Andrew chapter 32: Andrew's weekend at the reserves

[sl97aq]

On the last Saturday of October 2005, revelry sounded on the military base west of Barrie. Andrew and the other reservists woke up quickly to the sounds of the horn.

"6 am comes early, even before sunrise these days," Andrew commented, but no one answered him.

Andrew shrugged, got washed and dressed with everyone else and then made his bed, tidied his locker and stood at attention waiting for the Course Officer to enter the barracks room for morning inspection. Lt. Mitchell didn't disappoint them; he arrived right on time at 7 am. He checked all the beds and lockers for any defects, but he didn't yell when he found some; he just jotted down some notes in his pad.

Lt. Mitchell stopped beside Andrew, who was the last to be inspected, and checked over his bed and locker. He couldn't help noticing how Andrew was the only one in the whole group of Reservists who towered over him, even though at 6 foot 5 and 285 pounds, Lt. Mitchell was one of the biggest instructors on the base. As he stood by Andrew, who had trimmed down to 375 pounds, Lt. Mitchell suddenly felt like a small man next to his biggest student. Squashing down an unfamiliar feeling of fear, Mitchell quickly dismissed his platoon for breakfast.

At breakfast, Andrew noticed that his fellow platoon members were still distant towards him, even though David had been banished from their ranks more than a year before.

They must really believe what David told them about my reasons for joining the Canadian Reserves, Andrew thought to himself. I can't say I blame them for thinking that I joined the CF for the money; I did think that it would help pad my bank account in preparation for college in Miami! So now they don't listen to me when I try to tell them that I also joined because I love this country so much.

After breakfast, it was time for the morning training session. PT came first, with the Obstacle Course following that. Pt that morning was a job around the perimeter of the base, which Andrew had no trouble with thanks to his long legs and large lung capacity. He kept up with Lt. Mitchell and Sergeant Stevenson the whole way, leaving the rest of the platoon in the dust.

"Good work Private Pearson; it's obvious that your football training has kept you in top physical condition," Sergeant Stevenson said as they waited for the other reservists.

"Thank you Sergeant," Andrew said humbly.

"Don't thank me Andrew; you did the work," Sergeant Stevenson said, slipping up by using Andrew's first name.

Lt. Mitchell looked over at him and said, "I know that you and Andrew have known each other for eight years Sergeant, but try not to let that interfere with your professional detachment. After all, you don't see me addressing Private Pearson by his first name, even though his family and mine have known each other for more than 30 years."

"Of course sir," Sergeant Stevenson said.

Andrew and his two instructors waited patiently for the rest of the platoon to join them at the obstacle course.

"Did you know that Sergeant Stevenson has such high levels of testosterone that he was the genetic template for the Enhancement Project?" Lt. Mitchell asked Andrew.

"No I didn't sir; but I'm not surprised by that revelation," Andrew replied. "He's very close to my height and weight, and I was enhanced to reach this size. But I think I'm going to trim down a bit to about 350 or 325 pounds, because I feel like I'm too big right now."

"The wire obstacle will show us whether you're too big or not Private," Sergeant Stevenson informed him sternly; determined not to slip up again.

Once the other reservists reached them, Sergeant Stevenson's prediction was proven to be correct: Andrew was too big to fit under was the wire fence obstacle without it touching him.

"Get down closer to the ground Private Pearson!" Sergeant Stevenson yelled at him. "You're hitting the wires, which could be booby-trapped with mines in a theater of operations! You will never complete this course if you can't pass through this obstacle properly! Now do it again until you get it right and hurry up; you're holding up the rest of the platoon!"

"Yes Sergeant!' Andrew yelled, as he stood up and ran to the front of the wire obstacle to start over again.

It took him three more tries, but Andrew was finally able to flatten his massive chest enough to make it under all the wires without getting caught on them.

"Sorry about taking so long Sergeant," Andrew apologized.

