Casablanca by Linda Bennett Pennell

Author:Linda Bennett Pennell [Pennell, Linda Bennett]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Military/Cop, Historical
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Published: 2015-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

Kurt steered his jeep to a stop beside the last hangar at Casablanca’s Allied air base and peered through the darkness toward a lone Beechcraft C-45 poised on the tarmac, twin props spinning slowly in anticipation of the journey that lay ahead. Kurt sat for a moment and observed the scene. It felt as though he were an actor in the wings awaiting act one, scene one of a play for which he wasn’t completely prepared. It was the role of a lifetime, but one that might carry a terrible price. His stomach tightened. A metallic taste flooded his mouth. Funny how fear had its own distinctive flavor. Kurt drew a deep breath. It was now or never. Grabbing his pack, he went to greet the airman who ran from the hangar.

“Pilot’s ready for you, sir. Let’s get you aboard.” The airman took Kurt’s pack, then helped him into a parachute. Eyeing Kurt’s army uniform, the young man asked, “You done much jumping, sir?”

“Enough, but you really have no reason to ask, do you, Airman?”

“No, sir. Sorry, sir. Will that be all, sir?”

Kurt nodded. The airman led the way to the plane’s side entrance where a member of the flight crew held the portal open. Swinging up into the interior, Kurt glanced down the two rows of single seats and found himself alone with a two-man crew.

The co-pilot secured the portal door and turned to Kurt. “Sit anywhere you like. Flight time should be about four hours, barring complications from Gerry.”

Kurt dropped down into the closest seat. “Are we anticipating trouble?”

The pilot, wearing captain’s insignia and looking all of twenty-five, glanced over his shoulder and nodded at Kurt. “Not if our luck holds. Nobody knows this flight is taking off, not even the brass. Your boss was clear that it was need to know only. We got the flight plan just before you arrived.” The pilot returned to the final inspection of his gages.

Kurt furrowed his brow and smiled ruefully. “So, I guess it’s ‘once more into the breach, dear friends.’”

A puzzled expression crossed the co-pilot’s face. He couldn’t have been more than twenty, certainly wasn’t old enough to have attended much college, and thus encountered the Bard’s Henry V. Probably didn’t even need to shave regularly.

“Uh, yeah. I guess so, sir. Well, we need to get going.”

The boy turned and settled himself in the co-pilot’s seat. The engines revved. Through a small porthole, Kurt watched the tarmac become a narrowing ribbon of black. Soon they were aloft in the moonless sky. Stars became brighter as Casablanca’s dim haze faded away. Although he couldn’t see it from the plane, an ocean of sand now spread beneath them, sand for which the nations of the world fought and died.

Kurt had already committed his orders to memory and burned the paper documents, but the extent of what was expected of him made his stomach churn. By all accounts, this was probably a suicide mission. He prayed that he would get his

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