Fallon took a deep breath. “Senator, if we go storming out right now the American public will stomp on us like a bunch of grapes. Everybody, and I mean everybody, is really pissed that they have personally been attacked and they want something to start happening. Whether we like it or not, O’Bannon is doing things. I talked to one of the White House staffers and they say no one has a clue who did this yet. Until then, there’s not much you can hold against him,” he said.
“It goes deeper than that,” said Hank Yates, the party’s media czar. “Right now even if we did have something to say, there’s not much of a way to get that word out. The media is almost hard down. I could get something in the Post, but that’s about it. The President has a lock on what information is being put out to the media. I was told they all bought into it too. He told them it was all a part of keeping information from the enemy and all that garbage. When I started talking about freedom of the press, I was told there were other aspects of things I didn’t know about and was shut down,” he said.
“What kinds of things are going on here?” Williamson asked. “What’s he got on them?”
“Beats me. It’s not just the one, it’s all of the reps I talked to.”
“Damn it. He can’t squash the people’s right to know! What can we do about this?”
Fallon raised his hand. “Hang on. Remember, we declared war. Under those circumstances there’s a whole lot he could do. Look, we are in the early stages of this thing. One thing I have learned over the years is to be patient. The longer we wait, the more things will get back to operating as normal. O’Bannon is going to screw something up. When he does, it will mean we will be in a better position to take him down,” he said. “Until then, I suggest we get on the bandwagon and do a few things ourselves to support the war and get things going.”
Williamson looked like he might explode. He looked over at his Chief of Staff. “What do you say?”
Torry Yates had been standing in one corner listening to the conversation and his boss’s tirades. He knew he was in a tough spot. He had to keep the boss happy without letting him shoot himself in the foot. Too many times he had been forced to tell his boss to calm down. This was one of those times. “Frank’s right. This isn’t the right time. To change public opinion we have to be strategic in our efforts and right now there’s not so much to say against O’Bannon. Even if he is controlling the media some, most Americans would celebrate that fact. But if we wait and find that right event or moment, we can flip this. If we can get the public to start questioning his motives or his decision making, I have a feeling the whole house of cards will fall. Then we will be in position to provide our own view on things. Until then, we know there is going to have to be some rebuilding in our armed forces, so I will be trying to get a few contracts in our districts, make sure our television and radio people get back on line, everything that will make us look good and trustworthy. Then when we shake the tree we will look much better in the public eye,” he said.
“That’s exactly what needs to be done,” Fallon said. “Get out there and tell people we are getting their phones back and their cars running. Then tell them we are doing everything we can to find out who attacked us and what we will do. It’s going to have to be done at home instead of here, but that’s just the price we have to pay.”
Williamson calmed down. That was some basic politics. He could no longer sit in his office in Washington and send out press releases. This would mean spending some weekends and weeks on the road in his state. But that wasn’t so bad, was it? “I can’t fight all of you,” he said breaking into a smile. “Okay, we wait and look. Torry, lets see if we can scare up a train or something to go home on and do some stumping. But let’s also schedule a meeting each week or so to see what’s happened and what we can do about it. We can’t let the party take the blame for everything and just sit by and watch. I want to make sure we are there when O’Bannon screws up and ready to jump in when the time comes.”
The men in the room nodded, though they all knew it wasn’t really about the party, it was about Williamson. There was a little more discussion on other issues before the men finally got up and left.
After a brief rest, Hufham picked up his rifle and headed toward the small barracks. Ricks took a deep sigh, and then followed the Master Sergeant. In the little bunkhouse they gathered the tags and weapons. Fortunately the small arms locker was open and they were able to get plenty of ammunition and a few grenades. They even found a couple of packs and sleeping bags. Next the men went to the messhall to see what food they could find. The MREs were pretty new, much to the joy of Hufham. They also gathered up the canteens and filled them at the bowser along with a couple of five gallon Jeri cans. They brought all the gear over to a small shack behind one of the outbuildings.
Old Charlie hadn’t had a chance. He was spread-eagled on the floor — in pieces. The North Koreans had obviously begun to cut the man up before he died. Blood was everywhere. Hufham lowered his head and said a small prayer for the old man. Then he backed out of the door and closed it.
Rick’s eyes were wide and he seemed to be in a state of shock. Hufham started pulling him away from the carnage. “Who was he?” Ricks asked.
“Old Charlie. We let him run the concession over here for all the guys in the area. He would bring us Cokes and candy up at the Z every so often, or we would sneak away down here. He always seemed to have cold beer stashed somewhere,” Hufham grinned. “He was so much a part of the Army we gave him a uniform. He was a good man,” he said sadly. “He’s why we’re here. We’re gonna borrow his vehicle.” The two men walked around back to a wooden outbuilding attached to Charlie’s shack. Hufham pried the lock off the old timbers and pulled the door open. Sitting inside was something to make old soldiers feel homesick. It was a Jeep.
“We gave him this thing,” Hufham said. “When the Army started getting rid of them, we got this one declared surplus. Then we put the engine, transmission, and all the parts back on it and gave it to Charlie. It’s what he delivered his goods in,” he said getting into the driver’s seat. The keys were in the ignition. When he turned it, the engine fired immediately. Hufham backed the Jeep out and around to the front where they loaded their gear. Then he and Ricks took it to the fuel station and filled it up along with six more five gallon cans and a case of oil. Hufham pulled the Jeep up to the back gate. Using some bolt cutters he found, he opened the gate and drove the Jeep down a narrow two rut trail in the trees. He walked back to Ricks at the gate.
“Okay, now we have to blow this place the hell up,” he said. Ricks nodded and followed. He had seen Hufham’s reaction to old Charlie and somehow he seemed to understand the man a little better. The two men walked around the compound opening every drum of fuel they could find and began pouring the contents on the ground. They left trails to each building and to the remaining vehicles. Then Hufham opened the main tanks to the underground gasoline storage.
Ricks looked at him questioningly. “If you think I’m going to light a match and drop it in, you’re nuts.”
“Not so dramatic. I’m going to turn on all the pumps and let it pour out some. Then we’ll use a grenade. I don’t particularly want to be around when it all goes up.”