Chapter 22

"Let me speak to General Lee, please," I told the guy who picked up the sound-powered phone.

"One moment, sir," he answered.

"What's going on, Gav?" Lee's voice sounded worried.

"You need to find someone to relieve me, Jack," I told him.

"Relieve you? Why?"

"They've got Amanda, Jack," I answered, my voice trembling. "I don't think I can give the necessary orders."

There was a long silence on the other end.

"I'll send Gunny to back you up," he said when he came back, "but there's no one to relieve you, Gav. You're the only one available. You know what you've got to do. We've had enough drills on this scenario. Just do what you're trained to do."

"But it's Amanda, for God's sake! You know where he'll take her! I can't give those orders when she's with him!"

"If you don't, Gavin, everything you've worked for is gone, and the one chance we all had to avoid a slide into barbarism is gone with it. You have to do it, Mr. Thompson. You have no other choice."

I stood staring at the tool marks on the wall of the mineshaft after cradling the handset. He was right. I had to give the orders, but how could I? It's not everyone who gets to have two great loves in his life, and I had already lost one to the sickness. Could I give the orders that would likely kill the other? I just couldn't see how.

Suddenly Grey Eagle was at my side, hand on my shoulder.

"Do not worry about your woman," he told me solemnly. "I will take care of her."

With that, he disappeared down one of the new tunnels.

Grey Eagle had been a little rusty in the desert when he first came to the Citadel, but in teaching desert craft to the rest of us, he had become just as silent and deadly as his ancestors. If anyone could free Amanda from the clutches of the Russian, it was he.

So be it. It was the best I could hope for. Heading down another of the new tunnels, I came to where my assigned unit waited in the opening masked by the waterfall. This was the plan that General Lee had come up with, and it had an excellent chance of succeeding - if I could bring myself to carry out my part.

The SeaBees had worked tirelessy to expand the tunnel system until we had a network of new tunnels that riddled the mountains of the Citadel. There were disguised outlets all around the valleys, as well as on the outer slopes. We could literally go anywhere on the mountain unseen and undetected until we fell upon the unsuspecting enemy. This particular outlet was one of the reasons we re-started the waterfall after increasing our water feed from the pipe.

The call had already gone out to the workers on the dams and to the factory colony in the mountains to the east. The People, too, were gathering, unseen, in the canyons and washes of the nearby desert. All that remained was for the sun to go down - and for me to find a way to give an impossible order...

This was what we had finally realized in preparing for the defense of our valley: It could not be effectively defended against a large, determined force, therefore, we turned the tables when attacked. Now the 'victors' of this afternoon's battle occupied the indefensible position, while we prepared to attack from all sides. Two things should be working in our favor: The enemy, unlike us, could not escape into the mine, and they would not be expecting an attack from anywhere but the mine.

God I hoped we were right. The plan, its execution, the fighting, all of that had been practiced so much that it was almost second nature. What we couldn't practice was waiting. The stores we had left in the house consisted mostly of our supply of booze - both scavenged and homemade, and we hoped that the invaders would find it and take advantage of it as we waited for the sun to go down. All communication, now, was through the sound-powered phones, but instead of the squawkbox normally used to signify an incoming call, we had lights on the cradles that flashed when someone rang the station.

"Station 17A," I answered, when the light on our phone blinked.

"They've brought the bus into the compound and offloaded a bunch of women under guard. Looks like they've found the booze, too. Just so you know, the Russian just went into the house dragging Amanda."

"Station 17A out."

That was exactly the news I had been dreading.

I slithered up to the opening on my belly and slowly poked a long tube through the falling water. The sun was almost down behind the western ridge. I slowly scanned the compound. There were sentries posted around, especially near the mine entrance, and the three remaining tanks had at least one man each on board, apparently to man the machine gun on the turret. Lights were on in the house, and I could see men coming out with bottles in their hands. Suddenly, a shadowy figure darted from behind a small Joshua tree to lose itself in the shadows at the north end of the building.

