man shouted. "Because when you start killing them, you will send a message to the Westerners telling them the executions will continue unless they start to withdraw ..."
"Withdraw?" Dick said with angry astonishment. "They ain't going to withdraw"
"Ah, probably not. . ." Baldy said. "But when you start the executions, they definitely wont attack you either. This way, you turn your threat into action."
"That's nuts," Viceroy Dick said loudly. "I'm working with a fine balance here. If I start knocking off their POWs, they're going to come in here in a minute . . ."
"We don't think it will happen that way," the young officer said. "And besides, you don't have a choice in the matter."
56
Both men stood up and came very close to the desk. At the same time, the two Soviet bodyguards walked five steps closer to them.
"Now start those executions immediately," the bald officer said. "And not in twos and threes. This is psych warfare-we want to send the enemy a message."
Viceroy Dick was disgusted. He didn't need this after such a long, draining night of partying.
"Just how big a message do you want to send them?" he asked, his voice laced with sarcasm.
'Tour hundred prisoners a night," the young officer said. "Every night ..."
"And, if you fail to make just one quota, we'll be back," the bald officer concluded. "And we'll do it ourselves."
57
CHAPTER 8
Another day had passed. Another day that Yaz busted his ass digging in The Hole.
But then that night, after the guards secured the large wooden door to the cave and left, Yaz waited until those around him were asleep. Then he crawled over to the spot where the shimmy pipe was hidden. Moving the clump of root camouflage, he crawled through, and was soon inside the pump house again.
Waiting for him on the other side were Elvis and a man named Ace. His talent was explosives.
Elvis pulled out a small map.
"Tonight starts another phase of the overall plan," he told Yaz. "We think it's time for The Circle to know they've got some infiltrators inside the city. Also Hawk is working a particularly delicate mission tonight. So we have to make some noise to cover him."
He indicated two stars on the map, one of them in the center of the city; the other down at the edge of the river, near the docks. Then he pointed at the four
58
boxes lying at Ace's feet.
"These are radioactivated high explosives," Elvis explained. "For tonight, we'll call them HE-one, HE-two, HE-three and HE-four.
"The plan is to plant two bombs at each target. Set the first one off, wait for some Circle chumps to show up, then detonate the second bomb. We have uniforms waiting for us at the jump off point and a line on every manhole cover in the areas that we can use in case we have to get the hell away. OK?"
Yaz nodded as coolly as possible. He knew that Hunter's allies were as adroit in taking the battle to the enemy on the ground as they were in the seat of an airplane. But as for himself, he was just a Navy boy from the country. He wasn't sure how he'd measure up as an urban guerrilla.
Elvis sensed his apprehension right away. "Don't worry Yaz," he said.
"Tonight, just watch and take notes. We'll do the heavy lifting . . ."
With that, the three of them set out into the catacombs and toward a specified manhole cover near the center of the city.
59
CHAPTER 9
Hunter was sweating by the time he had climbed to the top of the Southwestern Bell building. His all-black, camouflage flight suit was made of wool, necessary for where he was going, but a hindrance before he got there.
The Southwestern Bell building was the tallest structure in all of Football City-41 floors and a flat roof, which was just what he needed. Best of all, because its main electrical system had been damaged in the war against the Family, it was unoccupied by Circle troops.
Just as he had done nearly every night for the past five weeks, he had walked up the 41 stories, negotiating the dark fire emergency stairways with a penlight
"Withdraw?" Dick said with angry astonishment. "They ain't going to withdraw"
"Ah, probably not. . ." Baldy said. "But when you start the executions, they definitely wont attack you either. This way, you turn your threat into action."
"That's nuts," Viceroy Dick said loudly. "I'm working with a fine balance here. If I start knocking off their POWs, they're going to come in here in a minute . . ."
"We don't think it will happen that way," the young officer said. "And besides, you don't have a choice in the matter."
56
Both men stood up and came very close to the desk. At the same time, the two Soviet bodyguards walked five steps closer to them.
"Now start those executions immediately," the bald officer said. "And not in twos and threes. This is psych warfare-we want to send the enemy a message."
Viceroy Dick was disgusted. He didn't need this after such a long, draining night of partying.
"Just how big a message do you want to send them?" he asked, his voice laced with sarcasm.
'Tour hundred prisoners a night," the young officer said. "Every night ..."
"And, if you fail to make just one quota, we'll be back," the bald officer concluded. "And we'll do it ourselves."
57
CHAPTER 8
Another day had passed. Another day that Yaz busted his ass digging in The Hole.
But then that night, after the guards secured the large wooden door to the cave and left, Yaz waited until those around him were asleep. Then he crawled over to the spot where the shimmy pipe was hidden. Moving the clump of root camouflage, he crawled through, and was soon inside the pump house again.
Waiting for him on the other side were Elvis and a man named Ace. His talent was explosives.
Elvis pulled out a small map.
"Tonight starts another phase of the overall plan," he told Yaz. "We think it's time for The Circle to know they've got some infiltrators inside the city. Also Hawk is working a particularly delicate mission tonight. So we have to make some noise to cover him."
He indicated two stars on the map, one of them in the center of the city; the other down at the edge of the river, near the docks. Then he pointed at the four
58
boxes lying at Ace's feet.
"These are radioactivated high explosives," Elvis explained. "For tonight, we'll call them HE-one, HE-two, HE-three and HE-four.
"The plan is to plant two bombs at each target. Set the first one off, wait for some Circle chumps to show up, then detonate the second bomb. We have uniforms waiting for us at the jump off point and a line on every manhole cover in the areas that we can use in case we have to get the hell away. OK?"
Yaz nodded as coolly as possible. He knew that Hunter's allies were as adroit in taking the battle to the enemy on the ground as they were in the seat of an airplane. But as for himself, he was just a Navy boy from the country. He wasn't sure how he'd measure up as an urban guerrilla.
Elvis sensed his apprehension right away. "Don't worry Yaz," he said.
"Tonight, just watch and take notes. We'll do the heavy lifting . . ."
With that, the three of them set out into the catacombs and toward a specified manhole cover near the center of the city.
59
CHAPTER 9
Hunter was sweating by the time he had climbed to the top of the Southwestern Bell building. His all-black, camouflage flight suit was made of wool, necessary for where he was going, but a hindrance before he got there.
The Southwestern Bell building was the tallest structure in all of Football City-41 floors and a flat roof, which was just what he needed. Best of all, because its main electrical system had been damaged in the war against the Family, it was unoccupied by Circle troops.
Just as he had done nearly every night for the past five weeks, he had walked up the 41 stories, negotiating the dark fire emergency stairways with a penlight
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