The Rangers Are Coming (22 page)

              One of the older men, with a full headdress of eagle feathers, held up his arms and cried, “The Spirit Mother has come!  We shall take her counsel with gratitude and learn what we must know to spare the lives of all.”

              “Wisely spoken,” said Arcadia.  “Pick me up in the ATV just outside the camp,” she said into her mike to Robby and Willis.  Then she looked at her dress that was stained with blood.  “I shall not speak to you with the blood of ignorance upon me.  I shall return after the sun has risen.  I ask that the two principal leaders of each tribe be present.  I have much to tell you.”  Without another word, she walked away from the fire and out of the camp.  Robby and Willis scooped her up and drove her back to the Humvee.  “Nice shot,” she said to Robby, “Very effective.  I did not know if I might be challenged.  I’m glad there was just one.  It was so bloody and graphic, I’m sure it prevented anyone else from objecting to my identity.”

              Arcadia slept in a cot inside the Humvee.  The men pitched a tent and rolled into sleeping bags.  They kept a watch through the night, but nobody came close.

              The next morning, Arcadia was up and moving at sun up.  She pulled a clean dress out of her bag and put it on.  Then she came out and had breakfast with the men.

              “Today, I am going in on the ATV.  Willis, you drive.  You will seem like a giant to these people.  Robby you take your place again in case things get ugly, and they might.  I am about to scuttle the entire lifestyle of these people and it won’t be easy.”

              “Have the Humvee ready to come in when I call.  We need to get these people vaccinated as soon as possible.”

              Willis dropped Robby off at his spot and he and Arcadia went driving boldly into the camp.  The sight and noise of the vehicle caused a lot of people to scatter.  To their credit, none of the leaders sitting in a large circle did more than rise to their feet.  They remained standing as Arcadia, wearing a fresh gown stepped into the circle.  Willis took a canvas-folding chair out of the ATV and placed it in the center of the circle.  Then he stepped back several steps and stood quietly.  He had armed himself with long knives and a combat ax.  They stuck out of his wide belt, along with a big pistol.  His camouflage fatigues seemed to make him blend in against the distant trees.

              Arcadia spoke, “Your great grandfathers walked the wide grasses on foot, until I gave you the gift of the horse and set you free to follow the Buffalo, is that not so?”

              The chiefs nodded in agreement.

              “It was a time of great change, and you changed to make a better life for yourselves.  Now a new change is coming, and unless you prepare for it, your entire way of life, indeed your lives themselves, and those of your wives and children will be gone as water poured on a fire.

              “Far to the east, a new people have come to live in this land.  Already they have built large cities, and their numbers are many times greater than the entire Sioux nation combined.  Arcadia took a large picture out of the portfolio and held it up.  It showed Philadelphia, the largest city in the colonies at that time, with thousands of people, wagons, and buildings.  They look like this man behind me.  All the chiefs had already noted the size of Willis and his commanding presence.  They will come in vehicles such as I have arrived today.

              Arcadia, whispered into the mike to Robby, “Get ready to shoot this when I signal.”  Then she took a large balloon out her pocket and blew it up.  It had the face of an Indian in full headdress on it.  She tied it off and walked over and picked up the long spear of one of the chiefs.  She stuck it in the ground, and tied the balloon to the top of the spear.  Then she raised her hand and dropped it.  Almost instantly, the balloon exploded and the confetti that was inside it flew all over the men in the counsel.

              “These people possess weapons such as these, said Arcadia.  “Did you hear the noise?  Can you see where it came from?  She pointed directly at Robby and said, “Look, can you not see your attacker?”

              All the chiefs got up and looked in the direction Arcadia was pointing and one finally said, “We cannot see him.”

              “Stand up Robby,” said Arcadia.  Almost 600 yards away a figure stood up, much farther away than any chief had looked.  They spoke to each other urgently for several minutes.  Arcadia let them babble.

              When they had quieted down again, she said, “What do you believe?”

              The same older chief that had spoken the night before said, “We believe that we live under the sky of you, Spirit Mother and if we are kind, true and have honor you will allow us to live in peace, and to be free people in the land.”

              “So we can say that under the Great Spirit who guides even me,” said Arcadia, “this creator has spoken and said that all men are created equally, and have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

              “We have not heard the words spoken in such a way before, but they are true and we believe them.”

              “I have good news,” said Arcadia, “the white men who are coming to your land believe exactly the same thing.”

              “Then why are we in such danger from them,” asked the chief.

              “There are three principle reasons,” said Arcadia.  “First, the white men are a completely different race and they carry diseases with them that do not kill them, but will certainly kill you.  I can prevent that.  Second, the white men drink a substance that comes in many forms, but which contains a poison deadly for the people.  You are forbidden to drink it.  Third, the white men come from a heritage that is very, very old.  In this heritage, they have developed a group of laws that govern their behavior.  You must assume the mantle of some of these laws before they come into your country.”

              “What are these laws,” asked the chief?

              “For you and your many tribes, the most important laws are about land.  You have always believed you do not own the land, but are a part of it.  The whites do claim land as their own.  In order to protect your people, you must do the same.”

              “How can we do this when we must travel great distances to hunt the buffalo, which is the way we exist?”

              “The whites live inside great expanses of land called States.  Each state is free to make its own laws as long as they do not interfere with the great laws that govern all the states.  This greatest government rules only by the consent of the governed.  It holds elections and sends representatives to the capital, where the good of the people is decided by a grand council, such as the one we have here today.”

              “In order to have your rights protected, the Indian nation must create its own state.  Inside the boundaries of your state, you can hold millions of buffalo.  You need not travel great distances to find them, they will be as your horses and kept for your use within the boundaries of your state.”

