Standing at the Edge

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Standing at the Edge Page 18

by William Alan Webb


  “Run, Jane, get the hell out of here! Don’t argue, you’re wasting time, but… remember me.”

  #

  Bear had no way of knowing how long it had been since Jane left, or even if she had really been allowed to leave. It was all a bluff and a gamble, but it was the only play they had. His hands began trembling and his knees shaking. The sun had risen high overhead and, while it was still early in spring, the heat on his burned face felt like metal searing his flesh.

  A distant shot echoed over the desert, followed a second later by two more in quick succession, and then a fourth two seconds after those. Bear had no way of knowing if that had really been Jane or not; he simply hoped it was, but the final moment had come and he was ready to get it over with.

  “Your time is up and she’s safe, Bear. Now keep your pledge and lay down your weapon.”

  “I swore on my child’s life, Captain. Do you know what happened to my child?”

  Chen didn’t answer for a few seconds. “What do you mean?”

  “My child was never born, because one of your helicopters killed my wife while she was pregnant. My child never had a life, thanks to you.”

  “Fire!” Chen screamed a millisecond after Bear pulled the trigger.

  #

  A white fir tree more than a hundred feet high and five feet in diameter stood near the summit of Sugar Loaf Mountain. Jane stood on the same peak from which Bear and his team had observed the Chinese fuel trucks a few days before. She’d scampered through the deep ravine at a dead run and made it behind the huge tree with scant seconds to spare before fifteen minutes had elapsed. She knew of no prearranged signal to let Bear know she’d made it, so she fired off four shots at random.

  Two of Bear’s team still guarded the horses in a valley not far from where she knelt, but the rest were all dead and for what? They’d failed in their mission and now Bear would be a prisoner. The image of Suzanne’s dirty young face came to her and the tears started again. They’d all been so young, so ready to live… and now those lives were gone.

  A flash on the road made her blink and turn away. The middle tanker erupted in a huge explosion of black smoke and yellow flames. Burning diesel fuel flew in all directions over at least one hundred yards. As she watched, several Chinese soldiers dropped their weapons and ran as fire engulfed them. Some dropped to the dirt and rolled to extinguish the flames, while others just dropped. Only after the blast did she realize Bear had vanished in a wave of burning fuel, along with the two APCs that he’d sheltered between.

  Flaming diesel also covered both outside tankers, but the fuel’s high flash point had so far kept them from exploding. One man tried to enter the cab of the truck closest to her; she couldn’t tell if it was Captain Chen or not, but the heat drove him back. And then it no longer mattered.

  First the far tanker blew up, and it was quickly followed by the second one. Great swells of smoke rose high into the clear sky. The surviving Chinese stood and watched from a distance, unable to do anything else. Jane wept openly now, sobbing in great heaves even as she pushed to her feet and went to find a horse.

  #

  Chapter 36

  Fear makes the wolf bigger than he is.

  German proverb

  Sierra Army Depot, Herlong, CA

  1355 hours, April 16

  Aretha Lamar rubbed her eyes, both in frustration at her son’s intransigence and at the pollen drifting about on the warm spring breezes. She hated the dusty air of the desert in summer because the heat made you sweat and the clouds of dust coated your skin with a glue-like paste. But spring was worse, as her allergies reminded her with bouts of uncontrolled sneezing.

  “James, I’m begging you to help us help you. We need the manpower. If nothing else, dig trenches and build bunkers so you can hide in them when the time comes.”

  James’ followers crowded close around them. Most stood in the shade of the large Ponderosa pine in the front yard of James’ shack, but one woman who was naked from the waist up danced and twirled in the sunshine, despite a lack of music.

  “No, Mother, I’m sorry, but that would be a betrayal of God’s trust. He has promised to keep us safe and always keeps His word.”

  “Son, you’re not thinking clearly. Show me in scripture where He says anything to the effect that you should let your enemies slaughter you.”

  “There are too many passages to quote, Mother. Besides, His message was given to me personally.”

  “God spoke to you?” She couldn’t hide her incredulity.