"Stop wasting time and energy talking Private!" Sergeant Stevenson yelled at him. "Hurry up and get over that wall before everyone else leaves you behind!"

Andrew surprised everyone as he ran up to wall and hopped over it with one leap. It took him no time at all to catch up with the other platoon members and then he managed to finish the obstacle course first.

Sergeant Stevenson called all the platoon members over to the firing range.

"Fall in over here everyone!" he yelled. All the platoon members ran over to the table the Sergeant was standing at. "Now that you're done with the obstacle course, we can test your weapon skills." He pulled the sheet off the table to reveal the C-7 service rifle on the table. "Now it's time for all of you to take turns field stripping this weapon, reassembling it and then performing the function test. Once you're done, then it will be time for lunch. Private Pearson, you're first."

Andrew quickly stepped up to the weapon and began to disassemble it, after performing the safety test. But then he noticed that something was missing. He quickly completed the field stripping and laid the pieces out on the table in the correct order for reassembly. But he realized that one piece was still missing.

Andrew stood at attention in front of the table and shouted, "Sergeant, I need to speak to you. The firing pin is not in this weapon, so it cannot be reassembled until we get the missing piece."

"Quite right Private Pearson," Sergeant Stevenson said with a smile. "Here is the firing pin Private; hurry up and reassemble that weapon now that you have all the pieces," he added, handing Andrew the firing pin.

Andrew made quick work of reassembling the weapon now that he had all the pieces. He performed the function test flawlessly once the weapon was fully assembled, and then put the weapon down on the table. The next reservist steps up to the table and checked the weapon to make sure it was safe to pick up. Then he began disassembling the weapon. Andrew and the other reservists watched Luke perform all the weapon tests.

It took about an hour for all 15 reservists to finish the weapon tests. By then it was almost lunchtime.

"Hit the showers troops and be in the mess hall in clean uniforms by noon," Sergeant Stevenson ordered Andrew and his fellow platoon members.

Andrew led the way as the troops ran back to the barracks to shower and get changed for lunch.

"Congratulations on spotting the missing firing pin in the weapon," Luke said to Andrew, as everyone had their shower. "You really saved us."

"Thanks for saying that guys," Andrew said," and I'm sorry for holding you guys up on the obstacle course. It's clear that I need to lose some more weight: at least 25 pounds."

"Then you'd be virtually identical in height and weight to Sergeant Stevenson!" Luke realized.

"Yeah I would," Andrew realized, grinning at the thought. "I'm actually bigger than he is right now, but as the wire obstacle proved, bigger isn't always better!"

The other troops laughed at Andrew's unintentional joke and Andrew laughed as well, pleased that his sense of humour had managed to break the ice with them.

Everyone finished their showers and got dressed in clean uniforms. Then they stepped out of the barracks into the parade square where Sergeant Stevenson was waiting to escort them to the mess hall for lunch.

Once they were formed up, Sergeant Stevenson stepped up to the troops and called them to attention.

"Move to the right in twos; right turn!" he commanded, and the troops all turned to the right at the same time. Sergeant Stevenson smiled at their sharp drill and said, "By the left: quick march!"

The troops marched off to the mess hall in perfect step, with Sergeant Stevenson keeping pace beside them. Once they reached the mess hall, they marched in at single file, and took their coats off in the coat room. As they stepped out of the coat room, Sergeant Stevenson informed them that he would pick them up at 13:00 hours in front of the barracks for a 15 km march with full rucksacks. The march was originally going to be just 5 km with the tac vests and weapons, but Andrew's idea to conduct the march at a run the month before had caused all the other troops to be left behind. So Sergeant Stevenson had revised this month's march to compensate for Andrew's great strength. The other troops glared at Andrew once the Sergeant left the mess hall, knowing that he was to blame for making them perform a rucksack march a month ahead of schedule. Andrew looked down at his feet in embarrassment, realizing that his attempts to get his platoon to warm up to him had come to nothing once again.

