Chương 72

Another officer had entered during the exchange.

"Come on." They were taken to a former faculty lounge that now served as a secure waiting room for high-priority arrivals. A long table held covered food trays. Three cots stood against the wall. The windows had been covered from inside. Two guards stood outside the door. The food was better than anything they had eaten since leaving the manor. The trays held chicken, rice, greens, and bread, with hot coffee beside them. The first few bites made Louis realize how tired he was.

He glanced at Angelique and Gladice while eating. Jennifer's tray remained covered at the end of the table. After ten minutes, one of the guards carried it away. Louis watched the guard take it. Then an officer opened the door.

"Mr. Collins. Your line is up." Louis stood. The officer took him to the principal's office at the end of the old administrative hall. It now served as a joint operations room. A map of southern Alabama and the Panhandle took up one wall. Colored pins and grease-pencil arrows marked the glass over it. Colonel Rebecca Wainwright sat behind the desk. She stood when Louis entered.

"Mr. Collins," she said.

"Your family is on a secured line. Take your time." She indicated the tablet propped on the desk. Constantine Collins appeared before Louis had fully sat down. He looked exhausted. Judith leaned into the frame when she saw Louis. Serana sat beside them. For a moment, Louis saw them as they had been back home in Beverly Hills after one of his late nights.

"Louis," said Constantine.

"Hi Dad," Louis said.

"Hi Mom. Serana." Judith raised a hand to her mouth, then lowered it.

"Your face—""Just glass. And the knee. It's fine." He cleared his throat.

"I'm in Florida now."

"Good." Constantine nodded.

"Our embassy in Richmond got a message from a pizza place this morning." Louis gave a short laugh.

"Yes."

"Good thinking," said his father.

"It got the right people moving faster."

"Thank you." Constantine looked at him, then said, "Are Miss Bourbon and Sergeant Simington fine?"

"They are. How about you and Mom?"

"Your mother and I have barely slept since New Orleans. The rest of the diplomatic visit was canceled. Harvey went back to the city, and we turned it upside down looking for the three of you after Sergeant Simington's squad was found dead." Constantine paused.

"We returned to Sacramento two days ago. That was when the Dixie Council confirmed they had you. They demanded the release of several prisoners in exchange for your freedom. I was prepared to make the exchange. Then one of my sources reported a coup last night." Louis nodded. Constantine continued.

"But that has been overtaken by the war now. Fighting has broken out in three sectors. I have ordered our forces to begin mobilizing in case it spreads." Louis looked down at the desk.

"Are we in it?"

"Not yet." Constantine spoke more firmly.

"But I want you and Miss Bourbon out of Florida immediately. Follow the order of Colonel Wainwright. She will get you on a military flight to Austin tonight. I will meet you there." Louis had expected the order, but hearing his father say it still made him tense.

"There's a problem," he said.

"Tell me."

"Jennifer Hargrove. Theodore Hargrove's daughter." He watched both of them react. Judith reacted first. Constantine followed a moment later.

"Explain," he said.

"We wouldn't be able to get out without her," Louis said.

"She helped us escape. She left the house and came with us. She crossed into Florida with us. Now the Collective command has her. They treat her like a spy."

"Because she's Hargrove's daughter," Constantine said.

"That's a fair assumption."

"No," he said.

"It's not." For a moment, no one spoke. Judith looked from one to the other.

"Louis—""No, please." He kept his voice steady.

"We can't leave her to the Collective military. They will turn her into an intelligence asset. Or worse." Constantine's mouth flattened.

"You are not in a position to negotiate the handling of Jennifer Hargrove from a forward command point in Florida."

"Then I'm asking you to do it," Louis said.

"We are not leaving without her." Constantine glanced off-screen, then back at Louis. Louis continued before his father could answer.

"Dad, she's not like the others. She didn't know what her father was doing. She helped us. She could have stayed in that house. Instead she let us out."

"And for that," Constantine said, "you are prepared to risk a diplomatic incident with the Collective?" If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it. Louis leaned toward the screen.

"Yes." Constantine did not look angry. Instead, he gave a faint smile and nodded.

"Alright," he said.

"I'm calling Consul General Mendoza in Orlando. I'll authorize Miss Hargrove's Dominion citizenship effective immediately. Once that order is in hand, the consular office will issue her emergency travel papers and the documents needed for her release and transfer." Louis felt relief before he could remind himself that nothing was settled.

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet," said his father.

"The Collective will not be happy. They know her family. They'll want her questioned."

"Then we get her out of Florida before they have the chance."

"Probably. That does not change your own priority. Once those documents are in motion, you and Miss Bourbon must leave the forward area at once. Colonel Wainwright has authority to move you to Austin. You will obey her." Louis had expected that. He hated how final it sounded.

"No." Judith closed her eyes.

"No?" his father repeated.

"If Jennifer is not with us," Louis said, "we stay."

"Don't be childish."

"It's not childish."

"Louis—" Judith began.

"Mom, I'm serious." Constantine cut in.

"There are a hundred reasons you cannot stay. I will not have you playing martyr within artillery range for the sake of a paperwork delay."

"Then get the paperwork right."

"I am calling Mendoza now. Stay with your mom and sister." Constantine rose from his chair.

"We are bringing you home tonight." Constantine left the frame. Judith leaned toward the camera before Louis could speak.

"You are not thinking clearly, Louis."

"I am thinking better than I ever have."

"Then listen to me," she said.

"You are the future of this family. You are not meant to die in Florida for a girl you have known for a few days. Your father is right."

"She gave me her future, Mom. If I walk away from her, I don't deserve mine." Judith went still.

"Please be safe."

"I will."

