ESCAPE FROM KOSZALIN

EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER ONE The sea was pitch black. They were ten miles off shore, and no light was seen. High clouds obscured a nail-edged moon, and an eerie silence had displaced the rippling sound of the waves. Captain Jay was chatting softly with his crew, when small waves began lapping against his fishing boat. Something was approaching. Was it a new weather front or perhaps another boat? Suddenly the silence was shattered by a harsh German command that shot across the quiet sea. “Halt! Abtrennen gleich!” (Stop! Shut down immediately!) In spite of the quiet night, no one had noticed the stealth approach of the German patrol boat. “Now where did they come from?” asked a crewman. “Out of nowhere! They’re always patrolling this coast for traders in contraband.” Jay answered. “Like what?” “Mainly weapons for resistance fighters.” “You mean us?” “You got that right.” “But that’s not fair. We’re just out here trying to make a living. We’re always being stopped and searched. “We’re easy targets just drifting around looking for fish.” “It scares me every time.” “Why? They never find anything.” Jay assured. “Yeah, but you never know what kind of mood those Nazis are in.” “So?” “All you need is for them to be in a bad mood, and a simple search could easily escalate into a deadly confrontation.” “I know. These boardings are always high-risk affairs.” “That’s why I’m scared. I mean someone could easily get shot and killed at the whim of an officer.” “You worry too much” “That’s easy for you to say. You’re an old hand at this sort of thing.” “Shh, here they come. We’re in for a search again,” Jay whispered, then shouted quickly, “We’re shut down! We’re just drifting!” “Hande hoch jemand! Oder wir schiessen!” Another harsh and unnecessary command shot across the black sea, as all aboard the small fishing boat stood up quickly, raising their hands. Jay protested, “Don’t shoot! We don’t have any weapons. We don’t shoot the fish; we only catch them with a net. Can we put our hands down now?” “Very well,” the officer agreed. By now the German patrol boat had turned on all lights and come alongside the small Polish fishing boat. A Nazi officer, two German soldiers and two police dogs all crowded onto the small deck of the fishing boat. Jay tried to maintain control of the “surprise” boarding. “Just what’re you looking for, or should I say what’re they looking for?” Jay asked pointing to the two dogs that had immediately started to sniff around. “We’re looking for anything that doesn’t belong on a fishing boat. The dogs are extremely good at finding such things!” Came the arrogant reply. “Well, we don’t have anything aboard that doesn’t belong here.” “Good! Then you won’t mind if we look around, do you?” “No, go right ahead.” Just then the boat lurched from a passing wave. A crewmember seized the opportunity to inconspicuously drop a couple of red rags from the engine room onto the deck near the dogs. Unaware that the rags had a secret chemical that would paralyze their noses, the dogs instantly lunged at them with great interest and sniffed them violently. “No, get back!” One of the soldiers commanded the dogs as they strained at their leashes. “I’m sorry, said the crewmember, I lost my footing and had to let go of the rags to hold on.” “No matter,” the soldier snapped, as he let the dogs continue sniffing around. What’s in there?” the officer asked, pointing to a large square locker in front of the pilot house. “That’s where we store the fish,” Jay explained as he opened the side of the locker, revealing a large tray half full of fish. “That’s not very many fish!” the officer noted. “I know. It’s not been a good night. As you can see, we have a lot of empty trays stacked in there, waiting for a better night!” “What’s behind those trays?” “More trays, all stacked together like this,” Jay pulled out a few trays in a carefree manner, showing there was nothing behind them. “Pull out some more trays,” demanded the officer who was becoming more eager. Did he think he was onto something? Jay thought. Jay pulled out two more trays, and the locker space appeared deeper still with more trays seen in the back. What about those trays?” “What about them?” “What’s behind them? “More trays! We could go all the way to the back, but we rarely have to use all of the trays stacked in there.” “Pull out one more,” the officer insisted, as he pulled out his automatic pistol and pointed it directly at Jay. The officer was polite until he thought he might be close to discovering something. “Why do you guys always pull out a pistol?” Jay asked. “We always need to be prepared.” “Prepared for what?” “A sudden attack of resistance,” came the terse reply. “What, from us? Come on now officer, you don’t really believe that, do you?” “You never know. Some people react like a cornered animal, becoming desperate and exceedingly violent in a last ditch effort to survive. We’re always ready for that.” Jay shook his head in simulated disbelief. “OK, one more.” Jay strained and crouched as he went to the back of the locker and reached for the last tray. As he scrambled back out, the Nazis, dogs and all, poked their heads into the locker to get a good look at what he might be hiding. This was the moment of no return, a moment that could be 30 seconds away from sudden death. In fact, sudden death was just one inch away, the mere thickness of a wooden board! One last board. The board of death!