Operation Wolfe Cub: A Chilling Historical Thriller (THE TIME TO TELL Book 1) (5 page)

US-2 threw his arms up. “
Ah
, I knew it even before we even got on board.”

Doc politely waited for the complaining to end. “As I was saying …Number One is the midshipman who will be in charge should something happen to me. Now as for you, Number Two, if you would be so kind as to continue backing into the waves so we can turn around and get out of here.”

Doc shook his head as if problems had already started when they hadn’t even begun. Still, he shrugged it off and
began commanding: “Go ahead and turn her around in thirty seconds…then get us in drive…we’ve got to make time. Number One… set the sonar and depth-finder…check the underwater reefs…give me some depths. And Number Two? When the time comes, set the forward navigation controls on automatic…fifteen knots until we break the waves.”

US-1 reported, “Checking…reefs are barely going to clear, Doc.”

Doc moaned, “
Hmmm
…sounds a little rough going out. Be sure buoyancy set to maximum.”

Just about then a good-sized wave hit the stern, rocking the ship. They looked overhead and watched the suds silently coast over the glass.

Doc took another nip from his flask and said with a changing smile, “Well, US-1, US-2…here’s to you two and the US
Wehrwolf
…oh, and this baby here too, of course. We’re headed for—where?”

US-1 and US-2 chuckled, “The United States.”

“Yeah,
ha ha
…Theee United States of Americaaaa! I’ll drink to that.”

Chapter 2

As Wolfe stood still on the beach, he watched the vessel quickly vanish through the waves until nothing of her was left to see. He stood there for quite some time afterward, long enough to at last notice the storm this time. The brunt of the storm had quickly vanished out to sea with the vessel. While choosing not to be in a hurry, he took his time turning around and then began his long trek back to wherever he had to go.

He didn’t get very far when he sensed an unexpected presence just ahead within the nightscape. Upon second glance, he apprised himself that it had to be an intruder directly in front of him no more than twenty meters away. Once he got a focus on the person’s faint whereabouts, he also noticed that the intruder was watching him from the vantage point of a small bluff.

Quickly, he threw back the flap of his trench coat and drew his Luger pistol to fire when he heard the voice of a woman. “Don’t shoot! It’s me!” Unpersuasively, she cried again, “Please! I know you have a gun! It’s
me
!”

He must have known exactly who she was because he slowly relaxed the tension off his trigger. He drew back his pistol, and holstered it, then looked down in shame. Though terribly disturbed, he quietly asked, “Why are you here?”

“I
had
to come. The baby’s mine too.”

Their encounter seemed quickly revealing. Both of their silhouettes looked like wilting tree trunks stuck in muck, ready to rot the rest of the way into the lifeless ground
beneath them. It was an awkward moment that dragged on for some time in utter silence. Their shadows pondered the problem before either of them really knew what to do or say to the other.

Finally, a remnant of life gave Wolfe a reason to look up as the sound of the woman’s whimpering grew too loud to ignore.

The woman frightened herself as she accidentally turned on her flashlight. The dimness of the beam looked as if it had been left on all evening. She couldn’t get it to turn off, so she dropped it to the ground and muttered into the darkness. “It’s almost morning now.” Without the aid of her flashlight, she staggered and tripped over the rocks towards Wolfe.

Their futile, lost feelings seemed mutual, for Wolfe had already begun making his way directly to her. They must have known each other all too well, for their reactions went without saying. At the last second before embracing, he opened his arms just in time to catch her limp body as she collapsed completely.

She was the one slated with pain the hardest. Her mourning seemed to escalate into misery with just the touch of his hands. Their dreadful midnight meeting came at a great price, for her weeping and wailing swelled into outbreaks of cries that sounded like they’d last forever.

She broke down further, delicately thumping her fist on his chest. “I know I was supposed to be far away. I made a mistake, an incredible mistake…I never should have let him go.”

“How did you find me?”

She sobbed, “Dr. Wycliffe told me. He made me promise not to say. I didn’t…I’m sorry. I just had to see our…our son…one last time….he’s gone, isn’t he? Say something, will you? Is he gone? You said he wouldn’t really be gone. He’s really not gone, is he? He’s going to be a fine boy someday? Please, tell me again. He’s going to live. He will live, won’t he?”

Wolfe looked out to the sea of darkness. The moonlight barely reflected the angry mood in one of his blue eyes. “He will live.”

