Pedestals of Ash (37 page)

The president nodded his understanding. “The drug addicts would probably not handle things
very
well either. I’m sure their supplies dried up quickly. Anyone with any sort of daily habit would probably get mean real quick.”

Bishop agreed, “Oh, no doubt about it. But you know, I think the worst of a man comes out when he watches his loved ones die. I don’t know how I’d react if something happened to my wife. I can see myself sinking so low I wouldn’t care who I hurt or what I did. I
might become something worse than the
g
houlish.”

“I’m receiving such an education
,
Bishop. I had no idea it was like this out here. Do you think it’s the same all over?”

Bishop adjusted the rifle lying across his lap and then looked down. “Before we left Houston, a neighbor approached me with a
portfolio
of his investments. He had two children at
a
university some
90
miles away. He offered me all of
his money
to go bring back his teenagers
. Now, this was before it became clear how bad
is was
. At that time, we all thought things would recover
quickly
.
And this
was a considerable sum of money
…but
I couldn’t go. It was simply impossible.” Bishop paused for a moment, reliving that memory. “Can you imagine how a man might react if he had to watch his children starve before
his very eyes? What if your daughter
needed some medicine to stay alive
, and you had to watch her
die? There are lots of things that can turn men into animals, sir. You and I could probably
speculate
here all week and still not account for them all.”

The president grew quiet for a while, drawing a picture of what Bishop was saying in his mind
. It must have been a bad depiction,
because he suddenly shook his head as if to clear the image. “And yet, you tell me a young girl survived right here in th
is
very room. She didn’t take the easy way out
,
and
she
maintained her stability.” 

Bishop nodded, “I’ve found mindset is a large portion of what it takes to survive. It’s amazing what people can endure if they have hope.” After a contemplating pause, he continued, “That’s what I was trying to say back at Bliss, sir. The way the government reacted
,
destroyed hope
;
and that only lowered everyone’s ability to deal with the problems.”

The president seemed puzzled by Bishop’s statement. “I don’t see how establishing order does anything
,
but improve a bad situation.”

Bishop sighed, trying to find the right words. “Loss of freedom destroys hope. A man with fewer options has less hope of solving his problems. Rule of law is one thing – removing initiative is another. When the army announced martial law in Houston, it broke my spirit. There was nothing said about a solution, or
a plan to rebuild or
optimism for the future
. There was zero hope in the message.”

The president
raised his head, his tone becoming
defensive. “In Iraq, we learned the hard way that security was job one. Without security
,
nothing moved forward. People wouldn’t open their shops, repairs were never implemented
,
and society ceased to function. They stayed at home, hiding and scared to come out and move the country forward. We had to establish security
,
Bishop – we believed nothing would improve without it.”

Bishop didn’t hesitate, “I agree with you sir, but from my perspective, we didn’t learn the entire lesson. Our well-intended attempt to secure
Iraq
was implemented without local involvement. It was only after the tribal leaders were brought into the process did things start t
o change. From my perspective, t
he Independents have acted a lot like the insurgents did in Iraq. They are receiving support from a population that sees no hope – no alternative.”

The older man leaned back in his plastic ice cream parlor chair and rubbed his chin. Bishop couldn’t tell if the man was pissed off, bored or simply thinking things through. He finally asked Bishop what he would have done.

Bishop wasn’t ready for that question and took his time. He stared at the wall, thinking that the pink and yellow balloons were a far too
lighthearted
décor for this conversation.
We should be in a wood paneled conference room with high back leather chairs and
ashtrays
full of partially smoked cigars
, he thought.

“Sir, I would have assigned army units and resources to the local politicians and leaders. Rather than roll into a city with tanks, I would have used the fuel to run local generators. I would have implemented similar actions to what Roosevelt did with the WPA. Could busses full of men recruited from the city centers have harvested crops somewhere? Could volunteers have been organized to distribute seeds and teach everyone how to
produce their own vegetables
? Could the Navy have docked the carriers and other nuclear powered vessels and used their reactors to provide electricity for some of the coastal cities? I’m not smart enough to know what would’ve worked and what wouldn’t. To be blunt, I don’t think it would have mattered if most of what the government tried to do eventually failed. What I do know is that taking away everyone’s freedom was a mistake. The door was opened to the Independents
,
and
now
they aren’t going to go away.”

The man across from Bishop smiled knowingly. “The Colonel was right about you. I should’ve known that old bastard wouldn’t send just any old Joe Nobody in his stead.”

