticed. But he’s not been that happy about anything since he got here. Not that any of us are thrilled to be here, but we try to make the best of it. Nothing wrong with a good time ashore now and then, right?”
“Not a thing.What about Harry?”
“Keeps to himself, he does. He’s a good captain, no doubt, but he holds his cards close to the chest. Doesn’t pal around a lot with the other officers, either.”
That didn’t sound much like the Harry I’d known, however briefly, back in England. He had been cheerful and even wild, ready to take on the German Navy and the North Sea weather. He had been close with his crew, friendly, and down-to-earth. He seemed distant now: not quite aloof, but detached.
“Something must’ve happened,” I said. “A man doesn’t change that much for no reason.”
“Aye. Not in peacetime, anyway.”
“He said he didn’t leave his boat. Any idea what he meant by that?”
Banville frowned and shook his head. “He told us about his runs between Scotland and Norway, and what that was like. Not a mention of his crew, though. I asked him about his boat, and he told me plenty about how it was kitted out, but that was all. Near as I can figure it, something happened that he doesn’t want to talk about.Or think much about. Some of the boys are worried he’s bad luck, but there’s been no sign of it yet.”
“He was good luck for me last time we were out,” I said.
“Well then, maybe you’ll be good luck for him,” Banville said.
I knew sailors could be superstitious, so I didn’t let on that I hadn’t been good luck for some of his last crew. Better to let him think I was a walking rabbit’s foot.
We cruised along the coast for another hour, the seas growing rougher as the wind freshened. I watched the squadron ahead of us peel off, taking up positions farther forward to cover the approach of the two destroyers.We kept on due east and then began to angle in toward the shore. The sun was high in the sky, beating down on the rolling water and creating sparkles of light everywhere as waves heaved around us. I had to hang on as the waves grew larger and we began hitting each one hard as we changed course. Harry came up and trained his binoculars on the shore.
“There’s Bône, dead ahead,” he said. “I hope the chaps you’re looking for are home.”
“Me too,” I said. “Me too.”
WE WATCHED THE TWO destroyers cut across our wake, making for the central wharf. I could see the dome of a big church beyond the docks dead center, but other than that Bône didn’t seem much different than Algiers. Smaller, sure, but with that same mix of regular buildings you’d see in any small city back home, with Arab mud brick houses around the edges. Minarets poked up around the city like fingers pointing to heaven. The destroyers slowed as they approached the docks, guns trained on the shore, seeking out any opposition hidden in the city. No one knew if the Vichy forces were going to put up a fight, or if they’d already fled.
“No sign of the enemy, French or otherwise,” said Harry, lowering his binoculars. “Lots of locals standing around and watching, rather like they’re waiting for a parade.”
“Good,” I said. “They’ll pay less attention to us.”
Harry scanned the shore ahead of us.We were close to a group of dilapidated warehouse buildings, one of which had half-collapsed into the water where the pier it was built on had rotted away.
“Take her in there,” said Harry, pointing to a relatively intact dock between two wooden buildings. Banville guided the boat in slowly, as two crewmen stood on the port side holding lines to tie up at the dock, and two others stood at the bow, Sten guns at the ready.
The wooden dock was weathered gray, with broken planks leaving gaping holes over the dark water beneath them. The warehouse seemed to be empty, a rough wooden door hanging open crookedly, swaying on a single hinge. Its rusty corrugated tin roof looked as if the next good wind would carry it into the Sahara, but there wasn’t any wind, just the stillness of heat rising from dry wood. With the sun high in the sky, the heat was unforgiving. I tossed my jacket to the deck and took off my extra wool shirt, quick. I rolled up my sleeves and while Harry and Banville fiddled with lines and barked nautical orders to the crew, I hoisted myself up onto the dock and looked around.
As I edged along the warehouse wall to the doorway, I found that the wood was soft and swollen, damp on the outside and rotten inside. The door was hanging from the top hinge, so I knelt down to get a better view, poked the barrel of my Thompson inside, and saw a dozen small forms scattering from a pile of broken crates. Rats. Rats and garbage. The smell hit me just before the flies did, and I backed off, swatting them from my eyes. I stopped myself just before I reached the edge of the dock, waving my free arm like a pinwheel while hanging onto the Thompson with the other as I tried to fan the flies away.
I tried to ignore the laughter from the crew and make believe that my face wasn’t turning seven shades of red. Harry climbed up on the dock and only stopped laughing when an insect darted into his mouth.
“Damn flies,” he spat.
“Algiers isn’t too bad,” Banville said, “but most of these smaller towns are breeding grounds for insects and filth.” He kept his hand moving in a lazy motion in front of his face. Both he and Harry had leather straps hung around their necks from which Sten guns were suspended. They had replaced their white naval caps with those soup bowl helmets the English wear. Sweat ran in little streams down their temples and necks. I was hot under my helmet, too. It felt like the heat rising from the ground was cooking my head, like cabbage in a pot.
