Shadows of the World » Band of Brothers

34: Quiet But Not Blind

"I was quiet, but I was not blind." - Jane Austen, Mansfield Park

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Cries that the radio signal had gone down rang out simultaneously, a cacophony of panic echoing out into the silence of the early morning. Juliette hid her smile in the collar of her coat. Will had been successful, at least; with no radio signal, the Germans couldn't alert the Gestapo HQ of a lack of communication with the vehicle, which would buy them time in the long run.

Instead of seeing their lack of radio backup as cause for delay, the generalleutnant could be heard thundering out orders for the guards to hurry up with loading the prisoners into the truck, lest Paris find out that they would be coming to them late. Juliette heard him muttering bitterly to himself about how he would have enough of a headache coming as it is with what 'that fucking agent' was going to tell them, and almost laughed; getting on the nerves of Nazis was one of her very favourite pastimes.

Two guards led the three male spies out of the building, all of them now cuffed individually out of convenience, with two more guards trailing behind to ensure they couldn't be ambushed. They were shoved unceremoniously into the back of the truck, grunting when they hit the floor, but were quickly silenced by the guards. Tom followed behind them and waited beside Juliette for the others to emerge.

Two soldiers led the female spy out by her arms, and her mental anguish was evidently so intense that her body refused to function. Her feet were dragging behind her and her head was collapsed forwards. In that moment she reminded Jules very much of Claudette, moments before she had shot her, and she shuddered before glancing away.

It was the generalleutnant who emerged next, still grumbling when he sent a sour smile to Juliette before getting into the driver's seat, another guard climbing into the passenger side. Jules and Tom quickly bundled into the back of the truck before two soldiers followed them in and closed the doors behind them. Then they were headed for the checkpoint on the edge of Bordeaux.

Jules prayed that the others were in position and that they would notice it wasn't her who was driving soon enough to get the situation back under control. If they didn't, they were well and truly screwed; there was no way she could get to Paris still parading around as an undercover agent they had sent. She decided her and Tom would have to work something out when they got to the train station, though prayed that it wouldn't come to that.

One guard sat between her and the door, and another between Tom opposite her and the door beside him. As the truck slowed to a stop at the checkpoint out of Bordeaux, Jules and Tom shared a quick look. This moment was make or break. Were the others in position or weren't they? Had they realised what was awry soon enough or just a tad bit too late?

Chewing on her bottom lip, Juliette closed her eyes as she waited to find out. It was at that moment, however, that she heard Alex's voice. "Papiere, bitte."

The generalleutnant had obviously handed over his papers for there was a pause, before Alex asked him to step out of the truck.

"This is ridiculous! I am your superior!" the generalleutnant protested in fast German, but then Martin spoke up. Thank God for Martin, Jules thought, because other than 'papiere, bitte' Alex didn't speak a word of German.

"Get out of the truck, please, Generalleutnant. And your partner, too."

There came the sounds of both doors opening and then the distinctive sound of boots landing on the concrete, the generalleutnant grumbling out his complaints all the while. And then, the gasps for breath and small, shocked cries that were customary when you were stabbed.