The Independents (26 page)

Fort Bliss was a major military installation bordering on the northwest side of El Paso, only a few hundred miles away from
Meraton. Bishop
only visited
the base once, and that was
to pick up an old friend and go carousing in El Paso.

Bishop stared at the floor and slowly shook his head side to side. His focus finally cleared
,
and he looked
the Colonel
directly in the eye.
“That big speech you gave me a bit ago…the one about self-sacrifice and loving our country…doing good deeds for others. That wasn’t fair Colonel. As a matter of fact
,
sir, it pisses me off. You were setting me up
.”

For the first time Bishop could remember,
the Colonel
averted his eyes. Suddenly, the older man looked weak,
sick,
and tired. It was a few moments before he looked back
at
Bishop.
“I
am
sorry
,
son. I don’t often find myself
in a situation where I am
not in control. With this piece of
metal
sticking
in
my body, I feel helpless at a time when so much is depending on me. Please accept my apology.”

Bishop’s eyebrows arched in surprise.
An apology from
the Colonel
? God, the guys back at HBR would never believe me. I would be labeled a liar and advised to seek out a shrink
for even considering
such a thing
.

Bishop nodded,
“Apology accepted
,
sir. I have to tell you
though,
my first reaction is ‘to hell’ with the
president
and his
lot
. On the way over here, I couldn’t help but think that these ‘Independents’ deserve a shot. They can’t be any worse than what we had before. I’m thinking it might be
best
to let the two fight it out and see how the last man standing does
with
ruling
the nation.”

The Colonel
pau
sed and then took a deep breath.
“I agree. On the
boat ride back to Houston, the other men and I discussed it, and we
all thought the same
way
. Were it not for the nukes, I
’d
say let the strongest survive. The people would suffer badly, but they
’re
going to anyway. We survived brother killing brother once before. The difference now is that nuclear weapons don’t allow for reconstruction. They result in permanent destruction. If a hot civil war breaks out, how long before both sides have nuclear weapons? Given the infiltration of the command structure so far,
t
he Independents
probably
already control some inventory of hydrogen weapons. H
ow long before the
losing
side gets desperate
and sets on
e off? What would the opposition
do – retaliate. Pretty soon there
would be
nothing left to rebuild.”

For the second time in the last few minutes, Bishop’s eyebrows sought the top of his head. He hadn’t anticipated agreement, nor had he
thought about the nuclear angle
.

“Sir, I understand what you
’re
saying, but how will
filling in the
president
help? I mean, won’t giving him warning just prolong any conflict? Giving
him time to prepare might result in
making things worse. Both sides could get stronger and do more damage in the long run.”

Again,
the Colonel
surprised Bishop by
agreeing.
“You are absolutely correct
,
Bishop.
I wa
sn’t going to Bliss to warn him;
I was going to convince him to compromise. He has to work out an agreement with
t
he Independents
and figure out a way to include them
from
here on out. Were it not for the subversive nature of their movement, working out a deal with them would be no different than
brokering an agreement
between Democrats and Republicans. The man who tried to recruit me said they had
originally
intended to be a new political party, not a
n armed
movement. The
president
needs to handle them that way, not as an opposing military force. If he doesn’t, no one is going to win this fight
,
and he needs someone with the balls to tell him that straight up. I know the man
well
,
Bishop. While he’s not stupid by any measure, he is driven by pride and ego. No one around him, not
even
the general s
taff
,
will have the guts to tell him like it is. He needs to hear it from someone he respects and trusts. That’s why I was going to Bliss. That’s what has to be done.”

Bishop looked at the man beside
him
in a new light. While he had always respected his boss for his no bullshit leadership skills, he had never thought of him
as a deep-
thinking political analyst who had the ear of the most powerful man on earth.
His expression betrayed his
thinking
.

The Colonel
sensed Bishop’s thoughts.
“
N
ow
,
you owe me an apology. Of all people, you would be the last person I’d expect to stereotype anybody. You think just because I commanded men who carried a rifle for a living that I’m nothing but an old warhorse?
Do you honestly believe my use of foul language shows I am an uneducated brut?
I have a P.H.D. in political science from Yale
,
Bishop. I was the
president
’s advisor when he was
in college. Just because I decided long ago I could do more good in the military doesn’t mean you should sell me short
,
son.”

Bishop was, yet again, shocked. He started to stutter out an apology, but
the Colonel
waved him off. “Don’t worry about it. We have more important subjects to cover than my ego or your lack
of
insight. I don’t have long on this earth
,
and I don’t want to waste any more time.”

