CHAPTER 8

“I never heard anyone speak to Dad in such a manner,” Buddy said. He still had a hospital look about him, but was obviously in good shape or the doctors at Base Camp One would have never OK’D his release.”

“That, dear brother, is the lady our father has been in love withfor about a decade.”

“They certainly do have quite an interesting way of exhibiting their mutual affection, I must say.

Or is it mutual?”

Tina waggled her hand in a so-so-maybe gesture.

The quartet stood and watched as Ben and Jerre ended their yelling. Jerre stalked off in one direction, and Ben turned to march off in the opposite. His eyes touched and locked in on Buddy.

Buddy walked to him. Father and son shook hands, and then embraced.

“I ought to kick your butt for coming up here, boy,”

Ben growled at him.

“That might be a very interesting fight, Father,”

Buddy said with a smile. “After all, you are getting along in years.”

Ben ruffled the young man’s already unruly mop of hair. Buddy wore his customary bandana around his forehead. The son’s eyes lingered on the small bandage on his father’s face.

“It’s nothing,” Ben assured him. “Should you be here, son?”

“I am one hundred percent, Father. The doctors say it should have taken me another three to four weeks to heal. But I was, according to them, in very good physical shape. I have news. Alvaro brought his people in from the west to beef up Colonel Williams at the base, so that freed my company. I brought them with me. They’re gathering up equipment now.”

“Great, son. That is great news. I, ah, am sorry you had to witness that, ah, exchange between …”

Ben let it trail off.

The son shrugged. “She’s a beautiful woman, Father. Is she worth all the strain?”

Ben laughed at him. “Now, that, son, could be construed as a very chauvinistic remark.”

“If the shoe fits, and all that.”

Ben studied him. “Well, now. I’ve got to find a place for you.”

“Wherever you say, Father.”

“Your company can stay here at the airport tonight. You come with me. I’ll show you what I can of the Big Apple.”

Buddy had been amazed at the skyline of New York City, and dismayed at the havoc wrought on the city by the big guns of the Rebels.

But he had his father’s eye for the ladies, and was quite taken by Beth, even offering to carry her backpack radio for her.

“Leave my damn radio alone!” Beth told him. “That thing’s checked out to me.”

“I was only going to carry it for you.”

“I can carry it, I can carry it!”

Both Jersey and Ben thought it funny. Cooper just drove and kept his comments to himself. Buddy wedged in between Beth and Cooper in the backseat, pretending not to notice the quick glances fired in his direction from Beth.

In Ben’s office, Ben brought his son up to date, ending with: “Not the most enviable position to find oneself in, Buddy.”

“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 P. 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 coining 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 out-manned,” 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 P. 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 headhunting 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.