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Southern Missouri, April: Even the rebuilt islands of humanity surrounded by the bloody sea of the Kurian Order no longer resemble the quiet past The settlees, with stout buildings huddled together like a threatened elephant herd, presenting horns and hide to the world as theshelter within People take care to be indoors by nightfall, and trust only the faces known to the presses distribute the news A telephone call is a rarity Trusted elders and co from education to sanitation
On the north "wall" of the little town of Montgomery, folded into the foothills of the picturesque Ozarks of south-em Missouri, Jackson Elementary School stands stolidly as one of the ha but thickly bricked, it protects the north side of one of the newer towns of the Ozark Free Territory A series of classrooms, s bricked up except for a few rifle loopholes with sandbags ready on nearby shelves, look out on a playground cleared of swings and trees The roof of the school is covered with a slanted shield of fireproofed railroad ties, which, along with a thirty-foot watchtower are the only additions to the school in the last half-century of its existence
Inside the building, in the old half-underground library on the lowest level of the school, three long scarred wooden tables have been rearranged into a U At the center of the table, a sober-faced woman in a heavy uniform coat sits with three sh the handwritten and typed pages with the aid of a younger officer To her left, another gray-haired officer waits in self-iers laced pri across the eure
The object of his gaze is David Valentine, wearing the closest thing to a uniform the Wolf officer posesses: creased blue trousers, boots, and a pressed white shirt He has bound his shining black hair close to his scalp out of respect for the occasion Valentine has none of Foxtrot&039;s coomery, but were any of thery His chin is down, jaw set, and he wears the fixed expression of a wounded bull about to try a final charge at thecalmly and softly into his ear
Col Elizabeth Chalmers, who rumor said had written the book on Southern Command&039;s military jurisprudence, cleared her throat After the days&039; proceedings, Valentine learned that the sound was her version of a judge bringing the court to order with his gavel
"This investigation is drawing to a close Captain Wilton," she said, addressing the olderValentine, "you&039;ve had the unhappy duty of atteainst Lieutenant Valentine Namely that on the date in question Lieutenant Valentine willfully and without cause disobeyed orders and withdrew fro Foxtrot Company&039;s hard-won victory into a defeat"
Teeks ago, when Valentine first heard that Beck, froainst hiation to determine if a court-martial should be convened, Valentine caation of his subordinate as a smoke screen to obscure the debacle at Little Timber Hill Foxtrot Company, so laboriously built up and trained over the last year, was again well below half-strength and rendered useless to Southern Cos against a disobedient subordinate would befuddle the issue
Who knows, Valentine thought, a touch of gallows huet another promotion out of it
Captain McKendrick of the Advocate General&039;s office, the tiny legal team that handled most of the military and civilian justice in the Free Territory, had been assigned to Valentine as his official "friend and spokesman" His counsel consisted of, "Keep your mouth shut," and "Colonel Chalmers prefers to be addressed as sir, not ma&039;am"
He did not inspire much confidence in Valentine Especially after he heard that if brought to court- squad
The colonel&039;s voice broke his "Captain Wilton, your su officer stood up, a slightly bent figure with the slow voice of grandfatherly wisdom "Yes, sir I think we should concentrate on two essential facts The first being that on March sixteenth, the day in question, Foxtrot Company was victorious on Little Tie of Lieutenant Valentine here, the Grogs were thrown back each tirew less and less frequent as the day progressed, until finally they were reduced to sniping and the occasional mortar shell Lieutenant Valentine&039;s own report, read out at this hearing, states that plainly They were beat, and they knew it"
"Colonel, please," Valentine&039;s adviser interrupted "There&039;s no evidence to support that last stateentlemen," Colonel Chalmers said "Let&039;s stick to facts, please The state beaten will be reies, Colonel But that would have beenserved in the fieldwounded, Lieutenant Valentine asse a withdrawal Despite the fact that Captain Beck, before relinquishing co to wounds, ordered that hill be held"
"Colonel, sir," McKendrick said, holding up his hand
"You&039;ll have your chance to speak, Captain McKendrick," Chalmers shot back "Please continue, Captain"
"Lieutenant Valentine&039;s reasoning for disobeying his Captain&039;s orders is given in his report This Cat out of Oklahoma somewhere believed that some kind of &039;para to a copy of Valentine&039;s report, "would be there by irone&039;s short platoon of Foxtrot Company Unfortunately, this Cat disappeared as quickly and mysteriously as she ca in the air for a ination, but wild stories about Reapers behaving contrary to everything we know about thes prowling the woods than here Lieutenant Valentine acted on this intelligence, for whatever reason"-Valentine gritted his teeth and dug his fingers into his thighs to keep fro coluth and disposition I think we should count ourselves fortunate that any of them returned at all
"Of course, I must leave it to the colonel to decide whether the withdrawal from Little Timber Hill constitutes a court-martial offense"
Colonel Chalmers turned to Valentine&039;s side of the table "Captain, are you ready to give your final statement, or shall we break so you can reread the record before your response?"
