Into the East Trilogy

Chapter 6:

Chapter 6:

Alexei watched as the German patrol craft glided closer to the Kampfhund’s tender. Wouldn’t it be ironic if the German-made private boat was sunk by a German Navy patrol craft? The odd thing was the navy vessel was a few feet shorter, but the three-pound canon on the foredeck would have sunk his unarmed craft in a single shot. His first assessment was wrong. There was no way the Kampfhund’s small boat would have outrun this boat. The German’s was a new design and built for speed.

He thought it strange the German Navy would assign such a new ship to a backwater location like Acre. There wasn’t that much to protect here… or was there?

The Stroganovs had received the zeppelin Kampfhund from its creator, Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin. Just because their respective countries of Russia and Germany did not get along did not mean the aristocracy were at each other’s throats. The limited availability of suitable spouses required searching for candidates beyond one’s borders. Thank God, Alexei and Ludmila never needed to worry about such nonsense.

Alexei had become friends with a number of German nobles when he helped them take care of a rather inglorious scandal concerning tin plates of men dressed up in women’s clothing. If leaked to the outside, many reputations would have been ruined, perhaps the fall of the government of Germany itself. That would have led to anarchy and probably war. Too soon for Alexei and his sister to make their escape to the past.

Blinding lights covered the launch. When the German craft came closer, it was easy to pick out the Maxim gun manned on the flying bridge. From that vantage point, the single automatic weapon would be able to rake the deck with fire, at a high enough fire rate to eventually sink the small craft.

He cleared his mind. As the only man on the boat, he needed to focus on what the sailors did as they scrambled abroad. Dressed as he was, in the black robes of a Bedouin, immediately placed him in a strange place.

A sailor jumped on the bow with a mooring line, quickly followed by one astern. Time to play the part.

Alexei started the conversation in perfect Ottoman Turkish. “Peace be upon you. How can I help?”

A German officer, a lieutenant and, Alexei assumed, the ship’s commanding officer, stood over him. He ordered in German, “You can start by speaking German.” With the grace of a man that had spent many years at sea, he was able to step easily from one moving boat to the other.

Alexei replied in broken German, “Yes… Herr Kapitän.”

“Good, at least you speak some German. You are being searched for contraband.”

“Yes, Herr Kapitän.” Alexei didn’t bother to ask what contraband they searched for, he was certain they would know it when they saw it. Before they lowered the boat over the side, he ensured there would be nothing on board an inspection like this could turn up. They were notorious for stopping boats and taking whatever they wanted. What little he carried of value was secreted in the folds of his black robes. Now he needed this to end as quickly as possible, before the sun rose and he started to age.

“How many people onboard?” the officer asked.

“Just me, Herr Kapitän,” Alexei lied.

“You two stay up here, this shouldn’t take long,” the German said to the rated man that waited on deck.

The wheelhouse offered the only access below decks. The man forward pulled a pistol, watching from the front. The man aft took control of the craft, one hand on the helm, the other on his sidearm. The officer headed straight below decks. Alexei followed where the most damage could be found.

He could tell this man was no fool. The officer must have worked his way up the ranks, rather than jump ahead due to the station of his family. He inspected the engine room with a keen eye, not saying a word, pausing only briefly to look at the engine.

A few lockers were opened and given a quick inspection. The officer stopped at the forward bulkhead, the one that separated the engine room from the rope locker where the three women stashed themselves. If we survive this, we need better hiding places, perhaps a false bulkhead or deck plates. Even the bilge is too small and open to hide a soul in. The German turned and looked over the whole of the engine room, nodding.

Alexei thought maybe the inspection was over, no questions, just looking to see if they could confiscate something.

The officer cleared his throat and spoke in soft German. “Your craft has a decidedly German feel to it.” He braced his right hand on the knob to the rope locker.

Alexei was certain no one above deck could hear the man. He had never had an inspection officer make such a keen observation. Without a quick clever answer, the Russian nodded and agreed with the inspector. “Herr Kapitän.”

“Why is this door locked?” the officer asked.

Rather than play stupid or try to bribe the man, Alexei tried a half-truth. “The latch is broken. I don’t want the mooring lines falling out.” This German was perhaps more than he needed to answer the question, but something was different about this officer. It didn’t happen often, but the count was getting nervous.

“Open it,” the lieutenant ordered.

“Herr Kapitän,” he said with dread in his voice he was unable to mask. Alexei produced the key and shuffled forward. Calculations raced through his mind on possible outcomes, most came back negative. The boat alongside had a crew of at least six, maybe as many as ten, armed with sidearms and at least one Maxim machine gun. Alexei saw no way to fight his way out of this.

The door to the rope locker swung open, and a blanket had been strung over the small angled bow space. Behind the blanket stood the head and bare shoulders of the Chinese woman named Phoebe. Various parts of clothing hung draped from the pipes and bars over her head.

She screamed when the door was opened and covered herself with the corset she held.

