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Post by cutter on May 28, 2020 17:56:38 GMT -6
Ladies and gentlemen, your support and kind words of encouragement are invaluable to me. Your friendship is equally invaluable.
Also, if anyone sees my muse, light a fire under her butt; she's been far too quiet lately.
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Post by papaof2 on May 28, 2020 20:17:05 GMT -6
Sorry, but all my ideas on muse encouragement seem to have mostly come to naught - at best I might get 100 or so words in a day when I get any inspiration (and that across 3 in-very-slow-progress stories).
If your muse is a traditional one (from the planet Sol3Equiv in the Alpha Centauri system), then be aware that they have human compatible DNA and the premier muse is considered one that is 1% human (not always the case). However, their not-quite-human DNA makes them unusually susceptible to new versions of human flu so many muses are currently running scared. "Scared" is not a good state of mind for creativity. Whether your muse has mentioned this to you depends on how comfortable that muse is with sharing his/her feelings with their author - they rarely want to admit that they don't have any inspiration for their author. Because my muses are somewhat younger than usual (long story, probably in my next book) they share just about everything so I may have learned more about muses and their history and physiology than other authors have.
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Post by udwe on May 28, 2020 23:10:20 GMT -6
Great Chapter! Knew Mark would be freed! The crew is great for each other. All for one and one for all. You might have to go hunt down your muse. We need MOAR!
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Post by texican on Jun 1, 2020 0:40:54 GMT -6
Ladies and gentlemen, your support and kind words of encouragement are invaluable to me. Your friendship is equally invaluable. Also, if anyone sees my muse, light a fire under her butt; she's been far too quiet lately. C, You can depend on these scruff moar hounds to continue to support you and encourage you for we are hungry for moar not to leave out we care about how your are doing. If we can find your muse, we will gladly put a fire under her tush. Texican...
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Post by cutter on Jun 1, 2020 22:26:40 GMT -6
My muse FINALLY threw me a bone. It's short, but enjoy.
Chapter 48
(1 AM, Mark and Stacy's room)
"Oooh, bed's gonna feel sooo good. It was a long day."
"Tell me about it. How do you feel, other than tired?"
"Not too bad. Nothing hurts and I don’t feel like I’m about to drown. Mark, my day was easy by comparison. Really, how are you?”
“I don’t know. I got my life back today, only to have it crash down around me. I don’t know if I can do this.”
(Stacy takes Mark’s face in her hands.)
Look at me. Look. At. Me. Mark, you’re strong enough; you can do this. Love, you’re not alone. I’m here; I’m with you, and so is the rest of the family and the Crew. You’re not alone. We do this together.”
“Anastasia, if this goes as bad as I think it’s going to, we won’t all make it.”
(There’s a tremor in Stacy’s voice as she speaks her next words.)
“I know...I know. I don’t want to lose anyone. God, I don’t want to lose you, but we can’t give up. I know you. You’ll be right out front; you won’t ask anyone to do anything you won’t do. Mark, please, please God please, don’t get yourself killed. If this goes completely south, please stay alive, for me?”
“Anastasia, you know me. I’ll do what I have to, but I don’t plan to go anywhere for a very long time.”
“Guess that’s all I can ask or hope for. I’m glad Sky said yes. For a minute, I didn’t think she was going to. That’s what you and Sam talked about when you went for that ride, isn’t it? What did you say to him?”
“I told him to do what his heart told him to do. He knew what to do; he just needed to hear it from someone else. Anastasia, he forgave her and let it go a long time ago. Sky was the one who was still lugging it around.”
“Think Alan will come back?”
“I hope so. I hope he can find his way clear to forgive Jen. He broke her heart tonight. I wanted to beat his ass so bad.”
“Sky seriously considered it. Jen’s staying with Kit and Bobby tonight. Kit’ll help her. I expect Sky and their folks will work on Alan too. That isn’t over yet. Speaking of which, something was bothering you when y’all came in tonight that you weren’t talking about. What is it?”
“Somebody was out there. I don’t know where they were or how I knew, but I could feel somebody out there...close. We were being watched.”
