Eric Flint: TITLE: Grantville Gazette.Volume XVIII

"Well, yes, I am proud of the train crews."

"Andersen, you are not a warrior. A warrior would bask in the glory of his awards. And lecture on the honor of combat. No, Andersen. You are a soldier. You see war as a necessary job, a dirty job, but a job that needs doing."

Anse thought about her words. Finally, he broke the silence. "You're a pretty smart lady. Did you just figure that out?"

"I knew you were a soldier the day you and Sergeant Rau came to teach my telegraph girls self defense. You didn't talk about honorable fighting or fair play. You said they were to use anything they had and any method that worked. You told them to fight in pairs and to shoot without warning. To backstab and cheat; anything to keep them alive."

Anse smiled a real smile. "Hey, they're all good kids. They needed a touch of the real world."

"Yes, they are good kids… and some of them will live to be a lot older because of you."

They rode in silence for a while. Then Anse gave a sigh. "You're right. I do see the battle some nights when I try to sleep."

"Will it help to tell me?"

"There was this one French sergeant that stands out. He was the bravest man I ever saw. He walked across that field with nothing but a little spear. He was following the orders of fools and he knew it. He was an older man. We were tearing the French line to pieces and this sergeant just kept leading his men. He made it across three hundred yards of pure hell and I killed him."

Leonore waited to see if there was more. Then she touched Anse's shoulder. "If you had not shot him, would he have reached your men? Would he have continued to fight, maybe killed or wounded some of your people?"

"Sure. You could tell he was a fighter. He wouldn't have surrendered without orders."

"Then I am glad you shot him. It was the right thing to do. Brave or not, he was the enemy."

Leonore could tell her words had affected him. "Andersen, what would your Johanna have done if you acted like you have been?"

"Leonore, that's fighting dirty. But she would have kicked my ass."

"Yes, it is fighting dirty. But I had a good teacher. Consider your ass kicked. You are too tall and I had the cobbler put steel caps in the toes of my boots."

Anse grinned. It was almost the old Anse grin she remembered.

Henry was surprised to find Anse and Hagen at the table for breakfast the next morning. Hagen being there was not the surprise; he had been having breakfast with Henry since he had arrived more than two months before. But Anse had been sleeping in for most of the same period. Sleeping in until noon, if the truth was told. Anse was not only up, but dressed in a neatly ironed chambray shirt and blue jeans. Even more surprising, Anse had dug out the old manual typewriter from the basement and was banging away on it one handed.

"Good morning, Hank," Anse said with a grin. "Just a minute and I'll clear this stuff out of your way. I'm just finishing up." He rolled the sheet of paper out of the typewriter and signed his name to the bottom of it.

"You're bright and chipper this morning for some one who came in as late as you did. I was up getting a drink at two and you were still out."

"Yeah. The meeting ran late."

"Huh?" Henry said. "What meeting? I thought you were out with Leonore?"

"I was, but we went to a meeting with Ruben Blumroder and some of his cronies. You know what they say, once a political organizer always a political organizer. And Leonore was a good organizer."

Henry was still trying to make sense of this. "So you went shopping and after dinner you went to a political meeting?"

"Naw. We skipped the shopping and we ordered dinner in. We ran into Ruben on our way to town and the meeting just grew."

"It sounds like an interesting evening."

"No, it doesn't. It sounds boring as hell, but it wasn't. Ruben and Leonore know a lot about the politics behind this war we're in." Anse picked up the typewriter and carried it to the cabinet, then started to gather his papers.

Henry looked at the papers. He knew Anse was a slow typist when he had both hands, now… "Did you get any sleep last night?"

"Not really, I fell asleep about four. Woke up around five thirty and have been up ever since. I started on this about six, after I got dressed." Anse waved the papers.

"May I ask what was so important you started typing at six o'clock in the morning?"

Anse smiled. Henry could tell that he was bursting to tell his secret, but wanted to act mysterious. "My future, Hank. It's my future."

Hagan stood up and started walking to the door. "Herr Johnson, Chief, if you will excuse me I am going to watch the morning news. I have already heard this. Twice."

Henry waited until he was sure Hagen was gone. "Anse you were pretty down yesterday. This is a big change. Are you sure you're all right?"

Anse's grin faded. "I'm getting there, Hank. I know I'll have some bad days ahead, but I am getting better. I appreciate you and Dora trying to help. I know it was hard on you guys."

"Hey, we're family. We care what happens to you."

Anse's smile was back. "Still, I was making it rough on you. I guess it took Leonore to make me really look at what I was doing to the people around me. The people I care about. She has a way with words."

"That she does. She surely does; I could hear her down in the shop. She has a very good vocabulary too. Now what is this about your future? What are you planning?"

"That's why I was reading too late last night. I was reading military regulations; I wanted to get this right." Anse flipped over the first sheet. "This is my application for medical retirement. If the army ever gets around to paying some kind of pension, I'll be eligible."

"Okay. That's a good first step. What are the other papers?" . "This is a letter to the Suhl City Council. I am applying for citizenship. I took your words about a fresh start seriously. I'm moving to Suhl."

Henry would be sorry to see Anse go, but anything was better than the funk he had been in.

Anse continued, "This is a letter to Pat about his job offer; saying thanks but no thanks. And this is another to Gary Reardon saying the same thing.

"So you took Ruben's offer? You're going to take over his shop?"

"Sort of," Anse answered. "Just until I get my Suhl citizenship, then Ruben is going to have one of his cousins come in and run the shop."

Henry decided to sit down. This was going to get complicated and Anse was dragging it out. "Okay, cut to the chase. What are you going to do after you quit working for Ruben? And don't string it out. I want to know now, not to hear a long shaggy dog story."

Anse grinned. "I'm going into politics. We worked it out last night."

Henry was flabbergasted. Anse was one of the most non-political people he knew. This was bad. "We worked it out… as in you, Leonore and Ruben?"

"I did mention there were a couple of Ruben's friends at the meeting, didn't I? One was one of Francisco Nasi's people from intelligence. Another was Jorg Hennel, the CoC guy I met in Suhl."

Henry had to set his coffee down. This was worse than bad. One of Nasi's spies, the CoC, and Anse going into politics. This was really bad. He waved for Anse to continue.

Instead of continuing, though, Anse got up and went to the door. After opening it a crack and peering out, he closed it and turned back to the table. "I didn't tell Hagen this part. He doesn't need the worry. What do you know about the gun trade in Suhl?"

"Just what you and Pat have told me. And, of course, there was your trip two years ago to investigate the illegal gun trade. That whole 'mutiny' business has been the talk of the town ever since." Mutiny, hell. Anse had legalized an uprising that left a body count near a hundred.