"They may have all stood down," Buddy suggested.
"Maybe," his father agreed, "but as soon as we enter USA s.p.a.ce they"ll be right back in it. They"ll have no choice in the matter."
"There"s more," Corrie said. "Berman has promised Osterman that he will personally hunt you down and bring you in, dead or alive."
216.
"Very ambitious of him," Ben said. "I can"t really say I wish him luck."
"I thought Osterman wanted you alive so she could publicly hang you, Father," Buddy said.
"That order has been rescinded," Corrie told them. "And . . . ah, there is more, too." She looked at the other team members as they quietlygathered around.
"Let"s have it, Corrie," Ben pressed. "Come on, how bad could be it?"
"It isn"t good, Boss," Corrie replied.
"Well?" Ben stared at her.
"It happened just about an hour ago. The Feds were tipped off about the location of some militia members in upstate New York. There was a raid on the edge of the park. A lot of militia members who are aligned with us were captured and then lined up and shot."
Ben felt a coldness wash over him. "Go on, Corrie."
"None of the Rebels we left up there were taken. They were at another area of the park."
"Lara?" Ben asked.
"She"s dead, Boss. That entire group was captured and shot-Chuck, Belle, Nora, the kid, Jimmy ... everybody. There were no survivors."
"I see," Ben"s words were softly spoken. "Well. .. instant justice, huh?"
"Yes. Osterman style. New orders from the White House, just issued a few hours ago. Rebel sympathizers are to be arrested and sent to reindoctrination camps for extensive reeducation. Active Rebel supporters are to be shot on sight."
"That sure as h.e.l.l opens up a brand new can of worms," Ben said softly."
"Doesn"t it?" Without waiting for any reply, he continued. "Madam President is pulling out all the stops."
"Sure gettin" down and dirty, Boss," Cooper said.
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217.
The other team members nodded in agreement, Jersey saying, "Extensive reeducation? That"s just a fancy term for communism."
"Hardline socialism, for sure," Beth said. "Not that there is a great deal of difference between the two."
"I"m sorry about Lara Walden, Father," Buddy said. "I liked that lady."
"Yes. Well ... so did I, son. So did I."
Ben looked at his kids. "You two have your orders. Let"s get cracking."
Ben walked off to stand alone for a few moments. Things that might have been, he thought. I have a full memory trunk of such things. Goes back more years than I care to think about. Getting real dusty now.
Ben and Lara had made love several times in the quiet hours alone and spent a few hours talking about personal things: what they would like to do in the future ... if the future held anything at all for either of them.Ben sighed softly as he stood alone, away from his team. Time to close and lock another door; another door at the end of a very long and twisty hallway. Been too many of them, Ben thought. Too d.a.m.n many doors that I have had to close and bar and walk away from in my life.
How many more"?
Of course, he had no idea about that. Despite what many believed, Ben was as human as anyone else. He could not foretell the future.
He would miss Lara. They had talked about her coming back to the SUSA with him. She had decided against it at that time, said her place was with her people in upstate New York.
"s.h.i.t!" Ben muttered, looking off into the distance.
Behind him, his team waited.
Ben looked back. Buddy and Tina were gone. Time for 218.
him to get gone, too. Bury another memory. Close another door. Throw away the key.
Ben wondered where Lara was buried. And if the Feds who shot the group even took the time to bury them.
Probably not, he concluded.
Ben walked back to his team. "Let"s go to work, gang. We"ve got a war to win."
219.
Ben and his team landed in Central Tennessee and were on the road north an hour later.
"It"s almost a repeat, Boss," Corrie said after listening to a short radio transmission.
"What is?" Ben asked.
"The Feds tried to slam through at several places in Texas. The Texas Home Guard stopped them cold and then proceeded to kick the s.h.i.t out of them. Ran their a.s.ses all the way back where they came from."
Ben smiled. "There are almost two brigades of Texas Militia and Home Guard. Those people are fighting for their homes and families. And for G.o.d and their country.. . which in this case is the SUSA. I don"t worry about the Texas border."
Corrie held up a hand and Ben waited.
"Patrols from our 501 Brigade have crossed over into the USA at several locations. Meeting no resistance."
220.
"Tell them to halt their advance. Wait until we get to the border and Ilook things over."
"Ten four, Boss."
Several hours later, Ben stood on the Kentucky/Tennessee border viewing the scene through binoculars. It all looked very tranquil. He lowered the long lenses and said, "Let"s go across, gang, see what we"ve got.
