Ambush in the Ashes by William W. Johnstone Read Free Book Online Page B

his wonder-workers up here and have the cooks start cooking.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    The battalion was split along two streets, one, the Blvd. Ambassadeur Ben Aicha and the other along the Blvd. Moulay Ismail, both near the port.
    “Quietly get the Americans gathered in one secure location,” Ben said to a Scout standing nearby. “Without using bullhorns and certainly without attracting a lot of attention. I certainly would not want to be accused
     
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    of favoritism or discrimination. That wouldn’t do at all.”
    The Scout hid his smile. “No, sir. Of course not. Right away, General.”
    “Really, now, General!” came the decidedly American woman’s voice from the side of the deuce-and-a-half. “These people are desperate and starving and you threaten them with guns and brute force.”
    “Oh, shit!” Ben muttered.
    Her name was Paula Preston and Ben knew the instant he put eyes on her she was going to be trouble. He climbed down from the bed of the truck and faced the woman.
    “You figure it’s any of your business, lady?” Ben demanded.
    “I certainly do, General.” Paula stuck out her chin. “I am the only remaining official from the United States Consulate office left in this city. So that makes it my business.”
    “We’re not from the United States of America,” Ben informed her.
    Paula blinked-stared at him for a moment. “Of course you are!”
    “Sorry, Miss Preston, but we’re …”
    “That’s Ms. Preston, General.”
    “Of course. How silly of me. Ms. Preston, naturally. And if you ever marry, there will be a hyphen somewhere in there, right?”
    “What do you mean you are not from the United States? Where is the American flag? Why aren’t you flying it?”
    “I am Ben Raines, Ms. Preston. Commanding General of the Armed Forces of the Southern United States of America. The SUSA.”
     
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    Paula blinked about half a dozen times, opened her mouth, closed it, finally managed to ask, “You’re what?”
    Ben sighed. “You really don’t know what has happened in America, do you?”
    “We’ve had bits and pieces of information, General. But for the past several years, we’ve been virtually cut off here. There isn’t a piece of electronic equipment to be found anywhere in the city. All that was looted years ago. All the portable generators were taken. We have am/fm radios, of course, but no electricity and no batteries. We knew, of course, there was some sort of civil war in America. You mean? …” She tailed that off.
    “Yes. The SUSA won.”
    “Well …” Her tone was much more subdued. “I mean, where is the United States Military?”
    “Rebuilding. Slowly. The United States is broken up into four sections now, Ms. Preston. The Western United States of America, the Eastern United States of America, the Northern United States of America, and the Southern United States of America.”
    “That … is difficult for me to comprehend, General.”
    “I suspect that in a few years, perhaps as soon as a few months, Eastern and Northern will become as one. There is talk of that now.”
    Paula looked around her at the Rebels. “This is … well, a rather small force, General.”
    Ben smiled. “What you are seeing now is just a small part of one battalion, Ms. Preston. I have nineteen battalions over here. We’re stretched out the entire top of Northern Africa, west to east. Working our way south.”
    “Toward a fight with Bruno Bottger, General?”
    “Yes. How do you know about him?”
    “Refugees, General. I fear that Field Marshal General
     
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    Bottger has you outnumbered, sir. Even with your nineteen battalions.”
    “The Rebels are always outnumbered, Ms. Preston. We’re used to that.”
    “The … Rebels.” She nodded her head. “The Southern United States of America and the Rebel army. Then you fly the stars and bars of the Confederacy?”
    “No. We do not. We fly the stars and stripes, Ms. Preston. We just don’t have as many stars as before.”