Free Atlanta Extreme by Randy Wayne White

want you to prove that you are not afraid to do what is necessary to win.”
    â€œYou are going to attack the village,” said Hawker.
    â€œExactly. I do not know that those people are sympathetic with the soldiers of the government. But it may be so. At any rate, my propaganda people will say that it is so in the leaflets they will print and distribute all around the country. And they will say that it is so on the broadcasts from our pirate radio stations up in the hills.”
    Hawker felt his stomach roll. “Why did we even bring weapons? I don’t see any men down there.”
    â€œOf course you don’t. This is the time when the rabalo negro spawns, the black snook fish. The men are all out on the river near the sea netting them, to be dried later by the women. Our propaganda people, of course, will decide that the men that were not in the village were off fighting with government forces. The men that remained behind, heavily armed with the most modern weapons, fought like cowards, for they held no true faith in their cause.”
    â€œBut that’s all a lie,” said Hawker.
    â€œHave you not learned anything from the American journalists?” Curtis almost shouted. “Facts may be used any way one wishes to get one’s point across. Besides, I do not deal in lies or in truth. I deal in only one thing, James—victory! Now, are you going to help us or not?”
    Hawker got down off his horse, thinking, How in the hell am I going to warn those villagers in time? He said, “I came to help, Colonel. Just tell me what to do.”
    â€œThat’s the spirit, man!” Curtis turned and called for his rebel troops to gather around him. “This,” he said in Spanish, “will be our plan of operation.…”

nine
    A plan to murder fifty unarmed women, children, and old men doesn’t have to be complex to be successful.
    This one wasn’t.
    Curtis picked a squad of eight men to maneuver around to where the village backed up against the next hill. From there, upon a prearranged signal, the squad would open fire, driving the occupants out of their huts and into the village’s center green. Beyond that was the small river where the women now washed clothes. Curtis knew that the women and children would try to cross the river to safety. Once they were slowed by the water, the rest of the troops would attack.
    Curtis referred to the rest of the troops as the “machete brigade.”
    Hawker realized that he had almost no chance of saving the villagers. But he did know that his only chance to escape might be during the confusion of the initial attack.
    After that, Hawker was sure that Curtis would keep him closely guarded until he was absolutely certain that Hawker was on their side.
    And James Hawker knew that that day would never come.
    â€œColonel Curtis,” Hawker said as the man dismissed his troops.
    â€œYes, Major Hawker—I think I can call you major now, don’t you?”
    â€œAh, thank you very much, sir. But I wanted to ask a favor of you.”
    Curtis looked at him shrewdly. “Oh?”
    â€œYeah. I was hoping you’d let me go with the eight-man strike force.”
    Curtis thought for a moment. “You are that anxious to prove yourself to us?”
    Hawker sensed a trap in the question. He shook his head. “I’m not going to bullshit you on this, Colonel. The truth is, I really can’t see myself lopping off kids’ heads. I mean, it may take a while for me to get used to that sort of thing. I don’t mind being the first to attack the huts, though. It’s possible that these people have the means to fight back. That makes it seem a little more fair, and it’ll be easier on my conscience.” Hawker paused, as if he were a teenage boy asking his father’s advice. “Does that make sense to you, sir? I’m not a coward, and you’ve convinced me that what you’re about to