Cadet 3 (10 page)

The two-striper appeared ready to argue, but
after one look at the expression on his superior’s face, he
reconsidered. “Understood, Chief,” he answered.

“They’re just being taken in another copter,
General Lawrence,” the Chief said to Jodie. “I’m sure they’ll be
fine.”

“Thank you, Chief,” Jodie said. “I don’t
suppose you’re allowed to tell me where we’re going, are you?”

He shook his head. “Sorry, sir, I can’t. But
I can get you something to wear during the flight. Collins,” he
snapped, “go find something for the prisoners to wear; blankets,
ponchos, anything.”

“Aye, aye, Chief,” the P.O.2 said. He rose
and moved off toward the front of the cabin.

The senior NCO watched his subordinate move
off toward a storage locker near the front of the helicopter, and
then he turned back to Jodie. “Collins is good at following orders,
and he’ll swallow any bilge the Navy pumps out. But I don’t care
what they say, General Lawrence, I know you would never be disloyal
to this country.” He looked at Merry and Robin. “And the same goes
for your friends. If it would do you any good, I would unlock those
cuffs and let you all go free, and they could do what they wanted
with me. But…” He held his hands out, palms upward, as if to say
that he was powerless to help.

“Understood, Chief…” She leaned closer to
peer at his nametag, “…Mayhew. I appreciate the sentiment, but…”
She looked at his subordinates. “… I don’t want you to get in Dutch
with your superiors.”

“Don’t worry about them, General,” he said,
“the boys are all with me on this.” The members of his squad
nodded. “That knothead Collins is the only one who buys the
official line. That’s why I picked him for that little errand. If
there’s anything we can do for you, short of springing you, just
ask.”

“There is one thing, Chief,” Jodie said
quietly. “Wherever they’re taking us, there’s a good chance none of
us are ever going to come out again, at least not alive. So, I will
ask you to remember us after we’re gone, and if we do disappear or
turn up dead, and the official story is that we were killed by
Chinese agents or some other bullshit, I want you, all of you…” she
paused to look the Shore Patrolmen in the eye, one by one, before
proceeding, “…to step up and to give that story the lie, and to
tell the whole world that traitors in our own United States Navy
were responsible. Then, even if we don’t survive, at least the
sons-of-bitches who murdered us won’t get away with it. I know I’m
asking you to risk your careers, hell, probably your
lives
…” she looked around at the SPs again, “…but unless
somebody
gets the truth out, this country is going to fall into the hands of
real
traitors.”

“You have our word on it, General,” Chief
Mayhew said solemnly. He glanced at his men and they added their
pledges.

It was still dark when they landed on the
roof of a building which had a landing area marked around the edges
with landing lights but was otherwise un-illuminated. They were
inside some kind of large Naval facility, and the salt-smell in the
air suggested it was either on the ocean or near a tidal estuary,
probably, Jodie thought, in Maryland or North Carolina.

Now clothed in orange plastic emergency
ponchos, the three prisoners were helped off the helicopter by the
Shore Patrol squad and passed on to a security detail waiting on
the roof. Just before they stepped onto the roof, Chief Mayhew
murmured, “You can count on me, General Lawrence. I won’t
forget.”

The men waiting to pick them up were dressed
in civilian clothing consisting of dark suits, button-down shirts,
conservative ties and expensive-looking shoes. They made Jodie
think of FBI or Secret Service agents, but when the Chief asked for
identification before releasing the prisoners to them, their leader
flipped open a leather ID wallet and announced he was from Naval
Internal Security.

The four suits herded the prisoners into a
doorway on the rooftop, and then into an elevator. One of the Navy
men produced a key, which he used to unlock a panel, and then
pushed the sole button inside. As the elevator started moving,
Jodie said, “So you guys are in Naval Internal Security? That’s
interesting. I wonder why I never heard of it before? What do you
fellows do when you’re not helping a junta overthrow the
government?”

The men ignored her. When the elevator
stopped and the doors hissed open, Jodie had the feeling that they
were far below ground in what she was reasonably certain was a
secure, and possibly secret, naval facility. They were taken down a
blank-walled corridor and into a windowless room.

