Frigid Fracas Read online

thing as attaining to a position whichwill enable me to court openly the girl I love?"

  She flushed, looked into his face quickly. Her flush deepened and hereyes went to her folded hands, on the table.

  He said nothing.

  Nadine said finally, her voice so low as almost not to be heard,"Perhaps I would be willing to marry a man of Middle caste."

  He was taken with surprise, but even in thrilling to the meaning ofher words, his head was shaking in negation. "Nadine Haer, CategoryMedicine, Rank Doctor, Mid-Upper, married to Major Joseph Mauser,Category Military, Mid-Middle. Don't be ridiculous, Nadine. It wouldbe as though back in the Twentieth Century you would have married aNegro or Oriental."

  She was stirred with anger. "There is no law preventing marriagebetween castes!"

  "Nor was there law, in most States, against marrying between races.But there were few who dared, and, of those, few who were allowed tobe happy. It's no go, Nadine. Remember in the Exclusive Room the othernight when the waiter questioned my presence in an Upper establishmentand you had to tell him I was your guest? I don't desire to be yourguest the rest of my life, Nadine."

  The anger welled higher in her. "And do you think that in the remotecase you do jump your caste to Upper, that I would marry you and thenrealize the rest of my life that our marriage was only possible due toyour participation in mass slaughter for the sake of the slobberingmultitudes of Telly fans?"

  Joe said, "I wasn't going to bring the matter up until I had madeLow-Upper caste."

  "Well, sir, the matter is up. And I reject you in advance. Oh, Joe, ifyou have to persist in this status-hungry ambition of yours, drop theCategory Military and get into something else. You have enough of afortune to branch into various fields where your abilities would leadto advancement."

  Again he didn't tell her that his fortune was all but dissipated.Instead, he said bitterly, "Those who have, get. The rich get richer,the poor get poorer. Things are rigged, these days, so that it'simpossible to work your way to the top except in Military andReligion. The Uppers take care of their own, and at the same time makeevery effort to keep us of the lower orders from joining their sacredcircle. I might make it in the Military, Nadine, but my chances inanother field are so remote as to be laughable."

  She stood and looked down at him emptily. "No," she said, "don't getup. I'm leaving, Major Mauser." He began to rise, to protest, but shesaid, her voice curt, "I have seen only one fracas on Telly in myentire life, and was so repelled that I vowed never to watch again.However, I am going to make an exception. I am going to follow thisone, and if, as a result of your actions, even a single person meetsdeath, I wish never to see you again. Do I make myself completelyclear, Major Mauser?"

  IX

  Marshal Stonewall Cogswell looked impudently around at this staffofficers gathered about the chart table. "Gentlemen," he said, "Iassume you are all familiar with the battle of Chancellorsville?"

  No one bothered to answer and he chuckled. "I know what you arethinking, that had any of you refrained from a thorough study of thecampaigns of Lee and Jackson, he would not be a member of my staff."

  The craggy marshal traced with his finger on the great military chartbefore them. "Then you will have noticed the similarity of today'sdispensation of forces to that of Joseph Hooker's Army of the Potomac andLee's Army of Northern Virginia, on May 2, 1863." He pointed with hisbaton. "Our stream, here, would be the Rappahannock, this woods, theWilderness. Here would be Fredericksburg and here Chancellorsville."

  One of his colonels nodded. "My regiment occupies a position similarto that of Jubal Early."

  "Absolutely correct," the marshal said crisply. "Gentlemen, I repeat,our troop dispensations, those of Lieutenant General McCord andmyself, are practically identical. Now then, if McCord continues tomove his forces here, across our modern day Rappahannock, he makes theinitial mistake that finally led to the opening which allowedJackson's brilliant fifteen-mile flanking march. Any questions, thusfar?"

  There were some murmurs, no questions. The accumulated years ofmilitary service of this group of veterans would have totaled into thehundreds.

  "Very interesting, eh?" the marshal pursued. "Jed, your artillery ismassed here. It's a shame that General Jack Altshuler has taken acommission with Carbonaceous Fuel. We could use his cavalry. He wouldbe our J.E.B. Stuart, eh?"

