Maria straightened her uniform shirt and fidgeted with her hair in the mirror of the guest house’s small room. Her sleep had been fitful and her mind a whirling sea of thoughts. What had happened the night before, her kiss, the day’s challenges; none of it was conducive to a good night’s sleep.

Andrew’s kiss: Ever since she had recognized what was occurring to her, she hadn’t dared consider her sexuality. The idea that she might relate to others differently now was a terrifying prospect, or it had been within the confines of the camp. Her entire life, she had been conditioned toward a certain social structure, men and women behaved a certain way in polite society. Sex was quite honestly a subject she had never really felt strongly about. Like so many things, she had expected that its appeal would simply arrive one day as it had for others.

After her isolation in the camp and her body’s shift had demolished her status quo, she hadn’t dared to consider her feelings regarding companionship or attraction. Inside those walls, she had told herself rigidly that she was a man; to find another man attractive was homosexual. She remembered the looks some of them had given her and the feeling of the man that attacked her. In there, she couldn’t risk considering the subject, it only brought pain and derision.

Since leaving, her bonds to maleness had been cast asunder. Free of expectations, she could reasonably accept now that this felt right. Her acceptance of that had brought disturbing light to her feelings and recolored past interactions and feelings towards others. While she hadn’t considered it in her waking mind, she knew that Andrew’s kiss had changed something between them, and most certainly within herself. She caught herself thinking back to the few times she had seen him nude in the camp and blushed furiously. Her appreciation for the male form had certainly changed.

The mirror did nothing help to ease her mind. Her limited experience with grooming notwithstanding, she was perplexed as to how she was so easily able to appear as female as she did. Her features appeared softer than they had before this odyssey and despite months of neglect, her longish hair appeared far fuller and more alive. Try as she might, she still couldn’t find a single hair below her brows to worry about.

That was what surprised her; she was afraid of finding a hair. She was afraid that it would ruin the image of femininity she was regarding. She hadn’t been particularly hairy before the accident, but now, it was as though she had never begun shaving at all.

The blonde woman looked back at her with an expression of grim determination on her pretty face. She knew that today would present the most significant challenge she had faced to date. By nightfall, they would be airborne and arriving back in England or she would be dead at the hands of the Nazis. It was strangely calming that she would face her fate like this. Not that she wished to die, but somehow, to face it as a woman felt right now.

Pulling her coat over her clothes to disguise the uniform she was wearing, she gave her appearance a final glance before exiting her room with case in hand. Andrew was waiting outside for her and she gave him a thin smile before he escorted her down to the waiting cars. The rest of the men were already present and seemed almost as apprehensive as she was.

“Don’t look so worried boys,” she smiled ruefully. “This has at least a slim chance of not being a one-way trip. Don’t write me off so quickly eh?”

Maddox chuckled and nodded. “Sorry, it just feels like we should be doing more.”

Maria glanced at the group and smiled. “Not this time. You took care of me when I needed it, let me do this and then we can get out of bloody Germany, shall we?”

Back aboard their vehicles, the group drove the short distance south through the town towards the base. The journey was quiet as the gravity of their enterprise lay plain before them. Maria would have been lying if she didn’t feel apprehension about the task ahead, but she knew it had to be done. While she had been, fishing, for information the night before, Maddox and Down had reconnoitered the base and found a spot for them to stop just short of the entrance road. There, they would allow Maria to get out on foot; arriving in a Luftwaffe staff car might raise some eyebrows.

A few short moments later, they pulled to a stop and Maria alighted from the car, leaving her case with the others. With a little luck, they would all be reunited soon. The original plan had called for them to all to bluff their way onto the base together and make good their escape directly. It had been a fairly thin plan with fairly significant risks. Her discovery of Bergmann had given them a far safer plan, albeit, one that placed far more weight on her shoulders than it had previously. One that stripped her of any backup at all.

“You’re ready then, I suppose?” Matheson asked as he handed over her purse.

