"No." So damned near. A few minutes' difference and we'd have bagged them all. The column Falkenberg was chasing was now no more than two kilometers south of us and moving fast.
"Hold one," Deane said. "I've got a Corporal Dangier calling in. Claims to be in position to spot targets for me."
"He's one of the wounded we left behind," I said. "He can see the road from his position, all right, but he won't last long once they know we've got a spotter in position to observe them."
"Do I fire the mission?" Deane demanded.
"Yes." Scratch Corporal Dangier, who had a girl in Harmony and a wife on Earth.
"I'll leave one gun at your disposal," Deane said. "I'm putting the rest on Dangier's mission."
A few minutes later we heard the artillery falling on the road behind us. That would play hell with the Association retreat. It kept up for ten minutes; then Deane called in again. "Can't raise Dangier any longer."
"No. There's nothing we can do here. They're staying out of sight. I'll call in some fire in places that might do some good, but it's shooting blind."
I amused myself with that for a while. It was frustrating. Once that force got to the top of the Rockpile, the route into Allansport would be secure. I was still cursing when Hartz shouted urgently.
"Centurion Ardwain on the line, sir."
"Ardwain, where are you?"
"Less than a klick west of you, Lieutenant. We moved around the edge of the town. Can't get inside without support. Militia won't try it, anyway."
"How many Marines do you have?" I demanded.
"About eighty effective. And Old Beastly."
"By God! Ardwain, move in fast. We'll join you as you come by. We're going right up to the top of the Rockpile and sit there until Falkenberg gets here. With Deane's artillery support we can hold that hill."
"Aye, aye, sir. We're coming."
"Let's go!" I shouted. "Who's been hit and can't run?"
No one answered. "Sergeant Roszak took one in the leg an hour ago, Lieutenant," Hartz said.
"I can still travel," Roszak said.
"Bullshit. You'll stay here and spot artillery for us. All the walking wounded stay with him. The rest of you get moving. We want to be in position when Centurion Ardwain comes."
"But-"
"Shut up and soldier, Roszak." I waved and we moved down from our low hilltop. We were panting when we got to the base of the Rockpile. There were already Association forces up there. I didn't know how many. We had to get up there before more joined them. The way up just ahead of me was clear, because it was in direct view of Roszak and his artillery spotters. We could use it and they couldn't.
I waved the men forward. Even a dozen of us on top of the Rockpile might be enough if Ardwain came up fast. We started up. Two men went down, then another, and my troops began to look around for shelter. I couldn't blame them, but I couldn't let them do it. Getting up that hill had become the only thing in my life. I had to get them moving again.
"Brady!" I shouted. "Corporal, sound the charge!"
The trumpet notes sang out. A monitor whipped out a banner and waved it above his head. I shouted, "Follow me!" and ran up the hill. Then a mortar shell exploded two meters away. I had time to see bright red blotches spurt across my trousers legs and to wonder if that was my own blood; then I fell. The battle noises dimmed out.
"Lieutenant! Mr. Slater!"
I was in the bottom of a well. It was dark down there, and it hurt to look up at the light. I wanted to sink back into the well, but someone at the top was shouting at me. "Mr. Slater!"
"He's coming around, Centurion."
"He's got to, Crisp! Mr. Slater!"
There were people all around me. I couldn't see them very clearly, but I could recognize the voice. "Yes, Centurion."
"Mr. Slater," Ardwain said. "The Governor says we shouldn't take the hill! What do we do, sir?"
It didn't make sense. Where am I? I wondered. I had just sense enough not to ask. Everybody asks that, I thought. Why does everybody ask that? But I don't know-
I was pulled to a sitting position. My eyes managed to focus again, just for a moment. I was surrounded by people and rocks. Big rocks. Then I knew where I was. I'd passed these rocks before. They were at the base of the hill. Rocks below the Rockpile.
"What's that? Don't take the hill?" I said.
"Yes, sir-"
"Lieutenant, I have ordered your men to pull back. There are not enough to take this hill, and there's no point in wasting them."
That wasn't the Governor, but I'd heard the voice before. Trevor. Colonel Trevor of the militia. He'd been with Swale at the staff meeting back at Beersheba. Bits of the staff meeting came back to me, and I tried to remember more of them. Then I realized that was silly. The staff meeting wasn't important, but I couldn't think. What was important? There was something I had to do.
Get up the hill. I had to get up the hill. "Get me on my feet, Centurion."
"Sir-"
"Do it!" I was screaming. "I'm going up there. We have to take the Rockpile."
"You heard the company commander!" Ardwain shouted. "Move out!"
"Slater, you don't know what you're saying!" Trevor shouted.
I ignored him. "I've got to see," I said. I tried to get up, but my legs weren't working. Nothing happened when I tried to move them. "Lift me where I can see," I said.
"Sir-"
"Crisp, don't argue with me. Do it."
"You're crazy, Slater!" Trevor shouted. "Delirious. Sergeant Crisp, put him down. You'll kill him."
The medics hauled me to the edge of the boulder patch. Ardwain was leading men up the hill. Not just Marines, I saw. The militia had followed, as well. Insane, something whispered in the back of my mind. All insane. It's a disease, and they've caught it, too. I pushed the thought away.
They were falling, but they were still moving forward as they fell. I didn't know if they'd get to the top.
"You wanted to see!" Trevor shouted. "Now you've seen it! You can't send them up there. It's suicide, and they won't even listen to me! You've got to call them back, Slater. Make them retreat."
I looked at the fallen men. Some were just ahead of me. They hadn't even gotten twenty meters. There was one body blown in half. Something bright lay near it. I saw what it was and turned to Trevor.
"Retreat, Colonel? See that? Our trumpeter was killed sounding the charge. I don't know how to order a retreat."
Sixteen
I was deep in the well again, and it was dark, and I was afraid. They reached down into it after me, trying to pull me up, and I wanted to come. I knew I'd been in there a long time, and I wanted out, because I could hear Kathryn calling for me. I reached for her hand, but I couldn't find it. I remember shouting, but I don't know what I said. The nightmare went on for a long time.
Then it was daytime. The light was orange-red, very bright, and the walls were splashed with the orange light. I tried to move my head.
"Doc!" someone shouted. His voice was very loud.
"Hal?"
"I can't see you," I said. "Where are you, Kathryn? Where are you?"
"I'm here, Hal. I'll always be here."
And then it was dark again, but it wasn't so lonely in there.
I woke up several times after that. I couldn't talk much, and when I did I don't suppose I made much sense, but finally things were clear. I was in the hospital in Garrison, and I'd been there for weeks. I wasn't sure just how long. Nobody would tell me anything, and they talked in hushed tones so that I was sure I was dying, but I didn't.