Ten Minutes Fast, Chapter 37, "Transformation"
Hennessy is walking as if in a dream through a wooded winter landscape. There is snow on the ground. He's cold. His feet are freezing, feels like frostbite. His ears are stinging red ice despite his hat and scarf covering them. It's predawn cold with gray light just beginning to show. There are men around, lots of men, and horses, all huddled up cold, exhaling breath clouds of vapor against the backdrop of harsh winter weather ... and the harsh odds against them.
They are walking in place to stay warm, voices, murmurs of conversations expressing what sounds like concern. Camp fires are burning with the comforting sweet smell of wood smoke despite the bitter cold and threatening sense of something ominous to come. Hennessy sees stacks of guns and long rifles ... muskets. Rows of cannons.
It's the WInter of 1777-1778. Hennessy is at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. He's at the winter encampment of the Continental Army under the command of General George Washington during the height of the American Revolutionary War.
Valley Forge ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valley_Forge
(Author's Note:?This Thomas Baker novel is largely based on true events. Some chapters are preordained with creative license in order to move the story along. This story follows Baker's 'Sunset Playland', 'Sweet Land of Liberty', 'Something for Nothing', 'Exodus Afghanistan: A Personal Story', and his 'Burnt Bridges and Loose Ends'. All of these books can be seen, posted chapter by chapter in their original and unedited manuscript form in search of a formal publisher, on this LinkedIn web page in the "Featured" and "Activity" sections. Some names and places, and dates, have been changed for privacy, personal protection, and national security)
Ray Hennessy is a man true to his core nature. You can't say that about many people. He and Baker were childhood friends growing up on the streets of Brooklyn. Baker received a degree in geology from Utah State University, but his Vietnam War era experience (see 'Sunset Playland') disrupted his life's course affecting his attitude and perspective of government institutions and authority. He is especially wary of politicians. He is not easily fooled and does not suffer fools gladly. Baker's "guilty until proven innocent" position on many issues, although not popular or politically correct, has served him well. In fact, it has saved his life several times over the years. He has developed an acute sense of awareness and talent for observation and reason ...
... Baker went on to enjoy several careers, one in journalism and eventually advertising, then in simulation training and anti-terrorism risk management and mitigation, and more recently as a communication consultant. His day jobs. Thomas Baker's other professional activities are the subject of this series.
Hennessy, on the other hand, stayed the course and went all the way ... true to his core nature. He too received a degree in geology, but from the City University of New York. He had worked construction in summers to pay for his education ... one summer as a laborer working on the 83rd and 84th floors of the World Trade Center's north building. He often speaks fondly of that summer. Hennessy served with honor as a Green Beret in Vietnam. He won't talk much about that, although he takes much pride and satisfaction from his service. He went on to receive a PhD from the Colorado School of Mines in Mining and Earth Systems Engineering, where he later taught as an adjunct professor. Then he went on to work as an employee, a partner, and then consultant for several prestigious geologic engineering firms before he started his own company.
He published over two dozen professional papers in various technical publications and has authored three ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers) text books regarding underground construction.?He established the first, UCA (Underground Construction Association) student chapter at the Colorado School of Mines and had served as the faculty advisor there for eight years.?His day jobs. His other professional activities are also subject matter for this series.
Ray Hennessy is not a particularly large man in size and stature, but he's big on character and integrity. He walks with a unique bantam strut that telegraphs his self-confidence and makes him seem larger than he is. But what he is is a true warrior and patriot. He's a reasonable man ... kind, gentle, and considerate. Very personable. However, like a rattlesnake, he can strike out of instinct rather than reason. And his instincts are as sharp and reasonable as Baker's. You don't want to cross him. Either of them.
.....
1777. It's morning now, the sky is clear blue.The air is fresh and clean, but so cold, well below freezing. The hairs in his nose are frozen brittle. It hurts to breathe in. His lungs are dispensing a visible vapor. The sun is just coming up in the east tossing its golden light through the trees with the perception of warmth. Hennessy is stumbling forward ... he is on a mission, but he is not sure what it is. It's like he's being directed, guided, by some divine force ...
"Where am I? Where is the President? ... Jerome? What just happened? Why am I stumbling so urgently through the solid shadows of these trees?"
.....
Meanwhile, back in 2024. Back in the Oval Office. The President and Jerome Little Wolf have just seen Hennessy suddenly disappear before their eyes, as in "Scotty, beam me up" ...
"What just happened to Hennessy? What the hell is going on here?! ..."
.....
Hennessy leans breathless against the black trunk of a tree. There's a pain in his chest from the cold air. He is so disoriented that he is afraid. But somehow not directionless. He knows he has to keep moving straight ahead. He has to go, somewhere forward, but he does not yet fully understand why.
Then he sees him. Kneeling in the snow in a small clearing among the trees ... General George Washington, kneeling in solemn prayer ...
Now Hennessy begins to understand. George Phillips. Baker. The watch. Time travel. Baker told him to take the watch off, but he forgot to do it. It's still on his wrist. Somehow, someway, and by someone, he, Ray Hennessy was chosen for this mission. It wasn't a mistake that he did not remove the watch. It was fate.
