Tyranny in the Ashes

by William W. Johnstone

  “‘Right, Boss.’

  “‘Scouts out east and west.’

  “‘Done, Boss.’

  “Ben smiled as he leaned up against the big wagon and began rolling a cigarette. Corrie always stayed about two steps ahead of him. The team had been together for so long, each member knew how the other would react and in most cases, orders were merely routine, given out of long habit.

  “‘Any towns or villages close by?’ Cooper asked.

  “‘Why?’ Jersey asked. ‘You planning on going in and checking out the night life?’

  “‘I thought I might buy you a nice present,’ Cooper said, coming right back at her.

  “‘The best present you could get me would be to lose your voice for about a year or so.’

  “‘Oh, my little desert flower,’ Cooper said, feigning great personal pain. ‘You know you don’t mean that. Just the thought hurts my heart. You’d miss me like the flowers would miss a gentle rain.’

  “‘Blahh! Yukk! Barf!’ Jersey said. ‘That’s disgusting, Cooper.’ She made an awful face, and moved around to the other side of the vehicle, muttering, ‘Guy gets worse every month.’ But out of Cooper’s sight, the awful face vanished and she smiled. She and Cooper were good and close friends . . . They just liked to stick the needle to each other.

  “The first section of the Bailey Bridge was hauled up and off-loaded. The engineers were laying it out when the mortar rounds began falling. Two of the combat engineers were killed and half a dozen wounded in the first barrage.

  “Ben and his team left the road and jumped for the cover of thick brush that lined both sides of the old highway. ‘If they hit that new wagon, I’m gonna be really pissed!’ Cooper said, setting up his SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon).

  “‘You better hope one of those rounds doesn’t land on your ass,’ Jersey told him.

  “‘That would irritate me too,’ Cooper replied.

  “‘But only very briefly,’ Jersey replied.

  “The first span over which the engineers had to build a new temporary bridge was about fifty yards wide . . . but it was right in the center. The second section that had been knocked out was on the other side, the connecting span.

  “‘I figure about a hundred meters from our position,’ Ben said. ‘Give that to the tank commanders, Corrie.’

  “‘Right, Boss,’ she replied.

  “A minute later the main guns of the battle tanks began howling and roaring. The first few rounds were short, the range quickly corrected, and then the tanks began laying down a field of fire that virtually destroyed everything on the other side of the sluggish river.

  “‘Cease fire,’ Ben ordered, looking up into the sky. ‘Here come the gunships.’

  “The gunships began strafing the other side of the river bank with machine-gun fire and rockets. They worked back and forth for a couple of minutes. Ben bumped the flight commander on his two-way and gave orders for them to back off. ‘Scouts, find a place to get across that river and check it out,’ he said.

  “‘Chopper pilots reporting no signs of life over there, Corrie said. ‘But plenty of dead bodies.’

  “‘Good,’ Ben said. ‘Throw them in the river and let the crocs have them.’

  “‘Are there crocodiles in that river?’ Cooper questioned.

  “‘Probably,’ Ben told him. Ben didn’t know if there were any crocs in the river or not . . . but if he had to make a bet, he’d bet there were. Either way, the river was certainly going to be ordered off limits for swimming.

  “About five minutes later, after the firing had stopped and the area was quiet once again, Dr. Lamar Chase, the Rebels’ Chief of Medicine, came walking up. His driver had brought him as close to the head of the column as she could; then Chase had hoofed the last several hundred yards. Chase and Ben had been together since the very beginning; their friendship spanned many years. The doctor stood for a moment, watching his doctors work on the wounded, then turned to Ben.

  “‘You think those troops that ambushed us were Bruno’s men, Ben?’

  “Ben shook his head. ‘No. It would really surprise me if they were. Probably just one of the many hundreds of gangs that prowl and slither around this continent. Scouts are checking it out now.’

  “‘I certainly hope you cautioned them not to fall out of the damn boats,’ Chase warned. ‘There are probably crocs in that river.’

  “Ben cut his eyes, grunted a noncommittal reply, and continued to watch the scout teams as they cranked the outboards and headed for the opposite shore.

