by David Nees
He let the lieutenant finish explaining. Knowing Joe, his own estimate matched Cameron’s. That son of a bitch. How was he going to play this out?
“What makes you think I’ll go along with Mason?” he asked when Cameron stopped.
“Frank seems to think you’ll agree,” Charlie said. His choice of phrasing was interesting. It looked like the policeman was going to play along and not expose him.
He raised his eyebrows. “I would only leave Hillsboro if I got a direct order from Colonel Stillman, or if I felt things were stable enough that our presence wasn’t needed.”
“It seems that you’re getting ready to make that call, sir,” Cameron said. “I get the impression that you feel things are under control here and that we can move on. I know you didn’t like getting left here.”
“What I like is irrelevant, Lieutenant,” Roper said. He looked harder at Cameron. “I do my duty, as I expect you to do yours.”
“But now you know what’ll be behind Mason’s request when he makes it. How does that fit into your assessment of the situation? Seems to me that planning to attack and murder civilians makes his leadership criminal in nature.”
“You’re getting ahead of yourself,” Roper said. “And why,” he said turning to Gibbs, “are you involved in these discussions? Your job is to keep the troops in line, to carry out orders. I don’t remember elevating you to strategic planning.”
“Sir, Sergeant Gibbs is here because I asked him to be. He can give us valuable information on our own readiness and strength in the event that we have to oppose the town’s authorities. Ultimately, if we decide they’re acting criminally, we have to take over.”
Roper ignored Cameron and focused on Gibbs. “Sergeant, you are dismissed. Please see to the platoon. Make sure everyone is inspection-ready. And while you’re at it, get me an inventory of our materiel and prepare a report on our battle readiness. That will be helpful while I discuss strategy with the Lieutenant here.”
Gibbs saluted and left the room.
“Sir, that wasn’t called for. Sergeant Gibbs has been invaluable throughout this deployment,” Cameron said.
“Do not question me, Lieutenant. Gibbs has a job to do. I sent him to do what you should have done immediately after hearing of this threat. I’m surprised you didn’t realize that. It seems as though you’ve become sloppy in carrying out your mission.”
Cameron stiffened but didn’t respond.
“Now you, young lady,” Roper said, turning to Catherine. “I don’t know what you’re doing here either, beyond the fact that you seem to have become a local hero. I’m afraid that doesn’t qualify you for sitting in on military strategy discussions. Even though Lieutenant Cameron seems to want to squire you around town, I have to ask you to wait outside. My officer and I have important matters to discuss. The Chief of Police can stay as a representative of local law enforcement. Since you don’t have any official title, I can’t include you in those discussions.”
The girl looked shocked, and her cheeks began to flush. She turned to Cameron. He looked back at her without saying anything.
“You don’t need the lieutenant’s permission,” Roper said evenly but with a hard note in his voice. “You just need to do what the senior officer in this military compound is telling you to do. I am the law here. You are not in your valley where you can make your own laws.”
Her face was now full of anger, but she clearly saw she had no options. She turned and left.
“So you’re going to take action on what we told you?” Charlie Cook asked when the door closed.
“No. I’m going to wait to have this conversation with Frank that you say is coming.”
Charlie shifted uncomfortably. “I’d appreciate it if you don’t let on about what you know. They’ll know it came from me.”
“Are you concerned about upsetting your comfortable arrangements?” Roper asked blandly.
“No more than others might be,” Charlie replied. He gave Roper a pointed look. Roper understood the threat implied. Fair enough, he thought.
He leaned comfortably back in his chair. “I’ll get back to everyone after Frank talks with me…if he does.”
“Sir,” Lieutenant Cameron said, in a voice that failed to conceal his anxiety. “He will talk with you. Probably pretty soon. I urge you to not give him an answer until we can discuss our options.”
Roper gave Cameron a reassuring smile. “I’ll play this by ear.” He let a trace of grim concern into his face, then looked at Cameron and said sharply, “You get with Gibbs. I want a full inventory of our situation. And I want it by end of day tomorrow.”
With that he dismissed the two of them.
He sat in his empty office, Joe, what the hell kind of mess are you creating?
Catherine met them outside the storefront. She looked as angry as Kevin had expected. “Thanks a lot,” she said to him. “You really stuck up for me in there. I felt like an idiot and you didn’t say a thing.”
Kevin grimaced. “I’m sorry, but there are certain protocols to follow. He’s my commanding officer. He didn’t need to be so insulting, but he was within his rights to decide who could attend the meeting.”
“So he can insult me and my fiancé stands there and lets him do it? Some fiancé you are.”
“Catherine—”
“Don’t talk to me.” She turned and stomped away. It looked like she was headed toward Gibbs’s office.
