Linda said, "General, this baby has fleas, head lice, and her diapers haven't been changed in so long she has urine burns from her navel halfway down to her knees."

Ben nodded. "I have despised trashy people of any color all my life. Corrie, have Doctor Chase set up a MASH station near the airport as soon as it is secured. We'll airlift the kids out as soon as possible."

As soon as all the kids were gone, Ben reached down and jerked one woman to her feet. She glared hate and defiance at him. He pulled his .45 from leather, placed the muzzle against the woman's forehead, and slipped the autoloader off the lock position. She jumped at the slight sound.

"How many children have you helped supply to the creepies in L.a.?"

"The who?"

"The Night P. The Believers."

"How ... did you know we done that?"

"How isn't important. How many?"

"Don't know. Cain't remember. Been doin" it for years."

"Don't you have one shred of decency in you, woman?"

"f.u.c.k you, you son of a b.i.t.c.h!"

Linda looked on in shock as Ben pulled the trigger. The woman's feet flew out from under her and she fell to the cracked pavement, a large hole in the center of her forehead.

Ben stood over another woman. "Get up!"

"I'll tell you!" she screamed, sprays of spit flying from her mouth. "Jesus G.o.d Almighty, I'll tell you. We made a deal with them Believer Judges down in Sacramento. We supply them with-was she swallowed hard -- "prisoners we tooken and they leave us alone.

It's that way all over the state. We live in peace with them and you-all better learn how to do it too. Not just the Believers, but the gangs in L.a.too. You'll never whup them. They's too many of "em."

"And how many of your babies have you handed over to them?"

Ben asked softly.

Linda gasped at the question.

The woman sneered at Ben. She knew she was only minutes from death. "The ones that's sickly.

The Believers have fine hospitals and such. They raise them up fat."

"Good G.o.d, woman!" Cooper blurted out. "The G.o.dd.a.m.ned creepies eat them!"

"So?" she said. "What business is that of yours?"

Several Rebels crossed themselves. Jersey muttered, "Suffer the little children unto me, Jesus said."

Ben spat in the woman's face. "Beth, Jersey. Take these ... ladies out of town and deal with them, please."

"Our pleasure," Beth said, prodding them up with the muzzle of her rifle.

A Rebel walked out of the newly claimed territory and whispered to Ben. Ben nodded his head in understanding. "A few who have surrendered verify that we now have all the children that were in the town," he said to no one in particular. He was thoughtful for a moment.

"Corrie, give the orders for all Rebels to evacuate the town. Then order artillery to destroy it and everyone in it."

Smoke spiraled into the sky from the west coast of the state, the interior, and from the east side as Eureka, Redding, and Susanville were brought down by Rebel gunners.

Rebel planes would begin landing as soon as the airport runways were cleared. The children commany of the older ones just taken prisoner confirming the horror story the woman had told Ben comwd be flown back to Base Camp One for further medical treatment, and would eventually be placed in foster homes.

"Hideous!" Linda said. "We were so secluded in our little valley we knew very little of what was actually taking place outside of it. This is just ...

mind-boggling."

The bodies of the dead outlaws and their women had been dragged into piles and scooped up by front-loaders, then transported to a ma.s.s grave site. All weapons had been gathered up and stacked according to caliber. They would be transported to supply depots and carefully gone over by Rebel armorers.

"Hiding one's head in the sand never really accomplishes anything," Ben said. "Reminds me of the story about the family who had but one child and wanted to protect that child from all the evils of the world. The child was educated at home, all activities monitored and restricted, and never allowed to leave the home compound. On the child's eighteenth birthday, his parents let him go outside the compound for the first time and he died of shock.""If there is criticism in there, General," she replied, "I accept it for all of us."

Ben shook his head. "No criticism, Linda.

Just amazement at your naivet'e. I guess you people did what you thought was best. But now you have to face the real world. You witnessed a very small part of it today."

"You mean there is more?" She tried a smile with the light sarcasm.

Corrie walked up. "General, Leadfoot's bunch report that Red Bluff is deserted. A lot of people left there in one h.e.l.l of a hurry. General Ike reports the same thing all the way down to Ukiah, and General Striganov has scouts out as far south as Interstate 80, just north of Lake Tahoe. Deserted all the way down.

But the signs show a lot of people were in that area a short time ago."

Ben opened a map case and carefully studied a map of California. "All right, Corrie. Have Georgi investigate all the towns east of Highway 99. Tell Leadfoot and his people to check out Chico, Yuba City, and Marysville. I think he's going to find them deserted. Abandoned is a better word. Sacramento is going to be our next big one. Tell Leadfoot to stay the h.e.l.l out of Sacramento."

"Right, sir."

Thermopolis, the leader of the 21/-century century hippies who had joined in the Rebels" fight some months back, walked up. Ben looked around to see if the little con artist, Emil Hite, might be nearby. He wasn't. Ben liked Emil, and the little man was a sc.r.a.pper, but Emil could be a tad nerve-jangling at times.

"Therm," Ben said, greeting the man with the graying shoulder-length hair. "What's up?"

"Ben, I've got an old friend who had a commune not too far outside of Oroville. He was a fairly resourceful fellow. I'd like to take some of my people down there and see if he's still alive."

"I can't stop you, Therm."

"I know that. But if I'm playing the soldier game, I'd like to have the commanding general's permission."

"It's fine with me, Therm. You want some Rebels to go with you?"

Therm thought about that for a moment. He shook his head.

"No, I don't think that would be wise. Pasco might misinterpret that as aggression and open fire."

"Why do I get this feeling that your friend will want no part of us?"

