Ghosts of the Past Read Online Free

fogging up and they were caked in blood that had splattered from the serious damage inflicted on the right side of his body.
    He had taken two rounds. One had sliced through the bottom of the right thigh, exited above his knee and lodged in the instrument panel. The second entered at the right shoulder blade and stayed at home. On top of that were the multitude of Plexiglas shards from the exploding cockpit that had embedded themselves from the right elbow, up the shoulder, into the neck and side of his face.
    The loss of blood was starting to take its toll, along with the limited oxygen and the icy cold air that was rushing through the gaping hole in the cockpit. Ironically, the freezing temperature had done a very good job of cauterizing the wounds and slowing the blood flow.
    “It’s a beautiful night out Charlie. Stay alert and don’t you nod off on me. We’re both gonna make it back, do ya hear me?” Miller yelled into his microphone with his unmistakable, south Alabama drawl.
    “If it wasn’t for the wind whistling through my ears and all the holes in my body, I’d hear you loud and clear.” Hathaway could still make out the picture of his wife and three month old son taped to the inside of the front windscreen. “But I copy. Just keep me straight and true.”
     
    Hignite was also having a hard time enjoying the brilliant scenery unfolding beneath them. His concern was that it was so clear out. He was flying an unarmed transport in hostile skies that belonged to the allies, and there wasn’t a lick of cover if he was spotted. The movement of Gernert’s head as it searched up and down the sky through his window belied his nervousness too. They had been in the air about ten minutes and were about ready to cross the Swiss border, where they both, without acknowledging it, knew they could probably afford to relax slightly and enjoy the flight. There had been little conversation between the two other than confirmation of instrument data and heading.
    “Do you have anybody back home that’s going to miss you?” Hignite broke the tense silence. “Any family or loved ones I mean.”
    “My parents are dead, they were both killed in a raid on Augsberg, and my brother has been a P.O.W. for over a year. Not to mention, you would have to be crazy to try to marry a girl in the middle of a war. Hell, that’s if I could find one,” sighed Gernert.
    “I’m sorry about your parents. But since we’re about to go missing in action, it’s a good thing nobody’s going to lose any sleep over us.”
    “That sounds like you’re without family as well.” Gernert inquired.
    “My family wised up and got out of Germany in ’39. They immigrated to America shortly thereafter. How’s that for coincidences. I’m fighting against the very country my parents now call home.”
    “Do they know you’re alive?”
    “As of November of ’44. That was the last time I got mail out. We were… uh oh we’ve got company, four o’clock low.”
    As Gernert leaned over and stretched his neck to look out the right-hand window, the silhouettes of two American-made P-51 Mustangs against the snow-covered mountains were clearly visible roughly 500 feet below. They had just come through an adjoining pass and they were flying into the oncoming valley at a forty-five degree angle toward the Ju-52.
     
    The faint reflection of the aircraft caught Miller’s eye almost immediately as it emerged from the adjacent valley. He had not had an opportunity to engage one, but he was quite familiar with the three engine outline of the German Ju-52 Junkers aircraft. This was very much an unwelcome surprise. Nevertheless, it presented a sitting duck at exactly the moment that revenge was in Miller’s heart.
    “Damn Charlie, we got a bogie at two o’clock high. Looks like a Junker out for a midnight spin.” Miller yelled into the radio, scanning the sky all around the enemy intruder. Doesn’t look like he has company either.”
    “Do what you have