The Berkut (56 page)

"You've been off screwing those Eye-tie girls. And not a damn word in all that time," she complained.

"I've been in Germany."

She grimaced. "Worse yet. Blondes with big tits."

"They aren't in much of a mood. I'm sorry," he apologized clumsily. "It was pretty messy at the end; then I got the order to saddle up and hit the road to Krautland. No time to let you know what was going on. Besides, I figured you'd know. You always seem to know where I am."

"Not anymore, Beau; the new bunch is real peculiar. They aren't like the old gang. They're cold-blooded, and all they think about are the Russians. After the president disbanded the ass they transferred some of our people to army intelligence, some to the State Department, and discharged the rest. Any day now I expect they'll pack me off for the States; only reason I'm still here is that they're short of clerical help, and I know the procedures and filing system."

"I'm really sorry," he said, and when the words were out it surprised him to realize that he meant them. "Look," he went on. "There's no time to rehash ancient history, and whatever comes down the road next, well, we just have to deal with it. I need to know what we have on German refugees. You must have some information. When I was in Italy the partisans used to joke that the Vatican was in cahoots with the Nazis. Is there anything to that?"

Ermine froze. "I can't get that for you. I just can't. Anything else I can try for, but that's really hush-hush stuff and these new people play everything close to the vest."

"You've got to try. If Arizona was here, he'd get it for me, but he's gone and this Creel guy says I'm persona non grata. I've got nobody left to help me."

Ermine didn't answer. Instead, she got up from the floor, straightened her dress and began preparing dinner. When they'd finished eating, she folded her linen napkin, set it beside her plate, crossed her arms and stared at him. "I don't know why I can't say no to you, Beau Valentine."

"I've got a notion," he said, pulling her to him.

78 – March 27, 1946, 11:00 A.M.

The Special Operations Group used the position of the man in the photograph to approximate the location of the way into the valley. While they were not certain he was a sentry, they guessed a guard wouldn't be far from the entrance. The photographs showed no way in, so they reasoned that the access might be through a cave or tunnel, perhaps natural, possibly man-made. Whichever, they were confident that they had identified its probable location.

Ezdovo led them through the mountains, seldom looking at his compass. He had used Pogrebenoi's drawings to memorize the landmarks along the route; these alone provided him with the directions he needed. The group marched in an extended single file, led by the Siberian, followed by the woman, Bailov, Gnedin, Petrov and, far behind all of them, Rivitsky. Petrov's method was to use the expertise of each member of the unit whenever it was needed and not to worry about hierarchy, but he always insisted on order.

It took them twenty hours to reach the outer valley. They could have moved even faster, but Petrov chose to be careful in order to avoid walking into an ambush. It was one thing to worry about their objective, but there were other factors to consider. There were still plenty of armed German stragglers operating in remote areas: refugee bands-groups of Jews and Gypsies from the death camps-and plain thieves preying on people in Germany's less populated areas. In time such antisocial and counterrevolutionary elements would be cleared away, either by attrition or by Soviet action; in the interim, it was best to err on the side of prudence.

Ezdovo was their best scout, but because of her record with the Red Army, Petrov believed that Pogrebenoi was nearly his equal. Thus it fell on the pair who had found the valley by air to locate its entrance at ground level. On the morning of the twenty-seventh of March the team took up defensive positions in a small valley near the area to be searched, and Petrov sent the two scouts forward into a slate field filled with crevices.

Toward morning's end Talia came trotting back. They had located a natural cavern, apparently the front end of a long series of them. Just before the first large gallery, they had discovered a small tunnel that led off in a promising direction. Ezdovo had remained behind to cover the area.

The team moved into the first gallery. After examining the narrow upper tunnel, Petrov agreed with their assessment. They scouted a bit more, but there seemed no other leads worth following. It was decided that they should explore what they'd discovered and regroup if it didn't bear fruit.

Once again Ezdovo and Pogrebenoi went ahead, and after a short interval she returned to report that the tunnel opened into a valley. "It's a tight squeeze," she warned them as they moved into the shaft behind her.

Reaching daylight, Talia peeked out from the shadows as Ezdovo whistled at her from a rocky outcrop to her right. When he pointed ahead, she understood; the broken ground outside the tunnel showed the unmistakable pattern of a minefield. Pressure detonators, not magnetic. She informed the others in a whisper, then flashed a hand signal to Ezdovo. He signaled back for them to leave the cave one at a time, and with his hand showed her the course to follow. When he waved her out, she moved quickly and expertly, keeping a low profile and darting from side to side along the path until she was past Ezdovo and in position behind a line of granite boulders to provide advanced cover.

The instant Bailov reached her, Pogrebenoi moved on, creeping silently along the base of the steep valley wall to expand their point and defensive field of fire. When they were all in the valley and safely spread out, Ezdovo slid down from his perch, stopped momentarily to confer with Petrov and then joined her. "The mines were deployed in a fan starting near where we entered. Some have been exploded; many remain. They reach into the pines, but not very far. I could see a rough pattern in the ground from above," he told her quietly.

"I don't like being pinned in these rocks," she whispered. "Too flat, too open. Let's get into the trees and see if we can concentrate our formation."

He agreed and signaled those behind to cover them, with special attention on the rocks above, which might conceal an ambush. The two slid their knives from leg sheaths, slung their weapons across their backs, tightened their slings and started across the open ground on
their knees, using the knives to probe carefully for buried mines. Within minutes both were certain that the mines were confined to the area near the entrance, but they continued their meticulous probe all the way to the trees, where they searched carefully for the trip wires favored by the Germans.

