Command Decision (18 page)

Kane looked past the waiting Dennis to the map now, but even as his quickening eyes swept toward Germany they hung on the chalk marks on the loss column of the Ops board. He shook his head heavily and clearly heard Prescott repeat his frightened question.

“No, not that part exactly, Major. Just the sense of it. Casey, I agree with you entirely, my boy, but we’ve simply got to wait till we’re a little stronger.”

“Sir,” said Dennis, and they could all see him controlling himself with evident effort now, “wars are lost by waiting. If it were a question of potential strength there wouldn’t be any wars. It isn’t like that. Decisions are won by the margins available at critical times and places. The Allies waited, at Munich. The French and British waited, behind the Maginot Line. The Germans waited, for a little more relative strength to invade England. The Russians waited, until they had to take on the German armies without an ally in the field. We waited, for more strength to coerce Japan.

“Now we’re forcing the fighting, at terrible disadvantages of distance, defenses, and weather… on a margin so thin we cross ourselves before counting losses… with a bomber that thirty-millimeter cannon will make obsolete. But we’re doing it. We have,
now
, the advantage of the offensive, precariously, but we’ve got it. Advantage is cumulative. If we stop now and wait for the cycle to swing again we’ll be waiting for them to put a roof on the Continent. I’m not trying to tell you that Operation Stitch will win the war. But no battle anywhere in this war has been won without aerial supremacy. Operation Stitch is the price of that.”

He stopped. The muffled drumming of the motors outside and the clacking of the teleprinter in the Ops room filled part of the silence; the rest of it hung heavily over them all. Kane knew now that Dennis was not going to yield. He could relieve him, of course. But Dennis believed these things and would say them elsewhere, anywhere, even in Washington itself if Kane sent him back there. On the other hand, if Washington itself decided to relieve him… Kane shook his head and rose with quick decision, the others springing up after him.

“Will you gentlemen wait in the anteroom, please.”

He saw Garnett’s angry flush at being included with the other ranks but he offered no modification of the order. After a second Garnett followed the others out, closing the door himself.

“Casey, I’m taking Cliff back to my headquarters with me at once and releasing the Division to your discretion.

“Thank you, sir,” said Dennis quietly.

Kane hesitated, wishing to say more, remembering that the spoken word cannot be unsaid. Dennis did not need things spelled out for him, but his own deep, haunting anxiety made Kane speak against his wiser instincts.

“Casey, you realize what can happen?”

“Perfectly, sir.”

“Well, I hope it doesn’t. Good luck, my boy.”

He was turning toward the door when Evans stepped in from the Ops room, reluctantly extending a sheet of teleprint paper.

“Top Secret relay from General Kane’s headquarters for the General, sir.”

2

After observing Dennis’s defense of Goldberg that evening Sergeant Evans had gone to the Top Secret Files and read the plan labeled Operation Stitch. One perusal of it confounded him. The army, or at least the Fifth Division, did have a sensible, logical plan. Evans was dazed until he remembered what was going on in the next room. That confirmed it all. This plan was so good that it was requiring the exertions of a major general to resist its use.

Evans had shaken his head, wondering why Dennis had not already been court-martialed. And yet Kane was evidently vacillating. Against all previous experience, Evans himself had begun to hope when the reality of the clattering teleprinter spelled out the message he now handed General Kane.

Standing by at attention he watched Kane wilt visibly through a quick reading of it before handing on the message to Dennis.

“It’s from Les Blackmer, Casey.”

Dennis read aloud slowly: “Impossible contact Chief yet. Considered opinion here implores moderation and low losses during critical three days next especially in view of Part Two which follows. Two; you are again advised imminent visit three high-ranking members House of Representatives Military Affairs Committee, arriving Prestwick probably this night. Contact Embassy at once. Representative Malcolm will particularly wish to see his nephew, Captain Lucius Malcolm Jenks 0-886924371 your command. Suggest his assignment special escort duty this visit and must remind how opportune would be decoration Captain Jenks if eligible either presently or prospectively end Washington signal Casey for God’s sake find General Kane and tell him wise men from west already Prestwick arriving Croydon daylight Embassy frantic signed Saybold for Kane.

