W.E.B. Griffin - Retreat, Hell!

Howe raised his glass. "Major Malcolm S. Pickering," he toasted. "Who has proved he's as good a Marine as his father, and probably a lot smarter."

Pickering took a swallow and then raised his glass again.

"How about to Major Ken McCoy and whoever was with him when he found Pick?" he said.

"Well, I'll drink to the Killer anytime," Howe said. "But that's not exactly what happened, Flem."

"Excuse me?"

Howe gestured to Jennings, whose face showed he would much rather not have to tell the story.

"Sir, what happened was that we were coming back to Socho-Ri in a Big Black Bird after having picked up a recon patrol—"

"You're talking about a helicopter?" Banning interrupted.

"Yes, sir," Jennings said. "And we heard somebody—'Road Service'—call­ing for any U.S. aircraft—"

"Road Service?" Banning parroted. Pickering looked at him sharply.

"Yes, sir," Jennings went on. "We found out later it was an Army convoy, a couple of tanks and some heavy vehicles, trying to find a land route to Wonsan. We even knew them. Anyway, we didn't reply, of course—"

"Why not?" Banning interrupted.

"Ed, for Christ's sake, let Sergeant Jennings finish," Pickering snapped, and immediately regretted it.

The remark earned him a look of gratitude from Jennings and a look of as­tonishment, even hurt, from Banning.

"But an Air Force P-51 did," Jennings went on. "And Road Service told him they'd just picked up a shot-down pilot and needed to get him to a hospital. The Air Force guy asked for a location, and it was about five miles from where we were, so the Kil . . . Major McCoy told Major Donald to go there, and see if we could land, and so we did. What we found was that the Army was lost, and Major Pickering had seen them and come out from where he was hiding."

Pickering saw Jennings smile.

"What's funny, Sergeant?" he asked.

"Well, sir, what Major Pickering did was come down the road to the dog­gie convoy with his hands over his head, singing 'The Marines' Hymn' as loud as he could and shouting 'Don't shoot' between lines."

"Jesus Christ!" Pickering said, smiling at the image.

"Anyway, sir, we could get in where they were, so we loaded Major Picker­ing on the Big Black Bird—they left me behind to show the Army the road to Wonsan—and flew on to Socho-Ri, took on fuel, and then flew him out to the aircraft carrier. But we didn't find him, sir, although God knows we sure looked hard for him—the major found the Army."

Pickering smiled and shook his head.

"What difference does it make, Flem?" Howe asked. "He's back. That's all that counts."

"There's a small problem," Pickering said, smiling. "It has been decided at the highest level—by that I mean agreement between El Supremo, General of the Army Omar Bradley, and the President himself—that McCoy gets the Sil­ver Star for his valor in finding Pick—"

"Goddamn!" Jennings said, chuckling.

"And everybody with him gets the Bronze Star," Pickering went on. He stopped himself as he was about to add "and the President agreed with MacArthur that Pick gets the Navy Cross."

Why did I stop? So Proud Papa won't be boasting?

No, it's something else.

Because I don't see where what he did deserves the Navy Cross?

I didn't think I deserved mine, either. I was just doing what a Marine is sup­posed to do.

Isn't that what Pick did? What a Marine is supposed to do?

How the hell did I get on this line of thought?

"General," Jennings said, "I didn't do anything that should get me the Bronze Star."

"I'll straighten it out," Pickering said. He raised his champagne glass to Jennings and smiled.

"I'm about to send a message I think you ought to see," Howe said. "Can we go upstairs for a minute?"

"Sure," Pickering said. "What's upstairs?"

"The communications," Howe said. He smiled. "I keep forgetting the laird of this manor has never been here before. I'll have to show you around."

"It's not what I expected," Pickering said.

"Very few things ever are," Howe said with a smile as he waved Pickering out of the room ahead of him.

They went through the foyer and up the stairs. Pickering was not surprised to find Koreans armed with Thompson submachine guns blocking entrance to the corridors on both the second and third floors, but he was surprised when Howe knocked on a door on the third floor and it was answered by a Korean woman holding a .45-ACP-caliber Grease Gun.

"Di-san," Howe said, "this is General Pickering."

She smiled. In perfect English, she said, "General, we were happy to hear your son has been rescued."

"Thank you," Pickering said.

"I want to show General Pickering my message," Howe said.

She nodded, motioned them into the room, and took several sheets of type­writer paper from a table.

