Ashes - Standoff In The Ashes Part 20

"Yeah," Dan replied. "I'm deeply touched."

"You people are savages!" a man yelled. "Nothing but filthy savages."

"Another Osterman supporter," Lara remarked.

"You d.a.m.n right, I am!" the civilian yelled. "She's the 176.

William W. Johnstone greatest president this country has ever had. And she'll have you traitors hanged."

Ben yawned. "I thought you socialist/democrats didn't believe in the death penalty."

"We do for people like you."

"Karl would be so proud," Ben told him.

"Huh?" the man said. "Karl who?"

"Marx. He would be thrilled with your form of government, I'm sure."

"I'm no d.a.m.n communist!"

"No? Well, you're sure doing a great imitation of one. Fooled me."

"Airport is secure," Lara said before the civilian could respond. "For the moment," she added. "The local Federal police will be here shortly."

"They sure will," a woman said. "And then we'll see how tough you fascists are.""Yeah," a security guard said. "They'll take care of you d.a.m.ned militia trash."

"Right," Nora said. "I'm sure they will." She laughed in the guard's face.

Ben had placed a squad of his people on the road leading into the airport. They were waiting, backed up by two M-60 machine guns.

"Ernie all set?" Ben asked.

"He's ready," Lara said.

Ernie was a former air controller who had been fired because of his openly stated views against Osterman and her socialist form of government.

Lara held up a hand. "Planes lining up for landing. Ernie says there are several dozen of them."

"Probably more than that," Ben muttered. "Cecil and Ike have overreacted . . . again."

"They're just worried about you, Ben," Lara replied.

"They should know by now I can take care of myself."

177.

177.

"And you like to lone wolf it, don't you?"

Ben smiled. "I rather enjoy it, yes." He looked over at the wounded security guard. A freedom fighter who had been an EMT before views of Osterman and her policies got him into trouble was looking after the man's wounds.

"Fifteen minutes to touchdown, Ben," Lara said.

"Let's get these civilians some coffee and settled down," Ben suggested.

"It's going to be interesting when that commercial flight starts calling in for landing instructions."

"We can divert it."

"Is it prop or jet?"

"Prop."

"Oh, h.e.l.l, let it land. We'll let these people get on their way."

Lara looked at him for a moment and then shook her head and laughed aloud.

"What's so funny?"

"You! You're the calmest man I have ever met. Nothing seems to shake you up."

Ben smiled at her. For the past few days s.e.xual tension had been building between them. Ben had done his best to ignore the feeling-for he had learned the hard way that getting involved in the field was not asmart move- but the feelings just kept building between them.

"This guy's gonna be OK," the EMT called. "But he's going to need some surgery to get a couple of slugs out of him."

"Call an ambulance for him," Ben said. "h.e.l.l, the whole d.a.m.n town will know we're here in a few minutes. No point in delaying medical treatment for him."

"Right, General."

Five minutes later the huge cargo planes began landing and taxiing off the main runway. The cargo masters went 178.

to work, quickly unloading personnel and equipment, and that was a job that was going to take most of the night.

"Good G.o.d!" Nora said, gazing in awe out of the terminal window. "I've never seen so many planes in all my life, and Ernie says there are dozens of planes circling or holding some distance out."

"We'll have more than a toehold up here when this night is over," Ben said, after listening to Lara's headset for a moment and then acknowledging the message. "Ike sent in several battalions of troops and armor and artillery to back them up."

"Several battalions!" Chuck breathed the words.

"Yes. Come on. Let's get out onto the tarmac and greet the troops." Ben smiled genuinely. "And I'll let you meet my son."

"That would be an honor, General," Chuck said.

On the tarmac, Ben waved at a young man standing off to himself watching the proceedings. Buddy Raines walked over and shook his father's hand.

"Good to see you're doing well, Father. And I like the beard. Looks good on you."

"I'm about to shave it off, boy. d.a.m.n thing itches. Buddy, I want to introduce you around."

After the introductions, Ben asked, "All these people from your brigade, son?"

"Yes, sir. Three thousand of them."

"Ike order you in?"

"Yes, sir. You know he did."

Buddy Raines's 508 Brigade was made up in part of his old Special Operations Battalion. The Spec Ops were the bad boys and girls of the Rebels-Special Forces, Rangers, SEALs, Force Recon, Air Commandos, and French Foreign Legion all rolled into one. They were the most highly trained and lethal of all Rebels.

