Chapter 16

It has been two months since my father was killed. A lot has happened since then. The last six Comanche chiefs that Red Hawk had invited joined the Band, swelling our ranks to well over three thousand. The surprise had come when ten chiefs representing the Sioux, Cheyenne, Shoshone, Arapahoe, and Blackfoot tribes had ridden in and asked to join the Band. My concern, and Red Hawk's, was that if they were given access to the modern weapons would they use them to settle old scores?

After long hours of discussion Mom asked the question that led to the answer. She asked, "Why not have Narith make the guns where they won't fire if they turn on us or decide to go off on their own?" So we asked him. He said it was simple enough to do so we went to the ten chiefs and invited them into the Band. Once they were accepted five riders were dispatched to bring the tribes to Ft. Leavenworth.

This solved another problem. At least it did for me. No longer did I care what the current Americans thought of us uniting and forming a country in the middle of the future United States. We would be strong enough to negotiate on our own terms.

Col. Mayes had sent a dispatch to Washington detailing not only the size of the Band but also our weapons and abilities. He did this without knowing of the five other plains tribes joining us.

Washington's response was to send five hundred or so mounted men, two troops of cavalry. We found out about them when Sam Wilson, our first pilot, spotted them. They were just outside St. Louis and coming hard. We had scouted around us out to a hundred miles so we picked out where we wanted to meet Washington's representatives.

When it came time to leave we invited Col. Mayes to go with us. He thought we were just going for a ride. The Sioux, Cheyenne, and other new recruits were all being trained at six new sites. This was done because Leavenworth was getting pretty crowded. That, and the fact we were learning to distrust the good Col. Mayes.

This came about because Tess and Barbara Mayes, the Colonel's daughters, had quietly joined the Band. It seems that they had fallen for a young trooper and this led them to report every thing their father mentioned. Like many families of this time the slavery issue had split the Mayes family. The Colonel brooked no opinions other than his own and, while he was somewhat tolerant of slaves, the man could not stand Native Americans. His daughters simply began listening to their parents conversations and forwarded that information to the Band.

How we kept the news of the new tribes joining us quiet I'll never know, but it was worth it just to see the look on the Colonel's face. We had left Leavenworth with just the 1st Company. Ten miles out we were joined by what was now a fraction of the Band's troops, some fifty five hundred men and women mounted and armed. The look of surprise on the Colonel's face was something to see. That look was repeated when we arrived at the ambush location and he saw another five thousand plus troopers.

"Well Colonel, how do you like the welcome we've put together for the men Washington is sending?" I asked. His reply was interrupted when Robert Mutu, Margaret Mary O'Riley, and Sam Wilson flew over at altitude in the attack helicopters that the aliens had supplied. The three helicopters rocked their stubby wings and flew out of sight to wait for orders.

The new helicopters were sleek and super fast. They could be quiet as a mouse or as loud as a tornado in a cymbal factory. Red Hawk, Fanny, Col. Mayes, and I were sitting on our horses on a hill over looking the valley that the five companies were riding through. When they were half way through Red Hawk turned to Fanny, "Give the signal. Colonel you're going to want to get off of your horse."

The Colonel looked around to see that he was the only one still mounted. "Here they come!" Fanny yelled excitedly.

The Colonel looked where Fanny was pointing, "Oh! It's those flying machines." He had no more than got the words out of his mouth when the entire valley was rocked as each of the helicopters came roaring through the valley at little more than head high.

Between the noise and the dust, they turned the five hundred mounted cavalry into the world's biggest rodeo. Most of the five hundred men were either on the ground or off chasing their mounts. Red Hawk gave the signal and the valley started filling with the buckskin clad members of the Band. Some rode in while others seem to come up out of the ground as they stood up from their hidden foxholes.

Since most of the United States soldiers had lost their rifles when their horses ran off, they were putting their hands in the air as fast as they could. Their commanding officer, a Captain, looked around him and then had one of his sergeants quickly make a white flag.

Red Hawk turned and whistled for a colour guard. When the colour guard rode up, he asked them to make a white flag. Once that was done we rode to meet the young Captain.

Red Hawk, a rather dusty Col. Mayes, he hadn't quite made it off his horse when the helos flew over, and I rode down with the colour guard. When the young Captain saw our flag he gave the order to uncase their colours even though they were afoot.

When we got to the Captain he saluted and then offered us his sword. We returned his salute causing him to look to the Colonel for help. Red Hawk wasn't sure what the sword gesture meant. He turned and looked questioningly at me. "He's offering his surrender."

Red Hawk turned and looked at the young Captain, "Has President Polk declared war on us?"

The Captain was flummoxed, I wasn't sure if it was Red Hawk's question or the fact he now spoke near perfect English. He stuttered a bit then said, "ah No, no sir," he corrected.

Red Hawk chuckled quietly, "Then I have no need of your sword. I am Red Hawk. This is Col. Mayes, the current commander of Ft. Leavenworth, and on his other side is Tom Dunlap. Who are you and what do your orders say to do with us?"

