Chapter 52 Chapter 51

Flick paused at the mouth of the castle hall.Her pulse was beating fast, and the fear she once felt pressed coldly on her chest.At this time she was in the tiger's den.If captured by the enemy, no matter what method can save her. She quickly scanned the entire room.The telephone exchanges are neatly and precisely lined up on the lobby floor, with a modern feel, and the faded pink-green walls don't match the chubby cherubs painted on the ceiling.On the checkered marble floor are coiled bundles of cables, like ropes stacked on the deck of a large ship. The whispering voices of forty operators made the place a bit noisy.Get closer and look up at the person who just came in.Flick noticed a girl pointing at them and saying something to her neighbor.These operators were all from Reims and the surrounding area, many of whom were locals from Saint-Cécile, and they probably knew the original cleaners, and they could tell that Jackdaw was a stranger.But Flick decided they would not tell the Germans.

She quickly settled down, and the picture drawn by Antoinette appeared in her mind.The bombed-out west wing was to her left, abandoned.She turned to the right, leading Greta and Jelly through a pair of tall paneled doors into the east wing. Room after room, all palatial halls filled with switchboards and racks of equipment humming and rattling when dialed.Flick didn't know whether the old cleaners would greet the operators, or pass them silently.The French like to say hello, but here is governed by German soldiers.She just smiled and avoided eye contact with the operator. In the third room, there is a uniformed German executive sitting at a desk.Flick ignored her, but the woman called out, "Where's Antoinette?"

As Flick answered, he strode forward. "Here she comes." She could hear a tremor in her voice, hoping the supervisor hadn't noticed. The supervisor glanced at the clock. It was five past seven. "You are late." "I'm very sorry, ma'am, we'll start working now." Flick hurried into the next room.For a moment her heart was in her throat, waiting to hear an angry yell for her to come back, but when it didn't, she was relieved and kept walking, Greta and Jelly at her heels. There is a stairwell at the end of the east wing, leading up to the office and down to the basement. The "Jackdaws" will eventually go to the basement, but they have to make preparations first.

They went to the service area to the left, and according to Antoinette's instruction map, they found a small room for storing cleaning tools, where there were mops, buckets, brooms and trash cans, as well as the clothes that the cleaners needed to wear when they went to work Brown cotton jacket.Flick closed the door. "So far so good," said Jelly. "I'm so scared!" said Greta, pale and trembling. "I don't think I can go." Flick smiled at her in relief. "You'll be all right," she said. "Let's go ahead and put your ammo in the cleaning bucket."

"Jelly" transferred the explosives on his body into a bucket, and Greta hesitated for a moment, then followed suit.Flick assembled her submachine gun, which had no stock and was a foot shorter for concealment.She fitted the muffler and flipped the switch to the single-shot position.If the suppressor is to be used, it must be manually reloaded before each shot. She tucked the gun under her belt.Then put on the jumpsuit and hide all the guns and ammo in the pockets.She left it unbuttoned so that she could quickly take out the hidden weapon.The other two also put on their overalls and stuffed their guns and ammunition into their pockets.

They were almost ready to go into the basement.It was a heavily guarded place, though, with guards at the gates, and the French couldn't get in - the inside was cleaned by the Germans themselves.Before going in, Jackdaw wanted to create a little confusion. Just as they were about to leave the room, the door opened and a German officer peered inside. "Pass!" he bellowed. Flick tensed up.She expected some kind of security alert.The Gestapo must have guessed that Ruby was an Allied agent, otherwise they wouldn't be carrying an automatic pistol and a lethal knife, and they would naturally take extra precautions with the castle.Still, she hoped that the Gestapo would not act too quickly and interfere with her mission.It seems that this wish has come to nothing.Maybe they want to double check all the French inside the building.

"Hurry up!" said the man impatiently.He was a Gestapo lieutenant, and Flick saw the insignia on his uniform shirt.She took out her pass.He watched carefully, compared her face to the photo, and returned it.He also checked Jelly's and Greta's passes. "I want to search you." Then he went to look at the bucket of "Jelly". Flick stood behind him, pulling out a Sten submachine gun from under his coat. The officer frowned and took the shock case out of Jell-O's bucket with a puzzled look on his face. Flick released the spring lever on the safety slot of the machine gun.

The German officer unscrewed the cover of the anti-shock box and was shocked when he saw the detonator hidden inside. Flick shot him in the back. The shot wasn't really silent - the suppressor wasn't very effective - there was a muffled bang like a book dropped on the floor.The Gestapo lieutenant twitched and fell. Flick unloaded the clip, pulled the breech back, and put another shot in the head. She reloaded and tucked the gun back under her coat. Jelly dragged the body to the wall and pushed it behind the door so that no one could see it when they entered the room. "Let's get out of here," Flick said.

