Part 15 (1/2)

Dan Gray said. He and Ben were comparing notes on the prisoners' remarks. ”They have been studying our tactics for years, so it seems. And those in the city are highly organized. It's going to be a tough campaign. They've practiced their plans many times and each gang knows what to do.

They also know that we don't have the chemicals to neutralize such a large area. A conservative guesstimate would be thirty-five thousand of the enemy.”

”I was going to say fifty thousand,” Ike said.

”Trained, well-armed, and ready for a fight.”

”Yeah,” Ben said, leaning back in his chair.

”Well, we've got to reclaim the old military bases first thing, once we're in the area. The caches of weapons and supplies have probably not been found. Georgi and his people will take China Lake and Fort Irwin while West moves down to reclaim Twenty-nine Palms. Cecil will occupy Edwards. Ike, you and yours take Vandenberg.”

Corrie stuck her head into the room. ”Leadfoot and the Wolfpack have reported in, sir. They creamed the ambushers. The Pack suffered two minor wounds. They took no prisoners.”

”Tell them to come on back, Corrie.”

”Yes, sir.”

Lamar entered the room and poured a cup of coffee.

He had a very grim look on his face. ”All right, ladies and gentlemen, here it is. Our prisoners, all of them, have advanced syphilis and tuberculosis. You have all been inoculated, so there is little danger for any of you. However, I have ordered booster shots for all Rebels. It's going to take a day to get the vaccine in here, and a couple of days to get everyone popped. So stand your people down, Ben.

And roll up your sleeve. And that is a direct order from the Chief of Medicine.”

Ben did not question the order. He and Lamar loved to argue and yell at one another, but when it came to health matters, Ben was no different from any other Rebel. He did what the Chief of Medicine told him to do.

The medical research people down at Base CampOne had taken the vaccine BCG, widely used in halting the spread of TB, and improved on it. The vaccine was basically weakened tubercle bacilli which were injected into the skin, then followed by injections of various drugs such as ethambutol, rifampicin, thiacetazone, and poyrazinamide, and sometimes streptomycin, isioniazid, and para-aminosalicylic acid. The reasons for the varied combinations was because the disease could grow resistant to repeated doses of the same drug.

”How do you suppose Leadfoot and that bunch roamed around like the wind for all these years without contracting some dreadful disease?” Linda asked, helping Lamar inoculate.

Dan smiled at her. ”Leadfoot and his bunch are far from being stupid, Linda. Believe it or not, there are a couple of Ph.d. types among them. And several holders of master's degrees. I believe the one called Frank actually taught at one of America's more prestigious universities.”

”Stanford, I think it was,” Ben said. ”He was an a.s.sociate professor, I believe.

Frank is a good man. He just took a wrong road for a brief time. What Dan was going to say, Linda, is that most of those people are pretty good medics in their own right. They've all read up on what medicines to take and so forth. And they all knew a great deal about herbal and folk medicines. I had a bad case of diarrhea one day, and didn't have anything at hand to help me.

Axehandle went out into the woods, came back with some blackberry roots. He boiled them and made me a gla.s.s of hot tea. I've had better-tasting liquids, but it stopped my diarrhea.”

Ben grimaced as Linda popped him with the needle, then swabbed the injection point with alcohol. ”You'll live,” she told him.

”I'm not sure I will,” Dan said, after Doctor Chase had popped him. ”Lamar has the touch of someone repairing anvils.”

The Rebels rested, cleaned already spotless weapons, and waited for the entire army to be inoculated. All of them, from the Scouts to the cooks and back again, had been briefed as to what lay ahead of them in southern California. They were under no illusions. This was to be the toughest fight they had ever endured. Outnumbered meant nothing to them. The Rebels were almost always outnumbered.

Those prisoners that Ike had captured were turned loose and told to go somewhere, make their peace with G.o.d, lie down, and die. Doctor Chase said that there was no way any of them could live another six months.

”Won't they spread the disease?” Ben asked.

”I pumped them full of medicine. It certainly won't cure them, but it will somewhat reduce the danger of them spreading the tuberculosis. The syphilis is another matter. I did what I could for that, but it's my opinion that Gavin will not liveanother sixty days. Lab results show extensive brain infection. His motor reactions are already severely affected. None of them will be alive six months from now.”

”Why don't we just cordon off the area down there and let them all drop dead of diseases?”

Jersey asked, considerable heat in her tone.

”Serves those guys right if their whosis rots off.

d.a.m.ned bunch of rapists and slavers.”

Lamar looked at her. ”Remind me to always stay on your good side, Jersey.”

Ben said, ”We just don't have the personnel or the time to do that, Jersey. That might take years. Too bad, though. It was a good idea.”

”You people are vicious,” Lamar said. ”What's a nice, gentle man like me doing in the company of such heathens?”

He was booed and hissed out of the CP, leaving with a grin on his face.

On the night before the long columns of Rebels were to resume their push toward the south, Ben stayed up late in his GP. Those they would be facing in the southern part of the state had rockets, several different kinds of rockets. The old prop-job planes of the Rebels could not hope to evade any kind of Stinger or surface-to-air missiles.

So that grounded the planes. He made a note to have Corrie radio the pilots first thing in the morning and have them stand down in any kind of combat role for the duration. They wouldn't like it, but they would see the reasoning behind the orders.

He killed the low flame under the coffeepot and rinsed it out, then checked his watch. Midnight. Time to go to bed and get his customary four hours of sleep.

Very rarely did Ben sleep more than five hours a night, usually less than that.

In several days, the columns would be nearing the territory of the gangs in southern California, and Ben expected the first real heavy fighting of this campaign to begin. Ben had expected the area around Monterey to have been heavily populated, but Ike had reported nothing stirring. Fort Ord had been destroyed, and the lovely old towns on the Monterey Peninsula burned and deserted.

Ben sat on the edge of his camp cot and unlaced his boots. What had he left out? What had he forgotten? He went over every aspect of the battle plans in his mind, picking at them, worrying with them.

He could not think of anything that he and the other commanders had not touched upon.

He heard footsteps on the front porch. They were friendly footsteps or his guards would have opened fire.

Since the a.s.sa.s.sination plots against him had surfaced, security was very tight around Ben.

A knock on the door.

”Come in if you're friendly,” Ben said.

Linda walked in, carrying a small bag in her hand. She sat down beside him on the edge of the cot.

”You having any reaction to the booster shots, Ben?”

”Just a slight fever yesterday. It's gone.””I guess by this time tomorrow, the whole camp will be talking about my coming over here.”

”Oh, it won't take that long. News travels fast. Give it an hour, tops.”

They stared at each other for a moment. Linda said, ”This is a very narrow cot, Ben.”