Chapter 20

Sioux stepped out on the deck and advised Grant, Beth and Sabrina dinner was ready. When they went inside they found two folding tables set up as a serving line. There must have been three Crockpots set up, along with several platters and numerous serving dishes. There was a huge bowl of Spaghetti, a cast aluminum Dutch oven filled with a stew of some sort. Two of the Crockpots were filled with two variations of Shepherd’s pie, while the other contained some very hot chili. There was fresh baked bread, a green bean casserole and even chicken and dumplings. If anyone went away hungry, it was their own damned fault.

Al Rogers was asked to grace the food and once he finished the crowd descended on the table like locusts on a wheat field. What was extremely special, in Grant’s eyes, was the casual intermixing of people from both times and all colors. The people seemed comfortable getting to know one another and helping each other try new dishes. Grant also noticed that there were a number of downtimers whom he hadn’t met, but they seemed totally at ease with the rest of the group. Toward the end Grant remembered the prisoners and it was good that he did. There was barely enough food remaining to fix each of them a plate.

Shortly after the meal was finished Fran, Gabe and Isaac came into the house and located Grant.

Grant asked, “I think all the food has been put up or gone, but do you need us to fix you anything?”

“We’re fine,” answered Fran. “We’ve been out at the shooting range and three lovely uptimers brought food out to the men. The food and the company all helped remind the men why we must fight the King.”

“Female charm has a way of doing that,” replied Grant. “It doesn’t have to be sexual, or even physical, but just viewing and talking to a pretty woman helps make home closer and more important. We learned that important lesson almost a hundred years ago.”

“Well Julie, Kim and Marie sure didn’t make it seem like a job.”

“For them it wasn’t a job, but I’m somewhat surprised to see them reach out to you and your men like that after what they’ve been through.”

“If I can ask, what have they suffered?” asked Gabe.

“They had very abusive husbands, who used their hands to beat instead of caressing, who raped instead of loved, and who belittled instead of supporting.”

“And these husbands?”

“They’re still alive but locked away. I’m still deciding how best to handle the situation.”

“I’ve got forty-five men who could use some more target practice, if that would help,” quipped Fran.

“I’ll consider it. Now, what have you been doing while I was gone?”

“John, new Tom, Drew and I started discussing our needs and we decided we immediately needed what John called a strike force. I rounded up some men I trusted and we started working on them. Drew and Tom worked on teaching them about new weapons and John worked with us on small unit tactics. It’s not that different from Indian fighting, but when the two skills are combined with the new weapons, we’re a force to be reckoned with.”

“How much more training do they need?” asked Grant.

“Obviously I’d take as much as we can get, but John and Zeke said we could go now if we had to. We’re set up as four ten-man squads, including a sniper and a heavy weapons person. In addition, some of the uptimers with us have formed another squad with mortars, LAWS rockets and explosives.”

Grant replied, “Fran, you amaze me. When did you learn those terms?”

“Yesterday and today. I can’t use most of the weapons, but I do know what they are and how they’re used. I learned the general aspects and tactics, while your people taught mine how to use the new weapons. We’ll learn more as we go, but I think we can hit the Redcoats harder than they’ve ever been hit before.”

“We’ll have to. Have you gotten the details of their plans?”

“Yes, we got them late last night when the little boat made it home.”

“Excellent. Then, I think it’s time we hold a staff meeting and pull all this together.”

A short time later a meeting began in Grant’s office. Those in the room included Grant, of course, their historian Pat Allen, Francis Marion, Admiral and Barbara Gains, John and Sioux Ross, Thomas and Tom Lynch (Eric), Sophie, Beth and Sabrina. A map of the east coast of the United States was displayed on a large flat screen monitor hooked to Sioux’s laptop.

“Okay,” started Grant, “we’ll start with our known facts. According to the maps and orders stolen from the British courier the first wave was to hit the middle Colonies and split the Northern and Southern Colonies to keep them from being able to support each other. The ports were to be blockaded, forts destroyed and the people rounded up. The time table for this is supposed to begin in two days.”

Grant pause for this to settle in everyone’s mind, and then continued, “Now, on the way here John observed several British warships and cargo vessels entering the Cape Fear River. This is earlier than scheduled, so we don’t know if that’s a change in their plans, or if someone has jumped the gun. There was also a reported sighting of a warship of some level off our coast, which is more than two weeks early.

Now, with the original plans, if they’re still valid, some of our biggest concerns are Jefferson, Madison, Thomas Payne, and Washington. Since the King has the names of the leaders of the future revolution these will be prime targets.”

Pat added, Thomas Payne is still in England at this time, so he’s out of the picture. Thomas Jefferson’s a law student at William and Mary in Williamsburg, while James Madison is a ten year old boy in Port Conway. As for George Washington, he should have just returned to his home near Alexandria from fighting in the French and Indian War.

“How can we best reach them?” asked Fran.

Pat answered, “Assuming everyone is where they’re supposed to be, Williamsburg is only a short distance from the James River. Port Conway is about forty miles up the Rappahannock River, and Washington’s home at Mount Vernon backs up to the Potomac River.”

Grant added, “Once we get these men and their families out we can concentrate on freeing the other colonists and destroying the British Fleet.”

“John, what are the key aspects to each boat?” asked Victor.

