Valor in the Ashes

by William W. Johnstone

  “No, sir, it isn’t. The prisoners that Cecil rescued . . . how are they?”

  “Still in mild shock. Some are coming around. But very slowly. Doctor Chase tells me that his shrinks say many of these people will never be able to function in any sort of normal fashion.”

  “So they are going to be wards of the Rebels.” Not posed as a question.

  “Do we have a choice, son?”

  “No. What they have become was not their fault. But hundreds of them, Father?”

  “I know, boy. We’ve already sent many of the rescued back to Base Camp One. They can do menial work while being treated. As we rescue the others, depending upon their mental state at the time, and after treatment, we can send them to the various outposts and hope they fit in. It’s a moral responsibility, son. If they were hard-core, vicious criminals, solving the problem would be easy; but these people are innocents, and we are all they have.”

  “It’s always going to be up to us, isn’t it, Father?”

  “For a long time, son. I’ll someday have to hand the reins over to you and Tina.” He smiled at the young man. “But don’t start making plans just yet. I’m a long way from being over-the-hill.” He leaned back in his chair. “I want the doctors up here to check you out. Doctor Allardt, for one. You may have made goo-goo eyes at some of those female doctors back at camp and conned them into releasing you too early.”

  “Goo-goo eyes, Father?”

  “After I get a second opinion, and if you are truly one hundred percent, I’ve got a mission for you and your people. I’ll send you down to Staten Island in the morning; that’s where Chase’s main hospital is located — has been relocated. You’ll have to cross over and go down through New Jersey. Since we pulled out of Brooklyn, that area is no longer deemed secure. We’ll see what tomorrow’s reports state.”

  “What’s the matter, Father?” the son asked, with a twinkle in his eyes. “Don’t you trust me?”

  Ben chuckled. “From one Raines to another, boy, in a word: No!”

  With thirty hours to go until Monte’s forces would be in position to attack the airport, Chase called Ben.

  “The young man is one hundred percent, Ben. I’ve marked him fit to return to active duty.”

  “Thank you, Lamar.”

  “Don’t thank me. Just get him out of here. He’s causing all my nurses to get all girlish. I’ve never seen such swishing and eye-batting and giggling. Jesus Christ, Ben — I want this place to get back to normal.”

  “And speaking of that place, Lamar . . .”

  “I know, I know. Ben, do you think there’s a chance you’ll be cut off and trapped?”

  “Yes” Ben said quickly. “I believe that Ike, Cecil, West and my battalion will be cut off over here in Manhattan — at least for a time. Striganov, Rebet, Danjou, Tina, and Buddy will have to contain Monte and his people and keep them off the island while we deal with the Night People. And speaking of islands, you’ve got to get off Staten Island. Once Teterboro is overwhelmed, and it will be — I’m not going to lose personnel defending it for very long — we’re going to have so many fronts it’ll look like a wino’s nightmare. You’re going to have to split your people up. I’ve got to have a field hospital up here, one in lower Manhattan, and one to take the people from over in New Jersey. Get cracking on it, Lamar.”

  “All right. Where do you want me, Ben?”

  “Your choice, old friend.”

  “I’ll command the MASH up where you are, Ben. Holly and her people can stay in Lower Manhattan. Doctor Ling can command the MASH over in New Jersey.”

  “The last load of supplies will be coming into Teterboro this afternoon. After that, it’s going to be up to the trucks until we can set up a safe LZ, and that might be a long time coming. So get your old butt up here, Chase. Unless you want me to send a wheelchair down for you.”

  With that, the conversation became so blue that Beth took off her headphones.

  “Don’t ever sell Raines short,” the man who called himself the Colonel told Monte. “I’ve known the arrogant jerk for years. He’s always planning and scheming and thinking. He’ll have an ace up his sleeve. Bet on that.”

  “I’ve got him outmanned,” Monte brushed the warning aside.

  “But he’s got us outgunned. Don’t ever forget that. Look, Raines stole enough equipment after the Great War to supply ten armies ten times the size of his. Khamsin couldn’t defeat him, and look at the people that nut has in his army. Take a lesson from history, Monte. Brute force alone won’t defeat Ben Raines.”

