STORY MAC MACDONALD ART KEITH PAGE COVER KEITH PAGE
Y 1940 THE CENTRE OF EUROPE WAS AT WAR AND THE FIGHTING WAS B SPREADING IN MANY DIRECTIONS. THE VITAL GREEK PORT OF SALONIKA ON THE AEGEAN SEA WAS A CROSSROADS FOR TRADE AND INTRIGUE, AND IT SEEMED THAT NEITHER IT NOR GREECE ITSELF WOULD ESCAPE THE HOSTILITIES.
4 THE ROMANS, NORMANS, TURKS AND BULGARIANS WERE AMONG THE MANY WHO HAD ATTACKED THIS REGION IN YEARS GONE BY. AGAIN THE PEOPLE OF THIS REGION WERE UNEASY AND MILITARY ACTIVITY HAD INCREASED.
WE’VE GOT THE DROP ON THEM NOW. WE CAN WIN THIS LITTLE BATTLE SWIFTLY.
PRIVATES ZANDER ZARRIS, YANNIS VASILAKIS AND LUCAS VELIS WERE FIRM FRIENDS AS WELL AS BEING COMRADES IN THE GREEK ARMY MILITARY RESERVE. THEY SOUGHT GOOD COVER BEFORE MAKING THEIR FINAL MOVE. YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO. COVER ME WHILE I GO ON AHEAD.
5 THEN ZANDER WAS UP AND SPRINTING WITH HIS TWO FRIENDS COVERING HIS PROGRESS AS BEST AS THEY COULD.
ALMOST THERE! WE CAN DO THIS...
THERE’S NO HOLDING BACK NOW.
BUT INSTEAD OF THE CRACK OF GUNFIRE SHATTERING THE SILENCE OF THE NIGHT, IT WAS THE LOUD PEAL OF A SHELL CASING ACTING AS A BELL AND HANGING IN AN OLIVE TREE. ZANDER RANG IT VIGOROUSLY. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! THEY COULD NOT STOP US!
WE’VE GOT THE BETTER OF THEM!
6 IT WAS ONLY A TRAINING EXERCISE FOR THIS PART-TIME UNIT IN THE AREA AROUND THE LARGE PORT OF SALONIKA. THE THREE “RAIDERS” HAD ELUDED ALL THE GUARDS WAITING TO CAPTURE THEM AND HAD WON THE CONTEST.
YOU WOULD ALL BE DEAD OR WOUNDED IF THIS WAS FOR REAL.
THAT’S RIGHT, MAKE THE MOST OF IT, IT’S JUST A GAME AFTER ALL...
LIEUTENANT PERIKLIS STAMOS, THE UNIT’S MIDDLE-AGED OFFICER, INTERRUPTED THE BANTER. HE AND SERGEANT CHRISTOS REPPAS HAD BEEN MONITORING THE MEN’S PERFORMANCE FROM COVER. IT WILL NOT BE A GAME IF THE ITALIANS ATTACK AS THEY KEEP THREATENING! YOU MUST BE MORE VIGILANT AND FOLLOW THE EXAMPLE OF PRIVATE ZANDER AND HIS TWO COMRADES.
THAT VIGILANCE IS ALL THAT WILL KEEP YOU ALIVE IF WAR DOES COME.
7 BOTH THE OFFICER AND N.C.O. HAD FOUGHT IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR TO PROTECT SALONIKA FROM THE TURKS, BULGARIANS AND THEIR GERMAN ALLIES WHO HAD ATTACKED FROM THE NORTH OF THE REGION. IT HAD BEEN A BITTER LESSON IN THE REALITIES OF COMBAT. HOW WILL THEY FARE IF IT COMES TO FIGHTING? WE WERE GREEN AWAY BACK THEN TOO AND HAD TO LEARN FAST.
WE MUST HAVE FAITH IN THEM, SIR, AND YOUNG ZANDER SHOWS PROMISE.
TO BE TRUTHFUL, ZANDER AND HIS FRIENDS THOUGHT IT WAS ALL A BIT OF LAUGH. THEY WORKED FOR DIFFERENT SHIPPING AGENTS IN THE BUSY PORT WHICH WAS HOME TO MANY NATIONALITIES AND RELIGIONS. MY FEET STILL ACHE FROM WEARING THOSE ARMY BOOTS AND I’M DOG TIRED.
