«Bear in mind, my captains!» shouted MacKenzie. «You are now under my command! No more streets, no more muggings, no more thievery, and no more hostility to civilians! Haven’t you learned a goddamned thing?»
«Chu right, Heneral,» answered Desi the First contritely. «Sometimes we just slip back widdout t’inking. We’re gentlemen an’ h’officers now, so we godda t’ink different. Chu right… We go outside wid the loco gitano.» Desis One and Two walked into the tiled foyer and out the front door.
«What was that all about?» asked Cyrus, looking at the deserted foyer. «I understood the Spanish, but not your ‘command’ and the fact that they were captains. In what army?»
«In the Army of the United States, Colonel—oh, sorry, you don’t like that… Let’s say I’m training ’em up, because we could do a lot worse.»
«Never mind, General,» said the mercenary, shaking his head. «It’s beyond me, and at this moment, I’d rather concentrate on—this moment, on where we are. Will someone explain?»
Glances were exchanged, but it was Jennifer Redwing, daughter of the Wopotamis, who held up her hand and insisted on speaking. She described everything they knew about the Wopotami brief to the Supreme Court, then persuasively outlined what she believed was the forthcoming destruction of the Wopotamis as a result of the Court’s action, whichever way it went.
«With merely the specter of the suit, the entire federal government will react furiously, making our people out to be traitors and pariahs, and setting in motion the condemnation of our land, shutting down the reservation and dispersing all those living there. Washington has to, for the absolute preservation of the Strategic Air Command is uppermost, and not exactly secondmost is the army of defense contractors—hell, the Pentagon itself—who will be calling for our blood… On the other side, there’ll be hordes of carpetbaggers of every persuasion descending on the tribe and corrupting everyone in sight, hoping for a hunk of the improbable but potential legal pie, or publicity, but all with their eyes on the bottom line. My God, there’ll be more Rainbow Coalitions after a dollar than there are colors in a Jackson Pollock, and every bit as wild… Finally, there’ll be nothing left of us but censure and decadence, a people surfeited with slander, greed, and rot, ultimately losing the no-win fight and discarded. That’s not what I want for my brothers and sisters, whom I dearly love… There, I’ve said it, and I hope you were listening, General Genghis Gun-in-the-Cookie-Jar.»
«Except for your final comment,» said Aaron Pinkus, riveted in his chair, «that was a lovely summation… I make no judgment about that comment, my dear, merely its effect on a jury, which, I suspect, would be negative.»
«I don’t know about that, Commander.» MacKenzie Hawkins sat motionless, his eyes locked with those of the Wopotami daughter. «I figure I’m part of the jury here, and it had a pretty positive effect on me.»
«What do you mean, Mac?» asked Devereaux, from his expression obviously anticipating the unexpected.
«May I present my side, little lady?» said the Hawk, rising to his feet. «… Excuse me, you’re not ‘little’ in any sense, but you are a lady, and I mean no disrespect by the term.»
«Go ahead,» said Jennifer icily.
«I started this enterprise nearly three years ago with a few thoughts in my head, none of them too damned clear because I’m a soldier, not a thinker, except where military strategy’s concerned. What I mean by that is I’m no intellectual, and I don’t waste a lot of time trying to analyze things like motive or morality or justification and all the rest of that stuff. If I did, I would have lost a hell of a lot more fine young men in combat than my record shows… Surely I was looking for a magnificent score—I can’t think small—because that kind of challenge appeals to this discarded old soldier. Also, it had to be fun, and somebody who did or was doing something wrong should pick up the tab. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I never intended to hurt the means to the payoff, only those who found it necessary to pay, namely those who did something wrong.»
«But you are hurting the ‘means,’» interrupted Jennifer angrily. «Namely, my people, and you damn well know it!»
«May I finish, please?… When I learned what had happened to the Wopotamis over a hundred years ago, it kinda reminded me of what had happened to me—and, with what I can piece together about Colonel Cyrus here—what happened to him… We were all sacrificed by government big shots, who either had their hands in the real cookie jar or were furthering their own political ambitions, or who were just plain liars abusing the trust that had been placed in ’em! It doesn’t matter whether it was a century ago, a decade ago, three months ago, or yesterday. In the words of our mercenary friend here, it’s got to stop! We’ve got the best system of living together the world has ever known, but there’s always somebody trying to louse it up.»
«None of us is running in the angelic sweepstakes, Mac,» said Devereaux softly.
«Hell, no, Sam, but nobody elected us or appointed us and had us swear under oath to behave ourselves for the benefit of a couple of hundred million people we don’t know. Now if the colonel here is right, there’s somebody else way high up trying to stop a citizen—not just me, but a citizen—from carrying out his constitutional right to appear before the Court. There we go again!… And if our friend here who doesn’t like to be called ‘colonel’ is wrong, and I really am the Soldier of the Century—well, I couldn’t accept that grand award if I knew I walked away from finding out whether there is or there isn’t some big government cannon trying to stop that citizen who happens to be me.»
«Rather well done, General,» said Aaron, leaning back in the chair. «Actually, for a man unschooled in the law, quite remarkable.»
«What do you mean ‘unschooled,’ Mr. Pinkus?» objected Jennifer, in her tone perhaps a touch of jealousy. «He wrote the damned brief.»
«I submit he constructed it, my dear. Painstakingly adapting text book terms and phrases to suit his points. That’s translation, not creation.»
«And I submit,» said Sam, «a certain ego aside, this is irrelevant.» He turned to the Hawk. «But I’m puzzled by a few items you didn’t bring up, and if they don’t prove to you that somebody pretty damned important is trying to stop all of us, I don’t know what the hell will. May I remind you—»
«Son, I’m way ahead of you,» interrupted Hawkins quickly, firmly. «You’re referring to the previous assaults.»
«Right on, Mac. The two hotels, a Black Maria racing out to my house, and four armed-to-the-teeth military gorillas at the ski lodge. Who sent them? The tooth fairy?»
«We never would have found out, boy, take my word for it. You don’t know how these things are put together—with mirrors and smoke and so many blind relays it’d take longer than the Iran-contra thing to find out who’s where and what’s his function. Hell, Sam, I invented those procedures behind a half a hundred enemy lines. That’s why I did what I did and in each case sent back the message that they couldn’t do it!»
«I’m afraid I don’t understand,» said a bewildered Aaron.
«Neither do I,» added a perplexed Jennifer.
«Are you people lawyers or shoe clerks?» cried MacKenzie in exasperation. «If you’re in the middle of a life-or-death trial and you need information you know is there but nobody wants to give it to you, how do you get it?»