Maria nodded more confidently than she felt and glanced at the others in turn. “Take good care of them for me. If this all goes to plan, I will see you soon.” She frowned momentarily and lowered her voice. “Andrew, if you don’t hear from me before nightfall… head for Switzerland with the others, without me.”

Matheson frowned. “If we don’t hear from you, we will come looking. I won’t let you rot in there.”

She took a step forward and fixed his gaze firmly with her own. “Go on without me, there’s no reason for you all to get captured or killed for one person, don’t be a bloody fool.”

She could see the man’s jaw working as he attempted to justify some mad caper in her name before gritting his teeth and nodding. “As you wish,” he murmured quietly.

“I will make it, I promise,” she reasserted, her eyes not leaving his. “I will meet you all at the rendezvous.”

“You’d better.”

Without another word, she turned and set off toward the base.

It only took a few minutes for her to walk from the highway to her objective. She had barely time to emotionally compose herself before she arrived at the gatehouse and the grim Luftwaffe guards manning it.

“Stop and state your business.” the first guard challenged, his eyes wandering across her body casually as his hand rested on the stock of his slung rifle. Clearly, he didn’t view her as a threat or was merely relaxed being this far within German territory.

“I am here to see Major Bergmann, my name is Maria Horler. I believe he is expecting me?” She offered politely but firmly, knowing that she had to appear to belong here.

The guard flicked through his logbook and picked up a telephone handset. “I have a Fraulein Horler for Major Bergmann… yes… yes… very well, I’ll send them now.”

The man hung up the handset and smiled at her politely. “Rudi here will escort you Fraulein, please,” the guard gestured past the candy cane-striped barrier and toward a second soldier waiting by a Kubelwagen car.

Following her escort, Maria boarded the vehicle and was driven through the sprawling airbase. For the first time since their escape from the camp, she felt true fear and apprehension creeping into her mind. Her presence here on German military soil felt like a direct challenge to their enemy; an unnecessary risk that could get her killed. That she was here alone felt truly insane.

To her relief, the guard didn’t attempt to strike up a conversation with her, instead deferring to polite silence with his unknown passenger. For the entire journey she was absorbing as much as she could of her surroundings; the location of fuel dumps, hangars, and aircraft so that she might find her way once she was allowed to slip away from prying eyes.

A few moments later, they pulled to a stop outside a group of buildings near the airfield’s southern Runway. The guard hopped out and jogged around to open the door for her. Thanking the man, she followed him toward the buildings that appeared to be a Squadron headquarters.

The guard escorted her through faceless corridors until she spotted a lavatory and her opportunity.

“I wish to freshen up, I can find my way from here thank you.” she offered with a polite smile, hoping the man would disappear before he delivered her directly to Bergmann himself. To her relief, he merely nodded, clicked his heels, and disappeared back the way they had come.

Slipping inside the lavatory, she breathed a sigh of relief and lent back against the sink. Step one of her plan was complete. She was inside the base, and as far as she could tell, unobserved. She removed her coat and smoothed wrinkles from her uniform jacket. All she had to do was quietly make her way back the way they had come and find an unoccupied Junkers that she could slip aboard and make good her escape. The plan had seemed delightfully simple outside but now she was here it all seemed so very overpowering.

How had she imagined they might just allow her to take off in a transport from a large military base? She would need a distraction if that was going to be possible and she had no idea what she was going to do.

Slipping the side cap onto her head she checked its position in the small mirror and turned to leave. As she opened the door, her mind was firmly set to working out how she was going to distract an entire fighter base when she walked into the chest of a tall man.

“Excuse me,” she exclaimed, drawing herself back and glancing up apologetically. Her stomach dropped as she stared into the amused eyes of Major Bergmann.

“Frau Oberleunant, I don't think we have been introduced,” Bergmann smiled warmly. “I was told you were here to see me?” He allowed the sentence to trail off leaving the question firmly in Maria’s hands.

“Ah, Herr Major,” Maria stumbled, attempting to find her footing both physically and intellectually, “My apologies, you startled me.”

