Chapter 13
The General knew the area precisely. He took a couple of
shortcuts, literally running up over one parked car, and landing on the
ground on the other side of a barrier. As he emerged from an alley Lee
was a short distance ahead of him at the intersection. The
General wanted to cry out a warning but he was struggling for breath.
Instead he charged on. Somehow his fingers slipped into the back
of the younger officer's collar, and with tremendous effort the General
hauled him off his feet, taking several steps backwards before they
both went to the ground. There was a crashing sound and several
loud dings. When the General regained his feet there was a pile
of large pipe sections on the sidewalk. Lee was sprawled inches
from them. He gained his feet then helped the panting General
up. "My God, sir!'' the young officer managed, "If you
hadn't
moved me, sir..."
"Explain later!" the General managed. "Carry on your
duties. I'll be back."
He headed across the street. The car arrived almost as soon as he
did. He piled in and screamed "The officer's lounge off the
base! Go! Don't worry about the speed laws, don't worry
about anything! GET THERE!"
The driver didn't hesitate. The only place he stopped was the
gate where the General ordered two armed MPs into the car.
"We're not supposed to leave our post!" one of them objected.
"Get in!" the General screamed, "Now!"
The driver again proceeded to break all rules. They got to the
officer's lounge. The General bailed out and everybody followed
him.
He got to the patio. His daughter greeted him warmly but the General
quickly snapped to her fiancee "Get my daughter inside! Everybody
INSIDE! Move! Quickly!"
With movements of his hands he had positioned the MPs. Security
guards approached wondering what was going on. Suddenly six men
in white robes burst from the nearby woods carrying automatic weapons
and shot guns. One of them was screaming "Kill the n*****
lovers! Kill the traitors! Protect the purity of the race!"
His associates started firing and that was a mistake! The MPs the
General and the security guards returned fire. Instantly three of the
men went down. There was another volley and only one of them
remained standing. The General took aim and fired again, and that
one went down. When the screaming died down the General looked
around. His future son in law appeared holding his trembling
daughter in his arms. The young man looked around and muttered "I
can't believe they hate us THIS much! I can't believe it!
They meant to kill us!"
"They most certainly did!" the General answered, "They most
certainly did!"
He went over and kissed his daughter on the cheek. "Got to
go!" he explained, "Other problems. Everything will be o.k.
now."
One of the security guards came up. "I don't believe it!"
he snapped. "Three of these idiots are still alive! They're
still breathing!"
"Summon the authorities!" the General snapped. "I not only
want the perpetrators I want those that sent them!"
"Yes sir!" the security guard snapped, "Yes sir!"
The General went back outside, sat in the back of the car, and began to
breathe heavily. The Ambassador joined him. The driver
turned back. "Are you all right, sir?" he asked. "Should I take you to
the hospital?"
"No," the General answered, "no time."
He took out his cell phone and began to dial. It took some effort
to reach Chattanooga but he was finally talking to an officer there.
"That's all the information I've got," the General finally
concluded. "You have to act on it major! I don't know if
the man's a lunatic, a terrorist, or what, but he's going to try to
land on your base. And he will cause a disaster if you do not
act. Good! Very good!"
The General hung up the phone and then began to dial again.