"Jelly" walked out.Greta stood where she was, pale, staring at the dead officer. Flick said, "Greta, we have work to do. Let's go." With a final nod, Greta grabbed her mop and bucket and headed out the door like a robot. They walked from the cleaning equipment room to the cafeteria.The canteen was empty except for two girls in uniform sitting there, drinking coffee and smoking.Flick lowered his voice and said in French: "You know what you have to do." "Jelly" began to sweep the floor. Greta hesitated. "Don't let me down," Flick said.

Greta nodded.She took a deep breath, straightened her waist, and said, "I'm ready." Flick entered the kitchen, Greta followed.According to Antoinette, the fuse box for the entire building is in a cupboard at the back of the kitchen, next to a large electric oven.A young German clears the kitchen stove.Flick sent him a sexy smile and said, "The girl is hungry, what do you have for her?" He smiled at her. Behind him, Greta produced a pair of pliers with thick rubber handles, and opened the cabinet door. When Dieter Frank drove to the picturesque Saint-Cecile Square, there were a few thin clouds hanging in the sky, and the sun had disappeared.The clouds were the same dark gray as the slate roof of the church.

He noticed four guards standing at the castle gate instead of the usual two.Although he was in a Gestapo car, the sergeant carefully checked his and the driver's passes before opening the wrought-iron gate and waving the car in.Dieter was satisfied that Weber had indeed taken extra stringent security measures. He got out of the car and walked up to the vestibule entrance, a cool breeze blowing across his face.When he walked through the hall, he saw rows of busy women sitting in front of the switchboard, and he thought of the female agent Weber had arrested. The "Jackdaws" were a team of women, and he thought they might sneak into the castle disguised as operators.Is this possible?When he passed the east flank, he saw a German female executive, and asked, "Among these women, is there anyone who has come in in the past few days?" "No, Major," she said, "there's a new girl who joined three weeks ago, and she hasn't been there since." This negates his speculation.He nodded and continued walking.At the end of the eastern flank, he descended the stairs.The door to the basement was open as usual, but there were two soldiers inside instead of the usual one.Weber has doubled the guard strength.The corporal saluted him, and the sergeant asked him for a pass. Dieter noticed the corporal standing behind the sergeant as he checked his pass.Then he said: "You stand here now and it is easy for the two of you to be subdued by the enemy. Corporal, you should stand aside, two meters away, if the sergeant is attacked, you can see clearly." "Yes, sir." Dieter walked into the basement corridor.He could hear the rumble of the diesel generators that powered the phone system.He walked through the doors of the equipment rooms and entered the interrogation room.He expected to see the new prisoners here, but the room was empty. Confused, he walked in and closed the door.Then his question was answered—a scream of anguish came from within. Dieter pushed open the door all at once. Becker stood behind the shock machine.Weber sat in a nearby chair.A young woman was lying on an operating table with her wrists and ankles bound and her head in a head clamp.She was wearing a blue dress, and a wire from the electric shock machine passed through her legs and was hidden under her clothes. Webb said, "Hi, Frank. Come interrogate with us, Becker has a new thing. Come on, Sergeant, let him see." Becker reached out and pulled out a hard rubber stick about fifteen centimeters long and two or three centimeters in diameter from under the woman's skirt.This round stick is fitted with two metal strips a few centimeters apart.The two wires leading from the electric shock machine are respectively connected to two metal bars. Dieter had seen all kinds of torture, but this extremely perverted scene made him feel sick, and he shivered. "She hasn't said anything yet, but we're just getting started," Weber said. "Give her one more time, Sergeant." Becker pulled up the woman's dress and inserted the round rod into her vagina.He took a roll of electrical tape, tore off a strip, and taped