  Lieutenant Colonel Paul Warren cleared his throat unhappily. "Sir,Jack Altshuler is the best cavalryman in North America."

  "I would be the last to deny it, Paul."

  "Yes, sir. And he's fought half his fracases under you, sir."

  "Your point, Paul?" the marshal said crisply.

  "He knows your methods, sir. For that matter, so does LieutenantGeneral McCord. He's fought you enough."

  There was silence in the staff headquarters, broken suddenly byCogswell's curt chuckle. "Paul, I'm going to recommend to the CategoryMilitary Department, your promotion to full colonel on the strength ofthat. You were the first to see what I have been getting to.Gentlemen, do you realize what General McCord and his staff are doingthis very moment? I would wager my reputation that they are poringover a campaign chart of the battle of Chancellorsville."

  The craggy veteran bent back over the map again, his voice dropped allhumor and he stabbed with his baton. "Here, here, and here. Theyexpect us to duplicate the movements of Lee. Very good, we shall. Butthe advances of Lee and Jackson, we will make feints. And the feintsmade by Lee and Jackson will be our attacks in force. Gentlemen, weare going to literally reverse the battle of Chancellorsville. MajorMauser!"

  Joe Mauser had been in the background as befitted his junior rank. Nowhe stepped to the table's edge. "Yes, sir."

  The marshal indicated a defile. "Were we actually duplicating theCivil War battle, this would have been the right flank of Sedgwick'stwo army corps. We're not dealing in army corps these days but onlyregiments, however, the position is relatively as important. JackAltshuler's cavalry is largely concentrated here. When the action isjoined, he can move in one of three ways. Through this defile, isleast likely. However, if his heavy cavalry _does_ work its waythrough here, I must know immediately. This is crucial, Joe. Anyquestions?"

  "No, sir."

  The marshal turned his attention to his chief of artillery. "Jed, whenwe need your guns, we're going to need them badly, but I doubt if thattime will develop until the second or third day of the fracas. Goingto want as clever a job of camouflage done as possible."

  The other scowled. "Camouflage, sir?"

  "Confound it, yes. French term, I believe. Going to want your guns sohidden that those two gliders of McCord's will fail to spot them." Themarshal grimaced in the direction of Joe Mauser, who, having hisinstructions, had fallen back from the table again. "When youreintroduced aerial observation to the fracas, major, you set off awhole train of related factors. Camouflage is going to be in everyfield officer's lexicon from this day on. Which reminds me." He lookedto his artilleryman.

  "Yes, sir."

  "Put your mind to work on devising Maxim gun mounts to be used to keepenemy gliders at as high altitude as possible, or preferably, ofcourse, to bring them down. We'll need an antiaircraft squadron, inshort. Better put young Wiley on it."

  "Yes, sir."

  X

  The airport nearest to the Grant Memorial Military Reservation wassome ten miles distance from the borders which, upon the schedulingof a fracas, were closed to all aircraft, and to all personsunconnected with the fracas, with the exception only of Telly crewsand military observers from the Sov-world and the Neut-world, presentto satisfy themselves that weapons of the post-1900 era were not beingutilized.

  The distance, however, wasn't of particular importance. The poweredaircraft which would tow Joe Mauser's glider to a suitable altitudepreliminary to his riding the air currents, as a bird rides them,could also haul him to a point just short of the militaryreservation's border.

  Joe Mauser turned up on the opening day of the fracas, which wasscheduled for a period of
one week, or less, if one or the other ofthe combatants was able to achieve total victory in such short order.He was accompanied by Freddy Soligen, who, for once, was without acrew to help him with his cameras and equipment. Instead, he sweatedit out alone, helped only by Max Mainz who was being somewhat huffyabout this Telly reporter taking over his position as observer.

  They approached the sailplane, and while Joe Mauser checked it out, incareful detail, Freddy Soligen and Max began loading the equipmentinto the graceful craft's second seat, immediately behind the pilot.Max growled, "How in Zen you going to be able to lift all this weight,major, sir?"

  Joe