“You said you guys didn’t have any contacts.”
“We didn’t. We didn’t see, hear, or smell anyone or anything that wasn’t supposed to be there. We didn’t find anything. One of the fence spots was a fallen limb; the other one could have been a cow or that goofy bull trying to get to grass on the other side of the fence. There was no sign that anyone else was out there, but there was. I told Bobby and he ordered irregular patrols of that area. The thing is, if they could stay hidden from us, the regular security guys don’t stand a chance of finding them.”
“Don’t bet on that. You, Brian, Todd, and Pete trained the security force. The perimeter guys are good, and the homesteads’ lookouts and guards are even better. Either our people will find them, or they will have the good sense to run.”
“Maybe, but I’ve just got a twitch in the back of my brain about it. It felt, I don’t know, familiar.”
“Here, drink this and then get undressed and in bed.”
“I’m not drinking anything else tonight.”
“It’s chamomile tea, stupid. Drink it, then get undressed and in bed like I told you.”
(Stacy steps behind Mark’s chair on the deck and starts rubbing his shoulders.)
“You need unwinding, and I know how to do that.”
"Not sure I'm up to that either, but that feels so good."
"What that? I'm going to give you a rub down and you'll be asleep ten minutes into it. THAT can wait for another night."
"Thanks, Love. Why did this all have to happen?"
"I don't know, but we'll get through it. Right now, you need sleep. Mark, this is just starting; it’s going to get worse. Are you sure you’re up to it?”
“What do you think has me so wound up? I’ve killed one man, two if you don’t accept the convenient lie that it was Eric. If this gets bad enough, I might have to do it again. Anastasia, I don’t want that. I’ll do what I have to, to protect our own, but I don’t want that.”
“Mark, come out of the squad. Put Sam in the lead and come out.”
“No.”
“Mark, you don’t always have to put yourself last. Sam can handle it.”
“I SAID NO! I’m not going to be a coward. I have a job to do and I’m going to do it.”
“I didn’t mean forever, just until you get your head on straight.”
“Still no. I need more teams. I’m breaking the squad up.”
“WHAT!?!”
“We’ll still do some work together, but I’m breaking the squad up and putting them leading other teams. Sam’s taking the lead of a new team.”
“Does Brian know about this?”
“He will tomorrow. This isn’t up for debate. Anastasia, we need more teams like ours. The regulars in security are good, but they can’t do what we do; they don’t know how. Tomorrow, I’m going to tell Brian to ask for 24 volunteers, from in or out of the security force, for reassignment and special training. Sam and Sky, Jordan and Sherry, and Noah and Tabby will take command of six volunteers per pair. You and I will take the other six. We should have had a second squad out there tonight, just for security. If we had, whoever was out there might have been in our hands now. The other thing is, with four squads instead of just our one, we can be a quick backup response to the basic security guys and can train them up to our standard over time.”
“What are you expecting?”
“I don’t have the first damn clue, but I mean to be ready for it. Let’s get some sleep.”
“You sure you don’t want a drink to unwind first?”
“Until this is over, I can’t afford to unwind; none of us can. The teams will still do our traditional shot at the end of a patrol or mission, but that’s it. I’ll issue those orders in the morning.”
“Get undressed and get in bed; I’ll be there in a minute.”
(Meanwhile, in the bunkhouse, Sam and Sky’s room)
“Who was out there; that’s what I want to know. They knew our routines, or we would have found them.”
“I don’t know, and that scares me. It’s almost like it was one of us!”
“Lance? Alan? Sam, both of them have been with us long enough to know how we work. Mark and I made both of them mad enough tonight to want to get even. What I don’t get, is why didn’t they try anything?”
“There were seven of us and only one of them. If you’re right, they know they couldn’t beat all of us. I don’t know who it was, but I just flat don’t like it. Damnit! Don’t we have enough trouble without having to deal with one of our own turning on us?”
“Are you sure it was only one person? Are you absolutely sure it was one of us? It could have been two or three and we wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference, without catching them. It could have been anybody with military training. Hun, whoever it was, wasn’t looking for a fight; they just wanted to spook us.”