Therm shrugged his shoulders. "You're probably right, Ben. But he runs, or ran, a tight ship. No lawlessness, no drugs, everybody works and pulls their own weight if they're physically able. You probably won't like him, but I think you'd respect what he is."

"Okay, Therm. But leave your VW Bugs and wagons here. Take a couple of Hummers with radio equipment so you'll be able to stay in contact withus." Ben smiled and Therm braced, knowing Ben was about to stick the needle to him. "Tie a flower or a guitar or something to the antenna, so this Pasco will know you're only half-converted to reality."

Thermopolis gave Ben a dirty look, nodded his head, and walked off, muttering under his breath about fascists and dictators and the like.

"Better yet," Ben called, "take Emil with you. That would really set you apart."

Thermopolis turned and gave Ben the finger.

Linda had stood quietly, watching and listening to the exchange. "You really like him, don't you?"

"Oh, sure. What's not to like? He thinks I'm full of bulls.h.i.t and I know he is, so we get along. We've had some spirited debates over the months. He certainly doesn't agree with everything I do, but he's realist enough to know that the Rebel movement is the only thing standing between order and anarchy."

Linda said, "But the East, for the most part, is safe now. He could take his followers and leave, go back to the commune ways and live in peace."

Ben smiled. "Yes, he could. But he won't.

That's why I know he's spouting bulls.h.i.t. Don't kid yourself, he's in this fight to stay. He'll tell you he's with us to see the country in the only reasonably safe way. Safety in numbers, and all that. But he'll be with us when we hit Northstar, and he'll be with us when we sail for Europe. Part of his motive will be his insatiable curiosity, and another part will be that in his brain, if not in his heart, he knows that what we're doing is right. Brutal and savage, but right." Ben chuckled. "Although he'll never admit it and will argue to his dying day that I'm wrong."

"Just like you would never admit it if you are wrong about him?"

"Of course, I wouldn't. That's why we're friends."

"Praise be to Ben Raines, the Supreme Commander of all forces that are right and just and good on this granite planet!" Emil Hite shouted, bouncing into the perimeter.

"Oh, G.o.d!" Ben muttered.

"Once more, justice and goodness has prevailed,"

Emil said, walking up to Ben.

"Right, Emil," Ben said.

"But we shall be benevolent conquerors. We shall heal the sick and offer solace to the bruised minds of those who have been enslaved."

"Right, Emil."

"The mighty army of Ben Raines rolls on, bringing liberty and justice to all." Emil began to sing the "Star-Spangled Banner." Smoot began to howl in protest. Emil looked at her looking at him. "Tin ear!"

"That's very good, Emil. But you're going to herniate yourself if you keep trying to hit the high notes."

"I've been practicing."

Ben eyeballed Emil's latest getup. Emil had long ago abandoned his flowing robes for militarybattle dress, but whenever he was outside of a combat area, he also wore a turban and cowboy boots.

He had recently begun carrying two pearl-handled, nickel-plated six-shooters, tied down like an Old West gunfighter. But for all his eccentricities, Emil had proven himself in battle, time after time, and Ben respected the little man for that. But he still considered Emil to be a tad off the wall.

"Where's Therm going, General?"

"To visit some hippie friends of his in a commune south of here."

"Oh, neat-o! You think he'd mind if I went along?"

"You can go if he asks you, Emil. But don't bug him about it. On second thought, you'd better stay here. I, uh, need you."

"You need me?"

Emil rose to his full height of about five-five. "I am at your service, mon general.

Your wish is my command. Ask, and I will obey without hesitation."

Ben was thinking hard, aware of Linda's amused look. "Uh, right, Emil. Listen, I want you to, ah ... I want you to make certain that Therm and his bunch check out Hummers from the motor pool and that they have a good radio with them. Also make certain they have enough rations for several days. Will you do that for me, Emil?"

Emil sprang to attention. "Yes, sir!

I shall see to that at once."

"Thanks, Emil."

Emil whirled around, almost tripping over his high-heeled cowboy boots, and went running off to find Thermopolis.

"Your friend Thermopolis is not going to like this," Linda said.

"He'll get over it." Ben grinned, softening the hard planes of his face and taking years from him.

"Besides, he's used to me shoving Emil at him."

Ben looked toward the town of Redding from his position at the airport. The small city was no more. The Rebels had set firebreaks to keep the flames from spreading, then moved back and let it burn.

"It seems like such a waste," Linda remarked.

"There are only so many commodes, so many bra.s.s fittings, and so many bathtubs and kitchen sinks we can use, Linda. And we have enough stockpiled around the nation to outfit several million more people, and there are still millions more in empty homes and buildings. And we're also eliminating another place for outlaws to stay. Linda, we have warehouses filled to the overflowing with every part and gadget you could name, and some that you couldn't. We probably have half a million or more car and truck engines. We have enough sparkplugs to stretch from here to the moon and back, and enough panty hose to completely wrap the earth."

She laughed out loud at that.

"You see, after the Great War, we started what was probably the greatest scrounging effort ever undertaken by humankind. Since so many of us were ex-Gi's and ex-intelligence officers, we knew where the underground storage facilities were all over the nation. We filled them up. The Rebels have all the gold, all the silver, all the precious gems, all the great paintings ... you name it, and we have it."

"And it was your idea?"

He shrugged. "Part of it, I guess. Excuse me." He waved for Corrie to come over.

"Corrie, have Lead-foot establish a CP at Beale AFB outside of Marysville and wait for us there. I know where there are some goodies to be had there.

Providing somebody else hasn't got them."

Linda glanced at him. "I thought you said your storage facilities were all filled up."

Ben smiled. "These are sealed chambers, concrete and steel bunkers, set deep in the earth, that contain weapons, equipment, and MRE'S."

MR ... what?"