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Larra crept silently through the darkened corridors, Melissa a few steps behind her. She and her companion were weaponless and dressed more appropriately for a Viennese ball than for espionage, but she had to find out what the Nazis were up to and put a stop to it if possible.
It was incredibly dangerous. Only the huge size of castle and the fact that it was very poorly lit gave them any chance of success. There were simply not enough SS guard to properly patrol all the corridors and the two women were able to avoid the patrols.
They were now deep in the dungeons and attempting to slip past what they hoped were the last guards between them and their objective. They had learned through listening to the conversations between the guards that this part of the castle was where Keitel had his laboratory. If they could just make their way there without being caught they would almost certainly be able to discover what the Nazis were up to.
Larra motioned with her hand and Melissa froze. Thirty feet away two guards lounged against a wall. They would have been easy targets if either she or Melissa had a weapon more dangerous than the kitchen knife they had taken from the room they had been in. Even the knife might be of some value if they could find a way to get close enough to use it.
Unfortunately, it seemed they had arrived at an impasse. It was critical the two guards be taken out without a sound, as almost certainly there were more on the other side of the door they were guarding. However, crossing that thirty feet without an alarm being raised seemed impossible. With no other choice, both women settled down to wait. Perhaps there would be a lapse in the guards’ watchfulness or one of them would take a call of nature break.
Suddenly a terrible scream echoed from inside the room. Both guards turned in the direction of the sound. Larra tensed, ready to spring across the space separating her from the guards. It would be an awkward scramble in the ill-fitting ball gown, but she was ready to take the chance if there was any hope of success. Unfortunately, the guards did not stay diverted for long. A few seconds later they resumed their watchful attitude, leaving Larra and Melissa frustrated and anxious.
Moving back, Larra whispered to Melissa. “We’ve got to do something. It sounds as if someone is being tortured.”
Melissa nodded. “What we need is a diversion,” she whispered. “Come on, I’ve got an idea.”
Taking care to avoid any encounters with the SS guards, Larra and Melissa worked their way back the way they had come, finally stopping two levels higher than the laboratory. It was a corridor they had traversed on their way to the room and Melissa led Larra to a room they had ducked into to avoid an SS patrol.
“I thought I remembered correctly,” Melissa said. The room was a jumble of old furniture and other discarded castle objects.
“Looks like Dracula’s junk room,” she commented. “Do you think we could get a fire started in here?”
“Perhaps,” Larra replied. ”However, without a good oxygen supply it won’t be much of a blaze. It could probably be extinguished simply by closing the door to the room.”
“That won’t matter,” Melissa said eagerly. “We just want to create a diversion, not burn the castle down. As long as we get plenty of smoke it should do well enough.”
“Good thinking,” Larra agreed. “Let’s start by creating a pile of flammable materials.”
It took only a few minutes to assemble a suitable pile of combustibles. Then Larra took out one of the few items of value she had found in the antique bedroom she and Melissa had been led to; a package of sulphur matches. Striking one, she held it to a small amount of tinder she had put together. As the tinder caught she added larger pieces of wood to the flames until she had a cheery little fire in the middle of the room. Piled on top of it was a huge accumulation of broken furniture and various draperies and other burnable objects. It would take only minutes for the small fire to become a roaring conflagration. Already the room was filling with smoke, making it difficult to breath.
“Time to leave,” Melissa muttered. She moved toward the door, Larra following.
Reaching the corridor, she looked back to see Larra fussing with the door. “What the hell are you doing?” she asked. Almost certainly the smoke streaming from the room would bring the SS guards and yet Larra was delaying her escape.
“Just jamming the door open. We don’t want the fire to be too easy to contain.”
Her heart beating in fevered excitement, Melissa ran to help. Together they managed to wedge a chunk of metal into the door jam. It could be removed, but not without difficulty and it would not be immediately obvious what had been done. Then they ran with the best speed they could muster in their long gowns.
They ducked out of the corridor just as the SS guards stormed into the hallway. Continuing to move, they ran to a suitable niche and ducked out of sight. Shouts of alarm sounded in both directions and they held their breath as men ran by within yards of where they were hiding. They waited several minutes to be sure and then hearing von Jagger bellowing in anger, they waited a minute longer until his voice faded down the hall.
“Now,” Larra whispered. They slunk back up the stairs toward the laboratory. For the most part the hallways were deserted except for the occasional SS guard still hurrying toward the fire. The latter was apparently burning well, as the smell of smoke hung strongly on the air.
As they had hoped the door to the laboratory was now unguarded. However, that did not mean that there was no one inside and so they moved across the open space to the door quickly but cautiously.
Reaching the door they listened for a few moments. What they heard assured them that their entrance would probably catch anyone inside completely unprepared. The door was not locked and Larra eased it open and stepped into the room. She saw what she expected to see, the Romani girl, devoid of clothing, strapped helplessly on top of a gurney with a leering SS guard standing over her.
