Rumors and Ghosts

xiii. not a perfect soldier, but a good man

US TRAINING CAMP

An officer said to other soldiers training, "Ready, exercise!"

"Recruits, attention!" Peggy Carter ordered. "Gentlemen, I'm Agent Carter. I supervise all operations for this division."

"What's with the accent, Queen Victoria?" Gilmore Hodge asked. "Thought I was signing up for the U.S. Army."

"What's your name, soldier?"

"Gilmore Hodge, your Majesty."

"Step forward, Hodge." He stepped forward, smirking. "Put your right foot forward."

"Mmm... We gonna wrassle? 'Cause I got a few moves I know you'll like."

Peggy punched him, knocking him down.

Colonel Phillips drove up and called, "Agent Carter."

"Colonel Phillips," Peggy noted.

"I see you're breaking in the candidates. That's good!" He turned to Hodge. "Get your ass up out of that dirt and stand in that line at attention 'til somebody comes tells you what to do."

Hodge got back up. "Yes, sir."

Colonel Phillips addressed the new Army recruits. "General Patton has said that wars are fought with weapons but they are won by men. We are going to win this war because we have the best men..." He saw Steve and continued. "And because they're gonna get better. Much better. The Strategic Scientific Reserve is an Allied effort made up of the best minds in the free world. Our goal is to create the best army in history. But every army starts with one man. At the end of this week we will choose that man. He will be the first in a new breed of super-soldiers."

While Phillips spoke, Steve unpacked and trained where he failed to keep up and got bullied by the others.

"Rogers!" Sergeant Duffy called. "Get that rifle out of the mud!"

"And they, will personally escort Adolf Hitler to the gates of Hell."

Steve and other trainees ran up to a waiting Peggy and a flagpole.

"Pick up the pace, ladies!" Sergeant Duffy exclaimed. "Double time! Come on! Faster! Faster! Move! Move!" They arrived at the flagpole. "Squad, halt! That flag means we're only at the halfway point. First man to bring it to me gets a ride back with Agent Carter. Move, move!"

"Come on!" the soldiers yelled. "Get up there!"

As the soldiers tried to climb up the pole to no avail, Sergeant Duffy said, "If that's all you got, this army's in trouble! Get up there, Hodge! Come on! Get up there! Nobody's got that flag in 17 years! Now fall back into line! Come on, fall in! Let's go! Get back into formation! Rogers! I said fall in!" Steve pulled a pin from the bottom of the pole, causing it to fall over.

Steve, as he gave the flag to Sergeant Duffy, said, "Thank you, sir." He climbed into the car and they drove away.

The soldiers were doing push-ups.

"Faster, ladies!" Peggy ordered. "Come on. My grandmother has more life in her, God rest her soul. Move it!"

Colonel Phillips walked beside Dr. Erskine as he said, "You're not really thinking about picking Rogers, are you?"

"I am more than just thinking about it," Dr. Erskine replied. "He is the clear choice."

"When you brought a ninety-pound asthmatic onto my army base, I let it slide. I thought, what the hell? Maybe he'll be useful to you, like a gerbil. I never thought you'd pick him." He referred to Steve.

Peggy, as Phillips and Erskine arrived, commanded the soldiers, "Up."

"You stick a needle in that kid's arm and it's gonna go right through him." He watched Steve struggling whilst training with the other new recruits.

"Come on, girls."

"Look at that. He's making me cry."

"I am looking for qualities beyond the physical," Dr. Erskine said.

"Do you know how long it took to set up this project?"

"Yeah, I know."

"All the groveling I had to do in front of Senator What's-His-Name's committees."

"Brandt. Yes, I know. I am well aware of your efforts."

"Then throw me a bone. Hodge passed every test we gave him. He's big, he's fast, he obeys orders. He's a soldier."

"He's a bully."

"You don't win wars with niceness, doctor." He took a hand grenade. "You win war with guts." He threw the grenade to where the new recruits were training. "Grenade!"

The soldiers moved away quickly, but Steve jumped on top of it, covering it with his body. Peggy ran towards it as well, abruptly stopping when Steve jumped on top of it.

"Get away!" Steve yelled. "Get back!" He waited for the grenade to go off, but nothing happened.

"It was a dummy grenade," an officer told him. "All clear. Back in formation."

Steve looked at Colonel Phillips and Dr. Erskine before asking, "Is this a test?"

Dr. Erskine looked at Colonel Phillips as though to confirm his point about choosing Steve.

"He's still skinny," Colonel Phillips said.

---

Later that night, Steve sat on his bunk reading. Dr. Erskine knocked on the door and asked, "May I?"

"Yeah," Steve replied.

"Can't sleep?"

"I got the jitters, I guess."

Dr. Erskine laughed. "Me, too."

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Just one?" He sat facing Steve.

"Why me?"

"I suppose that is the only question that matters." He looked down at the bottle of Schnapps he'd brought with him. "This is from Augsburg. My city. So many people forget that the first country that the Nazi's invaded was their own. You know, after the last war the... my people struggled. They... they felt weak. They felt small. And then Hitler comes along with the marching and the big show and the flags and the... and the..." He waved his hand. "And he... he hears of me, my work and he finds me. And he says, "You." He says, "You will make us strong." Well, I am not interested. So he sends the head of HYDRA, his research division. A brilliant scientist by the name of Johann Schmidt. Now, Schmidt is a member of the inner circle and he's ambitious. He and Hitler share a passion for occult power and Teutonic myth. Hitler uses his fantasies to inspire his followers. But for Schmidt, it is not fantasy. For him, it is real. He has become convinced that there is a great power hidden in the earth, left here by the Gods, waiting to be seized by a superior man. So when he hears about my formula and what it can do, he cannot resist. Schmidt must become that superior man."

"Did it make him stronger?"

"Yeah. But, there were other effects. The serum was not ready. But more important, the man. The serum amplifies everything that is inside. So, good becomes great. Bad becomes worse. This is why you were chosen. Because a strong man, who has known power all his life, will lose respect for that power. But a weak man knows the value of strength, and knows compassion."

"Thanks. I think."

Dr. Erskine poured three drinks. "Whatever happens tomorrow, you must promise me one thing. That you will stay who you are. Not a perfect soldier, but a good man."

Steve held up his glass to toast. "To the little guys."

Just as Steve was about to drink from his glass, Dr. Erskine took it away and said, "No! No! Wait! Wait! What I am doing? No! You have a procedure tomorrow. No fluids." He poured the contents of Steve's glass into his own.

"All right. We'll drink it after."

"No! I don't have procedure tomorrow. Drink it after? Drink it now!" He drank the alcohol.