William W Johnstone - Ashes 25 - Ambush in the Ashes (txt)

OUT OF THE LOOP

Ben knew the instant he put eyes on Paula Preston that she was going to

be big trouble.

"I am the only remaining official from the United States Consulate left

in this city," she told him, sticking out her chin. "What happens here

in North Africa is my business."

"We're not from the United States of America," Ben said.

"Of course, you are. Where is the American flag? Why aren't you flying it?"

"I am Ben Raines, Ms. Preston. Commanding General of the Armed Forces of

the Southern United States of America. The SUSA."

"You're what?"

"You don't know what happened in America, do you?"

"We've been cut off here for years with no electricity, no

communication. We knew there was some sort of civil war, but. . ."

"The SUSA won. The United States is broken up into four sections now,

Ms. Preston. I have nineteen battalions here in Africa. We're stretched

out over the entire continent."

"I fear that Field Marshal General Bruno Bottger has you outnumbered,

sir. Even with your nineteen battalions."

"The Rebels are always outnumbered, Ms. Preston. We're used to that."

"The . . . Rebels? The Southern United States of America and the Rebel

army? Then you fly the stars and bars of the Confederacy?"

"No. We do not. We fly the stars and stripes, Ms. Preston. We just don't

have as many stars as before."

3 WILLIAM W. JOHNSTONE THE PREACHER SERIES

ABSAROKA AMBUSH (0-8217-5538-2, $4.99/$6.50)

BLACKFOOT MESSIAH (#7) (0-8217-5232-4, $4.99/$5.99) THE FIRST MOUNTAIN

MAN (0-8217-5510-2, $4.99/$6.50)

THE FIRST MOUNTAIN MAN: (0-8217-5511-0, $4.99/$6.50) BLOOD ON THE DIVIDE

Available wherever paperbacks are sold, or order direct from the

Publisher. Send cover price plus 50$ per copy for mailing and handling

to Kensington Publishing Corp., Consumer Orders, or call (toll free)

888-345-BOOK, to place your order using Mastercard or Visa. Residents of

New York and Tennessee must include sales tax. DO NOT SEND CASH.

4 Ambush In The Ashes

William W. Johnstone

Pinnacle Books Kensington Publishing Corp.

http://www.williamjohnstone.com

5 This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogues

are products of the author's imagination and are not to be construed as

real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is

entirely coincidental.

PINNACLE BOOKS are published by

Kensington Publishing Corp. 850 Third Avenue New York, NY 10022

or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher,

excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that

this book is stolen property. It was reported as "unsold and destroyed"

to the Publisher and neither the Author nor the Publisher has received

any payment for this "stripped book."

Pinnacle and the P logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.

First Printing: February, 1998 10 9876543"

Printed in the United States of America

6 A prince being thus obliged to know well how to act as a beast must

imitate the fox and the lion, for the lion cannot protect himself from

traps, and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves. One must therefore

be a fox to recognize traps, and a lion to frighten wolves.

-Machiavelli

7 One

The loading for the long voyage had begun.

A dozen ships, heavily laden with equipment and supplies, had already

set sail, half a dozen tanker ships with them, filled to overflowing

with fuel for the Rebels' vehicles. They would loaf along until the rest

of the convoy caught up with them.

Ben's One Batt would be the first Rebels to set sail, and the first

ashore in Morocco . . . after Ike's SEALs went in to check things out.

Ben paced the docks all day, day after day, until his ship was ready to

go and his One Battalion was on board. He stepped up the gangway and

turned to look back at Ike and the other Batt Corns, standing on the

dock. He tossed them a very sloppy salute; they returned the salute in

like manner. Ben turned away and stepped on board.

The deck was filled with lashed-down vehicles, from pickup trucks to

Hummers to deuce-and-a-halves. Many of the Rebels would sleep in the

trucks on the way over.

The factories in the SUSA had been working overtime for a year, gearing

up for this voyage, working around the clock producing bullets and

grenades, boots and bras, field rations and mortar rounds, uniforms and

socks, notepads and maps, spare parts for every piece of equipment the

Rebels used, headgear and bandages,

8

and ten thousand other articles that the Rebels would need long before

this campaign was over . . .

