Out of the Ashes

Parley said, “I don't believe we can afford to move. But if we don't, what do we do—just sit on our hands and wait for war?”

“I think it's out of our hands,” Admiral Newcomb of the Coast Guard said. “We're damned if we do, damned if we don't. If we expose the location of the sub—where we think it is—we stand a good chance of a war. A very good chance. I think we're in a box. If we expose the traitors, they'll fire anyway. And we're not supposed to have that type of missile.”

“Which is a bad joke,” Sergeant Major Rogers of the Marine Corps said in disgust. “Russia's still got us outgunned two to one in missiles of the conventional nuclear type. God only knows how many germ-type warheads they have.” He forced a grin. “Of course, we have a few of those ourselves.” He shook his head. “Jesus! Thirty damned guys control the fate of the entire world. Even worse than that, if our intelligence is correct, it's a double double cross.”

Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Franklin looked across the table, disgust in his eyes. “Admiral? Do you—any of you—know for sure just who we can trust?”

The admiral shook his head. “No, not really. We don't know how many of our own people are in on this ... caper.”

“You mean, sir,” a colonel asked, “one of us might be in on it?”

“I would say the odds are better than even that is true.”

“I wondered why I was jerked out of Italy so fast I didn't even have time to zip up my pants,” the Ranger colonel smiled.

“Well, you'd better zip ’em up, Pete,” a SEAL laughed at him. “You don't have that much to brag about.”

“How the hell do you know?” A marine chuckled. “You two guys queer for each other?”

“I ain't free,"—the Ranger grinned—"but I'm reasonable.”

An AF commando laughed. “He bends over in the shower a lot, lookin’ for the soap.”

The rough humor touched all the men. After the laughter had died, the men seemed more relaxed, able to talk without constraint. A Special Forces colonel said, “General? You think some of my men are involved in this?”

“No,” General Saunders said. “Our intelligence people"—he waved his hand—"all services, seem to agree on one point: no special troops are involved. But"—he held up a warning finger—"this touches all branches of the service, not just in this country, but all countries. Russia included.” He smiled grimly. “I take some satisfaction in that. Those men in that sub have friends all over the world. That's why they've been able to hide from us for so long.”

“The Bull and Adams are really alive?”

“Yes. I talked with Bull. It came as quite a shock to me.”

“I ... don't really understand what they have to do with this ... operation,” a master chief said, as much to himself as to the men around him.

“Really ... neither do we,” an admiral replied. “But we do know these facts, one of which is obvious: Bull and Adams faked their deaths years ago; we know they are both superpatriots, Adams more than Bull when it comes to liberal-hating. All right. We put together this hypothesis: Adams and Bull had a plan to overthrow the government—if it came to that—using civilian ... well, rebels, let's call them, along with selected units of the military. Took years to put all this together. But ... the use of civilian rebels failed; couldn't get enough of them in time. We know for a fact that many ex-members of the Hell-Hounds turned them down cold.”

“How many men do they have?”

“Five to six thousand—at the most.”

“That's still a lot of people. And knowing Bull and Adams, those men are trained guerrilla fighters. How have they managed to keep that many people secret for so long?”

The admiral allowed himself a tight smile. “You didn't know the Bull, did you?”

“No, sir.”

“If you had known either of them, you wouldn't have asked.”

“I knew both of them,” a Ranger colonel said. “If they even suspected a member of any of their units was a traitor, they would not hesitate to kill him—war or peace.”

“I see,” the man said softly. “So ... Bull came up with the sub plan?”

General Saunders shook his head. “No. It wasn't his plan. We believe it was Adams’ idea. But I couldn't discuss this with Bull. I only had two minutes with him. Besides, he and Adams have been friends for twenty-five years. But I did manage to plant a seed of doubt in his mind. Yes, we believe Adams has lost control; he's slipped mentally. Mr. Kelly of the CIA shares that belief.”

“There is something I don't understand,” a Coast Guard officer said. “Obviously, this plan has been on the burner for a long time—years. To overthrow the government, I mean. Why have they waited so long?”

“That's what we don't know. And we've got dozens of computers working on the problem right at this moment.” The general rubbed his face with his hands. “I didn't get a chance to ask the Bull that. So many questions I wanted to ask. Men, I don't think we have a prayer of stopping those men on the sub. I think we're staring nuclear and germ warfare right in its awful face and there isn't a goddamned thing we can do about it.”