The Rat Patrol 3 - The Trojan Tank Affair by David King Read Free Book Online

distance, first a flicker and then a blaze near the middle of the strip as the plane came in fast, touched its wheels, bumped and settled down with props reversed. It was a crazy thing to mark a secret landing strip with a bonfire, he thought angrily as the plane raced by it. He called to Moffitt, Hitch and Tully, pulled off his hat and earphones and jammed the hat under his jacket. He was crawling forward as the plane came to a stop and then swung about. Moffitt, Hitch and Tully scrambled after him. Ogilvy was looking over his shoulder and Troy waved hurriedly before dropping to the ground. It was dark at this end of the field and he had to peer through the murk for a moment before he made out the truck parked some fifty feet beyond the strip. The B-25 started away with engines racing as Troy ran for the truck. A figure trotted out to meet him. The truck's motor was running, Troy noted.
    "Troy?" the figure asked in an urgent voice. "Moffitt, Hitchcock and Pettigrew?"
    "Check," Troy said, halting. He half turned, hearing the B-25 roaring down the strip. Ogilvy was streaking past the fire, taking off.
    "Lieutenant Dorsky," the figure said. "Hop in the back and let's get moving."
    "Sure." Troy said, jogging beside Lieutenant Dorsky. He looked curiously back at the fire. "Anything wrong?" 
    "Sabotage," Dorsky growled. "That blaze out there is the third truck they've managed to blow tonight. This is a munitions dump and tightly guarded. That's why you were brought in here. It looks as if Jerry knew you were coming and made up his mind to get you."

4
     
    The first sharp reports snapped through the air, followed by a booming blast less than five minutes after the truck carrying the Rat Patrol had left the munitions area. Troy, who had been half asleep, jerked wide awake toward the open end of the truck where the guard with the tommy-guns was leaning out over the tailgate, intently watching. Streaks of orange and white rocketed into the sky and the sounds of more crackling detonations clapped Troy's ears. Troy teetered on the jouncing truck bed back to the tailgate.
    "Are they blowing up the dump?" he shouted at the guard.
    "I don't think so," the guard answered without turning his head. "The main stuff is underground in a concrete bunker. That was a loaded truck that just exploded."
    Before Troy could respond with another question, a second flash and then a third showed the dark bellies of the clouds as explosions stabbed across the rocky ridges like harsh slaps of thunder that accompany forked lightning. Several fires were blazing now in the area they'd just left.
    "Trucks," the guard said bitterly, turning his face to Troy. Although the truck was more than a mile from the dump, his features were illuminated. He looked tired, and deep lines plowed his forehead. "They're getting all the trucks."
    "Some send-off," Troy said grimly. "How could Jerry get in there?"
    "He didn't have to," the guard said, turning again to look at the restricted area. "There are Arabs who work around the motor pool. It wouldn't be too hard to slip a time charge in the trucks going to the munitions dump." 
    "Have you had much sabotage?" Troy asked.
    "That's just it," the guard said. "Nothing, nothing at all to speak of for a year. Never anything at the dump, just some minor incidents at the port. Then this, six trucks tonight. I don't get it."
    It might be coincidence, Troy thought, both the attack by the FW-190s and the charges planted in the trucks. It could be Jerry was suddenly active in anticipation of the coming spring offensive. And then, although the security measures G2 had taken to conceal the movements of the Rat Patrol were thorough, it was possible that somewhere along the line there had been a leak.
    Tully came up and stood at the tailgate on the other side of the guard.
    "So they been getting at the trucks," he said. "What about this truck, Joe? You fretting?"
    "Name's Buck, Buck for Buckweiler," the guard said and laughed shortly. "No,