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FEELING A BIT LIKE a puppet master about to pull the strings, Colonel Carl Garrett shifted in his roomy first-class seat and gratefully accepted a tumbler of Kentucky bourbon from the pretty flight attendant currently smiling down at him. "Thank you," the colonel murmured.Brian Payne, his puppet de jour and a former major under his command sat next to him, his face an impassive mask of patience...but Garrett knew better.Payne mightappearpatient, but that was the extent of it.In exchange for pushing Payne's end-of-service papers through--when Garrett could have just as easily made things very difficult for them--Payne and a couple of his other friends had agreed to grant him one favor. Garrett had already collected from former Major Jamie Flanagan. His lips quirked.And he'd gottenwaymore than he bargained for.He'd sent Flanagan to Maine to prevent his granddaughter from marrying the wrong man. Only Flanagan had ended up marrying her himself. Though that hadn't been the colonel's original intent, he had to confess that he'd been pleased with the outcome. If he'd searched the world over he couldn't have found a better man--a better partner--for his granddaughter. In seven months she'd be delivering their first child--hisfirst great-grandchild--and if the child was a boy, they'd promised to name the baby after him. He didn't know when anything had delighted him as much.Of course, if Payne succeeded on this next "favor"--and considering the man had never failed at anything in his life, Garrett had no reason to suspect that he would start now--he'd be equally delighted, though for completely different reasons. Even his recent commendation for meritorious service--his expert handling of a hostage situation, specifically--as rewarding as it was, wouldn't compare to owning a piece of history, a piece he had secretly searched for and coveted for years.He'd let Payne stew long enough, Garrett decided. Besides, waiting the man out was a futile effort. Garrett instinctively knew he would lose."I'm a big Civil War buff," Garrett said conversationally, a mild understatement. He wasn't merely a "buff." According to his wife, he was obsessed, but there were worse obsessions. "Did you know that?"Though he hadn't so much as blinked, the colonel felt Payne go on alert. "No, sir.""Oh, yes." Garrett lifted his glass and studied the amber liquid within. "I've walked every battlefield, studied every strategy, read hundreds of letters from soldiers--mostly Confederate, of course--and even collected a few. It was a fascinating time in history," Garrett ruminated. "Fascinating time... and yet, there's no man I find more fascinating than General Robert E. Lee." Another mild understatement. Lee was brilliant, possibly the best strategist and tactician in history, American or otherwise. If he'd been able to walk the valleys of time and had the liberty to choose to meet any of the men who'd gone before him, with the exception of Jesus, Robert E. Lee would be first on his list.Payne quirked a brow, a silent indicator which told Garrett to continue. "Did you know he was asked to lead the Union army first, but turned it down?"Payne inclined his head. "I seem to recall hearing that."Garrett continued. "In a letter written to his sister, he said, "With all my devotion to the Union and the feeling of loyalty and duty of an American citizen, I have not been able to make up my mind to raise my hand against my relatives, my children, my home." He sighed. "No one talks that way anymore. Lee hadpassion,Major. He was a great man."Payne acknowledged this proclamation with the usual silent nod."You're going to Gettysburg," Garrett announced without further preamble.Gratifyingly, the first notable flicker of interest sparked in Payne's annoyingly impassive gaze. "Gettysburg? What will I be doing in Gettysburg, sir?""I want you to find something for me." Payne waited, presumably for him to elaboNelson, Rhonda is the author of 'Specialist ', published 2006 under ISBN 9780373792818 and ISBN 0373792816.
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