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Saunders has finally been pushed to the breaking point but only he knows how far he's willing to go to save the mission and his men.
INSUBORDINATION
PART 3
CHAPTER 25
The men looked through the trees, anxiously watching the lieutenant and their sergeant standing toe to toe. They were about fifty yards away, obviously arguing animatedly as they drew to within inches of each other. But their voices were still low enough that the soldiers couldn't understand what they were saying.
Unable to stand another moment of silence, Kirby whispered, "What do you think they're talking about?"
Caje replied softly, "It's sure not the weather. They're both really angry. I've never seen the Sarge stand up to an officer like that before."
"Me neither," Brockmeyer agreed. "Maybe 'cause the lieutenant's so green? Did you see how he holds his rifle? And he doesn't even know when to keep his mouth shut."
Littlejohn leaned in closer. "It's got to be about this mission, but what's to argue? We got the coordinates, didn't we?"
Caje nodded wordlessly in reply.
"Sure wish we could get out of here," Billy added over his shoulder as he stood guard watching the hills for Germans. "Having all those krauts up there is giving me the willies."
Soon the squad could hear occasional and random angry words drifting toward them. They realized that the argument was escalating. And the louder they got, the more chance there would be that some krauts would hear them. If not the ones on the hill, then maybe a nearby patrol.
The six men looked at each other anxiously. Caje turned to look over Nelson's shoulder up at the hills and then out at the road.
"Littlejohn," Caje said as he pointed, "keep a look out on our right flank. Kirby…left flank."
As the two men settled into their positions, everyone remained in uncomfortable silence, unsure of what to do next.
Doc continued to stare at the two arguing soldiers until he finally whispered, "The Sarge sure looks angry. Maybe someone should go tell them that they're getting kinda loud."
The men all looked at each other.
"Sure ain't gonna be me. Nuh uh!" Kirby replied, shaking his head anxiously.
CHAPTER 26
"This is absolute insubordination, Sergeant Saunders!" Newsom sputtered. "It's dereliction of duty. It's…it's…mutiny!"
His face was getting redder and redder. "I'll have your stripes! I'll have you shot!"
Newsom was beyond furious. Beads of sweat rolled down his temple and his eyes grew even wider.
Saunders squared his shoulders and stood between the crazed officer and his men. "Look, I don't care what you think about me, or what you think you can do to me, Newsom. But I care about those men out there."
Pointing over his shoulder toward the waiting soldiers with his thumb, he continued, "If you're angry with me…if you hate me for some reason, don't take it out on my men."
"You're right, Sergeant," Newsom replied furiously. "I do hate you. You and all those other sergeants and men who think they can run roughshod over me. Well, no more."
He pointed at the waiting soldiers. "And those are my men!" the lieutenant threw back at him.
"No, if you gave a damn about them, you wouldn't be doing this," the sergeant replied. Realizing that he'd somehow become Newsom's scapegoat, Saunders knew that he was beyond reasoning with the lieutenant.
Leaning closer to the officer's face, he added, "Those are my men, Newsom. And don't forget it."
In his short time as a lieutenant, Newsom had never encountered such insubordination. He thought he'd finally reached a point where people had to listen to him. He was in command. At a total loss for words, Newsom took a step back and repeated, "This…this is insubordination!"
Saunders pointed at the officer, jabbing his finger in the air, a mere inch from the man's chest. All thoughts of the possibility that Germans might overhear them were gone. Hundreds of lives were on the line, and the sergeant was not going to back down.
"What you're doing is insubordination. You're disobeying direct orders from your superior officers…to get this information back to them. And you're needlessly endangering the lives of my men."
Saunders stepped back and tried to bring himself back in control. "I'm taking command, Newsom. And those men will only listen to me. I'm sending the information back with Caje, and when this patrol gets back we'll fight this out in front of Captain Jampel."
Newsom clenched his jaw and his fists. "We'll see who's insubordinate then, Saunders. But right now, my men are going to take those guns…or I'll shoot them myself."
The lieutenant pushed the sergeant aside, heading toward the six waiting soldiers. Saunders realized that Newsom was going over the edge…and he believed the man.
He grabbed the officer's arm and their eyes locked until Newsom pulled away. Saunders' heart rate jumped when he found himself staring into the eyes of a wild animal. A very dangerous one.
