“Incoming!” a voice shouted. The scene twisted and turned as the cameraman jumped into a shallow depression. An explosion blasted smoke and debris over the camera lens, but the audio was still good.
“Oh, God!”
“Medic!”
“Shit! Sarge got it!”
A fourth voice took command. “Forget Sarge! Get that weapon in action!”
Before the screen could clear, Pontowski’s calm voice was there. “The fact that the reporter had time to set up and broadcast so soon, and so close to the action, tells me the UIF is slowing down. The next two or three days are going to be critical, and I’m afraid we’re going to lose a lot of good men before we can stop them.”
Bloomy studied Pontowski’s face as he spoke. Had the president been like that? she wondered. Suddenly she had to know.
Before he left his office that evening, Pontowski telephoned his son at NMMI. He listened to Zack’s excitement over the TV coverage coming from the war and let him unwind. A knock at the door demanded his attention, and he turned around. Bloomy was standing in the doorway, nervously fingering a letter. “Zack,” Pontowski said into the phone, “can I call you back in a few minutes?” He listened to the reply before he broke the connection. “What’s up?”
“My resignation,” Bloomy said. She handed him the letter.
The announcement stunned Pontowski. “Why? Is it something I’ve done?”
She shook her head. “The letter explains it.”
He carefully read the letter while Bloomy waited nervously. “I think it’s great you want to write Gramps’s definitive biography. But why do you have to resign from the library to do it?”
“Because of what I might find,” she answered.
He shook his head. “I don’t think there’s any big surprises lurking in the woodwork.”
“There’s the missing year,” she said quietly.
His brows knitted in worry. “Have you found something?”
Again she was certain that he knew. “There is a most unusual pattern that I can’t explain.”
Pontowski kicked back in his chair. “The only thing that matters is the truth. So find it.”
Bloomy couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “No other conditions?”
“None.”
“Why?”
“Because I trust you to do the right thing.” He handed back the letter. She gave a little nod and quickly left. Pontowski stared at the vacant doorway for a moment and gave a little shake of his head. You’re in for some real shockers. But better you than someone else. He hit the speed dial to telephone his son.
“Zack,” he said, “you calmed down yet?” He listened for a moment. “Hey, you’re not even sixteen yet. This ain’t your war to miss.”
“It’s a good one,” Shaw said as the crew filming the TV clip quickly cleared the Oval Office. More and more, Shaw was managing Turner’s election campaign and portraying the president as a resolute but embattled leader in the mode of Winston Churchill. She leaned back in her chair, taking a few moments to relax. “I’ve got Sam slated to cover the talking heads Sunday,” Shaw told her. The talking heads were the Sunday-morning political talk show pundits. “Unfortunately, he’s on with Leland.”
“I think the vice president is more than capable of handling the good senator,” she said. A vision of Sam Kennett strangling Leland with his one hand on national TV played in her mind.
Nancy Bender appeared in the doorway as an assistant straightened the office. “The deputy chairman of the Joint Chiefs is on six,” Nancy said. Button six on the intercom was the hot line to the National Military Command Center in the Pentagon. Nancy closed the door to give her privacy.
Turner picked up the phone. “Good morning, General.” She listened for a few moments and closed her eyes. “No, he hasn’t arrived yet. I’ll tell him.” She dropped the phone in its cradle and looked at Shaw. “General Wilding is on his way from the Pentagon for a meeting with the ExCom. Please show him in the moment he arrives. I need to speak to him in private.”
Her look told Shaw everything. “Yes, Madam President.” He quickly walked to the entrance to the West Wing to wait for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs. The Army staff car arrived exactly four minutes later. “The president would like to speak to you,” Shaw told Wilding. “Alone,” he added. Please read me right on this and get your act together, he mentally begged. The general jerked his head yes and handed his aide his briefcase.
Maddy came to her feet the moment Shaw ushered Wilding into the Oval Office. She took a little swallow as the door closed behind him, leaving them alone. “I’m afraid there’s bad news, General. We just received news that your son was…” She swallowed harder, hating what she had to say. “Killed in action.” She reached out to touch him but thought better of it. For a brief moment she was back in time, telling another general that his only child, his daughter, had been killed in an aircraft accident. “Is there anything I can do?”
Wilding’s eyes turned misty. “Thank you, Madam President, but no.” Unbidden, he sat down on a couch. She joined him and waited. The general looked at her. “It was what he wanted, to lead men in combat. He knew the risks. He once told me that he would rather be killed than taken prisoner.”
“Because of who you are?” she asked.
Wilding shook his head. “No. Because of who he was.” A long pause. “I think he knew he didn’t have much time. He did everything at full speed. He turned down an appointment to West Point so he could finish college early. Did it in two and a half years and earned a commission through ROTC. But you have to be twenty-one to be an officer, so he enlisted and went armor. He loved those machines. The day he turned twenty-one, I administered his commissioning oath. By then he had two children.” He stared at his hands. “He saw this coming and moved heaven and earth to get to Saudi Arabia.”
Maddy had to ask the question. “Did he use your influence?”
Wilding gave a little snort. “Out of the question. For a moment I almost did intervene and cancel his assignment. But he would’ve disowned me and transferred to the Marines. He told me so.”
“I have considered keeping the children of flag officers from combat, at least when their parent is on active duty.”
“Save that for the politicians.” The general stood up. “Madam President, please excuse me. I need to tell my wife.”
“Certainly.”
Now he was the military professional again, rigid and un-bending, determined to answer the call to duty. He hesitated for a moment. “Madam President, I must warn you. The next thirty-six to forty-eight hours are going to be horrendous. But it’s either fight or surrender.” She stared at him in shock. She had never thought of it in those terms.
Maddy nodded. “Thank you, General, but surrendering is not an option. Take care of your wife and family.”
You’re part of my family, too, Wilding thought. “I’ll be back in an hour.”
A small bean pod bounced off Kamigami, and he looked up. An unbroken jungle canopy stretched over him, effectively hiding the sun. High above his head, Tel’s hand emerged from foliage. Two fingers made a V sign, followed by a finger pointing at the base camp. Tel made a fist, and then fingers extended as he counted. The hand disappeared back into the foliage. Nine enemy in camp, Kamigami thought. They had been watching the old base camp for two days, and this was the first sign of activity.