Read Online The Twisted Cross by Mack Maloney - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Mack Maloney
Tags: Suspense
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Canal and who was running things down there.
Tyler, Crockett and Hobbs were also in attendance, as was the usual group of the United Americans' top echelon: former Thunderbird pilots, J. T. "Socket"
Toomey, the hipster of the bunch; Ben Wa, the Oriental fighter ace and Mike Fitzgerald, the fighter pilot/soldier turned millionaire-entrepreneur. Also there was Captain "Crunch" O'Malley and Captain Elvis O_ of the Ace Wrecking Company; Major Frost of the Free Canadian Air Force; Major Douglas Shane of the elite Football City Special Forces and Colonel Ken Stagg of the New York Hercules Heavy Air Lift Corporation - "New York Hercs" for short. Each man had played a crucial part in the liberation of the eastern half of the country from the Soviet-backed Circle forces, and especially during the climactic battle for Washington, DC.
Still as Hunter looked around the room at his friends and allies, he couldn't help but feel a certain presence was missing: Captain John
"Bull" Dozer, the valiant leader of the famous US Marine "7th Cavalry," was no longer with them. The man had died bravely during a major battle between the United Americans and The Circle at the Washington Monument. In his stead was Dozer's longtime second-in-command, Captain Lamont Johnson. Known as "Catfish"
to his friends, Johnson was a mean-looking six-foot-seven black man who once played defensive end for the San Diego Chargers of the old NFL.
"So what are our options?" Jones asked, throwing out the question for discussion. "I mean, the good news is that the Canal is in working order. The bad news is there's a bunch of hobnails running it."
"I don't think we have more than one or two choices," Ben Wa said. "We certainly can't do business with these Canal guys, not with the information we have on them now."
"Stomp 'em," J.T. kicked in, adjusting his ever-present sunglasses. "Lay an air strike on the bastards . . ."
"We've got to know a lot more about them before we do that," Jones said, slightly scolding the somewhat impulsive fighter pilot.
"Sure do," Frost said. "An air strike might knock out their operations for a while, but that doesn't mean they're going to turn tail and run and never come back."
"Also an air strike might damage the locks or the Canal itself," Stagg added.
"Then we'd be kicking our own ass."
"It seems to me that any airstrike would have to be followed up by some kind of ground operation," Catfish said. "I mean, not only do we have to grease these guys, we also got to get control of the Canal."
"And learn how to work it," Frost said.
"Okay," Jones said, tapping his pen on the meeting table. "We're already talking about a major operation here. Air strikes, a ground invasion, then occupying and operating the Canal ourselves. Those are all tall orders . . ."
"But they have to be done, General," Tyler said, speaking for the first time.
"We can fly all the air convoys we want from the West Coast to the East, but they'll never be able to
move enough supplies for us to even consider a realistic reconstruction program. We need an open water route."
"What we need first is intelligence," Hunter said. "What is their strength? In men? In equipment? Do they have SAMs? Do they have aircraft?"
Crunch spoke up. "That's our department," he said, nodding to his partner, Elvis. "You all know one of our Phantoms is now in a recon mode. It's high time we flew down there anyhow. We can take more pictures of that place in one day than anyone has taken in a hundred years."
"That's true," Jones said. "But these guys don't strike me as our usual ass-backwards type of opponent. They sound slick. Organized . . ."
"Committed . . ." Hunter added. "Committed to a cause of some sort. They're heavy into gold, but I also get the feeling that it's just the fuel for some kind of fire. Like a weird political type of thing."
"You mean like left-wingers? Or right-wingers?" Tyler asked.
"I mean like fanatics," Hunter answered. "It's just a hunch. But I saw those
Tyler, Crockett and Hobbs were also in attendance, as was the usual group of the United Americans' top echelon: former Thunderbird pilots, J. T. "Socket"
Toomey, the hipster of the bunch; Ben Wa, the Oriental fighter ace and Mike Fitzgerald, the fighter pilot/soldier turned millionaire-entrepreneur. Also there was Captain "Crunch" O'Malley and Captain Elvis O_ of the Ace Wrecking Company; Major Frost of the Free Canadian Air Force; Major Douglas Shane of the elite Football City Special Forces and Colonel Ken Stagg of the New York Hercules Heavy Air Lift Corporation - "New York Hercs" for short. Each man had played a crucial part in the liberation of the eastern half of the country from the Soviet-backed Circle forces, and especially during the climactic battle for Washington, DC.
Still as Hunter looked around the room at his friends and allies, he couldn't help but feel a certain presence was missing: Captain John
"Bull" Dozer, the valiant leader of the famous US Marine "7th Cavalry," was no longer with them. The man had died bravely during a major battle between the United Americans and The Circle at the Washington Monument. In his stead was Dozer's longtime second-in-command, Captain Lamont Johnson. Known as "Catfish"
to his friends, Johnson was a mean-looking six-foot-seven black man who once played defensive end for the San Diego Chargers of the old NFL.
"So what are our options?" Jones asked, throwing out the question for discussion. "I mean, the good news is that the Canal is in working order. The bad news is there's a bunch of hobnails running it."
"I don't think we have more than one or two choices," Ben Wa said. "We certainly can't do business with these Canal guys, not with the information we have on them now."
"Stomp 'em," J.T. kicked in, adjusting his ever-present sunglasses. "Lay an air strike on the bastards . . ."
"We've got to know a lot more about them before we do that," Jones said, slightly scolding the somewhat impulsive fighter pilot.
"Sure do," Frost said. "An air strike might knock out their operations for a while, but that doesn't mean they're going to turn tail and run and never come back."
"Also an air strike might damage the locks or the Canal itself," Stagg added.
"Then we'd be kicking our own ass."
"It seems to me that any airstrike would have to be followed up by some kind of ground operation," Catfish said. "I mean, not only do we have to grease these guys, we also got to get control of the Canal."
"And learn how to work it," Frost said.
"Okay," Jones said, tapping his pen on the meeting table. "We're already talking about a major operation here. Air strikes, a ground invasion, then occupying and operating the Canal ourselves. Those are all tall orders . . ."
"But they have to be done, General," Tyler said, speaking for the first time.
"We can fly all the air convoys we want from the West Coast to the East, but they'll never be able to
move enough supplies for us to even consider a realistic reconstruction program. We need an open water route."
"What we need first is intelligence," Hunter said. "What is their strength? In men? In equipment? Do they have SAMs? Do they have aircraft?"
Crunch spoke up. "That's our department," he said, nodding to his partner, Elvis. "You all know one of our Phantoms is now in a recon mode. It's high time we flew down there anyhow. We can take more pictures of that place in one day than anyone has taken in a hundred years."
"That's true," Jones said. "But these guys don't strike me as our usual ass-backwards type of opponent. They sound slick. Organized . . ."
"Committed . . ." Hunter added. "Committed to a cause of some sort. They're heavy into gold, but I also get the feeling that it's just the fuel for some kind of fire. Like a weird political type of thing."
"You mean like left-wingers? Or right-wingers?" Tyler asked.
"I mean like fanatics," Hunter answered. "It's just a hunch. But I saw those
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