Stalemate (The Red Gambit Series) by Colin Gee Page B

her before the third step was complete.
    SS Werewolf Kommando Lenz had ‘dressed’ the site with a standard three-kilo explosive charge, and it had done its work well, twelve of the women soldiers joining their NKVD comrades in the after-life.
     
1328hrs Monday, 10th September 1945, Two miles south-west of Mother Owen’s Rocks, Gulf of Maine.
     
    The periscope hissed as it slid back up, breaking the surface above for the final time before the orders were given.
    “Fire one.”
    A stopwatch clicked, four seconds passed.
    “Fire two.”
    Both releases accompanied by the sounds of torpedoes in the water.
    “Starboard twenty, both engines make revolutions for six knots.”
    The Elektroboote, B27, had found a fast mover, a single merchant vessel intent on crossing the Atlantic alone, relying on her speed to keep her safe.
    The rumble of an explosion through the water, followed shortly by another, marked the folly of the attempt for the American steamship.
    Manoeuvring to get away from the firing position, B27 relocated to the east of the sinking, the submarine’s detection apparatus indicating that no allied vessels were in the vicinity.
    The Captain raised the scope once more, focussing in the area the vessel went down, its bulkheads noisily surrendering to the inrush of water, tasting its final gasp of air just six minutes after being struck by the last torpedo.
    As the commander quickly swivelled his periscope, he saw the lifeboats, two of them filled to the brim with survivors.
    The flash of gold braid caught his eye, and he upped the lens setting immediately.
    “What have we here, Comrades? Senior military personnel on the lifeboat ahead of us.”
    A moment’s thought.
    The First officer waited expectantly.
    “Threats?”
    Confirming with the sonar crew, he turned back to the commander.
    “None detected , Comrade Kapitan.”
    As was his habit in times of deep thought, the Captain pinched at his nose, squeezing it to stimulate the process of decision-making.
    “We will surface, and quickly, Gun crews on deck as soon as we are in air. Deck party armed. I intend to offer assistance to the senior military survivors.”
    A questioning look from the second in command was understood, and his concerns addressed.
    “We will be up and gone before they have a chance to organise a search, even if she did get off a signal. Now, let us be quick, Leytenant.”
    The First Officer turned to organise the crew.
    “Chief, I want you in your diving kit, just in case they lose something overboard, like a briefcase.”
    The ship’s senior rating understood, acknowledged the order, and moved away quickly to get ready.
    Eight minutes later, the ex-German elektroboote B-27 rose to the surface, thirty yards from the nearest lifeboat.
     
1337hrs, Monday, 10th September 1945, airborne over the Gulf of Maine.
     
    “Enemy submarine, on the surface, bearing 035.”
    “Action stations, standby for bombing attack.”
    Other voices confirmed that it was one of the new submarines, which were unmistakeable and could not be confused with any Allied vessels.
    New boy Hawkins had been in the cockpit passing out coffee, and it had been he that had spotted the sleek shape.
    It was also he that spotted the lifeboats.
    “No skipper, you can’t attack. There are survivors there, in boats. Could be the Dawes Castle people.”
    Joy looked at the horrified man .
    Momentarily confused, he alternated between examining the U-Boat and his crewmate.
    W ith eyes suddenly heavy with duty and the responsibility of his decision, he opened his mike, directing his gaze at Hawkins.
    “Stand by t o attack,” he said to the crew, seemingly cold and businesslike.
    “To your station , Bob,” was more softly spoken to the new airman.
    The pain distorted the wireless operators face.
    “You can’t, you simply can’t. Those are our people.”
    “To your station , Flight Sergeant! Send a contact report. Navigator, pass on the position.”
    The inexperienced man