“Well, we made it back in with the herd and without a fight, so I only care so much right now. You said yes; we have plans tonight.”
“Sam, I’m sorry I left.”
“I’m sorry too. I’m sorry I didn’t give you what you needed then. I’m sorry it took me so damn stupid long to get my head on straight and let it go. I’m sorry I had to have Mark help me figure it out because I was too stupid to figure it out on my own. I’m sorry I didn’t forgive you and let it go a lot sooner than I did.”
“Shhh. Tonight’s our night. You got this girl, and I got my man back. Let’s not waste any more time on the past. Love me tonight like we both have always wanted.”
“I love you, Sky. Let’s go to bed.”
(White House, 4 AM, Oval Office, Phone)
“Carol, have you found out who did this yet?”
“Jim, it’s 4 in the morning. Why are you still awake?”
“I can’t sleep. Have you found out who did this yet?”
“No, Jim. We have everyone working on it who’s supposed to be awake at this hour and quite a few who are supposed to be asleep. We’ll find them, but it’s been less than 24 hours. We can’t just wave our magic wands and the answers appear; it takes time. Jim, I don’t know how to tell you to do it, but you need sleep. You are the President of the United States; you have to get some rest and take care of yourself or you can’t do your job. We’ve been friends since high school. Take a friend’s advice and get some sleep. No pressure, but the people are scared. Jim, the people of this country need you calm, cool, and collected; they need you in charge. You can’t do that if you can’t keep your eyes open. Do yourself and the world a favor, sleep. Take a pill, have a drink, but sleep. There are around 12 million people who are homeless right now. Things have been happening too fast for them to think about it much yet, but tomorrow, this is going to hit them like a freight train. Jim, they are going to need their President to be able to honestly tell them that they are going to be ok. They are going to need their President to have a plan to make sure they are going to be ok. There are over 300 million United States Citizens, including me, who are going to need to know tomorrow, that our President has his shit together and is on top of this. You picked good people. Trust us to do our jobs and do what you have to do, to do yours. Mr. President, your Cabinet needs you to give us proper direction so that we can do what needs to be done.”
“You do realize that you just dressed down the President of the United States, right?”
“Need me to do it some more? I will.”
“No. I got the message loud and clear. Carol, I’m sorry I bothered you at this hour.”
“Jim, you love this country and you want to do it right. I understand. Get some sleep.”
“Thanks, Carol.”
“You’re welcome. Now go to bed, kiss Alise, and get some rest. I promise, I’ll call you if I hear anything.”
“Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, Mr. President. Jim, you’re doing it right.” (Click)
(To himself) “Only person I know who can hang up on the President and get away with it!”
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Post by kaijafon on Jun 2, 2020 10:43:54 GMT -6
Thank you Cutter, I appreciate your hard work!
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Post by 9idrr on Jun 2, 2020 21:18:49 GMT -6
If we even get a chapter a month and it's like this one, we are blessed.
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Post by texican on Jun 2, 2020 21:34:37 GMT -6
C,
A great chapter.
Thank you.
Texican....
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Post by cutter on Jun 18, 2020 21:50:05 GMT -6
Chapter 49
(Next morning, Waters’ Homestead back deck, 5 AM)
“How you feelin’, Jordan?”
“Not bad, why?”
“You drank that rocket fuel last night.”
“Just one shot. That only makes me feel a little floaty for a while, and I had food, so it wasn’t bad.”
“Still don’t know how you stand it. Anyway, who was out there last night?”
“I dunno, but they better be glad Mark didn’t decide to find out.”
“They? You think there was more than one?”
“Yeah, but I can’t prove it. It’s just a feeling. Noah, we had our hands full, just getting the herd in, in the dark; but our attention was being pulled in too many directions for it to just be one person.”
“How many, you think? You think it was a team or something?”
“Noah, this isn’t one of those PAW fiction stories; we don’t have UN troops running around and the Chinese aren’t invading. For it to be say a four man team or an eight man squad, they’d have to all be like Todd. Really, how many Todds do you think are out here in the middle of nowhere? No, this is two, maybe three, but I’d bet just two.”