  “I suppose you have a plan?”

  “The oldest plan in the world: divide and conquer.”

  “Spell it out.”

  “Look, Monte. The Night People have been playing you for the fool.” He held up a hand. “Now, just calm down and listen. You’re doing all the work, and you’re not getting anything for it except some pussy — and you could have that anyway. Hell, man, you could be King of New York City. There are dozens of two-bit warlords out in the boondocks who would fall all over themselves to do for you what you’ve been doing for the Night People. Think about it.”

  Monte was smart like a fox, in a cunning fashion. He was dumb as an ox when it came to common sense. “All right. Tell me about this divide and conquer thing.”

  “I told you that Raines is not a fool. Now, we know he’s got a few hundred people at the airport. He wants us to believe that’s all he’s got around there. That’s a bunch of crap, Monte. All of a sudden that bunch of Canadians and Russians behind us just disappeared. Well, I can tell you one thing: they didn’t turn around and go home. Raines is pulling something — like sucking us into a trap.”

  “Get to divide and conquer!”

  “We know Raines and Ike and the nigger are in the city. We also know that the Night People are all around them: in Brooklyn, up in Bronx County, under the city. We cut them off from their forces over in New Jersey. Let the Night People and Raines have at each other while we handle those around the airport. All we have to do is come up under the airport — not attack it head-on, like they’re probably planning on us doing.”

  “What the hell’s the difference whether we attack it from the top or the bottom?”

  “No, no! We don’t attack it first-off. All we have to do is blow just one bridge. The George Washington Bridge. And Raines and his people are trapped. They can’t go north. They can’t go south. They can’t go east or west. They can’t use the tunnels. They’ll be trapped in the city. Once that’s done, we can take our time in dealing with those in New Jersey.”

  “I got some boys that was divers, and they’re good with explosives. I could go on and send them over east now. Tell them to grab a boat and come down the Hudson at night. Plant their charges on a section and get the hell gone. Yeah, Might work at that. Good, Colonel whatever-your-name-is.”

  “Lance Ashley Lantier, Monte. Originally from Louisiana. And I have hated that goddamned Ben Raines for years!”

  “Katzman, General,” Beth told Ben. “He’s just received word from Rebet that Monte has cut west, angling away from the airport. He’s requesting orders.”

  Ben stood up from his desk and faced a wall map, trying to understand why Monte would do such a thing. He could not see what could possibly be gained by such a move. “Ask Rebet if he’ll send a scouting party out to keep an eye on them. Monte is pulling something cute, but damned if I know what it is. Monte’s entire force cut west?”

  Beth spoke to Katzman, listened, then nodded her head. “Yes, sir. His entire army. Rebet will send scouts out and keep us informed. He’ll hold his present position.”

  Ben walked to a window and looked out. His people had pushed down to within a couple of blocks of the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center and were holding, spreading out east and west, securing and blocking off streets and alleys, preparing for a major battle that now appeared would not come.

  Or was it coming? Perhaps in a different form and fashion? And that mysterious person
traveling with Monte, that person who called himself the Colonel — who was he? And did he have anything to do with this latest move?

  “Tell Tina to take the alert down a level, Beth. No point in the troops staying all tensed up for nothing.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “And get in touch with General Striganov. Ask him if he’ll bring his battalion on into the city and join me.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Ben once more walked to the map and studied it for a moment. When Beth had finished her transmissions, he said, “Double the boat patrols under and around the George Washington Bridge. Monte’s cutting west just might be a ruse; he could be sending people up or down the Hudson to cripple the bridge.”

  Jersey sat in a chair across the room, her M-16 across her knees. Cooper was in the hall, flirting with a pretty Rebel from Ike’s battalion.

  Snowing in the city. Big wet flakes of snow; already the streets were slushy. Ben returned to his desk and picked up the clipboard containing the supply reports. He studied it again, checking off each item in his mind, trying to think of something he might have missed. He could find nothing. Restless, he tossed the clipboard to the desk and rose to his boots, picking up his Thompson.