With a wave of his hand, Ezdovo called the team forward into the pine trees and spread them out in a diamond formation, with Petrov at the center. With the team positioned, they moved out, walking slowly and using all of their senses to assess their new environment. Most of all, they depended on their ears; visibility was limited by dark tangles of low vegetation, and their noses were almost useless.

Eventually they reached a narrow stream, where the valley floor seemed to rise slightly ahead of them. "Hear it?" Pogrebenoi asked Ezdovo.

He grunted quietly. "There's some kind of spillway in the rocks just ahead." They retreated to confer with Petrov as the others remained in position, their attention directed to each side. "We're just below the dam," Ezdovo told his leader. "The structure is in the face of the cliff."

Petrov immediately responded. "Pogrebenoi and Bailov will move upstream to the other side. You will take the middle with Gnedin. Rivitsky and I will move along the rocks; if you encounter trouble before we get into position, all survivors should fall back and regroup here. When you get close, go in alone," he told Ezdovo. "Thirty minutes." They synchronized their watches and Ezdovo motioned for Pogrebenoi to tell the others.

"No shooting," she told them as they set their watches. "We'll set ambushes and wait until Ezdovo calls us in."

The pairs moved out slowly and worked their way into position.

From the far side of the dam Ezdovo could see that the door in the fa~ade was open but that several small porticoes in the facing appeared to be closed. There was no sign of movement in or near the structure. At the designated time he stood up and darted quickly across the dam. Bailov remained behind and to' his side, watching intently for any sign of life from the stone house.

Reaching the front door, Ezdovo paused, folded into a tight crouch and ducked inside. He was gone for several minutes while the group outside waited tensely, but when he reappeared his weapon was slung on his shoulder as he waved to the others to join him.

As Petrov approached, Ezdovo pursed his lips and nodded toward their knees, using the knives to probe carefully for buried mines. Within minutes both were certain that the mines were confined to the area near the entrance, but they continued their meticulous probe all the way to the trees, where they searched carefully for the trip wires favored by the Germans.

With a wave of his hand, Ezdovo called the team forward into the pine trees and spread them out in a diamond formation, with Petrov at the center. With the team positioned, they moved out, walking slowly and using all of their senses to assess their new environment. Most of all, they depended on their ears; visibility was limited by dark tangles of low vegetation, and their noses were almost useless.

Eventually they reached a narrow stream, where the valley floor seemed to rise slightly ahead of them. "Hear it?" Pogrebenoi asked Ezdovo.

He grunted quietly. "There's some kind of spillway in the rocks just ahead." They retreated to confer with Petrov as the others remained in position, their attention directed to each side. "We're just below the dam," Ezdovo told his leader. "The structure is in the face of the cliff."

Petrov immediately responded. "Pogrebenoi and Bailov will move upstream to the other side. You will take the middle with Gnedin. Rivitsky and I will move along the rocks; if you encounter trouble before we get into position, all survivors should fall back and regroup here. When you get close, go in alone," he told Ezdovo. "Thirty minutes." They synchronized their watches and Ezdovo motioned for Pogrebenoi to tell the others.

"No shooting," she told them as they set their watches. "We'll set ambushes and wait until Ezdovo calls us in."

The pairs moved out slowly and worked their way into position.

From the far side of the dam Ezdovo could see that the door in the fa~ade was open but that several small porticoes in the facing appeared to be closed. There was no sign of movement in or near the structure. At the designated time he stood up and darted quickly across the dam. Bailov remained behind and to' his side, watching intently for any sign of life from the stone house.

Reaching the front door, Ezdovo paused, folded into a tight crouch and ducked inside. He was gone for several minutes while the group outside waited tensely, but when he reappeared his weapon was slung on his shoulder as he waved to the others to join him.

As Petrov approached, Ezdovo pursed his lips and nodded toward the building.
In
the first room they found a girl slumped forward on her face, a Star of David carved into the small of her back.
In
the other bedrooms were four more corpses, all mutilated in the same way. Swarms of flies and other insects were buzzing around the bodies, and there had been some feeding by vermin and scavengers. The members of the group were not repulsed. All of them had seen worse carnage many times before; they accepted rotting corpses and their disposal by nature's forces as inevitable. A few minutes later they found a girl in the hot spring and another girl nearby. Neither had been shot, but both had been carved.

The group looked at Gnedin for a medical explanation. Petrov followed him around as he examined the bodies, while the others explored the building and surrounding cavern.

The two corpses in the cave were the most troublesome to Gnedin.

They laid the girl in the pool beside her dead comrade. "The puncture wound in the heart is a lethal one," the doctor said, "but I would say it was inflicted after she was dead."

Petrov listened attentively, his hands in his pockets.

"See these marks on the throat?" He showed Petrov the bruises and discolorations. Using his knife, Gnedin made a shallow incision just above Waller's pubis and slid the thin blade upward like a zipper to the bottom of the sternum. Working quickly and without hesitation, he made incisions below each set of ribs and another one crosswise, penetrating the lower abdomen. The incisions made, he opened the flaps of skin he had created to reveal the girl's viscera. Her lungs were hard to his touch, and when he opened them they were filled with water.

Gnedin evaluated the evidence for a moment, then looked up at Petrov. "She was drowned. Classic signs. Somebody held her under, producing the marks on the throat. She was mutilated later. The other one's easier; her neck is broken. Judging by the morbidity in the neck area, I'd say she too was also mutilated after death."

"And the others?"

"Shot."