After lunch, which Andrew ate alone at the end of the platoon table, everyone went back to the barracks to get their equipment for the rucksack march. Andrew tried to apologize to the troops for getting this rucksack march forced down their throats, but not even Luke wanted to talk to him. Andrew packed his rucksack in silence, not even realizing that his fellow platoon members weren't scared of his great size like his civilian friends were.

At 13:00 hours, everyone was formed up on the parade square in full fighting order plus rucksack. Sergeant Stevenson and Lt. Mitchell met them there and checked out everyone's kit.

"Good to go everyone; let's see if we can complete this march in less than the three hours we have allotted for it," Lt. Mitchell informed them.

"Three hours with 100 pounds of kit on?!" Luke shouted in astonishment without thinking.

"Congratulations Private Rowe: you're one of the markers for this march," Lt. Mitchell said, throwing him one of the marker vests. He turned to Andrew and tossed him the other marker vest. "You can be our front marker Private Pearson, since you were such a good runner on the march last month." All the platoon members snickered, and Lt. Mitchell shouted, "Quiet, or we can perform this march at a running pace like we did last month!" Everyone shut up instantly and Lt. Mitchell nodded. "That's right everyone, don't forget that you're all Infantry Reservists; a run with rucksacks on is nothing compared to what you'll face in Afganistan! So count yourselves lucky that we're working you up to fighting strength gradually until you're all 18 and legally deployable! Now, let's get going Sergeant."

Sergeant Stevenson ordered the entire platoon to march forward and everyone obeyed instantly, afraid to make their instructors mad again. The march went off without a hitch, but the other platoon members complained quite a lot in the barracks afterwards about how easily Andrew had completed the march. Andrew just ignored them, realizing that his genetic enhancement only served to make him unlikeable in his platoon. It didn't help that Andrew wouldn't be deploying to Afganistan with them in about a year because of his impending college football career in Miami.

Some of these troops probably wonder why I even bothered to join the CF at all, considering that I'm not even going to end up in combat, Andrew thought to himself. I know that I wanted to serve my country while I had the chance, but I have little chance of convincing them of that!

After the troops got showered and changed into their third set of combats, they all went to the mess hall for supper on their own time, knowing that they wouldn't have duties again until morning inspection at 0600 hours. Andrew ate alone once again, realizing that his situation in the Reserves was the complete reverse of his immense popularity in high school.

This must be how Mike, Ralph and Connor felt before they became friends with me, Andrew realized. I'm glad I trained them to be part of the football team so that they can experience what it's like to be popular.

Once everyone got back to barracks, they washed their clothes and organized their lockers for the inspection in the morning. Once they were done, everyone relaxed for the rest of the evening until lights out at 10 pm. Andrew found himself thinking about Carrie and missing her soft touch as he lay in bed reading a book. He knew that it wouldn't be long until Carrie's engagement ring was ready and then he could finally make Carrie his wife.

Just before lights out, Lt. Mitchell and Sergeant Stevenson intercepted Andrew as he came out of the washroom. They quickly pulled Andrew aside, out of sight of the others, and informed him how impressed they were by Andrew's performance that day on the ruck march.

"Are you sure you want to play football for the University of Miami Andrew?" Lt. Mitchell asked him. When Andrew nodded, Lt. Mitchell sighed and said, "Very well Andrew; but don't forget: with your Reserves experience and the degree you'll get from Miami, you'll be eligible to re-enlist as an Officer in either the Reserves or the Regular Force."

"That's certainly something for me to seriously consider sir," Andrew said thoughtfully. "Thank you for the suggestion; I'll certainly look into that once I'm done with football."

"Good for you Andrew," Lt. Mitchell said, laying a hand on his shoulder. "We may be losing you for a few years, perhaps a decade, but I can tell that your love of the military is too great for you to stay away forever. Think about it seriously Andrew; you'd make a fine officer one day."

