Linear Shift, Part 1

Chapter 4

The knock on the door was loud enough to be heard in the basement, where Peter was going through some old boxes. He was trying to make some headway before they had to move. Another knock, more insistent this time.

"Dammit," he exclaimed aloud, even though only the dust heard him. Ascending the stairs two at a time, he swiftly made his way to the front door. Just as he reached for the door handle, the loud knock came again. Peter yanked the door open and, without thinking, blurted out, "Enough already!"

"Hello. I'm looking for Mr. Peter Cooper?" said the man at the door. To Peter's surprise, the man was wearing a U.S. Army brigadier general's uniform. Peter recognized it right away, from his days in the service.

"I'm Peter," he said, looking around the general to see if he had any more company.

"Not to worry, Mr. Cooper. There is nothing wrong. I'm here on somewhat of a private matter. May I have a few moments of your time?"

Peter stood there for a moment, wondering what a general from the army would want with him. His mind flashed back to the days prior to his enlisting, his forced enlisting, and he felt the same sour feeling in his gut that he'd felt back then.

"Will this take long? I'm rather busy."

"Not at all, Mr. Cooper. I'll only take a few minutes of your time. May I come in?"

Peter opened the door fully for the general and stepped aside. "Please don't call me Mr. Cooper. Peter's fine."

"Very well, Peter. What a lovely house you have here."

"Thanks," replied Peter insincerely, as he led the general into the living room.

They chose opposite chairs and sat in silence for a long moment before Peter said, "Uh, can I get you a glass of something?"

"No thank you, Peter. Hopefully, this will not take long."

"Well then, what can I do for you?" asked Peter.

"Do you remember me at all, Peter? We met many years ago."

As soon as the general mentioned it, Peter noticed a slight tic in the general's demeanor that triggered a small bit of recognition... But he lied, "Sorry. You don't look familiar."

"Well, that doesn't surprise me," said the general with a smile. "It was back when you enlisted. I was a staff sergeant stationed at the admin office. I administered your ASVAB."

"Okay. I might remember seeing you there," Peter admitted.

"Well, as you can see from the shiny star here," the general pointed to the brigadier general star on his uniform, "I've had a few promotions since then. I'm now Brigadier General Harrison Applegate."

Applegate. That was the name that was on the tip of his lying brain.

"And in a strange sort of way, I'm actually here to talk to you about that day twenty-two years ago."

"How so?" asked Peter, his interest reluctantly piqued.

"The ASVAB exam tests ten separate categories, as you may recall. The scores you had in each of those categories are combined to get an overall score. Your score was a 94, where the minimum to enter the army at the time was 31. In short, Peter, you were far above the norm. And by all accounts you were very successful at your job. Yet you only stayed in the army for four years. Why is that?"

"I'm not real sure, to tell you the truth. I enjoyed my tour in Germany, and I made a few friends while enlisted. I guess... military life was just not my style."