Gust Front

He looked around the sea of uplifted faces one last time as the mob seemed to drink energy from him. The group was totally mixed. There might have been a few more black faces than others, but there were white men in suits next to black laborers, Hispanics next to Orientals, Hindus shoulder to shoulder with Pakistanis. In the face of the alien horror, little differences like Shiva versus Allah were temporarily forgotten.

And all of them were looking to him for the strength to make it though the bad times. Whatever mistakes he might have made, however bad it had been and would be, he was their President and he was standing by them in need. It was nearly worth a meal.

«Now I'm going to detail my Marines to show you how to get these tents set up and latrines dug. They'll be getting people to help. Everyone is going to end up with a job. And every job is important. I've got to go get some supplies and support headed this way.»

«We are Americans. Black, white, brown or yellow, we are the descendants of survivors! And we have proven again and again that we are the toughest people in the world because of it! Now is the time to prove that!» To the sounds of cheering he jumped down off the Detail chief's shoulders and shook his head.

«What a screwed- up situation,» he whispered to the agent.

Rohrbach just rubbed a shoulder and frowned.

CHAPTER 64

Alexandria, VA, United States of America, Sol III

0923 EDT October 11th, 2004 ad

Keren frowned as he tapped out a cancer stick. He lit the Pall Mall with a butane lighter and leaned back in the comfortable driver's seat of the Suburban. He had the plotting table balanced on the steering wheel, a fresh cup of really lousy coffee and a cigarette. It was as good as it got. Of course, that wasn't all that good.

«Those'll kill you,» said Elgars in a quiet voice. She snapped the freshly cleaned AIW back together and gestured for him to pass over the pack. «Gimme.»

Keren snorted and fished the pack back out.

Elgars looked for a car lighter but the Suburban had only an empty socket marked «12-Volt Power.» The vehicle also had no ashtray and a cute little trash hamper now stuffed to overflowing with Meals Ready To Eat wrappers. Keren passed her the lighter and she lit the cigarette and propped her feet up where the windshield used to be.

«So,» she said, getting her weapon laid across her lap just so. «What happens now?» She took a deep pull on the unfiltered cigarette and coughed wrackingly. «Aw, Jesus! That's awful!»

Keren blew out a cloud of blue smoke and laughed again. «Yeah, ain't it. Well, in a while the horses are go

«Uh-huh,» said the soldier who had fought her way out of two bloody defeats. «And when the yellow bastards just keep coming?»

Keren took another puff, blew it out and propped one boot up in the shattered driver's window. «Well, then it gets interesting.»

* * *

«Mortars, what's your callsign?»

Keren picked up the handset. «Golf One One.»

«Golf One One, this is Third Regiment fire control. Adjust fire, over.»

Keren shook his head and snorted.

«What?» Elgars asked, picking up her rifle. She had fallen into a cat nap in the fifteen minutes or so they had been waiting.

«Hang on,» he chuckled and composed his voice. «Roger, Third Regiment, adjust fire, out.» He unkeyed the mike and snorted again. «They wanted to know our callsign, which is used to keep the 'enemy' from knowing what unit is calling. But they sent their own unit in the clear.»

«Oh,» she said and frowned. It was obvious she didn't think it was important.

«Elgars, everybody in an infantry unit should know correct radio procedure. It's basic infantry training. But they don't. What does that tell you?»

«Oh,» she said again and nodded. «They don't know shit?» she guessed.

«Yeaaah,» said Keren, nodding. «Makes this real damn interesting, don't it?»

«Uhmmm,» the radio said and was silent again. «Golf . . .» It went silent again.

«One One,» offered Keren. «Or just say, 'mortars.' «

«Golf One One, fire mission, over.»

«Go ahead.»

«The Posleen are at the intersection of Washington and Fifty. And there's more by the a

Keren shook his head. The humor, though, was gone.

«What?» said Elgars.

Keren keyed the radio. «Roger, stand by.» He spun the plotting board: «Could you try to find something called 'The A

He picked up the microphone for the gun frequency as she said, «There's something called the Navy A

«Guns. Deflection two seven three seven, elevation eleven hundred, charge three. Four rounds.» He dropped the radio and spun the board again. «Where by the Pentagon?»

* * *

The Posleen normal stared up at the symbol. It was not one of the familiar ones. There was the crossed projectile weapons; they were familiar and easy to deal with. There was the two-turreted building of the military technicians. There were orders to avoid that symbol at all times. This was a new one. It appeared to be picture of a world with some device on it and rope around the device. Perhaps it was a symbol of a group that chained the world. The normal looked over its shoulder towards its God King. That worthy ordered it to open the doors with a gesture of its crocodilian head.

* * *

C-9 was an atomic catalyst explosive. The President's Marine Guard Force had easy and unquestioned access to Galactic weaponry and explosives. They also were veterans of Barwhon and Diess. Since they were well aware that the Posleen first looted, then destroyed, most of the buildings they captured, they saw no reason not to advance the timetable. Well, the destruction timetable. And there was a whole lot of tradition attached to Henderson Hall. So there was no damn reason at all to give it to the horses. It just wasn't a Marine «thing.»

* * *

Keren had discovered that there weren't many safer places than under the steering column of a Chevy Suburban. So when the white flash to his left transferred palpable heat to his skin, he dove for the floorboards.

The shockwaves from the series of triphammer micronuclear explosions rolled the Suburban over onto its top then back up onto its springs. Shaken, Keren took a moment to compose himself and make sure that the worst was over, then dragged himself up into his seat and looked to the south.

From the area where the Pentagon had been faintly visible a pall of smoke was rising. The trees across Arlington Hill had been stripped of most of their fall leaves and the tops of some of the southerly ones were sheared off. Several fires had started on the south edge of the hill.

He did a quick inventory to check the damage. One of the PRC-2000s, the one set to support the regiment, was smashed. The other had apparently jammed under one of the seats and physically survived. He'd check to see if it still transmitted in a minute.

The interior of the vehicle was trashed. All the personal gear that had accumulated in the back along with half-eaten meals, open drinks and other debris had been thoroughly mixed. On the other hand, it wasn't much worse than it had been before the explosion. There had been less spaghetti sauce on the royal blue headliner. But not much less.

Elgars was apparently alive. The soldier was braced against the door cradling her left wrist with an expression of agony on her face.