Lt. Mitchell left Andrew thinking about that as he left the barracks for the night. Andrew went back to bed, noticing that the rest of his platoon was now asleep. As Andrew fell asleep, he dreamed of Carrie, and a gentle smile appeared on his face as he thought of making her his wife in the summer. He knew that one more hard day of military training would come before he saw Carrie again, but he looked forward to it.

On Sunday morning, Andrew woke up before everyone else and decided to do some push-ups. He managed to do 10 sets of 50 before 5:30, and then decided to do 500 sit-ups as well, without having to wedge his feet under his dresser to do so. It was 5:45 am when Andrew was finished, so he washed up, shaved and changed into his uniform. By 6 am, when everyone else got up, Andrew was already in uniform organizing his locker for the morning inspection at 6:30 am. Everyone else hurried to get washed, shaved and changed by 6:30, as well as doing some last minute adjustments to their locker layouts based on the mistakes Lt. Mitchell had found the day before.

At 6:30 am, Sergeant Stevenson walked into the barracks and called the platoon to attention. Then Lt. Mitchell walked in with his notepad and began inspecting the bunk spaces. As he passed by the troops, he smiled to himself, pleased at the great improvement his platoon showed in their inspection layout in only 24 hours. Even Andrew had brought his locker up to the expected standard, but then Lt. Mitchell had no idea that Andrew had been up since 5 am working out and organizing his locker.

Lt. Mitchell dismissed the troops for breakfast, once he was done the inspection, and the troops were pleased that they had managed to make their Platoon Commander happy for once. Everyone headed to the Mess Hall for breakfast, led by Sergeant Stevenson, who sat at the Staff Table. As they lined up for food, Andrew noticed that some of his favourite foods were available: pancakes, sausages, orange slices, and eggs. He smiled and had the cooks put as much food on his plate as it could hold. Then he sat down at the table with the rest of his platoon: deciding that sitting with them instead of at the end of the table would be a good start to easing the tension.

Andrew's hunch was correct, because the troops asked him to join their pancake eating contest. They knew that the last time Andrew had been late for school, he had stuffed four pancakes in his mouth one by one and swallowed them all in less than 30 seconds. So Andrew took the troops up on their challenge and stuffed all four pancakes in his mouth at once. He swallowed them all in 15 seconds and then had a drink of water so he wouldn't choke on them.

Then he burped and said, "Any more? I'm still hungry guys!"

Everyone laughed at Andrew's comment and Luke slapped his shoulder as if they had been friends forever.

"You can have my pancakes Andrew, if you're still hungry," Luke said.

"No man, you keep them, I'll have some eggs instead," Andrew said, eating all his eggs in a few bites. "Oops, I ate all my eggs Luke; I'll go get some more now."

Andrew got up and got himself some more food, eating his second helping before everyone else had finished their first!

"You have time to get a third helping Andrew; some of us are going up to get seconds," Luke informed him.

"Good idea Luke; I need to keep feeding these massive muscles," Andrew agreed, flexing his massive bicep.

All the reservists at his table gaped at his arm in shock and Andrew grinned at their amazed looks.

After breakfast, Lt. Mitchell and Sergeant Stevenson supervised the gym class outside, which included jumping jacks, sit-ups, push-ups and lunges. Once everyone was warmed up, Lt. Mitchell took them through the obstacle course again, where Andrew took a full five minutes off his time from the day before by remembering how to get under the wires without touching them.

Then it was time for the rucksack march, during which Andrew had 200 pounds of kit in his pack. He still kept up with the Lt. and the Sergeant at the front of the group, and he boosted everyone else's morale with words of encouragement to keep them going.

Everything was going well and they were nearing the starting point when Luke stumbled over a rock and fractured his ankle. To his credit though, he didn't let out even a groan of pain, but Andrew picked up his racksack and slung it over his shoulder. Then he picked Luke up in a fireman's carry and got him back to base; making sure to keep his free arm around Luke's knees, not his ankles, so as not to make his injury worse.