McKendrick stood "Colonel, I believe there is no basis for a court- should never have been called Charging Lieutenant Valentine with disobeying orders makes no sense, for as soon as he assumed command when Captain Beck ounded, no one of superior rank was present The only orders he could disobey were his own
"Lieutenant Valentine holds a commission in the Wolves, an honor that says we trust him to make decisions about the lives of those under him As a commander, he made a decision to abandon the position under the same authority that Captain Beck had to order its defense Wolves in the field usually operate outside the formal command structure; he had no one to refer to, so he used his own judght decision, in my opinion, but even that is a ation Even a handful of Wolves are worththe hill is to the Kurians A Grog force that was being reinforced as the day progressed as evidenced by the artillery fire that started that afternoon
"As to the issue that Captain Beck&039;s final orders should have been obeyed, I agree that it is traditional to follow the orders of a wounded co about a court-martial here, and a sentence that could include this officer facing a firing squad So we must be very careful about hoe apply the law, as opposed to applying tradition
"As soon as Lieutenant Valentine assumed command, any action he took that did not violate the Stated Rules and Regulations or Eal We have had Guard colonels withdraw their forces despite orders to the contrary from immediate command authority, and at each instance, we have deferred to the judgo no further The fact that it has gone this far speaks ht these charges than I-"
"Colonel Chalmers! This-," Wilton protested, but Chalmers cut hi discussed here, not Captain Beck I believe this is the second time I&039;ve had to warn you about this I want those re officer typing on the recorder "Another statement like that, and I&039;ll put my own censure of you on record, Captain McKendrick Please continue"
Valentine would infinitely rather have been back at the breastworks on Little Ti He shifted in his seat, a bitter taste at the back of his tongue
"Thank you, Colonel," his defender continued "I just want to ask the colonel to keep the good of the service intheet a very tiroup of Wolves Lieutenant Valentine was at Little Timber Hill; ere not What&039;sthat coht of folly"
McKendrick sat in his wooden chair and pulled it forith an authoritative scrape
Colonel Chalmers looked at the piles of paper before her "Lieutenant Valentine, do you have anything to say before I ave the tiniest shake of his head
Valentine stood up to address the colonel "No, thank you, sir"
"Then would you please step into the waiting room while I discuss this with the captains"
"Sir," Valentine said, and left the room
A very welcome face met him in the tiny rooyard, was stretched out full on the sofa, reading a yellowed book
"Hi-yo, Lieutenant What&039;s the story?"
The sight of a familiar face was like a cool breeze in hell "Baker!" Valentine said, trying not to drop hishere? Foxtrot is supposed to be atreplacements"
"I&039;istics Coer?"
"Yeah &039;The backbone of the army is the noncommissioned man&039; and all that, but we need beef and shoes that aren&039;t made out of old radial tires"
"Good luck, wherever you end up The Wolves&039;llshouldersto its shell "I liked serving under you, but by God if it weren&039;t for you and that Cat, we&039;d all be dead And what happens to you over it? A court-martial"
"Not a court-martial An &039;inquiry&039; There&039;s a difference" The words ca hundreds of times a day for the past week:
An inquiry can&039;t shootin his rucksack "Nohere is that-? Here Mr Valentine, I brought you so "This ain&039;t no busthead, either It&039;s genuine Kentucky whiskey Berber or soht it off a cart trader Bill Miranda frorew up in Kentucky He tasted it and vouched for the authenticity Tasted a couple ti, and no one thought you&039;d miss a sip or two Taste?"