"How's my team?"179 179.

Buddy grinned. "Standing right over there," he said, pointing.

Ben's eyes followed the point, and he smiled. Jersey, Corrie, Beth, Cooper, and Anna were standing off to one side of the crowded tarmac.

"Well, I'll be d.a.m.ned," Ben said. "I should have guessed you wouldn't be able to leave them behind." He waved them over and introduced them.

"The team we have all heard so much about," Chuck said.

"Nothing good, I hope," Jersey replied without changing expression. Only her dark eyes twinkled with humor. "I wouldn't want to tarnish our reputation."

Chuck smiled at the diminutive Rebel. His eyes shifted over to Corrie, then Beth, then Anna. All lovely, and each of them as dangerous as a den of rattlesnakes. He looked at Cooper; same coldness in the eyes. A very skilled and deadly group of young men and women, Chuck concluded.

Chuck cut his eyes to Buddy Raines. My G.o.d, the man was solid! He had heard that Ben's son was powerfully built. Now he knew it for a fact.

Chuck looked at Lara. She was watching the Rebels una.s.s the planes. The men and women under Colonel Buddy Raines were all, as the saying went, "Lean, Mean Fighting Machines."

"I think the battle up here is about to take a turn for the better,"

Lara said, her voice just audible over the roar of planes landing and taxiing in.

Buddy had sized up the situation between Lara and his dad very quickly.

Of course, the younger Raines knew his father well. "Yes, ma'am," he said. "I suspect it will. And I suspect it will do so very quickly."

Chuck's people stood and watched as tanks and trucks rumbled out of the ma.s.sive transports. "Incredible," Belle said. "Just incredible."

180.

"How about us finding something to eat?" Cooper said. "I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry," Jersey responded. "I swear to G.o.d you have a gut full of tapeworms."

"He's a growing boy," Beth said.

Over the sounds of huge transports landing and taking off, the sound of machine guns could just be heard. Buddy arched one eyebrow and asked, "Trouble?"

"I think the Federal police have arrived," his father replied. "And probably wish they had stayed home," he added.

181.

The town's Federal police lost eight officers in the first four vehicles to arrive at the airport before they realized they had driven into asituation that five thousand officers would have been unable to contain.

But by then it was far too late to turn back. The freedom fighters had closed off all avenues of escape, and for the lead vehicles it was a slaughter. Only a few shots had been fired by the town's federally trained, Osterman-supporting officers. The Federal police dien did the only prudent thing: they surrendered.

Chuck's people brought the survivors of the night ambush to Ben. The federal officers stood in awe, looking at the heavily armed Rebels una.s.sing the big transport planes.

"What's it going to be, people?" Ben asked the scared group of federal officers.

"What do you mean, General Raines?" asked one of the older officers.

182.

William W. Johnstone "We're sure not going to keep you around, feeding and caring for you.

h.e.l.l, we don't want you. You're not going to be facing unarmed citizens any longer. Come daylight, anyone who wants a gun can d.a.m.n sure have one. And the first weapons to be given away will be yours, and from the police armory. So you'd better make up your minds which side you're on."

"How about us not taking sides, and just enforcing the law?" a man suggested.

"That's no good. You're federalized, and you swore an oath to support Osterman and her policies. How could I trust you to keep your word on that?"

"You just don't really understand how drastically crime has gone down since privately owned guns were banned," a woman officer said.

"I'll match our crime stats in the SUSA against yours anytime, lady,"

Ben responded. "And nearly everyone in the SUSA is armed. How about it?"

She glared with open hate at Ben, and did not respond.

"Scratch that one for sure," Ben muttered.

"You bet," Jersey said in a louder tone. "Shall I just shoot her now and put her out of her misery?"

"Now you wait just a minute!" the older Federal cop said. "Everyone is ent.i.tled to an opinion."

' 'Not when your opinions start interfering with my const.i.tutionally guaranteed rights," Jersey said.

"d.a.m.n little militia wh.o.r.e!'' the mouthy female Federal cop muttered.

Jersey heard her, and her eyes narrowed.

Ben stepped out of the way as Jersey handed her CAR to Cooper and stepped forward.

"This is going to be interesting," Ben whispered to Lara. "Watch.""Haul your a.s.s out here, b.i.t.c.h!" Jersey said.

"Are you going to permit this?" Lara questioned.