  “He did. He told me that if I witness for Him, He would protect me and my flock. Our example will open the hard hearts of the Chinese to the glory of His word.”

  “Son, the only things the Chinese are going to open are holes in your body, and those of all these deluded people standing around. They’ll cut you down where you stand. Please, come…” She paused and looked west, down the main road which led to the base. A rider galloped hard straight for them, one she recognized: Junker Jane.

  Breathless, Jane dismounted before the horse came to a full stop. Her momentum carried her forward into the knot of people surrounding Prophet James and his mother.

  “Sister Jane!” he said, pushing through the crowd and embracing her. “You’ve come back to join us!”

  Jane shook off his hands, stepped back, and put her finger inches from his face. “Don’t ever touch me again!”

  James threw his hands up. “I’m sorry, my sister.”

  “I’m not your sister, either. Colonel Lamar, I’m glad you’re here.”

  “You’ve been gone so long, I feared you weren’t coming back,” Lamar said.

  “I almost didn’t. A very brave man sacrificed himself so I could be standing here right now to warn you. The Chinese are serious about taking this place but we hit ’em up pretty hard, so I think we’ve bought a few more days.”

  “Is that the smoke we saw earlier?”

  “Yeah. They had three fuel trucks protected by a couple of tanks and some armored cars, plus at least a few hundred men. There’s a whole camp not too far down the highway, where it splits off to the west. Most of it’s all burned up now.”

  “You destroyed it?”

  “I didn’t do much of anything, except get a good man killed. A man named Bam Bam Bear died to destroy the tanker trucks and somebody else used one of those Carl Gustavs you gave us to take out a tank.”

  “I’ve heard of this Bear… you say he’s dead?”

  Jane nodded.

  Lamar said nothing until she turned back to face her son. “I want you to think about what she said, James.” Raising her voice, she spoke to the crowd. “I want you all to think about what she said. The Chinese aren’t coming here to lock arms and sing How Great Thou Art. They’re coming here to enslave you or to kill you. Anybody who wants to fight for their life is welcome at the base.” Lowering her voice again, she spoke directly to her son. “I love you, James. Please think about what I’ve said.”

  “I love you, too, Mother. May the Lord watch over and bless you.”

  #

  Chapter 37

  Better to have one thousand enemies outside the house than one enemy inside it.

  Lebanese proverb

  Operation Overtime

  1356 hours, April 16

  The security convoy followed them to the doors of the Clam Shell. Green Ghost then slipped away to direct the hunt for any other assassins. At Angriff’s urging, the Clam Shell stood to attention and gave Steeple a standing ovation. It seemed only fair. Once in the Crystal Palace itself, Steeple found the view as breathtaking as Angriff had promised.

  But before Steeple could make a move to sit in the chair behind the desk, Angriff beat him to it. Schiller brought coffee and they made plans to eat lunch in the mess hall with the rank and file. A staff conference was scheduled for 1500 hours.

  Tom Steeple was in the middle of another anecdote when Sergeant Major Schiller opened the door and stepped into the Crystal Palace. Steeple stopped
in mid-sentence and they both turned to him.

  “General Steeple,” Schiller said, “I am very sorry for having to interrupt, sir, but there is an urgent matter needing General Angriff’s personal attention.”

  “What is it, J.C.?” Angriff said.

  “Umm… it’s… it’s out here, General. It should only take a minute.”

  Angriff had come to know Schiller well enough to understand that he would never barge in on a meeting of two generals unless it was something truly dire. That was precisely why he had put the sergeant in charge of his office.

  So he stood and laid his cigar in an ashtray, chewed but unlit. “I’m sorry, Tom. I’ll be back soon. In the meantime, help yourself to anything you find. Bathroom’s around the corner.”

  Steeple laughed. “Yes, I know. Take your time; your command comes first.”

  Once down the ramp, Angriff’s sanguine expression darkened. “All right, what the hell is so important, J.C.? This better not be bullshit.”

