“’Cause he’s got a dick like a donkey,” Emil said. “He was into porno flicks for a couple of years. You could use that thing of his for a flagpole; I’m telling you.” Emil started smiling and humming and snapping his fingers.
The others waited in silence. They knew that when Emil started behaving like this, an idea was forming in his head.
Either that, or he’d gotten off into the mushrooms again.
“I wonder if the other guys with him are all hung like Stanley?” Emil asked.
“According to Sister Linda they sure are,” Brother Carl said.
“You mean, some of my flock have already begun to betray me?” Emil said.
“They been slippin’ crost the Boeuf River for more than a week, now,” Brother Roger said. “We was afraid to tell you, Brother Emil.”
“Echoes of Gethsemane!” Emil moaned. “The Judas bitches have shown their true colors.”
“Naw,” Brother Matthew said. “They’re just lookin’ for a better screw, is all.”
“Cretin!” Emil glared at him. “Never mind. I have a plan. I’ll be gone for a few days. I’ll be in Monroe, looking for . . . something. I might have to go as far as Shreveport to find it. I don’t know. You’ll come with me, Brother Carl.”
“What are we looking for, Brother Emil?”
Emil smiled. “That will be my secret for a time.”
“Are you going to find a miracle, Brother Emil?” Brother Roger asked.
“I better,” Emil said grimly.
“Our people are being forced to fall back,” Khamsin was informed. “The Rebels have booby-trapped nearly everything that can be wired to explode. Our hospitals are rapidly filling up with the wounded and maimed.”
“How are you getting them across the river?”
“We’re not. That would take too long. We’re setting up field hospitals south of Interstate Twenty.”
“Have the Rebels tried to storm the hospitals?”
“No, sir. They have not. They are not known for doing that.”
“How noble of them,” Khamsin said bitterly. He turned in his chair to gaze out the window. The bitterness in his soul had manifested itself in his mouth. His tongue held the taste of copper.
“Disgusting!” Khamsin said. “We have conquered half the known world, and are halted in our tracks by a band of rag-tag Americans. Disgusting!” he repeated.
Khamsin knew perfectly well that his forces outnumbered the Rebels by at least twenty-five to one; yet his forces, since the start of the invasion, had known only defeat. It was humiliating and appalling. Khamsin had conquered almost the whole of South Carolina with ease. Then Ben Raines and his Rebels had stepped into the picture, and that ease had turned to agony.
And what was worse, Khamsin did not know how to stop the tide of defeat. Little two-bit units of Rebels were stopping his superior and most elite forces at every crossroads. Out-gunned and out-manned, the Rebels were drawing blood at every encounter, and then the shadowy bastards just seemed to melt into the landscape. And woe be unto any who attempted to follow the Rebels. For almost every time that happened, those who followed were never seen again.
Hamid wanted to say to Khamsin: We have the state of South Carolina. Let’s be content with it. Live here and grow stronger before we try General Raines.
But Hamid did not say that. He kept his mouth shut. The Hot Wind gave the final orders. Hamid carried them out.
Khamsin sighed heavily and turned in his chair. “Reinforce my orders, Hamid. No advance. And . . .” Once more he sighed, the unspoken words sour on his tongue. “Order all units to pull back south of Interstate Twenty. And tell them to be careful in doing so. Touch nothing; it might blow up. Do not, do not engage the enemy unless a confrontation is forced upon them. We’re going to have to rethink our plans.”
“Yes, sir.” Hamid quietly left the room, leaving Khamsin alone with his bitter thoughts.
Hamid silently cursed the day the IPA landed on these hostile shores.
“Good jumpin’ Christ!” Ike said, looking through binoculars, eastward across the Kansas Turnpike. “I don’t believe what I’m seein’. But there it is. Whatever the hell ‘it’ is.”
He lowered his binoculars and laughed.
Ben lifted his binoculars, looked, blinked, lowered the field glasses and rubbed his eyes. He lifted the glasses to his eyes and looked again. “That’s got to be Big Louie.”
