by Clay Moore
“I think I will. I might need an extra pair of hands. And he has stood over the top and watched William cut into people to remove bullets and things. He’s got a strong stomach.”
“OK, I’ll get you a driver and a brougham.”
Rowena decided that she liked take-charge Gladys. Rowena agreed that she needed to be in jodhpurs and a shirt as well. She told Johnny to get into his Blue jeans and shirt and his boots.
Johnny wasted no time to do as his mom wanted. He sensed adventure, and they were going to let him experience it with them. He was not asked, but he included his satchel, which he put over his shoulder.
Rowena and Johnny were done pretty much at the same time. She also took a satchel and William’s bag. She and Johnny went outside got into the brougham that was waiting for them.
On their clockwork motorbikes, William and Thomas were able to get to the White House before any of their group. They stormed in, ignoring protocol, and went straight to the room where he had his cabinet meetings. They felt justified to break into the cabinet meeting. They did show their badges to everybody to let them know they had a right. William took the lead.
“We have knowledge of a possible attack upon the White House to obtain the plans for the breech-loading naval gun. We think that there is sufficient force of over 200 automata that might make an assault upon this house.”
Thomas watched the Director of the Secret Service whispering into the ear of the Secretary of the Treasury. Thomas did his own whispering into Williams’s ear.
“The Director is telling our story to the Treasury Secretary.”
William watched the byplay between the Director and the Secretary.
“Mr. President, the Director of the Secret Service told me that this is a true statement. In fact, he saw these automaton attacking his special agents and fought them off with his agents.”
President Lincoln looked at William and Thomas. “You are both the Clarion once more.” Lincoln picked up a bell and rang it. A servant entered the conference room and stood by the President.
“Noah, I want you to run out to the army encampment on the lawn. I want you to find Captain Strother. Tell him to get to my office now.”
The freed slave nodded his head and ran out of the conference room. Thomas felt that it was his time to talk.
“William sent our rescue party back to the house. They’re supposed to call up all available agents and they’re to come here. They’re also supposed to bring ammunition. I assume that the company that was stationed here has been issued our electromagnetic rifles.”
“That was one of the first things I had them do, Thomas.” Lincoln thought that they were children’s weapons until he fired one at a target.
“Good, most of the ammunition in William’s ammunition locker is for the Electromagnetic weapons.”
Captain Strother ran into the conference room at a full run. He saluted Lincoln.
“Captain Strother I’m going to do something rather unusual. Special agent William Hazard will be in overall command of the defense of the White House from attack by automata. The second in command will be Thomas Derek, also a special agent. You’ll be in charge of your company, but I’m placing the company in William Hazard’s capable hands. Do you understand?”
Captain Strother turned to William Hazard and saluted. “What are your orders, sir.”
“I know she’s gonna try something like assaulting the North facing barricades. Have your men ready to stand to.”
Captain Strother saluted William and then ran out of the conference room. Shortly after the Captain sprinted out of the conference room, they heard the bugler sound assembly. William calmed down quite a bit after that.
“What I don’t understand William,” said Lincoln, “is how could they have produced that many automata?”
“The toymaker had produced what he called his daughter. From what Thomas told me his wife made her mind while he made her body. In every way that he could he made her look like maturing young girl. It’s Thomas’s conjecture that she is for all intents and purposes a thinking Machine.”
Thomas knew it was his turn to add to the narrative. “Mr. President, what are you have to understand is that these are machines. They don’t need a break they can operate every hour of every day. It would be easy for such a workforce to build a small army in just a few days.”
“You know that they are coming here. How do you know that?”
“Mr. President, I spent three hours in conversation with Evangeline. That is her name. There is one driving order left from her father. I believe it had something to do with completing his commission for the Confederacy. It is this desire of his that is shaping what she is doing. If he died without telling her to do that, I think we might have a different conversation with her.”
Lincoln understood what William and Thomas thought about the automaton called Evangeline. He also was intrigued by the idea that she might have achieved sentience. If he believed that, then he had to treat her as a normal human being. He could not do that. Perhaps if this had happened during the times of peace, they could have expected it. He could not be dragged down by fighting a particular battle of words when he had to fight real battles.
“William, and especially you, Thomas, we cannot afford the time to wrangle over whether or not she is a person. If she is on the line, she is to be destroyed. Yes, if her body is found, Thomas you can have it to study.”
“Thank you, mr. President,” said Thomas realizing for the first time that the friend he knew was The President.
Lincoln’s Chief of Staff asked a very pertinent question, “should we evacuate the White House?”
Lincoln looked at William.
“We have the company of infantry here using electromagnetic rifles. We’re going to be joined by I don’t know how many Secret service agents. Each one of those is going to be carrying electromagnetic pistol. They may even be carrying an electromagnetic rifle. This is the safest place because army also put up barricades. The agents as they arrive will also be carrying ammunition.”