All the reservists, including Luke, cheered for Andrew as he made it to the First Aid Station with Luke still over his shoulders in a fireman's carry. The nurse opened the door and told Andrew to bring Luke into the Examining Room and lay him down on the table. Andrew followed her instructions and the nurse examined Luke's leg. After the examination was complete, she concluded that Luke's ankle was indeed broken, so she set it and then gave Luke a walking cast and some crutches. Then Andrew helped him outside and was met by Sergeant Stevenson.

"Hurry up and get changed you two; then we'll all have dinner in the mess hall," Sergeant Stevenson ordered them.

"Yes Sergeant," Andrew said.

He helped Luke back to the barracks to drop off their gear and get changed for supper.

"Thanks a lot for helping me out like this Andrew," Luke said gratefully as they got changed.

"No thanks necessary Luke; it's just what one soldier does for another," Andrew said humbly. He finished buttoning up his tunic and stood up. "Are you ready to go to supper now?"

"Yes I am Andrew," Luke said, standing up with Andrew's help.

Andrew led him slowly to the mess hall and they sat down to eat at their platoon's table. As they started eating, Sereant Stevenson called the mess hall to attention as Colonel Mitchell entered.

"As you were troops," Colonel Mitchell said. He turned to look at Andrew and said, "Private Pearson, would you join me up at the front of the room please."

"Yes sir," Andrew said, standing up from the table and walking over to the Colonel.

There, Andrew recieved a handshake and written citation for his heroism that day. Everyone cheered for Andrew and then Colonel Mitchell left to let them get on with eating their supper. After supper, Andrew packed all his kit into his car and headed home. He didn't know that his parents had already recieved a call from Colonel Mitchell about Andrew's award.

Knowing that they only had one hour until Andrew got home, Susan called Carrie to ask her to come over and help plan a party for their local hero. Carrie agreed and told her friends while Susan called the rest of Andrew's friends from the football team to get over to Andrew's house for a party. Chad ran out to 241 Pizza and ordered 16 large pizzas for takout and another for delivery. By the time he got home, the party guests were beginning to arrive. Chad greeted Steve, Darrel, Ralph and Connor and then headed inside. He just missed the arrival of Matt and Mike, but Susan came outside to greet them.

Andrew got to Orillia about half an hour later and wanted nothing more than to see Carrie, having missed her terribly after only one weekend away from her. So he headed to her place of work to see her, since he knew she had a shift that day. But when he got into the IGA, it was very quiet and there was no staff on the floor. Andrew wandered to the back room doors and they opened to reveal David Harrington standing there.

"Carrie's not here; business was too slow today so the boss let her go home early," David informed Andrew, frowning at him. "Were you trying to come back here without an escort Andrew? You know customers aren't allowed back here!"

"I know how to obey the rules David, unlike you," Andrew informed him with a smirk. "I'm surprised to see you here; isn't this your fourth job in the last year?"

"I haven't found what I want to do as my line of work yet," David said.

"Yeah right, more like you've been fired from three jobs in a row and you couldn't get anything else," Andrew laughed.

"You think you're so smart Andrew, but we'll see who's laughing after the Championship Game in two weeks," David warned him.

"If you even make it that far," Andrew shot back.

"Our team made it to the semifinals today; how did your team do without you there Andrew?" David asked him.

"I'll ask my friends when I get home, seeing as how I have some, unlike you," Andrew replied, completely misinterpreting the shocked look on David's face. He looked at his watch and said, "Oh is that the time? I'd love to stay and trade more barbs with you, but I actually have important things to do today. Have fun stocking shelves David."

Andrew laughed as he walked away, leaving David clenching his fists in fury. Once Andrew got outside, he realized that he shouldn't make fun of David's job, considering that Carrie was a stockperson as well. Then he realized that he hadn't made fun of the job so much as David, so he felt better. As he got into the car, he wondered why Carrie hadn't left him a message on his cell phone to let him know that she had gotten off work early.