“Let’s go,” I said.
We walked along the waterfront. A concrete embankment ran along the shore, with wharfs and pilings jutting out into the water, none of which looked like they could survive a normal day’s work down at the docks in Boston. A small two-masted boat had sunk at its mooring, rotting strands of rope still tying it to the dock. Palm trees lining the walkway along the embankment had dropped the brown and brittle fronds crunching under our boots. A dog darted out from a shack on the pier, and turned to bark at us once before slinking off into the shade of the palms.
“Where are we headed, exactly?” asked Harry.
“To Le Bar Bleu, 410 Rue de Napoleon, off the Boulevard Fesch.”
“A bar?” Banville said hopefully.
“Is this another of your stupid tricks?” Harry asked, stopping in his tracks. The flies caught up with us. I kept walking.
“Le Bar Bleu may be a rendezvous for a smuggling ring. I need to find out if anything there points to where stolen medical supplies have been hidden.”
“All this for a few stolen supplies?” Harry asked, as he trotted up to us.
“It’s a new wonder drug that’s supposed to cure infections better than anything else, and two people, maybe three, have been murdered over it.”
“Frenchies or Arabs?” Banville asked.
“French, pretty well-connected too. The Army and the Gardes Mobiles are involved.”
My answers seemed to satisfy Harry. We kept walking along the embankment until it curved left and came to a road. We went on, grateful for the shade of a row of three-story buildings facing the water. They were built of stone, with fancy ironwork grills over the bottom-floor windows which were shuttered tightly, like summer homes in Gloucester when the rich folks went wherever they go after Labor Day. Now we could see the main city pier where the British destroyers were docked. The Commandos were ashore, and things must have been going well. It was quiet.
The road we were following curved away from the water as the buildings grew smaller, packed in more tightly. Stone turned to cin-derblock and smooth pavement turned to flat stones, narrowing down to an alleyway marked in the middle with a damp brown stain. The flies found us again. For the first time we saw people, Arabs in white robes with strips of colored cloth wound about them. A group of them came toward us, talking to each other in Arabic or whatever they speak in Algeria. They looked at us as if we were ghosts: interesting, but not of their world. A swirl of robes parted as we passed and closed up again, as if we had disappeared.
We came to a large square, filled with Arabs walking among market stalls and vendors selling leather bags, dates, nuts, melons, and lots more food I didn’t recognize. Strange smells filled the air, the stink of unwashed bodies and garbage out too long in the hot sun mixing with spices from the cooking pots in the stalls. Clouds of flies rose from heaps of rotting fruit piled up against the walls. Now I knew why Arabs wore those long cloths they could wind around their faces. Barefoot kids in rags darted around us, in and out of the stalls.
Down one side street I saw two columns of Commandos doing double time, Sten guns held high on their chests, boots clomping to the rhythm of ready violence. We were headed in the opposite direction, moving quietly, our guns, heavy with the heat, pointed down, the grips slippery with sweat that streaked down our arms and pooled in the palms of our hands. I felt dull, hot, and thick as the air. Kids ran around us again, yelling to each other as if they were playing a game.
“Boulevard Fesch,” said Banville, pointing to a blue enamel sign with white lettering fixed to the side of a building. We followed him toward the boulevard, and stopped at the beginning of the wide road. It faced the water, another row of solid stone buildings and fancy ironwork denoting the French section. I knew the Rue de Napoleon was one of the first few streets running off to the left. A couple of kids ran by us again. One looked at me and laughed. He smelled to high heaven and had open sores on his leg, but he seemed to be enjoying himself. I watched as he took off to the end of the block and stopped there.
“We’re being followed,” I said. “By experts.”
“Who?” asked Harry, swiveling his head around. Banville turned around and raised his gun. A gaggle of raggedy kids behind us scattered.
“Them,” I said. “All those kids. They run ahead and wait to see which street we take. They’ve been sending runners off to report to someone. I should have seen it sooner.” But I hadn’t. Just a bunch of dirty Arab beggar kids, nothing to worry about. Yeah, right. They must have had us from the boat.
“Let’s go,” I said, and broke into a trot. I knew we couldn’t outrun these kids, but at least we could cut down on the warning time they gave. I saw the sign marking the first street and it wasn’t ours. I ran faster and caught sight of the next street. Rue de Napoleon.
We hooked left on the run and I started watching the signs hanging in front of the shops and stores that lined the street. This was a French neighborhood, but it was closed up tight, no French ladies shopping for dresses or stopping for lunch while English Commandos roamed the streets. The kid with the sores on his legs darted into an alley on the right. That told me the bar was on that side; he was probably headed for a back entrance.
“Banville, stay here,” I said. “Don’t let anybody pass, especially any vehicles. Shoot out their tires if you have to.” Banville looked to Harry, who shrugged and nodded.
