CHAPTER 11


   It felt good to get into the field again. As a General Officer, Shlendon liked to do it every now and then. He sat under his shelter, in his fold out chair, next to his small table with fruit, meat, and a fresh pitcher of water. A soldier on detail behind him was slowly lifting a fan up and down. Shlendon cut away with his knife at his favorite dish. General Comptal, the commander of the brigade around them, that occupied all of the freshly dug fortifications, was sitting in the chair to the other side of the refreshment table. He was not as carefree as his commanding officer was about the situation they faced.

The two had never seen eye to eye on things. While, sending Comptal south, to guard the rail lines into the capital, sounded like a good idea it did not set too well with Comptal. Why had his brigade been sent alone? He had no cavalry to scout for him. Out of all the people in Tallos, Shlendon should know about the importance of cavalry! He was a Cavalry commander and hero of that arm. The troopers of the Unified Command worshiped the man. Comptal was an infantry man and he commanded an infantry brigade. It was the opinion of Comptal, as well as most the infantrymen here that Shlendon had sent them to this place, alone, simply because he did not like them.  

When the woman rebel army showed up it reinforced Comptal's opinion and unfortunately that was the only thing of his getting reinforced. Then Shlendon showed up in person. The man said it was to improve moral and demonstrate his willingness to lead from the front. It did nothing to reassure Comptal one little bit.

When the scouts came back in and all of their information was examined it was found that the Virgin Mary was surrounding the fortifications with close to ten thousand screaming fanatical women. Having high moral did little to off set being out number nearly ten to one and Comptal let his Commanding General know that in no uncertain terms. Despite this news, Shlendon seemed none too worried.

"I can do nothing here!" protested Comptal. "If they had a mind they could surround us completely and then wipe us out!"

"She will not surround you Comptal," said Shlendon. "The Virgin Mary smells a trap at the moment."

"God, I only wish it were so," Comptal did. He was behind a strong defensive position with many cannon. He did have the advantages of training, equipment, and terrain. If he even had five hundred more men at his disposal that might actually mean something. As the situation stood, none of his advantages would off set the numerical superiority of his foe. "When she attacks I'm not sure that I can hold this place."

"She doesn't mean to attack unfortunately," replied Shlendon. From their vantage point they could see the lines of women on several of the surrounding ridges. "If that were her intent she would have done so by now. She would have probably brought more of her army with her as well."

"More!" There were more of them? Comptal was getting a very bad feeling.  He was in very well with many members of the General Staff. They had not estimated the rebel’s strength at anywhere near the amount he was presently looking at let alone the numbers Shlendon was talking. If Shlendon knew other than the General Staff then why had he not told them? More important, and immediately relevant, was why had he not bothered to tell Comptal?  

Shlendon stood up. Rizen had placed a telescope on a tripod just outside the shelter. Shlendon peered through it at the ridge just across the way. He could see her standing over there. Shlendon considered sending over a flag of truce. He wanted to meet her. There was no time now unfortunately because Shlendon had more important business to attend to. He nodded to Rizen, "Can she see our display from that point over there?"

"Easily sir," answered Rizen.

"Comptal, are your guns in place?" Asked the Shlendon.

Comptal grunted. He did not like having so many of the bigger cannon so far forward. "Yes. As ordered."


"I don't like this. It's bait," said ZePure. "They're trying to draw us into a trap."

Julia sat down on the ground. She fell back flat on the high grass, pulled a stalk, and started chewing on it.

"Where?” Gurcia had just rejoined them. “That's it over there behind all that dirt. The only green boys for miles."

Chree was standing behind them. She sat as little as possible these days. "I say we go wipe 'em out. Don't look like that many to me over there."

"Maybe that's the trap," said ZePure. "Maybe that guy thinks we're amateurs. Those guns and those defenses. We'd lose a right good number storming that place."

Julia stood up, "I think you're right ZePure. We don't need this place. I think it's time we fall back to the camp. Chree start sending out..."

Tish had been examining the fortifications with a telescope. She had caught sight of some work going on at the top of an open hill just past the piles of fresh dirt that formed the enemy defensive works. The more Tish watched the more she got worried. Then she saw the wagon pull up to it. Up until this point, Tish had thought the stake and frame was just to intimidate them. Now she realized they were actually going to use it! Tish focused on the poor girl that they were tying to the top of the frame. "NO! Julia! It's Thimina!"

Julia ran down and grabbed the telescope from Tish. "Oh my god. ZePure! Bring up the guns!"

ZePure just stood there.  "Julia, you can't do nothing. He's baiting you."

Julia through down her hat, "Damn it ZePure I said bring up a damn cannon!"

