Chapter Seven - part two

   He had just gotten up when the jet with General Hodges arrived. James waited for the General in a secure meeting room rather than the temporary office he had been given. He had little doubt as to how this meeting would go and he didn't want everyone to overhear what was said. When the General arrived James was relieved to see it hadn't required restraints to get him to come. Once the escort was out and they were alone James started to speak, but the General cut him off. Hodges was clearly still very angry about the entire ordeal. "The only reason I agreed to this meeting was so that I could tell you face to face what an idiot I think you are. Oh, I have seen your record and you have been lucky enough to have great success when the stunts you pulled should have resulted in disasters. But you aren't going to be fighting this battle in the air from the safety of your cockpit! Maybe you will be up there, but the real battles will be fought on the ground! And they won't be in some nation half way around the world this time either. These fights will be right here in your own country among your own people! You don't have the training or the experience to handle this kind of operation. You may think you can just send in enough supplies to keep everyone happy and all will be good again, but that isn't going to happen! Until we move in with force and take back control of the major cities nothing is going to get better. Eventually it will get even worse than it already is. It will be no better here than it already is overseas. Riots and chaos will become the way of life! The strongest will take what they want and the weak will be killed or die! I suppose you think that if you love your brother he will love you back, but this is the real world son. In this world if your brother sees weakness he will just take control! You will do what he says or he will eliminate you and never think about you again!"

   General Hodges turned away and paced across the room before turning back and starting in again. "You Christians and your brotherly love, along with all that 'turn the other cheek' garbage, are why we are in this mess! All that nonsense may sound great, but if you would just read history you would know it doesn't work... not in the world we live in! To succeed in this world it takes strength and determination. It takes strong leaders who are ready and willing to fight for what they believe in. Why can't you people understand that the time is past when love and kindness might have helped? It is time for action! A strong force used to crush any opposition is the fastest way to end this. It is the only way to end it... period! You simply can't avoid using force. The longer you try to avoid using force the more of it you will have to use in the end. More good people will suffer and die, because you won't do what has to be done quickly. You may be a young fool, but I expected more from our leaders. I certainly expected more from the President! Oh he tried offering the people gifts and look where it got him! He finally listened to reason and was about to deal with this mess. Then Kendrick put you into it! Now we are back at square one again! How many people have to die? How many cities have to burn before you idiots will understand that only force will work?"

   General Hodges stood there glaring at James for a long minute after he finished his tirade, before shouting again. "Are you prepared to watch good men die just because you are too afraid to face the truth? Well, don't you have anything to say?" James actually smiled as he replied to those last questions. "I was waiting for you to finish. Now if you are done I will say what I have to say... and if you are willing to hear me out then maybe you will see why I asked for this meeting as my first priority." James indicated a seat by the table in the meeting room. General Hodges took a seat at the head of the table, as far from James as he could sit. James just grinned and took the seat at the other end of the table. He had been expecting much this sort of reaction from Hodges. In fact he had expected far worse than what he had seen so far, but he also knew that this was just the start. They might have the full length of a long meeting table between them, but at least they were both seated and at least for now they weren't yelling. James was going to do his best to not raise his voice, but he was just as on edge as Hodges was.

   James took a deep breath and spoke in a firm, but calm voice. "I am glad you came willingly, regardless of the reason you came. The first thing I want to say is that I regret the way you were treated by the President. A man of your experience, who has dedicated his life to the service of his nation, deserves to be heard instead of just dismissed. I may not have all the facts and maybe the President did act appropriately, but I still regret being the involved in such problems. But I want to make it clear that I asked you here for another reason. Sir, I agree with a lot of what you said, but I still believe we should use force as a last resort." General Hodges stiffened and started to speak, but James cut him off this time with sharp words of his own. "Sir, I ask that you hear me out before you say anything more!" Hodges sat back, but he was clearly still on the verge of yelling again. James continued quickly. "I asked you here, because I know you are right about the need for force. I just want you to understand that unless that force is carefully controlled I believe it will do as much damage, maybe even more than not using force at all."

   Hodges erupted at those words. "You really are a fool! We have to take action and it has to be immediate and decisive action! You can't just slap a few wrists and expect everyone to get in line again! They have to see that all opposition will be crushed without hesitation or mercy! That is the only way you can hope to restore any kind of order now! Diplomacy can be damned! Our nation is self destructing and unless we stop it now there soon won't be a nation left to save!" James shook his head and slammed his hand down on the table to stop the outburst. Then he spoke again. This time his voice was hard and sharp. "You can sit there and yell because you don't like the way things are or you can shut up and let me explain why I asked for you! This nation needs your help! I need your help! BUT... not if you refuse to listen to reason! Now are you going to hear me out or are you too proud to put the best interest for your nation before your own personal feelings?" Hodges just sat there staring at James. He was so upset he was visibly shaking, but he remained silent. James watched him for a long moment and then let out a slow breath before speaking again.