  “Come on, gang. Let’s go play in the snow.”

  Outside, only an occasional shot could be heard, muffled by the growing blanket of white that was covering the city’s streets. Ben leaned against what used to be, and what was left of, a magazine vendor’s hut.

  What the hell was Monte up to? It had to be the bridge; that was the only thing that made any sense.

  He looked at Beth. “Tell Katzman to bump Buddy. Tell Buddy to shadow Monte’s force. The boy is one of the best headhunters I’ve ever seen. Tell him to start some terror tactics, get in close and take out any stragglers. I want Monte’s people to know they’re not jacking around with the faint-of-heart.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Dan rode up in a Jeep and got out. “Something’s in the wind, General. The creepies have seemingly vanished. I think a major offensive is not far off.”

  “I get the same feeling, Dan. What have we failed to do? Can you think of anything at all?”

  “Nothing, and I was going over my supply requisitions this morning. As near as I can tell, we’re set for a long campaign.”

  “We better be. I think it’s inevitable that we’ll lose the bridge. And it’s going to come at us all at once. The crawlers will hit us from all sides just as hard as they possibly can. By the way, I asked Georgi to come on over and join us, and I’ve ordered Buddy to go head-hunting against Monte’s people.”

  The Englishman nodded his approval and brushed a snowflake off his nose. “Wretched weather. But I suppose we’re better off dealing with the cold and snow of winter than we would be with the stifling heat in this city during the summer.”

  “Wounds heal better in the cold, that’s for sure.” Ben turned just as a rifle cracked. The slug spun him around and dropped him to the snowy sidewalk.

  He did not move.

  NINE

  Jersey located the sniper and shot him right between his eyes as tears filled her own eyes. She turned and almost fainted in shock as Ben rolled over and got to his knees.

  Ben shook his head. “That body armor really works, doesn’t it?”

  Dan helped him to his feet and opened Ben’s field jacket. A large red spot was forming, and that would turn into a purple bruise as the day wore on.

  “You’re just damn lucky he wasn’t trying for a head shot,” Dan commented.

  Ben laughed and winced in pain. “Hell, Dan, with my hard head I’d probably been better off if he had.”

  A medic took him by the arm. “Let’s go check for any broken bones, General.”

  Ben did not argue. He was not exempt from following his own guidelines.

  Ben was checked out and x-rayed at Chase’s newly set-up MASH, and was given a lecture by Chase on why he should be more careful. “Even though I know my words are going in one ear and out the other,” Chase added.

  “Right. OW! Damn, Lamar. Quit poking me. That hurts.”

  “Oh, don’t be such a baby. Put your shirt back on. I’m tired of looking at all the old bullet scars in your hide. You’re all right, although you’ll be sore for a few days. And, Raines? Try to stay out of trouble, damn it!”

  “Hell, there isn’t any trouble to get into,” Ben bitched. Noon, the day after he was knocked flat on his butt by the sniper’s bullet.

  Not one shot had been fired — that he was aware of — for at least twenty-four hours. Ben’s chest ached, but a couple of aspirin every few hours took care of that. The wound West had sustained during the assassination attempts had not slowed him down. But Cecil had developed an infection, and Holly had plopped him into a hospital bed for a few days.

  Ben smiled, knowing that Cecil hated hospitals almost as bad as he did.

  Monte and his troops had ceased their seemingly aimless wanderings, and were now bivouacked about forty miles from the Teterboro airport. And that was probably due to Buddy and some of his people slitting more than a dozen throats during the past night. Nothing like waking up and finding all your guards dead.

  Buddy had radioed back that Monte had really tightened up on the camp’s security. Ben had ordered Buddy back a few miles, told him to keep a few scouts out, and to keep Ben informed.

  He had talked with Ike. Nothing was stirring down in Lower Manhattan either. Gene Savie, true to his word, was calling in spotter reports every time movement was noted from their vantage point. Savie’s survivors had spotted some Night People scurrying about like black bugs, but could make no sense out of what the creepies were doing.