Bergmann smiled pleasantly, although there were hidden layers to his look that frightened her. They were depths she hadn’t seen in France; he reminded her of a hungry lion assessing it’s breakfast as he regarded her unapologetically. She could see his eyes wandering across her body before settling on her eyes directly with deep focus. He looked exactly the same as he had in France, although there appeared to be a very different tone to their interaction this time.

“I must admit I was surprised when Herr Fischer told me you would be visiting us,” Bergmann grinned wolfishly. “He did not mention that you were Luftwaffe yourself, nor do I recall losing any pilot by the name of Horler, perhaps you can enlighten me Oberleutnant?”

Maria blinked and smiled nervously. None of her plans had involved actually speaking to Bergmann or portraying a Luftwaffe officer under his gaze. “My brother served with you in France, or so he told me,” she offered. “Perhaps there was a different Bergmann, my apologies, I should leave you, I’m sure you’re incredibly busy.”

Bergmann waved a hand dismissively before giving her a more probing look. “My time is not as busy as a pretty Fraulein’s inquiries, but I must say you do look incredibly familiar. Perhaps I did meet your brother. I would swear we have met before but I would never forget the name of such a beautiful woman.”

Something about Bergmann’s tone seemed to trigger alarm bells in her mind, his polite visage barely concealing an intent towards her. With a quick smile, Maria slid from between Bergmann and the bathroom door finding him now instead between her and her exit “I do not think so Herr Bergmann. I would remember you, I am sure. I apologise for the inconvenience.”

“Nonsense,” Bergmann snorted and gestured along the corridor. “Allow me to offer you refreshment and we shall speak of your brother, you must have traveled far indeed, I would hate for you to leave us, empty-handed.”

Maria wasn’t sure what was happening as she allowed Bergmann to lead her down the corridor toward an office at the end of the building. The Major directed the female adjutant at the desk outside to fetch them coffee before ushering her inside, his hand firmly on the small of her back.

“Please Fraulein, sit, you have traveled from where?”

Maria sat awkwardly in the chair in front of Bergmann’s desk, defying her body’s urge to flee. “I was visiting Manching, my Aunt is sick, I met your Officer, Fisher at a bar in town, it was fortunate that he knew of you, Herr Major. I recall my brother… Hans speaking of a man by your name, it seemed to remind me.”

Bergmann perched on the edge of his desk facing her and smiled thoughtfully, “And just when would this have been?”

Maria recalled the progress of the war before her incarceration. “It would have been the middle of August I think Herr Major.”

Bergmann nodded knowingly, “I recall the period, I was injured myself shortly after this and transferd back to Germany. We were losing many good men in the battle over England. All for nothing,” he signed deeply. “Your brother must have been one of the transfers into my unit during this time, I’m afraid I…” Bergmann’s eyes bored into Maria and his brow furrowed. “I do remember a man, but his name was not Horler I think.”

Maria felt fear rise in her throat and fought to keep her expression neutral, “y-you do?”

Bergmann cocked his head to one side and stared at her, “Yes, I do, but he was not German, he was a young English pilot.”

Maria’s head told her to flee, but her body simply wouldn’t respond. Bergmann’s eyes bored into her soul as she sat before him trapped in the chair as surely as if ropes had bound her to it. She could feel her heart beating within her chest, the thumping accompanying a cold sense of dread as her worst fears came true. She tried to maintain her neutral expression but she was convinced he could read the fear in her eyes.

“You have changed a great deal since last we met, Pilot Officer Campbell. This is quite the surprise indeed.” Bergmann smiled slyly with a dry chuckle as he switched to English. “I must say this does appear to suit you.”

Maria choked back a sob of panic and grounded herself, forcing herself to reply in German. “I..I don’t know what you mean Herr Major.” she stammered weakly, sticking to German, her eyes darting toward the door.

