TOMB HUNTER

The Adventures of Larra Court

Episode 4

Larra and the Lost World

Chapter 9 Steiner

Standartenfuehrer Albrecht Steiner cursed and wiped the sweat from his eyes. He and his 300-man expedition had been forging its way through central Africa for over two months. In that time they had managed to progress from the Portuguese colony of Mozambique and were now somewhere in the eastern Congo Basin. It had been Steiner’s suggestion that the expedition be flown in and dropped off at a convenient point, but he had been vetoed. As a result he and his men had been forced to trek over a thousand kilometres across plain and through forest, fighting insect pests, wild animals, and disease. Most of his men had come down with some sort of tropical ailment or another, and all were dirty, tired, and discouraged. Steiner himself was completely fed up, especially as his nominal command of the expedition was being constantly challenged by Gestapo Hauptsturmfuhrer, Werner Klein. Exactly why a Gestapo officer had been sent along was beyond him. It was rumored among the men that Klein had some sort of direct connection with the Fuhrer, but there was no direct evidence of that.

As he mulled over the mystery of Klein’s presence one of his men came running up, breathless. He came to attention rather sloppily, but Steiner ignored the fault. It was difficult to keep the men up to standard under the conditions that existed on the march.

“Herr Steiner,” the man panted, “there is a camp up ahead. With an airplane!”

At least the man had the brains to remember not to address him by rank. Officially, he and his men were civilians and the troops had been told not to address him as an officer. More important was the news the man brought. This was something interesting at last! Steiner had been told of a British expedition heading for the same objective he sought. Perhaps this was it. Why else would there be an aircraft in such a God forsaken place?

“What else did you see?” It was Klein, acting as if he was in command. Steiner gave the man a look of intense dislike.

Klein was the exact opposite of Steiner. Whereas Steiner could almost have been considered a poster-boy for the Third Reich, with his blonde hair and athletic good looks, Klein was short and overweight, with a beet-red complexion.

“Report to me, Durer,” said Steiner. He found Klein’s presence infuriating, but dared not show it. It was not good for discipline if the rank and file thought their superiors were feuding.

Durer looked back and forth between the two men. Klein said nothing, but simply stood there with an annoying smirk on his fat face.

“Yes, Herr Steiner,” replied Durer. “The camp is about a kilometer away. There are about a dozen tents and quite a few black porters. About 50 or 60 I think, but I saw no white men. They are only lightly armed.”

Steiner turned to a heavyset man standing beside him. “Steiger, I want you to get together about twenty men and outfit them with small arms. Get me a light machine gun. I will be leading the party.”

Yes, Herr Steiner,” replied Steiger, and he rushed off toward the main body of the German expedition.

A few minutes later Steiger was back and the men were forming up. They were a bearded, dirty-looking bunch, but it was difficult to keep clean in the wilds of Africa. Steiner nodded to Steiger.

“Form up!” Steiger shouted.

Steiner took his place at the head of the column and moved off, the men following. “No noise! We want to achieve complete surprise.”

They moved fairly quickly through the forest. The trail they were following was well marked. It was probably the same trail that the group ahead of them had used. About half a kilometer down the trail the Germans encountered another scout. It was a man called Ludwig. Steiner raised his arm bringing the column to a halt.

“Anything new to report?” Steiner inquired.

“Yes, Herr Steiner. There is a white woman in the camp. She must have been in one of the tents when we first spotted the camp. She appears to be organizing things. The camp looks like it is getting ready to move off. Also, there are no sentries posted. Very sloppy.”

Steiner nodded. Obviously the British were not expecting any trouble. The woman was interesting. When Steiner had been briefed he had been told that the British were sending an expedition led by a woman, but he had not believed it. Now it appeared that it was true.

“Alright,” Steiner said. “Very quiet now. Let’s go.”

Ten more minutes brought them to the edge of the camp. It was as Ludwig had reported. The camp was a frenzy of activity. About half of the tents had been struck and the porters were sorting all kinds of gear into piles ready for loading. Steiner did a quick count. There were only about five armed men. In the center of the camp was a tall, slender red-haired woman. With considerable efficiency she was directing the breaking of the camp.

Steiner turned to Steiger. “Give me about ten minutes. I will move around the other side of the camp. When you hear me fire a shot move in. Shoot in the air. I don’t want any killing.”

Steiner led half of his force around the edge of the camp, keeping well back in the trees. The vegetation was fairly thick, but he was able to make his way through it in the time he had stated. Pushing through to the edge of the clearing he moved into a position where he could see the white woman. He checked his watch and flicked the safety off his submachine gun. He nodded to the man next to him. The man raised his rifle and fired a single shot. Immediately, there was an incredible hubbub from the other side of the camp as the men led by Steiger burst from the bush shooting and hollering as they came.

The black porters fled in total confusion. Not a man of them offered any resistance. Even the few that had rifles threw down their weapons and ran as fast as they could. Many of them came straight at Steiner’s position. He let them go. He wanted the white woman.

The redheaded woman was the only person in the camp who did not dash for the edge of the forest as Steiger’s men came in. For a second, Steiner thought it was because she was too frightened or confused to run, but then he saw her pick up a rifle. Steiner didn’t want that. If she fought back his men would shoot her down in self defence. “Let’s go,” he shouted.

Steiner and his ten men charged into the camp. Steiner fired his submachine gun into the air. The others of his party led loose with their Mauser rifles. The din had the desired effect. The redhead, who had appeared ready to shoot, whirled around. Seeing another eleven men heading straight for her, she seemed to realize the helplessness of her situation. She dropped her rifle and slowly raised her hands.

“Mission accomplished,” thought Steiner. The camp was secure. It had almost been too easy.

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