"Nephilim - 03 - The Revealing" - читать интересную книгу автора (Marzulli L A)

"Must have gotten lost, huh, Cap?" Sarge offered. Such incompetence, Von Schverdt thought.
"Bring an ammo crate for the general to sit on. Have tw? men guard him until the colonel arrives," Decker ordered. "Sarge, do a search of the bags and make sure they're clean."
"Got it, Cap."
"Captain, please, I assure you that the satchels contain confidential papers, and will . . ."
Decker cut the general off and repeated his order, "Search the bags, Sarge"
? soldier appeared with an ammo crate and set it next to Von Schverdt, who chose instead to remain standing with both of his hands clasped together behind his back. What if this man understands what he is looking at? What if he sees the drawings, the photos?
The sergeant opened one of the satchels. "Nothing but papers in this one, Cap."
"Look in the other," Decker ordered.
Von Schverdt saw the sergeant open the other satchel.
"More of the same Cap ... except this one has a lot of photos. Want to look at them?" he said, pulling some of them out.
A voice rang out behind Von Schverdt. "We got company."
Decker turned and faced him. "Let's hope it's Colonel Dougherty."
Von Schverdt nodded. His eyes darted toward tw? jeeps speeding toward him and then back to the sergeant who had taken a few of the photos out.
"Hey, Cap," the sarge called.
Von Schverdt heard the fear in the man's voice.
"Maybe you should take a look at these ..."
"Stow it," he heard Decker reply.
The jeeps pulled up and Von Schverdt saw the distinct armband on the soldiers in the lead jeep, signifying them to be Military Police. Von Schverdt reckoned that the other man seated in the passenger seat of the second jeep was probably Colonel Dougherty.
The MPs got out of the jeep and stood at attention while a stout man with a shock of premature white hair climbed out. Decker gave a snappy salute. "Atten-hut!" Decker barked, and his men snapped to attention.
"As you were," Dougherty replied. The men relaxed.
Von Schverdt made brief eye contact with Dougherty.
"We took a wrong turn about a mile out from HQ. Got us all fouled up. We've got to do something about the road signs," Dougherty grumbled.
"Yes, sir," Decker replied.
"This him?" Dougherty asked.
"Yes, sir."
Von Schverdt snapped to attention, clicked his boot heels together, and saluted. "General Wolfgang Von Schverdt of the SS."
Dougherty returned the salute, his eyes were on the tw? satchels.
Von Schverdt extended a gloved hand gesturing toward the bags.
"Like I said, Colonel, much of the information is here, but of course there is more . . ."
Dougherty went over to the satchels and pulled out a file that contained several pictures. Von Schverdt studied the man, scrutinizing every muscle on his face. Watching for a twitch of an eye, stiffening of a lip, a crease in the brow, or anything that Von Schverdt might use for h?s advantage. After a moment Dougherty closed the file and remained motion-less for almost a full minute, his eyes downcast.
The man is shaken, Von Schverdt thought. Good. "Colonel?" Captain Decker called out.
Colonel Dougherty gathered himself together. "Sorry, Captain. Have one of your men load these into my jeep." He turned to his escort of MPs. "Corporal, take charge of the prisoner."
The man saluted and drew his sidearm as he and the other MP descended upon Von Schverdt, who noticed that the corporal had produced a set of handcuffs.
"Really, Colonel, are these necessary?"
"I'm afraid so, General," Dougherty replied.
Von Schverdt extended his hands in front of him and the MPs cuffed him. He was then escorted to one of the jeeps, where he was placed in the passenger seat. The MP with thehandgun sat behind him. Colonel Dougherty and Captain Decker saluted each other, then the jeeps turned around and sped off down the road.
*?*
The debriefing lasted for more than four hours. Von Schverdt had been taken to a large tent at the American Army headquarters. There, seated with Colonel Dougherty and tw? other men, he spoke and answered questions. Photographs and papers from Von Schverdt's satchel littered the table.
"General," Colonel Dougherty addressed him, "have you any idea of the condition of the ... craft? With all of the bombing, is there going to be anything left of them?"
Von Schverdt tapped his forefinger against the death's head skull ring on his other hand. "I have no way of knowing that, Herr Colonel. I constructed the underground hangar to withstand such bombing, but who knows, ja? May I suggest that we go to see it ourselves?"
Von Schverdt saw Dougherty eye the other men. "How far is it from here?"
"Perhaps tw? hours, providing of course that the roads are passable."
Dougherty reached for a map that had been brought in during the debriefing. "Show us," he said, and passed it to Von Schverdt.
Von Schverdt studied it for a moment. "Here. Near Peenemunde. I had the hangar constructed to look like a dairy barn. We even had cows in the pasture." He chuckled.
"So, in the morning you can take us there?" Dougherty asked.
Von Schverdt nodded. "Yes, in the morn?ng."
The debriefing ended and Dougherty, along with several MPs, escorted Von Schverdt to a makeshift cell which had been prepared for him.
Von Schverdt surveyed the accommodations. A barbed-wire fence encircled a tent placed on a deck made of wooden pallets. The tent's flaps and sides had been rolled up, showing an army cot and one chair. "I trust you'll be comfortable, General," Dougherty said. "One of the MPs will bring you some-thing to eat. It won't be much, though."
"Thank you, Colonel. I'm grateful for anything you might provide."
An MP opened a gate and Von Schverdt stepped into the enclosure.