Tales of B-Company: The Complete Collection Read online

  Praise for Tales of B-Company

  What Other Writers Are Saying

  Looking through his microscope, Chris has populated the now more tactile and detailed Pennsylvania world with unforgettable characters that live and breathe and leap from the page … As good or better than the original.

  —Michael Bunker, author of The Pennsylvania Omnibus and Brother, Frankenstein

  Pourteau handles Military SciFi with a deft literary gift for both the regular and the heroic that reminds the reader of Bernard Cornwell. Brilliant in scope, nuanced in execution. Read this and enjoy.

  —Nick Cole, author of The Wasteland Saga, Soda Pop Soldier, and The Red King

  Chris Pourteau’s Gelassenheit will give you chills and will stick with you long after you’ve left its pages. “Magnificently tragic” is perhaps the way I know how to describe this first-person narrative … a must-study in terms of character development, tension, pace, and dialogue.

  —Eric Tozzi, author of Phoenix Lights and The Scout

  With parallels to the original three day battle of Gettysburg … this thrilling military sci-fi adventure puts you back in Bunker’s world from the perspective of TRACE soldiers in their fight for freedom. [Gettysburg] is a fast-paced adventure that pulls you right into the battlefield.

  —Ed Gosney, author of Prometheus Stumbles

  We talk about writers’ writers and readers’ writers and Pourteau manages effortlessly to be both. He draws his characters with skill and one can appreciate and observe the techniques employed to do so. Yet he also manages to make them admirable and lovable, each with their own peccadilloes and strengths.

  —Jennifer Ellis, author of Reversal and the Derivatives of Displacement books (review of Susquehanna)

  Pourteau is at the top of his game. I didn’t think this series could get better, but the third installment of B Company is exceptional. Pourteau has a cinematic style that pulls you into the story and refuses to turn you loose.

  —Hank Garner, author of Mulligan and The Seventh Son (review of Columbia)

  What Readers Are Saying

  [Gelassenheit] was a riveting and enthralling story of one family’s struggle between the old and the modern. It also features a searing psychological portrait of how each family member interprets their cultural beliefs.

  —Chris F., Amazon reviewer (5-star review)

  Heinlein meets Glen Cook. This fast paced short story … keeps your eyes glued to the pages. Chris Pourteau writes a character driven, well-written sci-fi war story for all ages.

  —Christopher B., Amazon reviewer (5-star review of Gettysburg)

  I’m not usually a reader of sci-fi in any form but starting skimming this and then couldn’t put it down. This is a story for anyone who enjoys adventure; a love of sci-fi is not required! The characters are so well developed; this author has a gift for making the reader know and like (or hate) the characters just through their demeanor and actions, and in such a short time.

  —Supergenius, Amazon reviewer (5-star review of Gettysburg)

  One thing I love about these stories is the female leadership of a resistance group. Captain Brenneman is one tough lady! She’s smart, logical, efficient, cares about the men and women in her charge, and as we find out in this story, she is willing to make whatever personal sacrifices are necessary to ensure victory over Transport.

  —VeggieLover, Amazon reviewer (5-star review of Susquehanna)

  Susquehanna, the sequel to Gettysburg, does not disappoint. Beautifully written, with lots of edge-of-your-seat action carried out by well-rounded characters… I loved Susquehanna even more, and I can’t wait to dig into the next story in the series. Top-notch writing here. Don’t pass this series up.

  —Missa C., Amazon reviewer (5-star review)

  Chris Pourteau just gets better and better writing in this world. Crisp and engaging, his words bring you into the action and tension of the Pennsylvania universe with immediacy and drama. The B Company stories are great military tales, but are also stories of humanity and relationships torn in the midst of the ongoing conflict between the Transport Authority, TRACE and the rest of the population of New Pennsylvania.

  —AnneHope, Amazon reviewer (5-star review of Columbia)

  The stories grab you from the beginning and won’t let go until the end and this story is no exception. Any cliffhangers or unanswered questions you might have had will be answered in [Columbia].