Tina lifted her field glasses and took a look. She quickly lowered the binoculars and turned away, giggling.
Dan peered through his lenses and said, “My word! It looks like a purple blob. General, do you see anyone that you recognize?”
“Not a soul. If this Ashley person is there, I sure don’t know him, or remember him.”
“You don’t suppose they are one and the same?” Ike questioned. “Big Louie and Ashley?”
“I certainly would never forget a sight like that,” Ben said.
“One wouldn’t think so,” Dan muttered, then he too turned away to hide his laughter.
“Oh, yoo-hoo!” Louie called, standing across the four lanes of concrete. He was resplendent in his purple robe and white patent-leather pumps.
“I want to hear Dad say, ‘Yoo-hoo,’” Tina said.
The entire line of Rebels closest to Ben all began laughing.
Buddy turned away so the general would not see him laughing.
“Very funny,” Ben said, eyeballing his kids and his field commanders, all of whom were either laughing or red faced trying to suppress laughter.
“I say, general,” Dan said. “I have this lovely pink sash I was saving to give to a lady back at Base Camp One. But considering the gravity of this momentous meeting, I could loan it to you. You’d look perfectly precious with it tied about your waist.”
That did it. Everyone started laughing.
Ben took the ribbing with a smile on his face. When the laughter had subsided, he asked, “What do you hear from the Scouts, Ike?”
“Nothing, Ben. They’ve been searching the other side through long lenses since dawn. If anyone’s over there, they’re well hidden.”
“I say!” Big Louie called, waving a hand. “Are you there, Supreme Commander Raines?”
“Yes!” Ben shouted. “Right here . . . Louie.”
“Is the terrain firm?” Louie called. “If not, I’ll have some of my bearers carry me across for the meeting.”
Ben sighed. “Just think,” he said. “All I ever wanted was to write books.”
“Do you want me to have some Rebels tote you across, Ben?” Ike asked.
“Ike!”
“Just a suggestion, supreme commander.”
“Jesus,” Ben muttered. “I don’t believe you’ll have to utilize bearers, Louie!” Ben shouted. “The sun has dried the ground fairly well.”
“Oh, good!” Louie shrieked. “Shall we begin our trek toward an everlasting place in history, general?”
“By all means, Louie. Here I come.”
“What for me! Wait for me! One, two, three, go!” Louie stepped out on the concrete.
One man was with him, his entourage left behind.
“Come on, boy,” Ben said to Buddy. “Let’s assure your place in history, too.”
“Yes, sir.”
Father and son began the walk across the lanes of hot concrete. Big Louie was carefully mincing his way toward them.
“Has it occurred to you, Father, that this might be some sort of setup?”
“It has occurred to me, boy.”
“We’re certainly going to be wide open out here.”
“That we are. Any suggestions?”
“If shooting starts, head for the low place in the area between the lanes.”
“The median.”
“Sir?”
Ben thought hard for a few seconds. Buddy was probably about six or seven when the Great War came. He had probably never heard the term “median” before. “It’s called the median.”
“Oh. I knew tha
t, of course, from reading highway signs. But why is it called that?”
“Because median means middle.”
“I see. Well, if shooting starts, we head for the median. That will give us the best protection from gunfire coming from the east.”
“Good thinking.” Ben smiled.
“Thank you, sir. Although I would imagine that had already occurred to you.”
Buddy noted Ben’s smile.
Louie had stopped on the shoulder of the northbound lane.
“Why is he stopping there?” Buddy whispered.
“So he can command the higher ground,” his father told him. “That way, he can look down at us.”
“Ah! He really believes himself to be a king, doesn’t he?”
“It would appear that way. But that’s good, Buddy. Let him have the high ground. He presents the better target. If it is a setup, he just might take lead intended for us.”
“Unless we are all the intended targets,” Buddy said.
And that was something that Ben had not thought of. He glanced at his son. “Why would you say that, boy? And slow down; give us a few more seconds to reach him.”