"It'll expose our guns to theirs. Their guns got longer range Julia. We'll lose everything we got on that ground."

"You’re fired!" Exclaimed Julia, "Chree run orders over to the cannons..."

Tish pointed out to the dead mans land between the two armies. "It's too late."

A horse and rider went galloping from the rebel lines. Julia swung the telescope around and searched until she got a better view, "Its Gurcia!"


"General Shlendon," called out Rizen. "We have a response."

"Only one person," Shlendon was disappointed. He watched as the girl jumped off her horse. She was within range of cannon but outside that of small arms. She had a rifle and she must have thought she was quite a shot. She aimed it up the hill at the prisoner being executed. Shlendon snapped his fingers. Rizen raised two flags and waived them. The cannon opened fire.


Julia's stomach twisted as the first big guns went off from behind the enemy works. She flinched as the shock wave rolled past her. When she readjusted the telescope and searched for Gurcia all she found was smoke, dust, and debris. Julia swung the telescope up towards the execution. Thimina's head was tilted downward even as the soldiers lowered the crossbeam by one more block. Julia screamed in rage, picked up the telescope, and flung it at the enemy.  


Shlendon paced from side to side. She was Angry. He could feel it in his bones. Yet it was not enough. This Mary was smart. So far his display had not prompted her to move. Shlendon actually smiled at that. He could not help but admire the woman, still, "Rizen, I think it is time to play on the one thing that all women are above all else."

"What is that sir?"

"I am surprised that you did not guess," said Shlendon. "Why Rizen, all women are maternal."



"Julia!"  Tish was just full of good news today. She had recovered the telescope and was watching. "Julia, they're bringing more prisoners up the hill. They're children!"

Julia grabbed the reigns of her horse from Chree. She looked at the young girl with a scowl, "Why haven't you left yet? Go tell them to set up the damn guns! They got ten minutes to be ready."

Mounting the horse, Julia pulled out her sword and held it by her side. "ZePure, you with me?"

He was holding his hat in his hand. He did not look particularly pleased. "Yeah what the hell. Got to die some fucking time."

"Good," Julia pointed her sword at the guns down by the fortifications, "get the infantry down there. Get them in range of those guns as quick as you can and take them under fire. I'll be along shortly. Tell our guns not to open up until you can engage those cannon with small arms."


Rizen ran back up to the tent, "General Shlendon, we have some movement."

Comptal was not pleased, "what do we do?"

Shlendon stood up from his chair. He told his aides to pack his things. His job was almost done and it was time to go. "You fight them Comptal. That is what you do, isn‘t it? Rizen, send the order. Shoot the prisoners and then join me at the horses."

"Sir," said Rizen. "They are children."

"I know. That is precisely the idea."


_____________________


Jack slapped the pictures down on the bar. His weather satellite was doing the improvised job of spy satellite very well. Unfortunately he doubted that they would really be of much help to Joe the way things were. As it was, the train service between the United Peninsular’s army at Fort Point and Luftmot had been interrupted again. An Imperial Cavalry patrol had captured a train, burned it, and then blown up a bridge nearby. It made the spectacular pictures of Jack's almost worthless. He had to be able to get them to Joe in real time. This posed another problem.

Dee picked the pictures up and looked at them with a frown. They were very detailed, "Why don't we just let Joey do it. He's already up there."

"No," said Jack, "The best thing for Joey is to stay anonymous."

Pete and Pam were sitting with their children on one of the main room tables. They were trying to teach Eric, their oldest child, English. The kids were growing up speaking Zeat as their first language now. They knew English words but they said them with a Zeat sentence structure whenever they even bothered to use them at all.  

Pete looked up towards the bar, "why? When did we start trying to be secret about who we are?"

Jack couldn't explain. Pete had no idea who he was hiding Joey from. It was not the Moemen.

Jack was also, unfortunately, uncomfortable around Pete right now. Pete was no slouch and he was picking up on this real quickly. His questions, even of the most mundane sort, were starting to become pointed. He knew something was wrong. It made Jack even more nervous.  His last question was a perfect example of that. Jack could not tell him the real reason. If their theory about the bomb was correct then they were in more danger than just from the locals.

"I just want him to, that's all. Just in case something happens to us."

Pete looked somewhat irritated. He shrugged, "whatever."

Dee was squirming behind the bar. She was even worse at playing stupid than Jack. Dee changed the subject, "Well then. Someone else is going to have to go up they’re with the satcom relay and I'll just fax the pictures from the main station here. It's either that or I take the main station up myself."

"No," replied Jack. "That's the only one we got. We have some home made batteries now. I'll take the relay up just as soon the Zeats get the rail lines working again."

