"William W Johnstone - Ashes 24 - Judgment in the Ashes (txt)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Johnstone William W)

Hundreds of miles to the north, in one of his mountain hideaways, the
spiritual leader of millions of people, the Most Reverend Simon Border,
stared out the south-facing window and thought of Ben Raines.

He would not make the mistake of hurling untrained and untested troops
against Ben again. That was foolish and very arrogant on his part and
had cost the lives of hundreds of good men. Even as he pondered the
situation, thousands of his people were undergoing intensive field
training, learning as much as possible about the art of warfare.

Simon leaned back in his chair and smiled at the thought of the nation,
under his spiritual rule. What a glorious day that will be.

Ben pushed aside the stack of paperwork and leaned back in his chair. He
could not concentrate on the seemingly endless details of running a huge
army. Besides, something else was nagging at him: why was Simon Border
waiting? Why didn't he attack? The so-called religious leader had made
his brags, but nothing came of them.

"We've been here for six weeks," Ben muttered. "Growing stronger each
hour. Still the man does nothing."

"Anything from Mike?" the ever-present Jersey asked.

The very pretty and diminutive Jersey was Ben's self-appointed
bodyguard. Wherever Ben was, you would find Jersey shadowing him.

Mike was the Rebel chief of intelligence.

"Not in a couple of weeks," Ben replied.

Corrie the radio tech, had left her radio in the hands of

11

a relief operator and was relaxing with a cup of coffee. "High-level
recon flights is still showing nothing. We're still getting reports that
Simon's army is training, but they're in small units and it's a big area
to cover."

Beth, the statistician, laid aside her journal and looked up from her
desk. "And all action by Border's people east of the Mississippi River
abruptly stopped about three weeks ago and no fighting has been reported
since."

Cooper, the driver, said, "It just doesn't make any sense, boss. They
start an offensive all over America, then just stop. Why?"

Ben shook his head.