Bergmann followed her line of sight and smirked. “My Adjutant will not be returning any time soon Liebchen. Let us drop the pretense, I know full well who you are. You can speak English, although I must say your German is excellent, I had no idea you were not a native. What makes me more curious is why you are here of all places?”

Maria discounted a dash for the door, she knew she would never make it off the base if she ran. Her only hope was to see whatever Bergmann wanted. “I came to see you Major Bergmann,” she replied in English, effecting a deep sigh of defeat. She turned her gaze on the man she had first met in a French hospital bed. “I thought it long overdue that we catch up again.”

Bergmann smirked and regarded her from head to toe. “I must say, this is a different look for you. I had heard reports of a breakout from one of our prisoner of war camps in the East, but I had not considered that it might be yours. This is… a disguise? What were you hoping to achieve at here? Did you hope to steal a plane and fly yourself home?”

He was far closer to the truth than she wished to admit. A cold realization began to seep into her being that she might not leave the base alive. This was foreplay, she would be arrested and possibly shot, depending on Bergmann’s influence over matters. That they would discover her identity made it suddenly feel worse. She might be done for, but she couldn’t allow him to know anything about the others if they had a chance of succeeding. She chose instead to distract with a half-truth, a variation on their plan that might be plausible given the circumstances. “My time in captivity and my injuries forced me to assess a dark truth that I was hiding from myself,” she admitted with a carefully balanced sigh of sadness. “That I was really a woman, that I don’t belong in this silly war of men. I hoped to return home and… well I hadn’t thought that far ahead to tell the truth.”

Bergmann’s lip curled into a slight predatory smile as he watched her closely, “And how does this lead to you finding yourself here in my office wearing the uniform of a Luftwaffe Oberleutnant? Not that it doesn’t suit you, of course.”

Something about his tone made Maria uncomfortable. “I… I was hoping to…” Maria decided the truth was exactly what she needed to use, but in a modified form. She let her shoulders slump as though her plan was ruined. “I don’t know, I suppose I was hoping to steal a Messerschmitt… fly it back to England and escape this mess.”

Bergmann leaned forward and chuckled deeply as if enjoying his own private joke. “You know Fraulein Campbell, the pilot I met so long ago in France would not have come up with such a poorly thought-out plan. Nor would he have delivered himself so willingly into my clutches in such a…” He paused and locked eyes with Maria, “compromising position.”

“What are you going to do with me?” she asked cautiously. She had known capture was possible, but she had still felt confident that their plan would succeed. To know it was all over felt gutwrenching. It was all she could do to protect the others now. The man held great power over her and could see her executed for what she was doing. Even worse, he could see her shamed and abused beyond any desire to live. Yet for all of her fear, she could sense that he wasn’t likely to do that. She wasn’t sure how to explain her feelings, but she could tell that he was using this reality as a threat, a sword to hold over her head; he wanted something.

Bergmann adjusted his position on the edge of the desk so that he was sitting closer to Maria’s chair. “It is less what I want and more what you can offer me. You find yourself in a precarious position with few cards left to play, Fraulein.”

Maria heard the way he had said the word Fraulein and knew his meaning. “I don’t understand?”

“Let me help you,” Bergmann answered, reaching out and taking Maria’s hand from her lap and placing it on his thigh.

“But I’m…”

Bergmann smiled and shook his head, “You find yourself in the enviable position of being exactly what interests me. As such you are in a position to save yourself from certain very terminal consequences should we reach an…agreeable conclusion to matters here today.”

Maria realized that her read of Bergmann had been unnervingly correct. She had sensed something odd back those many months ago in France, but now, since his plan became clear to her she had known deep down that this was exactly what he was attempting to engineer. Never in her life had she been a fighter, it simply wasn’t in her nature to want to hurt others. She knew that Bergmann’s offer was never going to amount to actual freedom or further her survival. Like those men in the camp, all he wanted was to use her for his own ends. She knew that the second he was done with her, he would toss her to the wolves. Worse yet, she knew the lives of the others depended on her. Andrew, Daniel, Arthur and Mike; they all depended on her. Not here, not like this…

Sliding her hand along Bergmann’s thigh, Maria raised herself out of her seat and looked up a the German officer as he perched on the edge of his desk.

