Free Alpha Threat by Ron Smoak Page B

officer immediately behind him.  
    The men were greeted by clear, dark sky with the submarine lying within sight of the pier area.   As the lookouts continuously scanned the area in all directions, the captain turned to Hientz.  
    “Still all clear, sir,” quietly reported one of the lookouts again.  
    “Lookouts report all clear, Captain,” Hientz relayed to the captain.   
    “Very well.   Break out the signal device.”  
    Hientz opened a small locker on the bridge and pulled out a signal gun.    He wrestled with the colored lenses, finally picking out the blue one.   Placing it on the top of the rail, he pulled out the power cable, flipped open the power socket and plugged in the signal gun.   He placed the blue lens on the opening.   
    “Signal the pier,” said the captain as he brought his binoculars up to watch for the response.  
    Hientz raised the signal gun, made a second check to see that the blue lens was attached, pointed it toward the shore and flashed the gun twice and started a ten-second countdown in his head.   Everyone was silent as they waited.   3, 2, 1 … the four white flashes came in from the pier.   
    “So far, so good,” said the captain.
    A few seconds later they see a blue light flash twice followed by a single red flash from the pier.  
    “Okay, take us in, Willie,” said the captain as he let his binoculars fall to his chest.  
    “Aye, sir,” answered the first officer.   He bent over to get closer to the bridge microphone and keyed the microphone.   “All ahead slow, bearing 230 degrees.”  
    “All ahead slow, bearing 230 degrees, aye, sir,” a raspy radio response came from the control room below.   Almost instantly there was a slight vibration as the electric engines kicked in and the U-boat began to slowly move toward shore.  
     

CHAPTER ELEVEN
     
     
    Wednesday, May 9, 1945
     
    A Small Secluded Inlet on the Southern Coast of Brazil;   7:45 p.m.
     
     
     
    Leutnant Udo Trox lowered his field glasses and turned to an orderly.   “Go tell the major another U-boat is coming in.”
    “Yes, sir,” snapped the orderly as he immediately turned and strode purposefully toward the command building about 25 meters away, nestled under several large trees surrounded by jungle.   From above, the command building was impossible to see.   And that was the way the Germans wanted it.   Even from ground level the small building had been built under several trees with low branches.   At first glance anyone coming down the small inlet would never see the building unless they knew exactly where to look.  
    This post was secret.   So secret only a mere handful of officers back in Germany even knew of its existence.   Now, with the fall of Germany, even less knew of the base.   And they had so many other issues on their mind, such as survival, that they did not care about this God-forsaken place.   Those “lucky” enough to be here were now wondering about their futures with only scant information about home getting through.  
    Leutnant Trox stepped over to a makeshift desk near the end of the pier and switched on a red-lensed small flashlight and checked his records quickly.   Then he switched the light off.   There was a single light bulb hanging above the desk but they did not want to use it and reveal their location.   For weeks now U-boat after U-boat had come in, unloaded their cargo and sulked away into the darkness.   He wondered how long this parade would last.   He wondered what was in the hundreds of boxes and their destination.   But he knew better than to ask any questions; that is if he valued his own life.   The base commander, SS Sturmbannführer Kurt Bayer, the Gestapo and the hundreds of heavily armed crack SS troops that lurked around the base made him decide that he would do his job and not get involved in anything else.   Anyone who crossed the Gestapo had a tendency to disappear, never to be heard from again.   Trox