“Big Brother, how many Todds do we have here right now, right on this place?”
“Todd’s gone back to base.”
“Yeah, but we’re still here, and so is the rest of the crew, except Lance and Alan.”
“We’re not as good as Todd, or Mark for that matter!”
“I bet either one of us could sneak up on any of the perimeter guys or lookouts and tap them on the shoulder before they knew we were there. The rest of our crew is almost as good; Mark, Sis, Kit, and Bobby are better. I’ll bet you a month’s worth of mucking the barns that we can do it right now.”
“Yeah, and you’d get yourself shot when you scared the hell outta’ them. No bet.”
“Well, I’m gonna’ find out who it was.”
“You do that, but not right now. Finish your coffee; we have to get hay and water out for the herd.”
“I guess you’re not gonna’ let me drive the tractor.”
“Nope. You drop me off at the water troughs and then take the tractor and get the hay out. Do it like Dad showed us and you’ll do fine. Oh, and Noah, it’s still dark, so don’t drive it like one of the four wheelers!”
“Do I look stupid!?!”
“No, maybe a little goofy. You woke Tabby up and made out before you got up, didn’t you?”
“No. She woke me up. How’d you know?”
“That stupid grin you’ve had all over your face ever since you got up, and you smell like her shampoo.”
“I hate you.”
“I love you too. Come on, let’s get started.”
(Meanwhile, at the Crow’s Nest. Phone)
“Have they given you orders yet?”
“Later today. Sarah Belle, don’t worry. There is no way they are going to deploy a one legged man to a combat zone, even if I am a world class sniper.”
“No conceit in your family; you got it all.”
“I’m not the command sergeant major, but I AM one of the senior sniper instructors at the Scout Sniper school. I think I’ve earned the right to call myself a good sniper.”
“You are; I was just teasing you. Todd, I miss you.”
“I miss you too. Belle, you know I have to do this, even without the fact that I was recalled.”
“I know. Todd, you are who you are, and I love you for it, among other things. I’m proud of you.”
“How are the kids?”
“There were a few tears last night, but they understand. Todd, don’t feel bad about this; they’re proud of you too. Todd, we’ll be alright; you just do what you have to do and come home as soon as they’ll let you.”
“Bet on it. I have to go; I’ve got to roll these sorry ass excuses of Marines out of bed in a few minutes. With luck, I might be able to teach one or two of them how to shoot.”
“Semper Fi, Sarg. Todd, we love you.”
“I love you too, all of you. I’ll call you tonight. I’ll call early enough to talk to the kids, unless you think that’s a bad idea.”
“I think it’s the best idea you’ve had since that bonfire party in high school. Go make snipers out of those jarheads of yours. Talk to you tonight.”
“Bye, Belle.” (click)
(One of the barns, 5:30)
“Mornin’, Bobby, need a warm up on your coffee?”
“Nah. I don’t know how she does it, but Kit makes coffee hotter than McDonalds! I had to put four ice cubes in this, just to cool it down enough that it wouldn’t burn the skin off my tongue! I’m still full. How far have you got?”
“Just got here. You gonna’ be in the shop today, or are you gonna’ be working on your Mom’s place?”
“In the shop; I’m fabricating the brackets for Mom and Trent’s solar panels. Whatcha’ need?”
Mark hands Bobby a stack of hand drawn machinist drawings. “Can you build this?”
Bobby sits down at the picnic table and slowly goes through the drawings while sipping his coffee. After a few minutes, he stacks the papers back up and stares, running it through his head.
“Yeah, I can build it; how many do you want?”
“Twenty, maybe more.”
“If I don’t do anything else, it’ll take me about three weeks to build twenty. That’s assuming we have enough raw stock on the shelves. What are these things, anyway?”
“Gun mounts.”
“What the hell are you thinking now? How is this going to do anything for us?”
“OK, what kind of firepower do we have on the overwatch positions for the property?”
