by Stan Morris
“Did Tyler do as good a job as everyone says, or are they trying to make me think he did?” she asked, as she wiped their table.
“If your Chief would let me have him, I’d sign him up in a minute,” the Major replied.
“That girl at the Brown’s place sure thought he was something,” the Lieutenant said.
Gabby stiffened. “Which one?” she demanded, her eyes narrowing. “Kylie or Paige?”
“Um… I think her name was, uh, Star,” Kennedy answered with a smirk.
Gabby gaped, and then she huffed and walked away. Collins frowned at Kennedy.
Kennedy started laughing. “I’m sorry, Sir,” he choked out between guffaws. “I just couldn’t help it.”
Major Collins saw Desi and a young man standing in the buffet line. The young man had his arm around her ample waist. Hector and Kathy waited behind them. A boy came into the dining hall, and he sat down across from the officers. He did not speak, but he nodded to them. Soon, the two couples had their plates, and they sat at the table with the officers. A young woman came by, and she placed a plate with bread and a plastic glass of milk in front of the boy. The bread was buttered and cut into squares. The young woman sat next to the boy.
“Why do you rate such special service, Jacob?” the young man with Desi complained.
Jacob looked up at John, mystified. “I don’t know,” he replied.
Kathy and Desi laughed, and Lily smiled demurely as John grumbled under his breath. While the officers lingered over their meal, the others ate and left. Gabby came by again as she was wiping tables. Lieutenant Kennedy noticed an Asian-American girl enter the room. His eyes widened.
“Wow,” he said softly.
“Oh, her,” said Gabby. “That’s Yuie. She’s the Chief’s, ‘Special Friend’.” She made quote marks in the air with her fingers.
Kennedy scowled. “I see,” he said. Gabby walked away with a naughty, satisfied smile on her face.
The officers finished eating breakfast. They went back to the Lodge and made their beds, military style. Then, to their surprise, Desi told them that they had been bumped to the head of the shower line.
“We can wait our turn,” the Major stammered, not meaning it a bit.
“No, you guys go ahead,” Desi said. “These stinking boys can wait.”
“Hey!” a nearby group of outraged boys chorused.
The shower was heaven. Ten minutes went by too fast, but while it lasted, it was wonderful. Back in their rooms, Major Collins stared at the Lieutenant in stunned amazement.
“They have hot showers,” Collins stated reverently.
“Uh, you know, Major, my term of enlistment is almost over. I was thinking of asking Tyler to recommend me for a job here,” Lieutenant Kennedy said.
“El, oh, el,” was the sarcastic reply from the Major.
The surprised Lieutenant’s eyes widened. “I didn’t think that you even knew what that meant, Sir,” he said.
“I use the internet,” protested the Major with a frown. “Or at least I used to.”
There was a knock on the door, and when the Major opened it, Tyler said, “The Chief wants to see you, if you’re ready.”
The officers went down to Chief’s Headquarters and found Mike inside, seated at his desk.
“Good morning,” Mike said. “Our Council meeting will start in a few minutes, but before that I want to explain a few rules we have here in Petersburg.”
Mike mentioned several rules of Petersburg including those concerning sex. Lieutenant Kennedy was outraged.
“I can’t believe you think we need a lecture from you on sexual protocol. Especially, since the rules apparently don’t apply to you.”
“Lieutenant,” the Major said sternly.
Mike held up a hand. “Wait, please,” he said to the Major, and then to the Lieutenant he asked. “What do you mean?”
“I know that even though you are not sixteen yet, the girl named ‘Yuie’ is your ‘Special Friend’,” the Lieutenant sneered.
Mike gaped at him in astonishment, and then he burst out laughing. A moment later Yuie knocked and entered the room.
“Hey, Yuie,” Mike said, collecting himself.
“Hey, Chief,” said Yuie wondering, what’s so funny?
“Yuie, guess what? Lieutenant Kennedy, here, says that someone told him you’re doing it with me,” Mike said.
