Death in the Ashes by William W. Johnstone

Author:William W. Johnstone [Johnstone, William W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780786019670
Publisher: Pinnacle
Published: 1990-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

Ben turned his back to the dead and smoking city and walked back to his tent to pack. If he had to adpot a scorched-earth policy in order to rid the land of outlaws and scum and Night People, so be it. Regrets, if any, he could deal with later.

“You killed about a hundred prisoners!” the woman screamed at Ben. “Murderer!”

Ben stood at the edge of the tarmac of the airport and listened to her tirade, his face expressionless. She cursed him until she was breathless. “What would you have had me do, madam?” he asked.

“Free us!”

“Madam, you are free.”

“But many of my friends are dead! Thanks to your callousness.”

Ben stared down at the woman, her clothing no more than rags, and with her face baering the marks of recent beatings. He knew he should just turn his back and walk away; knew it was pointless to stand and argue with her. But with Ben Raines being what he was, he wasn’ t about to do anything like that.

Ben pointed toward the smoking ruins of the city. “Madam, how far away do you think you were from being served up as dinner to some of those loathe-some creatures who were holding you captive?”

“I don’t know! That isn’t the point. You could have attacked the city with your army and saved us all.”

“To tell you the truth, I’m beginning to wonder if you were even worth saving.”

“You can’t talk to her in that manner!” a man said, stepping away from the hanger and walking to the woman’s side.

Ben blinked. “Now, just who in the hell are you?”

“I am her friend.”

“Well, friend, you best carry your ass back inside that hanger before you get on the wrong side of me. And I might point out that your mouth is awfully close to getting you there.”

The woman opened her mouth and the man said, “Sybil, let me handle this. General Raines, we are not ungrateful for being plucked from the hands of those dreadful creatures. But it is distressing that more than half of our group was killed by the bombings and the fires that followed.”

“Your … group. All of you were from the same group?”

“Oh, quite. We are-were-all from the same scientific organization.”

“And that would be … ?”

“Peace without violence.”

Ben sighed. “And how long has this organization been around?”

“Only recently. I would say about six months. We all felt we could reason with those poor unfortunates who have turned to a life of crime and violence.”

“Poor … unfortunates?”

“Q.”

“Ah-yeah! Right. And some of those “poor unfortunates” came along, grabbed you up, and swapped you to the Night People, right?”

“Well… yes. But that doesn’t mean that our plan won’t work with some other group, at some other place and time.”

“Ah… you mean you want to try again?”

“Oh, my, yes.”

“Do you want us to arm you?”

“Oh, no, General. Indeed not. We do not require arms to exist. We are vegetarians, so we don’t have to kill for food.”

“I wasn’t talking about hunting, mister … whatever your name is.

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