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Allison; Taking Control Chapter 109
Caldwell shook his head. “We can’t have more than three hours of darkness left to us at this point... but I’ll be buggered if I simply turn about and run off with our task undone. I couldn’t so much as face the Captain if we did that.” He then lifted his head and looked intently off into the darkness to the East.James grasped his thinking almost immediately and he didn’t like it one bit. “Oh... oh no! Not again! Henry, are you daft? I’d swear our last trip through the rills and ridges out there made me bleed far more than that splinter in the arm ever did!” He held out the still bandaged forearm to which he referred.“There’s no help for it, I’m afraid,” Caldwell told him. “Anyway, I do believe there’s another rise just east of here that will more than suit our purpose. It should be an easier ascent than the first ridge we scaled, at least at initially, and we should be able to move up onto higher ground by concealing ourselves on its southern slope and moving under the trees.” He r
Allison; Taking Control Chapter 110
“Well, what now?” James asked as he and Caldwell ducked back behind the pile of logs. “We can congratulate ourselves after a fashion for making it here under such horrid conditions, but that alone will serve no purpose. I’m forced to repeat my previous question: how do we determine just who or what is in there?”Caldwell looked as if he was about to reply with something less than definite when providence managed to intervene on their behalf yet again, though it was not at first clear exactly what was happening. Shouts and calls echoing up from further down the narrow road preempted Caldwell’s response. Both men ducked down and silently moved further to their right so as to observe the unfolding scene from the screen of heavy brush.A torch-bearing advance guard of marching soldiers, conceivably a detachment of the large unit which had come toward Saint-Pierre earlier, tramped up the slope. Following behind were even more men, with muskets at the ready, escorting what was clearly a gr
Allison; Taking Control Chapter 111
“Arrêtez!” came the shouted command in French to stop. Before the two disguised British officers could even react, five of the vigilant fellow’s nearby brethren had moved in to surround them. Taken unawares, Caldwell and James instinctively raised their hands. The discovered men were then promptly urged out into the clearing by the soldiers’ bayoneted muskets. The man who had originally discovered them made no effort to interrogate them or to find out who they were. He immediately began to call out to another a short distance away whom Caldwell could tell from the soldier’s address was a sergeant. The men who captured them then began to walk them in that general direction.This was dire. Everything the Philadelphia men had accomplished was about to be brought to nothing by a wretched barking dog. Almost as if to taunt the men it discovered, the vile scrawny creature was still milling about nearby yapping and growling toothily at them while wagging its tail. Both British officers knew
Allison; Taking Control Chapter 112
“Qui êtes-vous? Parlez, maintenant!” growled the sergeant threateningly, insisting they speak.Caldwell was just about to feign a weak answer when a volley of musketry crackled from a nearby alleyway. Five of the French soldiers immediately crumpled to the ground, while the sergeant and the one remaining foot soldier wheeled around to face whatever it was that just surprised them. All at once a group of yelling, shadowy forms charged through the floating cloud of smoke left by the musket discharge. Seen in the guttering light of the lanterns which had been dropped to the ground, the last standing soldier uttered a disgusting gurgle as the blood-soaked point of a bayonet protruded through the back of his neck. At the same time, two attackers grabbed the reins of the sergeant’s horse while a third pinned the man’s sword arm and pulled him down bodily from the saddle. The third assailant then brandished his own sword and slammed the point into the sergeant’s chest several times before dr
Allison; Taking Control Chapter 1
Leaning against the thick, oaken bulkhead, the naval officer in blue uniform crossed his arms in a quiet manner. His mind stubbornly refused to stop thinking about the singular circumstance in which he found himself, despite every effort to the contrary.Despite the fact that one of my greatest goals in life has been accomplished, all I can do is remain here in fear. I swear before Almighty God that I feel as though I know even less right now than I did before this all started, despite everything I've been given—attention, praise, trust, and responsibility—as well as the miles I've traveled and every letter bearing my name.Why me? And why does it appear that I will always be puzzled?Despite everything he had learned or predicted up until that point, Lieutenant Rane Allison still couldn't believe he had been chosen for this position despite the Royal Navy's abundance of skilled, experienced, and senior officers. Even though he didn't know exactly what his primary mission was, the stra
Allison; Taking Control Chapter 2
A blur of half-spoken farewells to his fellow wardroommates and a mad dash to gather his personal belongings and transport them to the pier along with his sea chest made up the little time he had left. Although he had not had a chance to explain his situation to any of the other officers, his fellow officers could clearly see that he was in shock. He suffered greatly as a result of being compelled to essentially disregard the suggestions made by his peers and friends, but there was no allowing for it. As he tried to focus on this, the latest challenge he faced as an officer in His Majesty's Navy, Allison sometimes felt as though he had to swallow hard to hold back tears.When it was finally time for him to disembark, he was somewhat reassured by the fact that his closest friend on the Praetorian, Lieutenant Tolbert Henry, was officer of the watch. He was saluted as Allison, dressed appropriately in overcoat and uniform, approached him amidships. Henry saluted back, gave him permission
Allison; Taking Control Chapter 3
He looked straight into Allison's eyes. But Kelvin, isn't that not the case? He took a brief pause to let those words sink in.There is no damage caused.Now put your attention on helping us get through this storm. James was smart, a good leader, and a good seaman, but Allison remembered that he was a junior lieutenant even more than he was. While it was Allison's responsibility as their commander to ensure that the crew's general lack of experience did not ultimately triumph over them, many of the officers in this crew lacked years."Aye, captain," I say. James replied, appearing to have recovered from his embarrassment.He continued with greater assurance, "I also wanted to suggest, sir, if I may, that so long as current conditions do not worsen further, we maintain the sail we have set." This mess started out pretty badly, but now that it's here, I think we can get through it.“Agreed for the time being,” Allison said, still securing his hat against the wind and gazing out at the pitc
Allison; Taking Control Chapter 4
Despite the fact that there was not a single building visible on that pitch-black section of New Jersey road, Allison was content to be outside of that cursed carriage.He was desperate to eat something and get a good night's sleep. However, despite the fact that he had been informed that everything would be arranged, despite the tasty and filling food, there were still no available rooms. The landlady offered to ask one of her guests to sleep in the common room that night and expressed her sincere regret for the oversight. But the gentlemanly aspects of Allison's character wouldn't let him hear about it, so he said he would do it himself, tired as he was.However, Allison decided to take a break from the cold on the veranda before retiring for the night. He was still experiencing some restlessness as a result of the day's far-reaching events.To think that just a few hours earlier, he was sitting in the wardroom of a line ship, confident about his future! Everything had apparently vani
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