Take the Reason Prisoner - John Joseph McGuire (ebook reader below 3000 txt) 📗
- Author: John Joseph McGuire
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"One moment, please." Not a change in the lilt.
Silence; then, "State Police Barracks, Private Endrews speaking."
"Warden Bennington, Duncannon Prison. We're having trouble here and I need help. About thirty prisoners have seized control of our Administration Building, which includes the armory."
"Riot? Duncannon? Impossible! Those men are con—"
"It may be impossible, but it's happening. Now, how much help can you give me?"
"Let me check, sir." The phone was silent, except for heavy breathing from Private Endrews. "Here it is, sir. In less than fifteen minutes, three cars—that's six men and they've got full equipment in those cars—will be at The Cage."
"That all?"
"No, sir. In twenty minutes I'll have the riot-control copter over the prison. It's got floodlights on its belly and the pilot knows the prison."
"Good. What else?"
"For at least two hours, that's all, sir. Standard Operating Procedure calls for the immediate establishment of a cordon at fixed points, roving patrols on the countryside west of you and blocks on all railroads, bus and air terminals—"
"Someone will be in the parking lot. Give me what you have and get it moving!"
It wouldn't be enough. Half of the permanent staff as hostages, enough weapons and ammo in the armory to fight a war....
He dialed again. "Operator? I want the Commanding General at Indiantown Gap. Now!"
"One moment; sir." The lilt was gone from the voice.
She had been listening in, the general decided.
"Duty Officer, Indiantown Gap. Major Smith speaking."
"Smith? Connect me immediately with General Mosby!"
"I'm sorry, but the general is—"
"Major, get off the line and get Mossback on before—"
There was a click, another telephone rang three times, then a calm voice, "General Mosby".
"Bennington here!"
"Jim! You old—"
"No time, Mossback, I need help. I'm down at Duncannon Prison. Got a riot on my hands, two gateguards plus myself and Ferguson to handle it. The State police can give me only another six men, in the next two hours."
"One moment, Jim. Duty Officer! The First Battalion, riot-armed, on the field and in their copters in twenty minutes!"
"Second and Third Battalions fully-armed, with all support sections, ready to roll in forty minutes!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Give me the whole picture, Jim. And by the way, I've visited the prison."
Bennington gave the details in less than a minute, then added, "Thanks, Mossback."
While he had been talking, Bennington had also been listening. From Mosby's end of the line came clearly that most reassuring sound, the great bull-speakers thundering out of orders that meant for a few moments rapid running and confusion, then in a few moments more the resolution of the confusion into disciplined movement.
Knowing Mosby, Bennington also knew that the copters would be loaded in twenty minutes.
"Thanks again," he said.
"Thank you, Jim. I've been moaning for a chance to check our training. See you in half an hour."
"You'll see me—"
"Sure. Don't think I'd miss a real shootin' match, do you? Hang on till then." The line was dead.
Hang on till then.
Easier said than done.
Well, step number one, survey the situation and the terrain.
A glance at his watch startled him. Though his combat experience had taught him how time could compress and stretch, the fact that only seven minutes ago he had been considering supper in his office came as a shock.
He took no chances but left his house as he had come, by the back door. Then stepping quietly but quickly, he went to the south side of the Processing Building at the corner nearest the Administration Building. All the offices were dark. Only scratches of light—probably matches to cigarette tips—flickered briefly out of the windows of the second-story where the staff was housed.
The mess hall was also dark but as Bennington watched, a short burst of submachine gun fire tracered across the darkness from the kitchen toward the armory.
"Listen, you screws, listen to this!"
The gigantic voice thundered through every corner of the compound. For a second Bennington was startled, then he remembered. The rioters controlled Message Center and the PA system.
"Stop shooting at us. Don't forget that half your staff is in here. Every time you shoot one of us, we are shooting one of them."
The words came through on only part of Bennington's attention. They registered, but he was also studying the seventy feet of open ground between him and the nearest door into the mess hall.
The big voice again filled the compound.
"We want to talk to the warden if he's still alive. Or whoever can take his place if he ain't. You got five minutes to call us on the intercom."
I can talk to them from the kitchen if I can get there, Bennington thought.
He glanced back over his shoulder. The moon, thought full, was only part-way up.
I'm sixty-five, but maybe I've got one fast run still left.
He did. He made it without a shot being fired.
But he stayed on his belly just outside the door, remembering the submachine gun. From the shadow of the step into the mess hall, he used his command voice to get safe passage.
"Thornberry!"
"General Bennington!"
The psychologist almost twisted Bennington's hand off before he could speak. Then his first words puzzled the general. "We've got to find Judkins."
"Why?"
"I want to know what went wrong—"
"That can wait. Let's put the fire out first, then learn how it started. Who's here with you?"
"The two guards. Rayburne! Householder! Come here!"
"Only those two? Where's the kitchen staff?"
"Dead," said Thornberry soberly.
There was a roaring in the skies and through a window Bennington could see the compound was almost as brightly lit up as it was by day.
"The riot-copter, and before I expected it," the general said, "I've been in touch with the State police. And the Army."
