— 7 —
Last night had ended it all. No matter what the provocation, Pete Smyth had hit him. Bromley shook his head slowly.
"No sir. I can't work with him anymore," he said, raising his head to meet Hammer eye to eye. "I don't care about the right or wrong of it. I just don't think that he'll do what I want when I need it."
Colonel Hammer sighed. "I wasn't sure. I don't know what I'd do in your situation." He locked eyes with the sturdy lieutenant. For an instant Bromley was reminded of a great cat pondering whether to pounce. Then Hammer's eyes softened.
"Very well. Smyth will be replaced." Then in a harder tone of voice he added, "Heaven help you if you fail, because I'll be the first to post bounty on your hide!"
"I won't fail, sir," Bromley replied.
"Damn straight you won't," Hammer agreed. "Now get out of here. Tell my orderly to come in on your way out. He has to talk to a young lieutenant."
But before Bromley could turn to leave, Pete Smyth came rushing back in with news from Operations. He started to speak but caught the look in Bromley's eyes. As if for confirmation, he turned to the Colonel.
The Colonel glanced at Bromley silently asking: Are you really sure? Then the Colonel told Smyth, "There's been a change of plans. You aren't going on the mission. Tell your platoon sergeant that he's to take charge of your platoon."
Stunned, Smyth froze stock-still, shoulders slumped in despair. Then he recovered, snapped to attention and said, "I'm sure Sergeant Beirne will do an excellent job, sir. I've trained him for it." After a moment he added, "With your permission?"
Smyth executed a perfect salute at the Colonel's nod, performed an about-face, and marched out of the office. The effect was marred only by the look of pure hatred that he directed toward Lieutenant Bromley as he caught his eye.
There was a moment of silence as the two men recovered from their interruption. It was broken by a tense, soft growl from Hammer. "You'd better not fail, Bromley!"
For a moment Bull wondered if he should recall his decision, but it was too late. The die was cast.
"I'll get the word from Operations on my way out, sir," Bromley stated. At the Colonel's nod, Bull left.
The orderly murmur of Operations dropped a level as Bromley entered. Many knew that he had been chosen for the mission, and some also knew that he had turned down Smyth as second-in-command. Before anyone could engage him in conversation, Major Pritchard separated from the crowd and approached him.
"We haven't got much time, Bromley," Pritchard said immediately. "I've organized a convoy of softskinned vehicles under Sergeant Major Ogren. They'll follow immediately behind your combat group. For that reason, you've got to stick pretty much to the roads." He grimaced. "Sorry I couldn't get armored transports to follow up, but we've already shipped almost everything."
"Artillery?" Bromley asked.
Pritchard shook his head. "Gone. And the satellite network is already in place on Darien. This was unexpected."
"So what do I have?" Bromley asked.
"You've got your tank platoon, Lieutenant Smyth's infantry platoon led by Sergeant Beirne, as well as two training infantry platoons and one training tank platoon." Pritchard ticked each off on his fingers. "I've tried to get at least one combat-experienced person on each vehicle, but we're spread too thin. I can't even get enough medical personnel." An aide gestured at him hurriedly. "Excuse me, that'll be the mayor on the comm. I asked for medical help from the townspeople."
Write the word "Smyth" on a piece of paper to note that you have had Lieutenant Smyth removed from command.
Time is critical, and Major Pritchard is urgently needed elsewhere to coordinate the rescue mission.
If Bull leaves now, turn to section 9.
If Bull questions Major Pritchard further, turn to section 10.