第33节

cover during daylight

hours the whole time they're out there."

Hartmann didn't look impressed. 'Which means our entire air component

is going to be tied up while this goon tries to grab himself some glory

and another citation, and it'll take seven and a half hours to fly 'em

all back in." He shook his head. 'It seems a very extravagant waste

of airpower..."

'On the other hand - ' began Moore.

Hartmann cut in. 'I know exactly what you're going to say, Bob. I

just think we should wait until we've got Kazan aboard. Let's see how

she fits into this assignment and just who else is out there."

'Okay. I can live with that..."

Captain Clay looked disappointed. He'd been hoping to hitch a ride and

grab a citation of his own. 'So what shall I tell Lieutenant Harmer,

sir?"

'Give him a map to play with and tell him to prepare a list of the

equipment he and his men will need. Have they got their own

weapons?"

'Only side-arms, sir."

'Arrange for them to be issued with the full ordinance load, Mr Clay.

And tell Harmer he's responsible for inspecting his team's weapons and

making sure everything is in perfect working order. I want them at

combat-alert status twelve hours from now!"

'Yess-SIRRR!" Clay's right hand flew up to the long peak of his yellow

baseball cap. He spun on his heel and left the saddle at the double.

Moore glanced shrewdly at his commander. 'That should keep the

lieutenant busy for a while."

'Yes,' sighed Hartmann. 'Those goddam Pioneers.

Just because they didn't make it onto a wagon-train they can't resist

trying to prove what eager-beavers they are."

He dragged his fingers over the ends of his bushy white mustache - a

sign he was mulling something over. 'Do you think he could be a

plant?"

'Hard to tell,' said Moore. 'Why don't you ask MaryAnn?"

'I might just do that. Meanwhile, keep the pressure on him, Bob. With

a bit of luck, he might get overexcited and shoot himself in the

foot."

Moore smiled. 'I'd say that was unlikely. But it can always be

arranged."

Hartmann's question about the gung-ho lieutenant from Pueblo referred

to the covert deployment of military personnel attached to the

Department of Assessors. They performed the same duties as regular

soldiers of varying rank and grade but their real task was to monitor

the operational 'zeal' and competence of wagon-train commanders and

their crews.

Their presence aboard a wagon-train, or inside a way-station, usually

only came to light when they appeared as witnesses for the prosecution

at disciplinary tribunals. No one knew how widespread this unpleasant

practice was but the knowledge that the testimony of these scum-bags

had sent good men to the wall helped keep everybody on their toes.

In certain aspects of their work, notably their assessment of a

crew's'attitude' to the leadership and directives of the First Family,

the active service evaluators - for that was their official title

resembled the political commissars attached to units of the Soviet Army

- notably during the pre-Holocaust conflict known as World War Two.

The commissars, however, were highly visible and could take issue with

military commanders over the 'correctness' of tactical decisions. An

ASE had the same power to wreck a man's career; the trouble was, you

couldn't even see the tip of the iceberg. By the time you discovered

it was there, you were usually already badly holed and sinking because,

for serious code violations, no pleas of mitigation were allowed.

To the Department, an evaluator serving with an operational unit was