"Something funny is going on here, but I'll find out what when I get home," Andrew said to himself as he pulled out of the parking lot.

At Andrew's house five minutes later, the pizza arrived and Chad got help from Andrew's friends to get it into the house once he got the call from the IGA that Andrew was on his way. Chad and Susan ordered everyone to get downstairs with the pizza and hide in the rec room. Then Carrie stepped outside just as the pizza van drove past Andrew on his way up the street. Carrie kissed Andrew as he got out of his car and then told him to come inside. Andrew grinned and asked her how her shortened day of work was.

"Oh just fine Andrew; I got time to make a mid-evening snack for you," Carrie informed him with a smile. "I imagine you worked up quite an appetite on the base this weekend."

"Yeah I did Carrie and I don't like Mess Hall food, though it is filling," Andrew informed her. When Carrie frowned at him, Andrew grinned at her and assured her, "Don't worry Carrie, I always have room for more!"

Carrie smiled at him and led him inside. As they entered the front hall, Andrew heard the ODCVI fight song playing from the basement. He smiled and realized that his dad was watching some clips of Andrew's exploits on the football field.

"Is my dad working on the updates for the video we're going to send to Coach Malcolm?" Andrew asked Carrie as they stopped at the top of the stairs to the basement.

"Yes Andrew: he's putting them on the video camera so he can upload them to the Internet," Carrie replied. "There's a place on the Hurricane's website where future students can post recruiting clips, by linking them to a new video-sharing website called YouTube."

"Never heard of it Carrie," Andrew said.

"It's a new site Andrew; it was only created six months ago," Carrie informed him. "We should go downstairs and let your dad know you're home. Then you can help him with the video, while I stay upstairs and get your snack for you."

"Good idea Carrie," Andrew said, leading her downstairs.

Carrie smiled as Andrew was surprised by all his friends who were waiting for him in the rec room. Chad and Carrie's Dad Ron were also there, surrounded by the pop, pizza, chips and other snacks that had been purchased for the party.

"Here's the local hero who got a fellow reservist to the hospital to get his broken ankle fixed!" Chad shouted.

"I was glad to help out Dad," Andrew said humbly. "Luke should be able to get back to training in about six weeks time, so he'll only miss one reservist weekend next month. The staff at the base were happy with what I accomplished as well; that's why I got this." Andrew pulled the framed Certificate of Appreciation out of his gym bag and showed it to everyone. "If you make a copy of this, then we can send it along with the tape to Coach Malcolm later this week. Now, move over and let me eat something; I'm starving!"

Andrew grabbed two slices of pizza and put them together so that the crusts were facing out. Then he ate them like a sandwich while Chad took his arm and led him into a quiet corner.

"Don't make light of being a military hero Andrew," Chad admonished him quietly. "It takes a really special person to volunteer to serve their country, especially when they're still in high school!"

"Wow, that's really something for me to think about Dad," Andrew said thoughtfully. "Thanks for reminding me of that." He looked around at all his friends and realized something else. "I guess I can't hide the fact that I serve in the Canadian Reserves anymore."

Everyone nodded and grinned at Andrew's embarrassment about being a hero. As the parents and the teenagers seperated into different groups, Matt pulled Andrew aside into the hallway.

"Why would you try to hide the fact that you serve in the Canadian Forces Andrew?" Matt asked him. "Aren't you proud to serve your country Andrew?"

"Yes I am Matt," Andrew replied, remembering to call his Sergeant by his first name now that they were off-duty. "I am so proud to serve my country that I don't want to cheapen that service by bragging about it. What if I made those who don't, or can't, serve in the military feel bad? I don't want to give anyone the impression that I am better than they are just because I am way bigger and stronger than they are."

"You're bigger and stronger than everyone!" Matt reminded him. "Even the Drill Instructors at that base are dwarfed by you! You have no idea how much the staff at that base revere you Andrew, thanks in no small part to how humbly you carry out your duties with no thought of personal gain! You're a real hero Andrew: to your friends and especially your fellow soldiers!"