CHAPTER 27
"Stop and think about what you're doing, Newsom," Saunders pleaded one more time. He took hold of the lieutenant's arm again, hoping to break through to some small spark of reason. He didn't want to hit the man, but it was like trying to reason with a rabid dog.
With his one arm free, the officer quickly dropped his rifle and drew his .45. Instinctively Saunders dropped his Thompson and grabbed the lieutenant's wrist, trying to disarm him. They couldn't afford to have that gun go off. The sergeant was trying to protect his men, but even a harmless stray shot would bring the krauts down on all of them. Locked together tightly, helmets rolled to the ground as the two men fought for control.
Newsom, however, had no one to protect, and he no longer seemed to care about the Germans or the mission. And he was filled with a rage that Saunders couldn't match.
The .45 slowly turned inward.
CHAPTER 28
With a loud yell, Newsom purposely pulled the trigger, and Saunders jerked with the impact. The pain was sudden and intense, but he held on to the officer's arms, fighting for his own life as well as those of his men.
Realizing that the sergeant had been hit, the lieutenant intensified his efforts with a grim smile. Saunders didn't know how badly he was hurt, but he knew that he had to continue to fight.
If Newsom won, there would be nothing to stop him from killing some or all of his men. Even seeing the fight between their sergeant and lieutenant, his men would have the same reluctance to harm an officer that Saunders had. That hesitancy would have dangerous consequences for them.
In his madness, the officer would have no hesitation. Any man left standing would surely be cut down by the krauts who now knew that they were there.
Knowing that he was weakening, Saunders tried pulling the gun away one more time. Losing his footing, he fell and both men dropped to the ground. The sergeant could feel himself growing weaker. It seemed that the lieutenant was growing even stronger, feeding off of his rage and insanity.
Saunders' back was to the wall. He didn't have much time or strength left. The struggle had taken mere seconds, but to the sergeant it was a lifetime. And then Sergeant Saunders made a very conscious decision. It wasn't even about the mission or the Germans any longer. He had to save his men.
His pain was growing intense, and he could feel his side slick with warm blood. His breathing became more ragged as waves of pain hit him with each breath.
He forced his finger onto the trigger.
CHAPTER 29
When the two soldiers first began to struggle, the patrol grew anxious and confused as they watched from a distance.
Unaware of the gun between the two men, the soldiers stood and stared, trying to make sense of what they were seeing.
"I think Sarge is gonna hit the lieutenant!" Billy said worriedly.
"Maybe we should…" Caje began, but was interrupted by Newsom shouting, quickly followed by a gunshot.
"What the…?" Kirby exclaimed and began running.
The other men were right behind him. They had no idea what was happening, but they could see that their sergeant was in trouble and needed their help. And they knew that shot would be bringing the krauts down on them very soon.
As the patrol neared the two struggling soldiers, a second shot rang out. The deadly noise echoed through the trees and hills.
/
Saunders felt his strength leaving him, and with one last desperate push, he slipped his finger over Newsom's on the trigger, turned the barrel slightly and squeezed.
With the explosion, the lieutenant's body jerked. Newsom stared at the sergeant in wide-eyed shock. And then the officer's life faded and he closed his eyes.
As his men ran toward him, Saunders pulled himself up unsteadily, swaying slightly as he got to his feet. He stared blankly at the lieutenant lying on the ground. Looking at his hand, he realized that he was still holding the .45. He dropped the gun at his feet.
The sergeant grunted in pain and fell to his knees. Brockmeyer and Billy managed to catch him just before he toppled face forward back onto the dead officer. As they lowered him to the ground, Saunders looked over at Newsom lying on his side in the grass and dirt.
"How is he?" he whispered anxiously as he looked at his medic. "Doc?"
The medic leaned over the officer and then slowly looked at his sergeant and hesitated. "He's dead, Sarge."
All the men stared at their medic and the lieutenant, and then at their sergeant. No one spoke.
"You sure, Doc?" Saunders asked in disbelief.
The medic nodded grimly and repeated, "He's dead."
Saunders felt the last of his energy draining away. He'd killed Lieutenant Newsom. He'd just killed an officer. He'd made the decision to try to save his men, and in so doing he'd killed an officer.
And then he thought…his men. Saunders looked up. "Krauts. Go," he said weakly.
