 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
Hold Your Breath
Capt Wilson said something indignant but inarticulate through his rubber
facepiece.
Col Costain turned toward me and took his mask off. "Well," he said, "if you're
sure ... "
Major Hughes grabbed him by the arm from the other side. I did not get what he
was saying, partly because it was muffled by the mask and partly because some trucks
were roaring up the road and turning in to a field across the road.
The colonel turned back to me. "What do you say to that?" "I'm sorry, sir. I didn't
hear it."
He thinks you or Fauble ought to go check the new position to make sure we
aren't running into a gassed area. Matter of fact, he just stopped A Battery on the road and
had 'em loop the loop back here so we can hold 'em until you've checked." He started to
put his mask back on again.
"Colonel, I can go, but I can't make a decent check before daylight. In the dark it's
impossible to see whether these indicators have changed colors, especially with these
flashlights. "
"God Almighty!" said Costain, as nearly as I could tell through the mask.
"We've got to be in position and firing before daylight.”
"Sir, I'm morally certain there is no gas anywhere in the area. These high
explosive fumes smell funny, but that's all. It's just like it was on the ship."
Captain Wilson said something I didn't catch. Probably Costain didn't either,
because some more of A Battery's trucks were going by in both directions, "looping the
loop" according to Major Hughes orders. There were trucks spread from Beersheba even
unto Dan, because the drivers were all fiddling with their gas masks, and no one, not even
John Klas, who had a voice like a built-in bullhorn, was able to tell them what to do
audibly from under a gas mask.
The colonel took off his mask again and threw it on the ground. "All right," he
bawled, "everybody get those goddam gas masks off, and let's get this circus on the
road."
I had won the argument, not by superior logic, but because I could talk out loud
with a bare face.
Costain turned to his executive. You may be right, Bob, but I'll take the
responsibility. I'd rather be dead doing something than standing here holding my breath. "
Soon I heard Klas's voice bellowing orders to his drivers, and after while
everything got straightened out, and life went on.
So here it was ten months later, and I stood with the coffee-stained report from Lt
Mendicino in my hand. If I put out the word, the silly season would be on us again. If I
didn't, the whole battalion might be sentenced to a horrible death. But even if I did notify
everybody, what about the careless ones like me who had no masks? What would they do
- steal one from a buddy? Go insane? Hold their breath?
221
|
 |
|