Washington's eyes are closed. He is kneeling in the snow, arms stretched out in front of him as if pleading for some divine inspiration. He's in crisis. His troops are cold and hungry, weak from not just the harsh winter weather, but worn thin and ragged from the war. Both they, and he, feel defeated. How much longer can they go on? Maybe they should give up the cause. It won't be so bad. Mother England will forgive them. Washington is humbly asking for divine providence ... God's intervention in the universe.
Hennessy moves slowly closer, then stops as not to disrupt the scene. His footsteps crunching in the snow. He can hear them, but he's not sure the General can. He's not even sure that he is visible or just an apparition. Washington doesn't seem to notice his presence ... but somehow their minds are melding, communicating on some level or frequency.
Washington's horse, 'Nelson', reacts to Hennessy's ghostly presence. His senses are acute and he knows something "otherworldly" is happening right now ... "Aπ?κοσμο?" ...
Hennessy grasps the situation. He knows his mission. It's all clear to him now. Like a veil has been removed and he is now comfortable in this other world. He doesn't care if Washington or 'Nelson' can see him or not. They actually can't, but 'Nelson' can sense his presence, and the General senses that he is communicating with God. But it's actually Hennessy ... maybe sent as a messenger. Either way, this is a profound moment in history on many, many levels ...
... this moment of transformation.
Washington is asking for help. Should he give up and relieve the hardships of his fighting men who have fought so long and hard, and heroically, but are almost totally spent. There is a cloud of defeat over the encampment. They want to go home to their families and warm homes. But they will stay the course if General Washington orders them to. They all know what is at stake ... and they know the score.
But how could they ever know the future that Hennessy knows? And how important it is that they fight on now for freedom? "Preserving democracy" wasn't a term widely used then. They have yet to more succinctly define it, and understand its ramifications and intellectual depth, its global depth, which wouldn't come to full understanding for centuries in America before they could begin to preserve it. How could they know of things like Donald Trump when they had people like King George to contend with right now? (So many Georges in this story). How could they know of people like Adolph Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Pol Pot, and all the many other despots to come along in history? Long after they saved America ... and long after their legacy survived because of what happened on this day in 1777 in this clearing in the winter woods of Valley Forge ...
No. Right now they fight for freedom from England. Freedom to choose their own path in life. They fight for General George Washington.
But Ray Hennessy would know the ramifications of this day. This moment. Baker and George Phillips would know. Ilene and Pat Hennessy would know. 'Nelson' would even know.
Hennessy speaks to Washington within his silent prayer. He tells the General that the men are behind him. They are weary but they won't give up. They won't let him down.
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Hennessy hears the General's voice in his mind. He's asking God to guide him ... and to not let him down. The last words Hennessy hears from General Washington, who is speaking out loud now, as if breaking the silence of his prayer is, "Don't Let Me Down."
.....
1492. On the deck of Christopher Columbus' 'Santa Maria' anchored somewhere off the coast of one of the Bahama Islands.
Hennessy appears (as in "Scotty, beam me up") on deck as Baker emerges from the Captain's cabin with the chest of gifts for natives. Hennessy is dressed like a Revolutionary War soldier fresh from the winter of 1777-1778 at Valley Forge. Baker is, of course, shocked by this sight. He's glad to see his partner and friend ... but what the fuck?
Hennessy tells Baker of his otherworldly ("Aπ?κοσμο?") experience. About his commune with George Washington ... and 'Nelson'. Oddly, but not abnormally surprising, Baker grasps the situation and understands. He's done this before with George in the hotel room in San Diego, with Kahil.
Baker: "So, you didn't remove your watch as I had asked you?"
Hennessy: "I forgot."
Baker: "Well, good thing then. You probably saved the world."
Hennessy: "Damn straight. If you need me again, just let me know. I'm available."
Baker tells Hennessy of the idea to go into the future and see what's ahead, and see if it gets any worse, then go back into the past and try to make a correction if needed. He tells him about the crazy, but not so crazy idea of getting into George Washington's head and keeping him on track ...
... about running on the track at Logan High School. About the miscalculation with George's watch and ending up with Christopher Columbus in 1492 America. Oddly, but not abnormally surprising, Hennessy grasps the situation and understands. He knows Baker had done this before with George in the hotel room in San Diego, with Kahil.
Baker speculates to Hennessy that by not removing his watch, the AI/bio-science capabilities, and GPS function of the technology somehow translated all this to him. Somehow, through the mysterious powers of the tech, Hennessy was "chosen" for this particular mission ... of his time travel ordeal, and of their present location in time and space. It's almost too much for them to process. So, they both start laughing.
Hennessy says, "Spooky, huh?"
Baker: "Very."
Hennessy: "So, where's George?"
Baker: "Not sure. He was here a minute ago. We were running on the track at Logan High and George did some meditation thing and we ended up here. Now you're here too."
Hennessy: "Spooky."
Baker: "Very."
Hennessy: "So, what do we do now?"
Baker: "No idea. I was hoping George would know."
Hennessy: "And he's ... where"?
Baker: "No Idea."
Hennessy: "Spooky."
Baker: "Very."
Hennessy: "Look, all this time travel business is making me hungry. Does Chris have any food down there? Maybe a frozen pizza or something."
Baker: "Not likely. And he said not to touch his stuff."
John Kushma is a communication consultant and lives in Logan, Utah