CHAPTER 30
The deadly spell was broken and the soldiers became an instant flurry of action.
"As soon as those krauts figure out where the shots came from, they'll be on us," Caje said, reaching down to help his sergeant up.
"I'll carry him," Littlejohn offered. "Help me get him up."
Saunders was still staring at the dead officer. "Leave me. Go."
Ignoring their sergeant, Littlejohn knelt down and Brockmeyer and Nelson helped lift the wounded soldier onto the man's shoulders.
"Be careful of his side," Doc said as he stood up. "I need to look at it soon."
"No time now, Doc," Kirby answered as he picked up his sergeant's helmet and Thompson, and handed both to Doc. "Looks like he's out anyway."
Kneeling down to pull off one of the lieutenant's dog tags, he said, "Krauts'll be here any second. Go!"
Shouts were heard down the road as the krauts searched for the source of the gunfire. With Kirby covering their backs, the soldiers melted back into the forest.
CHAPTER 31
The men moved as quickly as they could, with Billy and Doc helping to maneuver Littlejohn through the trees and brush. There was less concern about keeping silent. Now it was all about speed. They needed to stay ahead of any pursuit and get back as close to Allied lines as possible. If they could get close enough, they might be able to draw cover from their own front lines.
Remembering the terrain from studying the map, Caje was on point. Bringing up the rear, Kirby kept turning back nervously watching for any signs of enemy pursuit. He could hear something, but it seemed to be getting farther away, not closer. But as he listened, he heard them nearer again.
He realized that the Germans had probably just gone off course a bit, but were now homing in on the patrol's unavoidable noise as they ran. He knew that it was only a matter of time before they caught up to them, and he had no idea what he would be up against when that happened.
Kirby slowed and looked around. Ducking down behind a large fallen tree, he waited. If there were only a few of them, he had a good chance of taking them by surprise. If there were a lot of them, he intended to take out as many of them as he could. At least slow them down to give the others a chance to get away. He just needed to hold them long enough. With heart pounding, the BAR man waited.
/
Doc suddenly realized that there was no one behind him. Kirby had disappeared.
"Caje!" he called out in a loud whisper. "Kirby's gone."
The Cajun immediately slowed. "Keep going. Billy, take the point. Keep heading away from the sunset. Brock, take the rear. Go!"
As Doc went to help Littlejohn, he whispered, "I don't know how much longer Littlejohn can keep doing this."
"I'll be ok," the big man replied in a strained voice. "Just keep moving."
Caje watched as each man passed him. Once they were out of sight, he turned back to find their BAR man.
CHAPTER 32
Kirby's grip on his BAR tightened as the sounds drew closer. He raised his weapon in preparation and waited. Seconds later a German soldier appeared through the trees. He waited until he could see others. Take out as many as he could before they found cover.
As more came into view, Kirby fired a short burst, taking down two men. He brought another down before they could scramble for cover. From what he could see, there were five more, now spread out in front of him.
He had half a mag left in his weapon, and two mags in his jacket. He needed to make every shot count. He would burn through them very quickly if he wasn't careful. The soldier switched the lever to two shot bursts. He just needed to give the squad more time.
Seeing return fire coming from behind one tree, he fired back, chewing into the tree trunk but not hitting his target. But at least it managed to get the kraut to pull farther back.
A hail of bullets came at Kirby from seemingly all directions, and he had no opening to return their fire. Hunched down and curled up tightly behind the fallen tree for protection, he heard chunks of wood land around him.
He was pinned down.
He couldn't see a way that he was going to walk away from this. He just knew that he needed to stall for time to give six men a chance to escape and live.
When there was a brief pause in their gunfire, Kirby peered out and saw the shoulder of a kraut exposed behind a tree. Quickly swinging out, he fired and pulled back. He was rewarded by the sound of the German crashing to the ground. Four left? he thought.
He rapidly replaced his magazine and looked out again. He began to think that if he could keep it up picking them off one at a time, the rest might abandon the chase and run. He might have a chance.
But Kirby quickly discarded that notion as he realized that the remaining four were split, two off to his left and two off to his right. He was in trouble. If he exposed himself at all to take a shot at anyone, the others would have a good shot at him.
Well, he thought, if he could just take out two more, it might be enough. The patrol might have the time they need to get away, and hopefully the last two krauts would break off pursuit. If not, he was confident that the others would be able to handle the last two.
