Ashes - D Day In The Ashes Part 19

Cooper came panting up with his SAW, and Ben pointed to a shattered window. "Set up there, Coop, and keep a good eye out. We'll toss these bodies outside." That done, Ben turned to Corrie. "b.u.mp Dan and get a situation report."

After a few moments, she said, "Great. No one hurt and advancing on schedule. We took them by surprise on both ends of town."

"But the element of surprise is gone now," Jersey said. "Now it comes down to holding what we have."

"And here they come!" Cooper yelled.

227 None of the Rebels had ever been able to ascertain why the Night People were so infatuated with airports. But they seemed drawn to them like steel shavings to a magnet. And this airport was no different. The creeps poured out of buildings, met the Rebels, and died in the snow and on the tarmac.

The fight for the airport was savage but relatively brief, for the other creeps in the city thought they were being attacked on all sides by thousands of troops--another of Ben's ideas. When the jumpers had left the planes, the pilots did a slow circle of the outer edges of the city with crew members tossing out canisters of smoke and napalm that exploded upon contact with the ground, sending the creepies in the cityinto a wild panic, running in all directions instead of beefing up the two points that were being attacked.

By nine o'clock in the morning the airport was in firm Rebel hands.

Snipers armed with .50-caliber rifles were on the high ground and on rooftops, patrols were 228.

William W.Johnstom out against infiltration, and Ben was positioning his 1 Batt for an attack that never came.

Dan had dug his 3 Batt in tight just inside the city proper and was bracing for a counterattack . . . that never came in full force that morning.

"I wonder why the flesh-eating savages are waiting?" Dan radioed Ben. In the distance the sounds of delayed-action bombs boomed. About half of the bombs dropped after the jump were set to go off all during the morning, further confusing the creeps.

"I don't know," Ben replied. "I'm just glad they are." He checked his watch. Three hours max until Buddy and West dropped in.

And there was no guarantee that Duffy would take the false bait and not try an end around.

"Approximately four hundred kilometers from Paris to Geneva," Beth said.

"Figuring ground time to load, the planes just might be back here way ahead of planned schedule."

Ben nodded his head. "We can always hope."

The pilots poured it on, and the second drop was ninety minutes ahead of schedule. Much to the delight of the worried Rebels north and south of the city, and much to the chagrin of the creeps in the city, just before noon the skies around the city were filled with blossoming chutes.

Buddy and his 8 Batt linked up with his father, and West and his 4 Batt beefed up Dan's troops on the other side of the river.

"Just as soon as Jackie and Danjou are on the ground tomorrow," Ben said to Come, "b.u.mp Ike and 229.

229.

have him release the news to the press." He chuckled. "Then we'll see what Duffy does next."

The creeps tried several night attacks against the Rebels, but the commanders had antic.i.p.ated that and threw them back with superior firepower and ruthless fighting ability.

Just after dawn, when the creepies in the city saw two more full battalions of Rebels fill the faintly blue skies, they knew it was all over for them. The Night People had never successfully met the Rebels ... anywhere in the world.

"Well, I'll be d.a.m.ned," a reporter said, after reading the press release from Ike. "Eight full battalions of Rebels have linked up with resistance fighters from Germany, Switzerland, and Italy and thrown up a north/south line. They've got Duffy and his people in a box."

"We're f.u.c.ked!" Duffy said, after reading the communique from his communications people. "That b.a.s.t.a.r.d Ben Raines saw through it and beat us to the punch."

"Now what happens?" another reporter asked.

"d.a.m.n good question," Ben responded to Jersey's inquiry. "If Duffy figures out this is all one big bluff, we could be in very real trouble."

"Would you believe this town was first settled by people twenty-five hundred years before Christ?" Beth said, reading from an old tourist pamphlet.

"The Celts settled here about 100 B.C.," Ben replied. "Various tribes and countries have been fighting over this area for several thousand years."

"And here we are," Cooper said. "Stone axes and 230.

William W. Johnstone bows and arrows have been replaced by automatic weapons and airplanes."

"That's good, Coop," Jersey said. "Very good. You do have a brain after all. I've been wondering about that for years."