The caravan from Meraton arrived at the church compound without incident. The remaining defenders seemed relieved that help had finally arrived and were especially happy to see their leader had returned. Deacon Brown immediately introduced Nick and let everyone at the compound know he was in charge of defensive matters. After making sure her wishes were known, she busied herself with checking on the wounded and other
priorities
.

Nick’s Special Forces
’
training and experience immediately showed through. Being a Green Beret, his primary role in the military was to take irregular
s
,
or
untrained people
,
and convert them into an effective fighting force. He had performed these duties all over the world
,
and the defenders of the First Bible Church of
Alpha, Texas
were a perfect match for his experience. After gathering the “middle management” of men designated to protect the grounds, the first thing that drew Nick’s attention was the fact that the church had never conducted any offensive tactics. As the history of the conflict was explained to him, he noted that the word “defense” was taken far too literally by the congregation. Throughout the entire
three-month
affair, the men gathered around him had basically let the other side attack, attack
,
and attack again. Never had the church’s men attempted anything along the lines of a pre-emptive strike against their foes. Not once had they
ever tried an ambush or counter
attack.
Initially, the congregation viewed such tactics as anti-Christian.
Evidently, the old saying, “The best defense is a strong offense,” was assumed to apply only to football. The foe had been allowed to call the shots
,
and Nick was about to change all of that. The famous words of General Patton echoed in his head, “Fixed fortifications are a monument to the
stupid
ity
of man.”

His first step was to divide the force into two groups. The less mobile men were assigned to perimeter defense
,
and he significantly altered where each man was positioned. A second, more agile group was formed with the stated purpose of conducting offensive operations.

Nick then took
the group assigned to the wall
and sub-divided
them into two sections. He left a core group of
men stati
oned along the walls, but he also culled out
what he termed a “quick reaction force.” This group was to lie back and wait during any attack. When it became apparent where the primary threat was focused, they were to rush in and reinforce that area.

Nick struggled with where to assign his own son. Kevin had proven himself in combat
,
and Nick trusted the boy’s judgment and capabilities more than
he did
anyone else at the compound. On the other hand, there was a higher level of risk here than anything they had encountered before. The father inside of him conflicted with the warrior. In the end, the father won out
,
and Nick was assigned as Deacon Brown’s new
bodyguard
. Nick made
it
absolutely clear that any heroics wouldn’t be tolerated. The boy begrudgingly agreed.

Terri was another dilemma. Nick had fought beside her as well and knew she was as good, if not better, than most men. Months ago, when the rovers had attacked Nick’s hideout, Terri had battled like a wildcat and saved Kevin from certain death. She was also the pregnant wife of the only friend Nick had left. Terri was a different situation than Kevin. She was an adult and responsible for her own actions. Nick started to leave the decision up to her, but then realized h
e hadn’t done so with any of the c
hurch’s other members. Why should Terri be given special consideration? Terri was assigned to the quick reaction force, and put in charge.

Despite a hurried evaluation and reorganization, Nick was concerned. Ammunition was low, as was morale. The perimeter consisted of far too much real estate for the number of men available to hold it and was way too porous for a proper fixed defense
.
After positioning the men on the wall where he thought best, Nick went to work on the mobile team. He gave them a quick,
twenty-minute
briefing on what he had in mind and made sure that everyone in the small group understood the tactics and terms.

Deacon Brown ventured out of the main building and watched Nick for a while. The man’s confidence was reassuring
,
and he seemed to understand he was commanding civilians, not soldiers. She marveled at how he explained things in quick, simple terms
,
and then made sure everyone understood. Diana thought Nick should have been a college professor. He seemed to boil down complex subjects to simple, understandable terms and showed patience when the student didn’t understand. The thought of the big warrior standing at the lectern with chalk dust on his hands made her giggle.

Nick heard Diana’s reaction and mistook it. After finishing his task,
he
march
ed over with a questioning look on his face, “Did I do something you thought was funny?”

Diana read him immediately
, and blurted out, “Oh…no…no…no….
That wasn’t why I laughed. I was admiring how patient you were with the congregation and had a vision of you teaching college. It was so ridiculous…I had to laug
h at myself. Don’t worry; you’re doing great.”

Nick smiled and relaxed. “I surely do hope we can end this conflict soon. I look forward to a time where people are building things, not tearing them down.”

Diana nodded her agreement, “I’ve wanted that for so long. In a way, I’d kind of given up hope. Lately, it takes everything I have to just make it through one day at a time. There’s been little thought about tomorrow.”