Then Lincoln hit on a really nasty idea. There were a few of his secretaries that he needed to have gone. If he challenged their manhood and they shrunk from the coming defense, he could ask for their resignation. They would be obliged to give it.
“Do we have any of those electromagnetic rifles left for us to use?”
“I believe that Thomas sent down 200 of the electromagnetic rifles.”
“OK, let’s arm the cabinet and take our place on the line.”
The Director of the Secret Service got up and started for the armory. He counted all the heads at the table. And he left taking William and Thomas with him.
When they were safely outside of the room, the Director was simply chuckling. He explained the politics of the situation.
“I don’t think any of those cabinet members ever wanted to be in the line of fire. I have no doubt that if they do get a room and in the course of this, they will use that to get themselves elected to Congress.”
“I don’t see them serving on the line. I see The Cabinet back inside of the White House shooting out of windows. I have no doubt that they will tell the story the way you think that they will.”
“I certainly will not assign anybody to protect them. They will be their own protection. I hope they stay within the bounds and not to try to run for it.”
William looked at the men of the Cabinet. They all had a concerned look on their faces as if they were going to die. With that kind of attitude, they will die. He knew what he could do stiffen their spines.
“Your attention please,” said William to the cabinet officials. “It is safest if you remain within the White House. These good old walls should keep out all of the projectiles from clockwork.”
The relief exuding from them was almost palpable. When the Cabinet heard that they were going to have to man the line, they thought about running. No doubt, Mr. Lincoln would have to replace quite a few of them if they had run.
William, as a Maj
or of the US Army Cavalry, had to deal with men on the edge of cowardice. Most men were not cowards but were not used to a battle situation. Part of the training was to actually stand in the line and give fusillade. Case in point was the Director of the Secret Service.
He had never been in the line of battle. Still, in helping Gladys, Thomas, and William repel the automaton’s attack, he had seen the elephant and could no longer be shaken.
Director proudly wore his electromagnetic gun. He was an extra pair of hands to move things from the armory to staging areas near the front line. It was he who assigned each cabinet member to a specific window. When he was finished with that, he went outside to stand with William and Thomas.
While he was talking with William, he noticed 10 more men and women ride into the White House. A carriage followed them loaded to the top with ammunition and weapons. The army took the transport and spread out the ammo and the guns.
One of the women was Gladys, who dismounted and rushed into her man’s arms. Thomas must’ve learned a lesson Gladys wanted him to learn. He did not object to her appearance at the point of combat. He simply said that he could not turn down Gladys because of how good a shot she was. William knew that to be true. He only managed to outpoint her by the narrowest of margins.
That group was followed by another group of Secret Service agents and a surprise for William. He was surprised to see in this group both Rowena and Johnny. Rowena had his medical bag and a box full of medical supplies from his supply lockers. He was glad to see the medical supplies, but both Rowena and Johnny were something he did not want to see at the front lines.
He intercepted Rowena before she could get into the White House. Johnny knew that a fight was about to start. Johnny was surprised at how little Rowena and William argued. Rowena and his father would fight tooth and nail a lot. Johnny loved his father, but probably the best thing that happened to him was to become one of the honored dead. The determination on William’s face told Johnny that he was probably about to see a knockdown, drag-out fight.
“What are you doing here, Rowena?”
“It pleases me that you are concerned for my safety, William.”
“I am strongest when you are safe.”
“I cannot remain behind when there is something that I can do to mitigate suffering and maybe death. I have learned a lot by watching you. Please, let me do this. I have to do this.”
William looked into her pleading eyes. His heart melted. They did need someone that can administer first aid. His answer was to take her into his arms and kiss her.
Johnny watched Williams capitulation to his mother’s intransigence. He wondered how his mother could do that because when Johnny decided that he wanted something from William, he used the same tactic and got his butt tanned. Johnny thought that his mother was fighting with something a little different than a little boy’s petulance.
William showed them to the Doors and the room that William had reserved for the first aid station. When they got an actual doctor, it would become the surgery. William could not assist the doctor in the surgery, but Rowena could and would.
Rowena noticed that all the men and women in civilian clothes wore their Secret Service special agent badge. She thought that will make those people a little bit more visible. At least with the women in pants and shirts and no makeup, they could probably dress up as women and get away with not being noticed. Sometimes men could just be fools.
William was not one of those foolish men. He had a legitimate concern with her being here. William expressed to her his reasons. Then she gave her intentions, and he desisted. He still did not like it. She could tell by the set of his shoulders that he would prefer that she stayed in the house.
Williams was cut off with his thoughts when someone yelled, “What’s that clacking noise.”
William ran to the front line. It appeared that the automaton had arrived.
The automaton formed up in rows; The first row was the small automaton. They did not have the skin or the clothes of the guardsmen. Instead, they were the armatures of the guardsmen doll. They still have their guns. Behind five rows of guardsmen, were life-size gorilla automaton without the skin. These automata were more robust than the little men.