Again Pete caught interest, "Why don't I go? After all I served under Joe before. I'll look more natural on his staff, even familiar to a lot of guys." Pete added with a nasty cutting tone, "it would make sense if low profile is our latest op order."

"I didn't like your tone Pete. It is our new policy. You got a problem with that Marine?" replied Jack.

Pete's eyes narrowed. He sounded very angry, "No sir Colonel Kelly."

Vitosk was reading the Carbough newspaper in the corner of the room. The quickly escalating war of words was more than enough to draw his attention away from his study.  

"Peter, have you given thought to what might happen should the Empire win this war? Life could become very hard on all of us very quickly. I can assure you from personal knowledge that Halden does know of our existence. He very well may understand the full implications of our being here."

Pete smirked, "I thought you were the one saying we better stay out of this?"

"I am," replied Vitosk. "that is exactly why I think it is a very good idea for us to lay low. If you take my position into consideration that is exactly what I have been advocating all along."

Pam was getting worried. She too was noticing the attitude changes. She was also noticing what it was doing to her husband.  Pam reached over and touched his hand very lightly. He only drew back, got up, and stormed out the front door. Pam bit her bottom lip. She finally worked up the nerve to confront Jack and Dee, "What has gotten into you people! You’re treating Pete like he killed somebody or something. Do you know what it's doing to him? Jack he looks up to you. You’re really hurting him and I don’t like it."

Dee bowed her head as she leaned up against the bar, "Pam, it's nothing really."

"What is nothing?!"

Jack replied, "It's better that you don't know right now."

Vitosk dropped his paper and rolled his eyes. "Jack, refresh my memory. Exactly how did your government ever see fit to give you a security clearance?”

"Mommy..." Whined Eric.

Pam sent him off upstairs. Little Julia was too young to care or notice and was asleep in her carry around crib anyway. A few seconds after Pam heard the door to her room shut, letting her know that Eric was out of earshot now, "What? What is it that I'm better off not knowing?"

Dee tried to be as careful with her words as she could, "Pam, you really should wait until we know more. It's probably nothing."

"Don't keep telling me that!" Pam took a breath and tried to recover her self-composure. "If it's about my husband. I want to know. I have a right to know."

Vitosk took his glasses off, "Well Jack, since you two have already let the cat out of the bag you had best show her."

"I don't think that's wise Yurgani."

Pam stamped her foot on the floor. Her face was red. She yelled, "TELL ME! Since when did we start keeping secrets from one another? You know I think of you guys like family now. My kids call you uncle and aunt. Now you're holding out on me and Pete. You're lying to me, you're telling me it's for my own good. To hell with you people!"

Jack walked behind the bar and started looking under the counter. Dee got out of his way as he brushed past her looking as if he was moving with a single-minded purpose. Dee asked, "What are you doing?"

"I can't find it. Hell I'll use yours and bring it back when I'm done," Jack reached into the slit in her dress without asking. He pulled her sidearm out and shoved it into the small of his back, behind his flight jacket. Dee protested and Jack just responded, "I'll bring it back in a minute. Mine's out in the cottage."

Vitosk watched Jack open the front door, "You are not doing what I think you are doing?"

Jack replied, "She's right Yurgani. We've done everything but what we should have done. Despite what we may think, Pete's one of us. If he's an innocent man then he deserves a chance to answer the charges. No matter what the truth is about this whole deal. I think we owe him at least that much."

"And if you're wrong Jack. What if he is?" replied Yurgani.  "What if he turns on you?”

Jack thought about it, "Then one of us kills the other and you won't have to guess anymore." The door closed behind him.

Dee was standing behind the bar stunned. She was also scared.  Pam was in shock and she still did not even know why. "Dee? What is Jack talking about? Kill Pete? He took a gun! What's going on!"

It was a moment that Dee had not been looking forward to. Vitosk cut her off from saying anything and relieved her of the awful burden of having to inform Pam. "You had best get the others Doctor Brewer. They all need to hear what it is we have to say."


_____________________


There was another flash from the guns. They were firing one right after the other. The big cannon were keeping up a constant barrage of deadly pellets at almost point blank range. ZePure was surrounded by mangled bodies of what used to be their people. Despite the carnage fresh troops of girls, joyously singing as they advanced, still kept charging into the fields that held the bodies of their slaughtered comrades. As each wave approached they were just adding to the piles of bodies. The survivors found themselves pinned to the ground, unable to move, and almost unable to fight back.

Even the sun going down did not help. As the first stars appeared the men hiding behind high man made mounds of dirt were shooting off flares. The cannon crews would then search out fresh concentrations of enemy troops and fire canister shot at point blank range. Julia was in the tangled seas of wounded and dead bodies. She was crawling ever so slowly forward, inches at a time. She finally found ZePure.