Knowing Caje, more than likely Brockmeyer was covering the rear, but Kirby knew that any one of the soldiers would be more than capable of covering their patrol.
Taking a deep breath, Kirby flipped the BAR lever to full auto. Now's a good a time as any, he thought. He made a quick side movement as if he was going to lean into the open. It was enough to draw the two Germans on his left out of hiding to try for him.
Kirby quickly sat upright and took them both down with half his mag. At the same time, however, the two soldiers on the right were taking aim at the BAR man.
CHAPTER 33
Kirby saw the other two Germans out of the corner of his eye, but he knew that there wasn't enough time for him to swing the BAR over to them. He instinctively braced for the inevitable.
But when the shots came, he was still there kneeling behind the log. He dropped to the ground in disbelief. They'd missed him? he thought.
A long moment of silence passed. Nothing. What were they up to? Then a voice called out, "You gonna lay there all day? Or are you coming with us?"
Kirby rolled over, looked behind him and stared at the Cajun. His heart was still in his throat as what had happened slowly sunk in.
"I had 'em right where I wanted 'em," the BAR man replied as Caje held out his hand to help him up. As he stood up, Kirby clapped the Cajun on the shoulder. "Thanks. I was starting to see angels."
Caje gave a short laugh. "Not likely." And then they took off at a run back toward their retreating patrol. At a full run, before long they had caught up to the rest of the patrol. Littlejohn had lowered their sergeant to the ground and Doc was looking at the wound.
As the two soldiers drew closer, Caje called out, "Doc, we don't have time for this. We have to keep moving."
Doc looked up while unbuttoning their sergeant's shirt. "We have to stop. He's gonna die if I don't get the bleeding under control. Littlejohn's wearing half of Sarge's blood as it is."
Caje and Kirby looked at the big man standing nearby. The entire left side of his field jacket was stained a deep red. Flexing his tired shoulders, Littlejohn tried to wipe the blood from his hands onto his pants.
In resignation, Caje pointed behind them. "Brock." Brockmeyer nodded and ran back to take up his position covering the rear.
"Billy," the Cajun called out, pointing forward. Without a reply, Nelson moved up.
"Anything we can do, Doc?" Kirby asked.
Doc looked up at him and held out a bandage. "Here, hold this on the wound. Put some pressure on it. I want to clean it up a bit to get a good look at how bad it is. See what I can do to at least slow that bleeding down or hopefully stop it."
Holding the bandage tightly in place, Kirby looked up at Caje. "So what the heck do you think happened back there between the Sarge and that lieutenant?"
The Cajun shook his head. He knelt down and reached into his sergeant's jacket pulling out the blood spattered map. As he unfolded the map, he replied, "I don't know. Looked like they were arguing about something, the lieutenant pulled his .45, they struggled and the gun went off. The lieutenant shot the Sarge…" Caje hesitated.
"And the Sarge killed the lieutenant," Kirby finished.
Caje responded reluctantly, "Looks like it."
"I don't understand," Littlejohn said. "Everything seemed to be going ok. We found the guns. We just needed someone to take the coordinates back. What went wrong?"
"I don't know," Caje replied, shaking his head.
"Maybe arguing over who should take the info back?" Kirby added.
"Why?" the Cajun asked. "And why try to kill each other over it?"
He examined the map for a few silent moments and then looked around them. "From the looks of this we'll be pretty much out of kraut territory in only a couple of miles. Those krauts chased us a long ways. When the Sarge is ready to travel, Doc, we'll get moving."
He looked at Littlejohn who was standing over them. "Littlejohn, see if you can find some poles for a litter. When Doc's through, we're out of here. Don't want to risk anymore run ins with the krauts."
As Littlejohn left them, their sergeant groaned and slowly opened his eyes.
CHAPTER 34
Saunders looked up at the trees, trying to clear his vision. He felt numb…and cold. He shuddered as he looked around. Caje, Kirby and Doc were watching him.
"You…" he began hoarsely. He licked his dry lips and tried again in a whisper, "…need to go. Go." He waved a hand weakly.
"Take it easy, Sarge," Doc said, trying to reassure him. "You'll be ok."
Saunders closed his eyes, wincing in pain. "Krauts. Go."
