Die Trying

everywhere, conspiracies, muttering about independence for their scrubby little patch of worthless real estate. But the question is: how should a mature democratic nation react to that? Should it massacre them all, Harland? Is that how a mature nation reacts? Should it unleash deadly force against a few deluded idiot citizens? We spent a generation condemning the Soviets for doing that. Are we going to do the same thing?”
    “They’re criminals, sir,” Webster said.
    “Yes, they are,” the President agreed, patiently. “They’re counterfeiters, they own illegal weapons, they don’t pay federal taxes, they foment racial hatred, maybe they even robbed an armored car. But those are details, Harland. The broad picture is they’re disgruntled citizens. And how do we respond to that? We encourage disgruntled citizens in Eastern Europe to stand up and declare their nationhood, right? So how do we deal with our own disgruntled citizens, Harland? Declare war on them?”
    Webster clamped his jaw. He felt adrift. Like the thick carpets and the quiet paint and the unfamiliar scented air inside the Oval Office were choking him.
    “They’re criminals,” he said again. It was all he could think of to say.
    The President nodded. Still a measure of sympathy.
    “Yes, they are,” he agreed again. “But look at the broad picture, Harland. Look at their main offense. Their main offense is they hate their government. If we deal with them harshly for that, we could face a crisis. Like we said, there are maybe sixty million Americans ready to be tipped over the edge. This Administration is very aware of that, Harland. This Administration is going to tread very carefully.”
    “But what about Holly?” he asked. “You can’t just sacrifice her.”
    There was a long silence. The President kept his chair turned away.
    “I can’t react because of her, either,” he said quietly. “I can’t allow myself to make this personal. Don’t you see that? A personal, emotional, angry response would be wrong. It would be a bad mistake. I have to wait and think. I’ve talked it over with the General. We’ve talked for hours. Frankly, Harland, he’s pissed at me, and again frankly, I don’t blame him. He’s just about my oldest friend, and he’s pissed at me. So don’t talk to me about sacrifice, Harland. Because sacrifice is what this office is all about. You put the greater good in front of friendship, in front of all your own interests. You do it all the time. It’s what being President means.”
    There was another long silence.
    “So what are you saying to me, Mr. President?” Webster asked.
    Another long silence.
    “I’m not saying anything to you,” the President said. “I’m saying you’re in personal command of the situation. I’m saying come see Mr. Dexter Monday morning, if there’s still a problem.”

    NOBODY WAITED IN the car. Too restless for that. They got out into the chill mountain air and milled aimlessly around. Johnson and his aide strolled north with the driver and looked at the proposed location for the command post. McGrath and Brogan and Milosevic kept themselves apart as a threesome. McGrath smoked, lost in thought. Time to time, he would duck back into the Army Chevrolet and use the car phone. He called the Montana State Police, the power company, the phone company, the Forest Service.
    Brogan and Milosevic strolled north. They found an armored vehicle. Not a tank, some kind of a personnel carrier. There was the officer who had met them with the car and maybe eight soldiers standing near it. Big, silent men, pitching tents on the shoulder in the lee of the rocks. Brogan and Milosevic nodded a greeting to them and strolled back south. They rejoined McGrath and waited.
    Within forty minutes they all heard the faint roar of heavy diesels far to the south. The noise built and then burst around the curve. There was a small convoy of trucks. Big, boxy vehicles, mounted high on exaggerated drivetrains, big wheels, huge tires, axles grinding around. They roared nearer, moving slow in low gear. The officer from the car ran to meet them. Pointed them up to where he wanted them. They roared slowly past and stopped two abreast in the road where it straightened into the rock cutting.
    There were four vehicles. Black and green camouflage, rolls of netting on the flanks, stenciled numbers and big single stars in white. The front two trucks bristled with antennas and small dishes. The rear two were