That was when Burl stood up and shouted at the crowd: “Back off!” Burl got nearly instant obedience as members of the Fair and Square Squad recognized their leader and hurried to provide him with backup. Hale was suddenly grateful for the civilian’s presence as he gave orders for the prisoners to form a column of twos and prepare to march up out of the pit as fast as they could.
Meanwhile, having exited the second Lynx, Dentweiler was shouldering his way through the crowd while holding up an 8 X 10 glossy of Henry Walker for everyone to see. “Have you seen this man?” Dentweiler demanded loudly. “If so, where is he?”
There were lots of garbled replies as Burl left the organizing task to the members of the Fair and Square Squad and hurried over to the spot where the Walkers liked to eat their meals. The carefully wrapped recorder and the recordings had been hidden there, in a crevice between two large rocks.
But they were gone.
Burl was disappointed, and started scanning the crowd for Walker, when one of his buddies hurried over. “Harley, you crazy sonofabitch! You made it! And you came back… Never mind that serving of glop you owe me. We’re square.”
Burl grinned. “Good. I was going to mention it if you hadn’t.” Then he resumed his search, and said, “Where’s Walker? I don’t see him anywhere.”
“They took him,” the man announced sadly. “Yesterday morning, along with twenty-three others. He’d been here a long time, Harley, you know that, and the poor bastard’s luck ran out.”
“Damn it,” Burl said disgustedly. “Twenty-four hours. The difference between life and death. Do me a favor would you? Help the squad get everybody ready to go. I’ve got to speak with Lieutenant Hale.”
The Sentinel was standing next to his Lynx, listening to the latest in a series of sit reps from the noncoms up on the rim, when Burl materialized out of the crowd.
“Thanks for the help,” Hale said, as he eyed the area around him. “What’s up?”
“It’s Walker,” Burl replied soberly. “I know what happened to him.”
Hale’s eyes came around to meet Burl’s.
“Yeah? Where is he?”
“He’s almost certainly dead,” Burl answered. “But we need to find his body. He was carrying audio recordings of President Grace laying plans to open negotiations with the stinks. Can you believe that shit? I didn’t, until he let me listen to some of them. That’s why Henry and his wife were headed for Chicago… They were going to give the tapes to the Freedom First people, except the Chimera grabbed them the same day the bastards got me.”
It took a moment for Hale to absorb the full gravity of what he’d been told. But once he had a chance to think about it, everything fell into place. Walker’s decision to quit his job, the desperate attempt to reach Chicago, and Dentweiler’s overriding desire to locate the ex-Secretary of War. That, coupled with Susan’s parting words, helped Hale make up his mind. “So you think the recordings would be on Walker’s body?”
Burl looked relieved. “Yes. They aren’t where he normally kept them—so I feel certain he took them.”
“Up to the Processing Center?”
“Yeah,” Burl answered. “We didn’t know what it was… but yes.”
“Okay,” Hale said thoughtfully. “I’ll see what I can do. But keep it to yourself. Understood?”
Burl looked grateful as Dentweiler arrived. “Yes,” he said. “Understood.”
“The bastard is dead!” Dentweiler reported triumphantly as he took his place in the second Lynx. “Come on… Let’s get the hell out of here.”
Hale was about to reply when Kawecki’s voice came in over his headset.
“Echo-Five to Echo-Six… We have trouble, sir. Two Stalkers and a Goliath are approaching from the east. There’s plenty of ground troops, too. Maybe two hundred or so.”
Hale swore silently. No matter what he did there wouldn’t be enough time to load the prisoners and pull out without a fight. Never mind the Walker problem.
“This is Echo-Six… Establish an observation post out to the west and tell them to keep a sharp eye out. Once we pivot to the east, we don’t want anyone sneaking in behind us. Put everything else in front of those buildings. We’ll use them for cover and try to defend them. And don’t forget those mortars. Put ′em to work. I’ll be up in five minutes. Over.”
Once again Hale was reminded of the complexities associated with a larger command as he thought about the Stalkers, the Goliath, the people lined up at the foot of the road, and the vulnerable VTOLs parked on the ground above. Time was everything, and there wasn’t enough of it.
The Chimeran armor would be within striking distance by the time the prisoners made it up to the top of the crater.
Such were Hale’s thoughts as Dentweiler yelled at him from the second Lynx. “What are we waiting for, Lieutenant? We have what we came for… I need to get back to Denver.”
Hale glanced up at the gunner who was standing in the back of his Lynx. Pointing at the Chief of Staff, he spoke forcefully. “See the man over there? If he speaks without my permission blow his head off.”
“Yes, sir!” the gunner said without hesitation, and he swiveled the big .50 around so that it was aimed at Dentweiler’s skull. That caused the gunner standing behind the Chief of Staff to swear and jump to the ground. For his part Dentweiler turned pale and slid down into the passenger seat like a deflated balloon.
Having bought himself a moment in which to think, Hale turned to Burl. “Things have changed… Tell the prisoners to line up in alphabetical order. Then break them into thirty-person groups. There isn’t much space next to the lake, so the VTOLs will have to land one at a time. Load ′em as fast as you can. Understand?”
Burl nodded grimly. “And the recordings? You’ll look for them?”
“If I can,” Hale promised. “But the prisoners and my troops come first.”
“Thank you,” Burl said sincerely. “Thank you very much.”
“Time to go topside,” Hale said as he took his seat in the Lynx. The driver put his foot down, the vehicle sped upslope, and Hale issued orders to Purvis. “Echo-Six to Bravo-One. The stinks are closing from the east. You’ll have to land in the pit in order to load passengers. But there’s only room for one bird at a time. Copy? Over.”
“This is Bravo-One,” Purvis replied. “I copy. How many passengers? Over.”
“About a hundred and fifty, give or take,” Hale replied. “Over.”
“That won’t leave room for all of your troops,” Purvis objected. “Over.”
“Roger that,” Hale replied stoically. “So don’t stop for a beer on your way back… We might not be here if you do. Echo-Six out.”
The first VTOL was already in the air and in the process of lowering itself into the crater, when the two four-by-fours emerged from the pit and skidded to a stop. Hale was the first one out and immediately pointed a finger at Dentweiler. “If you want to live, keep your mouth shut and stay with me.”
Then, turning to the drivers, he gave them fresh orders. “Head east, find those Stalkers, and take ′em down. The tanks will tackle the Goliath.”
Both drivers nodded, and as Dentweiler’s boots hit the ground they roared away. The battle began as the Chimera sent salvo after salvo of high explosives arcing down on the cluster of buildings—and the humans answered with cannon fire from the M-12 tanks and hit-and-run attacks from the speedy All-Purpose Vehicles.
Thunder rolled as Hale and Dentweiler arrived on the east side of the big barnlike maintenance shed, and took cover in the grease pit Kawecki was using as a command bunker. Hale’s first task was to get a grasp on the overall situation and assume command.