"Well, is this what you had in mind Virgin Mary?" yelled the man.

Chree had stayed right next to Julia the entire time. She screamed. Julia spun around on her belly to find Chree holding her arm. Blood was gushing from it. ZePure helped Julia bandage it. Julia rubbed the girls face, "It's just a scratch honey. You'll be OK."

"Bastards! They shot me again!"

"You'll be all right," Julia tried to reassure her.

"It hurts!" replied the young girl.

ZePure poked Julia in the arm, "We can't stay here much longer. I don't even want to think about how many we've already lost. We haven't gotten anywhere near those fucking guns yet!"

Another flare went up. This time, instead of ducking, Julia looked behind her. She could see a new skirmish line of her girls advancing towards the fortifications. The guns just to her front quickly opened fire on them. Smoke and dust flew into the air. When it settled there were giant holes in the lines but they were still coming.

Julia snarled. Her anger still fed her conscious mind. "We can't go back. We might as well go forward."

"Crazy bitch is going to get us all killed," mumbled ZePure. Julia ignored him.

Chree was still nursing her arm. She was grinding her teeth. Julia rubbed her hair, "I want you to stay here Chree. You can't hold a rifle like that."

There was a tear in the corner of one of Chree's eyes. Her demeanor changed all at once and she begged, "Julia, please don't die."

"I won't honey. I'm not that lucky."

ZePure jumped up and ran forward in between blasts. He jumped down somewhere in the darkness ahead. Julia was going to follow but Chree grabbed her arm and pulled her back. Julia shook the hair out of her face, "What?"

"I love you."

Julia didn't know what to say. It also wasn't the time or place. "Keep your head down Sweetheart. I'll be back in a little bit."


Comptal saw his runner coming up from the rear, "Where is he?"

"On his way back to Tallos near as I can tell sir. They told me his party rode north and boarded a train for the capital."

"That coward!" screamed Comptal. Shlendon had quite literally, and personally, brought about this entire fight. In the process he had put Comptal's brigade in a bad location. He had put Comptal's guns too far forward. His crews were being hit with small arms fire almost continuously. Moving them back now would be impossible since it would expose his cannon that could not move so fast. That was not to mention their fire was the only thing keeping the hordes of lunatic women from overrunning his fort. If they had to take time to move the artillery then the troops in front could not stop a determined attack.

It angered Comptal.  It was like Shlendon had planned all of this.  He had put Comptal in an out and out slugging match. It was a brawl of attrition that Comptal could not win. He was outnumbered ten to one for god’s sake! He might have had a prayer of winning if he faced a normal army but these women were too stupid to run. They were still charging down his cannons and getting closer every moment.  

Now that it was dark the guns range were limited. That meant the enemy could get closer with more troops before Comptal could take them under fire. It obviously had not taken the Virgin Mary long to figure that out because that was exactly what she was doing. This was not even taking the rebel cannon into account, which could now match his on more or less even terms.

The rebel guns were at best irritating. Even so, they had to be dealt with. They would fire a round, hitch up, and move. This would cause Comptal's more superior weapons to have to stop shooting at the immediate threat of the infantry assault, re-aim, and then shoot at a target that was no longer there. The rebel cannon balls were not doing much damage but then they did not have to. They were giving the rebel infantry more chances to advance and that was good enough.  

All of this was starting to take its toll. When Comptal saw his ammunition situation he started thinking about surrender. The powder bags for the big guns were almost gone and the modern ammunition right along with it. They had plenty of solid shot left but it was not very good for this type of fight. What was he supposed to do? Go and tell his gunners to slow down their firing when the cannon shooting as fast as they could was his only advantage?  

Going over every option Comptal arrived at the horrifying conclusion that he only had once choice left. His fate was now only a matter of time. If Comptal told his men to retreat, the sensible thing, then they would have to abandon their cannon. The guns would, in turn, wind up in the hands of the rebels and Shlendon would have him impaled. If Comptal surrendered and trusted himself to the mercy of the Virgin Mary she would likely remember Shlendon's litte demonstration from this afternoon. That poor young girl on the next hill with a wooden stake through her body was still there. Again, Comptal would probably wind up impaled. The only choice left was to go out fighting. He took his sword and pistol and headed for his gun pits. Comptal was bound and determined that when his body wound up on a stake he was already going to be dead.


The cannon roared. The very earth shook this close to the muzzle. Julia jumped up from behind her wall of bodies. She raised her sword high in the air, "Come on let's go get 'em!"