“What?” Yuie exclaimed. She turned to Kennedy. “Who told you that bullshit?”
“Conned again,” murmured Major Collins.
“Oh, boy,” Kennedy muttered.
“I’m sorry,” he added hastily. “I must have misheard or maybe I misunderstood.”
Yuie glared at him. “Military pig,” she mumbled, just loud enough for him to hear.
“Now that’s settled,” said Mike. “I want you to understand, that I tell these rules to everyone. It’s not just you.”
“Understood,” the Major replied. “And those are good rules. I have similar rules at our post.” Kennedy nodded, and he gave Mike and Yuie an apologetic smile.
The rest of the Council arrived, and Mike allowed the officers to witness the Council meeting. Hector talked about his plan to build a sawmill. John reported on the status of the patrols. Yuie, with a sniff in Kennedy’s direction, reported that Diana and Imee were settling in nicely, and that Diego was healthy. Diana had suggested that she give a physical examination to everyone in the village, and the Council agreed to accept her offer.
“We’re getting refugees from the Retreat,” Mike noted. “Does anyone have any ideas on that?”
They discussed the Retreat for a few minutes, but there was no consensus on what to do. When asked, Major Collins agreed that the situation at the Retreat was serious, and he said that he would consult with his people when he got back to his base. Lieutenant Kennedy explained that much of the Ranger’s munitions had been expended during the rescue of the children. There were other reports before the Council meeting came to an end.
Then Mike suggested that the officers observe a disciplinary hearing. A boy and two girls were brought into Chief’s Headquarters. The boy was accused of deliberately urinating on a toilet seat. The two girls had reported him.
“I went in first, Chief,” the first girl said. “And when I left, I made sure that everything was clean. Then he went in.”
“And after he left, I went in,” said the second girl. “There was piss all over the toilet seat. It was deliberate.”
The boy smothered a laugh. “It was an accident,” he said.
Mike asked the girls to leave, and then he turned to the boy.
“This is the second time you’ve been in here for this offense,” he said. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
“There’s nothing wrong with me,” the boy said insolently. “The girls just like to complain.”
Silently, Mike stared at him for a long time. Gradually, the boy’s indifferent smile left his face. He grew nervous. He glanced at the unsmiling officers.
“I wonder, Major, if you can find a place for this person at your post?” Mike asked.
The Major exploded. He slammed his hand down on the desk. The boy gasped and jumped back.
“Yeah, I’ve got a place for this shithead,” the Major stated loudly. “In the bottom of a shithole. Let me have him. I’ll teach him what it’s like to clean a latrine from the bottom, up.”
“No!” the alarmed boy squeaked. “Don’t let him have me, Chief. Please! I’ll be good. I’ll never do it again, I swear, Chief, I swear.” He cringed away from the still growling Major.
“Give ’em to me, Chief!” the Major begged, practically slavering. The terrified boy thought he saw drool dripping from the Major’s red mouth. “Give ’em to me!”
“No, Chief. Please, don’t let him have me!” the boy pleaded, his eyes moistening.
Mike put up a hand. The Major sat back with a last growl.
“I’m going to give you one last chance,” Mike said. “You are going to
clean toilets for one month. But if this happens again, I’m shipping you off to the Major. Understand.”
“Yes, sir. Yes, sir,” the boy said eagerly, hoping to get away from the crazy man.
“Now get out,” Mike ordered.
“Yes, sir.” With one last terrified glance at the Major, the boy fled.
Mike and the Lieutenant looked at the Major.
“Damn,” said the Lieutenant. “When I grow up, I want to be just like you, Major.”
“Me, too,” Mike said, grinning at the senior officer.
“It was nothing,” the Major replied modestly.
Chapter Fourteen
THE ARMY AND THE LODGE
That night, Major Collins and Lieutenant Kennedy talked about what they had witnessed in the village of Petersburg.