Still pressing the bandage on his sergeant's wound, Kirby replied, "Caje and I got the krauts. And we're almost out of kraut territory. Least Caje looked at the map and said so. We'll get you back."
The sergeant tried to focus his eyes. He shivered again. "Cold."
Doc stood up and quickly took off his field jacket. Kneeling down again, he laid it over his sergeant, turning up the corner around the wound where Kirby was pressing the bandage.
"Let me see, Kirby," the medic asked.
Kirby eased the pressure and removed the bandage as Doc looked over the wound. "Looking better. It's definitely slowed. I'm going to put more sulfa and a clean bandage on it. As soon as the litter's ready, we can go. The litter will be easier on his wound."
Littlejohn appeared through the trees carrying two branches. "These are as straight as I could find. I just need to cut the small stuff off." He set the branches down, took out his bayonet and got to work cleaning off the leaves and smaller branches.
"I think I'm ok here now, Kirby," Doc said, taking the bandage. "Why don't you help Littlejohn with the litter? The sooner we get moving the better."
Taking off his field jacket, Kirby asked, "You ready, Littlejohn?"
Saunders watched all of the activity around him in silence. His men were safe, and they all knew what had to be done. He closed his eyes and drifted off again.
CHAPTER 35
Saunders opened his eyes and stared at the peak of the tent above him. To his right was a tent pole. To his left was an IV pole with a line that snaked down to what he assumed was his own arm.
Well, I'm still here, he thought. And then it hit him…Lieutenant Newsom was not.
He heard breathing and looked to see Lieutenant Hanley sitting in a chair next to him. The officer's chin was resting on his chest, and he was obviously sound asleep.
A nurse appeared next to the sleeping lieutenant and she smiled, acknowledging that Saunders was finally conscious. She put a finger to her lips and leaned over the sleeping soldier to check on the sergeant's IV. But when the IV line brushed against Hanley's arm, his eyes flew open. He sat up abruptly, but quickly realized where he was.
"Sorry," the nurse apologized softly. "I'll let the doctor know you're awake, Sergeant," she said to Saunders before she left.
Hanley sat up straight and looked around. Rubbing his face with both hands, he looked over at his sergeant and said, "Morning."
Saunders glanced toward the tent opening. "Is it?"
The Lieutenant nodded as he quickly ran his fingers through his hair and looked at his watch.
"When did you get back?" the sergeant asked.
"Came back a few hours before your patrol returned," Hanley replied. "Your squad sure knows how to make an entrance." He smiled, but the smile quickly faded as he added, "They got you back just in time. The docs worked on you for quite awhile. Pumped a few pints of your squad's blood into you."
Ignoring the comment, Saunders asked, "How's your arm?"
The Lieutenant moved his arm around. "Fine. The doctors fixed it up pretty quickly. Spent more time on the road there and back than I did in the hospital."
Both men were quiet for a long moment, and then Hanley asked, "You up to telling me what happened?"
First things first, Saunders thought. "Did my men give you the kraut gun emplacement coordinates?"
The Lieutenant pulled out his cigarettes as he replied, "Yeah, artillery blanketed the area. Another patrol went out this morning to see what the results were. They aren't back yet. The krauts might have had time to pull back, so we'll have to wait and see."
He stuck a cigarette between Saunders lips and took one for himself, and then lit them both.
"So, you up to telling me what happened?" the officer repeated.
CHAPTER 36
Inhaling deeply, the sergeant finally let out the smoke slowly as he stared at the tent above.
"I killed Lieutenant Newsom," he answered quietly.
The two men sat in uncomfortable silence as the words sunk in for both of them.
"Figured as much," Hanley finally replied. "But now I need to know exactly what happened. Your men didn't have much information. I don't know how much of that is that they really didn't see what happened…and how much of it is they're trying to protect you."
Saunders shook his head, pulling his cigarette from his mouth. "They didn't know what was going on. They were too far away. When Newsom started to argue with me, I pulled back about fifty yards. Less chance of the krauts hearing anything if he got loud."
With a grim short laugh he added, "Didn't plan on a couple of gun shots."
He paused, watching the smoke curl lazily upward. Still watching the smoke, he continued, "Newsom had it in for me from the start, Lieutenant. Nothing I did was good enough. I don't know why, but he hated me. The way he was talking, it seemed like I was his scapegoat for everything that had ever happened to him."