the round stick so it wouldn't fall out. "Turn the voltage up a bit this time," Weber said. Becker went back to the machine. Just then, the light went out. There was a flash of blue light behind the stove, and there was a "bang".The lights were all out, and the kitchen smelled of burnt rubber.The refrigerator was cut off from the power supply, and the motor snorted a few times before stopping."What's going on?" the young cook asked in German. Flick ran out the door, followed by Jelly and Greta, who was awkwardly wearing high heels, through the cafeteria and out.They walked down a short corridor past a row of cleaning cupboards.To the edge of the downward stairs.Flick stopped.She took out her submachine gun and covered it with the placket. "The basement is completely dead, right?" "I cut all the wires, including the cables for the emergency lighting system," Greta said firmly. "Then go." They ran down the stairs.The lower you go, the weaker the daylight coming in from the floor-to-ceiling glass windows, and the entrance to the basement is even more semi-dark. Two soldiers stood inside the door.One of them, a young corporal with a rifle, laughed and said, "Don't worry ladies, it's just a power outage." Flick shot him in the chest, then turned and knocked out the sergeant.Three "jackdaws" passed the entrance.Flick holds the gun in his right hand and the flashlight in his left.She could hear the muffled rumble of machinery from a distant room, and several voices asking questions in German. She immediately turned on the flashlight.She was in a wide hallway now, but the ceiling was low, and the doors were open as far as the eye could see.She turned off the flashlight.After a while, she saw the light of matches flickering in the distance.Greta has been cutting the power for thirty seconds, and it won't be long before the German recovers from the shock and finds the flashlight.She could hide from their sight for only a minute, maybe less. She starts with the nearest door.This door is open.She shined a light inside with a flashlight.It was a photo studio with photos hanging to dry, and a man in a white coat fumbled around the room. She closed the door and continued to stride into the corridor, trying the opposite door.This door is locked.This room was in the corner under the parking lot in front of the castle, and she deduced that it was an oil storage tank. She walked down the corridor and opened the door next door.The rumble of the machine got louder.She turned on the flashlight again, and within a second, she saw that it was probably a separate generator powering the phone system, and she hissed, "Drag the two bodies here!" "Jelly" and Greta pulled up the dead guard lying on the ground.Flick returned to the basement entrance and closed the iron door.Now, the hallway is dark.As an afterthought, she bolted all three heavy latches on the inside of the door.This buys her a few precious extra seconds. She went back to the generator room, closed the door, and turned on the flashlight. Jelly and Greta had hidden the body in the doorway, both out of breath. "It's all done," Greta whispered. The house is full of pipes and cables, but they are all color coded, showing the consistent efficiency of the Germans, Flick knows which is which, fresh air pipes are yellow, fuel pipes are brown, water pipes are green , with red and black stripes on the power lines."I'd like you to blow a hole in it in a moment if we have time," she said, shining a flashlight on the brown fuel pipe that led to the generator. "It's easy." said Jelly. "Now, put your hands on my shoulders and follow me. Greta, follow 'Jelly' the same way you do. Okay?" "it is good." Flick turned off her flashlight and opened the door.Now, they have to feel their way around the basement.Holding the wall with her hands, she guided and started to walk forward, entering the depths of the corridor.From the cacophony of high-pitched voices, several men could be heard scurrying about in the hallway. An officer-like voice asked in German: "Who shut the gate?" She heard Greta answer, but in a man's voice: "It seems to be stuck." The German cursed.After a while, there was a scratching sound of the latch. Flick went to another door.She opened the door and turned on the flashlight.Inside were two huge wooden boxes, the size and shape of a mortuary