The girl was crying, her eyes wide with terror. Next to her on a metal tray were a number of glittering surgical instruments and syringes. Apparently the fire had interrupted Keitel before he had been able to use them. Unfortunately, however, the delay had given the guard the opportunity he needed to inspect Keitel’s prospective victim and he was taking full advantage of it, running his hands over the cringing girl’s body.
Larra was now able to see what had been covered by the Romani girl’s
clothing, and that was that she had a body a
“See if you can find something to bar the door,” Larra said as she busied herself with unbuckling the straps from the trembling girl.
Melissa looked around the room. Draped from one wall were several lengths of chain. Grabbing a couple of the heavy links she dragged them across to the door where she wound them through two large metal rings that were set into the wood. Nothing short of a battering ram would now open the door, but that posed another question. Von Jagger and his thugs could not get in, but that also meant she and Larra could not get out. She looked around for another door and spotted a smaller door set in the wall farthest from the door.
Moving across the room while Larra calmed the weeping girl, she opened the door and found herself facing an upward leading flight of stairs. Quickly she followed them and found that they opened into an alcove that looked out from the castle wall. The lights of what appeared to be a village could be seen twinkling in the distance. Satisfied that they would not be ambushed she returned to the laboratory to find Larra and the girl busily getting dressed. In a few words she told Larra of her discovery.
“Very good,” Larra replied. “We have a way out. I also have some good news. All of our equipment is here. Even the weapons and survival gear.”
“That’s a break,” Melissa commented, as she stripped off her uncomfortable and awkward ball gown and selected her jump suit from the clothing Larra had laid out. Strapping on her sidearm, she suddenly felt much more confident.
“All right,” said Larra, “I’m not sure what von Jagger and Keitel were up to, but I think we have an obligation to destroy as much of his equipment as possible.”
Melissa nodded. The laboratory contained several large counters that were covered with hundreds of pieces of highly technical electronic apparatus as well as an array of retorts, beakers, Bunsen burners, and row after row of glass bottles containing various chemicals. Against one wall was a bank of cages containing numerous animals and next to the cages were half a dozen filing cabinets.
“Smash everything you can,” Larra ordered. “I’m going to look through the files to se if I can figure out what the Nazis were up to. There might be something here of military importance.”
“With pleasure,” Melissa replied. She lifted a fire axe from its bracket on the wall and stepped toward the massive array of glass.
The girl, having recovered somewhat, picked up a broom and followed Melissa. Together the two women smashed and scattered every piece of equipment within reach leaving a wave of destruction behind them. In the meantime, Larra tossed the filing cabinet documents into a heap as she quickly glanced through them.
At that moment there came a shout from outside the door as someone tried to get in and found the door would not open. As fists pounded on the door Larra looked up from her destruction. She was just in the act of setting fire to the huge pile of files she had dumped out of the cabinets. “Almost time to go,” she murmured. She set lit the match and the files exploded into flame. She had liberally soaked them with a can of ether she had found.
“Alright, let’s go,” she said.
Her plan was to head up the back stairway that Melissa had scouted and using one of the many lengths of chain descend the side of the castle and escape. Once out of the castle she would get Iolanda to a safe place and then try to find another way back in. Unfortunately, the Nazis had other ideas. Even as she gathered up several of the lengths of chain, the door Melissa had secured blew inward.
The explosion was accompanied by a deafening roar and a huge cloud of smoke. An entire section of door was hurled into the room, while the other section hung loosely on its hinges. Following the blast a dozen heavily armed SS guards stormed into the room.
Larra and Melissa were caught completely off guard. Melissa in fact was blown off her feet and was entirely helpless as the SS troops charged in. Larra barely escaped being decapitated as the section of door flew over her head. Ducking to avoid being killed she found herself facing the submachine gun muzzles of several angry guards. Briefly she considered resisting, but then realized that any such stupidity would result in not only hear death, but probably that of Melissa and Iolanda as well. Slowly she raised her hands over her head.
Von Jagger strode into the room, followed at a safe distance by Keitel. It would be an understatement in the extreme to describe either man as angry. For a few seconds van Jagger merely stared at the damage while Keitel spluttered in almost total disbelief.
“You British whore,” von Jagger said slowly. He seemed almost on the verge of exploding yet his voice was deadly calm. “You will suffer for this more than anything you have ever known.”
Keitel found his voice. “They’ve destroyed everything,” he screamed. “My equipment, my notes… It will take months to duplicate all the experiments.” He turned on Larra. “Bitch,” he shrieked, “I’m going to rip you open and tear out your guts.” Stepping to the nearest SS trooper he yanked a dagger from its sheath.
Von Jagger lay a restraining hand on Keitel’s
arm. “Wait, my dear
Doktor. I have a most suitable
punishment, one that I think
Covered by half a dozen armed men, Larra and Melissa were quickly disarmed and their hands bound behind their backs. They had succeeded in destroying the Nazi laboratory, but von Jagger’s words filled them with foreboding. After what he had already done to them what could he possible do that could be much worse?
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