Air force one (part one)

"I seen him once," the man says.

There's some commotion, since most of the truckers have to move their chairs around to be able to see the man who spoke. "Bullshit," one responds automatically, but the speaker either doesn't hear him or doesn't care.

To most of the men in this room, having personally seen General Walker is about as likely as having seen the Devil dancing naked in a firestorm. Yet, as more of them manage to locate the man who spoke and take a couple of seconds to size him up, less skepticism is expressed. The man does not look like the type that enjoys empty boasts.

Mick recognizes the man vaguely. He's a loner, who shows up once in a great while. Probably a long-haul driver. The type that takes loads to Texas, Utah, Mexico — and doesn't mind the added danger of a run where you might not see another rig in a week of driving. For some men, the solitude of such a life is actually a bonus

The man moves his chair a little, bringing him halfway into better light. Seeing him more clearly, the innkeeper immediately understands two things. First, that he really is referring to General Walker: the Monster, the Butcher of China, the murderer of a billion souls. And, second, that he really has seen him — or at least believes that he has.

A man like this isn't the type you would normally think of as wanting to entertain people with a tale. And, indeed, as the trucker begins to speak it seems as though he is talking more to himself than to the others in the dining room. He knows well enough that they are listening; he's just doesn’t care. The pressure of a life spent alone on the road has built up in him enough to force his memories into speech. Once that pressure abates, he will stop as suddenly as he has started.

"It was in Montreal," the trucker says. And at the mention of that city of the past his audience becomes very quiet indeed.

Montreal was the first great battle of the Last War. It was the battle that made clear to everyone that Foreign Command, although formerly a branch of the United States military, was indeed prepared and determined to mount large-scale operations against regular American troops. Not content with its dominion over the remains of Asia, Africa, and Europe, the renegade FC generals would fight Washington for control of the western hemisphere, and North America itself.

Yet it was also the Battle of Montreal which made it equally clear that, in spite of the FC's arrest or assassination of most of the United States’ civilian leadership, American forces would not be easily defeated on their own land.

Finally, Montreal was the battle in which General Walker had first emerged as an important force in the FC. It was there that he began to build the reputation for ruthlessness that would one day be confirmed for all time by the war against China, and his nightmarish policy of Chernobilization.

The battle began with subterfuge. Foreign Command had taken Montreal, but seemed to hold it weakly. Washington fell for the bait, and the largest contingent of the National Guard yet assembled was lured into an attempt to liberate the city. Only when they were fully committed across the St. Lawrence river was the trap was sprung. Then the American generals realized the magnitude of their mistake.

The bridges were destroyed, cutting off retreat. Reinforcements, gathering rapidly in New York State and Vermont, were engaged and immobilized by the Foreign Command’s superior air power.