              “And if we defy this principal,” asked the old man?

              “Then the white man will come, see you have no government, claim your land and take it from you.  They will kill all the buffalo, kill you and your lives as a free people will be over.”

              “And if we do as you command,” asked the chief?

              “Then you will be saved, free to live your own lives.  The white man will respect your boundaries, trade with you, and help you have better lives.  You will be citizens of the Republic and have all the rights and privileges of citizenship.”

        “Your words are hard,” said the chief.

              “Let me show you the world as it exists today,” said Arcadia.  She pulled a laptop out of her portfolio and displayed the earth.  She showed the huge population centers in Europe, China, Asia and Africa and along the East coast of America.  Then she zoomed in on North America and showed how, in terms of total population, how empty the western plains were.  “Unless this land is claimed by someone, it will be an open land grab by immigrants who are coming to America with the sole goal of owning their own land.  If you do nothing, this is what you will get.”  She punched a button, which displayed the actual reservation system in the modern United States.  There were pitiful little pockets of land sprinkled around the country. 

              Arcadia drew a line on the computer from the Red River in North Dakota in the north to the Platte River on the south, and from the Missouri River on the east to the Big Cat hills on the west, along the existing boundary of Colorado and Nebraska.  “Or you can claim all this land, enclose millions of buffalo inside this space, built permanent homes and cease your lives of endless wandering.  Surely this is better than the nomadic lives you are forced to live now.”

              Arcadia paused, and then said, “You must meet in council now and decide what you will do.  I should say this is the biggest decision, and it will require all the tribes of Sioux to move into this land.  There are other decisions that must be made in the future, that will also be important, but until you make this one, nothing can happen.”

              “I need to tell you the Great Spirit, whose name is God, will honor you in this difficult time and will bless you.”

              Arcadia bowed, and said, “I will be nearby and will return when you have searched your hearts and come to a decision.”  She turned and walked out of the camp with Willis following, and out to the where the ATV was hidden behind a bluff.  She picked Robby up as she went by and the three of them drove back to the Humvee.

              It took four days for the council to come to an agreement.  Robby kept a watch in his place on the hill overlooking the big camp.  It was not a peaceful council.  Several times, there was violence and several men were killed.  Finally, the old chief came forth from a Teepee and held his arms up to signal that the Spirit Mother should return.

              Arcadia went back alone and met with the council.  Robby and Willis guarded her from the hill.  As the evening approached, Arcadia called Robby and said the council had chosen the statehood pathway and for them to bring up the Humvee with the medics, so that vaccinations could begin.

              It took many days to do vaccinations of the several thousand Sioux in the camp and the hundreds of others that came in from outlying areas after the chiefs had sent runners.

              Arcadia met privately with the chief and asked him to select a dozen young men, sixteen to eighteen years old, who were regarded as the most intelligent of all, and were willing to return to Fort Independence for several years of training.  In the end, the choices were made and the young men were packed away in the Humvee. 

              For Arcadia herself, she waited until her men and equipment had driven off before calling the Chinook to retrieve her in the same manner in which she had arrived.  It was at night, with a great fire burning and all the people gathered to watch.  She waved and blew kisses at all as she disappeared in the thunder and lightning.

              The Chinook bounced the few miles and picked up the Humvee, the ATV, the Rangers, and the twelve wide-eyed Sioux for the return to the Fort.

21

Fort Independence, Virginia

              1774, was winding down.  Momentous events were occurring and not occurring in Colonial America.  Arcadia had already significantly altered the timeline of American history.

              The British Parliament had passed the Tea Act the year before, and the Sons of Liberty became active in Boston, resulting in the Boston Tea Party on December 16, 1773.

              Benjamin Franklin was supposed to go to London in 1774 to argue against the Tea Act, but he was so busy with his plans for a rail line, finishing the big steel making plant, and refining oil in Pennsylvania, Arcadia sent James Madison instead.

              Then in 1774 the British passed what was known as the Intolerable Acts which included; the Boston Port Act, which basically blockaded Boston Harbor; the Administration of Justice Act, which made it nearly impossible for Colonial Courts to try British citizens for crimes; the Massachusetts Government Act, that revoked the charter of Massachusetts to operate as a colony, and came under the direct control of England; and the Quartering Act which required Colonial home owners to house British Soldiers.

              These actions worked to Arcadia’s advantage since it fired the patriotism of all the colonies toward a break with England.  The First Continental Congress met that year and she let it run its course.

              In a meeting with George Washington at the end of the year, Arcadia and Washington agreed that the tipping point for the Ranger campaign should occur as soon after Washington was appointed Commander in Chief in June 1775.  This put the major timeline change between the battles at Lexington and Concord and the Siege of Boston.

              The Ranger brigade was at a razor’s edge.  Intensive training over five years had made them the formidable force Arcadia intended.  The winter that year at Fort Independence was mild and the brigade ran a dozen full-scale drills of the engagement set for the following year.

              On April 19
^th
, 1775, the British marched out to Lexington and Concord and the “shot heard round the world” was fired.  The British withdrew to Boston taking a lot of casualties to guerilla action along their route of march.

              The British reinforced their troops in Boston to 6,000 redcoats, under the command of General Howe.  George Washington was summoned to Philadelphia in April and got the command he needed.

              Washington was now as good a tactician in modern warfare as anyone in history, and he took charge.  During the month of May 1775, he began moving the brigade into a position that had all the appearances of a foolish choice of ground at the bottom of a valley 20 miles from Boston.  In 1775, it was a poor choice; for forces from 2025, it was perfect.