Lion, Tiger, Bear I 81 into her pants and smeared it on her face and hands. An Italian peeked under the blanket and made a face. Bea also hadnt had a bath in weeks, but few had. Ughhh. Leipuzza de morte? She stinks of death already. You can go, said the Italian sergeant. Praise be to Allah. Out of sight, Takuta lifted the blanket. You right, mum? Fine, just need a wipe. In the cave, Bea cleaned her hands and pants with hot sand. What a royal mess, everything I mean. At least we got a decent walk around the entire oasis, lay of the land and all that. We must leave here or we will be caught eventually, worried Gwafa. MerdeY Takuta paced. We cant do much here, mum, and those big tanks… Arent supposed to be here, but they are. Look gents, we absolutely have to get word to the Brits up north. Ill let you in on something. Every few weeks Im privy to a general security briefing back in Alex; Im a ruddy sneakthief, a spy, at least when Im not ferrying aircraft and doing odd jobs. ‘Ihose are the newTiger tanks, the sixty-ton buggers with 88 mm guns fresh from the Henschel Works in Kassel, and a metric ton is around the same for a British long ton, so dont get confused. The report stated the Germans wouldnt have them in the desert theater for another eight to ten months because of Russian front demand, but here they are, ready for action in a mostly ideal environment. Just those three big buggers alone could defend this swamp quite handily, they can reach out and touch someone in the worst way while quickly and safely maneuvering position to position. Ill bet none of our guns, especially the weak-kneed six-pounder antitank unit would punch much of a hole in ’em. No chance, mum. Weve been begging for bigger ones every day. Gwafa placed her pants in the hot sun so he could rub off the excrement when it dried. What did the Germans say in the square, madame? She scrubbed her panties harder while the men kept their backs to her for privacy. The officer asked about their mechanical readiness. But something struck me as strange, little tiddly things stick in my mind for odd reasons. As far as I remember, and Im no Panzer expert, gods no, the Tigers are supposed to have a single Maybach petrol engine like most. The bushy-tailed leutnant said they started up two. He also said something about its electric motors. That says to me its an electric hybrid-zwto