"How?" inquired Kreen.

    "With false papers. Like the ones we've been making, just a different kind," said Jaap. "I think I can get my hands on documents from a German construction company. I'll copy their letterhead and print it on blank paper so it looks very official, but then I'll write a letter on it saying that the company has hired us to bring workers to their job site in France. Then we use the letter to apply for an official travel permit." 

Final Touches

    The next night, Jaap met his father at the print shop. They waited until the other pressmen had gone home and then set to work etching a plate made from the original Nazi form. Then they ran off several copies on a small press. Jaap took them home and added the bold red stripes by hand using a straight edge. The final touch was the eagle and swastika stamp.

    Jaap heard a noise outside his door. He threw a blanket over his set-up, and held perfectly still.

The Journey

    "Halt!" shouted a German Security policeman. He motioned for Jaap to come toward him. The group stopped in their tracks.

    "Papers, please," he said in German. Jaap produced his ID card, travel permit, and the all-important permit for transporting labor groups. The German studied them. "You're the first leader of this type that I've seen here. They are so hard up for men in France?"

    "I think so, sir," said Jaap confidently. "They are adding on more and more as the project grows."

    "Very well," he said, handing Jaap's papers back to him. "I suppose I'll be seeing more of you here, then."

    "Get on the floor!" shouted Jaap. "Away from the windows!" he crawled out the door and yelled down the corridor, "Everybody down!"

    Another line of the plane's machine-gun fire hammered down the train. Suddenly, the train jolted violently.

    "We've been hit!" cried Sam.

    "I don't think so," said Jaap. "The Germans are firing back. They have anti-aircraft guns mounted on flatbed cars."

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