  “‘One of the wounded just died,’ Corrie said. ‘The others are going to make it.’

  “‘Who died?’ Ben asked.

  “‘Major Larsen.’

  “‘Shit,’ Ben muttered. He sighed. ‘Bury them off the road in the brush. Deep and well. I don’t want animals digging them up. Get a chaplain up here.’

  “‘OK, Boss.’

  “Major Larsen had been with Ben for years, starting out with the Rebels when he was just an enlisted man in his teens and working his way up through the ranks. He was well liked by everyone and would be sorely missed.

  “Chase looked at Ben’s face for a moment and said, ‘Watch your blood pressure, Ben. These things happen.’

  “‘My blood pressure is fine, Lamar.’

  “‘Then what’s wrong?’

  “‘This damn country.’

  “Chase grunted in response, frowning as Ben began rolling a cigarette.

  “‘Of course, wait until we hit South America,’ Ben said. ‘Then we’ll really get bogged down in certain areas.”

  “‘Is that where we go next?’

  “‘Probably. You can bet that’s where Bruno’s heading . . . if he makes it out of Africa alive, and he will. The bastard has more luck than a leprechaun. He can’t go back to Europe, that’s for sure. He’s the most wanted man on the continent.’”

  Perro Loco looked up from his reading. “Paco, I want you to check with our contacts in South America. Evidently this man Bottger had resources there that might be useful to us in our upcoming battle against Raines and the SUSA.”

  Paco Valdez nodded, making a note in a small notebook he carried in his shirt pocket.

  Loco got up, stretched, refilled his drink, and resumed his reading . . .

  “Chase waited for Ben to continue, sensing there was more. He was right.

  “‘The Secretary General warned me that we might go to South America when we finished here.’ Ben shrugged. ‘It was all part of the deal we made.’

  “‘A deal that isn’t worth the paper it’s written on or the handshake that sealed it,’ Doctor Chase said. ‘You don’t believe for a minute the federal government outside the SUSA will keep their end of the bargain. Do you?’

  “Ben smiled. ‘Of course not, Lamar. I wouldn’t trust a liberal out of my sight. But it bought us some time. Much-needed time.’

  “‘They don’t believe you’ll use nuclear and germ weapons against them, Ben.’

  “‘Then they don’t know or understand me at all, Lamar. I will personally push the buttons that lets the birds fly if they invade us. Those crybaby assholes had damn well better understand that. And don’t think for a second Cecil won’t do it . . . because he damn sure will.’

  “Chase studied Ben’s face for a few seconds. ‘Yes. Cecil will push the buttons. I’m sure of that. But do you think the SUSA will be invaded? Do you believe the federal government will really take that chance?’

  “Ben lit his hand-rolled cigarette and was silent for a few heartbeats, letting a very slight breeze slip the smoke away.

  “When he spoke, his words were low. ‘Yes, I do, Lamar. But I’m still undecided as to whether it’s going to be an all-out assault or a guerrilla, hit-and-run attempt.’

  “‘What do Mike’s people have to say about it?’

  “Mike Richards was the Rebels’ Chief of Intelligence.

  “‘That some type of action against us is being planned. But they’re unable, so far, t
o break into the inner circle and pin anything down.’

  “‘Doesn’t leave us much to go on, does it?’

  “Ben smiled. ‘Not a whole lot, Lamar. Except we know it’s coming. But not when or how.’

  “The two men stood in silence as the wounded combat engineers were transported back to a clearing to be worked on in a MASH facility.

  “One of the medics walked back to Ben and Lamar. ‘One is going to lose a leg, I think. The others will be back on limited duty before long.’

  “Lamar thanked the medic, and the young woman nodded and walked away. No one saluted in a combat zone.

  “‘I am beginning to truly hate this place,’ Ben said. ‘I know I shouldn’t, but I do. Not the people, at least not most of them, but the place.’

  “‘If it’ll make you feel any better, Ben, the country doesn’t thrill me all that much either. Even though much of it is quite beautiful.’