“Well, the man is obviously a fool. Perhaps the real power behind the throne is weary of him. And this way he, or she, we really don’t know, do we, could not only get rid of Louie, but the immediate enemy as well. And that’s you, Father.”
“Very good, Buddy. Excellent. Head’s up, son.”
“Yes, sir.”
“My dear General Raines!” Louie gushed. “At last, two of the world’s great leaders come together to forge our places in the still-to-be-written history of this devastated land.”
“Louie,” Ben said.
“And who is this handsome lad with you, General Raines?”
“My son, Buddy.”
“Oh my, you are a magnificent specimen, aren’t you?” Louie eyeballed Buddy.
“A good enough specimen to have killed four of your followers north of here,” Buddy said.
“Oh?” Louie’s voice softened. “Don’t you feel that was a bit overly dramatic . . . putting two of their heads up on poles?”
Ben looked at his son. Buddy hadn’t told him about this.
“It got your attention, didn’t it?”
“Yes, it did, Master Buddy. Oh, my, yes, indeed.”
“I thought it might. But you came to speak to my father, not to me.”
“Yes. Thank you for reminding me, young man.”
“What’s on your mind, Louie?” Ben opened the dance.
“A man of few words, eh, general? Very well. You and I joining forces. That’s it as succinctly as I can put it.”
“I don’t think our philosophies will work well together, Louie. I don’t believe in slavery — among other things.”
Louie waved his hand. “Very minor details that can be worked out at a later date, my dear General Raines. The important thing is that we cease this little war between us, before it gets completely out of hand. Don’t you agree, sir?”
“That’s easily accomplished, Louie. You just disband your army and turn loose the slaves and the women and kids and old people you’ve taken for hostages, and then we’ll talk.”
“Oh, my! Has Ashley been a naughty boy again? I wish he would consult me before he goes off on these little tears of his.”
Ben’s eyes caught the glint of sunlight off of metal or glass. In the tall grass on the side of that overpass. Might be a sniper up there, he thought.
“So you didn’t know that Ashley did that, Louie?”
Ben shifted as he spoke, with Buddy following his motion. Now Louie was almost directly between Ben and Buddy and the overpass.
Louie sniffed daintily. “I never become involved in such mundane matters.”
“Oh, I see,” Ben replied. “You’re that sure of Ashley, are you?”
“I’m sure of this: Ashley hates you and has for years. Why, would you believe that he wanted you killed during this meeting?”
“What a naughty, naughty boy!” Ben said.
Buddy looked at him, oddly.
“What does he hate me, Louie?”
“Oh . . . I don’t know! Some silly little schoolboy matter of eons ago.” He waved his hand. “Forget about Ashley. You’re talking to me.”
“Sorry, Louie. But I like to be liked by everybody.”
This time, Buddy’s look was not just odd as he glanced at his father. It was downright astonished!
Ben looked at him and winked.
“Well, what about it, Louie?” Ben said.
Louie’s lips grew pouty. “Ultimatums, general? That’s not a very nice way to begin a relationship.”
“Sorry, but that’s the way it is. Take it or leave it.”
Louie stamped his pump-clad foot. “You’re just not being a very nice man!”
“That’s the breaks, king.”
Louie began jumping up and down in the middle of the highway, waving his arms and shrieking to high heaven. His actions startled the man with him.
The sound of the rifle booming reached them just as the slug tore through Louie, exploding the heart.
The man with Louie turned in panic, stepping to one side, that movement putting him directly in front of Ben.
The rifle cracked again. The slug hit the man’s battle harness. More rifles boomed and spat just as Ben and Buddy hit the earth of the median.
“Smoke!” Ike shouted, his voice reaching Ben and Buddy. “Give them cover smoke.”
An explosion momentarily deafened Ben and Buddy, just as the man who had been with Louie seemed to disintegrate before their eyes.
Then something smacked Ben on the back of his head, dropping him into darkness.