  The year before, Schiller would have been intimidated by Nick the A, but those days were long gone. They had truly become colleagues, despite the difference in rank, and he knew that was simply how his boss reacted to the unexpected.

  “It’s your daughter, General. She said she needs to speak to you right now. She emphasized the now.”

  “And you didn’t want to patch her in to my office?” Angriff said. “That’s probably a good call. Is she on the encrypted line?”

  “No, sir, I don’t mean talk to her on the radio. She’s here, she’s back, waiting for you in one of the private rooms in the rec hall.”

  “Here? What’s she doing here?”

  “Whatever it is, General, it’s got her pretty upset.”

  “It’s always something,” he said. “Stay here and entertain Steeple until I get back.”

  Leaving the Clamshell, he turned right and walked quickly down the marble hallway, returning salutes every few feet, eyes roaming for threats and one hand on an Eagle. Glancing back, he saw one of Green Ghost’s people tailing him. Razor, he thought, was the man’s name.

  The rec hall was about 200 yards down the corridor. He had only been there a few times, since it was not conducive to helping soldiers relax by having their commander hanging out with them, and so he had to ask a corporal where the private rooms were. He found Morgan in the second one he tried. She was sitting at a small poker table.

  “I thought you were supposed to be checking out Comeback. Why are you here?”

  “Sit down, Daddy.”

  “I don’t want to sit down.”

  “Dad, please,” she said, gently. “Sit down.”

  Something in her voice made him realize that this was not a captain and general conversation; this was father-daughter. He sat, feeling his heartbeat speed up.

  “I went to Comeback as you ordered, Dad. Joe flew me, everything went off like clockwork, and I was able to slip into their Long Sleep chamber, although Nipple had to pull a knife on one of their guards.”

  “And?” he said. “Did you find the John Does?”

  “Yes, I did.”

  “So? Did you get photos so that maybe we can ID them? Have you run them through our database, or given them to the tech people?”

  “No, Daddy, there’s no need. I recognized them.”

  “You what? Who are they?”

  A tear slipped from Morgan Randall’s right eye and slid down her cheek. It was rare that his daughter cried. She reached across the table and touched her father’s hand. “Daddy, they weren’t John Does, they were Janes. It… it’s Mom and Cindy. They’re alive.”

  #

  Chapter 38

  The arrogant cannot stand in your presence. You hate all who do wrong.

  Psalm 5:5

  1417 hours, April 16

  Angriff’s face went slack. He blinked, blinked again, and kept on blinking.

  “Daddy? Dad, are you okay? Talk to me, Dad, you’re scaring me!” Morgan circled around the table and jostled her father’s shoulder.

  He shook his head, as if coming out of a deep sleep. “Your mom and sister… you’re sure?” Confusion distorted his craggy features.

  “There’s no mistake, Daddy. It’s them, all right.”

  He smiled and water filled his eyes. But then the smile faded. His narrowed eyes roamed the room. Lips pressed together until they turned white. His breathing deepened and whistled through his nose. “It seems that Tom Steeple and I have something new to discuss.” The muscles in his forearm tightened as his hands clenched into fists; a drop of blood oozed from the splinter wound.

  Morgan knew the damage those fists could inflict. Growing up, they’d always had a heavy bag hung somewhere for him to pound on. Twice he’d ripped it out with a single blow.

  Angriff started to rise but Morgan stopped him. “Dad, I’ve seen that look. Think! Would he come here without a Plan B? And C, and D? You’ve told us a million times that Steeple should have been a chess player because he sees ten moves ahead. Just because we know they’re alive doesn’t mean they’re safe.”

  Morgan had always had the ability to calm him down and it worked again. The image of his wife and daughter lying in a CHILSS pod drove him into a blind rage, but her words penetrated the fog of his hate and he sat back down.

  “Thanks, sweetheart, you’re right. Steeple had to know we’d find out eventually and what that would do to me, and made contingencies for it. He might even have planned on it. Let me think, let me think…”

  Two minutes later, he called Schiller on the walkie-talkie. “J.C., this is strictest confidence, got it? Do you know where to find Green Ghost? Perfect, tell him to meet me at my quarters in five minutes. It’s urgent. Keep Steeple happy for a little while longer… tell him something blew up or whatever you have to. I should be back in twenty minutes.”

