The Guns of Old John Brown

The downtime branch of Radical Reconstruction had grown greatly, expanding from a few backroom clerks to dozens of operatives - escaped slaves who had worked with Brown, radical abolitionist preachers determined to aid their cause, ex-criminals looking to redeem themselves. And now this powerful organization was flexing its muscles.

Pockets filled with (metaphorical) gold, they went into thriving cities and found people who didn't have much tying them down. They bought drinks and made promises. They held cornerside speeches and approached those who seemed interested.

Their successes were limited, because there were only so many young men (and the organization agreed to only take men) willing to not just fight and die for a cause, but to do so at some unspecified point in the future. But they did find a trickle of recruits, and to help keep track of them, those recruits were introduced to other aspects of the organization, most notably the factory in Troy, which unexpectedly acquired a large and somewhat ill-disciplined security force.

A few members, consisting of the rougher sort of man, were sent south into the high, forbidding mountains of the Appalachians. Though they had not been entirely wild for many hundreds of years, and were filled with small homesteads and isolated villages, the land here was still filled with dangers.

Not all who went in came out.

But some did, and they came bearing news, but not much else. Some assistance had been spread around, some acquaintances made, and some careful discussions were had, but there were difficulties with the planned strategy. The folk of the Appalachians were distrustful of outsiders, especially ones who didn't have a good reason for coming and going, especially ones who were keeping secrets.

There would need to be some refinements to the approach made, and representatives from the organization gathered to have a discussion and vote. In the end, the decision was made to...

[] Establish a better cover story, creating a fake organization of peddlers to explain why these strange people are appearing. This will require some financial investment in goods, guards, and all the other things wandering merchants have.

[] Be more open about your goals, and make it clear you are looking for assistance in attacking the wealthy planters. Denigrate their low character in every regard while describing their ample wealth, and make it clear you are looking for aid. And hope that no one decides what you have said is worth reporting to a government body.

[] Narrow your focus, and aim to establish ties among one specific community, with the promise of wealth, loot, and more to sway them to your side, while giving up on the broader mountains in exchange for a reliable local ally near Harper's Ferry.

Still others started trying to set up a cavalry force for Radical Reconstruction. This was also an effort that had some difficulties in it - most of the membership was from urban or semi-urban areas, but a few from wilder places were drafted to teach others how to ride. The work began, with the purchase of a few horses, especially to be livestock on the local farms. Unofficially, lessons on how to feed a horse, how to mount a horse, how to care for a horse, and at some point in the future how to ride a horse have begun.

And with the greatest care and secrecy, a final effort of Radical Reconstruction was began. Harriet Tubman provided a small list of names, forcing those she showed it to to memorize its contents, refusing to let the list out of her sight and burning it once she was done.

A few extremely careful individuals traveled across the country, heading to stations on the Underground Railroad. They came bringing news. Vague, ominous news. News of an uprising. An uprising that would shake the nation.

And while they could not spare much, a few rifles and boxes of bullets were delivered to each stop on the railroad, to be hidden in the house or barn or church until the time came.

Meanwhile, the four who had originally founded the group each had their own work to do.

Alex sat in a workshop, carefully reading through Rebecca's notes. It took him a few minutes to catch up on where she was, but once he had the next steps were simple. She'd created an extensive list of experiments to try and make a useful synthetic dye, and all he had to do was go down the list and try not to injure himself.

A week and a half later, he stumbled out of the workshop holding a scrap of cloth so red a bystander thinks he's been injured.

Now he has to make it efficient to produce.

Nearby, Floyd and Malcolm are both working. Floyd is not the most experienced with engineering, or with fighting outside of boxing matches and street brawls, but he's been given the job and he'll do his best. And he does have some knowledge to draw on...namely some familiarity with various insurgencies. He showed the workers his sketch of a pipe bomb. The first test worked - the fuse burned up to the pipe, producing a deadly blast as the walls of the pipe channeled the force out the ends, sending lethal bursts of shrapnel out in two directions.

It would make a deadly tool for assasinations...if they could find a way to make it light reliably and discreetly.

Otherwise it was a slightly mediocre grenade.

Malcolm, meanwhile, isn't quite in his element, but he's damn close as he chats up the workers at the factory, getting on their good side, getting them to agree to come to meetings and bring their families as he works with them on establishing more facilities for the benefit of the community, as he encourages them to form bonds of solidarity with their fellow workers no matter who they are or how they labor, as he exposes them to careful doses of theory.

Really, the only one who is uncomfortable is Rebecca, who finds herself struggling not to strangle Holley. He's not happy to be learning about steelmaking from a woman, and she's not happy to be teaching him.

And he has very sharp eyes that have been seeing quite a bit. He's investigated their North Elba offices and a few local facilities, and she thinks he's been learning about John Brown. But he hasn't said anything either way...

He's probably harmless.