“I beg your pardon.” The German officer actually blushed. “No one told me there was a woman in here.”

Phoebe ducked behind the wool blanket screen. “You have to forgive my husband. He is not… he still lacks manners. We are working on it,” Phoebe managed in passable German.

“Your husband?” The German looked back at Alexei, eyeing him top to bottom before continuing. “Forgive my manners. I am Oberleutnant Fritz Gruber, Kapitän of Patrol Craft one-one-one.” Gruber clicked his heels as best he could on the rolling deck and bowed.

“Good evening, Herr Kapitän.” Phoebe rushed as if to get dressed. “If you will excuse me… sir. I need to get dressed.

To Alexei’s surprise, the German officer averted his eyes. Alexei looked away, as well, to give the woman some privacy. He spotted a brief movement in one of the portholes. The covers had been removed to allow reflections.

Gruber turned his back to the woman. Alexei watched as Deirdre stood from behind the makeshift curtain. For a moment he was certain she would do something insane like knock the man unconscious or something, but all she did was stare at the back of the German officer’s head.

Much to Alexei’s surprise, the man froze. He stood staring out into the engine room passageway. The Russian moved his hand in front of the German officer’s face and watched in shock as no response came back.

Deirdre walked up behind the German. Before she could speak, Alexei raised a finger to his lips and pointed overhead. “There is a guard right above us.”

To which Deirdre pointed to Phoebe and motioned with her hand.

Completely dressed the whole time, the Chinese woman let out a giggle loud enough to be heard echoing through the engine room.

“You can’t kill him,” Alexei whispered. He noticed the veins on Gruber’s neck protruding.

“I didn’t plan on it. Just give me a moment of silence to concentrate.” The woman flashed Alexei a wicked smile before she turned all her attention on the catatonic German.

With a moment to spare, Alexei turned back to the watertight hatch that led to the small wheelhouse of the launch. The crew guarding the exit might have heard the scream or some other noise. That was when he realized the sounds of the boiler and steam working its way through the pipes was loud enough to cover most sounds they made during the search. It did not account for time. If the officer took too much longer, they would be caught.

He hurried forward to where Deirdre worked. “We need to speed this up.”

“I’m finished. Snap your fingers once I have the door closed.” The older woman ducked back in the rope locker and closed the door.

“Here goes nothing.” Alexei snapped his fingers, hoping for the best.

Gruber shook his head and continued talking mid-sentence, “—everything seems to be in order. Remember I will be watching everyone that leaves or enters this area.” He started walking aft to the exit. “You will do well to remain out of trouble during your stay in Acre. Thieves and ruffians abound. All looking for an easy mark.” He still spoke in German.

“Yes, Herr Kapitän.” Alexei didn’t know what memories had been placed in the man’s head, if any. He thought the situation called for saying as little as possible.

They reached the wheelhouse, and Gruber offered his hand. “Good luck to you, and safe journeys.”

Taken aback, Alexei tried to behave as naturally as possible and took the hand, giving it a firm shake. I wish I knew what she did to him, he thought.

Gruber pulled himself over the safety line and onto the deck of Patrol Craft 111. “We are finished here. Cast off fore and aft.”

The German sailors did an effective job of pushing off from the launch, surely to protect the finish on the boat they had to maintain. The steam engines fired to life, pushing the patrol craft on to their next boarding.

Alexei added steam to his engines, pushing his craft through the water toward the harbor of Acre.

“You’re wondering what I did.” Deirdre stood at the below decks hatch.

“It did cross my mind.” Alexei checked to make sure they were not being followed.

“Simple enough. Consider I put Herr Gruber under a geas, or a glamor. Like a curse or mind control. He shouldn’t be any further of a problem.” Deirdre inspected her fingernails.

Alexei had newfound respect for the Irish woman. “How long will that last?”

“Not sure, but if I can get a clear, uninterrupted sight on most people for long enough. I can control them for a spell. It is magic after all and not a science. Too many variables. However, we should be good to make it safe to shore and a few days. We shouldn’t dillydally around.”

“Interesting,” Alexei said. “I can assure you, I have no intentions of doing whatever that is… When we leave the city, I plan on traveling much faster. The goal will be to make escape safe and clear, not sneak in.”

“Now before we can leave the ship, the three of us will need clothes more fitting than… this.” Deirdre moved her hands down her sides to indicate what she now wore.

“Clothes are on my list of things to do…” The Russian cleared his throat. “You will need to cover your hair. I will buy you scarves and robes as soon as possible or steal them if I must.” Alexei wasn’t sure what he’d gotten himself into bringing these three women with him, but he was certain the situation would be an interesting experiment.

“I would rather you didn’t steal them. It would be a shame to be discovered over some poor woman’s missing clothing, don’t you think?”

Interesting indeed, he thought.

The landmark he’d been searching for came into view. The Tower of Flies had stood guard and marked the entrance of the harbor for centuries. Now it was time to loop around the ruin and find a berth.