This ambitious campaign to Africa that no one, including Ben, had been

all that anxious to undertake.

But it had to be done. The Nazi, Bruno Bottger, had to be stopped; he

could not, must not, be allowed to grow any stronger, to establish any

further inroads in territory.

Ben looked down at the docks as the lines were freed and his eyes caught

those of President Cecil Jefferys, staring up at him. Ben lifted a hand

in farewell and his long-time friend returned the gesture. Both of them

knew this campaign might take a year, it might take five years.

No one knew.

For the Rebels were sailing into the unknown.

Nineteen oversized battalions were sailing, each with their own backup

of tanks and artillery; thousands of combat-ready men and women under

the overall command of Ben Raines.

Dr. Lamar Chase, die Rebels' Chief of Medicine, walked up to stand at

Ben's side as the tugs began to ease die big ship away from its slip

along the docks.

"How's Cooper?" Ben asked.

"Already suffering from seasickness," Lamar said with a smile. "It's

going to be a long voyage for Coop."

Cooper, Ben's driver.

"I'm sure Jersey is giving him a very bad time of it."

"Naturally."

Jersey was Ben's diminutive bodyguard, part Apache Indian.

"Beth?"

"She had her head stuck in a book about Africa when I passed by her a

few minutes ago.

Beth, the statistician of the team.

"Anna?"

9

"Should be in school and you know it. However ..." The doctor quickly

held up a hand. "... I know she would have defied you and stowed away

had you tried to insist on that."

Anna, Ben's adopted daughter. Eighteen years old, beautiful, and one of

the most deadly guerilla fighters ever to put on a uniform. Ben had

found the dirty-faced little waif in Europe and taken her in.

"Corrie?"

"Fiddling with her radio equipment."

Corrie, Ben's radio tech.

Corrie, Jersey, Cooper, Beth, Anna: Ben's personal team.

The huge engines of the ship began grumbling; Ben could feel the

vibration under his boots.

Chase pointed. "Another ship moving away from the docks."

"That'll be Therm's Headquarters Batt. Ike's 2 Batt will be shoving off

a few minutes behind Therm. The rest will be moving out in numerical

order after that."

Chase glanced at Ben and smiled but said nothing, knowing Ben's reply

had been automatic. Dr. Lamar Chase had been through all this before.

Lamar had been one of the original few to follow the dream of the

Tri-States philosophy of government. He had been there when the dream

was born, and had survived the federal government's almost successful

attempts to smash it into oblivion.

But the dream would not die; the philosophy lived on and grew and

flourished despite everything the federal government did to kill it. And

the government did much to kill the dream, including character

assassination of many of the followers of the Tri-States philosophy,

false accusation of crimes, bankrupting followers by punitive measures

through the IRS, and sometimes

10

even killing a too-vocal follower of the Tri-State movement.

The biased and left-wing controlled press did their part, too, in

attempting to destroy anyone who did not roll over and kiss the ass of

Big Brother Government. Anyone who spoke too loudly against the

government was called a whako, a gun-nut, a right-wing conspiracy freak,

and if anyone dared join a group that had the courage to speak openly

against the government, the press called them government haters.

Finally there was what was called the Great War among the nations of the

world, followed by a devastating worldwide depression. In America, there

was a revolution by followers of Ben Raines and the Tri-States

philosophy of government.

Then there was anarchy all over the world; that is, anarchy in every

area not controlled by the force that had become known as Ben Raines Rebels.

But through it all the Rebels prevailed, until finally they formed their

own nation: the Southern United States of America, the SUSA. And with

the emergence of a new nation came the mightiest army on the face of the

earth: the Rebels.

Ben Raines and his Rebels had roamed all over North America, clearing

the nation of gangs of lawless punks and thugs and street slime. They

had helped hundreds of thousands of American citizens, who either could

not or would not help themselves, to stand up and face reality and start

the process of rebuilding. And for that, the Rebels had received very

little in the way of thanks. They had traveled to many countries of

Europe, helping to restore order in that part of the world. Now they

were on their way to Africa to see what surprises that huge continent

held in store for them.

