Chapter 5 of A Texas Son in Washington's Army

     Carl sat through some of the most formal and boring talk he had ever imagined. The only person in the whole evening that showed the least bit of enthusiasm was Samuel Adams as he implored the congress to adopt the Massachusetts Militia. No one wanted to be responsible for the creation of a standing army. No one dared to commit the kind of treason that Adams called for. John Adams could be seen staring at delegates from New York and Pennsylvania. Carl saw Franklin sitting there, occasionally snoozing. It was not at all the atmosphere he expected. It was disappointing and disheartening. Hancock spent more time telling people to shut up than people spent talking about the issues. That evening as they departed the building Carl could no longer hide his frustration. “How can everyone be so silent or coy knowing Massachusetts is under siege?” Jefferson only shrugged his shoulders. “No one wants to take the crown to task. The crown hangs its subjects just as sure as it would hang a murderer.” Carl understood this point. America wasn’t currently any better. Cowards refuse to stand up to tyrants and power goes unchecked. Humanity really hasn’t changed much in the last two hundred and fifty years. “Please tell me you managed to get our small council to agree to meet me.” Jefferson did not immediately say anything. “No, I got them to agree to meet me. I also managed to find new accommodation starting tomorrow. I would be honored if you would stay with me. It is a large house, and there is more than enough room.” Carl was taken back. He had already come to terms with being in a permanent camping status. “I would be honored sir. I thank you.” Carl sincerely gave a slight bow to Jefferson. “Good. Tonight you are on our own, but tomorrow you shall have a roof over your head. The meeting will happen tonight in my room though.” Carl expected the meeting to happen at a later date. This made sense though, it’s not like they were home and were returning to their families at night. Carl continued on with Jefferson until they arrived at his lodging. “When should we expect them?” Carl asked. Jefferson said “Well after nightfall. No need for us all to be seen together conspiring. May I buy you dinner Carl?” Carl didn’t realize his stomach was growling until he was asked to eat. He realized he had only had that one meal bar the whole day. While Jefferson had lunch with his delegates, Carl had sat quietly listening to the other delegates discuss the business of the day. He was listening to the patterns of speech and trying to change his mannerisms. “Absolutely. I haven’t eaten except that one bar all day. I have no money you see.” Just at that moment Carl remembered he actually had a ten dollar bill in his wallet. “Oh shit, Jefferson. I have something else to show you in private. You may appreciate this. He grabbed his wallet from his pants pocket and opened it up. He pulled out his two dollar bill and walked over to the light of a lamp post. Jefferson followed him. He carried a two dollar bill his grandfather gave him as a young child. He would never spend it, only carry it to remember his grandfather. “Here, I don’t know what you will think, but I am curious as to the likeness.” He looked at the bill then at Jefferson. “Nope they didn’t nail that as close as I would have hoped” Carl chuckled as he said it. “This is absurd. I am showing Thomas Jefferson a portrait of Thomas Jefferson and it doesn’t even look like you. Government at its finest.” Jefferson took the note and held it up. “Is this supposed to be me?” Carl nodded then said “aye”.

     Jefferson handed the bill back to Carl and looked disappointed. Carl did too. “Well that is something I should have kept in my pocket. I may need to be more careful in what I show in the future. “Carl and Jefferson walked toward his lodging. They stopped at a local bar and Jefferson ordered some wine and mutton. Carl asked for an ale and mutton. “I have no idea if eating this will make me sick. I can only assume that the differences in the food we eat will have an effect on me.” Jefferson did not follow his line of thinking. “The likelihood that you are immune to organisms that live in the water and I am not is quite high. I may have to stick to ale or find a way to purify my water.” Carl did have some water left in his water bottle but that wasn’t going to last forever. He hadn’t drank all day and everything about his self-care had fallen secondary to his current situation. He would need to make sure he began taking care of his self. Can’t do too many days without drinking or eating right. Carl thought to himself. After the meal and ale, they walked to Jefferson’s room. Samuel Adams was already standing at the door. John next to him. Both looking at Jefferson and Carl curiously. Jefferson opened the door and they both entered. “Any word from Washington or Franklin?” Jefferson asked the Adams cousins. Both shook their head in the negative. “Who is this then?” Sam asked. His manner of speech seemed even more British than Jefferson’s sounded Irish. “All will be explained once all the attendees arrive. I can promise you gentlemen, this will be worth your time.”

