America's Galactic Foreign Legion - Book 3: Silent Invasion by Walter Knight Page B

the
confrontation live on World News Tonight. “Can’t I leave you alone
for two days without you stirring up the press?” asked General
Kalipetsis. “What is this about you burning down the Mayor’s
mansion?”
    “Sir, Mayor Battaglia is on the spiders’ list
of Mafioso involved in the conspiracy to assassinate the Emperor,”
I explained. “If I don’t find him and the other wise guys, the
spiders will invade New Memphis and attempt to make the arrests
themselves. I do not have enough legionnaires to stop them.”
    “I understand the problem,” said General
Kalipetsis. “Do the best you can with the troops available. I will
send you some national guard companies, soon. In the meantime, do
you really have to hunt the Mayor down on TV like he’s some kind of
common criminal or Democrat?”
    “But he is a Democrat,” I said. “This whole
town always votes Democrat.”
    “In that case, just handle it,” said General
Kalipetsis. “I have my own problems on the other side of New
Colorado with more insurgency activity. I don’t need to be micro
managing your problems with Democrats. Did you hear the Greens are
pulling out of Finisterra? Waterstone just signed a treaty with
Arthropoda promising unlimited immigration quotas and expanded
borders in exchange for keeping their national guard inside their
borders.”
    “That isn’t good,” I said. “We are giving
them Finisterra?”
    “It looks like it,” said General Kalipetsis.
“We will try to negotiate a new treaty for joint governing of
Finisterra and mutual respect for property rights and property
ownership. But, we may be pulling back to the old DMZ soon.
Finisterra is too radioactive for my tastes anyway. Do the best you
can, and try not to explode any more nukes.”
    “Yes, sir,” I said, ending the
transmission.
    “Start up your engines! We are moving out to
the Waterfront District!”
    When my tanks got to the waterfront, we
stopped all port operations. There must have been a million logs
being loaded onto ships headed south. Irate longshoremen confronted
us, but what could they do against tanks, cannons, and machine
guns? I told the dock workers to give up all the Mafioso they were
hiding. The crowd pushed Victor Gambini, President of the local
longshoreman’s union, to the front of my tank.
    “Sorry,” I announced. “Gambini is not on my
arrest list. You can take him back. I’m only looking for members of
the Battaglia, Gotti, and Bonanno organizations.”
    “You are getting Gambini,” said Tiny, still
wearing Hell’s Angels patches on his vest. “He’s crooked enough. Be
happy with that and go away!”
    “It’s better than nothing,” commented
Lieutenant Lopez. “I’m adding him to our list. Maybe we can trade
Gambini for a wise guy, later.”
    “What list?” asked Gambini. “You can’t put me
on no list! You’re just arresting me because I’m Italian. This is
union busting!”
    “Fine. We’ll take him,” I said, irritated.
Sergeant Green grabbed Gambini and handcuffed him to the turret of
my tank. I looked closer at the giant of a man who seemed to be the
spokesman for the longshoremen. “What is Hell’s Angels?”
    “Hell’s Angels is an organization of
motorcycle enthusiasts,” replied Tiny. “What’s it to you?”
    “I guess everyone needs a hobby,” I said.
“Although I think it’s a bit cold and wet up here to be riding
bikes.”
    “I’ll worry about the weather,” replied Tiny.
“You worry about playing G.I. Joe.”
    “If Hell’s Angels is a gang, we will talk
again,” I warned.
    “You got what you wanted,” added a spider
longshoreman, also wearing Hell’s Angels garb. “You can leave
now.”
    “I’m not going anywhere! I will be here
everyday until I get everyone on this list,” I announced, posting
the arrest list to a utility pole. “Any information that results in
arrests will be rewarded with cash.”
    “How much cash?” asked Tiny.
    “I’ll pay one hundred thousand dollars