Free A Private War by Donald R. Franck Page A

of God could decide the fate of mankind in the coming years.  And Gaylon thought that it was about time. Kate sat by the window of their hotel room after Peters left and thought of the trip to Austin.  All the hopes that they had had and then only to find that self-centered Mayor was going to get a lot of people killed and Kate knew it.  Even with the information on the Pirates that Gaylon and Kate had brought with them was for nothing.  Mayor Denton would not let a single man loose to join them in Redway.  Even with what they had to trade, the asshole would not change his mind.  Gaylon had even talked to Peters about having some of his men just take over.  But Peters wasn't ready for that just yet, he hoped that things would get better in the future but Gaylon didn't think so.  Neither did Kate.  Finally in the early hours of morning Kate slipped into bed and snuggled up next to Gaylon and tried to sleep.  Things always looked brighter in the light of day and she hoped that this time it would be true. Gaylon got up in the night and looked out of the hotel window at the falling snow and thought that it would make it hard traveling back to Redway.  With all their hopes smashed they had nothing to remain here for so they were going to leave the following morning back to Redway.  Turning around he looked at Kate as she slept under the covers.  He knew that she had been up late the night before and Gaylon though that she should get all the rest she could before the trip back tomorrow.  Turning back to the window Gaylon noticed that there was a lot of movement on the streets for this hour of the morning.  Checking the action on his guns Gaylon slung the M-4 over his shoulder and opened the door to the hall. Pausing in the door way and looked again on Kate's sleeping form Gaylon thought of everything that had happened since he had first met her.  Holding the M-4 to his side he walked over to the door and out into the hallway, closing the door behind him.  Pulling the hood of his parka over his head Gaylon walked toward the center of town in search of Peters.  If anyone would know what was going on it would be Peters. 
    As Gaylon got nearer the town hall he could hear shouting going on and the loud cry of many voices.  Spying Peters, Gaylon ran toward him to find out what had happened to get all these people shaking in their boots.
     

"Hey, Peters, wait up!" Gaylon shouted, "What the hell is going on here, what has happened?"
    "The pirates are here!"
    "Are they attacking, why are all these people here and not at the wire?" Gaylon asked, "Is there anything Kate and I can do to help?"
    "The pirates sent one of their men to the wire at the north side of town. They want us to surrender everything they want or they are going to destroy the town and everyone in it."
    "The Mayor is in there right now, talking to them. Trying to make some kind of deal with them. Personally I say stand and fight them, because once they have the upper hand they'll never leave. I tried to tell him that, but he wouldn't listen. I think he's running scared."
    "Do you have any idea how many men are out there?" Gaylon asked.
    "As near as we can tell, they have over five hundred and all of them are heavily armed. And I heard their leader is a guy named Murdock, isn't that the one you were telling me about the other night?"
    "Yeah, that's him. I bet he would love to know that we are here, too. So, what can Kate and I do to help?"
    "To tell you the truth, I think the best thing you can do is get the hell out of here. There is no way we can hold off that kind of force. Plus I have the feeling that His Honor, the Mayor, is going to let them in just to save his own ass," Peters spat out as he waved in some of his men, "Tell the ration officer to give you anything you need. I'm sorry we couldn't have worked together, but hopefully I'll see you again." Peters looked into my eyes for a second and then walked off into the crowd. He had the eyes of a