"I&039;d love to But I&039;ve got to go back into the courtroom, or whatever they call it Not the best time to show up drunk"
They chatted over the ss of the platoon and the company, from the smooth-faced kids ere supposed to be turned into Wolves to the lack of adequate blankets to replace those lost
"This last batch," Baker was coot wet How the hell do you make a blanket outta sawdust, that&039;s what I want to know They&039;d unravel, if only there was material in&039;eo to the Guards&039; fancy dress unifor officer who transcribed the inquiry poked his head into the room "They&039;re ready for you, Lieutenant"
"Good luck, sir," Baker said, suddenly serious
As he walked back to the table-filled roo-e to ask what the verdict was He would find out soon enough, and the last thing he needed was this kid looking down his nose at a weak sister of a Wolf
He stood in the center of the U of tables, the faces of the three officers conducting the inquiry impassive
"Lieutenant Valentine," Colonel Chal officer I have tried, behind the scenes so to speak, to see if we can just drop this with some kind of simple reprimand The basic facts of this case are in your own report, which you have sworn to and stood by, that Captain Beck ordered you to defend Little Timber as the new coed that order, I have decided it would take a court-martial to decide whemer you disobeyed said order"
Valentine&039;s heart fell at her words Innocent or guilty, the very fact of being court-martialed would ruin his career No commander would want a junior under him whose ability to obey orders was the subject of a military trial
"However, I do have certain powers I aive you a choice Face the court- to you, your friend at this inquiry, Captain McKendrick, has offered to defend you before the court And, interestingly enough, Captain Wilton also very passionately offered his services in your defense You can co on behalf of the coainst you is sy you the option to resign your commission rao into one of the omer branches of service discreedy, or return home to Minnesota if you wish I advise you to consider this option In my experience courts-martial are tricky affairs-no one on either side ever co like a rose, so to speak What say you, Lieutenant?"
Valentine felt the roohtened "May I mink about it for a day, sir?"
"Of course I a in the matter of a theft of civilian property tomorrow, and I believe there are two more cases before I move on in the circuit, so you can answer me at your leisure Good luck to you, Lieutenant Valentine"
She rose, as did Wilton and McKendrick She left the roo a little oddly with her artificial left leg, and carried away the for with her
"Damn shame, Valentine," Wilton said as soon as the door closed behind her "The colonel of the Second Regiood Does he have friends in Mountain Home?"
"I don&039;t know, sir"
McKendrick approached him, and Valentine offered his hand "Seriously, do you have eneh places, Valentine? I can&039;t see why this is being pushed through She should have rolled that complaint up and tossed it in the fireplace Bullshit like that usually walks with the colonel"
"Captain, you want a drink? There&039;s enough bourbon for you, as well, Captain Wilton," Valentine offered
"No thanks, son," the old man said "Gives me a sour belly"
"Good," said McKendrick "More for us, men"
The informal party, which Valentine dubbed "the Wake in Honor of David Valentine&039;s Lieutenancy, May It Rest in Peace" broke up about 2 aht in the company of a very companionable " lady" who joined theomery&039;s walls But not before he turned over his pocket watch and most of his cash to Valentine McKendrick proved to be a loud, roaring drunk who recited obscene jokes at each round but exhausted hier the wind, the quicker it blows itself out," Valentine quoted to the other drinkers, not sure if he was quoting hi witfi the barflies and ne&039;er-do-wells of Montgo friendship while the liquor lasted
Nobody seemed to own this oversize shack; the pack trader who had been selling drinks went to bed atto his room at the old school was too much effort The dirty linoleu than any bed Clean sheets were not worth the walk, anyway He was a Wolf, by dah
"This how you always take bad news, Lieutenant?" a sarcastic and vaguely fa world above
"I&039; of bad news, lady Ask el of Death all rolled into one Whatever I touchdies"
"Ahh, the jovial kind of drunk My favorite C&039;et you up" She lifted hith, Valentine noticed through the drunken haze She also sood, a faint, soapy aroma
"Errhuh?" Valentine said, not sure that he wanted to be pulled to his feet by the Cat he knew as Smoke-even if his nostrils were attracted to her "They used to call me that in the Wolves Which I&039;m not any withyourself any harm, not on my watch, anyway"
Valentine cleared sofuls of the cold spring air of the Ozark Plateau It really was Smoke, the Cat from Little Tiet here? I could have used a deposition froe his next pro squad"
She escorted hio wall
"It&039;s got a good base door within the ruins She shoved open the door and helped hiloithin an old backyard grill in the center of the rooh the remnants of furnace vents
"All the coot here three days ago, I hadn&039;t had a hot soak for a month I had to kill some rats to clai for a counterattack, though" She reawakened the fire and stared into its orange-yellow dance for a long ed onto a pile of o?"