"Let's get this town cleaned out," Ben said, putting an end to it.

The runways were ready to receive planes: Huge transports began landing, disgorging Hummers, APCs, tanks, and all the other supplies needed to wage war. Reporters tried to hitch rides on the planes, to no avail. At Ben's orders, this new front was off-limits to the press.

Street by street the Rebels began taking Geneva from the Night People.

But to the east of Ben, there was trouble waiting that he knew nothing about-yet.

"Bruno Bottger," Mike Richards said, taking a seat in Ben's temporary CP.

"Who?" Ben looked up.

"Self-styled n.a.z.i and head of the new Reich. Bruno Bottger. He and his followers have just overthrown the new government of Germany, and they are the powers to be reckoned with. Bruno is a former skinhead and commander of an army thought to be from 75,000 to 125,000 strong. Well armed, disciplined, and ready to fight for their beliefs."

Ben tossed his pencil to the desk and stared at Mike for a moment. "You have any more surprises for me, Mike?"

"I'm just getting started. I told you Bruno Bottger was a formerskinhead. When he was twenty, he gave 231.

231.

it all up and renounced the movement. Then he went to college, got his degree, and enlisted in the army. He was quickly chosen for the German equivalent of our OCS. Made top grades all the way through, and promotions came quickly for him. He was a captain when the balloon went up."

Ben felt a sick feeling start growing in the pit of his stomach. "Those German troops who came over to help us against Hoffman?"*

"We don't know. We think they're dead, Ben. All of them that Bruno could round up."

Ben rubbed his face with his big, hard hands. He felt suddenly depressed. He thought of those brave men of the GSG-9 who had traveled so far to aid the Rebels. Colonel Lenz, Major Streicher, Major Died, and all the others.

"Bruno killed them, or had them killed?"

"We think so. We think he'd taken them prisoner when he made his bid to seize power, and when he learned the Rebels had been named the World Stabilization Force, he had them all shot."

"I feel like puking."

"Yeah. I do know the feeling."

"Lenz and some of the others were going to stay with me and join up.

They talked about it; they really wanted to stay and fight with us. But love of country pulled them back to Germany. They all talked with me at length. And to a man they were afraid something like this was going to happen." Ben shook his head and looked down at a map for a moment, then lifted his ?BATTLE IN THE ASHES-Zebra Books.

232.

William W. Johnstone eyes to Mike. "I probably know the answer, but I have to ask: The Jews in Germany?"

"In hiding, Ben. And not just in Germany. And ... a good percentage of the members of Bruno's army were not all born in Germany. His forces are made up of men and women from all around the world. But no blacks, Jews, mixed bloods. h.e.l.l, you know the drill."

"Unfortunately," Ben said, "I do." He grimaced. "What Reich is this one, Mike? Sixth or seventh?"

"h.e.l.l, who knows?" the chief of intelligence replied. "The bottom line is this, Ben: We think Bruno has agreed to help Duffy Williams." He held up a warning finger. "But before he does, Duffy has to get rid of all the minorities in his army.""Get ... rid of?"

"Yes. We think that means kill them."

"That suits the s.h.i.t outta me," Marie Vidalier told Duffy. "The sooner we can get rid of all the n.i.g.g.e.rs in the world, the better off we'll all be."

"Personally I'd rather get rid of Ben Raines," Paul Zayon said. "But if shootin' all the spades we got with us is the only way Bruno will help us ..." He shrugged his shoulders. "h.e.l.l, let's do it."

Duffy looked at the other gang leaders: Tom Spivey, Dave Ingle, Robert Fryoux, Ned Veasey, Eddie Stamp, John Monson, Guy Caston, Philipe Soileau. To a person, they slowly shook their heads in agreement.

Duffy looked at two men guarding the door to the meeting room. "Let them in," he called.

The door was opened, and two men marched into 233.

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the room. They were blond and fair and military in bearing. Both of them about thirty years old. They were not related but could have pa.s.sed for brothers in appearance, and thinking. They were from Bruno Bottger's army and had brazenly driven across country to meet with Duffy.

