“Okay, good. How smart is this Commander Del Re?”
“Begging your pardon, ma’am, but what the hell’s that got to do with anything?” asked Captain Dawson. His irritation with the president had quite overtaken his trepidation. Major McLoy willingly permitted the latitude of his question.
Hannah Starkes was saved the inconvenience of dealing with Dawson’s growing anger when a young lieutenant pushed through the circle of men. “I can tell you anything you need to know about Commander Del Re and the town of Perryopolis, ma’am,” he said. His ruggedly beautiful face wore a look of amused confidence and his tall, slim build fit his uniform nicely. When he smiled, he gave off an energy that piqued the colonel’s interest. He had a broad and sincere smile beneath soulful brown eyes that failed to hide the desire he felt for the leader of the free world—or maybe that’s what Hannah Starkes hoped the young man was feeling.
“And… and who are you, soldier?” she asked sternly, trying to rein in her galloping emotions.
“Ma’am, this is Lieutenant Chris Wahlberg,” interrupted Major McLoy. “He spent several months in Perryopolis before he ended up here.”
“Why’d you leave, lieutenant?” asked the colonel.
“It was a bit too slow for my taste, ma’am,” he answered. His dark eyes were bright with intelligence as he ran his strong fingers through his full wavy brown hair.
Hannah felt as if his eyes were peering deep into her soul and that he felt amused and enticed by what he found there. Her blush deepened when she considered his strong hands and how his soft and gentle fingers would feel against her flesh.
She shook her head sharply to help focus her mind on the task at hand. “Rather impressive,” she said to nobody in particular. She focused upon Keenan, not yet trusting herself to look again at the handsome and cocksure lieutenant. “Your lieutenant has some juice in the charisma department, major.” She didn’t hide from the fact that the young man had caught her off guard. She turned a bit further and caught the eyes of Major O’Malley, who was smiling at her quick recovery. He nodded at her, indicating he understood her momentary lapse.
Lieutenant Wahlberg had the gift of amazing good looks and Hannah Starkes risked falling under his spell again, but attempted to assess him more analytically and objectively. There was a slight hint of entitlement in his demeanor and she wondered how she had missed him and his good looks until now. He smiled broadly at her, as if reading her thoughts, and she nearly returned to her mesmerized state of mush.
Colonel Hannah Starkes, President of the United States and leader of the free world cleared her throat, reined in her emotions, and took control. First and foremost, she was a colonel in the United States Army and a leader of men. “Keenan.”
“Yes, ma’am?”
“I realize you’re not within my present chain of command. Despite this fact, would you permit me to render a personal opinion that might be considered out of bounds?”
“Umm… sure, colonel.”
“Would you permit me a bit of latitude with your men for a few moments?”
“Of course.”
“Thank you.” Hannah Starkes addressed the young lieutenant standing before her. “Lieutenant, you are, by far, one of the handsomest men I have ever laid eyes on.” Lieutenant Wahlberg accepted this as his just due and smiled. She turned to Major McLoy. “Is it your assessment that your lieutenant has personal knowledge of Perryopolis and its people?”
“Yes, ma’am. He lived in Perryopolis for several months. Whenever we go there to trade, him and Commander Del Re greet each other as friends.”
“Excellent. Lieutenant, start talking.”
“Yes, ma’am,” said Wahlberg. “Perryopolis is a small town along Route 51. It’s about thirty miles south of Pittsburgh. There’s about two hundred people living there now—there used to be more than two thousand, but the Sickness took most of them. Some people, like me, moved away, but there were others who passed through there, liked what they saw, and decided to stay. The fields of wheat and corn produced by the town provide an abundance of good food. About a fourth of the population is ex-military. There’s about forty women in the town—almost all of ’em are of childbearing age, but no babies. The youngest kid is probably seven or eight years old.”
“What else?” asked Colonel Starkes. She was finding it much easier to look at him directly.
“Perryopolis is best known for its brew. They have a very tasty ale they call Momma’s Best. I have —”
The colonel interrupted. “Hmm, a real nice story, lieutenant. Keep in mind, though, that I’m looking for more crucial details like their defensive capabilities, weapons strength, training initiatives, offensive capabilities—you know, minor fuckin’ details like that.” The gathered group laughed at the colonel’s raw request for appropriate information. Everyone laughed except Lieutenant Wahlberg; each of Keenan’s men relished the control the colonel had in the face of their comrade. His good looks and easy charisma had always given him an easy advantage with any women they met; several of the men kept a close eye on their girlfriends when he was around.
“Umm,” the lieutenant blinked several times, not used to being interrupted by a woman.
No matter where the lieutenant was—in town, on the mountain, or anywhere else—he never had a problem finding a woman to warm him on a cold night. Some women warmed his bed on more than one occasion despite knowing he was simply using them for the night. Until today, Major McLoy’s crew had never seen a humble expression from the lieutenant. Colonel Starkes recognized the man’s discomfort and smiled mischievously at Major O’Malley. She decided to push the young lieutenant. She wanted to demonstrate to the gathered men that she knew how to run a man’s army despite her feminine physiology.
“Lieutenant? You do have a working brain that goes along with your good looks, don’t you? Tell me you have more information than the details of their beer sales. Tell me you didn’t already shoot your wad with the last tidbit of mostly useless information.”
The crowd of men gasped at the audacity and began laughing. Amanda and Nicole burst forth in laughter, so much so, they each held the other for support. Refusing to grin at the fun she was having, and frustrated at the situation, Colonel Starkes slammed her hand onto the map. “I need answers dammit!”
Wahlberg cleared his throat. “Yes, ma’am. The town rotates four snipers who guard well-fortified gates—one at the north end of town and the other at the south end. Both are on Route 51. The commander keeps a minimum of two armed men carrying M-4s and shotguns on each gate tower at all times, night and day. They have assigned watchers on each gate. Two additional armed men walk the bottom of each gate as relief.”
“Continue.”
The blushing lieutenant absently scanned the room, searching his mind for additional details to satisfy the woman. “The people in town train for assault once a month. The assault is expected mostly to come from the north, toward Pittsburgh. Everyone’s involved, even the kids. It’s a full drill and every person in town has a set of specific tasks. They have a decent armory there along with a command post and they had started making homemade explosives when I left. The plan was always to defend the town at whatever cost. But, the commander was experimenting with an evacuation scenario when I secured his permission to leave.”
“You had to get his permission?”
“No, but asking his permission was the right thing to do. The town took me in when they didn’t have to and quickly treated me like one of their own. When I asked for the commander’s permission to leave, he only made me swear I’d never be a part of an assault against his town.”