“You want me to make this memorable?” she asked breathlessly, “Something that will drive you wild?” Maria bit her lower lip, emulating the seductive starlets of the silver screen as she placed her hands beside Bergmann on the desk and arched her chest towards him.

The German grinned wolfishly as he reached around and grasped her buttocks through her uniform skirt. Maria yelped slightly but kept her composure. “My, my, you understand me quite clearly it would seem.” he chuckled softly as his fingers kneaded her flesh.

Maria plastered a smile on her lips and ignored the man’s clawing fingers on her rear end. She wanted to push away and slap the him, his grasp and his intent was repulsive to her. She felt his hands slide lower and catch the hem of her skirt. She felt his fingers on the flesh of her legs above her stocking tops before he began to slide her skirt upwards.

She cocked her head to one side and bit her lip again, “I will do whatever it takes to survive,” she breathed in a cheap emulation of Katherine Hepburn’s sultry whisper. “Whatever it takes,” she added, before swinging the desk’s telephone into the side of Bergmann’s head.

The German keeled over sideways without a word and slid to the office floor. Maria waited a moment, her eyes darting to the door but no alarm was raised. Kneeling, she bound the German’s hands with the cord from the telephone and stuffed a handkerchief into his mouth. With him indisposed, she had an opportunity to revive her initial plan if she was expeditious.

After she was done securing Bergmann, Maria reached down and checked his injuries. The man was bleeding slightly from the side of his head where the telephone had struck him, but thankfully his pulse was strong. She wanted to stop the man, not kill him unless she had no other choice. Practically speaking, living or dead wouldn’t matter within a few hours. She would be dead, or they would be in the skies and on their way home. Why add another human being to the tally that didn’t need to?

Maria took the man’s pistol and spare ammunition and tucked it into the waistband of her skirt. She knew she had limited time before he was discovered and had to act quickly to resurrect her original plans. Straightening her uniform, she collected herself before slipping out of the office and back into the corridor outside. The Adjutant was sitting at her desk, the gentle music of the radio set having masked whatever sounds she was intending to ignore.

As she heard the door close, she glanced over at Maria with a questioning look.

“Major Bergmann has asked to not be disturbed for a while,” she informed the Adjutant, straightening her uniform jacket for effect. If Bergmann had signaled the woman initially, this was a routine event for them. If she acted as the woman expected, then she’d have far more time to make good her escape. The woman gave her a strange look and nodded. Maria wasn’t sure what her expression meant, was it pity? She dismissed it and walked briskly away from the office, refusing to look back. She hoped the Adjutant got some measure of satisfaction when she found her pig of a boss hogtied later.

Slipping out of the building Maria made her way along the line of workshops that bordered the Squadron headquarters. She wasn’t sure how much time she would have before an alarm was raised so she had to act quickly. Her heart was pounding in her chest as much as her hand still hurt from the impact.

Successfully stealing a transport would be no easy task, and the Germans were sure to send fighters after her if she departed without clearance. She shook her head and sighed to herself; like Mathewson’s grand plan to drive out of Germany it was a scheme largely held aloft by hope and improvisation.

Reaching the end of the workshops she spotted the row of large hangars that bordered the concrete apron filled with fighter aircraft. If there were transports at the base, these would likely house them. A large control tower was nestled in the center of the buildings where it overlooked the runway beyond. The apron and hangars thrived with life as personnel and vehicles moved to and fro, preparing for the day’s sorties.

Maria took in the sights and sounds of the airfield for a moment, closing her eyes to appreciate the sounds of tools, engines, and the scent of aviation fuel. It felt like a lifetime since she had experienced those very same sensations; she had been a different person then.