  “‘Scouts found several alive over there,’ Corrie said. “They’re bringing three of them across now.’

  “‘Do they speak English?’ Ben asked.

  “‘Oh, yes, sir,” Corrie replied. “They sure do. They’re Americans.’ The three men had suffered only very minor wounds and their wounds had been attended to. They were all in good physical shape, strong and certainly very healthy-appearing. Ben studied the trio for several moments before speaking. He did not like what he was thinking.

  “‘How’d you boys get to Africa?’ Ben finally asked.

  “‘Greyhound,’ the bigger of the three popped back.

  “‘Oh,’ Ben said with a smile. ‘A sense of humor. That’s good. “You’re damn sure going to need one. Now, I’ll ask again: How did you boys get over here?’

  “‘Plane,’ the oldest of the three volunteered.

  “‘When?’ Ben asked.

  “‘Six, seven months ago,’ the same man replied. ‘I’m not sure. Time sort of runs together over here.’

  “Ben silently and certainly agreed with the man about that. ‘Goon.’

  “‘What do you mean, sir?’

  “‘Who paid you to come over here? How many of you came over? And why?’

  “‘Keep your damn mouth shut, Leon,’ the first man to speak said.

  “‘Screw you, Jimmy,’ the oldest man said. He looked back at Ben. ‘Two battalions.’

  “‘Mercenaries,’ Ben said.

  “‘Yes, sir.’

  “‘All Americans?’

  “‘Most of them, yes, sir. But other nationalities mixed in there, too. A few Canadians, half a dozen or so Germans and Russians. Some English.’

  “Ben again studied the three for a moment. They were dressed in cammie BDUs. Because of the way they were dressed, he couldn’t threaten them with being spies, and they probably were well aware of that. ‘Who’s paying you?’

  “This time, the bigger man spoke. ‘That we don’t know, General. You can believe it or not, but it’s the truth.’

  “Ben believed him. But he also had a damn good idea who was paying the men. ‘More mercenaries coming over?’

  “‘Yes, sir,’ the third man said. ‘I can tell you for a fact that recruiting has been going on for a long time.’

  “Ben nodded. ‘And a long time is . . . how long?’

  “‘Over a year, General.’

  “There were a lot more questions Ben wanted to ask, but he would save it and turn the man over to Intelligence for more interrogation. He hoped they would be honest with Ben’s Intel team, for if they sensed the men were lying, it could get very nasty when they hauled out the drugs. Not painful, not physical torture, but the men would tell the truth . . . Bet on that.

  “‘What happens to us now, General?’ the youngest of the trio asked.

  “‘You’ll be turned over to our Intelligence section for further questioning. I urge you to cooperate with them.’

  “‘In other words,’ the big one said, ‘here come the needle and the drugs.’

  “‘In other words,’ Ben replied, his smile rather grim, ‘you’re right.’

  “‘We’re over here fighting for money, General. Not for any political philosophy or cause. They won’t need to use drugs on us. We’ll tell them what they want to know . . . as much as we can. Which isn’t much.’

  “Ben believed that. He was reasonably sure the men had been recruited by a third party; that was the way it was usually done. The money men (in this case, he was sure it was the fast-growing and decidedly socialistic government outside the SUSA) stayed anonymous in the shadows.

  “Ben waved for the guards to take the prisoners away, and then shifted the camp chair around and stretched his long legs out in front of him, away from the field desk in his tent.

  “Before the team from Intelligence could start their work on the three American mercenaries, the men decided to tell all they knew . . . or so they insisted. Intel believed they were holding a lot back, but what they did say was enough for Ben to fit another piece of the puzzle in place. There were still gaps in the overall mystery, but Ben felt he should talk to Cecil Jefferys back in the SUSA and warn him that the government outside their borders was planning some sort of move against the SUSA.

  “‘We’re just beginning to get whispers about that, Ben,’ Ben’s longtime friend and the President of the SUSA said. ‘I was going to give you a bump in a few hours. Of course, we both knew it was coming eventually.’