Everyone clapped and cheered for Andrew, having heard Matt's voice get louder as he sang Andrew's praises. Once everyone had shaken his hand, embarrassing him further, Andrew heard the doorbell ring. Anxious to escape his 'adoring fans', Andrew headed for the stairs, knowing that his long strides would get him to the front door before anyone. Once Andrew got upstairs, he walked down the hall to the front door, hoping that it wasn't more fans on the other side. Then he remembered his dad saying that he was having eight more pizzas delivered to the house.

But when Andrew opened the front door, he saw not only the pizza guy, but the news reporters as well. Andrew clenched his fist in frustration on the doorknob, but relaxed his grip when he felt the metal denting.

"Hey, my dad ordered more pizzas; good for him!" Andrew shouted. "Obviously he knew that 32 pizzas weren't enough to satisfy the appetites of a whole team of football players!" Andrew took the pizzas after he paid for them and ushered the news reporters into the house and then noticed a blue van pulling into the driveway. "Right downstairs guys; everyone's waiting for you. I'll be along in a minute." Andrew closed the front door behind him as he stepped outside and walked up to the van to greet whoever was inside. Andrew was suprised to see Lt. Mitchell step out of the van, along with some of the Reservists he served with. "Hello sir!" Andrew greeted him, standing at attention and saluting.

"You don't salute officers when you're in civilian clothes Andrew!" Lt. Mitchell reminded him, grinning as he returned Andrew's salute. "But since I'm in my Dress Uniform, I have to return a salute if I'm given one!"

"Why are you in your Dress Uniform sir?" Andrew asked him.

"You'll find out when we get inside Andrew," Lt. Mitchell informed him. "And please, call me Tom until we're back on base again." When Andrew nodded, Tom motioned to the van. "There's someone else who wants to come inside Andrew, since you saving his life was the whole reason for the party in the first place."

Tom stepped aside as Luke stepped carefully out of the van with the help of two fellow soldiers and his crutches.

"Hey Luke, what's up man?" Andrew greeted him, totally abandoning his military bearing. "Here, let me help you."

"Thanks Andrew," Luke said gratefully, as Andrew held his elbow and guided him up the walkway slowly. "I've never used crutches before; they take a lot of getting used to!"

Andrew closed the door once everyone was inside and then put everyone's coats away in the closet.

"Maybe you could answer a couple of questions for me before we go downstairs Tom," Andrew suggested.

"Such as 'why is the news crew here and why are we all in our dress uniforms' Andrew?" Tom asked him with a big grin.

"Yes Tom, those are the exact questions I wanted to ask you," Andrew replied. "Since you anticipated the questions, I'm sure you have the answers to them as well!"

"Matt came here first to help with the party preparations, knowing that you'd stop off at Carrie's place of work," Tom replied. "But we had already called Carrie from the base to help with the party, so that's why she was let off work early. Then we talked to the Barrie News once we got there, and got the news crews to follow us here. We couldn't let such a life-saving event like today's go by without reporting it, especially since you need the media exposure to get you noticed by American college recruiters! One of your fellow soldiers got the whole thing on his camcorder and we turned the tape over to the news station. Here's your copy."

"Thanks Tom," Andrew said, taking the small tape from him. "You know, this is not the first time I've been in the news this year, but I'm not surprised that you didn't know that, considering how busy you get on the base."

"You can tell us all about it once you come downstairs in your dress uniform Andrew," Tom assured him. "Now get upstairs and get changed: that's an order!"

"Yes sir!" Andrew said with a big grin as he saw Tom smiling at him. "But I can't do that without a dress uniform! Remember how you told me on my last Reserve Weekend that it would take a few weeks to get a proper size dress uniform for me? I think that time has come!"

"Oh yes, I almost forgot," Tom realized, reaching behind the umbrella stand and handing Andrew the big box he had hidden there. "Now get upstairs and change before your fellow soldiers tell the news crews all about your prowess on the obstacle couse and the 15 mile rucksack march!"