   "I don't care what you think of me or of anyone else for that matter. What I care about is this nation and my duty to it. Now if you will listen to me I will try to explain why that requires me to look to men like you for help doing things that you think are foolish. I already know that I don't have any experience with this kind of duty. This will be a slow and I fear bloody battle. It will be street by street and maybe house by house in some places. I don't believe that it must be in all cases though. What I need is someone with a lifetime of experience and knowledge about dealing with this sort of fight. That is you! You started out as a simple soldier and you excelled so much that they found a way to get you into West Point. While you never excelled in academics at The Point, you did excel as a leader. After graduating you continued to excel and have done so during your entire career. You have spent the greatest majority of your time dealing with street to street and house to house fighting around the world. You have, over the years, earned the admiration, respect, and trust of your men." James paused for a moment and studied General Hodges. He lowered his voice when he continued speaking to him.

   "That is what I need from you. I need you to lead your men. They need a leader they trust, not someone they hardly know." James held up a hand to keep Hodges silent as he continued to speak. "I know that you have no intention of leading your men to a slaughter just because I ask you to do it for your nation. If I thought you would do that I wouldn't have asked for you to be here. Sir, I need all the knowledge and experience you have to help me find a way to make this work. Despite what you believe I am a warrior. I will fight and I will do whatever must be done. I just want to be certain that we are doing what must be done... not just what can be done! Our nation has crumbled, but I still believe that we have a solid foundation that we can rebuild upon. But, if we go in and simply crush all opposition I fear we may crush that foundation too. You have the knowledge and skill to know what can be done and what cannot be done in the streets.  But I have the compassion and the diplomacy skills to help find solutions that don't require brute force in all situations. I need your head and you need my heart. Together we have a chance, though I do admit it is a tiny chance. Together we might be able to restore order without totally destroying our nation in the process."

    James hesitated before he went on again. General Hodges was watching him closely now and some of the anger seemed to be gone. Hodges was still tensed and ready to fight, but he was clearly thinking about what James had said too. James knew that he hadn't won the man over yet, but there was a chance now that he might be able to do just that. James spoke in a more conversational tone now, not friendly, but not diplomatically either. James simple spoke as he would to a stranger he hoped might be a friend rather than an enemy. "I didn't ask for or want any of this. I know that you and a lot of other people think I am just some glory seeking fool, who wants to be the hero. I am no hero and I sincerely hope that I am no fool. I will be the first to admit that I have done some foolish things. I haven't done them without a great deal of thought and prayer though. Maybe I will prove to be a fool in the end, at least to the world. But I know in my heart that as long as I remain faithful to my God I will never be a fool before Him." James saw the man stiffen again, but he just smiled and continued speaking. "I am not asking you to believe in God or even in me. I am asking you to understand that this isn't about me or you. I don't care what you think or believe about anything else. I only want to know if you love this nation enough to put everything else aside and help me try to save it. Sir, I think you know that we have been heading for this disaster for a long time. I think you know it will take a long time to restore things. I hope you understand that we have to do more than just restore order too. We must find a way to restore what the people of this nation have lost. I believe that before we can do much to restore order that we must restore their faith. Unless the people have faith in something, they will never follow anything. If they don't follow something worthwhile, then they will remain stuck in the mess they are in now or worse."

   James smiled as he stood up. "I am not asking you to restore the faith of the people in this nation, in a man, or even in God. I am asking you to help me restore their faith in the hope for good things, the hope of a better future. How can we do that if we just go in and smash them without any compassion or mercy? I don't believe you want to go in shooting either. Maybe we will have to do just that in some places, but we can try to offer them a chance for something better first. We can offer them a little hope and show them some faith. If we believe in them enough, then maybe they can begin to have some faith in and hope for themselves. Maybe they can find something good to believe in again. The President has asked me to do the impossible. I know that. I know that alone I cannot do what must be done, but I am not alone. God is with me. Now I am asking you to join me too.  I am asking you to show the people that you believe there is still hope for this nation. I am asking you to have faith in the people even though they have given you no reason. I am asking you to show your faith in this nation and the people in it. Will you show them your faith and offer them some hope? Will you stand with me and offer them a chance for something better before we try to force our will upon them?"