“She’ll come around,” Charlie Cook said behind him.
“Maybe. But maybe she’s right. We all know Roper’s on the take.”
“I’m glad you didn’t bring that out,” Charlie said. “I wasn’t sure what you were going to do.”
“I was following your lead.”
“We both played it right. We don’t want to expose him right now. It might force him to take some unexpected action, when what we really want him doing is working out how to wiggle out of this problem. My take is he really hadn’t heard about it yet. Let’s see if he can push back with Mason.”
“Yeah.” Cameron leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes. “Even though she got insulted, Catherine was right about coming here. We have to give Roper the chance to do the right thing. You don’t think he’ll out you to Mason, do you?”
“Maybe, but if he thinks none of you know about him, he might not, since I could blow his cover with you. And he’ll think he’s got some leverage on me in the meantime.”
“We’re playing a game of chicken here.”
“Yes we are.”
They headed off to find Gibbs and a still-fuming Catherine.
The next day Catherine rode back to the valley with Kevin and Tommy Wilkes, who sat in the back. Gibbs had stayed to complete the task Roper had given him. Captain Roper had quickly approved the trip. “I don’t want that girl around the compound. She’s not part of our decision-making.” He gave Cameron a stern look. “Diesel is a scarce commodity, so make sure she stays back in the valley. I don’t want you ferrying her around anymore.”
They spent the drive in a cold silence. Kevin tried numerous times to engage Catherine but she ignored him. Not only was she mad, she did not relish arguing with her husband-to-be in front of Tommy Wilkes. She could feel Kevin’s discomfort in the silence between them which had an almost a physical presence, a barrier separating them. Catherine sat calmly, yet sadly, enveloped in the silence as they drove along the winding county roads.
When they arrived at the farm, instead of going directly up to the house, Kevin pulled her aside. “Catherine, are we okay?” he asked “I love you and will always defend you, but I was in a difficult spot. I think Roper put me there on purpose, not only to embarrass you, but to make me look bad. He knows about our relationship.”
Catherine looked at him. This was their first fight. It both shocked and saddened her. Just before the wedding, she figured things would be all sweetness and honey, no discord. Yet here it was. Her eyes began to fill with tears.
“Are we still goi
ng to get married?” Kevin asked again, plaintively.
She blinked back the tears beginning to form, not liking how they gave her away. Finally she allowed a slight smile and said, “Yes. I’m mad at you now and I’m not sure anything you say right now will help. But I’ll get over it, and I still want to marry you.”
A smile broke out on Kevin’s face. He reached out and hugged her tight as she held back from crying openly.
Lieutenant Cameron was barely an hour on his way to deliver his fiancée back home when Frank Mason came to visit Captain Roper. Roper welcomed the politician with an enthusiastic handshake and offered him a cup of some precious but vile-tasting coffee. He watched Frank carefully during the usual pleasantries. It didn’t take Frank long to come to the point.
“Larry, don’t you think it’s time for you to move out? I’m sure your men could be better utilized somewhere else.”
Always the slick one, thought Roper.
“I haven’t been given any orders to move yet,” he replied, feigning a note of surprise.
Frank looked at him pleasantly. “I know,” he said deliberately, glancing back at the closed door, “but there’s not much more payoff we can send your way. I’m thinking you need to find new fields to plow.”
Roper smiled and spread his hands. “I still provide you guys cover. My weekly reports to Colonel Stillman keep him happy. He thinks he has a thriving community back here, fully under control with everything going well. You still want that kind of report to go in, don’t you?”
Frank’s tone became a little sharper. “I’m thinking we’re past needing any kind of report being sent in. We’re self-sufficient and under control. I’m thinking if Stillman knew that, you could get reassigned. Somewhere you could do some good.”
“Somewhere I could do some good? Why, Frank. I think you just want to eliminate my share.”
“That’s the problem. There isn’t much of a share of anything left. There’s no more gold or jewels, that’s all been picked over. We’re now just stocking weapons, ammunition, food and fuel…plus rebuilding our infrastructure. Not much loot for you in that.”
“Not much for you either. What’re you going to do?”
Frank had a thoughtful look on his face. “I’m in it for the long run,” he said. “Stansky’s not too smooth, he’s a gangster after all, but he’s a big reason Hillsboro hasn’t come apart…a big reason why we’re not starving—”
“A big reason why you’ve gotten wealthy.”
“Maybe so, but it’s more than that. In spite of having to act harshly sometimes, we’re doing some good. And Hillsboro is able to protect itself and have a say about its future by being strong and organized.”
Roper laughed. “Don’t give me that horseshit. Save it for the civilians. I know you, it’s all about power, power and wealth. You and Stansky are two of a kind. He’s just willing to break the law. You only want to bend it.”