“The Stiletto is forty-seven feet in length, with a beam just short of twelve feet. She can function easily with a crew of four, but it can hold twenty-five additional people, as we learned on the trip from North Carolina. She can draw as little as twelve inches water, and is powered by four diesels driving four props; two of the props can also be driven by electric motors. Its top speed is slightly better than seventy knots. The Rapier, Cutlass and Saber are basically standard Navy models with a length of eighty-seven feet and a beam of fourteen feet. It can again function with a crew of four, but six would be better. In blue water it can be driven and fought with only one person until its gun or missiles require reloading. She only draws eighteen inches, and is powered by four larger diesels. The electric option is not yet available, but its top speed in seas of four feet or less is over eighty knots. Finally there’s the one we named Broadsword. With the exception of using the M type hull, it’s similar in design to the USS Freedom. It’s a little over three hundred and seventy five feet long, with a beam of close to sixty feet. It’s powered by six monster diesels, plus two jet turbines that operate like the pump on a personal water craft or Jet Ski. It has a nine foot draught and we know that it’ll travel at better than sixty knots. We don’t know how much faster, because we didn’t have the diesels going all out and we didn’t have the turbines on at all. It’s got a much higher profile, but part of that’s caused by the two forty foot and two twenty-five foot boats it carries. As for armament, let’s just say it’s significant. It requires a base crew of twenty four, but has the capacity to carry more than a hundred more, with equipment.”

An impressed Admiral remarked, “That would be an impressive boat, even in our time. I’m assuming it has a standard array of sensors, radar and sonar.”

“Not exactly, Sir. I suspect there are some things on that boat that the Navy has never even contemplated.”

Grant stared at the map as others in the room discussed several options. Finally, he asked, “John, do we have enough to crew all the ships?”

“I checked around this afternoon, and I can man all but Broadsword. Of course, Cutlass has already departed for Virginia. I can put Broadsword in the water, but fighting it would be rather difficult. Most of the armament has to be fired from different locations.”

“How are we situated for Hellfire Missiles?”

“Several hundred.”

“Then get with Gerry and Brad, see if they can tie them into the Harpoon system or a separate system like we’ve on Stiletto. Just because Broadsword has all that extra stuff we don’t have to have it to fight sailing craft. Fix something that’ll work for the enemy and situation we face, and we’ll worry about the other stuff later.”

John jumped to the door, and said, “I’ll be right back.”

“Don’t be too hard on him,” cautioned Victor.

“I won’t. Actually, for him not to be Navy, I’m rather proud of what he’s done at this point.”

“Good,” replied Victor. “Now what do you have churning around in your mind?”

“My first thought is sending Broadsword to the north and Saber to the south and let them start at the extreme ends, destroying every warship and troop carrier they find. While they’re rolling in the flanks we go into Virginia and rescue the three men and start freeing the colonists and destroying the Redcoats and any that are helping them. The one other thing I really would like to do is locate McVey and find out how he got here.”

Barbara asked, “Grant, I think one element is missing, communications. Fighting this as five independent commands isn’t going to work. How far can our radios reach to form a net?”

“I need to get Jerry in here to answer that.” answered Grant.

Grant used the intercom to page Jerry, asking him to join the meeting in Grant’s office.

While waiting for Jerry, Barbara asked, “Fran, how many additional men could you raise and train in, say two days?”

“No more than twenty I’d trust with these modern weapons.”

“What’s rumbling around in your sweet head?” Victor asked his wife.

“If we could, I’d like to see us put more small teams on the ground in Virginia. We not only need to free the captives, but we need to disrupt the British and keep them disorganized.”

Grant hit the intercom and called Brad.

“Brad,” came the response.

“It’s Grant. Remember those breech loaders Tom showed us. Have you looked into making some of them?”

“I’ve been playing around with an assembly line, using some of Thomas’ slaves. We’ve got twenty or so made, but we’re running out of material, especially something useful in making barrels.”

“How many have you completed and where do we stand on ammunition for them?” asked Grant.

“We’ve thirty, and that includes our two originals. As for the ammunition, it didn’t take long to get an assembly line going. We now have several thousand rounds prepared and we can make a couple hundred an hour with only five people. Melting and pouring the lead bullets is the most time concerning aspect of production.”

“Could you use musket barrels on the new rifles?”

“I think so, but I wouldn’t know for sure until I tried.”

“Then I’ll get you some muskets to experiment with. In the meantime, start figuring a way to make a hundred rifles an hour and a thousand rounds of ammunition an hour.”

“Grant, with the machinery we currently have I doubt I could even produce a hundred rifles a day, much less in an hour. Given more lead and someone that can handle the pour, I could probably make three to five hundred rounds an hour. That’s as long as we’ve the rice paper, lead and powder.”

“Fran,” asked Grant, “how many muskets could we get our hands on by tomorrow night?”

“Muskets or rifles?”

“There’s a difference?” asked Admiral Gains.

“Muskets aren’t rifled, as rifling slows down the reloading,” answered Fran. “That’s why the standard British practice is to march three lines deep across the battlefield; one to fire, one to reload and one to get ready to fire. The idea is to put enough lead in the air that hopefully you will hit something, as at sixty yards you couldn’t successfully aim at a horse and hit it.”

“It probably won’t make a difference,” Brad finally answered. I’ll have to re-bore the rifles anyway to make a standard barrel size. That’s key to making the ammunition in bulk. Most rifle barrels currently vary slightly, which is why each gun has its own bullet mold.”

“Brad, get with Larry Rice and Drew to see if you can figure some ways to streamline the process.”

“I hadn’t thought of using Larry. If nothing else, he can take over the pours.”

“Now Fran, back to my original question.”

“If we raided the armory in Charleston we might get as many as five hundred muskets, though we would definitely alert the British that something was going on. I also know where most of the confiscated weapons are located, so that would add another three to four hundred, and we might be able to locate another hundred or so from people who hid them from the Redcoats.”