TOP SECRET/PRESIDENTIAL

OPERATIONAL IMMEDIATE

DUPLICATION FORBIDDEN

<���««INSERT TIME BEFORE TRANSMISSION»»> TOKYO TIME 16 OCTOBER 1950

FROM: CHIEF PRESIDENTIAL MISSION TO FAR EAST

VIA: USMC SPECIAL COMMUNICATIONS CENTER CAMP PENDLETON CAL

TO: WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS CENTER WASHINGTON DC EYES ONLY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

BEGIN PERSONAL MESSAGE FROM MAJOR GENERAL HOWE

DEAR HARRY

I JUST GOT WORD THAT GENERAL PICKERING IS ON HIS WAY HERE TO SEOUL. HIS SON IS TO BE TAKEN FROM THE CARRIER BADOENG STRAIT TO PUSAN ON A DESTROYER AND FLOWN FROM THERE TO SASEBO AND FROM THERE TO THE STATES. PICKERING UNDERSTANDABLY WANTS TO SEE HIM BEFORE HE GOES HOME.

BUT TYPICAL OF PICKERING, DUTY FIRST. BEFORE HE GOES TO PUSAN HE'S COMING HERE AND TO SOCHO-RI, THE BASE FROM WHICH MCCOY OPERATES ON THE EAST COAST. HE HAS WITH HIM COLONEL BANNING, WHO HAS BEEN HANDLING THESE COMMUNICATIONS AT CAMP PENDLETON, AND WHO WILL NOW, I PRESUME, SERVE AS HIS DEPUTY HERE.

THE FIRST BAD NEWS IS THAT I DON'T THINK WE ARE GOING TO GET GENERAL DEAN BACK. THIS I'M PRETTY SURE OF AS IT COMES FROM LT COL VANDENBURG, THE OFFICER SENT WITH THE MISSION OF GETTING HIM BACK, MCCOY, AND BILL DUNSTON, THE CIA SEOUL STATION CHIEF. THEIR AGENTS, OR THEY PERSONALLY, HAVE SPENT A GOOD DEAL OF TIME BEHIND THE ENEMY'S LINES AND THEY ALL TELL ME, AND I BELIEVE, THAT DEAN HAS BEEN TAKEN TO CHINA.

SECOND, UNLESS SOMETHING HAS HAPPENED THAT I DON'T KNOW ABOUT, MACARTHUR PROBABLY TOLD YOU ON WAKE ISLAND WHAT HE TOLD ME BEFORE HE LEFT, THAT THE CHINESE AND/OR THE RUSSIANS ARE NOT GOING TO COME INTO THE WAR AND THAT IT'S REALLY A MOOT QUESTION, BECAUSE EVEN IF THEY DID IT WOULD NOT POSE A PROBLEM AND WOULD GIVE US A CHANCE TO BLOODY THEIR NOSE.

MCCOY AS I WRITE THIS IS SOMEWHERE BEHIND THE ENEMY'S LINES IN THE FAR NORTH TRYING TO EAVESDROP ON SOVIET ARMY RADIO COMMUNICATIONS TO SEE IF HE CAN LEARN SOMETHING OF THEIR DISPERSAL, SIZE, AND INTENTIONS. HE IS NOT DOING THE SAME FOR THE CHINESE COMMUNISTS BECAUSE HE BELIEVES THAT THERE ARE SOME SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND CHINESE-THAT' S RIGHT, SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND—IN THE FOURTH FIELD ARMY EITHER ON THE BORDER OR ALREADY SLIPPING INTO NORTH KOREA AND THEY ARE NOT USING THEIR RADIOS.

THERE IS NO QUESTION IN EITHER MCCOY'S OR DUNSTON'S MIND THAT THE CHINESE ARE COMING INTO THE WAR. THEY ACKNOWLEDGE THEY DON'T HAVE ENOUGH HARD INTELLIGENCE TO MAKE THAT JUDGMENT VIS-A-VIS THE RUSSIANS.

WHEN I, WITHOUT MENTIONING MCCOY OR DUNSTON, ASKED MAJ GEN CHARLES WILLOUGHBY, MACARTHUR'S INTELLIGENCE OFFICER, WHETHER HE HAS ANY INFORMATION ABOUT CHINESE BEING ON THE BORDER, HE FLATLY STATED THERE WERE NOT, AND IF THERE HAD BEEN ANY UNUSUAL MOVEMENT OF CHINESE TROOPS HE WOULD KNOW ABOUT IT, AND ASSURED ME THAT IT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE TO HIDE THE MOVEMENT, OR THE PRESENCE, OF "SUBSTANTIAL TROOP FORMATIONS."

THIS AFTERNOON X CORPS WILL SAIL FROM INCHON AROUND THE TIP OF THE PENINSULA TO WONSAN. THE ORIGINAL IDEA WAS THEY WOULD MAKE AN AMPHIBIOUS LANDING AT WONSAN, AND THEN STRIKE BACK ACROSS THE PENINSULA, TOWARD PYONGYANG, CUTTING OFF THE RETREATING NORTH KOREANS.