Alright, been a bit of a wait for this one, eh? Sorry, I had writer's block. This chapter features Seal, Donut, Jess, Bear, and Rad. I only had the permission of Seal and Rad, so I hope everyone else won't mind.
“One change always leaves the way open for the establishment of others”
--Niccolo Machiavelli
Fact or fabrication
(4)
Recording past events is a daunting task for any historian; especially when the links to the past are so few and far in between. While it can be agreed upon that Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated by Arthur Wellesley, the duke of Wellington, at Waterloo, and that Marie Antoinette was imprisoned and later decapitated on the 16th of October, and that Adolf Hitler’s hatred towards the Jews stemmed from an ailment his mother suffered, historians lack the evidence required to make certain events in history fact. For example, we do not know, precisely, how the Greeks knew that the Persians fed their cattle at the exact same time every morning before the battle of marathon. Nor can we say how Louis XIV managed to escape from his home in Versailles, mere moments before an angry mob broke into his palace, searching for their corrupt king. And can we truly say, with the utmost certainty—with little available evidence—that Adam and Eve were the first humans created by God?
History, like any other topic to be studied on earth, has its own drawbacks; particularly where evidence is concerned. We cannot say how the cavemen came to create art, or how the wheel was constructed; we just know that those events did, in fact, occur. Because the people of the past rarely recorded the events that occurred in their own time—with exceptions of those few instances where a somewhat biased account of wars and invasions were published—all us historians have to go on today are speculations. We assume that the Greeks had spies amongst the Persian ranks. We assume that Louis XIV was able to pass off as a common peasant boy, who happened to live near the palace at Versailles. And, we Christian folk believe Adam and Eve were the first people created by God, simply because it is written in the bible.
I cannot, in all honesty, tell you how the moderators knew about the first meeting of revolutionaries that August afternoon. I can only make speculations. And while there may be validity to these speculations, I cannot ask you to take my word as fact. All we have to go on at the moment is a sentence uttered by the future general Squall--famous for committing the most atrocities in the RAF Civil War—and that is this: “I’m just one of one hundred people who came to Niagara Falls to listen to you talk about a revolution. That’s all you wrote in your little email.”
There is only one thing that can be taken from this: an email was sent to all the RAFians in attendance at the first meeting at the Lodge Resort. Was this meeting sent via personal email belonging to the revolutionary leader and his staff—an email that hadn’t been registered on the RAF website? Or did TobiasMasonPark simply add every lurker, newbie, and Rafian to the BBC list directly from Richards Animorphs Forum? And were the spies who attended the meeting that day really spies, and not simply RAFians who were disillusioned from revolting after listening to the words of a man that many considered to be mentally unhinged?
This last bit could go either way. It’s more than likely that the moderators took Terenia’s warning into account after finding TobiasMasonPark’s first post on the General RP thread. But it is just as likely that the moderators were warned after the meeting had been adjourned.
It would put the future Emperor in a bad light if we wrote off the revolution as a mistake made by TobiasMasonPark. Such a thing would be the action of a fool, and not a man who committed so many war crimes during the course of this brutal revolution. For now, we shall assume that TobiasMasonPark sent the email from a personal account, and hadn’t foreseen the possibility that it had been sent to a RAFian loyal to the moderators.
We do, however, have an eye witness account of the meeting called by the moderators and their subjects twenty-four hours after the meeting of revolutionaries had been adjourned. Many RAFians kept war journals during the revolution. We hear different accounts from different witnesses on both sides of the field, as well as those who wished to stay neutral. It is hard to decide which is factual and which was fabricated by the author. In this chapter, we hear from a young soldier named Seal. Like many involved, Seal had no business being in the war. However, being loyal to the moderators of RAF, she joined her fellows—namely Shalner, Donut, Bear, and Rad—in the fight against the future Emperor’s revolution. She writes:
It rained the day after Goose spoke at that resort in Niagara Falls. But it seemed like much longer when the rest of us made our way back to Headquarters to speak with the mods. Donut made the call. Donut always makes the call. Out of all of us, he knows the most about this sort of thing. We’ve had arguments amongst other RAFians in the past. There was that dispute between Adam and Russell a long while back—a major disaster if there was any. And we’ve had issues with banned RAFians before. In fact, it was because of all the disputes caused by all sorts of RAFians that the moderators built the Headquarters in the first place.