They stopped a pistol shot away. To William, it was apparent that they were waiting to determine how far they could shoot. This was part of knowing an enemy, according to Sun Tzu. Evangeline wanted to know how does the union fight wars.
Using a spyglass, he trying to find where Evangeline was. With her ability to communicate through wireless, she did not necessarily need to be on the battle to conduct it. If, as he thought, they had a way of seeing what her automaton sees through wireless, she does not even need to be in sight.
The first rank of guardsmen aimed their electromagnetic rifles. William ordered them all to duck below the barricade. When the waves of spikes went overhead, William had the infantry staying low and fire a volley into the automaton.
William noticed that five infantry hit with the spikes, and eight of the guardsman were blown apart. William called for Thomas and the Captain.
“lot more people are going to die or get hurt. I want to try something. We can’t let them set the pace of combat. So what I wanna do is use something that Thomason I did almost a year ago. I want us to drive our steel steeds. We will go ripping through their formation We will drop a few presents and see how many of those we can take with us. I think we can get away with us because we will be moving as fast as possible and the hand grenades that we drop are going to be very useful. What do you think?”
“The more I study the war tactics of both sides of the Civil War, I understand the need for maneuver. We’re stuck here in a defensive position. If we use our steel steeds, we will be maneuverable. We can slash in, drop our hand grenades, and slash out.”
“And when you do that you will gain their attention. And I can allow my men independent fire.”
William looked at the captain for a long time. Then he nodded and handed the man his communication device.
“When we get ready to Drive through their formation, we will let you know on that device. When we are ready to come and do it again we will also let you know. That is so that you can get down behind the barricades. Our grenades have ball bearings in them, so they may come at you.”
“I will order it done. Good luck to you both.”
William and Thomas went over to where their clockwork motorbikes were. There was a case of their grenades. The grenades were about the size of a baseball. They had about an effective radius of 8 feet around where the grenade landed. He took a coil of slow match. He uncoiled it and cut it in half. He gave the other piece to Thomas. William lit the end of his slow match with the lighter that Thomas made. Thomas offered the end of his slow match, and William lit it too.
They stuff their coat pockets with grenades; William coiled his slow match around his hat’s crown. Thomas copied him.
William turned the key of his clockwork motorbike. He engaged the throttle and drove his bike out of the compound surrounding the White House. He drove down to about 100 yards away from the battle. He took a grenade out of his pocket. Then he drove towards the action as quickly as he could. When he was close, he lit the fuse with the slow matching of this hat. He went through the ranks of the automaton. He dropped his grenade and drove away really quick.
Thomas followed him but not in his exact wake. He let his grenade and dropped it. And he followed William as fast as William was going. They stopped a couple blocks away and turned around;. They could hear the sharp explosion of both grenades in succession. They didn’t listen to the cheer of the infantry.
“Thomas, could you ask the captain for the damage assessment.”
Thomas did just that.
“The two grenades took out about 19 of them.”
“OK,” said Thomas, “we’re coming through again.”
William took out another grenade. He then started going towards the White House as fast as he could. Wi
lliam rolled through the ranks of automaton. He dropped his grenade and drove as fast as he could out. Thomas repeated following him but on a different line through the automaton.
When the captain reported, it was with a jubilant voice.” They’re running!”
William looked at Thomas, not understanding.” I thought that these would not have any morale.”
“Remember William these are not individuals. They have no emotions.”
“Damn, I forgot my Sun Tzu. Evangeline was in overall control of these automaton. She has a semblance of emotions. Her Will was broken. Perhaps she had no answer for our grenades. Rather than get her people killed she caused them to retreat.”
They drove back to the White House. Once they got off their clockwork motorbikes, they were assailed by individual agents and infantry. It took a while, but each man’s woman managed to work their way to their man. They hugged them after they took out the slow smoking match from their hats. They had to take care of a little business of putting the grenades back into the crate.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Friction at Home
*****
WILLIAM AND THOMAS had to stay and help reload the carriage with ammunition that had not been expended. The captain reported that he thought that between the grenade in hand and the fire from the infantry, they had probably destroyed 50 of the guardsman automaton.
They drove their clockwork motorbikes back to the mansion. When they had seen to their clockwork motorbikes into the garage in the basement’s first level, they walked up to the main level. They had the kitchen crew prepare a quick meal.
The first group of special agents came in. Their suits were rumpled. They had a haggard look on their face. When they saw William and Thomas standing beside a table groaning with cold cuts, hot soups, fresh bread, and ice-cold beer.
As they were enjoying this midday meal, William looked at them all. He was looking for that one person that got hit and did not know it. This group had holes in their suits, or shirts showing that they had been on the front line. He also noticed that they had empty magazines. The Secret Service this day had covered itself with glory.