  And neither could Ben.

  “Diversion!” Ben said, straightening up in his chair.

  “Sir?” Beth looked at him.

  “Bump Katzman. Tell him to contact Gene Savie and tell him to stop watching the Night People run around in circles and start sweeping all the other areas around them. Gene’s people have been made, and the crawlers are throwing up a smoke screen to conceal what they’re really doing.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  When she was finished, Ben said, “Come on. Let’s get out of this damn office and prowl around some.”

  They drove to the George Washington Bridge, and Ben chatted briefly with the Rebels on guard, then drove to the center of the bridge and got out. He stood for a time, gazing down at the dark waters of the Hudson, watching his patrol boats constantly checking the area. Which side would Monte’s Sappers come down? Where would they place their charges?

  He had already made up his mind that the structure was going to go — or at least a section of it, and that’s all it would take to cripple the bridge and cut off Ben from his people in New Jersey.

  He looked up as several Rebel vehicles came across from the New Jersey side, accompanying the last of the supply trucks. Several of Tina’s Scouts were leading the parade, Jerre among them. She stared straight ahead as they passed Ben.

  Ben tossed her a sloppy salute and laughed, knowing she was fighting with all her might not to toss him the Bird.

  When he got back to his office, about an hour later, Chase was sitting there, having a cup of coffee. There was a strange smile on his lips.

  “Is the coffee that good?” Ben asked.

  “It’s the worst I ever drank, so that means you probably made it. I have news.”

  “Good news or bad?”

  “I think it’s funny.”

  Ben poured a cup of coffee and sat down.

  “One of the Rebels accompanying the supply trucks had a slight accident about forty-five minutes ago. Had to be hospitalized.”

  “You think that’s funny? I worry about you, Lamar.”

  “Perhaps I should have said ironic. She’ll be with us for a couple of days.”

  “She?”

  “No point in sending her back now. She can’t walk. Better off just staying over here. Besides, it was a bad sprain. When I release
her she’ll have to be assigned a sit-down job. Preferably in an office. Like yours, maybe.”

  “Fine, Lamar. I could use some extra help.”

  “Then you don’t mind if I assign her here?”

  “No.”

  “Good. Because I’ve already informed personnel of that decision.”

  “Naturally. Nobody ever tells me anything.”

  “Are you going to pout?”

  “Lamar, I have a lot on my mind. I . . .”

  A very dull thudding sound drifted to them.

  “Find out what that was, Jersey,” Ben asked.

  But before the little bodyguard could exit the door, Beth held up a hand, listening to her headset. “They’ve made their move, General. A part of the New Jersey side of the bridge was just knocked out.”

  Ben took it calmly. “Sappers probably planted the charges last night.” He waited as Beth listened to the reports coming in. When she looked up at him, he asked, “Was anybody hurt?”

  “No, sir.”

  “Well, the lower level was unstable anyway.” He sighed. “We all knew it was coming.”

  “More coming in, sir,” Beth announced. She listened for a moment. “Correction, sir. The bridge is intact. They knocked down the approaches.” Again, she held up a hand and listened. “Another correction, sir. One approach is down. The rest have suffered structural damage. Our engineers are going over there now.”

  “That’s better,” Ben said with a smile. “That’s damn good news.” He stood up. “Let’s go look at the damage while we still can.”

  “I’m going back to the hospital and check on my new patient,” Chase said.

  “She’s going to be assigned to me?”

  “Right, Ben.”

  “Well, when she can hobble around, send her on over. Oh, by the way: what’s her name?”

  Chase made it to the door before he replied. Over his shoulder, he called, “Jerre Hunter!”

  Ben was not in a peachy-creamy mood as he reviewed the damage done to the New Jersey side. He would have sent Jerre back across despite Chase’s objections. But to do that, he’d have to send her all the way to Ike’s position, transporting her either by boat across to Staten Island or by running the gauntlet through Brooklyn to get to the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.