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The McLaughlin Chronicles: An Officer and a Gentleman

© Marcus Traynor

"To your stations," McLaughlin ordered quietly. "And hold all fire until ordered otherwise." He followed Anderson outside. There was a three-quarter moon and a clear sky that night, which was perfect for their situation. Anderson motioned to where Gates was positioned and moved toward his station. McLaughlin went to Gates. "Over there," he whispered and gestured. "One O'clock."

McLaughlin raised his binoculars to his eyes and scanned the area. It took him a minute to find what Gates was looking at, but he eventually did. At first he saw three faces. They had a lot of paint on them and there were leaves tucked into their helmets and clothes, which made them hard to tell from the bushes that they were hiding in. The human eye was an amazing device. At first he just those three faces, but then, once his eye knew what it was looking for, the other faces appeared. Soon, the more he looked, the more faces he saw. "How many?" he whispered.

"At least twenty," Gates replied. He waited a few minutes for his next question. "When do you want to begin?"

"Not yet," McLaughlin replied immediately. "Let them make the first move."

They waited for two hours. The painted faces shuffled around a bit, but didn't go any further than the tree line. Then, one by one, they disappeared into the woods. At around one o'clock in the morning, McLaughlin told everyone to stand down and go to their regular shifts. He met with Anderseon and Gates.

"D*mn it!" Gates swore.

"Why didn't we do something, sir," Anderson inquired, upset but still respectful.

"They were testing us, guys," McLaughlin replied.

"Sir, with all due respect..." Gates started.

"Gates," McLaughlin interrupted strongly. Anderson was sure that McLaughlin was going to let Gates have it then. But, once again, McLaughlin surprised him with his wisdom. "I want you to make sure everything is ready for a full attack by 0600 hours."

"Sir?"

"Either this afternoon or this upcoming night we're going to get hit and hit good. A twenty-man scout party only means a bigger force behind. Anderson,"

"Sir!"

"Make sure all the radio boys are very clear on the codes, when the sh!t hits, there isn't going to be any time."

"Yes, sir."

"You really think that was a test?"

McLaughlin nodded his head several times, "They don't have parties that big without a reason." He rubbed his hands nervously, "This is going to be a big one. Is everything ready?"

"Everything," Gates replied.

"Check everything again. Make sure that everyone knows what

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