A rifle fired from the top of a nearby mound of dirt. Julia's head flung to the side. She had blood in her eyes. She wiped it with her coat sleeve while still running forward. Her screaming had nothing to do with pain. Julia did not look behind her, she just trusted that others were following. She fired her pistol at the cannon crews and at the flashes of rifles shooting at her. Then suddenly there was no reason left to  wonder if anyone was following her forward. Even over the roar of the cannon, and small arms fire, Julia heard the screams of hundreds of women behind her.  She pressed on with even more rage.  

Comptal peeked over the redoubt, from behind the cannon. He raised his pistol and fired again. The advancing rebels were close enough now to be in range of even his side arm. He yelled at the gun's crew chief, "Do we have any canister shot left."

"One round! Loading it now!"

A crewman stepped in front of the muzzle so he could jam a large swab into the barrel. He screamed as a bullet ripped into his chest. The soldier fell dead and his swab fell on top of him. The man with the next powder bag shoved it in the muzzle. He did not see the swab man go down as he was too busy picking up the powder bag. The man with the ramrod stepped right over his dead crewmate and shoved the powder bag down the barrel. The sack hit several burning cinders that had not been cleaned out. The cloth caught fire and the powder went off prematurely.  

Comptal picked himself up off the ground. He didn't know where his sword was, or his pistol either. The explosion of the gun had knocked them from his hand. His head was spinning. He stumbled over the mound and fell back down into the loose dirt. He rubbed his head and wiped the soot from his eyes. When his vision began to clear he saw the sword pointed at his throat. It was a woman and that automatically made her on the other side.  

"Who are you? You look Important," said Julia.  

Comptal saw the onrush of the rebels. They were coming over the field works in droves now. He actually relaxed a bit and unbuttoned his coat, "I am the brigade commander General Comptal. This was my post and now I dare say it is yours. To whom am I surrendering?"

Julia shoved the sword a little closer as he tried to stand up. Comptal assured her he was harmless now. Julia actually believed him. The fight was all gone out of this man. It was that obvious. She pulled her weapon back, "some call me Mary. I have to say Comptal, you seem pretty easy surrendering to a woman. I wouldn't expect that from a pig man like you."

"Well I wouldn't be, but since you had a sword at my throat why not? I value my life as much as the next man. I have to say though, you women think much less of yours. Any other army would have broken and run under such murderous fire."

Chree came climbing by the exploded gun. She had left her rifle somewhere out on the field. She was busy holding a cloth on the already saturated bandage tied around her wounded arm. She saw Julia and stopped. Chree looked very closely at her, "Julia your forehead, you've been shot!"

"I'm all right," Julia handed her pistol over to Chree. "Keep an eye on this one he's important. Take him back up to our hill and find Tish. Can you do that?"

Comptal stood, "What do you plan on doing with me?"

Before running back into battle Julia responded, "that was my friend you tortured to death on that hill today. I tell you what I feel like doing."

"I would just like to say Mary," said Comptal, "for the record that is. That I was not responsible for that barbarism. I did not even have fore knowledge that it was going to take place. If I had I would have protested in earnest."

Julia was not interested in this butchers morals at the moment. "Then who did?"

"A man I would very much like to kill at the moment. Since it does not appear I will ever have the chance I wish you the best of luck. His name is Shlendon."



_____________________


Pete was gone. Jack had looked all around the Inn for him. Finally checking, Jack saw that Pete's horse was gone. Jack grunted at this revelation. There was only one place that Pete might have gone and that was to his cabin. Jack thought about giving up now. Pete would come back down on his own. What if he didn't? What if he was the saboteur? Pete had spent an awful lot of time up there by himself. It was a double-edged sword because on the one hand that represented a threat that Jack couldn't ignore. On the other he would be chasing wounded prey right back into his lair.  

The cabin was secluded enough. Jack was surprised he found it so easy. After all this was only the third time Jack had actually been up here. Dismounting a good ways away from the cabin Jack tied off his horse to a tree. He pulled out his weapon and circled around toward the back. He approached very cautiously with as much stealth as he could manage. Jack jumped for cover when he heard a burst of full automatic fire. There was another that quickly followed and that was no M-16 he was hearing. Pete was shooting the M-60! What was he shooting at?  

Jack crawled to the cabins edge and peeked around the corner to find Pete standing just off his front porch with the big machine gun in one hand and a belt of ammo in the other. Jack looked at his pistol he had and winced. He might as well have a water gun. Pete let out a yell in a fake German accent, "Faaa Yuoooo  Asss Hoooolllleee," and fired off another ten round burst into the air. Jack looked down the porch. There was a bottle of liquor sitting by the railing. Jack slid his pistol back down in his belt.