"Ben," Lamar Chase broke a long silence between

11

them. "This could prove to be the costliest campaign in terms of human

life the Rebels have ever been on."

"I know, Lamar. Believe me, I know. I vacillated a dozen times on this

decision."

"Let me explain, Ben. I wasn't speaking in terms of combat alone ..."

Ben looked at him.

"We're going into a hotbed of exotic diseases; diseases that the men and

women of the CDC-when there was a CDC-were fighting day and night to

find cures for. For weeks, I've had my people studying everything they

could find on Africa, trying to stock up with as many types of vaccines

and medicines as I could think of. Ben, before the Great War and the

revolution, you spent some time in Africa as a mercenary. What was your

impression of the country?"

Ben Raines had never denied his employment with the CIA, sometimes

working as a mercenary for the Company. "A land of many contrasts,

Lamar. Some parts of it lush and beautiful, some harsh and totally

unappealing. Personally, I never liked Africa. And I'll be honest with

you: if Bruno Bottger and his people were not there, we wouldn't be

sailing for that continent."

"Ben, I've known you for a long time. I've seen you risk your life

dozens of times to save people of all colors. So I know that hesitation

isn't based on race. What is it?"

"Some writer, some philosopher, once wrote that it is always five

minutes to high noon in Africa. People much more intelligent than I have

tried to figure out what he meant by that. I think he meant that

somewhere in Africa, at any given time, it's showdown time; a crisis is

about to explode. Lamar, there are hundreds of languages and thousands

of dialects in Africa. There are old hatreds between tribes that go back

countless

12

centuries. And we re not going to heal those rifts; no white man has

ever managed to come close and I'm not even going to try. If these

people want to kill each other off, let them. I don't care. I'm going to

deal with Bruno Bottger and once that is done, we're out of there as

fast as we can board ship and get gone."

"But we are going to try to form some working relationship with various

countries?"

"I'm going to make a very perfunctory effort, Lamar. Look, you don't

understand African politics. I can make a deal with the ruling

government of some country today, and before the ink is dry, some of the

other tribes in that country will immediately begin plotting against it.

In a week or a month or a year there will be a coup, or an attempted

coup, or an assassination, and the agreement won't be worth the paper

it's written on. I've seen it happen too many times."

"So we just do what we can for the people, the Band-Aid solution, if you

will, and walk away?"

"That's about it, Lamar. They've got to work out their own internal

problems."

"While countless thousands die from hunger, disease, and warfare?"

"They've been doing that for centuries, Lamar. Seems to me the more

technology we pour into that continent, the worse it becomes. A few

benefit, the masses suffer. Maybe it's time to say, 'We're out of here.

Somebody will be back in a hundred years. I hope you've solved your

problems by then. Don't call us. We'll call you.' "

"And the continent continues to be exploited."

"Of course. The U.S did, France did, Germany did, Belgium did, England

did. Every nation that ever ventured there had a hand in raping the

country and screwing the people."

"Because of the greed of various nations."

13

"And the ignorance of the people who were in power at that particular time."

Lamar looked at Ben for a long time, then slowly shook his head and

turned, walking away without another word.

Jersey strolled up to stand beside Ben. "Dr. Chase looks pissed, boss."

"It's the way of the world, Jersey," Ben said. "The strong exploit the

weak. The educated often take advantage of the uneducated and less

fortunate."

"I'm glad I missed that conversation," she said. "On a lighter note,

Cooper says he's dying and wants somebody to witness his last will and

testament."

"Cooper will be dying for a couple of weeks," Ben said. "And as soon as

his boots touch soil, he will be miraculously cured of his seasickness.

It never fails. Just leave him alone and let him wallow in his self-pity."

"Which he does so well," Beth said, walking up.

The ship just then gave a great lurch and somewhere forward Cooper

cried, "Oh, my God. I'm dying!"

Jersey sighed. "It's going to be a long trip."