Bishop took the easy way out.
“Sir, I understand, but I have to ask how you knew where I was. I don’
t remember ever telling you about the ranch. Wh
ile
you were flying the plane, how did you find my place?”

The Colonel
smiled, “Bishop, there you go again. I wasn’t flying the plane, David was. I’m a lot of things, but a pilot isn’t one of them. The boy did a great job getting it down without power. As to how I knew where you were, I
found the information in your house back in Houston.
”

Bishop tilted his head in thought, trying desperately to connect the dots.
The Colonel
coughed again and needed a little time to
recover. Finally, he continued. “When they tried to execute
me after the Beaumont trip
, I gathered up
Mrs. Por
ter
and the grandkids
and tried to sneak out of town. That wasn’t an easy task
,
given the fact that I was being hunted. Our plan was to head
north to Hooks Airport where
my son kept a plane. We had to choose an alternate route
when
the guys chasing me caught up with us
,
and during the encounter, my car was shot to hell. There we were,
stuck on the north side of town with
nowhere to go. In desperation, I remembered you lived not far away.
We hid in your house for the night
.
Bishop, it probably saved our lives.
Anyway,
while I was there, I dug around looking for food and was curious as to what had happened to you and your wife. I found some old tax records
for
your place out here. It caught my eye because it was so close to where I was heading.”

Bishop’s eyes
lit
up.
“You were in our house? How was it? It’s still there?”

“
The weeds and grass were a little out of control, but otherwise it was
intact
. Don’t tell Terri, but it was very dusty. T
he e
ntire neighborhood was deserted;
we didn’t see another soul. Oh, and sorry about the back door – I didn’t have a key.”

Both men chuckled at
the Colonel
’s whimsical apology. It helped relax them for a moment and gave Bishop
some
time to digest everything. There were still some holes he couldn’t fill in.

He strug
gled with the connection.
“Colonel, I’m flattered you remembered my address, but that seems like an odd thing for you to know.”

The Colonel
smiled again.
“Oh,
don’t be too flattered. Mrs
. Por
ter
used to live close by you
r home
. I never wanted anyone at HBR to know we were seeing each other.
She noted your address when you bought the house and told me we would have to be care
ful not to run into you if I were
out that way. That’s why I remembered your address
, Bishop – I was seeing Mrs. Por
ter. God
rest her sou
l;
I expect I will be seeing her in the hereafter soon enough though.”

All at once, it clicked
for Bishop. He remembered how
the Colonel
had warned him Mrs. Porter was
a
friend and to respect her wishes during his hiring process at HBR. Then an odd look came across his face
,
and he snapped his head
toward the man lying beside him. “The woman the Columbian
s executed at the plane…that was
….
Oh lord
,
Colonel, I’m sorry.”

The Colonel
waved him off
.
“No need for all that
,
son. She was a brave woman and died with honor. I wish there had been time to give her a proper burial, but I understand. Her husband was under my command in the first Gulf War. We met when I came to tell her that he had been killed in action. A few years later, we met again at HBR and started seeing each other. She was a good woman
. W
e were going to get married after I retired in a few years.”

Both men remained silent for a few moments. Bishop now had all of the pieces of the puzzle straight in his head.
The Colonel
spoke next.
“Bishop, I
’m
getting tired again and having trouble thinking clearly. Go
digest
what you have learned today. I’m sure I
’ll
be
able to
hold up my end of
this conversation
again
after I
’ve
rest
ed
for a bit.”

Bishop unders
tood, but one last question begged for an answer.
“That’s a good idea sir, but I have one
more
thing I need to
go over
. You
’ve
asked me to keep all of this confidential, and I have
, but
I
need
to talk this through with my wife. She deserves
…
no
…
has earned the right to know what is going on. If you say no, then I am through with the entire affair. I
won’t
do anything without her being in the loop.”

The Colonel
thought about Bishop
’s statement and weakly responded.
“You’re right about that
,
Bishop. The time and place for everything being a secret is long
behind us now
. You have my permission
to seek any council you feel is necessary. I have to sleep now.”

Bishop left
the Colonel
’s room and wandered
absent-
mindedly through the gardens. His
head was reelin
g from everything he had taken in,
and he desperately needed to talk it all through with T
erri. As he turned decidedly
toward the hotel office,
David and Samantha strolled
out the back door
. T
he young girl immediately bolted toward Bishop.