The M-60 rose into the air and fired again. Pete yelled out in a mixed garble, "I'm comin to get yooooooo." A hand landed on the heat guard and yanked the weapon right out of Pete's grip. Pete took a careful look to find that it was Jack, and Jack. Pete looked even closer as he staggered. No there was only one Jack after all. Pete smiled and then took a swing that connected with the jaw of the Jack on the right side.

Jack shook his head furiously as he picked himself up off the ground a little. He grabbed his jaw and worked it from side to side, "What the hell did you do that for?"

Pete stepped forward with his fists up, "come on Colonel. Get up and fight like a Marine."  

"How's this for a start," Jack jammed his boot in between Pete's legs. Pete's knee's promptly collapsed into each other. Pete staggered backwards cupping his hands over his groin.  

"Not bad," he replied with a high-pitched tone right before he fell over on his face.


Pam was doubled over crying. Dee was sitting on the table top just above her, rubbing the poor girls back. She just kept blubbering out from under her hands, "buts he's a good father. He's a been a good man to me."

Vitosk tried to calm everyone down.  "Now do not jump to any conclusions. We do not know anything for certain other than what the device was and where it came from.“  After a deep breath, “and that we do have a murderer."

Gina was red faced and pacing in front of the fireplace. She stopped and shouted angrily at Vitosk, "That's not what it sounds like to me! It sounds like you already made your mind up. Well let me tell you something. Colonel Winston is one of the best officers I ever knew. I'd follow him anywhere. I resent how you've just shoved all of this in his lap. Right honey!"

Saiid was sitting in the corner being silent. He snapped out of his daze as his wife called him. He didn't know what to say. He, like everyone else had seen the data. Vitosk had a point and had drawn a very logical conclusion, "I... I don't know honey. I mean we might not want to take any chances if we don't have to."

Dee looked over to Harry, "What do you think?"

Wu was playing with a napkin trying to fold it into bird, "I think that Pete has some explaining to do. I hate to say it, you know? Me and him were working together on this project since before anybody in this room. We had been working together on a few others before that. I used to go drink beers with the guy. I still think he's a great guy you know, but, but that data."

Pam’s head lifted up. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, "so that's it! We're all just going to convict him just like that? Are we his judge and jury?"

Gary had been very quiet through all of this. He was standing over by the bar in deep thought. Dee called out, "What do you think Gary?"

He responded very succinctly, "I think, that I think Pete is a great guy, and I'll leave it at that for now." Gary turned and walked out the back door. His leaving prompted a new round of shouts that consisted mostly of Gina and Pam yelling at Vitosk.  

Dee got up and went over to the window. She peered out into the early morning darkness. She wondered where Jack was. She wondered where Pete was. Even if Pete was this murderer they thought he might be, Dee quietly prayed that both of their Marines were safe and sound.

Out of the darkness came a man leading a horse by the reigns. There was another man slung over the saddle of the horse. Dee felt a shiver run up her back. She was both relieved and frightened by what she saw out of the window. "It's Jack and Pete everybody!"

Pam hit the door first. When she opened it Jack was standing right there with a smile on his face. Pam saw the horse, saw Pete doubled over the saddle. His arms were hanging free almost to the ground and he was not moving. Pam took a deep breath, "You killed him!" She drew back and punched Jack right in the jaw then ran off to her husband, screaming his name.

Jack shook his head out yet again. He grabbed the porch railing and started working his way back to his feet, "does that run in the family or something?"

"Good god," said Vitosk as he looked out the door.

Dee came out after everyone else but did not rush over to Pete.  She helped Jack stand up, "Did you have to kill him Jack?!"

"Hold on, Hold on," Said Jack shaking his head. "He's dead drunk, not dead dead."

Upon hearing this Vitosk switched his train of thought right back to business, "What happened? Did you find out anything?"

"He told me a lot. He also didn't do it."

Vitosk looked over to the horse. They had lowered Pete onto the ground. He was singing that stupid song that Vitosk hated so much. "Are you certain Jack?"

"Yeah, that mission where he took his sweet time docking. They were installing the extra outboard air tanks on that one. You remember we had some seals go bad on the ones that were in place. I forgot, but I was scheduled to fly that job. Then I went to Washington with you instead, remember Dee?"

Dee thought about it. It had been so long ago. "Sort of, I don't know."

"Fact is this guys," said Jack. "He was drunker than a skunk when I found him. He had his M-60 rocking and he could have probably wasted me if he had wanted to. While I was questioning him about all of this he was throwing punches at me. Now you can stay logical if you want to but I'm just going to go with plain old human intuition here."

There were many things that Jack was not good at. Vitosk realized this and accepted it as he did with all other humans including himself. On this kind of thing, Vitosk had all the confidence in the world in Jack. He accepted Jack's conclusion, "That being the case, we are right back at square one as they say."