“How can you know?”

“He now has the desire…even if he has to go to hell and back, he will look and find. I’m counting on him.”

She gasped, “The note! You said you were giving him a note. What’s it about? You didn’t tell him we were not—we were not—”

“I did not. We will marry…our wedding will be soon, if it’s the last thing I do.”

Further out to sea, inside the cockpit of the US
Wehrwolf
, US-2 was deeply devoted to navigating, slowly turning the ship around, but before he could get the vessel about, a massive wave came into sight along the port side.

Doc yelled out, “We’re testing again! Hold on!”

Swoooooosh!

The ship rocked as the wave completely engulfed her.

Separately, the crew opened their eyes, spewing their relief. All was pleasantly dry inside their cockpit, of course. As treacherous as the storm tried to be, all they could see was the beautiful, pure white foam drizzling down off the glass in front of them.

US-1 and 2 broke out shouting, “Wow! It’s okay. We’re okay. Our ship is taking the worst of it.”

“Oh wow, you didn’t cover this in training?”

Doc smiled as he tended to the baby. “Yes, indeed. It caught me by surprise, to my friends. We should be able to withstand a lot more than just a storm. Wait and see, my good friends. Wait and see.”

US-2 reported, “We’re about face, Doc…straight ahead, fifteen knots.”

Directly in front, within view of their front floodlights, another wave, twice as tall as the last, came up way too fast.
Doc held onto the baby as he strained to watch. “Brace yourselves…another incoming.”

Swoooooosh!

US-2 scratched his chin of blond whiskers, grinning. “You know…I could get used to this.”

Doc carried on, “Set a base course, US-1”

“Okay, I’ll get on it.”

Doc quickly unbuckled his safety harness then got up with the baby as if he was unexpectedly leaving when US-1 asked, “Where you going?”

“Well, my cheerful two crew members.
Ahem
…it’s time to put this here baby to bed down below. I think you boys can figure out the rest of the evening without me.” He turned to walk away then turned back again. “Well…can you?”

Both officers smirked all too confidently. “Yes, Doc.”

“No problem, Doc. All under control.”

Doc nodded away his disbelief and slipped down below, but before he went totally out of sight, they stopped him again. “Wait, Doc…what’s his name?”

“Yeah, our precious cargo you’re taking away. He’s got a name, doesn’t he?”

Doc looked coy as he pondered for a moment. Actually, he looked as if he’d almost forgotten. Finally, he sputtered, “
Uhh, um
, the name…Christ sakes, I just had it…his name is
err um
—oh yes…it is Randolf. Yes, yes, Randolf is his name.”

US-2 held back his laugh. “What? Rudolph?”

Doc glared. “No…it’s Randolf. Don’t be silly now…get serious on this mission.”

US-2 smiled. “Oh, Raaandolf, I see…Randolf.”

US-1 unbuckled himself then reached out with a smile looking more like joy than jokes. “Can I see him, Doc?”

US-2 caught on quickly, unbuckling himself too. “Yeah, I’d like to see who it is we are transporting.”

Doc studied the two faces dubiously before finally giving in. “I suppose this wouldn’t hurt anything…here you go. He looks like a skinned toad if you ask me.”

US-1 grinned. “
Aw, nah
…ladies think he’s a cute thing. He smells like a toad, though. I’ll give you that.
Whew…
he needs a change.”

US-2 handled him next. “So he’s the lucky boy with the one-way ticket out of hell like us,
huh
?” Randolf grabbed his pinky finger. “Oh, look at that! He’s a strong little bugger… good grip…he’s a man.”

Doc gently took him back. “Yes, yes, yes, healthy, strong boy. He’s had a healthy, hard night too. Time to go below before our luck runs out. Mark my word, he’ll probably start crying. So far he’s not…now you both know what to do when we hit open water?”

US-2 quickly sat back down and got back to business. As he tapped his fingers, patently showing no patience, he answered, “Yes, Doc, we know. Engines off…go to stealth propulsion and submerge.”

Doc kindly asked, “And what else, may I ask?”

US-2 blew through his cheeks. “Automatic navigation… I’ll remember.”

US-2 yawned with boredom all too quickly. “Yeah…we know.”

Suddenly, Doc poked his head back up on deck. “And they recline too. Christ, what’s that smoke?”