Dennis lowered the paper slowly. But Kane did not wait to hear.

“Sorry, Casey. You will put maximum sorties and tonnage on the safest naval target you can find, under fighter cover, tomorrow. I’ll take Jenks with me in my car and make… er… medical arrangement.”

“Sir, this is impossible.”

“Nothing’s impossible, Casey. We’re doing it.”

Dennis wheeled on Evans. “Sergeant, get those two officers…”

Evans sprang for the door. Kane did not speak until it had closed. His voice was regretful but firm.

“The charges will be quashed. We’ll have a formal presentation for the visiting firemen here tomorrow, timed so they can lunch afterward and then watch the return of the mission. You will instruct any plane sufficiently damaged to jeopardize landing to use one of the other stations. I’ll have a citation written for Jenks in my office tonight….”

He looked up indignantly as the door opened and two officers wearing medical insignia appeared. Their faces were puffy and their blouses ruffled from sleep but the elder saluted smartly.

“Dayhuff and Getchell reporting as ordered, sir.”

“General Kane,” said Dennis. “Major Dayhuff is my Division Medical Officer. Captain Getchell is flight surgeon of Jenks’s group.”

“Well…” Kane did not extend his hand.

“Major, tell General Kane exactly what you told me.”

“General Kane, there is no satisfactory medical explanation of Captain Jenks’s conduct. He acknowledges this and says he expects no medical exoneration.”

Thoroughly alert now, Kane studied the doctors closely. A presentiment was warning him to caution, as it had warned him earlier in the evening, against a showdown with Dennis. He spoke more civilly, feeling his way.

“Mightn’t that in itself be an indication of neurosis?”

“Doctors can be wrong, sir. In our opinion he’s normal.”

“Have you made a formal record of this?”

“Not yet, sir. We shall.”

“Do you think this is simple fear… cowardice, Major?”

“No, sir. Any man in his right mind is afraid to fly these missions. The cowards welcome a medical excuse not to. This man apparently doesn’t want one.”

“Have you any idea of why he refused to fly?”

Dayhuff nodded a graying head to his junior. Captain Getchell chose his words with slow, conscientious care.

“We don’t consider this a medical matter, sir. But Captain Jenks has mentioned some of his ambitions to me, in fact to anyone who would listen. He has been very frank to say that he intends to make something out of this war.”

“How?”

“Politically, I believe, sir. At first Jenks made a noticeable effort to be popular in the Group but the effect was… well, contrary to his hopes. His operational training phase was not harmonious. By the time we entered combat status he was distrusted by the others and very resentful. When the men rode him he used to say that not only they but the whole army would come begging to his door someday and then they’d learn something about who ran the country.”

“Mightn’t that, in itself, indicate… er… instability?”

“Sir,” said Dayhuff, “if we took to diagnosing ambition for an aberration we’d be busier than we are.”

“Thank you very much, gentlemen,” said Kane.

They saluted and withdrew. As they went Dennis noted that Evans had re-entered with them and overheard the conversation. He dismissed the Sergeant with an abrupt nod of his head.

“Casey,” asked Kane thoughtfully, “are these doctors our own?”

“No, sir. Civilian reservists.”

“Hmmm. Of course we can get Jenks to our own people…”

“One of these men is from Mayo and the other from Hopkins, sir. They will sign the report.”

Dennis had hoped that he would not have to do this. He knew now that he would and he was a little surprised at the calmness that possessed him.

It had been like this when he was testing. All through the preparation there were doubt and nervousness and tension. Then, with the take-off, those things dropped behind. It became very simple. A man did all he could first to eliminate needless risk. Then he forced the intended risk until something broke… sometimes the plane, sometimes the man, sometimes the prevailing boundaries of gravity and momentum. Dennis had done it before; he was going to do it again now. He studied Kane’s troubled irresolution as calmly as he had once studied his instruments before nosing down.

“Umm. We’ve got to do
something
, Casey.”

“I know a way, sir.”

“What?”

“If Jenks had been acting under direct, secret orders to hold himself in readiness for this escort duty and to discontinue flying missions until he had performed it, he would have been justified in refusing the mission without explanation. If the right orders, suitably dated, had been delayed, in channels, in this headquarters…”

Kane got it at once.