But we’ve never had a revolution. RAFcops was close, but I doubt if Adam had it in him to unleash a full out war on all of RAF. The moderators knew Adam. People liked Adam. There was a time when Russell and Adam were friends. Sure, they weren’t the type to swing an arm over the other’s shoulders, or go bike riding together, or anything like that. But they respected each other…before RAFcops, at least. I mean, Adam wasn’t crazy. Power hungry, overly-emotional, and maybe a little envious, sure. But not crazy.
I didn’t know Goose. He was new to RAF. But his posts didn’t suggest that he was unhinged or anything. But a lot of us seemed to like him, or tolerate him. And he was friendly, polite and accepting of everyone on RAF. I definitely didn’t think he was the type to resort to revolting against the mods. I wonder if Bear or Rad or Donut knew he had it in him.
We didn’t stay at the resort. Donut made it clear that we had to call the mods as soon as possible.
“They need to know,” Donut said, walking through the lobby with the rest of us in tow. “We can’t let this wait another second.
Donut took out a small, rectangular device—a cell phone. We were outside the resort, near a nice swimming pool where mothers were playing with their children, and teenagers were sunbathing in bikinis and swimsuits. I’d have liked to stay here, too, had the circumstances been different. Bear, Rad, Shalner and I waited in the parking lot. Donut was listening to the dial tone on his phone. After a few rings, there was no answer. He swore, just loud enough for us to hear.
“Who’d you try?” Bear asked.
“Goom. There wasn’t answer.” Donut muttered. “I’ll try Jessi.”
Donut made the call. There was an answer. He didn’t make small talk with her; he jumped right in with the problem at hand.
“We’ve got an issue here in Niagara, Teach.” He said into the phone.
A short pause. We couldn’t hear Terenia from where we were standing.
“We were apparently invited by TobiasMasonPark,” Donut said, with a hint of distain in his voice. “Apparently, this guy has it in his head that RAF no longer needs the mods. He’s gathered a bunch of n00bs and lurkers for a revolution.” Another pause; longer than the first. “No, I think he’s serious. That Squall guy’s here, too. And Blaze. And just about anyone else that’s posted on RAF at some point.”
For a long time, Donut didn’t have to speak. He just kept mumbling and nodding to whatever Terenia had to say on her end. He never let go of this intent look in his eyes. It was that focused look that people get when they’re solving a problem—I guess that’s what this was. Maybe it was the soldier in him. Like I said, of all of us, Donut had the most experience. Maybe Bear or Rad. Definitely not Shalner or myself.
I was surprised that Donut didn’t sound the least bit worried. The entire time he sounded casual. He didn’t freak, or start cursing, or shout at just about anything that moved. He saw a problem in his way and wanted to deal with it in his own way. Donut wasn’t one to just freak out. He’s actually pretty logical. Calm. Cool. Calculating. The sort of guy who knows that he needs to do whatever has to be done to prevent mass panic. A soldier’s soldier. A general.
In short, what TobiasMasonPark was hoping he’d find today at that meeting.
After his call to Terenia, and another to Estrid, and one more call to Goom, Donut was ready to fill us in.
“I’m going to book a flight to Houston as soon as possible. We’re going to meet with everybody at Headquarters to deal with this problem. Anyone who wants to pack up and go home, feel free. The mods want me there to give them a full recount of the meeting. Rad,” Donut said. “I’d like for you to come with me. But, if not, I’d understand.”
“I go where you go.” Rad said. I could have sworn I caught a glimpse of movement suggesting that what we all thought was true: Rad and Donut were…a thing. But Rad kept herself reserved, professional. She was acting like a soldier under Lieutenant Donut’s command. And maybe that’s all it was.
“I’m comin’ too.” Bear said. “A good Texan never goes home when a fight’s callin’.”
“We don’t know if this will lead to a fight.” Shalner said. “It might not even get off the ground. I mean, what are a bunch of newbies going to do? And Goose? Goose doesn’t have it in him. But…I don’t think we’re in a position to take a chance. I’m coming too.”
They all looked at me, the youngest of the group. I guess they wanted to make it clear that I was an equal in all of this. But they still couldn’t deny the fact that I was only fourteen. Should any of this lead to something like a war, my fate would rest on their conscience. Because they let a fourteen year old run into battle with a gun.
“Well, what are we standing around here for?” I said, shrugging off any doubts or guilt my friends felt. “Let’s do this.”