Order everyone across. Up and down the line."
No resistance. No Federal troops to be found. The first town they came to was deserted, utterly devoid of human life. A few cats and dogs were spotted, but that was it.
"Corrie?" Ben asked, questions in the single word.
"Nothing, Boss. Intel thinks the residents were evaced during the night.
But they don"t know where they went, or were taken, as the case might be."
"How far in does this go?"
"Eyes in the Sky thinks about fifty miles all up and down the border."
"Recon?"
"Pilots reporting nothing, Boss. First concentration of Federals about sixty miles straight north."
"And there are no civilians?"
"Not a one spotted yet."
"Order all units to halt their advance until we can determine what the h.e.l.l is going on."
"Ten four, Boss."
"Scouts out."
An hour later, Scouts were reporting back from all locations that very few civilians were to be found. Those that remained in the contested sectors were for the most part very elderly ... and very stubborn.
"Let"s go talk to some of these people who remained behind," Ben said.
221.
221.
" "I remember you from five or six years ago,"" one elderly man said to Ben as he sat on his front porch. "You and your people came through here and chased off a bunch of punks who was tormenting me and my wife. I never did get to thank you proper for that. So, thank you, General Raines."
"You"re quite welcome, sir," Ben told him. "Now will you answer a few questions for me?"
"Sure. All you have to do is ask."
"Are you alone here?""My wife"s buried in the backyard. She died ... oh, three years back."
"No children to take care of you?"
"We had five kids, General. Three boys and two girls. The oldest boy disappeared during the Great War. Don"t know what happened to him. Never saw or heard from him again. The girls married and left home. Moved up north somewhere. Other two boys went bad on us. Stealing and night rambling. They"re still alive, I think, but I"m not sure where they are.
Don"t much give a d.a.m.n, neither. Rotten little b.a.s.t.a.r.ds."
Ben carefully hid a smile. The old man was not shy about his feelings.
"Why didn"t you leave with your neighbors, sir?"
"Didn"t want to go, that"s why. I"ve lived right here all my life. I was born not five miles from this very spot. I intend to die right here."
"I"m surprised the government didn"t force you to leave with the others."
" "n.o.body forces me to do a G.o.dd.a.m.n thing, sonny boy!""
Anna had to turn her head to hide her smile at the term "sonny boy."
222.
"I figured you Rebels would be along. I been listening to the real radio."
"The real radio?"
"Yeah. Rebel radio. You folks tell the truth with your newscasts. Used to be the Democrats told the truth. Republicans was a pack of liars.
Then the Democrats started lyin", and the d.a.m.n Republicans was the ones told the truth. Then there come the time when neither one would know the truth if it bit "em on the a.s.s. "Bout that time the whole world went belly up and crazy. You folks down in the SUSA is sorta single-minded "bout some things, but you d.a.m.n sure beat the s.h.i.t out of President Osterf.u.c.k and her commie government."
Ben smiled. "That"s ... ah, a very interesting way of describing your president."
"There ain"t no way that d.a.m.n b.i.t.c.h is my president, sonny boy. Altman was all right. I think that was his name. He tried to do right.
Osterfart and her commie buddies killed him. You can bet on that."
"And replaced the supreme court."
"Yep. They d.a.m.n sure did that, too. f.u.c.ked everything up royally is what they done."
"Mister, why don"t you let us move you into the SUSA and get you out of harm"s way?"
"You gonna move my old woman, too? And my brother and sister? My parents is buried on that ridge over yonder. You gonna move them, too? I don"t think so. h.e.l.l, General, I"m over ninety years old. I"ve lived through bad times before. If I don"t make it through this fight ... well, so what? I seen the Second World War come and go, then the Korean war, then Vietnam, then the collapse and the Great War. I"ve lived through a s.h.i.tpot full of bad times. Tell you the truth, I"m just plain tired.Maybe it"s time for me to exit this f.u.c.ked up world. No ... I think I"ll just sit right here and watch what happens."
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"How many folks do you think resisted the order to leave, old friend?"
"Hundreds, General. Town folks, they all tucked their tails "tween their legs and done what they was told to do. But folks like me, in the hills and hollers, we stayed. Can"t nothin" run us out, "ceptin" death."
"Can we leave you anything? Medicines, food, anything at all?"
"I"d like to have some tobacco, if you have any to spare."