"Yes sir!" Andrew shouted as he ran upstairs to get changed.

Tom went downstairs and introduced Andrew's military friends to his football friends. Andrew's teammates told his fellow soldiers about Andrew's heroics in the civilian world. Andrew's friends from the reserves were amazed that he was as much a hero off the base as he was on it. They were also surprised to see that some of Andrew's teammates were as big as he was, dwarfing the soldiers. The news crews turned on their cameras and began recording the tales of Andrew's heroics both on and off the base, once the soldiers began telling Andrew's teammates about how he had saved Luke that day.

When Andrew came back downstairs in his dress uniform, he handed Chad the tape of his rescue of Luke that day. Chad put the tape in the DVD/VCR combo and played the video for everyone to see. The reporters had Andrew describe everything as it happened. They noticed that Luke barely grimaced when his ankle snapped, and then they noticed that he was one of the biggest soldiers in the room at 6 foot 4 and 250 pounds.

Everyone clapped and cheered for Andrew as they saw him carrying both Luke and Luke's kit back to base, while jogging! Tom helped Luke up and then they flanked Andrew as the news crews took pictures of him holding up his framed certificate. After all the pictures were taken, Tom ordered Andrew to go get changed and come outside. When Andrew asked why, Tom told him that it was a surprise. While Andrew was upstairs changing, his fellow soldiers took turns in the other two washrooms to change into their casual clothes.

Once Andrew got outside, Tom had him lift the military van above his head: an old and frankly boring trick for Andrew, but a new and astonishing trick for his fellow soldiers. Tom took some pictures of Andrew's display of great strength and then turned to address the entire crowd.

"This message is intended for all the soldiers here today," Tom began. "Now that you have alls een how useful Andrew's great strength can be, Colonel Mitchell had authorized me to recruit volunteers to undergo the same Genetic Enhancement Procedure that Andrew has volunteered for." All the soldiers immediately put their hands up, prompting Tom to raise his hands to calm them down. "I appreciate your enthusiasm everyone, but Colonel Mitchell has to convince General Mitchell to approve the serum for military trials first. This news footage of Andrew lifting the military van should help with that. Also, everyone who takes the serum has to be under 30 and over 250 pounds. Everyone who doesn't meet those parameters, put your hands down." Everyone except Luke and Matt put their hands down reluctantly. "Thanks a lot for volunteering Private Rowe and a special thanks to you as well Sergeant Stevenson. I can see that you're a great leader, volunteering for a procedure that your subordinate is also undergoing. Along that same line of reasoning, I will also be volunteering to be enhanced, since I won't let my subordinates have a procedure that I'm not willing to have as well."

"Are you sure that's wise sir?" Matt asked him with a worried look. "What if our great strength causes us to have bad emotional side-effects? Our whole Chain of Command could be compromised!"

"That's why it's important that all the people in that Chain of Command who are eligible for the procedure have it performed on them," Tom reminded Matt. When he saw Matt still looking worried, he said, "But if it makes you feel better Sergeant, we can always ask the biggest MPs if they'd like to be enhanced as well." When Matt smiled and nodded, Tom said, "Very well Sergeant, we'll do it your way."

Matt turned to Andrew and said, "That was the rest of Lt. Mitchell's surprise Andrew: the revelation that the Genetic Enhancement Procedure can soon fulfil its intended purpose."

"What is that purpose Sergeant?" Luke asked him.

"To protect soldiers from fatal injuries in a theater of operations Private Rowe," Matt replied. "That way they can come home safely to their loved ones after risking their lives to keep them safe."

"Well said Sergeant," Tom commended him. He turned to Andrew and said, "Congratulations Private Pearson: your success as the first military member to undergo the Enhancement Procedure has proven that it will be safe for other military members."

Andrew smiled as he realized that his selfish wish to have great strength would now help soldiers come home safe to their families.