“Mostly AR-15’s, a few M1A’s, and a handful of .30-06 bolt action rifles for sniper work. I still don’t see where you’re going with this. Do you plan to have me hand make knockoff Browning machine guns? We have some .50 BMG ammo, but not near enough to feed one of those, much less twenty!”
Mark hands Bobby a box. “Open it.”
“That’s the biggest stick mag I’ve ever seen! What the hell does this monster fit!?!”
“That is a 100 round magazine made by Surefire, for the AR-15. We have a butt load of AR’s. What I want to do is mount two of them in one of those mounts. You mount the two rifles and install the camshaft. Load one of these mags in each of them and charge the rifles. As you turn this handle, the cams actuate the triggers, alternating fire between the two rifles. This plate deflects the spent rounds over the right side AR. What you get is two hundred rounds of 5.56 NATO going down range at around 100 rounds per minute. This pintle mount allows you to target anything in the cover arc and because it’s still semi auto fire that requires hand cranking, it’s BATFE legal without a tax stamp. The adjustments on the hard points let us zero the pairs in to center on the crosshairs at whatever range we want. We could do AK’s with 50 or 100 round drums too, but that would require some modifications to the mounts.”
“Good God, Mark! What are you expecting, an army!?!”
“I don’t know what I’m expecting, but I want us to be better than ready for it. I’m usually not a fan of automatic fire, but it’s good for what it’s good for. In this case, it’s good for defending fixed positions. We could add a tripod to that and have something close to a squad level, light machine gun. Depending on how bad this gets, that might make the difference between all of one of our teams coming home or not.”
“Let me build one and you can show me. We’ll go from there.”
“Probably a good idea. I guess I really should see how it performs, before I get carried away.”
“Mark, why don’t you come out of the leadership for a while? You just went through hell; take some time to get your head on straight.”
“You been talking to Anastasia?”
“No, why?”
“Because you sound just like her. Bobby, I can’t. If this goes as south as I think it can, we’re going to need everybody. I can’t walk out on us like that.”
“Do what you have to do, but don’t get yourself killed doing it.”
“That’s the goal. Bobby, I’ll come out of the team before I put them at risk.”
“Don’t get me wrong; I worry about them, but I’m really worried about you right now. Alright. Let’s get this done so we can get some breakfast. Why don’t you and Stacy come up to our place? Ladybug and Kit would love to see you.
“Then I better call her now. I’d like to have breakfast with y’all. I could use a hug from Ladybug anyway.”
“You know you’ll get one from Kit too. Come on, call Stacy, then let’s do this.”
(Bobby and Kit’s, 6:30)
“Hey Sky! Hey Sam! You’re a little late for breakfast, but we have some left over if you want.”
“We ate already, but some coffee would be nice.”
(Kit brings out two cups of coffee and two hot, fresh made peach pie pockets)
“Bobby and the kids love ‘em, and we had extra. How’d it go last night?”
“We were being watched, and they were good enough that we didn’t catch them.”
“Did you try?”
“Mark was really focused on getting the herd in without any contacts and the dogs didn’t alert, so he wouldn’t let us hunt for them.”
“If you’re right and somebody was there and the dogs didn’t alert, then it was somebody they thought should be there.”
“Sam, Mark said it felt familiar. I bet it was that little twerp, Lance!”
“He wasn’t with you last night?”
“He got his John Wayne mouth and Mickey Rooney ass going. He openly defied Mark. Mark threw him out of the squad.”
“He can’t have been that stupid to follow you guys.”
“I don’t know; he was pretty mad. That kid thinks he knows everything.”
“He’s thirteen, that’s only four years younger than you.”
“Yeah, and when he starts acting his age, instead of like he’s two, I’ll quit calling him a kid! These peach pies are great, by the way.”
“Humf! Glad you like them. So what do we have going today?”
“I don’t know, but it sounds serious. Mark called a mandatory squad meeting at noon. He said if anybody doesn’t show, without proof of being dead, they’re out.”
“Damn! Don’t be late!”
“Don’t plan to. When we leave here, we’re going to fix those two spots in the fence with Jason and T.”