“Exactly, Casey, exactly. I won’t forget this, my boy.”

“I’ll attend to the whole thing,” said Dennis, “
as soon as I’ve ordered the Schweinhafen mission for tomorrow
.”

He saw Kane’s face twitch.

“Casey, this sounds like blackmail.”

“You’ve told me, sir, that there were times when you forced the Chief’s hand.”

Kane managed a smile now. “You have your orders.”

Dennis looked deliberately at his watch. “Then at five nineteen I charge Jenks with desertion in the face of the enemy.”

“General, I order you to release Captain Jenks to me.”

“I understand the order, sir. But the charges will be filed, the evidence heard, and the trial held in this headquarters unless you promise me Schweinhafen tomorrow and Fendelhorst the next day I judge suitable.”

“Casey, really, my boy, this is preposterous. If you’ll just consider…”

“I have considered, sir.”

“You realize that I might not be able to… protect you?”

“I do, sir.”

“Well, if you want to take the personal risk I
can
release the Division…. I was really going to anyway before that signal….”

Dennis had already picked up the black Admin phone. He kept his back on Kane while ordering Jenks’s release to the Major General’s personal custody, so as to give Kane time to collect himself. When Dennis faced him again Kane managed an air of sorrowful gravity.

“In the circumstances, Casey, I’ll have to signal Washington the correction on today’s strike.”

“I understand that, sir.”

“Well, don’t come to the gate.”

With an angry slam of the door Kane was gone. Turning in his tracks Dennis opened the Ops door and shouted for Haley. His face was calm when the startled Colonel appeared.

“Put Stitch, phase two, Schweinhafen, on the printer at once for all groups for tomorrow. Bomb and fuel loadings as before; routes and timings to follow….”

Martin hurried in from the anteroom now.

“Casey, Percent went out of here burning like a fuse. What the hell did you do?”

“Twisted his tail a little. Get going, Haley.”

“Sir, you’re sure you mean Schweinhafen?”

“Certain. I’ll sign it in a minute but get it clicking.”

Haley raised appealing eyes to inform the heavens that this was none of his work and hurried out the door.

3

The door had hardly closed on Haley before Martin’s anxiety expressed itself.

“Quit smirking and tell me what you did.”

“I traded him Jenks for Schweinhafen and Fendelhorst. Jenks’s uncle Malcolm of the House Military Affairs Committee arrives here tomorrow.”

“Casey, this is suicide. Percent can phone Washington.”

“Well, it was the last card. He might play straight.”

“Might.”

“You can’t tell, Ted. I can remember when Kane had guts. Let’s go to work.”

He had started for the Ops room door when Martin’s voice stopped him.

“Casey, Cliff said Helen wants me to pick a godfather for the kid. Will you take it?”

He was so pleased that he had to hesitate a second to cover his embarrassment.

“You trying to queer it for life?”

“I’m serious, Casey.”

“Well, sure.”

“And I want you to promise me something.”

“What?”

“If he ever wants to join the goddamned army you’ll take a club and beat his brains right out through his tail.”

“I know what you mean,” said Dennis slowly.

Martin walked over to him now, unpinning the wings from his blouse as he came.

“But after you get ’em beaten out he’ll probably become a pilot. If he does, give him these.”

He extended the wings. Dennis looked from them to Martin’s face without moving a hand.

“Nuts. All I owe him’s a silver cup and a blameless example through life. You give him those yourself.”

“You keep ’em, I might lose ’em.”

“No you don’t, Ted. You’re sitting here, biting your fingernails, tomorrow.”

Martin shook his head. “No dice, Casey. Schweinhafen’s mine.”

Dennis had known this was coming and had meant to prepare himself for final, unequivocal decision but there had not been time. There never was time. He looked at the set face before him and tried to stall until his head cleared.

“Listen, Ted. Any of the others can…”

“Not tomorrow. They hear too well.”

He knew his own face must be twitching now as Kane’s had.

“What do you mean?”

“You know damned well what I mean. Percent can double-cross you with a counterorder from Washington and signal a recall or change of target after we’ve started.”