4
"I hadn't expected it to look so beautiful," said Andre as they approached the city. Andell drove the coach, while Castelli rode ahead of them, with Corwin and Drummond mounted on their horses, bringing up the rear.
Travers had clocked back to his villa in the city, to await their arrival
"It looks better from a distance. First time in Rome, eh?" Andell said.
"I've served a hitch in Rome before," said Lucas, “but for Finn and Andre, I think it's the first time. Still, Rome was very different then."
"Oh, yeah? When did you pull a tour here?"
"Second Punic War." said Lucas. "I was with Scipio in the war against Hannibal."
"No shit. Really? The old arbitration wars. I was there, too."
"You're kidding," Lucas said. "Which cohort?"
"Wrong army," Andell said with a grin. "I was with Hannibal."
Lucas frowned. “You were with
Hannibal
? How can that be? The U.S. Temporal Corps contingent was infiltrated into Roman forces during that Time War."
"I wasn't with the U.S. Temporal Corps," Andell said. "I was fighting for the Nippon Conglomerate Empire back then. Freelance mercenary."
"That explains it," said Delaney. "I was wondering why someone your age was still a sergeant.”
"Yeah. Big black mark on my record," Andell said. "Ex-mercenaries are scum of the earth, far as TAC-HQ is concerned.”
"But you're American, aren't you?" said Lucas. "So you had to start out regular Corps before you went merc. What happened?"
"I caught a real bad tour that made me want out in a big way," said Andell. "I served a hitch in the War Between the States. I was with the Union troops at Shiloh."
Delaney whistled. "That must've been a rough one."
"Tell me about it. It made the Punic Wars seem like a cakewalk. I got shot up pretty had and wound up just lying there on the damn battlefield, wondering if I was going to die or if the damn hogs were going to get to me first. There was a bunch of 'em rutting around the corpses. And some of them weren't even corpses yet. Not too far off from me, this huge pig was chewing on a guy's exposed intestines and he was still alive. I can still hear the poor bastard screaming.”
"My God." said Andre.
"It gets worse," Andell said. "Somehow, I got the strength up to crawl away and get into the woods. Packed my wounds with mud and then started trying to limp back to our lines. Only a rebel patrol found me first. I wound up in Andersonville."
"Jesus," said Delaney.
"Yeah. Maybe the worst prison in American history. But there was a Union doctor there and he managed to get me patched back up, sort of, and I eventually managed to escape with a small group of men. We made our way to Sherman's troops and then, boy, we sure got even. Eventually, S & R found me and clocked me back. I spent some time in the hospital and then took my discharge. I figured I'd had enough. Only a funny thing happened."
“You couldn't hack civilian life," said Lucas.
Andell nodded. "You know about it. huh?"
"Yeah. I quit once, too. But there was just no going back. It was either reenlist or go crazy."
"Then you understand," Andell said. "War does funny things to some people. I don't know, maybe it's that after you've danced on the edge of the sword blade, you can just never go back to ordinary life. Lot of people do, but me...” he shook his head. "I never would've figured it. I thought I'd never want to go back in the military again, but civilian life just drove me around the bend. I started drinking. Got into drugs. Got busted a few times."
"That's why you couldn't reenlist," said Delaney.
"Yeah, they don't take convicted felons in the service. So I wound up going merc. Ran into a corporate recruiter in Miami. Next thing I knew, I was on a shuttle to Tokyo. They processed me, put me through detox, then clocked me out to Spain with a merc unit they were using and we joined up with Hannibal there."
"So you were in on the crossing of the Alps?" said Lucas.
"That's right. Not exactly your average day hike. But I'll tell
"I hadn't expected it to look so beautiful," said Andre as they approached the city. Andell drove the coach, while Castelli rode ahead of them, with Corwin and Drummond mounted on their horses, bringing up the rear.
Travers had clocked back to his villa in the city, to await their arrival
"It looks better from a distance. First time in Rome, eh?" Andell said.
"I've served a hitch in Rome before," said Lucas, “but for Finn and Andre, I think it's the first time. Still, Rome was very different then."
"Oh, yeah? When did you pull a tour here?"
"Second Punic War." said Lucas. "I was with Scipio in the war against Hannibal."
"No shit. Really? The old arbitration wars. I was there, too."
"You're kidding," Lucas said. "Which cohort?"
"Wrong army," Andell said with a grin. "I was with Hannibal."
Lucas frowned. “You were with
Hannibal
? How can that be? The U.S. Temporal Corps contingent was infiltrated into Roman forces during that Time War."
"I wasn't with the U.S. Temporal Corps," Andell said. "I was fighting for the Nippon Conglomerate Empire back then. Freelance mercenary."
"That explains it," said Delaney. "I was wondering why someone your age was still a sergeant.”
"Yeah. Big black mark on my record," Andell said. "Ex-mercenaries are scum of the earth, far as TAC-HQ is concerned.”
"But you're American, aren't you?" said Lucas. "So you had to start out regular Corps before you went merc. What happened?"
"I caught a real bad tour that made me want out in a big way," said Andell. "I served a hitch in the War Between the States. I was with the Union troops at Shiloh."
Delaney whistled. "That must've been a rough one."
"Tell me about it. It made the Punic Wars seem like a cakewalk. I got shot up pretty had and wound up just lying there on the damn battlefield, wondering if I was going to die or if the damn hogs were going to get to me first. There was a bunch of 'em rutting around the corpses. And some of them weren't even corpses yet. Not too far off from me, this huge pig was chewing on a guy's exposed intestines and he was still alive. I can still hear the poor bastard screaming.”
"My God." said Andre.
"It gets worse," Andell said. "Somehow, I got the strength up to crawl away and get into the woods. Packed my wounds with mud and then started trying to limp back to our lines. Only a rebel patrol found me first. I wound up in Andersonville."
"Jesus," said Delaney.
"Yeah. Maybe the worst prison in American history. But there was a Union doctor there and he managed to get me patched back up, sort of, and I eventually managed to escape with a small group of men. We made our way to Sherman's troops and then, boy, we sure got even. Eventually, S & R found me and clocked me back. I spent some time in the hospital and then took my discharge. I figured I'd had enough. Only a funny thing happened."
“You couldn't hack civilian life," said Lucas.
Andell nodded. "You know about it. huh?"
"Yeah. I quit once, too. But there was just no going back. It was either reenlist or go crazy."
"Then you understand," Andell said. "War does funny things to some people. I don't know, maybe it's that after you've danced on the edge of the sword blade, you can just never go back to ordinary life. Lot of people do, but me...” he shook his head. "I never would've figured it. I thought I'd never want to go back in the military again, but civilian life just drove me around the bend. I started drinking. Got into drugs. Got busted a few times."
"That's why you couldn't reenlist," said Delaney.
"Yeah, they don't take convicted felons in the service. So I wound up going merc. Ran into a corporate recruiter in Miami. Next thing I knew, I was on a shuttle to Tokyo. They processed me, put me through detox, then clocked me out to Spain with a merc unit they were using and we joined up with Hannibal there."
"So you were in on the crossing of the Alps?" said Lucas.
"That's right. Not exactly your average day hike. But I'll tell
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