“Isn’t his leg still broke?”
“Well, Duh! That’s why he’s wearing that cast. He’s driving the material wagon. We better go.”
“Safe travels.”
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Post by texican on Jun 19, 2020 19:04:10 GMT -6
C,
Trouble coming and the group is making plans. Two AR's on a mount drive by cam to shoot in order to devastate down range. This would work, but need drawings.
Thanks for the chapter.
Texican....
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Post by cutter on Jun 19, 2020 21:38:44 GMT -6
I actually saw a similar setup years ago, in a gun shop in southern Indiana. That example used 2 M-1 carbines with the factory 15 round mags. The left side carbine was mounted upside down so the spent casings ejected to the left. There was no elevation or windage adjustment, so the anti-aircraft sight was mostly just for show. As best as I can tell, BATFE views it as a Gatling gun. The Surefire 100 round stick mags are real and commercially available. I bet they weigh a ton, loaded
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Post by accountant on Jun 24, 2020 15:17:49 GMT -6
cutter,
Thanks for continuing the story. It's been too long since we saw Mark and the gang.
Take care of yourself and know you've got people thinking about you.
A.
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Post by cutter on Jun 24, 2020 17:54:12 GMT -6
Thanks, A. I haven't forgotten, but life got real and hasn't left me much time for leisure activities, like eating and sleeping. I'll keep plugging away at it. The last two chapters were brought to you courtesy of insomnia.
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Post by texican on Jun 25, 2020 17:17:14 GMT -6
Thanks, A. I haven't forgotten, but life got real and hasn't left me much time for leisure activities, like eating and sleeping. I'll keep plugging away at it. The last two chapters were brought to you courtesy of insomnia. C, Thanks for the chapters. Now, the moar hounds can survive without the chapters as long as you get your sleep. Texican....
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Post by udwe on Jun 25, 2020 20:30:17 GMT -6
Thank you. Get some sleep!
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Post by cavsgt on Jun 26, 2020 13:55:27 GMT -6
I actually saw a similar setup years ago, in a gun shop in southern Indiana. That example used 2 M-1 carbines with the factory 15 round mags. The left side carbine was mounted upside down so the spent casings ejected to the left. There was no elevation or windage adjustment, so the anti-aircraft sight was mostly just for show. As best as I can tell, BATFE views it as a Gatling gun. The Surefire 100 round stick mags are real and commercially available. I bet they weigh a ton, loaded Had one for a while that used 2 10/22's. First night we shot 2 bricks of .22, it was a blast.
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Post by eyeseetwo on Jul 5, 2020 18:51:47 GMT -6
Thank you for your excellent story and in depth character development. Lance seems to be wee like most young teen boys. Hopefully he will get a clue and understand quickly how to follow the lead of the wiser team members.
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Post by cutter on Aug 4, 2020 21:40:30 GMT -6
It's been far too long, my friends. The crew says Hi. Please, enjoy.
Chapter 50
(Scout Sniper training range, mid morning)
“Low and to the left, Corporal! Gunney, let me in there!”
(The Gunnery Sergeant gets up from his spotter scope. Todd settles into position)
“What’s your name, son?”
“Toby Mathers, Sergeant!”
“Ok Toby, we’re gonna’ forget rank for a moment. For the next ten minutes, I’m Todd. Do you know why you were low and left?”
“No, I had the target square in my sights!”
“I was watching you, maybe why you pulled the shot. You jerked the trigger; are you nervous?”
“Yes Sarg! I got a damn war hero standin’ over me, deciding whether or not to boot me out of the program!”
“Toby, no ranks. I am a 27 year old Marine who just did his duty to his brothers in arms. Apparently, somebody with a bird or star or something like that on his shoulder thought it called for special recognition. I’m no different than you. If you had been there in Kandahar, you would have done the same thing I did. Now, what say we make a sniper out of you? I have no intention of booting you; I know you can do it.”
“Really?”
“Really. Now then, we’re just two guys out hunting. Get in position and acquire your sight picture.”
“Got it.”
