“Now what do we do?” Guido asked.
“Jesus, is there no poetry in you at all?” Gallagher demanded. “We follow them, of course. 1 wouldn’t miss the last act for anything.”
At Septembertide, on the bed in the small room, Konrad Hofer groaned and moved restlessly. The sedative the doctor had given Martineau was, like most of his drugs, of prewar vintage, and Hofer was no longer completely unconscious. He opened his eyes, mouth dry, and stared at the ceiling, trying to work out where he was. It was like awaking from a bad dream, something you knew had been terrible and yet already forgotten. And then he remembered, tried to sit up and rolled off the bed to the floor. He pulled himself up, head swimming, and reached for the door handle. It refused to budge and he turned and lurched across to the window. He fumbled with the catch and then gave up the struggle and slammed his elbow through the pane.
The sound of breaking glass brought the two soldiers Captain Heider had left on sentry duty at Hinguette next door running into the courtyard. They stared up, machine pistols at the ready, a young private and an older man, a corporal.
“Up here!” Hofer called. “Get me out. I’m locked in.”
He sat on the bed, his head in his hands, and tried to breathe deeply, aware of the sound of their boots clattering up the stairs and along the corridor. He could hear voices, saw the handle turn.
“There’s no key, Herr Hofer,” one of them called.
‘Then break it down, you fool!” he replied.
A moment later, the door burst open, crashing against the wall, and they stood staring at him.
“Get Captain Heider,” Hofer said.
“He’s gone, Herr Major.”
“Gone?” Hofer still had difficulty thinking clearly.
“With the field marshal, Herr Major. The whole unit went with them. We’re the only two here.”
The effects of the drug made Hofer feel as if he were underwater and he shook his head vigorously. “Did they leave any vehicles?”
“There’s a Kubelwagen, Herr Major,” the corporal told him.
“Can you drive?”
“Of course, sir. Where does the Herr Major wish to go?”
“The airport,” Hofer said. “And there’s no time to lose, so help me downstairs and let’s get moving.”
A, ñs. the airport, the Luftwaffe honor guard waited patiently as darkness fell. The same group of officers who had greeted the field marshal on his arrival now presented themselves to say goodbye. The Storch was parked on the far side of the JU52, which awaited its illustrious passenger some fifty yards from the terminal building. Necker paced up and down anxiously, wondering what on earth was going on. First of all that extraordinary message from Hei-der at Mont de la Rocque about the mail plane and now this. Twenty minutes past eight and still no sign.
There was the sudden roar of engines, the rattle of a halftrack on concrete. He turned in time to witness the extraordinary sight of the armored column coming around the corner of the main airport building, the field marshal standing up in the Kubelwagen at the front, hands braced on the edge of the windshield.
The column made straight for the Junkers. Necker saw the field marshal wave to Sorsa in the cockpit, who was looking out of the side window. The center engine of the plane coughed into life, and Rommel was turning and waving, barking orders. Soldiers leaped from the trucks, rifles ready. Necker recognized Heider and then saw a bandaged sailor being taken from the personnel carrier by two soldiers who led him to the Junkers and helped him inside.
The whole thing had happened in seconds. As Necker started forward, the field marshal came to meet him. It was noisy now as the Junkers’ wing engines also started to turn. To Necker’s further astonishment he saw, beyond the field marshal, Standartenfuhrer Vogel and the French girl dismount from the personnel carrier and go up the short ladder into the plane.
Baum was enjoying himself. The ride up from the Silver-tide had been truly exhilarating, and he smiled and put a hand on Necker’s shoulder. “My deepest apologies, Necker, but I had things to do. Young Heider was good enough to assist me with his men. A promising officer.”