14 Two

The Rebels cleaned equipment, sharpened already razor-sharp knives, read

books, studied maps of Africa, played various card games, and caught up

on sleep during the sea voyage across the Atlantic. Cooper managed to

make everybody miserable with his constant moaning about being sick . .

. until a group of Rebels threatened to keelhaul him if he didn't shut

up about it. Cooper suffered in silence after that . . . except when

around the Team.

And everybody got caught up on their shots.

"I have never received so damn many shots in all my life," Ben bitched

one calm sunny morning, as he stood in line on the deck with his team,

waiting to get stuck in both arms. "My ass still stings from those damn

shots the other day."

"Oh, shut up, Raines," Dr. Chase chided him. "I'm saving the best for last."

"I'm not sure I want to know about it, you damned old quack," Ben responded.

Lamar chuckled at Ben's antics. "I have never seen a man so goosy about

taking shots, Raines."

"I wouldn't be if you sadists would cool it with the square needles!"

Ben fixed his long-time friend with a hard look. "And what is this crap

about 'saving the best for last?' "

15

"Oh, you'll see, Raines," Chase replied, a wicked look in his eyes.

"You'll see."

"Seeing is one thing, you old fakir. Feeling is quite another."

Chase walked away, chuckling.

"What the hell's he talkin' about, boss?" Jersey asked.

"I don't know, Jersey. But you can bet your boots it isn't going to be

pleasant."

"What were those shots they gave us in the butt yesterday?" Anna asked.

"My rear end still hurts."

"I asked one of the medics," Beth said. "She just smiled and said it

might help if I was real careful and didn't stand in swamp water for too

long."

"What the hell does that mean?" Corrie asked.

"Who knows?" Cooper said. "I know only that when we get through, if

there's a way to catch a plane back, I'm going to take it. You can bet

on that."

"How many more of these damn shots do we have to endure?" Ben asked a

passing doctor.

"Only a few more, sir," the doctor replied. He smiled. "Tomorrow is the

last one." Then he hurried on.

"I didn't like that smile worth a damn," Jersey said. "Those doctors are

about to spring a surprise on us."

"It's all for your own good, my precious little cactus flower," Cooper

needled her.

"Stick it up your kazoo, Cooper," Jersey told him.

"Women to the left, men to the right," a medic yelled from the front of

the line. "Women step behind that canvas and drop your britches."

"Aw, shit!" Jersey hollered. "My ass still hurts from yesterday!"

"What you need is some tender loving care," Cooper told her. "And I am

just the man for the job."

"What you're going to get is a rifle butt in the teeth, Cooper," Jersey

responded. "I hope they break the damn needle off in your arm."

16

"Now, now, my beauty," Cooper smiled. "WHA-HOOO!" Cooper yelled as a

medic jabbed a needle into his upper arm and popped the vaccine to him.

"I just wish I knew what lay in store for us tomorrow," Ben muttered

through clenched teeth.

"The last one, General," a medic said, popping the needle into Ben's arm.

"I suppose I should take some comfort in that," Ben said with a grimace

as the medic pressed a piece of cotton against his arm.

"Hold that there for a few seconds, General. That's it. Move along, please."

From behind the canvas, Jersey yelled, "What the hell did you just jab

me with, you blacksmith? A friggin' railroad spike?"

The next morning, Ben looked up from studying maps, as Lamar Chase

approached.

"What do you want?" Ben demanded.

"I will spare you the indignity of having the troops watch their

commander sink to his knees, Raines. Stand up and pull up your shirt."

"Why?"

"Just do it, Raines. Don't argue. This shot is very important."

Ben stood up and pulled up his shirt. "What is it?"

"A combo." Lamar swabbed Ben's stomach with alcohol and opened a small

black case.

"Did you take one of these things, you old goat?"

"We all did, Raines. Untense your stomach muscles. That's it. Now this

is going to hurt you a lot more than it does me."

"Thanks so very much." Ben grunted as the needle went in, then a burning

sensation overwhelmed his stomach area. "Jesus H. Christ, Lamar," he

groaned,

17

grabbing hold of the edge of the small desk in his quarters.