The tower would be her biggest opponent to a successful escape; they would quickly notice the unauthorised departure and send fighters to bring her back to the airfield. What she needed was a fitting distraction to keep them occupied while she made good on her mission. Once she was airborne the chance for the Germans to locate her would be far slimmer. If she landed at the rendezvous with the others not far from the base, it would be even less likely they’d find her; any persuers would expect her to make a dash for the nearest border, Switzerland.

This was part of their plan, as fragile as it was: Expected pursuers would make directly for her initial direction of flight, to the southwest and Switzerland. It made the most sense and being neutral territory was the quickest route to freedom. What they wouldn’t expect would be for her to circle back and land. They would board the rest of the group and wait before departing instead to the north. The flight north through the heartland of Germany would be longer but far less likely to raise suspicion. Their real risk would be once they reached the channel and British air cover.

Maria opened her eyes and allowed them to wander and soak up inspiration from the base around her. She was no saboteur and she had no experience with explosives or traps. She had very little idea of how she could hold an entire base at bay long enough to escape unscathed. What she needed was a distraction interesting enough to draw the attention of the control tower while she taxied out and took off. They could work out her plot as long as she had long enough to leave visual range.

The control tower was sat beside one of the larger maintenance hangars so she began her search there. Thankfully her uniform allowed her to pass through the area without question as an officer, however, that was not to say that a good number of the men didn’t give her more than a casual glance.

Slipping inside the cavernous space, Maria allowed her eyes to adjust to the gloom. It was quiet and seemingly empty of any personnel at that moment in time. Four angular Messerschmitt fighter aircraft sat parked on the concrete floor of the hangar, their canopies and cowlings open, work being done on the aircraft. It was her first time seeing the aircraft up close and on the ground. She had faced them before in the air and here, they seemed somehow far more fragile. She ran her fingers along the leading edge of the nearest aircraft and said a silent prayer for those of her friends the type had taken with them.

As she walked around the aircraft, it reminded her of her own preflight checks back home in England. The memory seemed to illuminate the spark of an idea. Crouching down, she searched the underside of the left wing for the fuel drain valve attached to the aircraft’s wing tanks. After a few moments, and a snag in her stockings she managed to locate and open the first of the valves on the German aircraft. Loosening the filling caps on the top of the wing, but not entirely removing them allowed enough air to get into the tank to cause fuel to start to leak at a controllable rate from the drain valves. Repeating the process on the right wing and the remaining three other aircraft, she stepped back from the slowly pooling fuel in the center of the hangar floor.

The fuel was giving off an overpowering stench, and she knew her time in the enclosed space would be limited. The spread was slow, with the growing pool moving several centimeters per minute. Calculating how long she might need, she wrapped a rag around a wrench and dipped it into a waste oil barrel by the wall. Lighting her impromptu torch, she placed it carefully on the ground near the hangar’s eastern wall. Her quick calculations told her that she would likely have ten to fifteen minutes before the fuel spill reached the ignition source. The clock was running and it as time to find herself an aircraft.

Slipping out of one of the small personnel hatches on the hangar’s main door, Maria straightened herself up and began a purposeful walk along the line of hangars and past the control tower. It was still early, yet the place was a hive of activity with personnel going about the day’s work. It took all of her courage to walk purposefully past them without appearing out of place. It was one thing to pass amongst the civilian population but entirely another to move through these people without arousing suspicion. Walking unnoticed amongst a sea of enemy personnel was truly terrifying.

Four hangars along, she found what she had been looking for; a hulking Junkers transport aircraft. The large three-engined beast was sitting quietly inside an open hangar, its wheels chocked and awaiting its next tasking. Confirming that she was unobserved, Maria diverted her path into the hangar and tucked herself out of sight behind a stack of crates. Once she was sure that she was alone, she slipped out of her hiding spot and approached the aircraft.

The angry symbol on the slab-sided tail tugged at her heart but she pushed the thought aside and focused on the task ahead. Stooping down, she pulled the wooden chocks from the main wheels and made her way aft toward the cargo door. Bracing herself on the corrugated skin of the utilitarian aircraft she clambered up and inside the cabin, latching the door behind her. She made her way forward and up into the cockpit, situated slightly above the main deck.

