North Reich by Robert Conroy Page B

sirens and the two men shouting that they had to go right away and that they had to leave Paul.
     
     
    Alicia awoke to the realization that she was in a hospital and that her body throbbed with pain.   Her period had become the least of her problems.   She checked her head and found that she it was swathed in bandages.   She ran her tongue around the inside of her mouth and felt a couple of loose teeth.   Would she lose them?   God, she hoped not.   The area around her nose and mouth was bandaged as well.   What had happened?
           A nurse appeared and smiled.   "Welcome home.   If you're up to it, there are some people to see you."
           "Will I live?" she said and realized that her swollen mouth made her slur her words.
           The nurse laughed.   "Oh yes.   You've got a broken nose, a split lip, a ton of bruises and you are terribly discolored, but that will all go away in a few days."
           "Really?"
           "Actually, more like a few weeks, but I'm supposed to say days to cheer you up.   On the positive side, you don't have any broken bones, except for your nose and that should heal like new. Everything else will heal and that includes your loose teeth, and yes we checked while you were unconscious.   Just don't eat anything other than mush for a couple of days until they settle back in.   At any rate, a couple of army officers would like to see you."
           No sense waiting, Alicia thought and told the nurse to admit them.   A moment later, two men entered.   One was a balding colonel and the second a younger major with his arm in a sling.   The major also had bruises on his head and Alicia wondered if he'd been attacked as well.
           "Lieutenant Cutter, I'm Colonel Mark Downing and this is Major Tom Grant.   We're both on General Truscott's staff and we need to talk with you.   If you're up to it, that is."
           "Yes, sir.   I only hope you can understand me.   First, though, what happened to the two men who were with me?"          Downing winced.   "Wilkins is in the hospital with a fractured skull.   He's still unconscious, but they say he will pull through.   Corporal Henry, I'm sorry to say, didn't make it."
           Alicia tried to fight back tears.   She couldn't.   "I'm not surprised.   I saw them shoot him so many times.   He was a hero.   He saved my life."
           "He'll get a medal," Grant said softly, "not that it'll mean a whole lot to his family.   He managed to save you and possibly Wilkins, but we need any help you can provide so we can hopefully recover the pouch that they stole.   They might have been common thieves, at least that's what we've told the papers, but we really think they were after the pouch."
           "Is it that important?" Alicia asked.   Maybe she had done something right after all and maybe Henry's distracting the attackers had actually accomplished something.
           "I'd say it was," Downing responded.
           Alicia managed half a smile.   "Then they didn't get it, or at least I don't think they did.   When they began killing Henry for shooting somebody named Paul, I ran into the bushes and threw the pouch as far as I could.   They started yelling at each other that they didn't have any more time and I think that's when they took off.   I passed out so I'm not totally certain, but I don't think they looked very hard for the pouch if they looked at all. I heard sirens and they weren't going to stick around."
           Both men grinned like little kids who'd gotten an unexpected present.   "Can you travel?" asked Grant.   "It'd be a big help if you could show us exactly where you were when you tossed the pouch."
           She tried to sit up and winced.   "Get someone to repair my uniform and help me get dressed, and we can leave in a little while.   By the way, there's one other thing you might find helpful.   They weren't common