mortuary table.Greta whispered, "This is the battery room. Go next door." The German voice said, "Is there a flashlight over there? Get it here!" "Come on," Greta replied in her Gerhardt male voice, and the three "jackdaws" walked in opposite directions. Flick went into the next room, let them in too, closed the door, and turned on her flashlight.It was a long, narrow room with rows of equipment racks lining the walls.There is a shed at one end of the room where there may be large drawings.Across the room, the beam of the torch caught sight of a small table.Three men sat there with playing cards in their hands.They had been sitting like this for about a minute or two after the power outage, and now they were moving. They were about to stand up when Flick raised the muzzle of his gun. "Jelly" is also extremely fast.Flick knocked one down. The pistol of "Jelly" fired, and the one next to him also fell down.A third tried to hide, but Flick's flashlight followed him.Flick and Jelly fired together, and the guy fell over. Flick didn't think that these people who were killed were also human beings.This is no time for sentimentality.She scanned the surroundings with her flashlight.She was pleasantly surprised by what she saw.This was almost certainly the room she was looking for. A meter away from the edge of the long wall is a pair of racks that reach to the ceiling, on which thousands of line terminals are neatly plugged.Telephone wires from the outside world enter through the walls and are neatly bundled into terminals on the closer racks.At the far end, similar cables run from behind the terminals and up through the ceiling to the switches above.Across the front of the rack, a loose tangle of jumper wires connects terminals on the closer rack to terminals on the far rack.Flick looked at Greta and asked, "How is it?" Greta inspected the equipment by the light of her flashlight, fascinated. "It's the main distribution frame," she said, "but it's a bit different than what we have in the UK." Flick stares at Greta in surprise.A few minutes earlier, she had said she was too scared to do anything.Now, she was indifferent to killing three men. There were more racks of equipment along the far wall, with vacuum tubes gleaming on them. "And what about there?" Flick asked. Greta waved her flashlight and said, "Those are long-distance line amplifiers and carrier circuit equipment." "Fine," said Flick quickly, "tell 'Jelly' where to put the explosives." The three of them got to work.Greta unwrapped the yellow plastic dynamite wrapped in waxed paper, and Flick cut the fuse piece by piece.The fuse burns away at one centimeter per second. "I'm going to cut all the fuses to three meters," Flick said, "so we have a full five minutes to run out." Jelly assembled all the explosive units: fuse, detonator, and ignition cap . Flick held up the flashlight and asked Greta to fix the explosives in the weaker part of the frame, and "Jelly" inserted the ignition cap into the soft explosives. They work fast.In less than five minutes, all the equipment was covered with explosives like a rash.The fuses point to the same ignition source, and they are loosely wound together so that a single flame can all ignite. Jelly pulls out a thermite bomb, a black box the size of a tin can filled with pulverized aluminum and iron oxides.It explodes with tremendous heat, creating an intense flame.She removed the cover to reveal the two fuzes inside, and placed it on the ground behind the patch panel. Greta said: "There should be thousands of cards in here showing how the wiring is connected. We should burn them. Then the maintenance people can't reconnect the cables in two days. It will take about two weeks." Flick opened the door of the cabinet and saw four custom-made card holders with large charts on them, neatly classified and separated by file partitions. She asked, "Is this what we are looking for?" Greta looked carefully under the light of the flashlight and said, "Yes." "Jelly" said, "Scatter 'em on the thermite bombs and they'll burn up in seconds." Flick piled the cards loosely on the ground. "Jelly" placed the oxygen generator pack on the ground in a dead corner of the room. "It makes the fire burn harder," she said. "Normally, we would only be able to burn away the insulation around the wooden frame and