Saunders took another drag on his cigarette, blew it out slowly and then continued. "I was ready to stick it out and swallow it all until you got back. I was even willing to play his game with saluting and everything. But then he started taking it all out on my men."
Pausing again, the sergeant took a couple of deep breaths. "It all came to a head out on patrol when we got the kraut gun coordinates. That patrol was a disaster before we even stepped out of the billet. He purposely left our radio behind, saying we were going to use a runner. But once we had the coordinates, he said we were going to take out the gun emplacements ourselves."
Hanley looked at him incredulously. "He expected seven of you to take on two machine gun nests, two mortars and an 88?"
When Saunders nodded wordlessly, the officer added, "There wouldn't have been enough of you left for Doc to scrape up besides your dog tags. And that's assuming that he'd get out of there alive himself."
The sergeant nodded again. "I flat out refused. He threatened me with court martial, but when that didn't work he threatened to shoot both me and my men if we didn't go after the krauts. When I refused again and tried to relieve him of command, he pulled his .45. We struggled when I tried to get it away from him, and then…"
The sergeant stopped and shakily put his cigarette back in his mouth.
"He shot you, didn't he?" Hanley asked quietly.
Saunders nodded again and the Lieutenant looked at him grimly. "On purpose?"
Reluctant to answer, the sergeant hesitated. He finally nodded once again. "He yelled just as he pulled the trigger. After he shot me, he tried to finish me off. It was no accident. He was smiling."
A heavy silence fell over the two soldiers until Saunders added, "I should have known it was all heading to that, but I just couldn't believe he'd go that far. I looked into his eyes just before he pulled the trigger, Lieutenant. It was like he wasn't human anymore. Like he was already dead."
Pausing another moment, he went on. "After he shot me, I knew that he wouldn't hesitate to kill my men too. And he'd get most of them before they got him. It just wouldn't be in them to shoot a superior officer."
"So the gun went off again as you both struggled for the weapon?" Hanley tried to prompt his sergeant.
Saunders looked at his lieutenant and whispered, "No."
Turning his head away as his eyes welled up, he said quietly, "I made a conscious decision to save my men and try to save the mission, Lieutenant. I put my finger on the trigger and I killed Lieutenant Newsom."
CHAPTER 37
Hanley knew that his sergeant needed some time alone. He stood up and put his hand on the soldier's shoulder. "I've got to report to Captain Jampel. Take it easy. I'll be back."
Clearly shaken, Saunders nodded. He inhaled deeply again on the last nub of his cigarette. As the lieutenant walked away, Saunders dropped the stub of his cigarette on the ground by his cot. Blowing out the smoke slowly, he laid his arm across his eyes and sighed.
The struggle with Newsom played over and over in his head as he tried to think of what he could have done differently. He should have known that it was all going to come to something violent. But he never would have expected such a violent end to their animosity toward each other.
Maybe he should have insisted on seeing the Captain? Or maybe he could have tried harder to get the gun away from Newsom before he managed to pull the trigger. It was so much easier to look back on it all with maybes and should haves. But when he was in the middle of it all, he had been at a loss for a peaceful solution.
"Hey, Sarge?" came a familiar reassuring voice. "The nurse said you was awake. Ok if we say hi?" Kirby gave a hopeful smile.
Saunders wiped his eyes quickly and looked up to see his men watching him anxiously. He waved them over with a slight smile. Those six faces reminded him why he'd done what he'd done…and he'd do it again if he had to.
"Heard you finished the mission," he said to them. "How'd it work out?"
Caje smiled. "The recon patrol just got back. Looked like the krauts were starting to pull back, but our artillery blanketed the whole area and managed to get them."
The men all stood in awkward silence for a long moment until Littlejohn finally added, "They recovered Lieutenant Newsom's body."
"Good," Saunders replied simply.
More silence followed as the soldiers stood hoping for an explanation of the events. But their sergeant remained silent.
"Great to have Lieutenant Hanley back," Brockmeyer said, breaking the uncomfortable silence. The others agreed without acknowledging the circumstances of Newsom's death.
As the quiet became almost palpable, Doc said, "Well, the doctors are saying you'll be here for at least a week. So I guess we shouldn't wear out our welcome. We can come by again another time."
