Time War: Invasion by Nick S. Thomas Page B

noticed he wasn't alone. Frasi took the weight of the man as he fell and dragged him quietly back into a bush the other side of the house.
    Engines roared once again, and they dashed to the side of the same house. Five trucks full of soldiers rushed past on the road to Dieppe. They were running with blackout lights only and were completely loaded with troops.
    "Whole lot of uniforms we could have used there," said Vi.
    "Like you'll be wearing them."
    She looked confused by Porter’s sentiment.
    "You know what the Nazis thought of women?"
    She shook her head.
    "Only good for fucking and making babies."
    She spat on the ground beside him in disgust.
    "Maybe they had a point," he added, just to piss her off.
    "He's an asshole, but he's still right," Lecia said, passing them by. Corwin signalled for them to be quiet; they could hear vehicles heading their way once again, but this time from the west towards a small crossroads up ahead.
    "Sure is getting a little busy round here," whispered Beyett.
    They waited and watched, and a car came into view. It was a large and luxurious four-door officers’ command car. There were recognition markings fluttering in the wind from the wings, but it meant nothing to any of them.
    "Got to be someone important?"
    Beyett nodded to Corwin. A truck followed close behind, and as soon as they had gone past the junction, Corwin signalled for them to go forward. He rushed across the road and into the garden of the house opposite, leaping clean over a fence. They went from one garden to another, running in parallel with the convoy and almost able to keep up, for they were travelling at a relaxed pace. They covered almost half a klick like that when Corwin stopped them. He’d seen the vehicles pull up to the lavish gates of a manor house and stop in the front courtyard.
    There were two guards posted at the gate, and they could see huge red banners with swastikas hanging from the columns on the front of the structure.
    "Aiming a little high, aren't we?" Beyett was looking at the grandeur of the mansion.
    "Isn't that the way we always roll?"
    Beyett couldn't disagree, but he didn't like it. They watched carefully as a soldier opened the door of the car, and two officers stepped out. Both wore lavishly decorated uniforms, clearly high-ranking officials.
    "Struck gold," said Porter.
    Corwin watched as every soldier they passed avoided eye contact and simply saluted without hesitation.
    "We get that car and those uniforms, we could get far," said Tano.
    "I'll get them for you," Rane said in his usual gruff voice.
    Corwin smiled.
    "I think this one might need a bit more of a delicate touch than you have to offer."
    "Come on, let me at 'em."
    "We aren't even going to be able to fit you in one of those uniforms," Tano said, looking at the hulking figure of Rane.
    "He's got a point," replied Corwin, "Look at us, trying to blend in to this world. It's a fucking disaster."
    "No, it might just work yet."
    "Think we should choose a slightly less ambitious target?"
    "No, Nylund, time isn't on our side, and this will do us just fine."
    Corwin looked carefully at the whole building and everything around it. A two-metre high iron fence ran for several hundred metres in either direction until it met a small wood on either side. There was little cover, but it was so dark the flat ground leading up to the structure was almost completely obscured.
    "Here's the deal. Rane, Nylund, you're taking the two on the gate. Lecia, find some high ground where you can cover the frontage of the building, and you fire the moment those two make their move. Beyett, you stick with Lecia. We cannot afford you risking your life. We need you more than ever. Hunter, Chas, and Vi, you're with me taking the left hand side. Tano, Frasi, Harland, take the left flank."
    He stopped and looked at Porter, and just knew he could be a spanner in the works.
    "What?" Porter asked, smiling.
    "Don't fuck this up for us," said Corwin.
    Porter shrugged while