Where Eagles Dare

"This gives with the whirlybird. They could use it either to whip Carnaby out of here -- they might just be nervous if they think we're on the loose -- or they might use it to block our getaway.'

'If we get away.'

There's that. How are you on immobilising helicopters, Lieutenant Schaffer? Your report states that you were an up-and-coming racing driver and a very competent mechanic before they scraped the bottom of the barrel and dragged you in.'

'I volunteered,' Schaffer said with dignity. 'About the competence, I dunno. But give me a four-pound hammer and I'll sure as little fishes immobilise anything from a bulldozer to a bicycle.'

'I have been known to use finesse.'

Smith said to Mary: 'How can we get a sight of this machine?'

'Just five paces that way.' She pointed to the door. 'Every passage window in the Schloss Adler opens on to the courtyard.'

Smith opened the door, glanced up and down the passage and crossed to an opposite window. Schaffer was by his side.

The comings and goings of the moon made no difference to the state of illumination in the Schloss Adler courtyard. Two big overhead arc lamps burned by the heavily-barred entrance gates. A third burned at the opposite end of the courtyard, over the main doorway leading into the castle itself. At a height of about ten feet, four waterproof storm lamps were fastened to the east and west walls of the courtyard. Lights burned from a dozen windows on the east and northern sides. And the brightest light of all came from an arc-lamp that had been rigged above the helicopter and under the temporary protection of a stretched tarpaulin. A figure in green overalls and a high-peaked cap was working on the helicopter's engine. Smith touched Schaffer's arm and they moved back into the room where Mary was waiting, closing the door behind them.

'Seems a straightforward operation,' Schaffer said. 'Fixing it so that the chopper doesn't fly again, I mean. I cross to the main gates, overpower the four men on guard, strangle the four Dobermann pinchers, knock off two or three other characters -- armed characters -- who appear to be patrolling the place all the time, overpower about twenty soldiers who appear to be drinking beer in some sort of canteen across the way, dispose of the guy who's working on the engine and then immobilise the chopper. I mean, just immobilising the chopper itself wouldn't be anything, really, would it?'

'We'll think of something,' Smith said soothingly.

'I'll bet you think of something,' Schaffer said moodily. 'That's what- I'm afraid of.'

Smith folded the plan, handed it to Mary, then frowned as she put it in her bag. 'You know better than that. The Lilliput: it should be on your person, not in the bag. Here.' He handed her the Mauser he'd taken from Colonel Weissner. 'This in your bag. Hide the Lilliput on you.'

'When I get to my room I will,' she said primly.

'All those leering Yankee lieutenants around,' Schaffer said sadly. 'Thank heavens I'm a changed man.'

'His mind is set on higher things,' Smith explained. He glanced at his watch. 'Give us thirty minutes.'

They slipped cautiously through the doorway then strode briskly and confidently along the passage, making no attempt to conceal their presence. The bag with the Schmeissers, rope, grenades and explosives Smith swung carelessly from one hand. They passed a bespectacled soldier carrying a sheaf of papers and a girl carrying a laden tray, neither of whom paid any attention to them. They turned right at the end of the passage, reached a circular flight of stairs and went down three floors until they came to the level of the courtyard. A short broad passage, with two doors on either side, took them to the main door leading out to the courtyard..

Smith opened the door and looked out. The scene was very much as Schaffer had feelingly described it, with far too many armed guards and police dogs around for anyone's peace of mind. The overalled mechanic was still at work on the helicopter's engine. Smith quietly closed the door and turned his attention to the nearest right-hand door in the passage. It was locked. He said to Schaffer: 'Keep an eye open at the end of , the passage there.'

Schaffer went. As soon as he was in position, Smith brought out skeleton keys. The third key fitted and the door, gave under his hand. He signalled Schaffer to return.

With the door closed and locked behind them, they looked around the room, a room faintly but for their purposes adequately lit by the backwash of light shining through the un-suited window from the courtyard. It was, quite apparently, the fire-fighting H.Q. of the castle. The walls were hung with drums of rolled hoses, asbestos suits, helmets and fire-axes: wheeled handpumps, CO, cylinders and a variety of smaller cylinders for fighting oil and electrical fires took up much of the floor space.

'Couldn't be better,' Schaffer agreed. 'What are you talking about?'