Tatiana and Alexander: A Novel(111)

Alexander replaced the receiver gently and looked up to see Ouspensky and Yermenko staring him in the face. "What did he say, Captain?" asked Ouspensky.

"He said reinforcements will be here in a few days. We have to hold out till then." Taking a sip of water from the flask, Alexander grunted--even the NKGB's water tasted better--and said, "All right, Yermenko. Go get me their commander. But take another man with you."

"Sir--"

"No. Youwill take another man with you. Someone silent and good. Someone loyal, someone you can Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html

trust."

"I'd like to takehim , sir," Yermenko said, pointing at Ouspensky.

"What are you, a f*cking madman? I'm a lieutenant--"

"Lieutenant!" That was Alexander. He lit a smoke, glanced from Ouspensky to Yermenko, grinned and said, "Corporal, you can't have the lieutenant. He is mine. Take someone else along." He paused. "Take someone better. Take Smirnoff."

"Thank you for your confidence, sir," said Ouspensky.

"You're welcome, Lieutenant."

In an hour, only Smirnoff returned. "Where is Corporal Yermenko?"

"He didn't make it," said Smirnoff.

Alexander was silent a moment before he said, "I didn't ask you that, Corporal. I asked where he was."

"I told you, he is dead, sir."

"And I asked you where he was. I will keep asking you until you tell me. Where is he?"

With a puzzled, slightly mortified, war-exhausted look, Smirnoff stared at Alexander. "I don't understand--"

"Where is the dead corporal, Corporal?"

"Back where he fell, sir. Tripped a mine."

Alexander straightened up. "You left your battle buddy, the man who covered your back, dead in enemy territory?"

"Yes, sir," Smirnoff stammered. "I needed to get out of there, to get back here."

"Corporal, you are not worth the uniform they put on you. You are not worth the gun they gave you to defend your mother country. To leave a fallen soldier in enemy territory..."

"He was dead, sir," Smirnoff said nervously.

"And soon you will be, too!" Alexander shouted. "Who will carry your body to the Soviet side? Your buddy is dead. It won't be him." Waving his hand at Smirnoff, he said, "Get out of my sight." Then, "Before you go," he said to the corporal who had turned on his heels, "you will tell me if you've discovered anything we can use. Or did you just go into enemy territory to leave a soldier to die?"

"No, sir." Smirnoff didn't look at Alexander.

"No sir what?" Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html

"Sir, I found out the commander is not German but Russian. Though I think there are a few Germans in their ranks. I heard German spoken. The commander is definitely Russian. He yells to the troops in German but speaks to his lieutenant in Russian. He's got about fifty troops left."

"Fifty!"

"Hmm. They look to him for their every move." Smirnoff paused. "I know because we got very close to him. That's when we found out the area around his tent is mined. But now I know where to go. I'll just find Yermenko's body, the mine there has already been tripped, and I figure I can throw a grenade into the commander's tent. He'll be blown to pieces and his men will surrender."

Alexander paused. "You sure he's Russian?"

"Positive."

Smirnoff left. A half-hour went by and he wasn't back. An hour went by and he wasn't back. After an hour and a half, with the woods black and impossible to see through, Alexander gave up on Smirnoff. The stupid cocky bastard had obviously alerted them with another casualty. Now he is lying there dead, waiting for me to come and retrieve him.

"I'm going in, Lieutenant," said Alexander. "If anything should happen to me, you're in command of our unit."

"Sir, you cannot go in."

"I'm going, and I'm not coming back until either me or their commander is dead. Fucking Smirnoff! Left poor Yermenko in the woods." Alexander cursed again. "At least now there are two of them for me to find. I'll know where to step. Wish I had a f*cking tank. If I had a tank, I wouldn't be in this position."

"You had a tank. If you hadn't insisted on storming the river by yourself, you'd still have it."

"Shut up," said Alexander, taking his machine gun, tucking a pistol and five grenades into his shirt, and adjusting his helmet.

"I'm coming with you, sir," said Ouspensky, getting up.

"Yes, right," said Alexander. "They'll hear you wheezing in f*cking Krakow. While I'm gone, stay here and grow yourself a lung. I'll be back in an hour."

"Be back, Captain."

In the dark, quiet as a Siberian tiger, Alexander made his way in the woods around the small flickering lights of the German camp. He had a small penlight that he held in his teeth and shined on the underbrush as he looked for a body, disturbed ground, anything. Alexander's pistol was cocked and the knife was in his hand.

He found Smirnoff, who had found a mine. A meter away he saw Yermenko. He made the sign of the cross on the men with his pistol.