  —Preston L., Amazon reviewer (5-star review)

  Tales of B-Company

  The Complete Collection

  by

  Chris Pourteau

  writing in the world of

  Michael Bunker’s Pennsylvania

  Introduction by

  Michael Bunker

  Edited by

  David Gatewood

  Text copyright (c) 2014–2015 by James C. Pourteau. All rights reserved.

  First Kindle Edition: May 2015

  ISBN 978-0-9899813-5-4

  Thank you for purchasing this ebook. It is a work of fiction. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Aspects of this story are inspired by the world of Pennsylvania, copyright (c) 2014 by Michael Bunker. Used with permission.

  Gelassenheit by Chris Pourteau, copyright (c) 2014 by Chris Pourteau. First appeared in the collection Tales from Pennsylvania copyright (c) 2014 by Michael Bunker.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

  Cover design copyright (c) 2015 by Dave Monk Fraser Adams. All rights reserved. Used by permission. http://www.lacunaverse.com/.

  Illustrations copyright (c) 2015 by Ben Adams. All rights reserved. Used by permission. http://www.benjadams.com.

  Editing by David Gatewood. http://lonetrout.com.

  Formatting by Polgarus Studio. http://polgarusstudio.com.

  This collection is for the fans of B-Company

  Your enthusiasm, excitement, and love of these characters

  Kept me writing about them

  Table of Contents

  Dedication

  Introduction by Michael Bunker

  Foreword by the Author

  Gelassenheit: A B-Company Origin Story

  Historical Note: Gelassenheit

  Gettysburg: A Tale of the Second Pennsylvanian War for Independence

  The First Day

  The Second Day

  The Third Day

  Historical Note: Gettysburg

  Susquehanna: A Second Tale of Bestimmung Company

  All Our Food Belong to Whom?

  The Ferryman

  Riverwalk

  Warpath

  Guns and Butter and Bourbon

  Historical Note: Susquehanna

  Columbia: A Third Tale of Bestimmung Company

  A Little Night Work

  Obadiah’s Orders

  The Tick-Tock of the Okcillium Clock

  Up, Up, Up!

  Legacy

  Historical Note: Columbia

  Acknowledgments

  A Note to My Readers

  About the Author

  Introduction by Michael Bunker

  Almost immediately after I published The Pennsylvania Omnibus in April 2014, I was very surprised to start receiving requests from fellow authors wanting to write stories in the world of New Pennsylvania. At one point I think there were more than twenty-five authors either writing or intending to write stories in the little sandbox I’d created. Of course, I instantly gave everyon
e who wanted to write in my world permission to do so, even telling them to sell their stories on Amazon if they wanted.

  It’s both humbling and a little frightening to know that other authors respect the fictional world you’ve built enough to want to explore it more deeply and add to its legend. I know some authors voice concerns about what will happen to the worlds they’ve created once they’re opened up to what’s commonly called “fan fiction,” but I’ve never shared that concern. I’ve written fan fiction myself—Osage Two Diamonds, a commissioned novel written in the world of Kurt Vonnegut, and The Silo Archipelago, a novella written in the world of Hugh Howey’s Wool are two examples—and I know there’s no way that someone who loves an author’s world and wants to explore it could do any lasting damage to that world. The whole concept that fan fiction might somehow have a negative impact on the original work, or on a reader’s conception of that work, is foolishness to me.

  Chris Pourteau and I became acquainted around the time The Pennsylvania Omnibus came out, and he asked my permission to write a story in the world of New Pennsylvania. I immediately said, “Yes!” I’d already read his debut novel, Shadows Burned In, and I’d really enjoyed it, so I knew he’d do a fantastic job with a Pennsylvania story. (And I’d have given him permission even if, for some reason, I hadn’t enjoyed Shadows Burned In.) The fact that I’d seen so much natural talent and ability in his writing made me not only acquiesce to his request, but eagerly anticipate reading his take on the Pennsylvania world.

