The Colonel returned the salute as he turned back toward the car. “I’ll see you on the train,” he said as he shut the door. The car pulled off and headed away.
Ricks turned and watched as the sergeants got all the people in line. Then with a grunt, they began loading the busses. This was going to be a long day. He just hoped that Lodz was still in Polish hands when they got there.
“Are all our assets in place?” asked Hammond via the satellite link. The room was filled with military men in a variety of uniforms.
“They are,” said General Pol. “Everything kicks off when they cross beyond Radom. The exact time will be up to you. When do you think you can get here?” he asked.
On the screen Hammond threw up his hands. “I’m doing my best. You know about the air blockade. I am told that they are going to put me on a special aircraft in about two hours. If I don’t make it, you’ll need to jump off when you see fit. There’s something else we are going to add to the event. There will be a coordinated missile attack from some of our units and I am hoping that a few plane loads of men and equipment made it to Frankfurt. If so, I am trying to get them set up to add a little more to the equation. But no matter what, initiate Plan Alpha and try to stop this advance. Any ideas yet on troop and tank numbers?”
General Dortmund walked up beside Pol. He was carrying some papers in his hand. “It appears there have been ten divisions on men and tanks so far. They are crossing almost unopposed. As per the plan, we are using artillery to slow them down and inflict what casualties we can, but their air force is eating us up. The initial air battle was a stalemate. They lost over thirty aircraft and we lost about the same. So the air over Poland is not secure,” Dortmund said.
Hammond nodded. “It’s like we suspected. My friends, we are going to lose a lot of ground before we can stop this. Then it’s going to take time to gain it back. We have a long, hard job to do.” He glanced at someone off camera and nodded. “Gentlemen, my plane is ready. With luck, I’ll see you in a little over two hours. Maybe then we’ll have some more answers,” he said before the signal was terminated.
Pol looked over at Dortmund. “Did he say two hours?”
Dortmund nodded and grinned. “Yes, and if I know the Americans, you better have a car waiting. He will be on time.”
The air raid sirens hadn’t been used in a decade. But when the radar screens showed flights of planes coming over the border and toward Krakow, the operators turned the switch and hoped for the best. Amazingly enough, the wail of the sirens began echoing through the city. The young people had no idea what it meant, but the older ones knew very well and began urging everyone into the subways and basements. Within ten minutes the Russian aircraft were bombing targets around the city. The air force base was turned into a pyre. Every aircraft on the ground had been hit and the runways were useless. Hangers and other buildings were burning fiercely. Fortunately, nearly every available aircraft had time to get into the air. The resulting air confrontation had netted a few more Russian planes down with the loss of four fighters. The rest of the serviceable aircraft had now retreated back into Germany.
In the cellar of their building, The Kursovs and Polskis sat under the small bare bulbs that dimly lit the cellar. They could feel the bombs exploding just five miles away through their feet and legs more than by sound. A few had gone off closer, causing dust to settle down on them from the floor above. No one spoke much.
Petyr sat beside Freda in a corner on some old sacks of salt. He held her hand. Each successive explosion caused her to squeeze his hand tightly. Looking around the room, Petyr could tell everyone was frightened. Petyr’s father sat with his head down, staring at the floor, while Mr. Polski was keeping his eyes on the people in the room and smiling when they made eye contact. That reassuring smile helped a lot. He especially smiled when he looked at Petyr and Freda.
After one closer explosion, Freda looked up at Petyr. “Do you think it will end soon?” she asked.
“I don’t know. We’ll just have to wait and see,” he said as he placed his arm around her shoulders and pulled her tight.
More explosions followed, getting closer to where they were. Suddenly a huge bang occurred, throwing everyone from their seats and onto the floor. Dust rained down, filling the air in the small space. Petyr had instinctively thrown himself over Freda to protect her from whatever might come. After a few minutes the explosions stopped and the ground quit shaking.
“Is everyone alright?” asked Mr. Polski.
Slowly, everyone responded. They got back up and took their seats again, brushing the dust from their clothing. The lights had gone out. Now, only a sliver of light from the door of the cellar gave any illumination to the room. Two minutes later, the air raid sirens came on again.
Mr. Polski got up and began dusting himself off again. “It’s over. Let’s go up and see what is left,” he said.
Going up the stairs, he eased the cellar door open. The rooms above were intact. Slowly, everyone made their way through the shop. The glass on the front windows had shattered. It was everywhere. Some of the merchandize had been knocked over, but everything else seemed unharmed. Looking out the window, the building across the street, a small electronics firm, had been hit. Bricks and debris lay scattered around the street and a fire was sending smoke high above them. As they watched, the city’s firefighting service dashed around the corner and began setting up to battle the blaze. They saw a woman crawl out of one opening onto the sidewalk. Her clothes were smoldering and she looked almost burned to a crisp.
Freda turned and placed her face into Petyr’s shoulder. Petyr turned to Mr. Polski. “Are we safe here?” he asked.
Polski gave a sigh. “About as safe as anywhere else. Children, we are now in the middle of a war. From now on, we watch out for each other and help each other as much as we can. Somehow, I don’t think there will be school for a while, so let’s just stay here and get things cleaned up. If it gets too bad, we can all go to our house outside town,” he said.
Petyr’s mother walked up with some brooms and handed them out. “Take these,” she demanded. “We need to keep busy. Clear up all this glass so that no one gets hurt. Papa,” she said turning to Mr. Kursov, “you try and find something to cover the windows. People will need our help, so let’s keep the shop open as best we can,” she said.
Everyone got busy. Within thirty minutes, the lights came back on, but already people were coming in to purchase bandages, drugs and supplies. By nightfall, there wasn’t much left to sell.
Hammond had never experienced anything like it before. He was sitting in a tight compartment with just two small windows looking to each side. Making it more interesting was the space suit he was wearing. Arriving at the airport, he was escorted to a small room where handlers took his bags and squeezed him onto the suit. He was attached to an air conditioning unit. Then he was whisked out of the building and around a corner where the SR-71 was waiting. The NASA aircraft was the last one flying.
Climbing the small ladder to get aboard, the men almost literally had to shoehorn him into the small compartment behind the pilot. In a few minutes, the engines started and the plane taxied to the end of the runway. Suddenly Hammond almost couldn’t breathe. The acceleration was phenomenal as the long, sleek Blackbird rocketed into the sky. Once airborne, the plane almost climbed straight up.
“You okay back there?” the pilot asked.
“I think my internal organs are still on the runway,” Hammond said.
There was a laugh from the pilot. “I usually don’t do it that fast, but we are on a tight schedule. In thirty minutes we tanker and fill up. Then we tanker again over the Azores. In between, we will be at Mach 3 at a little over 80,000 feet. They figure at that height and speed we are pretty safe. But just in case, I’m watching the threat warning system. If anything comes after us, I still have a few tricks,” he said calmly. “You can see the instruments back there, so just enjoy the flight.”