Chapter Forty-One

Captain Banner came awake with his knife inches from the neck of the terrified private who had just shaken him awake.

"Next time, kick the foot of the bed and stay clear. I'd probably regret killing you." He rolled out of bed and started getting dressed. "Brief me while I dress," Banner said to the private who was trying to sidle his way out of the tent. "I don't have time for shyness."

"One of the women privates heard shots from her tent. She went to investigate and found Lieutenant O'Neil and the Colonel…"

"Spit it out, boy," Banner said. "I need information, you can be embarrassed later."

"They were both naked, sir," The private straightened and stared at the tent wall. "She had a knife through her eye into her brain. The Colonel's driver lay on the floor with several bullet holes in her chest. She was dressed, sir. The Colonel was bleeding profusely from being stabbed in the neck with a long needle. Neither the driver nor the Colonel are expected to live, sir."