Nick reached out and put his hand on Diana’s shoulder. She didn’t recoil from the gesture, nor did she seem to embrace it. In a warm voice, Nick said, “I understand taking things one day at a time. I’ve been there. You have and are doing a great job with these people. We are going to fix this. I’m in it wit
h you all the way, if you want me
here.”

Diana looked into his eyes and said, “Thank you. You don’t know
how good it is to hear that. I really am
glad you are here.”

Nick knew it wasn’t the time to get into personal relationships. There was business to attend to
,
and he decided to pull back just a little. “Don’t be so quick to judge. I seem to have this tendency to wear out my welcome. We’ll see how the day goes and like you said, ‘One day at a time.
’
”

Diana nodded her agreement, “You’re right. These are good Christian people for the most part. Other than the loss of life on both sides, I worry the most about what all of this conflict is doing to their souls. None of them signed up to be soldiers. Even if we survive, I wonder about the quality of their lives afterwards. Nothing we can do about that now
,
I guess.”

The statement about Christian people reminded Nick of a thought that had been rolling around in his head. “Diana is there any statue, cross or other
religious symbol
here at the church that is large enough to draw attention
,
but light enough we can carry?”

“I don’t know what you mean?”

Nick thought for a moment and then
expounded
, “Something like a big shiny cross or a statue of some sort. Something that we could sit out
,
and people would notice it. If it were something that looked valuable, that would be even better.”

Diana still didn’t quite comprehend what Nick was wanting, but turned and motioned him to follow her. The pair walked through the main
floor, then
down into the basement. Diana picked up a candle on the way and when they entered the darke
r part of the building, she lit
the wick. They eventually entered a
storeroom
and she explained, “When we built the new
structure
, we stored a lot of things down here. My dad couldn’t seem to part with this stuff. You can use anything down here that meets your needs.”

Nick took the taper
and
investigated
the large room
,
checking its contents. There were desks, chairs, artificial plants and an assortment of other items. In the corner, he saw a brightly painted statue of the Virg
in Mar
y. He handed Diana the candle and moved a few items so he could access the porcelain decoration. He picked up the
figure
and hefted its weight. After satisfying himself it was portable, he moved the piece to an open area and examined it closely with the light.

The statue was about four feet high and brightly painted. Mary was standing with her arms spread wide as if to welcome everyone. She had been adorned with a blue robe and white headdress. Surrounding her head was a shiny golden crown that actually glittered in the candlelight. The inside was hollow and one arm had been broken off and reattached at some point. There was a bronze placard indicating it had been donated to the First Bible Church by the VFW Ladies Auxiliary of Alpha. One hand was missing.

“I remember this,” said Diana, “my father was very upset when it was broken during the move. I think he kept it down here hoping to have it repaired one day.”

“Do you mind if we use it? Odds are it won’t survive.”

Diana didn’t hesitate, “If it’ll help save one pe
rson’s life, you are welcome to
it. It’s just a
thing
, and I’ve
realized
these past weeks that
things
aren’t really that important anymore.”

Nick didn’t want the statue to save lives. As a matter of fact, his intent was quite the opposite, but he decided to keep that to him
self. He handed Diana the
taper
and gently hoist
ed the statue onto his shoulder.

Within three hours of arrival, ten stealthy men and one virgin snuck out of the church’s perimeter. Nick was leading the group. 

The four Blackhawk helicopters performed a
textbook
simultaneous landing at the Alp
ha Airport. Before the skids
touched the ground, the
airmobile
infantry hit the ground
,
moving rapidly to establish a perimeter. Within a few seconds, the
well-trained
troopers were fanning out in all directions
, a search and rescue mission to secure the
President of the United States.

The small regional airport
could boast
only a few buildings
,
and it didn’t take long to discover the abandoned
Humvee
Bishop had “borrowed” from Fort Bliss. Even less time transpired before a sergeant came ru
sh
ing
back to A
gent Powell with the p
resident’s jacket. “There’s no sign of them
,
sir. I believe they parked in that terminal and proceeded on foot or obtained another vehicle.”

Powell held the j
acket in his hands and glanced
at the waiting soldier. “Thank you
,
S
ergeant. Please let me know as soon as you have finished searching the remaining facilities.”

The sergeant replied with a crisp, “Yes, sir,” and spun quickly to return to his unit. The man took a single step, paused
,
and then pivoted back around to face the
Secret Service
man. “Sir, there is one other thing. I believe one of the president’s party may be injured. There is a small amount of blood in the back of the
Humvee
.”