But there could be others, Crazy Horse knew. He could tell that his warriors were chafing to fling themselves into the battle that had moved to the other side of the river. But the village still could be attacked by other soldiers, and there appeared to be plenty of warriors already there. Crazy Horse made his decision. He signaled and his warriors reluctantly followed as he swung to the west. He planned on circling the village to make sure there weren’t more soldiers coming from another direction.
They’d crossed Custer’s trail twenty minutes ago. Just north of Ash Creek-just in time to meet the slow-moving pack. They’d then passed the lone teepee, still burning. Although anxious, Benteen wasn’t in any particular rush. According to his orders, he was still supposed to be riding over ridges to the south. He was caught between doing what he knew was militarily right and being discovered disobeying Custer’s orders. On top of that, Bouyer and his talisman were nagging at Benteen.
They were now a mile past the lone teepee, the little Big Horn River not very far ahead. There was the distant sound of gunfire for a while now, but Benteen didn’t know what it meant. Was Custer engaged? If so, where? Was Reno in the valley fighting? Benteen ordered the troopers to pick up the pace.
Then Sergeant Kanipe came riding up with a message to the pack train to follow his trail to the east of the river.
“The east?” Benteen asked. “What of Reno’?”
“He’s in the thick of it, sir,” Kanipe said. “I saw them fighting in the valley as I came back.”
“Isn’t Custer supporting him?”
Kanipe was Just a sergeant. He shrugged. “I don’t know, Sir. Last I saw of the general he was riding to the north.” Kanipe didn’t stay any longer. He rode on, heading for the pack · train that was following Benteen. “Forward at the trot!” Benteen ordered, pushing the unit as fast as the mules could go. The firing was now much louder · and much more rapid, almost as fierce as battles Benteen had been in during the Civil War. The only thing lacking was the sound of artillery.
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
“Submariners are volunteers for the most dangerous duty in the Navy to begin with,” Captain Anderson said. “During World War n. the loss rate among German U-boat crews was more than ninety percent.”
Dane could tell Frost was shocked by Anderson’s apparent pride in such appalling numbers. Having served in the Special Forces during the Vietnam War, Dane knew the perverted pride men took in being among the elite.
Anderson sighed and looked between Earhart and Dane. They were in his cramped wardroom onboard the Nautilus. Even the ship’s captain seemed to see the weakness of his own words. “Our Earth-our time line as you call it-is dead. We’re all that’s left, and we’re not even there anymore. Some of the men now think we could have a life in another time line”-he held up a hand to forestall Earhart—“but I don’t see how. H the time line is viable, then this ship did its mission and returned home, so we, us in another time line, would still be there and, hell, I don’t know. I just know it wouldn’t work.”
“No, it wouldn’t,” Earhart said. “I’ve been trapped here in the Space Between for a long time. I accepted early on that there was no going back and then no going sideways.”
Dane stirred. “Why?’’
Earhart turned to him in surprise. “What?”
“Why did you accept you couldn’t go back to your own world or go to another time line?” Dane asked.
“The portals,” Earhart said. “Some tried to go through, and they ended up like the crewman caught on the deck.”
“But you have Valkyrie suits now,” Dane said.
“But which portal to go through?” Earhart argued.
“Any,” Dane said.
Anderson and Frost were trying to follow their argument, but were lost.
“You can go through any in the Valkyrie suits,” Dane continued, “and you’d be all right. You could check them out. Maybe find a world where you could live instead of here-” he waved his hand, indicating the strange place outside the submarine.
Earhart stared at Dane. “Because the voices told me to stay here.”
Dane finally nodded. “Okay. As long as we’re clear on that. We’re all here”-he looked at Frost and Earhart-“because we believe we’re part of a larger plan. One that fights the Shadow. Correct?”
Both nodded in turn.
“Let’s not fool ourselves into thinking we don’t have choices,” Dane said.
“Why is that important?” Earhart asked.
· Dane shrugged. “Because we don’t know diddly. I still believe we need to follow the Ones Before and fight the Shadow, but I don’t know what the end of this is going to be. And some day before the end of this war, I think we’re going to have to make our own decisions.”
“That is all fine and well,” Commander Anderson said, ‘’but you started this by saying you were going to need my crew, volunteers for a mission in which they were sure to die.”
“Not just die.” Dane said. “but die horribly.”
Anderson rubbed his hands across his face. “How many men?”
“I don’t know,” Dane admitted. He had counted the number of slots in the “power” room, but he didn’t know how many they would need to do what needed to be done. “There are a hundred slots inside the sphere.”
Surprisingly, Anderson laughed. He removed a small badge clipped to his shirt pocket and held it to Dane.
“My radiation badge,” Anderson said. “We used a crystal skull charged by the reactor core to open the portal that got us here. Moving the skull through the ship, well-” he ripped open the covering on the badge. The strip underneath was bright red.
“We’re all going to die horribly anyway,” Anderson said. “We might as well do it for a reason.”
Nobody said anything for several moments, then Earhart spoke up. “Then where next?”
“We find a world that still has ozone and no people,” Dane said.
“And how do we do that?” Earhart asked.
Dane stood up. “I think we’ll see that once we power up the sphere.”
“Why do you say that?” Earhart demanded.
“The golden orb in the power room,” Dane said. “1 think it not only consolidates the power, but is also a portal map.”
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
They could all hear firing to the west. They couldn’t see anything because the entire unit was riding in the low ground formed by a ravine running to the north. Four miles had · passed since they’d looked from the high hill and Sergeant Kanipe had been dispatched to bring up the pack mules. Lieutenant Cooke rode just behind Custer as the long line of troopers moved at a trot. Lonesome Charlie Reynolds was also close to the general.
“Perfect,” Custer said to Cooke. ‘’Reno will fix them in place. They don’t know we’re coming-these hills are a perfect shield.”
Reynolds didn’t quite share the general’s optimism, but the · scout didn’t say anything. The horses and-men were nervous both from the sound of the fighting to the west and the knowledge that they were heading toward the massive Indian village.
The Crows scouts, who had been ahead, were now sitting off to the side of the ravine. Custer paused and looked at them. They didn’t look anxious to continue down. Custer crooked a finger to them. He signed with his hands, indicating they were released from duty.
The scouts nodded their agreement, then turned their horses and rode back toward the south. Custer spit. “Cowards, all of them. I’d rather not have such with me.”
Reynolds thought the scouts were the smartest people in the area.