"Yes, I&039;ve been listening in to the trial"
"Funny, I didn&039;t notice you in the roouised as the colonel?"
"Valentine, you&039;re talking to a Cat The argoyles flying in a V-for into the building before dawn I found a spot in the basement where the echoes were favorable and listened We Cats have about as good hearing as you Wolves, you know You didn&039;t say much in your defense"
"I didn&039;t want to spoil anyone&039;s fun They were having a fine ti ular dictionary, Valentine I can read pretty good, and I&039;ve been doing a lot of it lately I&039;ve been checking some of your reports they have copied at the Miskatonic I&039; to think ere fated toout blankets and
"How&039;s that?"
"I&039;ll explain when I&039;m rested and you&039;re sober Too tired now"
"Give me a taste"
"No Shape you&039;re in, you wouldn&039;t remember anyway" She crawled into her bedroll "Brrr-I&039;ve been waiting for you to co to tell them tomorrow? I notice you didn&039;t ask anyone&039;s advice"
Valentine rubbed his 2 aotit out Beck would have to take the stand, and there are a few questions I&039;d like to ask him"
She kicked her shoes out from under the blankets "Do yourself a favor, Valentine Just resign Go quietly There&039;s o"
"Just a second, lady Where do you get off talking to ot four years in the Wolves I don&039;t see whatyou&039;re interested in"
"Valentine, go to sleep We&039;ll talk toof questions, you&039;ve never even told me your name"
"Duvalier Alessa Duvalier"
"Appreciate the assist, Duvalier Never thanked you properly" He reached out and gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze
"Don&039;t press your luck"
Gold-plated bitch
"I meant for back in Oklahoht, Valentine"
With a dia
Frustrated, Valentine wrapped himself in a blanket and let the booze win He turned his back to the fire, feeling as though he were in the bottom of a canoe in white water The pair vented their ular breaths As Valentine drifted away to cal in unison
Valentine hadn&039;t smelled real coffee more than twice in the last year So the aro it in an aluminum percolator over the rebuilt fire startled hiured you could use so kind of drunk"
Valentine&039;s tongue felt and tasted like the defensive end of a skunk "TheThat can&039;t be coffee"
"You&039;d be surprised at what I get out of the KZ Here, have a cup" She poured a generous amount into a scratched plastic bowl Valentine wondered if he was supposed to lap it up, but eventually got so his lips
The sharp, sti appear rosier
"Ever read detective novels?" he asked
She shook her head "Where I usually circulate, I&039;m lucky to have old dishwasher warranties to read"
"They&039;re stories about really smart people who solve murders They always spot a tiny little clue everyone else missed, and explain themselves to the rest of us poor idiots at the end Once you start reading them, they&039;re kind of addictive"
"And?"