  “‘Yes, that we did, Cec. I think it might he best if you had a little chat with somebody in power.’

  “‘I’d do just that, Ben. But nobody really knows who makes up the shadow government.’

  “‘Everything is really still all that screwed up in the new capital?’

  “‘It’s a mess, and that’s being kind. To be blunt, it’s a royal fuckup. The people we felt we could trust are out of the loop . . . or just out, period. And I mean all the way out. There have been half a dozen little power plays since you left. Sometimes it’s weeks before we learn of the full magnitude. And here is something we learned just hours ago, and it’s unbelievable; the announcement just came down the line: The upcoming national elections have been postponed.’

  “‘Postponed?’ Ben questioned. ‘For what reason?’

  “‘The bottom line seems to be security concerns.’

  “‘Oh . . . that’s bullshit!’

  “‘Of course it is. But that’s the word—the party line, you might call it—the central government is putting out. And you know who they’re blaming . . . ‘

  “‘The SUSA.’

  “‘Right. Those in power are claiming the SUSA is planning to move against the New Democracy . . . as it’s being called by the press. Bless their little pointy heads.’

  “‘The New Democracy?’

  “‘That’s it. Really catchy phrase, isn’t it?’

  “‘Sounds like something a bunch of silly-assed liberals would dream up.’

  “‘You got it.’

  “‘Next we’ll have a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage.’

  “‘I’m sure.’

  “‘Where are we heading, Cec?’

  “‘Well . . . the military outside our borders is just not strong enough yet to tangle with us . . . but they’re slowly building to that strength. Now that the main force of the Rebels is out of the picture—so to speak—thousands of miles away. I think the people—a certain type of person, that is, and you know the breed as well as I do—living outside our borders will be used for cannon fodder.’

  “‘Those give-me-something-for-nothing, I-want-the-government-to-take-care-of-me, cradle-to-grave, politically correct, I’ll-sue-you-for-the-slightest-slur types will attempt a swarm across our borders and mercenaries will be right behind them, with the new military backing up the second wave.’

  “‘You nailed it right on the head.’ Cecil laughed. ‘Of course, I had no doubts that you would. I’ll keep you up to date. You take care now, Ben, and I’ll see you.’

  “‘Do that, partner.’

  “
Cecil Jefferys was the President of the SUSA, the first black man elected to such a high office in America . . . and it took the separation of the nation and the men and women of the South to accomplish it.

  “Cecil and Ben had been friends for many years. Cecil had left the grueling life in the field to enter politics after a heart attack nearly killed him during a campaign.

  “Ben walked outside and stood for a moment. His mind was already busy adding up the troops he could take back to the SUSA when it was time to go . . . if the job here wasn’t finished. Ben had guesstimated this campaign might take anywhere from a year to as much as five years. Ben now felt he would be leaving Africa with his 501 Brigade, and several other brigades as yet unchosen, in a matter of weeks, not years.

  “He walked to his tent and opened a map case. He spread the map out on a table and began studying it. He found a port in the country of Congo, just south of where the Rebels were now stalled. The small city had an airport that would be just large enough for the planes coming over from the SUSA to use. He put the map away and stepped outside to stand in silence for a moment.

  “The shadows were beginning to gather and soon it would be dark, and in Central Africa, when night falls, it does just that . . . in a hurry.

  “Down by the river, huge portable floodlights had already been set up so the combat engineers could work through the night laying down the Bailey Bridge.

  “Ben did not expect another attack by Bruno’s people or by any of the many roaming gangs that were terrorizing the land, but he was taking no chances. He had ordered the guard doubled and there were choppers in the sky, the gunships slowly moving in a huge circle.

  “‘What you doing over here, Lamar?’ Ben questioned. ‘Aside from irritating me, that is?’

  “‘You need irritating, Raines. What is the word from back home?’

  “‘How would I know?’ Ben asked innocently, but with a very sneaky smile.

  “‘Because I know you’ve been talking with that other old rooster, Cecil Jefferys, that’s how I know. Now give.’

  “‘How do you know that?’