Inside the room waited a Captain in a white
naval uniform and several more men in suits, who Jodie supposed
were more agents of the mysterious Naval Internal Security. The
leader of the group who had brought the prisoners from the roof
saluted the officer and said, “Captain Hall, we are reporting with
the prisoners, sir.”

“Thank you, you are dismissed,” the Captain
answered, returning the salute. He gestured to the three women.
“You can sit on those chairs over there.”

He followed them over to the chairs and bent
down to study Jodie at close range. Then he straightened up and
shook his head. “It’s an amazing likeness. I suppose you learned
how to talk just like the real General Lawrence as well.”

“Exactly like her,” Jodie agreed. “As it
happens, that part was pretty easy, since I actually am Jodie
Lawrence. And, if I may return the compliment, you do an excellent
imitation of Captain Jonas Hall, a loyal officer whose father was a
traitor.”

The Captain did not turn a hair. “Oh, you
know who I am, do you?”

“After Admiral Hall was forced to retire,
along with his partner in crime Admiral Carroll, you will recall
there was a purge of the Navy Department,” she said. “A number of
the members of the General Staff wanted your commission along with
the others, because of the chief conspirator’s blood relationship
to you, but General Cafferson wouldn’t hear of it. He said that
there was not a scintilla of evidence that you were involved or
even aware of the scheme; that your record was free of any
suggestion of disloyalty and he was not about to make you suffer
for the sins of your father. So, I’m a little surprised to find you
cooperating with the criminals behind this coup, especially since
whoever’s running the show is making such a dog’s dinner of
it.”

“Not that I believe a single word of it, but
what are you talking about?” Captain Hall asked, making an obvious
effort to appear aloof and skeptical of whatever she said.

“Well, for one thing, you know there are two
different, incompatible official versions of what is happening,”
she said. “One is that I sold out to the enemy, and the other, the
one I guess you believe, is that I’m not really me, I am actually a
ChiCom double.”

“You forgot the third one,” Robin added,
“that you were kidnapped by parties unknown. That’s the story being
given out to the newspapers, radio and television.”

Hall looked a little uneasy. “I know about
all that. Multiple stories were intentionally spread for security
reasons, to confuse the enemy.” He did not sound wholly convinced
by this explanation.

“Does that appeal to your common sense,
Captain Hall?” Jodie asked. “Or do you think there just might be
another explanation?”

“I suppose you have a better one.” Hall was
trying to sound uninterested, but it was clear that he was finding
Jodie’s arguments persuasive.

“Maybe,” she said. “What if the treason story
was rejected by the ranks, by the officers, by everybody who knows
my record? You wouldn’t believe it, would you, Captain? The Shore
Patrol who brought us here, they didn’t believe it either, and
they’re Navy. And if career Navy men feel that way, how do you
think the story would sit with the
Army
? So they had to come
up with something else in a hurry. This conspiracy shows every sign
of being a hasty, disorganized mess, which is why I said I was
surprised to see you involved. Also…”

Before she could go any further, a door in
the back of the room opened, and a tall, gray-haired man came in,
wearing a black and gold naval dress uniform with the five gold
bands of a Fleet Admiral on his sleeves. Robin, Merry and Jodie
recognized him instantly; his face was burned in their memories.
His name was Clarence Hall, and he had raped them and then tried to
murder them in cold blood when they were cadets.

He was followed by another familiar figure, a
short and rotund man dressed as a Rear Admiral. He had been Hall’s
accomplice in the aforementioned rape and attempted homicide. His
name was Robert Carroll.

The last man to enter was older than the
others. He wore an Army uniform with five silver stars formed into
a pentagon on each shoulder, the insignia of a General of the Army.
None of them had ever met the man personally, although they all
knew his face. His name was Alfred Murchinson, and he had been the
Chief of the General Staff before Bernard Cafferson.

Strictly speaking, none of these men was
entitled to the uniforms they wore, as none were currently members
of the armed services. Indeed, they had all been obliged to retire
under a cloud, Murchinson for a long string of defeats at the hands
of the Chinese, and the two Admirals for treason, although this had
not been made public.