SEVEN
The IPA has stopped all forward movement,” Colonel Williams radioed to Cecil. “At least from this side.”
“That’s what my scouts have reported, too,” Cecil radioed back. “What do you make of it?”
In Khamsin’s communications complex, his radio people were struggling to understand the messages, but they were unable to unscramble the transmissions.
Finally, one of them threw his headset to the table. “It’s no use,” he said. “We can’t unscramble it.”
“General,” Joe radioed. “My guess is that we’re fighting the type of war this Hot Wind can’t fathom. And that’s surprising to me, since he was a noted terrorist back in the ’80s. I just don’t know what to make of it.”
He’s unsure of himself, Joe. He thought that he could come in here and just walk all over us. But that uncertainty won’t last long. Khamsin may well be the world’s biggest asshole, but he’s no dummy. So we’ve got to keep him off balance.”
“How, sir?”
“By doing what is not expected of us and by keeping up those tactics. Joe, start sending out false transmissions by walkie-talkie between your units about us planning a major invasion into South Carolina. His listening posts on the other side of the river will pick up those walkie-talkies. We’re going to start infiltrating troops into South Carolina between Augusta and Savannah, and also through the mountain passes of the Sumter National Forest. Got it?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I’ll radio back to Base Camp One and have all the spotter planes we can put up into the air flying all over the place. We’ll start sending ground troops into the areas by day, and moving them back out at night. Lots of rattling and banging tanks and APCs and trucks during the move-in. No noise coming back out at night. Got it?”
Joe laughed. “I got it, general. If we can pull this off, we’ll have that son of a bitch running up and down the state until his tongue hangs out.”
“That’s the idea, Joe. Good luck to you.”
“Luck to you, sir.”
Cecil turned to the operator. “Any word from General Raines?”
“Nothing, sir. I think we’re being jammed from the west. What do you reckon is going on out there?”
“I wish I knew. I really wish I knew.”
Ben opened his eyes and blinked a couple of times. His vision cleared and he could see a group of people gathered around him.
Ike grinned down at him. “Good thing your head is so hard, Ben.”
Groaning, Ben tried to sit up. Hands pushed him back down. “You just keep your ass right where it is, Raines,” Dr. Chase told him. “You took a pretty good lick on the noggin; so just lie still for a time.”
“What happened?” Ben asked. Jesus! but his head hurt.
“Near as we can figure,” Ike said, “that guy wearing the battle harness took a slug into his ammo belt. Slug must have hit a grenade. It exploded his ammo and all the grenades around him. Literally blew him apart. Piece of shrapnel conked you on the noggin.”
“Big Louie?”
“Dead. Must have been a setup all the way.”
“That poor sad foolish man,” Ben said. “He was crazy.”
“Yeah. Well, his troubles are over now,” Dr. Chase said.
Ike said, “I ordered our people in and to hit them hard.”
“The civilian hostages?” Ben asked.
Ike’s eyes clouded briefly. “They’re gonna take some hard hits, Ben.”
“One of us had to make that decision. Where’s Buddy?”
“He’s all right, Dad,” Tina said. “He took some shrapnel in his back, but his wounds are minor. Judy is taking care of him.”
“Yeah,” Ben said, smiling. “I just bet she is. We have any word from Cecil as yet?”
“Not a peep, Ben,” Ike told him. “I think Khamsin’s western people have found our frequencies and are blocking them. Not much we can do about that.”
“Let’s clean it up here and then get the hell moving east. That goddamned Ashley wanted a fight. All right. Give it to him.”
“Yes, sir!” Ike said.
Lines of profanity rolled through Ashley’s brain, coming so hard and fast his tongue would not have handled them had he attempted to verbalize the filth.
And it was all directed at Ben Raines.
Ashley’s field commanders, all of them, even the top soldier, Colonel West, reported that the squeeze was on from Raines’s Rebels. And they were squeezing hard.
Ashley could not understand how the Rebels seemed to know the exact location of everyone of his companies.
Smoke from the Ashes Page 15