cables, but with this, the copper cables can be melted away." everything's ready. Flick looked around with a flashlight.The exterior walls are ancient wall brick, but the interior walls between the rooms are separated by lighter wooden boards.An explosion would destroy these partitions, and the fire would quickly spread throughout the basement. Five minutes had passed since the power outage. "Jelly" took out the lighter. Flick said, "You two, do your best to get out there. Jelly, drop by the generator room and blow that fuel line I pointed you to." "understood." "We'll meet at Antoinette's." Greta asked anxiously, "Where are you going?" "I'm going to find Ruby." "Jelly" warns, "You have five minutes." Flick nodded. "Jelly" went to light the fuse. Dieter walked from the dark basement into the semi-dark stairwell when he noticed that the guard at the entrance was gone.No doubt they had been called to help, and the loose sense of discipline irritated him.They should not have left their posts. Maybe they were forcibly outlawed.Could they have been driven away at gunpoint?Could it be that the castle has been attacked? He ran up the stairs.There were no signs of fighting on the first floor.Operators are still working.The phone system ran on a single power line, and there was still enough light coming through the windows for the operators to see their switchboards.He ran through the mess hall toward the maintenance workshop at the back of the building, but on the way he glanced into the kitchen and saw three soldiers in overalls staring at the fuse box. "There's a power outage in the basement," Dieter said. "I know," said one of the soldiers.His shirt epaulettes bear the sergeant's stripes, "All wires cut." Dieter raised his voice. "Then take your dick and hook them up, you bloody fool!" he said, "stop standing here scratching your stupid scalp!" The sergeant was terrified. "Yes, sir," he said. A young chef said bitterly, "I think it's the electric oven, sir." "What's going on?" Dieter yelled. "Well, Major, they were cleaning behind the oven, and then there was a bang—" "Who? Who cleans?" "I don't know, sir." "It's a soldier, is it someone you know?" "No, sir... just a cleaner." Dieter's brain froze for a moment.The castle was apparently under attack.But where is the enemy?He left the kitchen, walked to the stairwell, and ran upstairs to the office. As he turned around the bend in the stairs, something flashed before his eyes, and he couldn't help but look back.A tall woman in a cleaner's coat was coming up the stairs from the basement, carrying a mop and bucket. He froze, staring at her, his heart beating wildly.She shouldn't have been there.Only Germans were allowed into the basement.Of course, the power outage creates chaos and anything can happen.But the cook blamed a cleaner for the power outage.He recalled a brief conversation he had had with the chief switchboard operator.There were no newcomers there - but he hadn't asked about the French cleaning lady. He retreated down the stairs and met her on the first floor. "Why did you go to the basement?" he asked her in French. "I went there to clean it, but there was a power outage." Dieter frowned.Her French had an accent that he couldn't identify."You shouldn't be there," he said. "Yes, the soldiers told me, they clean it themselves, I don't know." It's not a British accent, Dieter thought, but where? "How long have you been working here?" "Only one week, I have been working upstairs, only to go down today." There was nothing wrong with her statement, but Dieter was not satisfied. "Come with me." He grabbed her arm firmly.He just pulled her into the kitchen, and she didn't resist. Dieter said to the cook: "Do you know this woman?" "Yes, sir. She was behind the oven." Dieter looked at her. "is that true?" "Yes, sir, I'm sorry if I break something." Dieter recognized her accent this time. "You're German," he said. "No, sir." "You dirty traitor," he said, turning to the cook, "take her and follow me. She will tell everything." Flick opened the door marked "Interrogation Room," walked in, closed the door, and scanned the inside with a flashlight.She saw a rough pine table, an ashtray, some chairs, and an iron table.The room was empty. She was puzzled.She decided that the cell was in this corridor, and she shone a flashlight