"Captain William Dumas, Sir. I was supposed to use what ever means necessary to break up your group and bring the leaders in for trial."

Red Hawk's brow wrinkled, "Trial for what? We have broken none of your laws. We couldn't have, we are on our own land." Red Hawk turned to me and spoke in Comanche. It was all I could do not to break out laughing. Red Hawk turned back to the captain, "So the United states is declaring war on us?"

Capt. Dumas was even more flummoxed, "Well no, not exactly, but ... Yes Sir. I guess they are."

Red Hawk smiled and turned to a thirteen year old Negro girl who was part of the colour guard, "Hattie, show the Captain how fast you can shoot forty rounds. Your target is the right side if that locust tree."

Hattie turned her pony with her knees and rode a few feet to the left and stopped. She patted her pony on the neck and flipped the selector switch to auto. Then she aimed at the area Red Hawk had given her and pulled the trigger. Seconds later she changed her empty magazine for a full one and emptied it also, "Forty rounds on target sir." Red Hawk grinned and winked at her as she beamed from ear to ear. She loaded another clip in her rifle, chambered a round and then rode back into formation not once using her hands to guide the horse.

Red Hawk turned to the captain, "We have several thousand troopers, all with weapons like that. In a month we will double what we have now, all armed and trained. I doubt your government could defeat us with the weapons that you have available. And that rifle, as you've seen, is not our most powerful weapon. Gather your men Captain." From all over the narrow valley Buckskinned riders brought the soldiers mounts. Other Band troopers brought spare mounts and picked up the people who had manned the foxholes.

It took almost a half hour for all of the troops on both sides to clear the valley. Red Hawk nodded to me and I gave a whistle command. That whistle was echoed through all one hundred and fifteen companies. "Captain, will you please check if all of your people are present and accounted for?" I asked. The captain ordered five lieutenants who screamed at five sergeants who took off to carry out the order. "Captain, as you may have guessed, our commands are given using a series of whistles."

"What was that command that you gave a few minutes ago?" the captain asked.

Before I could answer Capt. Maggie Mills, who had been promoted to Red Hawk's adjutant, slid her horse to a stop and saluted. As soon as Red Hawk returned it she reported, "All present and accounted for Sir!" She then took her place beside Red Hawk. I indicated with a nod my answer. It was twenty minutes later before the five sergeants reported.

Red Hawk turned to the Captain, "Capt. Dumas, please dismount your men and have them hold their mounts tight. This will be very loud." We waited while they went through the same routine of passing the orders down from one level to the next. When they were all dismounted, "Normally I would give the whistle command myself. For today I will speak the command to Capt. Mills and she will give the whistle command. I am sure that you are going to have some questions. You'll forgive us if we are vague or do not answer at all. Please don't try to ask any of our troopers as it could get you shot before Capt. Mills or I could ever stop it. Capt. Mills, dismount your troops and secure their mounts."

Maggie whistled the command 'attention' and listened as it was echoed down the long line of mounted troops. Suddenly the entire body of troopers came to attention. She whistled 'prepare to dismount' followed closely by the order to dismount and secure horses. Capt. Dumas and his lieutenants watched open mouthed as over ten thousand troopers dismounted as one.

"Excuse me Sir," the captain spoke to Red Hawk, "This may be one of those questions you won't answer, but can you tell me how many troops you have here?"

Red Hawk turned to his adjutant Capt. Mills, "One hundred and fifteen companies Sir!" she replied to Red Hawk.

Red Hawk smiled at the shocked look on Capt. Dumas' face, "With one hundred to a company that's eleven thousand five hundred. And before you ask, this is just a small fraction of the troops we have trained and ready. I will not give you an exact count." One of the lieutenants had a very stunned look on his face. Red Hawk handed Capt. Dumas a set of circa 2007 binoculars, "Now Captain, if you will look at the trail where you were, you will see that we have marked off the points that indicate the front and very rear of where your column halted." The captain was too stunned by the optics of the binoculars to do anything more than nod his head.

When one of the lieutenants pulled out a battered brass telescope Maggie snapped her fingers and five more binoculars appeared, causing the lieutenant with the telescope to utter an audible curse. Red Hawk laughed quietly and then turned to Maggie, "Order the 1st Artillery to give me four rounds of smoke." Maggie whistled the command which, unknown to Capt. Dumas and his men, was relayed by radio to Maggie's other half. Major Mill's position was twenty miles to our rear with the heavy artillery.

The air was suddenly ripped as four rounds came streaking in unseen to explode at the front, rear, left and right of the column markers. "Tell the Major he has the target bracketed and to fire eight rounds of HE." Maggie once again whistled the orders and seconds later four explosions went off with almost no separation. They were followed only a fraction of a second later by four more explosions, "Capt. Dumas, in case you're curious, those eight rounds were fired by a four gun battery located over twenty miles behind us."