"Not very pleasant, is it?"

Ben sat down in a chair and groaned, both hands holding his stomach.

"What was that?"

"A combination of vaccines, Ben. Well, I've done all I can do to protect

us ... including boosters for us all. Probably overkill, really. But we

don't know what we're heading into, do we?"

The pain had lessened in Ben's stomach and he exhaled in relief. "For a

fact, Lamar. What all have we been inoculated for?"

"Oh, typhoid, tetanus, hepatitis, meningococcal meningitis, anti-rabies,

anti-venom. The pills you all started taking several weeks ago and will

take every day for as long as we are on the continent are for malaria.

Let's see . . . well, we all took some experimental shots for dengue

fever. I don't know whether they'll work or not, but they damn sure

can't hurt ..."

"That's a matter of opinion," Ben interrupted.

"Oh, shut up, you big baby. Let's see, what else? Well, you all got some

pretty heavy duty shots of gamma globulin. You received some shots that

will help-supposedly-in warding off some afflictions as elephantiasis,

hydatid disease, leishmaniasis, schistosomiasis ..."

Ben held up a hand. "I don't want to hear any more about it, Lamar. I

don't know what the hell you're talking about anyway. I only hope you do."

"Trust me."

"Do any of us have a choice in the matter."

Lamar smiled. "Actually, no."

From the restored Port of New Orleans in the nation of SUSA to Africa is

not an overnight cruise. With the ships heavily cargoed, the trip took

days. Luckily the

18

seas were unusually calm and the voyage uneventful. . . except for an

occasional case of seasickness and a whole lot of bitching from Cooper.

The Rebels on each ship exercised daily to keep the kinks out of their

muscles and to give them something to do ... and to bitch about.

Ben worked on deck whenever possible, even though his quarters were

private, airy, and very nice.

Beth spent much of her time studying books out of the cases she had

brought with her on Africa. On the voyage over, she was boning up on

Morocco.

One sunny morning she sat down beside Ben, the team gathered around her,

and opened a map. "Where are we going to land, boss?"

Ben stuck a finger on the map. "Right there, Beth. Tangier." He looked

at the date on his watch. "In two days. The battalions will start

stretching out immediately. Ike and his 2 Batt will travel across the

top of North Africa to Egypt. We know that the northernmost part of

Libya is relatively secure. Israel took care of that . . . with some

assistance from Egypt. Egypt is secure and prospering. We confirmed that

when Israel finally opened up lines of communication with us."

"How about those other mideast countries that were sworn enemies of

Israel?" Corrie asked.

"So far as we have been able to determine, they have been neutralized,"

Ben said. "They are no longer a threat to anyone."

"So we don't worry about them this run?" Cooper asked.

"I don't think anybody will ever again have to worry about those

terrorist nations," Ben said softly. "Not for a long, long time."

"So we're taking the west side of the continent?" Jersey asked.

19

"That's it, gang. When the battalions have stretched out west to east,

we start working south."

"What's the time factor on this, General Ben?" Anna asked.

"There is no way of determining that, Anna. We might be over here for

years. I won't even make a guess. Hell, we might be tied up in North

Africa for months fighting our way through highly organized resistance.

Then we still must face our main opposition."

"Bruno Bottger," Corrie said softly.

"Yes. Good ol' Bruno and his Nazis. Jesus, I wish I could have killed

that son of a bitch in Europe."

"We gave it a pretty good shot," Jersey reminded him.

Ben sighed. "Yeah, we did. Well, better make sure you've got all your

gear together. Forty-eight hours is going to pass pretty quickly."

After his team had left, Ben sat for a time, deep in thought. Then he

folded his maps, tucking them away in a waterproof map case, his other

papers going into a briefcase. Then he went in search of the SEAL team

who would be going in first.

Forty-eight hours was ticking down toward jump off time.

"Looks peaceful enough," Lamar Chase remarked, standing beside Ben at

William W Johnstone - Ashes 25 - Ambush in the Ashes (txt)

相关推荐

开通VIP享超值会员特权

作者详情

相关内容

热门标签

举报选择: