The Rangers Are Coming (13 page)

              “We are going to purchase ads in all the daily papers of the colonies and say this.”  He picked up the clicker and activated one of the screens. It flashed the message.

      
A Call to The Strong, The Few, The Proud!

              A large Colonial Enterprise is now recruiting men and women between the ages of 18-22, for the adventure of a lifetime.  Our purpose is to conduct the largest exploration of the North American continent in history.  This will be a most dangerous job and your safety, while of paramount importance to us, is not guaranteed.  However, you will see the greatest sights in the world and experience the excitement that can only be achieved with dedication and hard work. We offer excellent pay, full provisions, clothing and food and the best training to be found anywhere in the world.  Only the most physically fit need apply, however we will offer schooling in reading, writing, and mathematics for those who are not yet proficient.  This is a full-time career commitment  and only those who are willing to give a lifetime to this extraordinary opportunity should consider it.  Your acceptance is strictly provisional on the completion of our rigorous enlistment requirements.  We can promise, if you do meet our standards, the greatest and most satisfying life that God can provide.  To apply: appear in person at 8 AM on September 1 through 5, 1770, at the central post office in the Capital city of your colony.

              “If we send this by special post riders today, there should be enough time for anyone who reads this and catches the fever of adventure to reach their Colonial capital on time.  In any case, our men will be in the area for several days sifting through the candidates, so if some show up late, we can still get them in for a test.”

              “What is the test, George,” asked Hamilton?

              “General Compton is putting together the details with specially trained men who’ve done this kind of thing before.  He assures me that only the best will get through the net.  Still, we expect that we will lose at least 25% during training to those who cannot stand the rigors of service or who do not, otherwise, measure up.  We are looking for the best 3,000 men or women, we can find in the country.”

              “Do you really expect any women to show up?”

              “If they do, they will have to run Arcadia’s gauntlet.  Have any of you ever seen her in action?”

              “Not me,” said Adams.  “Is she especially skilled?”

              Washington shook his head as if the memory was still a mystery to him, “I saw her take on five men, at the same time, in hand to hand combat, and beat them all…badly.  She’s the toughest, smartest, most lethal, open hand fighter I’ve ever seen.”

              The Post riders went out.  General Compton called his best 13 drill sergeants, all Navy Seals, together.  “Pick five men each for your teams,” he said.  “We’ve put together 13 sets of wagons that look like regular wagons, to go to each Colonial capital,  but will ride much easier and go quicker that anything the colonials have.  Each team will have three wagons.  They are much bigger than normal wagons.  Load them up with enough MRE rations, Gatorade, and coffee for 200 men for five days, plus all this equipment you see here, for the tests we’ve briefed you we are going to use.  Make sure you get familiar with handling and taking care of four horse teams.  Bring us back wagons loaded with some real men, you know what kind of people we need.”

              For anything extra you might need, including bribing officials, we are sending you out with a big supply of Spanish Gold coins.  Don’t forget the exchange rate, and make sure nobody takes it away from you.”

              “Weapons?” asked another soldier.

              “We can’t risk sending much,” said Compton.  “You’ll have big combat knives, some garroting wires, and for emergencies I’m throwing in some grenades and a few canisters of tear gas.  We can’t take a chance on other weapons of any kind.  Our mission here relies on secrecy until, the time comes to haul out the heavy stuff.”

              “If you’re so worried about us causing a stir, then how come we’re going dressed in combat fatigues?”

              “That’s to impress the recruits.  You’re bound to attract some notice, just handle it, and try not to kill anybody.

13

Concord, Massachusetts

              Robert Pierce came running up to the cottage.  He pounded on the door and then opened it and went in. 

              “Robby Pierce!” said Harriet Grant, “What’s so important that you can’t even wait for a body to open the door?”

              “I’m sorry, Mizz Grant, I gotta see Willis right off.”

              “Well, he’s down in the barn tossing hay.”

              “Thank you, Ma’am” and Robert was out the door in an instant.  He dashed across the heavy ground still damp from the overnight rain, and into the barn.  “Willis, Willis, you here?”

              A tall, young man stood up from behind a stall.  He wasn’t wearing a shirt and his powerful chest glistened with sweat.  His blond hair was falling across his strong face.  He pushed it back with his big hands.  “What you having a fit about!”

              “You know how we are always talking about heading out into the wilderness to find sport and adventure?”

              “Not much chance for a couple of farm boys.”

              “Now there is,” said Robby with a wide grin.

              “What you talkin’ about?”

              “This!” said Robby, pulling a paper out of his back pocket.  “It just came in the Boston Herald.”

              “What is it?”

              “Here, I’ll read it to you.”

A Call to The Strong, The Few, The Proud!

              A large Colonial Enterprise is now recruiting men and women between the ages of 18-22, for the adventure of a lifetime.  Our purpose is to conduct the largest exploration of the North American continent in history.  This will be a most dangerous job and your safety, while of paramount importance to us, is not guaranteed.  However, you will see the greatest sights in the world and experience the excitement that can only be achieved with dedication and hard work.  We offer excellent pay, full provisions, clothing and food and the best training to be found anywhere in the world.  Only the most physically fit need apply, however we will offer schooling in reading, writing ,and mathematics for those who are not qualified.  This is a full-time career commitment  and only those who are willing to give a lifetime to this extraordinary opportunity should consider it.  Your acceptance is strictly provisional on the completion of our rigorous enlistment requirements.  We can promise, if you do meet our standards, the greatest and most satisfying life that God can provide.  To apply: appear in person at 8 AM on September 1 through 5 1770, at the central post office in the Capital city of your colony.

