From The Ashes: America Reborn (19 page)

Cheyenne falls to the Rebels just in time for Ben to learn that Payon’s forces in Mexico have been overrun by General Rasbach, and he is pushing north toward the border. Ben heads immediately south to help Payon out.

Once again, Ben is on the move to Texas to defend the border. On his way he stifles resistance in Trindad, Colorado, and northern New Mexico. But in New Mexico he is conned into believing that a bunch of kids have suffered at the hands of the Nazis when in reality they are part of a plot to capture him. The ringleader, Jimmy Riggs, succeeds in taking Ben captive and he is transported to Mexico and prison. He is brutally tortured in an attempt to force him to agree to Rebel surrender in exchange for his life. But Ben will not negotiate such a thing even for himself. The stand on principle costs him a finger, but he is steadfast in his determination not to compromise.

Initially the Rebels are stunned by his capture and begin to fall apart, but when they hear that he has been sentenced to death by firing squad, Ike and the crew devise a rescue. They have a little time because Hoffman himself is flying in to watch the execution.

But when the team gets to the villa where Ben was held prisoner they find him gone and must face the fact that their leader will die at Hoffman’s hands.

NINETEEN

After lunch, we went for another drive, this time to a military installation located within the district, but far out in the country. We were waved through the main gate after I was given a visitor’s pass. In the distance, I could see tiny figures spilling out of airplanes, their ’chutes blossoming a few seconds after exiting the plane.

Ben Raines: They’re jumping without static lines. Many of our combat jumps are free-fall, controlled jumps.

WWJ: Do you still jump?

Ben Raines: Yes. When we’re home, I jump every three months to stay qualified.

WWJ: But you’re not home that much, are you?

Ben Raines: Not nearly as much as I would like to be. As I said, we’re gearing up now to go into Africa.

The General pointed to a man getting out of a military vehicle, and said, “That’s Ike McGowan, just in from the field.”

We cut off the paved road and parked on the grass. General Raines waved and yelled at Ike.

WWJ: Are you and General McGowan about the same age?

Ben Raines: No, I’m older by a few years. Come on. I’ll introduce you.

Ike McGowan was a stocky man who looked to be in his late forties. Ben Raines had told me Ike’s hair had turned prematurely gray years back. Ike said he could spare a few minutes and suggested we get a cup of coffee and talk.

WWJ: You’ve been with General Raines long?

Ike: Since the beginning, partner. We had pure-dee hell convincin’ Ben to take over. But when he made up his mind to do so, he was like a bulldog with a meaty bone. He just wouldn’t give it up until it worked.

Ike was Mississippi-born and -reared, and spoke with a soft Southern accent. But he was also a field-savvy commander and next in line to take over when Ben Raines retired . . . if Ben Raines ever decided to retire. I posed that question to Ike.

Ike: He’ll retire when he can no longer cut it in the field. And he’ll know when that day comes, and he’ll admit it. But that’s some years away, partner. Ben is still a war-hoss in combat.

WWJ: General Raines thinks those breakaway nations outside the SUSA will reunite and someday move against the SUSA. Do you feel the same way?

Ike: Sure do. Can’t one of those pantywaist liberals outside the SUSA abide our success here. It galls ’em something fierce.

Ben Raines had warned me that Ike would sometimes disarm a person by using a lot of country colloquialisms, and by the time he was finished, one would think the person he’d been chatting with was an idiot. But Ike, General Raines warned, was a very intelligent man, well educated, who just liked to put people on.

WWJ: Tell me, General McGowan, why does General Raines hate attorneys so?

Ike: Oh, hell, Ben don’t hate all lawyers. Just a certain type of lawyer. But mostly he hates what lawyers have to do in their work.

WWJ: And that is . . . ?

Ike: Screw everything up. Turn a simple agreement into something complicated. But mostly he don’t like lawyers who make a livin’ defendin’ known scum when they know the person’s guilty. It’s not so much the person he dislikes as it is the system that allowed them to become that way . . . if you know what I mean.

WWJ: Yes. I think I do.

Ike: Ben knows lawyers are necessary. Hell, he has a personal attorney. We all do. Like I said, it’s the system, not usually the person.

A soldier came up and whispered something in Ike’s ear. Ike nodded his understanding, turned to me, and said, “Got to go, partner. But we’ll talk again ’fore you leave.”

General Raines walked up, a smile on his face. He watched Ike walk away, and said, “Quite a character there. But a brilliant field commander. Come on, I’ve rounded up a couple of others for you to meet.”

I met the Russian, Georgi Striganov, a huge bear of a man. At one time, Ben and Georgi were bitter enemies. Then I met one of General Raines’s kids, Buddy Raines. Buddy was one of the best physically built men I had ever seen. Ben had told me the young man literally did not know his own strength. We chatted for a time, and then Buddy was called away by one of the personnel in his battalion.

As we were walking back to the HumVee, Ben said, “The other battalions are spread out at bases throughout the SUSA. Dr. Chase is still out of pocket. What would you like to do now?

WWJ: Just drive around in the country, if you don’t mind.

Ben Raines: I’d like that myself. Especially this time of the year. I assume you have some more questions?

The General smiled when he said that, and I laughed and replied, “Only a few hundred.”

Ben Raines: No point in doing an interview if it’s not complete. I used to hate to read an interview or article about somebody where the reporter took up five thousand words and said nothing of substance.

WWJ: Sometimes it’s the person being interviewed who says nothing of substance.

Ben Raines: Then the reporter is asking the wrong questions.

WWJ: Am I asking the right questions?

Ben Raines: So far.

WWJ: All right, then. How about this one: social security here in the SUSA?