"No," replied Jack, "we're not. If anyone on that ship was connected with that bomb, he was really connected. I mean maybe all the way up to the President. Only thing that makes a lick of sense."

Dee winced. There was only one person that could be.


_____________________


With the full rising of the sun came the last sporadic shots that had been going on for an hour or more. Julia had found a bandage to put on her head. She had discarded her jacket sometime ago and her pants were now torn, her shirttails were now just hanging free. She wandered in the debris and smoke through the endless sea of her soldiers, women and men, who were seemingly wandering around aimlessly. There were tears, cries of pain, agony, as well as shouts of that one question burning on everyone’s mind. They all wanted to know why? As for Julia, she had discovered that just in a few short hours. She had been through every range of emotions she had ever known in her life. All of them were stronger than she had ever known.  

She found her way back to what had been the Raed Army fortifications. Julia sat down in the fresh dirt. Her head was hurting at the moment, maybe from stress, the smoke, the noise of the battle? If so, why was her conscious mind being flooded with all these images? Images that she had no idea of their origin. They were foreign to her. They were horrific in nature. Even more so than the reality around her. Julia felt like she was seeing the great beyond. She wondered, just for a moment, if she had really died in the battle. “No I’m not that lucky.”

Julia looked around for a moment. She saw where some girls had found a stray horse. They had tied a rope to the pommel of it’s saddle and then tossed the loose end over the crossbeam of that horrifying impaling contraption. They slapped the horse on the rump and as it galloped away it yanked Thimina's lifeless body off the stake it had been suspended on since the prior evening. Julia shivered at the sight of the dark and blood soaked stake. It was no way for anyone to ever have to die, yet, she had killed by that method herself. She watched that constable slam into one on her own orders. How had she given that command? How had she ordered this slaughter around her? This was not who she was!  

Julia shivered in horror when she realized that it had been satisfying to watch that constable be impaled on the stake that had been meant for her. Julia tried to hide the fact deep inside her that just maybe she had enjoyed killing that man. What that stake was, more than anything, was a machine of sheer terror for those who were not tied above it and waiting to be lowered in agony. It was a warning to those who might dare to go against the tide. Maybe that was why Thimina had died that way? Just for the express purpose of scaring Julia's army into submission, to make them think twice about going into battle?  If so, Thimina had died in vain, for it only enraged the girls, and men, of Julia's ragged band.  

A flash, an image, a sudden burst of thought, shot through Julia's mind. It was so powerful she couldn't even cognize the image. She closed her eyes for a second. The pain slowly began to fade. She focused her mind on Pete. He was alive! He was looking for her! He would come one day. He would take her away from this awful place. It kept Julia going for now. It was a warm thought and one that made Julia remember, if she could actually still feel anything when this ended, what love felt like.  

When Julia opened her eyes reality came back into focus. ZePure was standing in front of her. He had a long scowl on his face. Without saying a word he reached down and grabbed Julia by the arm. He yanked her up to the top of the man made hill. He pointed out to the field where they had attacked from all night long. The light of day now made the carnage clear. What had once been a grassy field was now a solid carpet of bodies. There was enough wounded still crawling around in the mix to give it an eerie sensation of movement.

ZePure was fuming, "well I hope you're fucking happy. You got what you wanted you stupid bitch. There must be five thousand or more of our people laying out there. What did they die for!? What did we gain here last night?!"

Julia felt a tight grip in her chest, "another victory ZePure. We won another fight."

"Big fucking deal! We won a fight about nothing. We gained nothing here!"

Julia grabbed him by the lapels of his dusty brown jacket, "The day when you can tell me that you know what it's like not to even have say so over what happens to your own body! Then I'll believe you when you say that you understand why winning a fight, even over nothing, is important!"  

Julia stormed back down to the bottom of the hill.

Tish caught up with Julia as she tried to wade through the see of bodies on the field of battle. "Julia! Will you wait up! We got some prisoners and..."

Julia kept on walking, "You know what to do."

ZePure came up behind Tish. She had a very squeamish look on her face. She didn't like what it was they were about to do. She had looked at those men back up on the hill, now stripped and tied. Every time she did she felt a twinge of guilt, she felt a massive flood of sympathy. ZePure reached down and recovered a sword from a dead Army officer. He tossed it over to Tish. She caught the sword and she just stood there looking at it.

"I can't do this ZePure."

ZePure grunted.  "You decided you wanted war. This is what it's all about. They knew what could happen to them. Just like you do. You think if the situation was reversed they'd feel pity on you?"

That was just it. Looking at the prisoners, they were no longer evil ten-foot tall monsters. Now they were people, helpless like she had been and in total fear of what could happen to them. They had full knowledge of the fate of captured soldiers in their own military tradition. That tradition being to make sure their sons could never come and avenge them buy making sure they never had sons.