through the peepholes on each door. The cell was empty.All the prisoners taken by the Gestapo in the past eight days, Gilberta among them, have probably been moved elsewhere...or have been killed.But Ruby must be here somewhere. Then, she saw a door to her left, which presumably led to an inner room. She turned off her flashlight, opened the door, stepped in, closed the door again, and turned on the flashlight. She saw Ruby immediately.She was lying on a table that looked like a hospital operating table.Her wrists and ankles are held in place by specially designed straps, which keep her head from moving.A wire from the motor ran between her legs and under her skirt.Flick guessed at once how Ruby was being treated, and gasped in horror. She moved closer to the table and said, "Ruby, can you hear me?" Ruby snorted.Flick's heart moved: she was still alive. "I'll untie you," she said.She put the Sten submachine gun on the table. Ruby tried to speak, but her words turned into a moan.Flick quickly undid the straps that tied Ruby to the table. "Flick," said Ruby at last. "what?" "Behind you." Flick jumped aside.Something heavy brushed past her ear and hit her left shoulder.She screamed in pain, dropped the flashlight and fell to the ground.She rolled on her side as she fell, moving as far away from her original position as possible to prevent her attacker from hitting her again. She was so shocked to see Ruby that she didn't bother to scan the room with the flashlight.Someone inside was lurking in the dark, waiting for the opportunity, and appeared behind her on tiptoe. Her left arm went numb.She scratched the ground with her right hand to reach for her flashlight.Before she could find it, she heard a "click" and the light came on. She blinked and saw two people.A squatting, stocky man with a round head and short hair close to his scalp.Ruby was standing right behind him.In the dark, Ruby held what looked like a steel bar in his hand, and was ready to lift it over his head.When the light came on, Ruby saw the guy, turned around, and swung the steel bar as hard as he could over his head.It was a heavy blow, and the man fell to the ground, motionless. Flick stood up immediately.Her arm quickly regained feeling.She picked up her Sten submachine gun. Ruby half-kneeled next to the guy who was lying on the ground. "Meet Sergeant Becker," she said. "Are you all right?" Flick said. "I'm dying of pain, but I've got to get my own revenge on this son of a bitch." Ruby grabbed Becker by the front of his uniform jacket, lifted him up, and pushed him hard onto the operating table. He hummed. "He's about to wake up," said Flick, "and I'll finish him off." "Give me ten seconds." Ruby straightened the guy's limbs and strapped him around his wrists and ankles; then clamped his head so he couldn't move.Finally she took the cylindrical terminal attached to the shock machine and stuffed it into his mouth.He choked and retched, but couldn't move his head.She took a roll of electrical tape and tore off a strip with her teeth, securing the cylinder in his mouth so it wouldn't fall out.Then she went to fiddle with the switches on the motor. The machine made a low hum.The person on the table let out a near-death scream, and the tightly bound body shook up and down, convulsing.Ruby looked at him for a moment, then said, "Let's go." They went out the door, leaving Sergeant Becker writhing on the table, squealing like a pig being slaughtered. Flick checked her watch.Two minutes had passed since "Jelly" lit the fuse. They passed the interrogation room and entered the corridor.The confusion has subsided.There were only three soldiers near the entrance, talking peacefully.Flick walked quickly towards them, Ruby following closely behind. Flick instinctively intended to go straight past the soldiers, relying on her confident posture to confuse them, but she glanced through the doorway and saw the tall figure of Dieter Frank coming this way, followed by two or three people, she Can't see clearly.She stopped abruptly.Ruby bumped into her back.Flick turned to push the nearest door, which was marked "Wireless Room".The room is empty.They went in. She opened the door an inch wide.She heard Frank yelling in German, "Captain, where are the two men who are supposed to be here?" "I don't know, Major, I'm asking too." Flick