"My point is I feel like one of the idiots, waiting for the puzzle to be put together underin a skillet and reached for her jacket "Your file said you ell read Wish I could help My puzzle is ether we can fill in the blanks"
He aze, but she didn&039;t elaborate
Depressed, half-sick, headachy, Valentine wished he could just spend half the day in bed, as he had during the long Minnesota winters when there wasn&039;t hts
She cracked a pair of eggs in a pan, and they irease Her elfin features were the picture of concentration as she poked at the eggs with a handleless spatula "Don&039;t get used to this I don&039;t know if it&039;s because I feel sorry for you, or because I knohat it&039;s like to have a hangover The bread s were freshly swiped this oht now is the coffee, and I don&039;t want to part with it Besides, I&039;ot only one plate, so I&039; to eat out of the pan if you don&039;tand a hunk of green-dusted bread Valentinewith the bread and ate the sticky coreat, thanks"
"You like it that way, too, huh?" she said with a s-yolk-smeared bread "Okay, how do you want the story, fro?"
"I don&039;t think I can think backwards, so you&039;d better do it froh I ca your reports Four years ago you had a run-in right after you were invoked as a Wolf You stu a Cat in the Yazoo Delta"
"Yes That&039;s the first tinia"
"At first we just brushed it off as another faction of the Kur Sometimes they use little symbols to note their houses, or clans, or whatever you want to call the groups of Kuri-ans" She consulted a thin notebook in a leather case, like a waiter&039;s order pad he&039;d once seen in Chicago "The su in Wisconsin, one of the Freeholds we communicate ent silent It was a small one, really just a valley or two in the Sland Freehold found buried Quislings And sos, they had Twisted Cross insignia on their uniforms A swastika is another name for it, I&039;m told So the Cats kept their eyes open, and now and then these Quislings were seen in other parts of the country So the insignia did not roup of Kurians
"The people at Miskatonic have an idea that the Kurians have taken sos and created Reaper-hu force" She looked at him expectantly
"Is it under someone called the General?"
She looked puzzled "Where did you hear that?"
"Froht out of Oklahoma A little addled Not much of what he said made sense, so I abbreviated it in s under this Twisted Cross banner in a yard They took him before this General, who men decided to kill hiested this infor "This General is someone we&039;ve heard of now and then ISo they have a special train?"
"Yes, he said it was a sizable one"
"That doesn&039;t fit with the rest As far as Miskatonic knows, they go in s escort Do they just want to look like another supply train?"
"Guessing is interesting, but facts are better" Valentine returned to a subject much on his mind lately "What happened at Little Ti to that, because I think it&039;s is froht So down for a close look, so they never saw that the breastworks in the trees weren&039;t manned
"Well before dawn, could have been three aht Reapers came up the hill I just hid and watched They were loaded for bear, assault rifles and everything Mean-looking Kalashnikovs with banana clips
"But here&039;s the kicker They et confused I&039;ve never seen a Reaper that looked like it didn&039;t knohat to do So they group together and talk Who ever heard of Hoods talking to each other? Usually when you see a group of them, they&039;re all puppeted by the same Kurian, so they don&039;t have to talk Same hissy voices If these were some kind of Reaper-human cross, they sure left the human parts in their other pants They looked and sounded like Reapers to me Just didn&039;t act that way"
Valentine put down his plate "How did you get away?"
"They picked up your trail, sent out the Grogs I just slipped away back to the south in the dark I wanted to have another talk with the Miskatonic people about this, so I caught a barge from Fort Smith to Pine Bluff That&039;s where I heard about all this I was told to come up here and talk to you"
"Told? Told by whoht now An old friend ofyou&039;d do some ith me in the KZ for a while"
Valentine narrowed his eyes, wondering what she was getting at "I thought you Cats worked alone"
"We do Unless we&039;re training another Cat"
Dear Sir,
It has been e to serve in the Wolves for four years I wish to spare iment the pain and disruption of a court- the charges brought against iment of Wolves, Southern Command, immediately
I have the honor to remain, etc,
David Stuart Valentine
Duvalier looked up frohtly smeared note "Brief and to the point, Valentine I expected more flowery &039;the clock has struck the hour of fate&039; type stuff out of you I like you better already"
"After I turn this in, where are we headed-north or west?"