"Well?" one of the men asked Duffy.

"We've agreed to your terms."

"Good, good!" the other man said. "General Bott-ger will be pleased. Now you must show your good faith to us so we can report to the general."

"How?"

"That jungle bunny standing out in the hall," the other man said. "Call him in here, and shoot him in our presence."

Duffy stared at the man for a few seconds, then sighed and nodded his head. "Call that shine in here," he said.

The black gangster from Ma.r.s.eille strolled in and up to Duffy, seated at a desk. "You wanna see me, Duf?"

"Yeah," Duffy said, then lifted a 9 mm and shot the man in the center of the forehead.

"Oh, good!" one of the Aryan twins shouted, as the black hit the floor.

"Very good."

"Excellent!" the other cried out in joy. "You are a man of your word, Herr Williams. You are a true believer in the superiority of the white race."

"Now," the other one said, "you must all shoot a porch monkey in ourpresence. Anyone who does not will be considered an enemy to the MEF."

"The MEF?" Philipe Soileau questioned.

"Yes. The Minority Eradication Force."

234.

"Oh, what the h.e.l.l!" Marie said. "I shot my own sister, and haven't lost any sleep over it. Bring in another shine."

It was to be a very b.l.o.o.d.y and treacherous night.

Mahmud the Terrible, Abdul, Ahmed Popov, Tuba Salami, Jose LaBamba, Romero Richardo, and about two dozen other gang leaders of Negro and Spanish heritage hit the air when the rumors started flying that cold winter's night. They headed for the French countryside faster than any of them had ever moved in their lives. Since Tony Green, a.k.a. Big Stomper, and several other gang leaders of dubious parental couplings weren't exactly certain of their own lineage, they hit the trail with the more obvious.

In Ben's CP, Corrie smiled with grim soldier humor as the airwaves filled with frantic messages.

Ben noticed the smile and asked, "What do you find so amusing, Corrie?"

"Panic in the ranks of Duffy's army. The purge has begun."

"I wonder why I don't feel a bit of sympathy for them," said Jersey, whose ancestors 'way back were Apache Indian. She looked up from cleaning her M-16, her dark eyes unreadable, as usual.

"What are they saying?" Beth asked.

"Some of Bruno's men met with Duffy earlier today. Made each of the gang leaders aligned with Duffy shoot a minority person to prove their allegiance to something called the MEF-I don't know what that is. About a dozen or so minority gang leaders and their 235.

235.

followers took off, fanning out over the countryside. Wait a minute."

She listened for a moment and then said, "The MEF is the Minority Eradication Force." She shook her head and took offher headset. "I lost the transmission-it's garbled. But there sure is a lot of panic going on."

"Nice folks, the MEF," Cooper said. "They're all heart. We're about to be flooded with gang members, boss."

"Probably some of them will seek sanctuary with us," Ben replied. "But they get no amnesty. If they choose to surrender, we'll accept them, but only with the condition that they must stand trial for their crimes, either here or back in North America. Corrie, have communications start broadcasting that on an open frequency. I want those punks to know where they stand, loud and clear."

"The press is going to pick it up," Jersey said."It'll give them something to write about. And I'm sure some of them will condemn me for this action."

With the arrival of all the battalions Ben had a.s.signed to the taking of Geneva, the Rebels were gradually pushing the creepies toward both sides of the river. Ben was trying hard not to destroy the small city, but he was determined not to lose a single Rebel life just to save a building-not if he could help it.

Ben and his people had fought their way to the north side of the Rue de Lyon, with one detachment slugging it out to the edge of the Pare Geisendorf, and Ben and his battalion fighting their way down the Rue de la Servette.

Dan and his command had clawed their way to the 236.

William W. Johnstone north side of the Museum d'Histoire Naturelle-which had been looted and the interior spray-painted with slogans and obscenities-naturally. Punks and other a.s.sorted street slime had a thing about cans of spray paint.

Over the years liberals maintained that the poor little deprived darlings were only expressing themselves, but conservatives had quite a different opinion . . . including the fact that it cost taxpayers a lot of money to clean up what the pus-brains sprayed paint on.