“I was going to demand to be allowed to speak to these people,” the Major reflected. “I was going to offer to move them to our post, where we could protect them. But the truth is, they are better off here, aren’t they?”
His eyes met those of the lieutenant, who looked uncomfortable and did not answer.
As they ate breakfast the next morning, Gabby passed by and gave them a gloating smile. Lieutenant Kennedy scowled at her. She stuck her tongue out at him. Mike, Jacob, Lily, and Howard were sitting with the officers. Yuie came in and saw them. Reluctantly, she sat down across from Lieutenant Kennedy. He smiled at her, and she frowned at him.
“Good morning,” he said. Yuie glanced at Mike and decided that she had to be polite.
“Good morning,” she muttered.
“I hope you’ve forgiven me for thinking that you were romantically involved with your leader,” he said winningly.
“You mean, have I forgiven you for thinking that I was screwing the Chief? Sure, I forgive you,” she answered sweetly.
He winced and tried again. “I hope your boyfriend was not too upset about it?”
“I don’t have a boyfriend,” she snapped, and then she grimaced.
“Ah,” he said with a triumphant smile.
“Damn,” she muttered, and then she said, “Well, have you military guys cased this place yet? Figured out how to take us? I don’t suppose that you have any nukes handy.”
“I beg your pardon?” said Kennedy taken aback.
“Nothing,” said Yuie with a private smile.
“So, are you one of those anti-nuke peaceniks?” he asked.
“Yes, I am definitely one of those anti-warmongering peaceniks that don’t like you nuclear-bomb-dropping military types,” she replied proudly.
Kennedy was annoyed. “That’s ridiculous. The United States has only used nuclear weapons twice,” he stated stiffly. “And that was in a dire emergency.”
“Yeah, I bet that the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki thought it was a dire emergency,” she shot back.
“It was wartime,” he said, outraged by her statement. “Dropping the bomb saved countless lives by us not having to invade Japan.”
“Why would there have been any need for us to invade, Japan?” she countered. “The Japanese were beaten. The only thing they had left was their homeland. Why should we have invaded? The war was over.” She gave him a so-there smirk.
He fell silent for a moment, and then he asked softly, “I wonder, how do you think the Chinese would have felt about that?”
“What?” she replied, confused by his question.
“The Chinese, the Koreans, the Vietnamese, the Burmese, and a lot of other Asians were still living under the occupation of the Japanese Army. Murder, rape, and torture were still happening. But not to us. We could have just walked away.”
He stood and went to the trashcan to clean his paper plate which the villagers would reuse. For a moment, Yuie stared after him, and then her gaze shifted to the others at the table. Everyone else was studying their plates. Yuie stood up and left the dining hall.
Two days later, Mike and the officers were strolling out by the graveyard. The officers had been told about Luis. They saw the fresh grave in the graveyard, making it the third grave that had been dug.
“We’ve been luckier than you, so far,” Major Collins admitted. “We’ve only had to dig one grave. One of my engineers had an accident.”
Collins hesitated, and then he said, “Mike, I would like to hear your version of the hanging.”
Mike looked up at him, and then he looked back at the graves. “I thought we would probably starve to death after we ran out of food, or maybe we would freeze to death during the winter. All of the adults were gone, except for Jackie, and she wasn’t any use to herself, much less to us. It was just us kids.
“But I wasn’t ready to give up and die, so I tried to convince the others that we had to prepare for whatever might happen. And it seemed to be working. Some of the others started helping me. I began to think that we might have a chance.
“Then those guys came, and they killed Pete, and they took Jackie and Maria. Looking back, I guess it was crazy to think that we could get Jackie and Maria back. But we had to try, anyway. We were too late for Jackie, but we saved Maria. We killed three of them, but one of them was still alive. What were we going to do with him? Let him go? He would have come back and killed more of us, I believe. We couldn’t hand him over to the police. We didn’t have a jail. Maybe we could have guarded him night and day. But we needed everyone’s help just to get ready for the winter.