Grey Eagle. It had to be. I crossed my fingers and sent a silent prayer to whatever gods watched over him.

Never mind. It was almost dark, now, and we had to move as soon as the light failed, before drunk gunrunners decided to use the waterfall for a shower. I slid the tube back inside and stood to have a whispered conversation with Gunny as the light waned outside the curtain of water. Suddenly, there was a splash and laughter outside our cave. Everyone instantly flattened against the walls of the tunnel, out of sight. I moved to a spot where a bush grew beside the opening and slowly poked my spy-tube through again. Two guys, two women, clothing left on the rocks. I left the tube where it was and turned to Gunny. A rapid series of hand signals communicated what I knew.

He quickly stripped down to his BVDs and I did the same. I posted Matt and one other as backup, then on our bellies, Gunny and I slipped into the water of the pool. We surfaced once, beneath the falling water, to get our bearings, then swam quickly beneath the surface, knives in hand, to where the couples were intertwined with each other. The view in the fading light was anything but clear, but I found the couple who were my target. I carefully slipped around behind the larger of the two bodies, rehearsing my attack in my head.

There was a commotion nearby and I struck as the couple began to react. The guy's exclamation was cut off by my blade across his throat. As his hot blood spilled across the woman's breasts, she sucked in a lungful of air, preparatory to screaming. I clamped my left hand across her mouth before she could.

"Shh," I whispered urgently in her ear. "If you are quiet, you will not be hurt!"

Wild eyes turned in my direction but she nodded and relaxed a little. Experimentally, I released her mouth while keeping a firm grip on her.

"How... ?" she started to whisper, but I cut her off with a finger across my lips. Gunny had given up on calming the other girl and clipped her on the chin with his fist, knocking her unconscious. As he floated her across the pool, back to the waterfall, I followed, leading the one I was with.

Inside the mine I spoke to the conscious girl in urgent whispers as the guys started easing out around the base of the fall. "I'm sorry, but we have to tie you up until we know we can trust you."

She nodded and didn't resist as Matt efficiently bound her hands and feet and gagged her, then did the same for the unconscious girl that Gunny had carried in.

"We'll be back for you soon," I told them as Gunny and I got our clothes and gear back on.

There was a small space between the water and the wall of the cliff that allowed us to slip out without getting too wet. In the gathering gloom, we slipped further into the valley, encountering no one. We took up position on the side of a berm near the stables and waited for full dark. There would be a moon, later, but once the sun completed its westward journey, there would be an hour or two when we had only starlight to see by.

The noise in the vicinity of the house was getting louder as the alcohol and the release of tension started to take their toll on the enemy. As the time approached to start our own party, my pulse raced and my palms began to sweat. Could I give the order?

"It's time, Gav," Gunny whispered from the darkness to my left.

I nodded, still unsure, and raised my head above the berm to take one last look at the house. I thumbed the switch for my throat mic, but the words stuck and I couldn't get them out.

"Gav," Gunny prompted.

Just then, a huge figure emerged from the front door of the house to yell at a group of men who were fighting over one of the women from the bus. Crap! I needed him to be in the house. I held up a hand to Gunny and pointed. He eased up, saw the Russian, and nodded. Maybe he would stay outside and I wouldn't be able to give the order...

No, of course not. He turned and slammed the door as he went back inside. God I hoped Grey Eagle had done as he promised. Steeling myself, I thumbed the switch and before I could think, whispered, "Now!"

Somewhere on the other side of the compound, someone pushed a button and all hell broke loose. Hard on the heels of the explosion that destroyed Archie's house, came an explosion of gunfire the likes of which I never hope to see again. From the hillsides all around the valley, Metal Storms laid down solid curtains of fire, sweeping the compound with a hellish maelstrom of mixed high explosive and anti-personnel rounds, all unleashed with unbelievable ferocity and uncanny accuracy.