There was another short burst of submachine fire. Bennington mentally placed it as behind the Administration Building. Someone trying to sneak out the back way....
"Stop that shooting!" The PA confirmed his thoughts. "No one else is going to try to leave here. Warden, get on that intercom!"
Got to hurry, Bennington thought, I've got to get them talking and keep them talking.
"Householder and Rayburne, get over to the parking lot. The State police are coming there. Bring five of the six over here. Keep the other man by his car radio. If he can switch to the Army frequency, or can get in touch with the Army copters thorough his Headquarters, guide their planes to land behind Barracks Four. Tell General Mosby where I am. Tell him before he lands, so that he can plan his deployment.
"Take off. Thornberry, come with me."
The two of them clambered over the counter and carefully, to avoid stepping on the dead, made their way to the kitchen office in the southwest corner of the mess hall. Thorough one of its windows, the Administration Building could be clearly seen.
The intercom was directly in front of the window.
Bennington seated himself and turned the intercom switch to Message Center.
"This is General Bennington, the warden of this prison," he said clearly. "I am in the kitchen office. To show my confidence in the fact that we can arrange a bargain, I am turning on the light in this room. You will be able to see me clearly."
"No!" broke out Thornberry, staring at Bennington.
"Turn them on," said Bennington.
Thornberry hesitated for a heartbeat, obeyed the order. Then, moving with deliberation, he seated himself beside the general.
"This is Musto," came from the intercom. "I'm boss over here. You've got guts, Bennington, I've read about you. But don't forget, two of my boys have you and the other guy on line down the sights of their rifles. Any sign of something screwy, and you two get it first."
"There has to be mutual trust for any kind of bargaining," Bennington replied. "This is mine, right out where you can see it."
"O.K. Now, first, get that copter off the top of this building."
Musto spoke with the assurance that his order would be obeyed.
"Go to hell," said Bennington easily.
"WHAT!"
"That copter above you, and the Army battalion that will be here in a few minutes, are for me what those rifles you have aimed are for you. You can knock me off, sure. But how long are you going to live to enjoy the thrill?"
"Well, I'll be—" and Musto described his relationship to a female dog.
"I can't confirm or deny your opinion of yourself," Bennington said, and forced himself to chuckle. "Now, let's get down to business. What do you want?"
"Pardons. For all of us. For all crimes."
Bennington whistled. "That's a big order. And in return?"
"Your staff stays alive."
Flatly. There was no question Musto meant what he said.
"That means I'll have to talk with the governors of six states," Bennington temporized.
"That's your worry."
The general sighed. "All right, you've got Message Center. Connect this phone with the outside. Remember, this is going to take a while."
"That don't worry us, general. Add up how much time we've got coming due over here. It's all you need and then some."
Bennington lifted the phone on the desk and waited. He could see an irregular flickering, like a cigarette lighter, in the Message Center Room. Then the familiar buzzing sounded in his ears.
Once more he dialed "0". "Operator? This is Warden Bennington of Duncannon Prison. Please arrange, with top priority, a person-to-person conference line with this prison and the governors of Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York, Maryland, New Jersey and Connecticut. Yes, call me, when the connection is completed."
"And don't forget, we'll be listening," came simultaneously from the intercom and the telephone.
"I expect you to," Bennington said promptly and hung up. At the same time, he switched off the intercom.
He leaned back in his chair and, for the first time in years, found himself aware of a long-forgotten feeling. The center of his forehead tingled as if it were being brushed by a silky feather.
He knew the sensation, had felt it before. Someone had a gun on him. And that someone was a mere thirty yards away.
The general turned his chair toward Thornberry, felt that feather tingle along the nerves of his scalp. The psychologist was sitting stiffly erect, his hands firmly clenched together in his lap.
"Tell me what happened after I left you," Bennington said. He kept a wary eye on his assistant warden. The man seemed in the civilian equivalent of battle shock.
Thornberry sat at attention, as if he were delivering a formal report. "The guards lined up the prisoners in columns of twos and marched them to the mess hall. There they split the column. The left half went to the south door, the right half went to the north door. I followed the line to the north door. They seemed to be piled in fast. When most of them were in on my side, I squeezed by the rest and went to the back of the hall. Rayburne and Householder, of course, stayed outside."
Thornberry's hands were slowly unclenching. Telling what happened seemed to relieve his tension.
"Both lines moved quickly, except for the last man in the south line. I thought he seemed to be dragging deliberately so. And for some reason or the other, all the prisoners—even those at the tables, except the drugged ones, hadn't started eating—watched him. But I could see no reason for alarm.
"I was at the back and the two guards, with their guns, were at each door. There was a counter between the prisoners and the kitchen, and, most important, these men had been conditioned or drugged. Then the one who was dragging got to the coffee urn with his tray."
Thornberry shivered and then slumped in his chair. "It was the most shocking thing I have ever experienced because what happened was against everything that I have ever learned. Those conditioned men in the mess hall went mad. Before the guards could fire more than a couple of shots, all the conditioned ones had thrown their trays at me, at the guards, or the people behind the counter, and then started scrambling across the counter. In a moment they were so mixed up with our kitchen personnel that the guards didn't dare do any more shooting. And just
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