THE RECRUIT
By; Gerald A. Polley
Chapter 14
Graduation came, Imal got a couple of day's rest, and then as his wife
had said, he started training his men. Him and Warlock Young were
taken with their troops to a section of the air field. There were
strange looking vehicles in a box with benches in it. They had their
people sit in it, then on the signal with full packs, get out of the
box, pull the vehicle out, quickly assemble it, get in it, and take
off. The second day there were two vehicles. They were the
dangdest things that Imal had ever seen! They were a framework
that you quickly put the wheels on, simple seats that a man could sit
in and brace his feet, and a lever that twelve of them pulled in unison
that made the vehicle go. As Imal was the lightest, he got to
drive! Three times as they practiced he went off the road, but
then really began to get the hang of it.
"Well, I see why we have two of them!" Imal muttered.
"Twenty-four men! But who's really going to drive the second
one? This man isn't going to go with us!"
"No, he's just a stand in," the training officer answered. "But
that vehicle's driver will be experienced and will be following
you. Now, we've got a simulated route. We're gonna move you
to another part of the base and you'll be trained on the route
you're gonna follow. You can't get lost. Every minute is
going to be precious. Everything's going to be timed to
perfection. Everything's got to be done right!"
"Don't keep telling me that!" Imal moaned.
After a couple of days he had a pretty good idea of his route, could
count the minutes to each reference point. They had about three
miles to go and with the vehicles it wouldn't take them long.
Unless pursuers had motorized vehicles they were going to have a hard
time keeping up. And Imal had a feeling they'd have air cover. He
had seen transports bringing in helicopters, gun ships, the nasty
little numbers The Republic was building, smaller, faster and more
agile than other people were using but just as damned deadly! He
imagined they would be hitting outlying targets, then returning to
support their withdrawal.
One afternoon an
excited officer came up. "I got a feeling we're going to be
going!" he remarked. "Just got the word the American president is
coming for the cardinal's execution. We think the enemy will move
when she arrives. We're sure the announcement she is coming will
erase any fears they have that we know of the attack."
"We'd better get you your final training," the officer remarked, just
in case things get advanced. No going home tonight!
That evening they made a run. They got to the simulated tanks and
personnel carriers, and each person practiced his job. Men got up
on the tanks and removed the dust cover on the barrel. Imal
climbed up, a soldier handed him a thermite charge, he put it in the
barrel, pulled the pin, and with a pole pushed it down the
barrel. All went perfectly until one of the charges
stopped. The instructor looked up.
"Simulated shell," he instructed, "simply release and withdraw.
The thermite will still destroy the tank."
Imal
understood. They were preparing him for every possibility. The
instructors were pleased. They had the idea! If they had time,
they'd try another practice run. But they didn't have time!
The next morning his wife's phone buzzed. She answered it and said "Yes
sir! Understood!" She hung up and looked at Imal. "Tonight!" she
moaned. "You go tonight! And I'm gonna be sittin' here going
crazy!"
Imal smiled and took her hand.
They got out and got ready. Young came up all excited.
"What's the matter?" Imal asked.
"One of my
people's sick! He started throwing up blood! The medics
took him. One of my Damons. Where in the hell are we gonna
get a replacement? Everybody's accounted for, positioned!"
Imal ran to a phone and called his house. His wife
answered. "Get a vehicle, send Roseanne out to the air
field. Tell them to come to my unit. She's going with us!"
His wife hesitated a moment then snapped "She's on her way!"
Roseanne arrived just as their trucks did! Imal snapped "With
her!" and pointed to Young. Roseanne grabbed a backpack and a
weapon and followed the Chinese and North Korean troops who were
greeting her and encouraging her.
"Oh,
shit!" Imal moaned. They got to the air field and saw what their
training had been all about. Gliders sat on the runway behind
their tow planes. They got in and the pilot greeted them, a young
woman.
"I'm the driver of your second
vehicle!" she explained, "Plus, I fly this thing. The paratroops
are goin' in first to secure the airport for us. If that fails,
we'll have to land on the roads. But I don't think these guys are
gonna fail! They're American and Chinese special forces.
Those poor bastards out there haven't got a chance! So just
relax. It's gettin' dark, we'll be rolling soon."
Imal could see the tow plane. It's engine started. Suddenly there
was a rap on the door. The pilot snapped "What to hell?" One of
the soldiers opened it. A man leaned in.
"Emergency message for Warlock Imal!" he snapped, holding out a
paper. The soldier took it and handed it to Imal. Imal took
it, opened. It was from Damon Boone.
"Be
advised," it read, "I believe Roseanne is pregnant! I believe she
secretly had a process done with a civilian doctor."
"Oh, shit!" Imal screamed. He bolted for the door, got out and
looked down the runway. Warlock Young's tow plane was already
moving. "Damn!" he screamed. He got back in his plane and the door was
dogged down.
"Do we go?" the pilot asked.
"GO!" Imal answered. "Son of a bitch!" Imal cursed.
"When this is over with I'm gonna spank her!"
"Can we watch?" one of the other soldiers asked.
Imal looked at him and grinned. Everybody roared with laughter.
"Pilot," Imal asked, "is there any way we can communicate with the
glider ahead of us?"
"No, sir," the pilot
answered. "We're on radio silence. There's to be no chatter 'til
we're on the ground and things are blowing up. They're doin'
everything to keep the enemy from knowin' we're comin'. Our satellites,
are positioning in front of their communications satellites, and
opening shields so their satellite phones won't work. We're
shutting down their cell phone towers and when operations begin we'll
be jamming their frequencies. We try to contact another plane and
we might be shot!"
Imal sighed. There was
nothing he could do. It was one of those situations where you
were totally helpless. He got out a note pad and scribbled a
message, then looked to Rumple. "When we land," he snapped, "get
this to Warlock Young. She won't be able to do much, but she
needs to know."
The Damon nodded. "What is it?" Raphael asked.
Imal handed him the original note. Raphael read it then looked at Imal wide eyed.
"How?" he asked.
"There's ways," Imal answered. "Another woman's egg, a male
companion's sperm. She probably had plenty of opportunity to get
some. It's not unheard of, and might be allowed. But she's going to
face some serious discipline."
"Understood!" Raphael agreed. "But I hope not too serious! I think people should understand."
"I'm sure they will!" Imal answered.
"No sign of any enemy contact," the pilot remarked. "I see some
flashes on the ground. Somebody's taking out something.
Ok! Hold on! Here we go! We're loose!"
Imal hated the feeling of an aircraft with no power or little
power. But finally there was a skidding sound, they were on the
runway, in a few moments came to a stop. They were outside hardly
before the ship settled, opening the back and getting out their
vehicles. Imal saw bodies nearby. Somebody had put up a
little fight. Their vehicles were together, he got in his seat
and they moved to the take off position. He saw Rumple get in his
seat in the other vehicle. Young came up behind him. "Go!"
Imal snapped, and they started rolling.
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