Free The Rat Patrol 3 - The Trojan Tank Affair by David King

and I shall be able to deliver you to the perimeter in secrecy. All right, I'll go along with you. I'll have a talk with those men who are to substitute for you and silence them under the penalty of court-martial. From this moment on, they are the Rat Patrol. I'll write an order confining them once they reach Benghazi."
    "Why do that?" Troy asked mildly. "Let them be seen in Benghazi. Have them patrol the munitions dump in the jeeps. After the sabotage, it would seem natural enough to Jerry. Just make sure they don't talk."
    "All right, Troy," Major Grogan said, beginning to smile. "I think I begin to see why the Rat Patrol was selected for this Top Secret mission, whatever it is. You men think of everything and manage to turn a disastrous situation to your advantage. I'll go along with you on everything except one item. You will not put on steel helmets and ride out in the open. You will remain inside this van until I deliver you and you will not, under any circumstances, show yourselves. Every man in this convoy has seen you and would recognize you, even if you were wearing straw hats. I'll get the four men for the jeeps and bring them back here for their instructions. Just before they leave for Benghazi, you men, the real Rat Patrol, will drive around the convoy slowly, waving and shouting your goodbyes to one and all. Then to the rear for the switch and under cover for you. Is this clear?"
    "I suppose so," Troy said. For once he felt defeated. One of the benefits he'd hoped to realize from his plan was release from the confinement of the van. "Don't keep us cooped up too long. We'll go stir crazy."
    "No longer than necessary, Troy," Major Grogan said, laughing. "Tomorrow night at the latest."
    "One request, Major," Moffitt said with a smile. "We're rather attached to our headgear. It isn't Army issue, you know. We want it understood that the pieces are to be returned to us at Bir-el-Alam. In your orders to Benghazi, you can arrange for duplicates. Call them replacements. Right?"
    "Of course," Major Grogan said. "I understand the sentimental association. Now let me make the arrangements and we'll get the convoy under way again."
    The major gulped his coffee which had been untouched during the conversation and hurried from the van. Moffitt's eyes crinkled and an amused smile played at his lips.
    "You know, I think the major rather liked the idea," he said.
    "Liked it!" Troy snorted. "Hell, he'll probably get a promotion for catching this snafu and pulling the mission out of the fire. Who's for poker?"

6
     
    Troy awakened groggily. His body was weary and his bones ached. The air he breathed was hot and tasted stale. His head was throbbing. His shirt was clammy across his shoulders and the light in the place where he lay was gloomily gray. For a moment he did not know where he was and he stared at the dark roof vaguely arching above him. Although he was lying on something soft and warm, he seemed to sense motion. Then abruptly he remembered the convoy and the van and recognized the sound that had roused him from his torpor. It was the whistling whine of low-flying aircraft. He sprang from his rubber mattress and peered through the slit he'd made in the canvas flap that draped the back of the truck.
    Although the keening of the engines grew louder, he could not see the planes. He glimpsed the shimmer above the gray sands of the desert and his mind was aware that the sun was shining, but he was not thinking, only reacting. His muscles tightened and his body tensed as he waited for Jerry's twenty-millimeter shells to come slamming into the van or a bomb to burst.
    Two point-nosed P-40s with underslung jaws streaked in from behind so low he could see the pilots leaning against their headrests under the canopies. He whistled with relief and unsnapped the bottom buttons of the flap, pulling it apart a few inches above the tailgate for ventilation. The still air that seeped in was impregnated with dust and choked him, but he left