Maria surveyed the instruments before her and experienced a brief moment of panic. It was laid out nothing like the familiar Anson or Hurricanes she had flown at home. Taking a moment to relax, she forced herself to identify familiar instruments as she worked to translate the labels and readings to interpret function. Her German was good enough to translate most of the placards in the cockpit and a cursory search of the space turned up a clipboard with checklists.

Removing her uniform jacket, she settled into the left seat and placed the headset over her ears. The technical German in the checklists was difficult for her to follow at first, but with a few moments, she was able to relate the cumbersome language with the cockpit around her. Beginning her work as quickly as possible, she ran through the first few pages until she reached the important moment; engine starting. The sounds of aircraft engines wouldn’t arouse much suspicion on an airfield, but if she left the hangar too quickly she’d be spotted immediately.

With trepidation, she pressed the large red Netz-Ausschalter button and engaged the battery power. Almost immediately an electric hum filled the cockpit and various lights and dials sprang to life within the space. Encouraged, she continued, flipping switches and adjusting levers until the moment of truth arrived. Engaging the magnetos, she pulled the starter on the center engine and held her breath as the propeller began to spin, the exhaust coughing violently inside the enclosed hangar. After a half dozen blades had passed the windshield, the engine caught and roared into life. Encouraged, she ran through the process to start the outboard engines mounted to the wings and sat back to watch the radial engines warm.

From her location, she could not see the other hangars or the control tower and had no idea what the status of her distraction might be. She sat, her fingers gripping the controls nervously as she waited to hear or see anything that might suggest it was time to move. Eventually, she reasoned she would have to attempt to depart normally and see if she could make it without being pursued too quickly, her fuel and welcome wouldn’t last forever.

Giving the controls of the Junkers a final test, she placed her hand on the three throttles and flexed her fingers, soon enough a worker would wonder why there was a running aircraft idling inside a hangar, she had to make a decision. Before she could reach one, she heard a huge explosion over the rumble of the engines. Without waiting, she gripped the throttles firmly and advanced them, starting the big aircraft rolling out of the hangar. As she cleared the dark interior she was met by a world of chaos. Personnel were running about and sirens were wailing in the distance. Down the line of hangars, she could see the location of her distraction obscured by a large pall of black smoke that obscured most of the adjacent control tower. Fire trucks were rolling toward the hangar and secondary explosions were ejecting fire and debris toward the apron. Not a single person paid attention to the taxiing cargo aircraft as more pilots and crews rushed to start and move aircraft located close to the blaze that had already engulfed two hangars.

Her heart in her mouth, Maria taxied the big aircraft out and away from the dispersal apron. The airfield was in a riot of activity and she managed to make it to the runway threshold unmolested. The moment of truth had arrived and she gunned the throttles and swung out onto the concrete runway. The aircraft settled into position on the centerline and she advanced the throttles to their stops. The engine note grew to a dull roar adn the beast began to roll. The ungainly aircraft creaked and complained as it gained speed, thundering along the strip. Its tail lifted as it gained speed and mere seconds later, she felt the aircraft begin to climb away from the runway.

The Junkers climbed sluggishly up into the air as it shed the bounds of gravity. Over her right shoulder, she could see the pall of smoke climbing up into the air as chaos gripped the base. Her distraction had been far more successful than she could have possibly imagined. The resulting chaos was such that not a single aircraft was departing in pursuit. Little did she know, but the adjacent hangar to the one she had sabotaged had contained two fully loaded Stuka ground attack aircraft whose bombload had contributed to the unfolding anarchy.

Flipping through the radio channels on the cockpit set, she couldn’t hear anything about her departure on any of the preprogrammed frequencies. The tower frequency was silent, which wasn’t surprising given the circumstances. She flew southwest for a few moments until she was sure she was out of visual range of the base before turning north and heading toward their arranged rendezvous point. So far, everything seemed to be going as planned; it was almost too good to be true.

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