The overnight storm had passed, and the sky was cloudless as David headed back toward Sonnenhang on Wednesday morning from driving the Sappers to their train in Schaffhausen. The hot air coming through the opened flaps from the engine compartment barely countered the chill air pouring into the cab past the side curtains.

He thought of what Sergeant Perrier had said earlier. The frozen layer won't be deep enough to support the weight of the train. Nowhere near thick enough, and the ground beneath it is still wet from the heavy rain. Softened because of it. But that's your advantage. The ground is now much more slippery. The icy layer will skim across it with the momentum of the train. It'll be like skating fast on thin ice, staying up until the speed slows.

David smiled to himself as he pulled the lorry into the courtyard and glanced at his watch. Coffee's just started. He joined the group as they sat near the radiators in their mess.

"Looks as though the system wasn't designed for minus nine," he said as he warmed his hands on his coffee mug. "There's more than enough hot water in the tanks, just not enough radiators to distribute it."

"This is much warmer than our minus nine in Canada," Rick said.

"There's a different scale here, Celsius, not Fahrenheit." David did a quick mental calculation. "This would be sixteen degrees to you."

Rick chuckled. "I feel warmer already."

Georg looked up from his mug. "We can easily add more radiators, though Frau Eberhardt said it rarely gets this cold. She told me minus two or three is a more usual overnight low here."

"That was a big cold front last night. Bitter temperature behind it but it's been steadily warming." David looked into Georg's eyes. "We'll set up tonight."

"And blow them tomorrow?"

"Those are my thoughts. Gerrard told me this morning as we drove into the city, that the frozen layer's not near thick enough to support the weight of the stationary train, though the support will be better than from unfrozen ground. As the train's speed decreases, and it begins to sink in, it will use the frozen layer as a sled to glide over the wet soil below."

"So that will keep more of its speed, won't it? Are you still going to play sniper?"

"Yes, anything to add to the energy of the train." David looked at his watch again. "We should head across the border after lunch and resume the pruning. It should have warmed a fair bit by then. Before lunch, though, lets take our overnight packs, my Mauser and the shaped charges through to the hut."

"Won't it look strange if you tell the border guard we're going to work in the vineyard, then we drive away?"

"You, Franz, Hans and I will drive across. Fred and Greg will go through the tunnel. Once we've loaded our packs there, they'll come out of the hut and do some pruning as we drive off. They'll walk through the border crossing at the end of the afternoon."

Georg nodded. "What about an explanation to the guards when we cross? So they don't think it's strange when we drive away."

"Good thought." David pursed his lips. "It's too cold to take potatoes. They'll freeze. What could we do?"

"Why not take some samples with us in the cab and say we're driving around to produce stores looking for more customers?"

David slowly nodded. "That will do it. Great idea." He looked at his watch again. "Let's pack for overnight. It wont be as cold as last night, but it will still be freezing. Take an extra blanket. Extra pullover also."

As they all gathered for lunch in the mess, David laid out the map on one of the tables. He looked at Franz and then at Hans. "You'll run the detonating cords to your screens this afternoon, get everything ready to blow for the first loaded train headed toward the Front after daylight tomorrow. You'll be leaving your packs, everything behind, so bury it all under duff and debris before you detonate. Once you've detonated your charges, head immediately up the slopes. Don't pause to watch the results. It'll be too late at that point to do anything about it, anyway."

"Don't you want a report on the damage?"

"We can get that later. I'm sure the intelligence reports will be full of details from intercepted communications. The prime thing for you is to get out of the area as quickly as you can." David tapped the map. "You'll both head here, to Waldkirch. It's twenty kilometres across high forested slopes for you, Hans, and eighteen for you, Franz. From the map, the terrain appears rather easy to move through quickly. Three and a half or four hours to get across." He ran his finger along the best-looking routes.

"Study the terrain on the map, take your compass readings and make sketches. Near the western edge of Waldkirch is Gasthaus Zum Schwanen, a big golden yellow place, impossible to miss. Sit there, have lunch, nurse a beer until you meet."

David paused and stroked his beard. "I doubt there will be any searching that far away from the explosions, but assess the situation, then make your way down the valley to Freiburg and take the train to Basel and then onward to Bern, to the Embassy. Take a gasthaus room for the night along the way. Better in Basel than in Germany." He pulled an envelope from his pocket. "Here's twenty Marks and twenty Francs for each of you."

"And if Hans and I don't meet at the gasthaus?" Franz asked.

David straightened up from the map and run his fingers through his hair, then blew out a loud breath. "If by fifteen hundred you haven't met, continue on your own. The prime thing is to quickly move away from the sites and to blend in with the scene. We've practised this and you both do it well."