"Yeah, guess we should go," Billy added.
Saunders waved as his men made their way out of the tent. He closed his eyes, confident that he'd done the right…and only thing possible. Feeling better about his actions and ready to take the consequences, Sergeant Saunders fell asleep.
CHAPTER 38
Opening his eyes, Saunders winced with pain when he tried to move. The morphine was wearing off. Good, he thought. He decided that he'd refuse it when the nurse came around again to give him another shot. The pain was bearable. And it would remind him of his actions…and their consequences.
He was craving a cigarette and trying to figure out how to get someone's attention when a cigarette appeared in front of him. Recognizing the ring on the man's hand, he took the cigarette and said, "Thanks, Lieutenant."
Hanley appeared in front of him and flicked his lighter. "Figured you might be looking for one once you woke up again. How're you feeling?"
"I'm still alive. That's good enough," Saunders smiled. "You talk to Captain Jampel?" The sergeant decided to cut straight to the issue and get it over with. He couldn't tell in which direction this was all going to turn.
The Lieutenant sat down next to his sergeant and leaned forward and nodded. "I had a long talk with the Captain. Laid out all the facts, just as you told me."
"You only have my word. There were no witnesses," Saunders reminded him.
"I know. So does Captain Jampel. But as far as we're concerned, your word is fact." The Lieutenant paused, and then looked at his sergeant.
"Captain Jampel has been watching Newsom since he got here. Evidently you weren't the only one having issues with him. Even though he'd only been here a couple of days, he'd managed to rub a lot of people the wrong way. Several men mentioned to his aide that Newsom seemed to be focusing most of his attention on you. But by the time the Captain got out of the meetings, you'd already left on patrol."
"I did try to talk to the Captain about it, but he was still in his meeting," the sergeant replied.
"The Captain regrets not having met with you," Hanley admitted. "He had no idea what you were dealing with. I think he faults himself for not realizing that if it was happening with other soldiers, then it would probably be happening with you too, especially since he knew that Newsom was sending you on patrols."
Hanley sat in an uncomfortable silence for a long while as Saunders waited.
"What?" the sergeant asked, wincing as he turned to look directly at his lieutenant. "I hear a big 'but' hanging over all of this. Just get it out, Lieutenant."
The officer sighed and sat up straight. "Captain Jampel will accept your version of what happened."
"My version?" Saunders interrupted as he struggled to sit up on one elbow. "What happened to 'my word is fact'?"
"It is," Hanley replied quickly. "He doesn't doubt what you told me. It's just…he wants you to consider an alternate version."
"An alternate version?" Saunders repeated angrily. "Lieutenant, an alternate version of the truth is a lie. Does that mean that Jampel wants me to lie? Or maybe just shut up? Maybe the Army wants to protect their precious officer's reputation?"
Leaning closer, he stared at his lieutenant. "Which is it, Lieutenant?"
The silence between them thickened. Saunders' heavy, angry breaths were achingly loud in the quiet. The sergeant waited. He needed an answer.
Hanley finally replied in a low voice as he looked around. "Lieutenant Newsom had two young children and a wife who's due with their third any day now."
The sergeant held his breath, staring at his lieutenant. He let it out slowly and nodded. And there it was. If Saunders' description of what happened went into the official records, Newsom's wife and children would receive nothing. They would be cut off from any widow's benefits.
Saunders closed his eyes and whispered, "This stinks."
The officer leaned back and sat up straight. "Captain Jampel says that he'll do whatever you want. What goes in the record is up to you."
Hanley looked around again to be sure that they were not being overheard. "I'm sure you know that this isn't the kind of an offer that he makes lightly…or very often. And no one can know that he's made it. It's all up to you."
The sergeant opened his eyes and gave a short sarcastic laugh. He took a last drag on the stub of his cigarette that was almost burning his fingers. Flipping it into the grass at Hanley's feet, he closed his eyes again. The officer crushed the cigarette under his boot.
Awkward silence filled the tent once again until Saunders finally spoke. "I need to sleep at night, Hanley. I need to live with myself."
Looking over at his friend, Sergeant Saunders said, "You know my answer."
Lieutenant Hanley stood up and touched his friend's shoulder lightly.
"I know."
THE END
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Sergeant Saunders' answer is all in how you view the man and the soldier.
