Mofrey looked around.
"Get them ready", Valentine told the Network woman. He shoved his assault rifle into Joho's hands and hurried back for the stairs.
"Follow me", Mofrey told the First Platoon PeaBees behind him.
"Easy there, Delta Group", Valentine called to two Bears covering the stairs. "There are friendlies down here with Two PeaBee One. Understand?"
He came up and found the Bears lugging in communication equipment. Spencer was under guard, kneeling facing the wall, with his palms on top of his head. Another Bear urinated on an NUC Birth Drive banner. Valentine went to what he guessed to be a platoon headquarters, a radio being set up on the altar with a knot of Bears around it.
A Bear elbowed a lieutenant - Valentine vaguely knew him, Hanley - no, Handley, Valentine read from his Velcro name tag.
"Lieutenant Handley", Valentine said, coming up and saluting. "Reporting the presence of a squad of PeaBees from Second Punishment Battalion here, carrying out salvage operations, plus prisoners".
"We didn't know any of you were in this area", Handley said.
"You're just as much a surprise to us", Valentine said. "With your permission, we'll get out of your hair and get back east". Hopefully Handley was the type who'd gladly accept the offer to have one less worry on a field operation.
Mofrey brought the rest of First Platoon up.
Valentine silently willed him to stand there. He tried to make a little "stop" gesture with his hand. Mofrey saw Spencer, still under guard in the corner, and hurried up.
Mofrey came up the center aisle. "I'm Captain Mofrey. Why's that man under arrest?"
Delta Group wasn't into saluting, and PeaBee troops didn't rate the honor from regulars anyway. "We thought he might be a deserter. Charlie, let him up".
The Bear lifted Spencer to his feet as easily as he would lift a toppled two-year-old.
Valentine heard gunfire a couple of blocks away. Handley checked his watch.
"Spencer, back with the others", Mofrey said. "Lieutenant, I have some civilians in charge. They're my responsibility, and I've no intention of letting you shoot them".
Valentine sagged, glad of the sentiment but gut-punched at how Mofrey went about it. Now the Delta Group lieutenant's decision was framed as a matter of disobeying orders or not, rather than simply seeing a minor headache disappear into the predawn.
"What makes you think you could stop us, PeaBee?" the Bear who'd lifted Spencer to his feet asked.
"They're a technical crew, hydraulics", Valentine lied, desperate to defuse the situation. "We've got a backhoe and a shovel loader we're trying to rebuild..."
"Voorhees, get me Thunderbird", Lieutenant Handley said.
Valentine moved. He chambered a round in the assault rifle, pointed it, not at anyone, but at the field radio. "Don't transmit. I'll disable the radio".
Bears and PeaBees all went for their weapons. Gun muzzles pointed in every direction but up.
"Chill, brothers", Joho called, sighting on the lieutenant. "Nobody's shot yet".
"Valentine, what the hell are you doing? Put that weapon down!" Mofrey said.
"Lieutenant, this could get crazy really fast", Valentine said, loudly enough so the church acoustics bounced his voice off the back pews. "I've no intention of hurting your valuable piece of equipment, as long as you let the PeaBees and the civilians walk out of here. Bitch to Thunderbird, bitch to Colonel LeHavre, bitch to Adler himself
after we're gone. The alternative is killing all of us and maybe one or two of you. Would you rather spend your debriefing bitching or explaining?"
Reports began to squeak in over the communications system.
"I need to answer these", the radioman said.
"Go ahead", Valentine replied.
"Valentine, you're under arrest", Handley said. "The rest of you, get the hell out of here. Take your prisoners, if they mean that much to you. Torgo, make sure they get out of the kill bottle".