“I thought about all these things when we were marching back to our camp. So I decided to kill him. But I didn’t want to just kill him; I wanted to make sure that everyone understood why we were killing him. So I had everyone speak who actually saw what had happened. And when everyone was convinced that he was the person who killed Pete and Jackie, I killed him in a way they would think of as an execution not just a killing. I think that by killing him, I prevented us from having to dig more of these graves. And that’s my answer, Major Collins.”
Mike turned at the head of the graves and looked back at the Major and the Lieutenant. Standing at the foot of the burials, Major Collins fell silent as he contemplated the graves. He wondered what he would have done had he been in Mike’s place. Silently, he admitted to himself that he very likely would have done the same thing.
“So, what do you think of Petersburg, Major?” Mike asked.
“I like this place, Mike,” the Major replied. “I like what you have accomplished here.”
“I’ve been thinking,” Mike said.
“Uh oh,” the Lieutenant muttered, his words barely audible. “Here it comes.”
“I’ve been thinking about what our next step should be. I started thinking about it, when I realized that you were probably coming here, Major Collins,” Mike said.
“What made you think I would come here?” the Major asked.
“Mainly, it was the way you handled that gang, Major,” said Mike. “You rescued the kids immediately. That same night. You took my suggestion that you approach quietly on foot. You were more interested in rescuing the children than in capturing the gang. I saw how you took care of the kids. I bet Erin really likes it there.”
“I hired her as my orderly,” the Major admitted, and Mike laughed.
“Major Collins, who does the Army report to?” Mike asked.
Wondering at the reason for the young man’s question, Major Collins said, “Ordinarily, the Army reports go up the chain of command. All the way to the Defense Department, if they’re important. Why do you ask?”
“Then who do you report to?” Mike asked, ignoring the Major’s question. “A better question is; who will you report to?”
“I suppose that when I contact a recognized civilian government, then I will report to them,” the Major replied slowly. “I will inform them of my presence and status and ask for their advice on how to proceed.”
Mike turned to fully face the officers. He was standing by the graveyard markers, ancient signs of human civilization. Behind him, stood the dark and threatening woods, and the low sun cast gleaming finger
s of light through damp clouds, framing the young man’s face. As the officers watched, his whole demeanor changed from the kid he still was, to the young man he had been forced to become. Collins felt the presence of power, and the small hairs on his nape and on his arms stiffened, as he stared at this person.
“Very well, Major Collins,” Mike said, raising his voice slightly, his words firm. “Report.”
For a stunning moment, the Major opened his mouth to comply with the command, and then he caught himself. He stared at the young man, for in that voice he recognized authority; the authority that some men and women learn to project, and that for others, comes naturally. Now he knew what Mike had been planning, since Mike had realized that the Major would come to Petersburg to ensure that the people here were not in danger. He was telling Major Collins openly, I am the civilian authority here. I am the civilian government. You say that you will report to the civilian authority? Very well, report.
“I’m sorry, Mike, but I am not willing to recognize your authority just yet. Sorry,” said the Major, while taking a deep breath and with a conciliatory smile.
Mike smiled back, and once more he was the boy. “Take your time, Major,” he said easily. “This village isn’t going anywhere. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some work to do.” The soldiers watched as the young man walked back toward his office.
“That kid’s got big brass ones, I’ll give him that,” the Major mused. He glanced at the Lieutenant who remained silent. The Major’s eyes narrowed.
“You aren’t thinking that I should report to him, are you, LT?” he asked.
Lieutenant Kennedy thought for a moment before answering. “Sir, I have a question for you? Suppose you were the civilian in charge here, and I was in your place? Would you want me to report to you?”
The Major thought about it. “I take your point,” he said reluctantly. “And the truth is, yes, I would think that you should report to me. It’s our way. The American way. The Army reports to the civil authority, because in the end every officer will someday be a civilian unless he or she is killed while serving. Give me your advice. Should I report to this government of kids?”