  After he set the walkie-talkie aside, Morgan waited for him to say something. When he didn’t, she touched his forearm. “Dad?”

  “Follow me to my quarters. Steeple’s not the only one who plays chess.”

  #

  Once Green Ghost got there, Angriff wasted no time.

  “Here’s the plan. I spoke to Doctor Friedenthall about transporting someone in Long Sleep and he said it’s possible, but you need a portable CHILSS. We have some, but they aren’t prepped with the necessary chemicals and their batteries aren’t charged.

  “So here’s what we’re going to do. The minimum time for the wake-up sequence is thirty minutes. An hour is better, but we won’t have an hour. Morgan, you and Nipple know where they are, so you’re going to do this part. First you have to shut down the CHILSS. It’s easy enough but you have to follow the checklist exactly. Here’s a copy. Next, you’re going to need two gurneys because they won’t be awake yet, but it should be safe to move them after half an hour. Do they have gurneys there?”

  Morgan nodded.

  “You might want to take your own regardless, so you don’t have to go looking for them. Once that’s done, you take them to Tank Girl and hightail it home. Friedenthall will have a medical team waiting.

  “Ghost, you seize command and control first thing. Secure the elevators on each floor so there’s no interference getting them out. Oh, hell, you know what to do. Just do it fast. I’ll keep Steeple entertained here.”

  “Mushroom theory?” Morgan said.

  “Exactly.”

  “I’m gonna need my whole team,” Green Ghost said. “Maybe a couple more. Frosty’s back from Prescott so we should all be there, but we won’t all fit on one bird, and with two gurneys and the others already there, we might even need a third.”

  “Take ’em all if you need to. But General Fleming will be staying there. Tell him he’s in command of Operation Comeback, and on my authority is cleared to take whatever action he deems necessary to secure that base.”

  “What if somebody starts shooting?”

  “God knows I hope it doesn’t come to that, but whatever actions he deems necessary means just that. A
nything. Got it?”

  “Got it. Do you want a code word for success?”

  “Yeah, good idea. How about the ice is thawing?”

  Green Ghost nodded, but his grim expression showed his displeasure at operating against his own army.

  “Look at the bright side,” Angriff said. “You’ve got the easy part. I’ve got to go be nice to a man I want to kill.”

  #

  Chapter 39

  The tongue is a small thing, but what enormous damage it can do.

  James 3:5

  Operation Overtime hangar deck

  1438 hours, April 16

  Green Ghost took all Task Force Zombie personnel except Razor. Sitting next to him in the bay of Tank Girl was Vapor, with Glide and Wingnut on the other end of the bench. Across the bay on the facing bench were Morgan, Nipple, One-Eye, and Frosty. All of them, including Morgan, wore armor and helmets, and carried both rifles and sidearms, with as much spare ammo as they could carry. Two medical specialists rode with the gurneys in Alisa Plotz’s Hell’s Hammer.

  As the adrenaline of the mission wore off during the one-hour flight, Morgan noticed Nipple snarling and talking to herself. In fact, she seemed to be arguing with herself, and every few seconds she said something obscene that was loud enough to be heard. Most of the words Morgan couldn’t make out over the noise of the engine, but then Nipple said hit and run motherfucker loud enough that even Green Ghost heard it over the engines and six feet away.

  “Nipple, knock that shit off!” he said. “We’re in mission mode now. If you’ve gotta bitch, do it after.”

  “Fuck after. This sucks and you know it!”

  “I said shut up!”

  “He saves Blondie’s mom but not ours! How’s that fair, huh?”

  That brought Green Ghost off the bench and right into his sister’s face. “Shut the fuck up, do you hear me? I mean it.”

  Nipple turned away.

  “What did that mean, about Blondie’s mom but not ours?” Morgan said in a near shout.

 

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