Orders Is Orders by L. Ron Hubbard Page B

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     out and cut off all retreat from Shunkien.
    Mitchell’s appearance conjured a sentry out of the shadows. Slowly Mitchell began
     to stroll down the company street toward the headquarters tents with the sentry pacing
     alertly at his heels.
    All was activity despite the lateness of the hour. Every officer was dressed and furiously
     busy. A stream of runners came and went from the largest of the tents.
    Mitchell waited for half an hour, ignored by all, before he caught sight of the cocky
     linguist. He stopped him by stepping in his road.
    “Is there any word yet?” said Mitchell.
    It took a moment for the officer to shift the gears of his mind. Impatiently then,
     anxious to be gone on his business, he said, “Certainly. It came hours ago.”
    “Good news?” said Mitchell, eagerly. “I can proceed into Shunkien?”
    “See me about it later.”
    Mitchell was still in his path and the officer tried to dodge around him and found
     Mitchell still blocking the way.
    “I got orders to be in Shunkien by tomorrow morning,” said Mitchell doggedly. “If
     you have word from the east I want to know what it is.”
    The Japanese was about to bite off another short answer when he recalled the import
     of the news. It was worse than a mere verbal rebuff.
    “Your orders are on file with the second division but our colonel refuses to allow
     you to proceed toward Shunkien. Your burden is to be returned to you and you are to
     be started for the coast tomorrow morning. We cannot allow you either an armed escort
     or any vehicle. Now get out of my way.”
    “You refuse to let me through to the city?” persisted Mitchell.
    “Naturally. We have too much to do already without being bothered with you. Those
     are the orders of our colonel and if you attempt to disobey them we can only resort
     to imprisonment of you and your party for the duration of this unfortunate incident.
     Thank you very much and get out of my way.”
    The officer ducked around him and was gone. Mitchell stared after him with mayhem
     plain upon his face. The sentry, alarmed, prodded Mitchell in the back and motioned
     toward Mitchell’s tent.
    Dispiritedly, Mitchell trooped back down the company street to throw himself on his
     cot and beat his clenched fist into his pillow. He knew his fate was written. There
     were too many Japanese swarming between this camp and Shunkien. Any attempt at force
     would be suicidal.
    He knew these things and he also knew his orders.
    But he could do nothing. He had failed.
    He lay back, wincing as he touched his aching side, and stared holes into the darkness.

Chapter Thirteen
    B ILLOWING smoke from the burning shores of the Huangpu rolled in suffocating waves across the decks of the USS Miami. Saturday’s sun made small impression on the gloom which overhung Shanghai and now
     it sat straight overhead, a spinning sphere as red as blood.
    Blackstone, V. G., commanding, was piped over the side. He was in a mood as lowering
     as the day. Unhappy Captain Davis started to retreat from the gangway but he had been
     observed.
    “Davis!” said Blackstone. “Report to my quarters immediately.”
    Davis followed with none of the esprit he had displayed in a score of landing parties
     and in a dozen battles.
    Blackstone hurled his cap to his desk and sat down so hard that his chair shrieked
     in protest. His big red hands shuffled through his papers and came up with a radio .
    Davis stood just inside the door, cap in hand, feeling much as he had the time a live
     grenade of the tin can variety had fallen in his foxhole in Nic .
    Blackstone read the radio and balled it up. He spun around and glared. “I suppose
     you think the C-in-C invited me over for a tea party. I suppose you think he complimented
     me upon my strategy.” Unnecessarily, he roared, “Well, he didn’t! I’ve been on a carpet
     hotter’n boilerplates. And all because I was fool enough to listen to a half-baked
     captain of Marines! You see this?”