The Savage Horde

Chapter 28

"I need Doctor Rourke with me—Rubenstein can stay here. And no guns for Rourke, ' Cole said flatly.

Gundersen wove the fingers of his hands together. "I anticipated that, Captain Cole. I've talked briefly here with Doctor Rourke. Sending a man out unarmed into what might be out there would be like committing murder. Doctor Rouke gets his guns—"

"I object to that, sir!"

"I'll note that objection in my log," Gundersen went on placidly. Rourke watched his eyes. "And as to Mr. Rubenstein—if he chooses to accompany his friend, he certainly may. If you like, Lieutenant O'Neal—he's my missile officer and hasn't had much to do since we fired all our missiles you know—well, he's coming along as well as are a few of my men—a landing party. Lieutenant O'Neal can be responsible for Mr. Rubenstein if that suits you better. And as to Major Tiemerovna—there's no policy decision to be made there. She's not strong enough yet to travel. So she doesn't need her guns. Questions about that, captain?"

"I still protest, sir—once we're on land, this mission is mine."

"But this mission involves my submarine, mister—and getting those missile warheads safely on board this boat directly affects the safety of my crew. So some of my people go along, like it or not."

"I want to send out a recon patrol right away—before the shore party."

"A wise move—I'll let you handle that. If you'd like any of my men to ace—"

"No—no, sir. My men can handle that. That's what they're trained for."

"Can I say something?" Rourke asked.

"Certainly, Doctor Rourke," Gundersen nodded.

Rourke saw Natalia, Paul—even Cole staring at him. "That recon party could be a mistake—we can recon as we go. We have to go from here anyway, regardless of what's out there. Only way to reach Filmore Air Force Base. Sending out a patrol from here will only serve to alert any potentially hostile force to our intentions of going inland. I say we move out under cover of darkness—get ourselves well inland before dawn and go from there."

"Bullshit, Rourke!"

"There's a lady present, mister," Gundersen snapped. "And I agree with Doctor Rourke."

"The land portion of the mission is mine—I intend to send a recon patrol out now—I've got men geared up and ready."

Rourke shrugged.

Rubenstein cleared his throat, Rourke watching as the younger man pushed his glasses up off the bridge of his nose. "John's right—we let anybody out there know what we're up to, all they're going to do is set a trap for us."

"If this meeting is about over, commander—I've got a final briefing for my men."

Rourke lit one of his cigars, looking at Cole, studying him. "You leading it—the recon patrol, I mean?"

"Corporal Henderson—"

"Ohh—well, I don't care much if he ever comes back anyway. How's his face doing?" Henderson was the man Rourke had put away for shooting Natalia.

Cole glared at Rourke, saying, "One of these days, Doctor Rourke—after we contact Colonel Teal, after we secure those warheads—it's you and me."

Rourke nodded. "It scares me just to think about it," and he exhaled the gray smoke from his lungs.