              “Don’t hardly sound real,” said Willis.

              “We can do this!” said Robby, “we are both strong as an ox.  We got plenty of family for our Pa’s to do the farming, we are both 19, right inside where it says we have to be, and both of us have never wanted to stay on the farm all our lives.  We want something special for our lives.  This is it!”

              “September 1 is just two days away.”

              “We can catch the freight wagon to Boston tomorrow, and be at the Post Office on time come Friday morning.”

              There was trouble in both households that night as the young men made their cases for setting out to find a better life.  When Robby had gotten the grudging support of his father, if he promised to write and send home some of that “excellent pay” the ad mentioned.  Robby promised to do that and rushed out to run the mile to the Grant farm.

As he came in, he found Willis pleading with his crying mother.  “You always said, you wanted the best for me, Ma.  This ad says they will teach me to read and write and do my numbers.  I could use some more of that, the Lord knows.”

“It also says that this is a permanent career job.  I may never see you again.”

“Ah Ma, I won’t be gone forever, and I promise to write when I can, after I learn my letters better.”

“Did you come up with this Robby Pierce,” said Mrs. Grant?

“I brung the ad, if’n that’s what you mean Mizz Grant, but this is a chance for both of us to make somethin’ of ourselves.  Please say yes, my folks already have done so.”

The following morning, with just a change of clothes and a few personal things in a shoulder bag, the young men caught the freight wagon to Boston.

Boston was big and busy and hard to get around in, but the men, finally made their way to the main Boston Post Office and settled down to wait for morning.  Robby spent a couple of pennies for a sack of apples, and they pulled a blanket out of their bags to stay warm against the building.

As the sun came up, the men stirred.  It wasn’t long before other young men began to arrive at the Post Office.  By 7:30 there were at least 50 young men standing around waiting.  Willis and Robby, said a few words to some of the others.  Mostly, they seemed like local boys, but a fair number had come from at least as far as Concord and further.

At exactly 8 AM, a wagon pulled up in the square facing the Post Office.  Five men jumped down.  They were very big men, only Willis was close to their size.  Robby was a couple of inches shorter than all of them.  The men from the wagon were dressed in very strange clothing.  Their pants and shirt were patches of green.  They looked like work clothes, but there was a very snappy look to them.  They all wore very sharp looking berets, and had brown boots then went up past their ankles.  Their pants were turned under just above their boots.  All five men looked incredibly fit and had lean, hard looks on their faces.

Five tables were quickly set up and a very fancy tent went up over the tables, with a canvas sheet separating the interview areas.  The leader of the group had a patch on both sleeves with brown stripes, three going up,  and three going down.

He turned to the men who had gathered around and said, “Are you all here in response to our ad?”  There was a murmur of agreement.

“Did all of you read the ad thoroughly and understand it?  We want you to know that if you qualify for training, you will be making a commitment that has no set end date.  It’s a career choice.  We believe you will find the experience to be the greatest of your life, beyond anything you can imagine.  However, our training regimen is long, hard, and very physically challenging.  You can quit anytime you like during training.  In fact, we encourage it.  We only want men who are serious, dedicated, and worthy of respect.  The respect you will have to earn.  Our training system requires you to follow orders immediately and without question, because we don’t have the luxury of wasting time, and a great deal of what we do is dangerous.  I need to tell you we expect to have at least one fatality during the training, and it’s almost always because a man was doing something he shouldn’t have done, or didn’t follow orders.  This is your first chance to quit.  If any one of you didn’t like what I said, leave now.”

A few men did walk off.  Robby and Willis stood their ground.  Willis as calm as ever and Robby with eyes shining,

“Alright,” said the sergeant, “let’s get started.  I want five lines in front of these tables.  In each line, arrange yourself according to height, with the shortest first.”

The young men milled around a little.  Robby and Willis got into the line in front of the sergeant who did the talking.  They were separated by five or six men, since Willis was close to the rear of the line and Robby several spaces forward.

The line did not move quickly.  Each man came into the tent alone and the man outside could not hear what was being said.  The questionnaire was two pages long and the sergeant made careful notes.

When it was finally Robby’s turn, he stepped into the tent and the sergeant waved him to a seat.  “I’m First Sergeant Thomas Seacrest,” he put his hand out and shook Robby’s hand.  It was hard and firm.  “What’s your name?”

“Robert Pierce.”

“Where do you live?”

“Concord, Massachusetts.”

It went on that way for a while.  Seacrest wanted to know about Robby’s family, what they did for a living, how old he was, did he have any diseases or disabilities, was he brave, had he ever been in a fight, the questions went on and on.

Finally, Seacrest asked, “Robby, do you read your Bible and believe in God?”

“I’ve read the whole Bible several times, Sir, although I don’t know it as well as some of my other friends.”

“Do you remember the first few verses of Romans 12?”

“Do not conform to the ways of the world, but let your mind be transformed by the Holy Spirit?”

“Close enough,” smiled the Sergeant.  “Now tell me this, in light of Romans 12, what is your opinion of the British occupation of the American Colonies.  You can tell me what you really believe, I’m not a British sympathizer.”

“Well, sir, the British seem to think we’re their servants and that the colonies exist to make them money.  We have no say in the way they do things.  It’s just not right.”

“Do you believe that the Colonies should break away from England and form an American nation.”

“We talk about it all the time in Concord, but nobody really knows how we could do it.”

“What if I told you that there is a way and you can be a part of it?”

“I would be ready to do whatever I could.”

“Fine, now go out and join the men standing near the steps of the Post Office.  Just wait until we finish interviewing the entire group, and then we’ll tell you what comes next.”