Chree's sleeve was torn off at the shoulder. She had a proper bandage on her wound now. She spotted Julia returning to the spot that had served as their headquarters for the battle. She ran down to meet her. "Julia! It's Gurcia! They found her! She's still alive!"

It brought a small sense of relief. It was one less death that would weigh on Julia's soul. Then Chree told her the bad news, "They had to take her leg. She's down by the creek where the hospital was set up. She was asking for you."

Julia marched right past the gaggle of spectators at her headquarters. All of the ones who had supposedly risked much to come here and be a part of this were not quite willing to risk it all. They had not elected to join in the attack the night before and this told Julia that these people did not really belong to her army. Even ZePure had protested but he marched when the time came. These men were just here to ride the wave gambling that Julia would win and they would be better off for it. If conditions got worse then Julia fully expected them all to disappear as fast as they had come knocking on her door. As a result, she ignored them when she could, used them when she had to, and would discard them if the time came.

They walked down the backside of the hill. Julia finally came out of her daze. She only really just noticed Chree following her then, "how's the arm?"

"You already know it hurts. I can live with it though. It means another scar, but then what does that matter. I never was pretty. Not like you I mean."

Julia stopped in her tracks.  She rubbed her hair for a second and took a breath. "Chree, I... what happened between us..."

"I know Julia. I understand, really I do. It doesn't change me though. It doesn't change what I feel."

Julia reached out and took Chree's hands.  "I don't know what came over me Chree. I mean, I don't even know what’s coming over me right now. I get flooded with these emotions and feelings and thoughts. I don't even remember them half the time."  

Julia did not want to hurt the girl’s feelings. Julia did love Chreelana, but not in the way the young girl wanted. Julia just didn't have the heart to tell her the truth and, that being, she knew what they had done but, that her mind had shoved it out completely.  

"Chree, I never told you this. You are pretty in a way that no scar could ever destroy."


Ouliat was hovering over Gurcia like an overly concerned mother. Gurcia was lying on the ground with a blanket over her. Despite this she acted like her old self in almost every respect. She saw Julia, "Merry Can! Bring both them legs on over here girl."

Julia knelt down beside her and took her hand, "are you all right?"

That got a laugh from Gurcia,  "Hell no I ain't all right. My leg laying over there in some pile. It took ten of them hold me down when they cut it off though."

Julia wanted to lash out at her, "Why did you ride out there like that?! That was stupid! We all wanted to help Thimina but..."

Gurcia became dead serious and looked Julia in the eye, "Why didn't you?"

That punched Julia right in the stomach. She let go of Gurcia and stood up, "Ouliat, she can't stay here any more, it won't be safe."

He nodded, "I know Mary. I'm sorry we can't be of much help any more. I was thinking about going back to where I hid my fishing boat. I know an Island... We‘ll be safe."

Gurcia slapped at him, "that place smells worse than you do old man. Julia! You got to win this fight. If you don't what's going to happen to the rest of us? I can't exactly go back to party girling no more. Can't really dance with one leg. Hell I'll be out of a job if you lose but, I imagine it be a sight better if you win. So youse has got to win woman, you just got to!"


_____________________


Rizen took the report from the frazzled and beaten horseman. He ran back up the railroad tracks to the back of the train car that was parked there. It was the last car of the halted train and it was stopped in the middle of nowhere by Shlendon, who was waiting for this report. Rizen climbed up onto the car where his General was waiting, "Sir, the rebels crushed the entire brigade. Only a handful of men managed to escape the destruction."

To Rizen's surprise, Shlendon was very happy.  "Excellent, Our dear sweet Virgin Mary can be manipulated. I thought as much. I should dare say that now I alone will dictate this entire campaign to its conclusion."

"Respectfully sir, what of our losses? The Brigade was completely destroyed in the battle. A rather stunning defeat I shall think the papers will say."

Shlendon looked at his subordinate with contempt, "It was a skirmish, not her entire force, nor mine. The papers will pay it no heed. As for General Comptal, in that I would rather like to meet the Virgin Mary and thank her for all of the favors she has done me. All in all, I think she is shaping up rather nicely, a good war leader, don't you?"

Rizen raised an eyebrow at that, "you would say this of a woman?”

"Not publicly of course. I'm not stupid," replied Shlendon. He examined his subordinate’s shock at hearing this. "Oh come on Rizen, you honestly cannot tell me that you bought all of that scientific non sense about men being the physical and intellectual superiors of the sexes. Complete and total rubbish."

"If you say so sir," Rizen did not know exactly what else to say.