YOU HAD BETTER GET USED TO THAT THEN. IT COULD BECOME A REGULAR THING.
AS LONG AS I DON’T DOZE OFF AGAIN TODAY IN THE OFFICE. THE BOSS DOESN’T LIKE THAT.
8 THEY ALL WENT TO WORK AND ALTHOUGH ZANDER SET ABOUT HIS TASKS DILIGENTLY, HE COULDN’T HELP THINKING THAT HE HAD AN EXTRA REASON FOR BEING IN UNIFORM. HIS FATHER HAD BEEN A BRITISH OFFICER WITH THE FORCE SENT TO HELP THE GREEKS HOLD BACK THE BULGARIANS DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR. I NEVER KNEW HIM...HE WAS KILLED IN ACTION. MOTHER STILL TALKS OF HIM, BUT THEY WERE ONLY MARRIED FOR A VERY SHORT TIME.
SHE HAD TAKEN BACK HER FAMILY NAME AFTER THE WAR FOR THE SAKE OF CONVENIENCE. HIS THOUGHTS WERE BROKEN INTO AS THE OFFICE MANAGER. IOANNIS MAZIS, PASSED BY WITH LUIGI PETRONI, AN ITALIAN BUSINESSMAN WHOSE FIRM IN SICILY HAD FREQUENT DEALINGS WITH SALONIKA.
TELL YOUR MOTHER THAT MISTER PETRONI WILL NOT NEED ANY SUPPER TONIGHT. WE ARE GOING TO MY CLUB AND THEN ON TO THE THEATRE. I’LL DO THAT, SIR, AND I’LL HOLD ANY TELEGRAMS UNTIL TOMORROW.
9 HIS MOTHER’S HOUSE HAD A SMALL ANNEX WHICH SHE RENTED OUT TO THE LIKES OF THE ITALIAN WHEN HE WAS IN THE REGION ON BUSINESS.
IT WAS VERY LATE BEFORE THEIR GUEST RETURNED — JUST AS ZANDER WAS ABOUT TO STOP READING A THRILLER.
WE DON’T SEE MUCH OF THAT ITALIAN. HE KEEPS TO HIMSELF AND IS AS QUIET AS A MOUSE.
WE HAD ALL BETTER BE QUIET TOMORROW AS OLD MIZAS WILL HAVE ONE OF HIS HEADACHES AFTER A NIGHT OUT.
THERE WERE MANY HEADACHES OF A GREATER MAGNITUDE, HOWEVER, AS HITLER AND HIS NAZI REICH WENT FROM VICTORY TO VICTORY. MUSSOLINI, THE ITALIAN DICTATOR, BECAME MORE AND MORE BELLIGERENT AS HE PRAISED, BUT WAS JEALOUS OF, THE GERMAN SUCCESSES. IT’S NOT LOOKING GOOD. OUR TRAINING HAS BEEN STEPPED UP AND THE LIEUTENANT WAS CALLED TO H.Q. TODAY AGAIN.
MY FATHER THINKS IT IS GRAVE TOO.
I JUST HOPE WE ARE READY FOR WHATEVER HAPPENS.
10 WHAT ZANDER WAS FAR FROM READY FOR WAS THE GRIM NEWS BROUGHT TO HIM JUST THE NEXT WEEK BY POLICE DETECTIVE GEORGIOS KYRIAKOS, AN OLD FAMILY FRIEND. THE YOUNG MAN’S MOTHER, IT SEEMED, HAD PERISHED TRAGICALLY IN A FIRE AT THEIR HOME. IT CAN’T BE TRUE...
IT IS, I AM AFRAID, LAD. YOU NEED TO COME WITH ME NOW.
FIRE WAS A CONSTANT HAZARD IN THE CRAMPED STREETS OF THE OLD TOWN, BUT ZANDER KNEW HOW CAREFUL HIS MOTHER USUALLY WAS. IT’S JUST NOT LIKE HER, ESPECIALLY WITH MISTER PETRONI STAYING WITH US AGAIN. IS HE ALL RIGHT?
WELL, THERE’S NO SIGN OF HIM, AND I AM AFRAID THERE MAY BE MORE TO THIS THAN WE FIRST THOUGHT.