“Ok, wind out of the west at 4 KPH. Make your adjustment and just ease back nice and gentle on the trigger. Don’t get in a hurry.”
“Sergeant Marshall, Major wants to see you!”
(Todd just holds up a finger to wait)
“That’s it, Toby, nice and easy…”
(BOOM!)
“Congratulations, Corporal Mathers, you just scored a perfect bullseye. That target is dead as a hammer. Now, get with your spotter and do it again. You have the makings of a world class sniper. And for the record, I was a corporal when I earned the MOH.”
“Thanks Sergeant Marshall.”
(Todd gets up from his prone spotting position with some small difficulty, only to have a second lieutenant in his face)
“Sergeant Marshall, when an officer addresses you, you give them your immediate and undivided attention, understood!?!
“Lieutenant, that young corporal may make the difference between a squad making it back to base or dying where they stand someday. I respect the Major, but she won’t mind being made to wait five minutes for me to do my job. Now that we have that out of the way, please lead on...Sir!”
(Todd snaps a laser perfect, and obviously contemptuous, salute. The lieutenant returns it.)
“Come with me.”
(Back at the combined homesteads, also mid morning)
“Hi, Noah!”
“Mrs. Cooper, is Lance here?”
“Yeah, just a sec. You want to come in?”
“No Ma’am, thanks.”
(Lance’s mom ducks back in the house. A few minutes later, Lance comes out.)
“I heard you guys had trouble last night.”
“Where’d you hear that?”
“Around. You never did catch them.”
(Noah puts the pieces together. He takes Lance to the ground and pins him.)
“IT WAS YOU! YOU COULD HAVE GOT YOUR STUPID ASS SHOT! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!?!”
“HE SAID HE NEEDED HELP! MARK THOUGHT I WASN’T GOOD ENOUGH!”
“You’re not good enough! Mark does what he does to keep us safe! You’re too stupid to get that! AND WHO IS HE!?!”
“What are you doing to my son, Noah!?! Get off him!”
“Not until he tells me who was with him last night!”
“He was with you, bringing in the herd! GET OFF HIM!”
“No he wasn’t. Mark threw him out of the squad last night, because he wouldn’t follow orders!”
“You lied to me!?! What were you really doing last night, Lance!?!”
“I WENT WITH ALAN! WE SPIED ON THE SQUAD! THEY DIDN’T EVEN KNOW WE WERE THERE!”
“We knew somebody was there. Mark wouldn’t let us go hunting for you, or we would have caught you! So, Alan was with you?”
“He said he just wanted to see what you guys were doing!”
(Noah lets go of Lance and backs off.)
“I gotta tell Mark about this! Just so you know, Mark was thinking about letting you back in. Don’t bet on it now!”
(Noah turns around and walks away. He has to find Mark and tell him about this.)
(Marshall’s Rest homestead, Rubycon Services building, 10 AM)
“What do you mean, you’re breaking up your squad!?!”
“One squad isn’t enough, we need more of us. I’m breaking us up into four pairs. Each pair will be the leads for new squads. Think about it; we didn’t get back from our patrol and bringing the herd in until eleven last night. Brian, Anastasia had supper ready and waiting for us when we got in, and we still didn’t get loose to rest until almost one. We can’t keep up that operational tempo. Put it this way, if one of the patrols called in right now with a situation, who would you send?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, I do. With Todd gone, you’d send us. Brian, we need more teams like ours. Doing it my way will give you four, eight member teams, instead of just one. With that many, we can have one on standby 24 hours a day with one team off. We can also train the regular security guys up to the same standard to give us even more teams. Brian, you know I’m right.”
“Yeah, you’re right. I hate it when you’re right. By the way, how’d it go last night?”
“We were being watched. If we would have had another team for backup, we would have caught them. It was weird, though. Brian, it was like we were being stalked by us! Whoever it was, it was like they were inside our heads!”
“Then why didn’t you call for backup!?!”
“They were just watching, trying to spook us. Again, who would you have sent? Even with ATV’s, it would take you a half hour to assemble a team and get on site. It would have been at least forty-five minutes for Pete’s people. Face it, we were on our own and you know it. The only way we would have had useful backup is if we took it with us.”