Ben Raines: We have several forms of saving for the retirement years. One is very similar to the old system back before the collapse; but it isn’t very popular. But many of the older workers like it so we’ll keep it . . . at least for a time. The most popular is a voluntary saving/investment plan. Say a person wants a hundred dollars a month taken out of his or her paycheck toward savings at . . . oh, four/five percent annually. They can put seventy-five dollars a month into that government savings plan, and twenty-five dollars a month into an investment fund, which is very carefully watched by government brokers. Or eighty/twenty or fifty/fifty or whatever they choose.

WWJ: Is the plan mandatory?

Ben Raines (shaking his head): No. The government doesn’t have the right to tell someone they
have
to save and then take their money against their will. But I would say that probably ninety-five percent of the people living here are under some sort of plan. Maybe a higher percentage than that.

WWJ: But there is a risk involved in the investment plan?

Ben Raines: Sure. There is always a risk. But so far it’s worked out well for all concerned. Ours is a booming economy. Our dollar is the most solid in the world. Backed up by literally trillions in gold, silver, diamonds, art, you name something precious and valuable, we’ve got it.

WWJ: Which you admit you took during your many sweeps of the nation and in some cases, the world.

Ben Raines (smiling): Well, it didn’t seem to belong to anyone at the time.

BOOK #19

TREASON IN THE ASHES

Behold, I shall show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.

–The Bible

Ben stands in front of the NAL firing squad. Hoffman watches with delight as Volmer offers him a last cigarette. Ben accepts, but instead of lighting the cigarette he shoves the lighter into Volmer’s eye, blinding him. Ben escapes over a low wall, arms himself, and hides in a storeroom of the villa, wondering what to do next. He has no idea how long he’s been in captivity and wonders about the Rebel cause. He vows to fight on no matter what. Suddenly he hears fighting in the courtyard and the voice of his son Buddy. The troops have arrived!

Back in camp, Ben learns that more punks and outlaws have formed during the time the Rebels have been fighting Hoffman’s army. Creepies have resurfaced as well, stronger and more aggressive. He makes plans to wipe them all out systematically. The big problem is the discovery that a small group of politicians left over from the Great War have been hiding in the Adirondacks and building an army to retake the United States and stop the Rebels.

A huge standing army of punks and mercenaries under the command of General Paul Revere, aka Nick Stafford, an old foe of Ben’s from his time in Vietnam, is the commander. On orders from Blanton, Revere begins to move his troops west through Canada in order to spearhead a drive into the heart of north central America. Ben moves his troops into position along I-90 and waits. Once again outnumbered, he will fight a guerrilla war. The Rebels are skilled and deadly. Revere’s army is stalled between I-90 and the Canadian border, unable to move and taking heavy casualties.

During a lull in the fighting Ben offers President Blanton terms for surrender. Blanton is outraged and refuses initially but then agrees to discuss a compromise after a Rebel night action nets a thousand prisoners without a shot being fired. After some negotiation a meeting is set to be held in an old Adirondacks resort hotel that is Blanton’s headquarters. Ben and Homer are beginning to come to terms when Revere pulls a double cross and bombs the hotel. Ben is knocked unconscious and awakens to devastation and carnage. He is alone. He arms and supplies himself and sets out to find the Rebel lines. Along the way he picks up a band of liberal survivors. To their horror, he arms them from the dead and gives them a crash course in survival.

Ben comes upon a prison camp where he finds his team, Jersey, Corrie, Beth, and Cooper held prisoner. He rescues them and finds them ready to fight. They’ve suffered brutally at the hands of Blanton’s soldiers and are fit to be tied.

Revere is now a rogue commander, running a vast army bent on defeating both Blanton and the Rebels. But Blanton refuses to join forces with Ben, and in a meeting Ben reveals that he has no choice but to form his own nation of eleven Southern states which he will call SUSA (Southern United States of America)

Ben will fight on two fronts if necessary. As he prepares to square off with Blanton he continues to squeeze Revere in the Midwest. The Rebels introduce the SUSA flag—eleven stars against the familiar red, white, and blue—and are willing to fight a vicious civil war to protect the new country. Revere focuses his energy on Blanton, but the president still refuses to ask for help. But as Ben prepares for war, Revere decides to move his army into Canada and wait a year to prepare a major offensive against the Rebels and Blanton. Ben, however, decides not to wait for the attack and prepares to chase Revere. He will bring the fight north of the border.

TWENTY

WWJ: How about hunting in the SUSA, General? The rumor outside your borders says it’s forbidden.

Ben Raines: The rumors are wrong. As usual. We have regular hunting seasons all over the SUSA. But we do have a number of wildlife areas set aside where no hunting is allowed; where animals are allowed to roam and live free as God intended them to do. In a few areas we have reintroduced the wolf, and we have had no trouble from ranchers and farmers. The wolves feed on the older and sick animals and keep the herds of deer healthy and strong.

WWJ: What about poachers?

Ben Raines: In the wildlife-refuge areas, poachers run the very real risk of being shot on sight. Any unauthorized person found with a firearm in those areas is arrested on the spot. And the penalties are severe.

WWJ: It seems the penalties are severe for most crimes in the SUSA. That seemed to be the main criticism against the SUSA.

Ben Raines: Crime is punished severely in the SUSA. That’s one of the reasons why we have the lowest crime rate in the world. Not one of the lowest,
the
lowest. That’s one of the reasons we can take the billions of taxpayers dollars that other societies spend on criminal justice and put that money to a better use. And in many civil suits, we have what is called “English law.” Loser pay. Whether it’s enforced is up to the judge.