“There’s something you ought to know, Will,” Alec said. “I’m not just joining with Kobol’s forces. I’m leading them. I’m in command.”
“I was afraid of that.”
“Why?”
“Because we’re going to have to try to kill each other. And we’re friends.”
“That’s why I want you to get away. And take her with you.”
“No, I can’t do that. He’s my friend too. And your father.”
“I’m coming after him. Don’t stand in my way. Don’t try to protect him.”
Sadly, in a voice so low that Alec barely heard it, Will said, “Don’t make me choose between you and him, Alec. You’ll lose.”
“We’ve already made our choices,” Alec said. “They were made twenty years ago.”
Chapter 27
Even though they assembled as quickly as possible it still took weeks for Kobol’s army to straggle all its various units together in a valley on the edge of Douglas’s territory.
Alec had never seen so many human beings before. He stood on the crest of the highest hill in the area, under a maple tree that was just breaking out in young fresh leaves and watched the awesome sprawl of trucks, jeeps, horses, wagons, and men.
Ron Jameson stood beside him. “That ought to be enough men to conquer the whole world,” he said.
“I don’t like having them all bunched together like this,” Alec said. “If Douglas’s people spot them, and if he’s got nuclear weapons or airplanes...”
“We’ve intercepted all his patrols,” Jameson said calmly. “And I doubt if there are any nukes or airplanes left in the world.”
“It would only take one.”
With a slight shrug, Jameson answered, “We can be ready to move in two days. I think we can keep Douglas’s patrols from finding us for that long.”
“Two days?”
Nodding, “Check. The men have moved a lot harder and faster than they wanted to, just to get here. They need time to catch their breaths, get their weapons ready, and absorb your battle orders.”
That leaves me two days to deal with Kobol, Alec thought.
“On the other hand, if we all sit still here for more than two days,” Jameson added drily, “the different packs in this glorious conglomeration will start fighting each other. There’s not an overabundance of friendship down in that valley.”
Alec nodded. “Let’s get to work.”
It was fully night, after the evening meal, before Alec was able to get to Kobol. The older man was being held under virtual arrest in one of the caves that honey-combed the valley’s hillsides.
His quarters were a small cavern whose sloping walls and roof were laced with stalactites of a thousand different hues. The only entrance was a narrow passage, barely wide enough for a man to squeeze through sideways. Alec had posted an armed guard at the outer end of the passage.
Kobol was sitting on an ancient, creaking bunk, his good leg folded under him and his head bent down as he intently wrote in rapid script on a paper he held in his lap. Alec saw that the bunk was covered with sheets of paper, all filled with his writing.
“Good evening,” Alec said.
Kobol hardly looked up. A slightly raised eyebrow was his only greeting. Then he returned to his writing. It was damp in the cave, Alec realized. It probably makes his bad leg feel like hell, he thought.
Aloud he said, “There’s something I haven’t told you.”
“Oh?” Still not looking up.
“I know where the fissionables are stored.”
The pen stopped in mid-stroke.
“I want you to head a special force to seize them before Douglas has a chance to destroy them.”
That straightened Kobol’s back. He pushed the paper off his lap and unfolded his long legs. Somehow it reminded Alec of a snake uncoiling. “You think he might sabotage them?” Kobol asked.
“It’s a possibility. He might even have them booby-trapped, or set to go off in a nuclear explosion that will take everything with it.”
Kobol frowned thoughtfully and ran a finger through his mustache.
Pulling the only chair in the enclosure next to the bunk, Alec straddled it and went on, “You know more about the fissionables than any of us. It’s a risky job, but a necessary one. Will you do it?”
Almost smiling, Kobol said, “If I do, I’ll only be in charge of a small suicide squad, while you’re leading the grand army. If I succeed, it’s under your command. If I fail, you get rid of an enemy.”