removed the silencer from the Sten submachine gun and turned the switch to rapid fire first.She had only used four rounds so far, with twenty-eight in the magazine. "Sergeant, you guard here with this corporal. Captain, you go to Major Weber's office and tell him that Major Frank strongly advises him to search the basement immediately. Run!" A moment later, Frank's footsteps passed by the door of the wireless room.Flick waited, hearing the door slam shut.She took a peek.Frank has disappeared. "Let's go," she said to Ruby.They left the wireless room and headed for the door. The corporal asked in French: "What are you doing here?" Flick was ready to answer: "My friend Valerie is new here, there was a mess when the power went out, and she was in the wrong place." The corporal was a little dubious and said, "It's still bright upstairs, how could she get lost?" Ruby said, "I'm sorry, sir, I thought maybe I should come in here and clean, and besides, no one stopped me." The sergeant said in German, "We should keep them outside, not inside, Corporal." He smiled and waved them over. Dieter tied the prisoner to a chair and sent off the cook who had brought her down from the kitchen.He looked at this woman for a while, wondering how much time he had left.An agent has been arrested on the street outside the castle.This other one, if she was an agent, was caught going up the stairs from the basement.Is there anyone else haunting here?Are these people waiting somewhere, about to come in, or are they already in this building?Not being able to understand what was going on was driving me crazy.But he has ordered a search of the entire basement.The only thing he can do is interrogate the prisoner. Dieter used his usual trick at the beginning, slapping her suddenly, which immediately defeated the other party's will.The woman was taken aback, panting in pain. "Where's your friend?" he asked. The woman's cheeks flushed.He watched her expression carefully, and everything he saw made him feel incredible. She looks happy. "You are in the basement of the castle," he told her, "and this door is the execution chamber. On the other side of the partition wall, is the telephone exchange. We are at the top of the tunnel, as the French say, is The bottom of a bag. If your friends were going to blow up the building, you and I would surely die in this room." Her expression remained unchanged. Maybe the castle won't be blown up, Dieter thought.So what is their task? "You are a German," he said, "why help the enemies of your country?" Finally she spoke. "I'll tell you," she said.She speaks German with a Hamburg accent. "Many years ago, I had a lover. His name was Manfred." She looked away, remembering, "You Nazis arrested him, sent him to a concentration camp, and I think he died there, Because I don't have any news from him anymore." She paused and swallowed.Dieter waited.After a while, she continued. "They took him from me, and I swear, I'll get my revenge—just like this." She smiled happily. "Your dirty system is coming to an end, and I'm out of my own Force, destroy it." Something is wrong here.Judging from her tone, it seems that she has already done it.Also, the power went out just now and then came back on again.Did the blackout serve a purpose?The woman did not show any signs of fear.Did she really care nothing about death? "Why was your lover arrested?" "They said he was a pervert." "What kind?" "He's gay." "But he is your lover?" "yes." Dieter frowned.Then, he stared hard at the woman.She's tall, broad-shouldered, with a masculine nose and chin beneath heavy makeup... "You're a man?" he said in surprise. She just smiled. A terrible guess made Dieter suddenly wake up. "Why are you telling me this about me?" he said. "You're trying to hang on to me so your friend can get away? You're sacrificing your life to make sure the mission—" A faint voice interrupted his train of thought.It sounded like someone screaming from a stranglehold.Now that he noticed, he realized he had heard it two or three times just now and ignored it.The sound seemed to come from the next room. Dieter jumped up and walked into the execution chamber. He expected to see another female agent on the table, but was shocked to find someone else lying there.He saw right away that it was a man, but at first he didn't know who it was because the face was out of order—the jaw was out of place, the teeth had been knocked out, and it was covered in blood and vomit.Then he recognized the stocky figure of Sergeant Becker.Wires from the shock machine went into Becker's mouth.Dieter found the machine's terminal inserted into Becker's mouth, secured with a piece of electrical tape.Becker was still alive, twitching and screaming horribly.Dieter was really terrified. He immediately turned off the machine.Becker stopped twitching.Dieter grabbed the wire and pulled hard.Pulled the terminal from Becker's mouth and dropped it on the ground. He leaned over. “贝克尔！”