“I really hate it when you’re right. Do it. Let me know what you need and I’ll try to get it for you.”
“I need 24 volunteers for special training. I wish Todd was here to do it, but he isn’t.”
“We’ll get you the people and we’ll manage to train them. When are you going to tell your team?”
“Noon.”
“Good luck.”
(Scout Sniper School, Major Alyssa Watts’ office. Todd comes to attention and offers a perfect, and respectful, salute.)
“Sergeant Marshall reporting, Ma’am.”
“That will be all, Lieutenant. Thank you, dismissed. Please close the door.”
“Aye, Ma’am.”
(The Lieutenant leaves. Major Watts finally returns Todd’s salute.)
“What may I do for you, Major?”
“Have a seat, Todd.”
(Todd takes a seat.)
“This sounds serious. What’s going on, Alyssa?”
“You know the only way you get away with that is your MOH.”
“Which is why I only call you by name when nobody else is around, Major. And here I thought we were friends.”
“We are friends, but we have a chain of command and military courtesy for a reason.”
“I’m well aware of that, Major. Now, what’s going on?”
“I have a not quite order to convince you to apply to OCS. The General assures me that your application will be approved. Todd, I have concerns about this.”
“May I speak freely?”
“Of course.”
“Assuming you manage to convince me, what are your concerns?”
“Your leg. Todd, tell me the truth, can you manage the Combat Fitness Test?”
“I don’t know, but I’d give it one helluva try.”
“The General assures me there would be some concessions made.”
“With all due respect, the General can stick his concessions straight up his ass. If I’m going to be an officer, leading troops, I damn well better be able to do the job. I satisfy all the requirements, or I don’t accept a commission.”
“You’d refuse a commission!?! Todd, that could end your career!”
“MAJOR WATTS! Do you want an officer, or a poster boy? Dad taught me to do the job right, or don’t do it at all. My troops and my NCO’s wouldn’t respect me if I did it any other way. If the General wants me to go to OCS, I’ll be happy to oblige him, but I’ll be damned if I’ll tolerate any special treatment. Respectfully, Alyssa, you would do the same.”
“Yeah. So, what do I tell the General?”
“Tell him that my application will be on his desk tomorrow morning.”
“Semper Fi, Marine.”
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Post by freebirde on Aug 4, 2020 22:39:53 GMT -6
Well worth the wait! The smell, texture, and taste of this story makes for a delicious read. The only problem is it will make us Moar Hounds want much more.
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Post by gipsy on Aug 5, 2020 7:56:58 GMT -6
Cool
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Post by 9idrr on Aug 5, 2020 21:33:45 GMT -6
Well worth the wait! The smell, texture, and taste of this story makes for a delicious read. The only problem is it will make us Moar Hounds want much more. ...and more and more and more and...
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Post by cutter on Aug 5, 2020 21:46:33 GMT -6
You folks are SO good for my ego. Thanks.
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Post by 9idrr on Aug 6, 2020 21:26:00 GMT -6
You folks are SO good for my ego. Thanks. Only 'cause you're so good with a pen, sir. Thank you for carryin' on with this tale.
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Post by texican on Aug 7, 2020 20:26:39 GMT -6
You folks are SO good for my ego. Thanks. Only 'cause you're so good with a pen, sir. Thank you for carryin' on with this tale. To pull one of 9's quotes.... Agree completely or was it "likewise". Texican....
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remembergoliad
Member
if you send friend req on FB, message me too. I won't accept if I don't recognize you.
Posts: 158
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Post by remembergoliad on Aug 7, 2020 22:02:51 GMT -6
Ya know they've got the thumb at the top? Well, Cutter, you're one of the few authors I've read where I hit the thumb as soon as I see it's another installment. (Unless I get in a hurry to read, and that's the ONLY time you don't get the thumb LOL)
You make it easy....I don't have to scroll allaway back up to hit the thankee button. I should say thanks with a reply more often, please forgive my laziness.
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