The government buildings took a battering during the bombardment," said Fuller

"They won't be ready for occupation for

quite a while"
Dawson said feelingly, You don't have to tell us anything about that--we were
there"
"So I'm told," said Fuller "-Sorry about that"
Wyatt had been looking at the sky and sniffing the air It was curiously hot
considering it was so early in the morning, and
the day promised to be a scorcher He frowned and said, "Why has Favel sent for me?"

"An English newspaperman came in with a very curious story--something about a

hurricane A lot of nonsense really
Still, Favel was impressed enough to send search parties out looking for you as
soon as we settled in the city You are the
weather boffin, aren't you?"
"I am," said Wyatt with no expression in his voice
"So-Causton came through all right," said Dawson "That 's good"
Fuller chuckled "He served a term in the Government army first He told us that
you'd landed in the jug--the one on
Liberation Place That wasn't encouraging because we plastered the Place pretty
thoroughly, but there weren't any white
bodies in the police station so there was a chance you'd get away I've been looking
for you all night-Favel insisted, and
when he insists, things get done" Wyatt said, "When does the war start again?"
"As soon as Rocambeau decides to make his push," said Fuller "We're fighting a
defensive action--were not strong enough
to do anything else right now"
"What about the Government troops to the west?
"They're still grouped around Cap Sarrat Serrurier is still afraid the Yanks will
come out and stab him in the back"
"Will they?"
Fuller snorted "Not a chance This is a local fight and the Yanks want none of it I
think they'd prefer Favel to Serrurier--
who wouldn't? - but they won't interfere Thank God Serrurier has a different
opinion"
Wyatt wondered where Fuller came into all this He spoke as one who was high in the
rebel hierarchy and he was
definitely close to Favel But he did not ask any questions about it--he had more
important things on his mind The best
thing was that Favel wanted to see him and he began to marshal his arguments once
again
Fuller pulled up the jeep outside the Imperiale and they all climbed out There was
a great coming and going and Wyatt
noticed that the revolving door had been taken away to facilitate passage in and
out of the hotel He chalked up another
mark to Favel for efficiency and attention to minor detail He followed Fuller
inside to find that the hotel had been
transformed, the foyer had been cleared and the American Bar had a new role as a
map room Fuller said, "Wait here i'll
tell the boss you've arrived"
He went off and Dawson said, "This is how I like to view a war--from the blunt end"

"You might change your mind when Rocambeau attacks"

"That's very likely," said Dawson "But I refuse to be depressed" There was a cry
from the stairs and they saw Causton
hurrying down "Welcome back," he said "Glad you got out of the cooler"
Wyatt smiled wryly "We were blown out"
"Don't believe it," said Dawson "Wyatt did a great job--he got us both out" He
peered at Causton "What's that on your face-
-boot-polish?"
"That's right," said Causton "Can't get rid of the damn' stuff I suppose you'd like
to clean up and put on some fresh
clothing"
"Where's Julie--and Rawsthorne?" asked Wyatt
Couston looked grave "We got separated quite early The plan was to head east"
"They went east," said Wyatt "Now they're mixed up with Rotcambeau's army"
There was nothing anyone could say further about that and after a pause, Causton
said, "You'd better both take the chance
of cleaning up Favel won't see you yet--he's in the middle of a planning
conference, trying to get a quart out of a pint pot"
He took them up to his room and provided welcome hot water and soup One glance at
Dawson's hands produced a doctor,
who hustled Dawson away, and then causton found a clean shirt for Wyatt and said,
"You can use my dry shaver"
Wyatt sat on the bed and shaved, already beginning to feel much better He said,
"How did you get separated from the
others?"
Couston told him, then said, "I got to Favel in the end and managed to convince him
you were important" He scratched his
head "Either he didn't need much convincing, or my powers of persuasion are a lot
better than I thought--but he got the
point very quickly He's quite a boy"
"Hurricanes excepted--do you think he's got a chance of coming on top hi this war?!
Causton smiled wryly "That's an unanswerable question The Government army is for
stronger, and so far he's won by
surprise and sheer intelligence He plans for every contingency and the ground work
for this attack was laid months ago"
He chuckled "You know that the main force of the Government artillery never came
into action at all The guns got tangled
in a hell of a mess not far up the Negrito and Favel came down and captured the lot
thought it was luck, but I know now
that Favel never depends on Luck The whole damn thing was planned -Favel had
suborned Lescuyer, the Government
artillery commander: Lescuyer issured conflicting orders and had two columes of
artillery meeting head-on on the same
road, then he ducked for cover By the time Dernelles had sorted that lot out it was
all over, and Dernelles himself was
dead"
"That must have been when Rocambeau took over, said Wyatt
Causton nodded "That was a pity, Rocambeau is a bloody efficient commander--for
better than Dervelles could ever be He
got the Government army out of the trap God knows what will happen now"
"Didn't the Government armour cause Favel any trouble when he came out on the
plain?"
Causton grinned "Not much He sorted out the captured artillery in quick time,
ruthlessly junking the stuff that was in the
way Then he formed it into six mobile columns and went gunning for Serrurier's
armour The minute a tank or an
armoured car showed its nose, up would come a dozen guns and blast hell out of it
He had the whole thing taped right
from the start--the Government generals were dancing to his tune until Rocambeau
took over Like when he blasted the
3rd Regiment in the Place de la Liberation Noire- he had artillery observers
already in the city equipped with walkie
talkies, and they caught the 3rd Regiment just when they were forming up"
"I know," said Wyatt soberly "I saw the result of that"
Causton's grin widened "He disposed of Serrurier's comic opera air force in the
same tricky efficient fashion The planes
started flying and bombing all right, but when each plane had flown theree attacks
they found they'd come to the end of