Body Count by James Rouch Read Free Book Online

to the impression that the facility had been fitted out very thoroughly.
    Leaving Ackerman in the corridor, Revell was shown into a large room with map-lined walls. On shelves running below them were banks of telephones. Not too many of them were visible though. The room was filled with staff officers from a host of rear echelon units, all of them engaged in noisy debate.
    A short, fat civilian broke from an arguing huddle around a table and greeted the major.
    “I'm Franz Gebert, Mayor of Munich while it and I both still exist. Come with me, Major. It was only by luck we found you. Do you know, you're the only combat commander we can find in the whole city?”
    “That I can hardly believe.” Making a quick estimate, Revell reckoned there had to be at least six generals and the same number of colonels in the room.
    “Take my word for it. This lot might be great with battalions of packing cases and brigades of filing cabinets, but I don't think one of them has ever heard a shot fired in anger.” Gebert mopped his face. He was perspiring even though the air- conditioning was working full blast, sending draughts of chill air through the complex.
    “Did you have any difficulty getting here?” “One rooftop sniper. Your own sentries shot one of our escort.”
    “Nerves, Major, nerves. When, if this mess can be sorted out, we may find we've killed greater numbers of each other than we have of the enemy.”
    Revell took an immediate liking to the little German, with his abrupt no- nonsense style. After the reception at the rear of the building, the sleeping air-lock sentry, and the confusion of the room, the mayor shone like a ray of hope.
    “What sort of mess do you have? All I've been able to gather so far is that a few commie agents and sympathizers are on the rampage.”
    “It's worse than that. How much worse we're only just beginning to discover.” 

    EIGHT

“There's someone I want you to meet.” Gebert towed Revell across the room. On the way they passed two generals in heated conversation.
    “...And there's a tank repair workshop at Fursten-feldbruck. Always a few sitting about on trailers, waiting to be shipped back to the front. A squadron of Leopards, that'll do the trick. Soon blast them out ...”
    “...take too long, too much collateral damage. No, I say evacuate the city. Clear out all the civvies, then give the place a good drenching in Sarin, or any of the nerve gasses. That'll winkle out the snipers ...”
    The mayor looked at Revell to see if he had heard, and shook his head. “I've been listening to that sort of rubbish for the last hour. And those are bright ideas compared with some. This is Karl Stadler, our chief of police. He'll fill you in on the situation.”
    “The fires you probably know about.” Stadler wasted no time with pleasantries. “There's a ring of them, right around the city centre. Four here, much closer in, and two at either end of the English park.”
    “Significant?” Revell didn't need to look at a wall map to visualize the picture. “We didn't realize so at first. The fire service resources were stretched. Compared with other outbreaks, these four were relatively unimportant. Also they were buildings that stood alone. No other property was immediately threatened. There were a lot of hoax calls early on, our few pumps were dashing about to military headquarters, art galleries, gas stations, hospitals, high-priority stuff like that. So, I'd say that in those circumstances, a good case could be made for our fire chiefs' decision to let them burn themselves out.”
    “We'll be going into that at another time, Karl.” The mayor had been quick to see that line of discussion terminated. Revell could see why no representative of the fire service was in on the briefing.
    “In any event, when the air-raid alert was sounded, the blackout drill went perfectly, but those damned things were still going strong.”
    “No Warpac aircraft homing on the city would have needed