Frank actually seemed to look insulted. “I don’t expect you to see it from my perspective, but this is my home. I’ve spent my career here.”
“So has Stansky. That doesn’t make either of you upstanding citizens.”
Frank just shook his head. “So what do you believe in? What inspires you? Your future isn’t here in Hillsboro. Where do you want to end up?”
Roper just stared back at Frank, his smile fading.
Frank continued. “How do you see this playing out? This situation, what’s going on all over the country? At least I’m home and want to make the best of that. Where do you wind up?”
“Where I wind up is my business.” Roper said. He glanced out the window, taking in the parking lot where they were encamped, the empty stores and deserted roads. It was a dismal place.
“Well, the game seems to have run its course here. At least for you.”
“You telling me to leave?” Roper turned back to Frank.
“I’m not telling you to do anything. But I am telling you that Joe thinks it’s time we were on our own. He’s not interested in prolonging the situation. Now, before you get all worked up, he’s paid you well for your help, but it’s not needed any more. Time for you to get a new game going.”
“And if I decide to wait? You know I can’t just move around on my own.”
“You have to convince Stillman, we know that. But that shouldn’t be hard. I hope you’ll make that happen and we all can move on.”
“And if it doesn’t happen?”
Frank shook his head. He glanced down at the floor and then back at Roper. “You know I can’t fully control Joe. You know how much firepower he has. You have a delicate position here. I wouldn’t push it. Take what you got and get going, that’s my advice.”
“Stillman would not be happy to hear his officer being threatened.”
“Stillman would also wonder why he’d been receiving such glowing reports if things were going to shit here.” Frank let that sink in. “You see, your reports put you in a bit of a corner. The best way out is to move along, put Hillsboro behind you. Whatever happens after you leave can’t be pinned to you. Think about that.” He stood up. “I’ll come by tomorrow to see what you’ve decided. I know you’ll do the smart thing…you always have.”
After Frank left, Roper sat behind his desk, thinking. He felt trapped. If there weren’t a clear threat to civilians, he’d load up the platoon and move out. He knew there was little else to milk from Stansky and Mason.
He thought about what he wanted to do. The army had been his career. Before the EMP attack he had been getting close to becoming a major. All that had been put on hold as the army scrambled to get itself under control and then begin to pacify the countryside.
A good job in Hillsboro could lock up that promotion. But to what end? Was the army going to be a solid career again? In the old days he had envisioned going on from major to lieutenant colonel. If he had topped out there, he could have easily retired. He would have had enough years at that point for a full pension, and he could have gotten a lucrative job consulting with the government or military—essentially getting re-hired to do what he had done as a colonel.
None of that seemed so sure now. If the country didn’t recover soon, it could split up. The reports were that China was on the West Coast. Mexico had taken control over much of the Southwest. Some cities had fallen under the brutal control of some of the larger gangs. New York City was a war zone. St. Louis was controlled by a gang. New Orleans was in the middle of a gang war. Chicago was a mess. No, the real possibility was that the United States as he knew it, as everyone knew it, was over…at least for some time. There’d be no lucrative, easy retirement for now…if ever. The army itself was in danger. It was structured for emergencies and its organization had saved it, but it couldn’t keep functioning forever without an economy supporting it. There was a real possibility of the military coming apart.
Hell, even the gold and gems he had amassed could turn out to be as meaningless an investment as paper money and U.S. bonds, if the infrastructure and economy didn’t recover. Going to Panama or somewhere else south of the border might be the only sensible thing to do. There was nothing really holding him here.
But attacking civilians…that was a problem. Was it too late to stop Stansky? Maybe get him to back off, work out some compromise with the valley? It didn’t take a genius to see Hillsboro was doing well compared to other small cities. Maybe it was run by a gangster, but he had improved safety and living conditions. Could he, Mason and Cook convince Joe to make some kind of peace with the valley? At least so he could depart cleanly?
But there was Leo. Leo was a killer. Not as smart as Joe, but even more deadly. Leo would relish the use of force; he wouldn’t be advising compromise.
Still, should he give it a try? What was in it for him, a clear conscience?
Damn it. He smiled at the harsh irony of it all. If he hadn’t known about the attack, his decision would have been easier. But he did know, and now he had to figure out what that meant to him.
The E
nd
Author’s Note:
This is Part 1 of the two-part story, Catherine’s Tale. I hope you enjoyed it. In Part 2, which completes this sequel, Captain Roper’s fateful decision will set in motion a series of dangerous events that challenge Catherine’s abilities as a warrior. Look for Part 2 to be published on Amazon in June, 2017. If you like this story in the After the Fall series, please write a review on Amazon; they are very helpful. Thank you for reading the sequel.