“Aye, sir,” he answered, and faded into a doorway, giving himself some cover and shade. I went after the kid, following the alley to the first left turn, and took it, figuring it ran along the rear of the shops facing the street. It was wide enough for one car, if it could make its way around the piles of garbage and empty boxes stacked up against the buildings. The flat paving stones were greasy with the remains of whatever people tossed out of their backdoors, and the smell of heated, rotting garbage rose up and slammed into my nostrils. The insects were back. As we ran by each pile of refuse, fat flies rose up, confused about whether to continue feasting on the slop or to begin to play in our eyes and ears. I tried to ignore them.
I saw a packing crate that looked like it could hold my weight and I jumped up, trying to get a better view down the alley. Ahead, just before the buildings curved to the right, I could see a truck parked, facing away from us. Behind it was a black sedan. I got down.
“That could be it up there,” I whispered to Harry. “They must know we’re coming, but if that kid didn’t spot us, they’re probably watching the front.”
“And what exactly do you plan to do?”
That was just the kind of question I hated. My only plans were to not to get killed and to find out whatever I could from a contact at Le Bar Bleu. The problem was that there seemed to be more activity there than I had counted on. I knew Harry wasn’t keen on this whole side trip, and while he’d follow orders, he’d be the first to point out that bursting into a nest of armed smugglers wasn’t included in those orders.
“Let’s see what’s in the truck,” I answered. I took off, staying low and taking cover as best I could as I tried to shut down my nostrils and blink away the flies swarming the sweat dripping down over my eyes. Harry followed, apparently deciding his orders covered a peek under a truck tarp.
We were one store away from the truck and the car. I could see LE BAR BLEU painted above the rear door of the building up ahead. The foul, yeasty smell of spilled wine and the sharp smell of urine mingled with the other odors in the alleyway and I had to work at not gagging. Broken bottles littered the ground and wooden barrels were stacked up against the wall in front of us. I could hear the muffled sound of voices and of doors slamming from inside the bar. Then one shot was fired.
Harry and I both looked around, unsure of where the sound came from. Two shots followed, then a burst of machine gun fire, coming from out front.We looked at each other, wondering if Banville was in trouble. But what we heard wasn’t the stuttering metallic hammering of a Sten gun. It was the throaty, rapid sound of a large caliber machine gun, and it was getting closer. I could hear the ricochet of bullets off stone, and the sound of pistol and rifle fire from inside the bar. From the uneven sound of the firing, I knew what was going to happen next. I rose and aimed my Thompson at the rear door.
Five seconds passed before the door flew open, and three civilians wearing black armbands spilled out, trying to get out of each other’s way as they rushed toward the truck. They each carried wooden crates with “U.S. Army” stenciled on them in big black letters. That got my attention almost as much as the “SOL” on the civilians’ armbands. I took a couple of steps forward, holding the Tommy gun pointed at the guy in the center.
“Halt!” I hoped it meant the same thing in French. The lead guy was almost to the truck, and he skidded to a stop as he looked over his shoulder and saw me. His two pals were a second slower and jammed up against him, knocking him off balance. He righted himself and faced me. Now the three of them were in a row looking at each other, and me.
Holding a gun on a guy with his arms full wasn’t the easiest way to make an arrest. It has the value of letting you know where the guy’s hands are, and that he’s not holding a gun, but it does give him options, like throwing the stuff he’s holding at you, which had happened to me once. This was familiar territory, except I didn’t know how to say “hands up” in French, which was probably a good thing, since their hands already were up. I asked Harry if he spoke French.
“I can order a meal and a good bottle of wine,” he offered.
“No thanks, not hungry.”
With the barrel of my gun, I gestured to the ground so they would set the crates down. The first guy said something in French, and they began to bend. Another flurry of shots came from the front and the next thing I knew the three of them dove in front of the car and popped up, revolvers in hand and firing. Bullets hit the wall to my side and I felt one whiz by my head. Then I let go with the Thompson and at the same time Harry opened up with his Sten gun. That drove the SOL guys to ground in between the sedan and the truck. Our bullets riddled the sedan. Glass shattered and flew in every direction. We emptied our clips, then hugged the wall while we jammed new ones in. I signaled Harry to go up the right side while I went up the left. We took off and there were more shots. At least two of the SOL guys were still alive and firing through the broken front windshield. We let go again, stitching holes in metal from one end of the sedan to the other. Now I was mad. Shots from the front of the bar mingled with the noise from our guns. All I could hear was firing and the pounding in my head. Then there was a sudden silence when I ran out of ammo. Smoke drifted up from the car and the smell of gas filled my nostrils. As it did, I heard a thin splashing sound, followed by a much smaller sound, a tiny
whump
and I knew we were in for it. I dove to my right, knocking Harry down as the gas tank exploded, sending a ball of flame over us as the car rose a foot or so off the ground. The sedan settled on burning tires, choking the alleyway with thick black rubbery smoke.