他说，“你能听见吗？发生了什么事？” no answer. 楼上一切正常。弗立克和鲁比快步经过一排排电话接线员，都在交换台前忙碌着，她们把接线头插进插孔，低声对耳机喃喃说着什么，将柏林、巴黎和诺曼底的决策者们连接起来。弗立克看了看手表。再过两分钟，所有连接就要被摧毁，这个军事机器就会崩溃，只留下一堆零碎的部件，再也无法拼凑在一起了。弗立克想，现在，只要我们能够走出去…… 她们平安通过大楼。几秒钟后，她们就会走到中心广场。他们差不多成功了。可是，她们在院子里遇到了“果冻”——她正在往回走。 “葛丽泰在哪儿？”她说。 “她是跟你在一起的！”弗立克回答。 “我耽搁了一会儿，去发电机房给你说的那个柴油燃料管上安放炸药。葛丽泰在我前面出去了，但她没去安托瓦内特那儿。我刚刚见到了保罗，他也没见过她。我就回来找她。”“果冻”手里拿着个纸包。“我跟门口的警卫说，我刚才是出去取我的晚饭了。” 弗立克心里一凉。“葛丽泰肯定还在里面——见它的鬼！” “我回去找她！”“果冻”坚定地说，“在沙特尔她从盖世太保手里救过我的命，我欠她的。” 弗立克看着她的手表说：“我们有不到两分钟。快走！” 她们跑回里面，在女接线员们的注视下跑过一间间屋子。弗立克脑子里闪过又一个念头：为了挽救她的一名队友，她是不是要再牺牲掉两条性命——还有她自己呢？ 当她们走到楼梯间时，弗立克停下了。先前两个士兵在说笑之间放她们从地下室出来，这次是不会让她们轻易进去的。“跟上次一样，”她平静地对其他人说，“装作若无其事的样子地接近守卫，在最后一刻开枪。” 上面传来一个声音：“那儿是怎么回事？” 弗立克呆住了。 她扭头往后看去。从顶层的楼梯上走下来四个人。其中一个穿着少校的制服，用手枪指着她。她认出那是韦伯少校。 这是迪特尔·法兰克所要求的搜索小组。它恰恰在错误的时刻出现在这儿。 弗立克咒骂自己作了一个糟糕的决定。现在损失的不只是一个，而是四个。 韦伯说：“你们这几个女人像是有什么阴谋。” “你想干什么？”弗立克说，“我们都是清洁工。” “也许你是，”他说，“但这个区域有一个敌方的女特工小组在活动。” 弗立克假装放松下来。“哦，那好，”她说，“如果你要找敌方特工，我们就没事儿了。我还以为你们对清洁工作不满意呢。”她勉强笑了几声。鲁比也笑起来。两人听上去都很虚假。 韦伯说：“把你们的手举起来。” 当把手腕抬过眼睛时，弗立克看了看手表。还有三十秒钟。 “下楼。”韦伯说。 弗立克不情愿地往下走。鲁比和“果冻”随着她，四个男人跟在后面。她尽可能走得很慢，默数着秒数。 她在楼梯下面停住。二十秒钟。 “又是你？”其中一个守卫说。 弗立克说：“跟你们的少校说吧。” “继续往前。”韦伯说。 “我觉得我们不该进入地下室。” “只管走！” 五秒钟。 他们通过了地下室的大门。 然后是一声巨响。 在走廊的另一端，设备间的间隔墙向外炸开。接着一连串的噼噼啪啪声。烈焰带着碎片翻滚着。弗立克被气浪撞倒。 她单膝立起来，从外衣下面抽出冲锋枪，转过身去。 “果冻”和鲁比倒在她的两侧。地下室的警卫、韦伯，还有其他三人也倒在地上。Flick pulled the trigger. 六个德国人中，只有韦伯一个人保持清醒。弗立克一开火，韦伯也用手枪还击。“果冻”在弗立克身边竭力站起来，这时叫了一声倒在地上。紧接着，弗立克击中了韦伯的前胸，他一头栽倒。 弗立克对着地上的六具尸体打光枪里的子弹。她退出弹夹，从口袋里拿出一个新弹夹换上。鲁比俯身去看“果冻”，试了试她的脉搏。过了一会儿才抬起头来。“她死了。”她说。 弗立克看着走廊尽头，葛丽泰就在那里。熊熊火焰窜出设备间，但审讯室的墙体似乎完好无损。 她朝向这可怖的地狱冲去。 迪特尔发现自己躺在地上，不知到底发生了什么。他听到爆炸的轰鸣声，鼻子里闻到了烟火的味道。他挣扎着站起来，往审讯室里看去。 他马上就明白了，行刑室的砖墙救了他一命。审讯室和设备间之间的隔断墙已经消失了。审讯室的几件摆设被摔到了墙边。那个囚犯也遭受了相同的命运，在地上躺着，仍被绑在椅子上，脖子可怕地弯曲着，说明它已被折断，她——或者是他——已经死去。设备间燃烧着，火势迅速蔓延。 迪特尔知道他只有几秒钟脱身。 审讯室的门开了，弗立克·克拉莱特站在那里，端着冲锋枪。 她头上戴着的深色假发已经落到一边，露出下面她自己的金发。她满脸通红，费力地呼吸着，眼里闪着狂野的光芒，她很美。 如果这时候他手里有枪，他就会趁着一阵怒火一枪将她击倒在地。如果活捉了她，那将是一份难得的战利品，可他实在怒不可遏，她的成功让他为自己的失败深感羞辱，他简直无法控制住自己。 但她手里有枪。 一开始她并没有看见迪特尔，而是直盯盯看着她同伴的尸体。迪特尔的手朝衣服里面摸去。接着，她抬起头来，跟他的目光相接。他从她的表情看出，她已经认出了自己。She knows who he is.她很清楚过去的九天里她是在跟谁斗争。她的眼里闪出一丝胜利的光芒。但他也从她那紧抿着的嘴角看到一种报复的渴望。她抬起司登冲锋枪，射出一串子弹。 迪特尔躲进行刑室，子弹击中了墙砖，碎片横飞。他掏出他那支瓦尔特P38自动手枪，将保险推到击发位置，把枪指向门口，等弗立克走进来。 她没有出现。 他等了几秒钟，然后冒险往外一看。 弗立克已经不见了。 他冲过燃烧着的审讯室，猛地打开门，进了走廊。弗立克和另一个女人正跑向远处。他举起手枪，她们跳过地上的几具穿制服的尸体。他瞄准弗立克，这时他觉得自己的胳膊一阵剧痛。他惊叫着扔掉了手里的枪。他看见自己的袖子着了火，奋力撕下了他的外套。 当他再次抬头，两个女人已经逃走了。迪特尔捡起手枪，追赶着她们。奔跑中他闻到了油料的味道。燃油泄漏了——或许破坏者凿穿了管道。从现在起每一秒钟，地下室都可能像一个巨大的炸弹爆炸开来。 但他仍可能赶上弗立克。 他跑了出来，跑上了楼梯。 在行刑室里，贝克尔中士的制服开始闷烧。 热浪和浓烟立刻让他恢复了知觉，他叫喊着救命，但没有人听得见。 他挣扎着，要摆脱捆绑他的皮带，像他以前许多受害者那样竭力挣脱，但是，他也跟那些人一样徒劳无助。几分钟后，他的衣服燃出火焰，他开始尖叫起来。 弗立克看见迪特尔跟在她的后面追上楼梯，手里拿着枪，她担心如果自己停下来瞄准他，他就可能抢先开枪。她决定不要停下来，一个劲儿快点儿跑。 有人启动了火灾警报，她跟鲁比跑过一间间交换室时，整个城堡内响起了高音汽笛声。接线员全都离开了各自岗位，朝大门口跑去，这样，弗立克就挤在了人群中。这群人让迪特尔难以对她或鲁比进行射击，但同时也挡住了她的去路。弗立克连踢带踹，不顾一切冲出一条路来。 她们到了前门，跑下台阶。在广场上，弗立克看见了莫利耶那辆送肉的货车，它车尾对着城堡大门，发动机打着火，后门开着。保罗站在旁边，焦急地透过铁栏杆望着里面。弗立克觉得这简直是她有生以来见过的最棒的事情。 可是，女人们涌出大楼后，有两名警卫指引她们去院子西边的葡萄园，远离停放的车辆。弗立克和鲁比不理会他们的摆手指示，跑向大门。那几个战士们看见弗立克手里的冲锋枪，便去抓起他们的武器。 保罗的手里出现了一杆步枪。他穿过栏杆射击目标。两声枪响，两个警卫倒了下去。 保罗一下把大门打开。弗立克冲出大门时，子弹飞过她的头顶，打在小货车上——迪特尔在向这边开火。 保罗跳上货车的驾驶室。 弗立克和鲁比一跃而上，进了货车后面的车厢。 货车启动了，弗立克看到迪特尔转向停车场，他的天蓝色轿车就停在那儿。 就在这一刻，地下室下面，火势已经到达了储油槽。 地下发出一阵巨大的轰鸣声，就好像发生了一场地震。停车场喷爆起来，碎石、泥土和混凝土块飞上了天空。老喷泉周围停放的汽车半数被掀翻，巨大的石头和砖块雨点般落在其余那些车辆上。迪特尔被抛回了后面的台阶上。气泵飞上了天，在它待过的地面上喷出一股烈焰。几辆汽车着起火来，它们的油箱开始爆炸，一个接着一个。货车此时驶离了广场，那里再发生什么，弗立克已经看不见了。 保罗开着车，以最快的速度离开村子。弗立克和鲁比在货车的铁皮地板上颠簸不定。弗立克这时才慢慢明白过来，她们已经完成自己的使命。这让她几乎不敢相信。她想到了葛丽泰和“果冻”，她们都死了，还有戴安娜和莫德，她俩也已经死去，或正在某个集中营里等待死亡，这些都让她无法感到高兴。但她再次想到那炽烈燃烧的设备间，爆炸的停车场，内心就涌起一种狂烈无情的满足感。 她看着鲁比。 鲁比朝她咧嘴一笑。“我们成功了。”她说。 Flick nodded. 鲁比双手搂住弗立克，紧紧地抱住她。 “是啊，”弗立克说，“我们成功了。” 迪特尔从地上爬起来。他感到自己身上到处都是擦伤，但他还能走。城堡陷入一片火海，停车场变成一片废墟。女人们尖叫着，慌忙逃命。 他看着四周的残酷场面。“寒鸦”已经成功完成了任务。但一切还没有结束。她们还留在法国。如果他能捉到弗立克·克拉莱特，亲自审讯她，他还可以反败为胜。今天晚上，她肯定计划了在离兰斯不远的地方与一架小型飞机接头。他必须弄清它的时间地点。 他知道谁会告诉他。 那就是她的丈夫。