     At that moment there was a knock at the door. Both Washington and Franklin were standing there. Jefferson invited them in. The room was not very big and was beginning to feel crowded. Normally this would have driven Carl crazy. He always had to have a clear exit and know everyone around him. Now though, it didn’t even register. Jefferson introduced Carl to Franklin and Carl let Washington know it was good to see him again. Normally formalities that seemed to be the same even in Carl’s time. Jefferson began talking first. “Gentlemen. A true and great possibility is upon us. It is not the talk of revolution though. I think we can all agree that is all but concluded, even as so many fight against what is so obvious to us.” Franklin interrupted. “My time is short Mr. Jefferson, if you had wished to give your speech, the floor of congress would have been the place to do it.” Franklin began to stand up. Carl had already pressed the power button on his phone while it was still in his pants. It was booting up now. He pulled it out of his pants and placed it on the table. He walked over to Mr. Franklin, lightly placed his hand on his shoulder and said, “You are not here to listen to Mr. Jefferson. You are here to listen to me.” Carl bent down next to Franklin and Washington, secured his pack from under the bed, and walked over to the table from before. He pulled out his rifle, still in two parts and placed them on the table. He pulled out all six magazines and lined them up dress right dress. He reached into his pants and pulled out his Beretta and removed the mag and made it safe. He placed that on the table as well. He then pulled out his revolver, released the cylinder and pushed out all six bullets. He placed them on the table and then picked up his phone again. He brought up the cached video and began to play it. He turned up the volume and held it so that each person could see. The room was silent and everyone but Jefferson was staring directly at the phone. “Gentlemen what you are hearing right now is a discussion on some things that have happened already, and of many more things that will come to pass. These three weapons I have placed on the table are now one of a kind. They cannot be replicated nor can the ammunition. You do not have the technology. My name is Carl Houston, I am directly related to Samuel Houston of Virginia, whom if my history is correct, is known by General Washington here, and I was born in the year 1980 in the United States of America. What are your questions?”

     Washington smiled. Nothing seemed to be able to animate him. Samuel Adams on the other hand stood up and looked at Jefferson and said, “Do you take us for fools?” Carl slowly approached him. “You instigated the Boston Massacre to further the cause of independence. I have been brought here to hasten this cause.” Samuel Adams sat down on the bed. Very few people really knew who was behind the massacre. Carl looked at John “You defended them, because you knew what happened to those redcoats was wrong. Yet you are both here. You are cousins and both of your names will be known for as long as America survives. So far it’s made it to twenty nineteen.” He looked at Washington. “Your face will be blasted into Mount Rushmore and the Army you lead will free America of British oppression.” Carl then walked over to Benjamin Franklin. “You are the father of invention. Your face makes it on the one hundred dollar bill. You will be known for your kite experiments with electricity and are less known for the most amazing one line quotes of all the framers.” Everyone stared at Carl in disbelief. “I did not choose to come here. I went to sleep in the woods out camping, and I woke up here. I am lost, out of time. As luck would have it I was a professional Soldier and I can help you.”

     Franklin seemed to be speechless which Carl could only imagine was not normal. Jefferson also looked at each of these men trying to ascertain what they were thinking. Carl just stood there. Samuel Adams was the next to speak. “What can you do to rid Boston of the British?” Carl was glad he asked this question. It should obviously be the first order of business. “I can kill every officer in Boston before they even know what is happening. I do not adhere to the norms of combat that y’all have enacted, because I am not from your time. The world is a bloody place, and America spends more time, money, and American blood keeping that tyranny from taking over the world. No this will not be America’s final war. Yes I have idea of how to make it better in the future, although I fear I am not as learned or imaginative as the men in this room. Gentleman I learned about all of you in school. You are hanging in paintings at our nation’s capital. You are spoken about with reverence, except you Sam. You become Boston’s favorite beer. It seems unfair but people truly love their ale. I have partaken of it many times.” Carl giggled a little. He just told Samuel Adams he gets remembered as a beer but Washington gets his face carved into a mountain. Oh the egos he was helping to inflate. “What’s so funny?” John Adams did not have a smile on his face. Carl had not mentioned him yet and from what he knew of Adams that most likely did not bode well. “Mr. Adams. I am reticent to give too much detail about the next decade’s events. But I assure you that without you, America would not be a nation at all. It is why I requested you here as well. I am going to need somewhere to stay and create what I call an insurgency. In Boston I will move about with stealth, and I will create a leaderless force.” Carl put the rifle together. He performed a function check as his training dictated. A simple check to make sure everything was put together correctly and everything functioned as intended. He ran through the motions as the men sat there enthralled. He then explained how it worked. He pointed at the magazines, talked about accuracy and rate of fire. He then pushed one round out of a magazine and gave it to Mr. Franklin. “You are the father of invention, I need these replicated. The casing and the bullet must be exact or it will not shoot properly. If you cannot recreate this, I have 179 bullets and then my rifle becomes a metal stick.” Carl said “I could be a secret weapon, a subversive insurgent and I am capable of killing people from at least 300 yards away and escape before anyone even realized he had fired a round. I will kill officers, general through lieutenant. If I keep my ammunition saved for them I could render the Army leaderless in short order.”

