the

city.

And cutting my people in two, Ben noted. But he agreed with a smile and a handshake. Ben made a note to wash his hands with the strongest soap he could find once this odious meeting was concluded.

“So we are in agreement, General Raines?”

“Oh, yes, General Khamsin. Complete

agreement.” Ben lifted his teacup in a toast.

Khamsin smiled and clinked cups.

“To a great victory, General Raines!”

“I’m counting on it, General Khamsin.

You don’t know how much.”

Ben forced himself to be cordial with the Libyan for a few minutes more. By that time, Ben noticed the Libyan had begun to sweat just a bit and his voice held a forced note, indicating that he, too, was wearying of the sham.

Both men rose as one, shook hands, and the Libyan slipped back into the night. Ben sat for a time, drumming his fingers on the tabletop. When Doctor Lindgren came into the room, Ben stood up and waved him into another room and closed the door.

“Now what the hell!” Tina muttered, looking at Dan.

But the Englishman was just as baffled as she was. “I don’t know. This is not like the General. Not at all.

He’s usually very open with all of us. Something is definitely up.”

“There wasn’t a truthful note in any of that man’s statements,” Nate said. “Or yours either,”

he added with a smile.

“Well, you knew I’d be lying.”

“And I don’t know what’s going on, either.”

“Neither does anybody else. Deliberately so.

Trust me and keep all of this under your hat.

Thanks a lot, Nate.”

Ben turned and walked out of the room, motioning his people to follow him.

“You ready to tell me what’s up, Dad?” Tina asked.

“Nope,” Ben said with a smile.

Tina ground her teeth together in frustration.

Ben grinned, even with his back to her knowing what she was doing. “Careful, kid. It took me a couple of years back in the Tri-States to get your teeth fixed up. With you kicking and squalling and howling with every trip to the dentist.”

She screwed up her face and stuck out her tongue at his back.

“And stop making ugly faces and sticking your tongue out at me,” Ben said, without turning around. “What if your face froze like that?”

She could not help but laugh. It was the same thing he’d told her as a little girl.

The rest of the Rebels with Ben had to laugh, and to the newer members, it further heightened Ben’s already overblown mystique. The man had to have powers beyond a mortal person’s comprehension. How else could he know what was going on behind him without even turning around?

Of course, those who had been adults before the Great War, and had some experience with kids, knew perfectly well how Ben did it. But they let the younger ones have their fantasies; it helped keep discipline problems to a minimum.

“Heads up tonight, people,” Ben said, just before turning in.

“The creepy crawlies might decide to come out in force.”

“Damn the man!” Dan said, as Ben closed the door behind him. “What in the world is going on?”

“I guess he’ll let us in on it in the morning,”

Tina said. “I can’t believe he’s actually going to link up with that terrorist.”

“I guess we’ll know in the morning.”

But Ben was as silent on the subject the following morning as he had been the night before. He had breakfast with Georgi, Tina, Buddy, and Dan, and never brought the subject up. He excused himself from the table and walked back to his office, Jerre and Jersey, Beth and Cooper going with him.

“General,” Tina looked at the Russian.

“What’s going on?”

“Your father has not taken me into his confidence, Captain. But I can assure you that he is doing what he thinks is best for all concerned … on the side of freedom, that is.”

“You and my father were once bitter enemies, General Striganov. Now you are allies, fighting together. You don’t think he believes Khamsin is ready to bury the hatchet, do you?”

“Only in Ben’s back, girl.”

“Then … ?” She spread her hands in a gesture of helplessness.

“You’re far too young to remember the days of Qaddafi, Khomeini, Abu Nidal, and people of that ilk. Khamsin is one of them. Nothing will appease him except blood and more blood. And even if, God forbid, he is ever victorious, he still will not be satisfied until he has conquered what is left of this shattered world.”

Dan and Buddy were listening, sitting quietly.

“I have an idea what your father is going to do. He and I think a great deal alike in many subjects. I say this with all the respect in the world for Ben Raines. I think he is the greatest soldier who ever lived.”

Ben took a contingent of Rebels and disappeared that morning, heading back to the area where the children had been found. He prowled the area, noticing the small cracks in the sidewalks and the street-cracks that had blackened burn marks. He found a board and wrapped a rag around one end of it, lit the rag and held it high over one crack. Fire seemed to materialize about five feet over the crack in the street. It flared briefly, then was gone. Ben smiled and extinguished the burning rag.

“What is that, General?” Jersey asked.

“Methane. It’s often found in marshes and mines.

It’s caused by the decomposition of vegetable matter-among other things.”

“You think it’s all over the underground tunnels?”

“Probably. At least there’ll be enough pockets to aid in what I might plan to do.”

“Which is?” he was asked.

Ben chose not to reply.

“How come the creepies haven’t blown themselves up?”

Jersey asked.

“For one thing, many of them don’t cook the …

meat they eat. And since the temperature remains fairly constant in the tunnels, heating by fire is probably rare. And, I suspect, they’ve found the heavier concentrations and avoid them.”

“Just what do you plan on doing with this methane, General?” Jerre asked.

Ben looked at her and smiled. “I might decide to have a pig roast, Jerre.”

“Of course,” she said sarcastically. “I should have guessed that.” She turned away, muttering about smart-assed generals.

Ben chuckled and waved the group back to the vehicles. He always felt better after he got one over on Jerre. It was such a rare experience.

He ordered the short convoy to Katzman’s communications center and met in private with Katzman, sending out coded and scrambled messages.

The messages sent, with only Katzman and Ben knowing the contents-and the people on the other end-Ben ordered the convoy down to publisher’s row.

“Ben,