Orchid Blues

35

Ham walked down the line of shooters, who were in the prone firing position, kicking their feet farther apart, telling them to get their arms vertically under the stock and to relax. They were dry-firing at paper targets no more than twenty-five feet away.

"When do we get to fire?" one of them asked.

"When you can hold the weapon steady enough and pull the trigger slowly enough to keep a bead on the center of that target without any movement whatsoever."

Ham glanced at John, who was standing a few feet away, watching the procedure.

John gave Ham a big smile. "That's telling 'em," he said.

Ham walked over and stood beside him. "They all think they're hotshots," he said. "They don't like being made to dry fire, but dry firing can make the difference between firing expert and constantly looking at Maggie's drawers." He was referring to the red flag that was waved by the checker when a shooter had missed the target entirely.

"How long will you keep them at it?"

Ham called out to the group. "Who's getting it right every time?"

A skinny kid in camouflage fatigues that were too large for him raised his hand.

"Okay, son," Ham said, "you go on over to the range and have them put up a target for you. I'll come take a look at it after a while."

The boy got up and left.

"Depends on the shooter," Ham said. "That boy might turn out to be good. We'll know in a little while."

"I'm surprised they're not all raising their hands," John said.

"They won't do that, because I've already told them that if they pass themselves too quickly, then screw up on the range, I'll send them back to dry firing, and that would be humiliating."

"You sound like you've done some time as a drill sergeant, Ham," John said.

"I've done some time at just about everything an NCO can do in the army," Ham replied.

"You know," John said, placing a friendly hand on Ham's shoulder, "I think you're going to fit in just perfectly around here."

"Nice of you to say so," Ham replied. "Now maybe you'll answer a question for me."

"Sure. What do you want to know?"

"Who the hell are you, and what's going on around here?"

John burst out laughing. "You get right to the point, don't you, Ham?"

"Why waste your time and mine?"

"Let's go over there and sit down," John said, nodding toward a picnic table under an oak tree. They went and sat down. John put a cooler on the table. "You want a beer?"

"Sure," Ham said. "It's hot out here."

John handed him a Budweiser, and they both popped the tops. He took a long swig and set the beer on the table. "Ham," he said, "let me tell you about you."

"Okay," Ham replied.

"You're like a lot of our folks; you don't like the direction the country has taken since-"

"Since the Vietnam war," Ham said.

"Right. That was the breaking point for a lot of us. The politicians got us into a shooting war and wouldn't let us win it. The result of that, among other things, is that blacks and Jews started to get more political power, to the point that you can't really get anything done in this country unless you kiss their asses."

"That's God's truth," Ham said.

"Now you're out of the army that gave you a reason to live for thirty years," John said, "and you're bored rigid."

"Right again."

"What would you say if I told you I could offer you work that would, one, end your boredom, and two, help bring about a new American revolution, one that would put real people like you and me in power?"

Ham looked him in the eye. "I'd say that's a mighty big statement."

"I can back it up," John said.

"I'm listening."

"All right. I have two things that will help me make it happen: one, I've got the makings of an army of absolute loyalists who are being trained to make that revolution happen, and two, I've got the financial means to support the effort-or I will have, and sooner rather than later."

"I'm still listening," Ham said.

"Ham, you've been a noncom for most of your adult life. How would you like to be a general?"

Ham allowed himself a small smile.

"You'd be good at generating, wouldn't you?"

"You're damn right I would, but if you try to take over the country, you're going to have to deal with the military, and that's a very big job."

"Think back on your military experience, Ham. How many officers you knew would fit into the kind of revolution I'm talking about?"

"Damn few."

"But the enlisted men and noncoms were a different story, weren't they."

"They were. A lot of them were smarter than the officers who commanded them." Ham was getting good at lying.

"So, you see, we don't have to fight the military. We take it over, and we do so by elevating the noncoms to command status."

"And you do that by eliminating the officers?"

"Not all of them," John said. "There are some who can be trusted. We're already in touch with a lot of them."

"So you're talking about getting rid of most of the officers, establishing martial law with a new military, then dumping the Constitution?"

"No, no, no," John said. "The Constitution of the United States is a magnificent document, a blueprint for the perfect society. The problem is the people who are interpreting it and enforcing it. What we need is about five years of military dominance to cleanse this country of its worst elements and to establish a new judiciary. Then we can hold elections with confidence. Free elections are a wonderful thing, when you're dealing with an electorate purged of anti-Christian elements and reeducated to think about their country in a new way."

"Well, that's all very exciting," Ham said, "but do you really think you can pull this off?"

"I don't believe in fantasy, Ham; I deal in reality. The right man, with the support of like-minded people like you, can make his own reality."

"Nothing like this has ever been done before," Ham said, shaking his head.

"Sure it has," John replied. "Go back and look at Germany in the twenties and thirties. Adolf Hitler did something very like what I'm talking about. He didn't lead the sort of revolution they had in Russia; instead, he infiltrated his country's institutions, built public support, co-opted industry and the army, and, in a very few years, got himself elected dictator with over ninety percent of the vote. It can be done here, too."

"Well," Ham said, gazing at the lake, "this is all pretty breathtaking."

"I understand how you feel, Ham, and you're right to be skeptical. You stick with me, and by the time a few weeks have passed, you'll see a bigger picture, and you'll come to know in your very bones that what I've been telling you can and will happen."

"I'm looking forward to learning," Ham said.

John clapped him on the shoulder. "Great! Now you get back out there and make marksmen of those boys. We're going to need them!"

Ham walked back toward his students in a daze.