     Carl turned and looked at Washington. “You will be the General of the continental army. I am giving away the ending, but time is important. I can help end this war in half the time, and make sure the thinkers in this room have more time to worry about a constitution.” Carl thought for a moment. “Gentlemen, I am not crazy, I am not a liar, and I am offering you the single best way to achieve independence without the years of bloodshed.” Carl reached over to his phone which had still been playing and turned the video off. He put it on stand by and placed it in his coat pocket. “Mr. Houston sir, what was that device you used to enthrall us all with?” Franklin asked “It is a mobile phone. It is quite common in my time. There is no connection for it to make in this time so it’s mostly useless, but I thought it would be a good way to get your attention.” Franklin nodded along with his words. “Oh yes Mr. Houston. You did the trick. You did quite the trick. Can you explain how this bullet works so that I may better attempt to recreate it?”

     Once all the questions and disbelief has subsided, Carl made his leave. He used James’ horse to head out into the woods. He could not believe he just gave a briefing to the framers of the country. This is some sick joke, only no one is laughing. Carl would have to kill again. Somehow he was ok with it. He arrived at a secluded area outside of the city. He tied up his horse and opened up his pack. He pulled out his sleeping bag and woobie, although now a corner of it was stiff from his dried blood. Carl found a comfortable position and had no problem falling fast asleep that night. He dreamt of SGT. Halfapple. He had gone to the battalion aid station after all the reports and status checks were complete. The only casualty had been SGT Halfapple and the machine gunner had been the only injury. His would was superficial and would not likely result in evacuation. Carl stood over Halfapple’s broken and bloody body and just stared at it. He could not cry, he could only feel anger. Then suddenly he was looking at the same woman from before. The same tree loomed over her in the background. The pool was now bigger. The battle Lexington and Concord must have been enough to offer her meager sustenance. Do not stop at our shores. Chase them to England! Carl could not believe what he was hearing. “Now I know I am going crazy. I would never take colonists and invade England. They would not agree. No, I will help self-correct as best I can, but I am not engaging in another invasion.” Liberty must survive. England needs liberty. You know what England turns into. “I don’t give a shit about England” Carl yelled. “Why are you doing this to me? Why am I the person who can do this? I don’t even understand enough of the nuance to make a good decision. How can I be expected to right the shortcomings in the greatest document ever written?” Your ancestors have fought in every major conflict. Colonel Samuel Houston is getting ready to lead the Virginia militia and fight. His son Sam will lead men to the Alamo and make his stand there. Your bloodline has helped shape America and it can be used to fix its shortcomings. It must be fixed at the source. End Slavery. End Tyranny. End Monarchs. Do not fail me Carl Houston.

     Carl woke up in his usual fright, heart pounding and head swimming. He took a moment to collect himself and looked around. It was still dark outside and the moon was still full. He listened and heard the wind blowing leaves and the sound of his horse breathing. He felt confident that no one was near him. He laid his head back down and stared at the sky. The stars were so clear. Pollution from light and smog has not yet distorted our view of the sky. So many lights out there that he could not normally see. This land truly is beautiful. Carl was feeling uneasy about the charge that he imagined in his dream. To take the fight to England would be excessive. Could he even convince Washington and the congress to do such a thing? Unlikely. This was not a war of aggression or imperialism, but of defense. Carl dismissed this and decided to continue on with his current plan. He was sure he could find another way to subvert the crown without open war.