US-2 took another drag from his cigarette then leaned heavily on his armrest while US-1 felt the sealskin on his chair with his fingertips. “Don’t worry, I turned on oxygen filtration.”

Just then, Doc popped his head back up, surprising them this time. “Oh, I forgot. US-2…you’re on first watch tonight.”

US-2 turned back to face him. “What? I thought you said US-1 was midshipman. He should be first watch!”

US-1 smiled as he reclined his chair. With the purpose of bothering his comrade, he put his hands behind his head then smiled even more. “
Ah
, yes, I could begin to like this.”

Doc then tried to remember something else, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it until he snapped his fingers. “Oh, yes…one more thing. Don’t forget to hit the scale shutters over the glass before you go to sleep.”

Both officers looked at Doc as if they might never get him off deck. Doc, on the other hand, looked a little worried when he saw them acting a little too complacent. “No, I’m not kidding, you two…you’ll get the Holy Christ scared out of you if you don’t…do what I say, I mean it.”

US-2 gave a halfhearted German salute with his cigarette between his fingers. “Yeah, sure, not a problem for me.”

US-1 gave a dainty salute of his own. “Okay, Doc, I’ll see to it our companion here, Number Two, shuts the shutters. Is that right?”

“Right, Mr. Midshipman.”

Doc studied them with a peculiar eye before shrugging his shoulders. As he again went out of sight, he muttered, “I told you anyway…nothing too damaging, I suppose. Trust me…you may see what I mean, soon enough. Okay, good night, sleep tight, don’t let the big fish bite.”

Back down the ladder he went with Randolf. Just a few more short steps further through the bulkhead, he strolled his way right up to a sophisticated bubble contraption, which turned out to be a baby crib in the main sleeping quarters. He felt the glass to see if it was the temperature he liked, and it was. Next, he changed the baby. Immediately thereafter, he turned on a couple of brass wheel cranks just above, released the pressure inside, then opened up the door and placed Randolf inside the nice bed of white linens already made up for him. In addition to the routine matter of tucking a baby in bed, he strapped him in securely with built-in safety belts. Finally, Randolf was ready to go to bed, so he closed the lid,
turned the brass wheel cranks to pressurize the crib and then read the gauges for optimum conditions. Tucking Randolph in for the night seemed finished after that.

In no time, Doc hung up his white smock and clothing and placed his shoes in the billet next to the baby and plopped down on a normal looking bed of his own. This was all it took for him to fall sleep. Within a minute, he began to snore away his day of alacrity.

Back on deck, the other two crew members proved to be just as exhausted. They leaned more and more toward letting gravity and lethargy take its toll.

US-2 yawned then put his cigarette away in a nearby ashtray. “How’s the echo sounder?”

US-1 yawned also, as he labored to stay awake. “All clear down, twenty fathoms.”

US-2 then pushed his lazy hand forward to hit a few of his controls. “Switching engines off.…take over, I’m done.”

“Okay, taking over…submerging sequence…preparing for stationary dive…initiating negative buoyancy.”

After US-1 nearly completed his tasks for submerging, he looked over to his comrade. “You watching this?”

“Watching what? You playing like you sink us? Not too exciting.”

After US-1 gained his comrade’s attention, he methodically rolled his fingers onto his T-handle, as if he was about to repeat his submersion ceremony, but with more of a story fashion. He pushed gently forward with a quirky smile. “Submerging to the underworld…the goddess of blackness appears before you to take you away
hu huuu
… you’re going dowwwn, US-2…you’re going all the way dowwwn.”

US-2 spewed, then he reclined his chair and rolled over on his other side to look out. “
Shhhhh
, get over it. You’re the ass-wipe going down, not me. I’m a survivor.”

“Hey, Number Two, you have to stay awake, remember? Close the scale shutters.”

“Yeah, yeah…I’ll get around to it.”

Soon thereafter, jokes were set aside. Their thoughts quickly lent themselves to more lethargy as they watched their ship slowly begin to dip beneath the surface. In no time, the ocean’s restless waves washed over the deck and over the rim of their cockpit glass. Surely, it raised the minor thoughts of truly sinking. In a sense, the ocean’s pretense poked them with a little sinking joke of its own. Neither of them spoke a single word as they submerged. Only after they submerged completely could one see the bliss in their eyes. The abyss then captured their attention for the first time.