"I love you."

"I love you too." Serana leaned into the frame, her eyes wet.

"I love you, Louis."

"Love you, sis." The screen went dark. Louis did not move. He pictured Jennifer sitting in another room while officers asked her questions she did not know how to answer. He pictured his father calling Orlando and forcing the paperwork through. The border was not far away. Artillery was already firing there, and people were dying. Colonel Wainwright walked toward him.

"Mr. Collins." He looked up.

"I hope you are ready to move when your transport is ready in an hour." He stood too quickly. Pain shot through his knee, but he stayed on his feet.

"No."

"Mr. Collins, you are a protected person in a war zone. You are leaving tonight."

"You do not move me without them."

"Miss Bourbon and Sergeant Simington are going with you. The other—""Jennifer Hargrove."

"—the Hargrove matter is not for me to resolve."

"She is now a citizen of the Dominion."

"I don't have that order yet."

"You will." Wainwright did not move or change her tone.

"Miss Hargrove is not yet recognized as a Dominion protected person," she said.

"Her documents do not exist on my desk. This command point is under increasing pressure. I have one transport cycle tonight I am willing to spend on protected political evacuees. You, Miss Bourbon, and Sergeant Simington are getting on it." Louis answered before he had decided whether he was being brave or stupid.

"No, Colonel." Wainwright's expression hardened.

"Very well," she said.

"Come with me." She led him out to the covered walkway facing the old football field. Floodlights stood at the corners. Florida soldiers moved crates toward a transport helicopter parked on the grass under the lights. Another helicopter came in low with an unidentified load slung beneath it and disappeared behind the gym. Artillery sounded beyond the pines. Louis could not tell whether it was closer or simply more frequent.

"Look," she said. Louis looked toward the field. A row of stretchers stood under an awning. Two were occupied. Nearby, a tarp covered a body except for one exposed hand, palm up. A signal mast swayed in the wind. Staff officers hurried across the field. A truck reversed at dangerous speed.

"You are not ordinary evacuees." Wainwright kept her voice even.

"You are people who matter to your government. You do not get to stay here. You get to go home."

"I know."

"Then do it." He looked at her.

"Then let Jennifer on the aircraft."

"I cannot move an unverified asset on your personal assurance."

"You will have verification."

"I need to see the document."

"Then wait for it." She folded her arms.

"Mr. Collins, you don't understand. I do not have time to wait. I have one flight leaving this location tonight. You get on it. Or I make you get on it. I don't like either option, but the second is worse for you."

"I won't leave her." Wainwright stepped closer and lowered her voice.

"Mr. Collins, I have a war to fight. I have men in contact with the enemy. I have intelligence I can't process fast enough and civilians I can't move fast enough. I do not have the luxury of keeping a boy from Beverly Hills out here because he feels guilty about one girl." Louis felt his anger rise, but he kept his voice level.

"Call me what you want," he said.

"I'm not getting on the plane without Jennifer." A burst of automatic fire sounded beyond the school perimeter. Several people on the walkway turned toward it. A radio operator two doors down swore and pressed a hand to his headset. Another voice shouted for perimeter confirmation. Wainwright kept her eyes on Louis.

"This is what I am telling you," she said.

"The war will not wait for your documents."

"Then let it not."

"I could put you on restraint if that's what it takes."

"You could."

"I could." She paused.

"And then I would spend manpower binding a Collins heir and a Bourbon princess to seats on a transport while Sergeant Simington likely knocked one of my guards unconscious. It would be a bad night for everyone involved." Louis almost laughed. Wainwright looked past him toward the hall.

"Speak of the devil." Angelique and Gladice came onto the walkway a minute later. They looked from Louis to Wainwright. Gladice looked across the landing zone.

"It's busy."

"Always," said Wainwright.

"You two are leaving tonight."

"And Jennifer?" asked Angelique.

"She stays here under protection pending documentation." Gladice exhaled through her nose.

"No."

"You do understand that most people react to the offer of evacuation with gratitude."

"I'm not most people." Angelique said, "We are not leaving her here." Wainwright looked at her.

"Miss Bourbon, I am asking you to survive the evening."

"Colonel, I appreciate that," Angelique said.

"But I will not go." Louis stepped in front of Angelique and Gladice without thinking.

"Then I think we are done here," he said. A young adjutant hurried around the corner, stopped when she saw them, and waited.

"What?"

"Colonel, call from Command. Enemy elements reported advancing on Walton County perimeter. They're pushing 331 hard."

"How many?"

"Reports estimate a battalion with armor support." Wainwright swore.

"Get the 2nd up. Tell Captain Moseley his mortars are now fully authorized for counterfire. And get air support on the line."

"Yes, ma'am." The adjutant ran back toward the command hall. Wainwright turned back to them.

"You are choosing to remain at this command point while a full-scale ground engagement is about to begin. Is that your final decision?" Angelique said, "Yes." Gladice nodded. Louis said, "Yes, Colonel." Wainwright studied them for a moment.

"Very well," she said.

"I am recording this as refusal against direct advice from a field commander in a combat zone." She turned toward the command hall.

"If you want to live, stay in the building, stay low, and stay out of the way." Gladice said, "Thank you, Colonel." Wainwright kept walking.

"Sergeant Simington, if you die tonight, I will personally write a letter to Mayor Simington telling him what an honorable fool you were." Gladice said, "I would be honored." Angelique laughed, and Louis joined her. A transport helicopter lifted off, drowning out the last of the laughter. They followed Wainwright inside. Outside, the fighting continued into the evening. Inside, the fourth place at the table remained empty, waiting for a name on paper to make Jennifer someone they were allowed to bring home.