“We were listening from the other room,”
Admiral Hall explained. “Don’t pay any attention to the little
bitch, son. She just blowing a lot of smoke, trying to confuse
you.”

“So you’re the genius behind this half-assed
junta,” Robin said. “We probably should have guessed. It certainly
couldn’t have been anybody with brains.”

Admiral Hall strode briskly up to the
handcuffed Robin. “Why don’t you just shut your stupid mouth,
slut?” he asked. His hand shot out and smashed into her cheek hard
enough to knock Robin and her chair to the ground.

Merry jumped up and started to go to her
sister’s aid. Before she could take a step, Hall drove a fist into
her midsection. She doubled over in agony, and dropped to her
knees.

“I see you’re still as brave as ever,
Admiral, and you can still beat up handcuffed prisoners,” Jodie
ground out through clenched teeth, “but even if you can knock down
a woman half your size, that still doesn’t explain why you have so
many inconsistent storylines out there. Why don’t you explain to
the Captain how I can be a traitor and a
ugh!
...”

Jodie was forced to stop in mid-sentence when
the red-faced Admiral shouted, “Be quiet, whore!” and sank his fist
into her gut. She curled into a ball and fell on the floor at his
feet. When he moved closer and drew back his foot to kick her, his
son jumped up and laid a restraining hand on his shoulder.

“Dad… sir, I can’t let you do that,” he said.
“These people are in my custody, and I’m responsible for their
welfare.” The angry admiral glared at his son, his hands at his
side, still clenched in fists, and it seemed for a moment as if he
might try to strike him as well. But then he backed away a step
and, still breathing heavily, muttered something under his
breath.

“Jonas, my boy, you’re wasting your sympathy
on the wrong parties,” General Murchinson said. “There’s no need to
worry yourself about what happens to these traitors. They haven’t
gotten even half of what they deserve yet.”

“I thought they were spies, General, Chinese
doubles who had replaced the real officers, not traitors,” Captain
Hall replied. “Although, I don’t see why the Chinese would go to
the trouble of replacing Cadet Bransom. Or is she the real one? I
must admit, it’s getting a little confusing.” He looked at his
father.

“Listen, son, there’s a very simple
explanation…” the Admiral began. Then he trailed off. The elder
Hall looked at the Naval Internal Security men and said, “General
Murchinson, Admiral Carroll, Captain Hall and myself are the only
ones cleared to interrogate these prisoners, for the present. You
men are relieved. You will wait in the Ready Room, and we will call
you when you are needed.”

The NIS men looked to their superior for
confirmation, and after he nodded they obediently headed for the
door. In a few moments, they were gone. General Murchison waited
with seeming impatience until the door slammed behind the last one,
then said to the elder Hall, “For Christ’s sake, Clarence, why
don’t you just explain the facts of life to the boy? He’s old
enough now to handle the truth.”

“What does that mean, exactly?” Captain Hall
asked. He stared piercingly at his father.

Admiral Hall moved over to the desk, pulled
out an old fashioned wooden chair and sat down. “Son, let’s say,
just for the sake of argument, that there wasn’t any Chinese plot
and that the real Lawrence is on the floor over there,” he said,
indicating Jodie with a motion of his head.

“So then, you’re saying she is a traitor
after all?” asked the bewildered Captain. “Dad, I have to tell you,
I would need to see some pretty powerful evidence before I…”

“I’m saying that it doesn’t
matter
,”
Admiral Hall interrupted. “I’m saying that the good of the country
has to be put ahead of the good of any individual, no matter who it
is.”

“Bernie Cafferson recommended
her
to
be the next CGS, Captain, and if somebody didn’t take a hand, she
was going to be
it
,” Murchinson put in. “Do you really want
Cafferson’s fuck-toy, an empty-headed little cunt, running the
entire country?”

Admiral Hall glared at his colleague. “What
the General means is that we can’t afford to risk having someone
young and unreliable at the controls, especially now. The
international situation requires experienced, proven leaders,
men
like General Murchinson and myself, if we have any hope
of holding off the Reds. Sometimes in an emergency it is necessary
to go outside the rules, and take certain steps that you would not
normally want to. The good of the country has to come before any
other consideration. That is the true meaning of duty.”