Russian Zone of Occupation, Germany
1555 19 January 1946
There was a small truck on the road.
As Cronley flew closer, he saw that it was an old—ancient—Ford stake body truck, and that red stars were painted on the doors.
He remembered seeing on March of Time newsreel trucks like that driving over the ice of a lake, or a river, to supply Stalingrad.
A stocky man in what looked like a Russian officer’s uniform got out of the cab of the truck . . .
He’s wearing a skirt?
That’s not a man. That’s Seven-K. Rahil.
. . . and went quickly to the back.
A boy jumped out of the truck.
Is that the old one, or the young one?
And then a woman.
Mrs. Likharev.
&nbs
p; Mrs. Likharev turned and helped a smaller boy get out of the truck.
Seven-K pointed to the approaching Storchs, and then took the woman’s arm and propelled her into the field beside the road.
Cronley signaled to Schröder, who was flying off Cronley’s left wing, to land. Schröder nodded and immediately dropped the nose of his Storch.
Cronley slowed the Storch to just above stall speed so that he could watch Schröder land.
Schröder got his Storch safely on the ground, but watching him put Cronley so far down the field that he knew he couldn’t—even in the Storch—get in. He would have to go around.
By the time he did so, Mrs. Likharev and the boys were standing alone in the field, making no move to go to Schröder’s Storch.
Seven-K was getting into the truck. As soon as she did so, the truck drove off.
Cronley put his Storch on the ground. At the end of his landing roll, he was twenty feet from Schröder’s Storch.
Ostrowski was out of Cronley’s Storch the instant it stopped, and ran to Mrs. Likharev and the boys. He propelled them toward Schröder’s Storch.
Christ, the little one has Franz Josef!
What the hell?
Christ, I’ve got to turn around.
Why the hell didn’t I think about that?
Ostrowski hoisted Mrs. Likharev into Schröder’s airplane, and then handed her the smaller boy and the dog.
Schröder’s engine roared and he started his takeoff roll.
Ostrowski came to Cronley’s Storch, hoisted the larger boy into it, and then got in himself.