  His first short story in the Pennsylvania universe was “Gelassenheit,” published in the short story anthology Tales from Pennsylvania. The story is a terrific tale taking place a generation before the events of The Pennsylvania Omnibus. I loved the way Chris examined so many of the tensions and social and cultural conundrums of my own people (the Plain People) as they must interact with and relate to the world, while deftly tying together those examinations and infusing them into a story that accurately portrays the fictional world of Pennsylvania as I saw it. Needless to say, I was pleased and not at all surprised by the positive response Chris got from Pennsylvania fans who read his story.

  Not long after that, Chris contacted me about writing a longer story set in New Pennsylvania. I was thrilled to no end and very excited to learn that he was going to push that longer story out to the world in a series of parts, just as I’d done with the original Pennsylvania story. What I never expected—even though I was already impressed with the quality of his storytelling—was how expertly Chris would weave his “military thriller” approach into the Pennsylvania fabric.

  I’m heavily influenced by the Russian literary tradition, so though my original story included war and battles, warfare is presented only as a backdrop to the story. Big concepts of warfare are discussed and some brief views of battle take place, but for the most part the war is over there. Much like Napoleon advancing on Moscow in War and Peace, the war between TRACE and Transport in The Pennsylvania Omnibus, though central to the plot, is not very explicit. It’s a set piece. It represents and places emphasis on the rest of the story.

  For his approach to the world of New Pennsylvania, Chris Pourteau has adopted a perspective more characteristic of American literature. Though he emphasizes the details of combat, he focuses on the very real human drama occurring between those comrades in arms fighting the battle … as they fight it. I think this approach is really a game changer in the life of this fictional world. It elevates the whole. It’s like a microscope that shows you that, on some chosen aspect of a larger subject, an entire world of life exists there too! A deeper and grittier world, with real events and consequences that roll outward, like the proverbial flap of the butterfly’s wings, changing and affecting the world at large. Chris’s approach gives greater texture to the whole. It’s a fascinating mechanism to use this juxtaposition within the framework of the larger story, and I think Chris has pulled it off beautifully. I couldn’t be more pleased with the product of his labors.

  Chris has populated the now more tactile and detailed Pennsylvania world with unforgettable characters who live and breathe and leap from the page—characters for whom I began to care more deeply the more I read about them.

  I’d like to leave you with this exhortation. Please do not read Tales of B-Company—compiled here from all its parts for your reading pleasure—with the idea that, because it’s a tie-in or “fanfic novel,” somehow it’s intrinsically less than or inferior to the original. I’ve never seen it that way, and I hope you won’t either. Far from it, in fact. In many ways, in my mind, what Chris has produced here, the book you’re about to read, is on par with or better than my original Pennsylvania story. And it should be read as an expression of Chris Pourteau’s own original and fantastic art—a piece of literature in its own right. I think it’s that good, and I bet you will too.

  Michael Bunker

  May 2015

  Foreword by the Author

  If you’re like me, when you buy a book, you probably don’t purchase it for the foreword. Like the extras on the hill in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, you might already be standing up, waving your arms, and shouting, “Get on with it!” But if you’ll indulge me a moment, I’d like to give you some background that, I hope, will enhance your reading experience of this collection.

  Michael Bunker created a vital world of possibilities when he published his Pennsylvania Omnibus. Amish sci-fi? Um, okay. Sounds a little strange, but when you read it, it works. In fact, I found Michael’s approach to be a totally original take on a familiar genre that I’ve loved my entire life—from Star Trek to Star Wars (yes, it’s possible to like both) to Joe Haldeman’s The Forever War and John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War books and beyond. “Totally original” isn’t easy to do these days, but Michael pulled it off.

  My story “Gelassenheit” in Tales from Pennsylvania, a compilation of short stories set in Michael’s world, was my first toe-dipping in New Pennsylvania. Written in first person from the perspective of an Amishman (and father), the story looks at life under the Transport Authority some twenty-five years before the events in The Pennsylvania Omnibus. I wanted to study the inherent tensions between the Plain People in New Pennsylvania, who only want to live their life their way, and a government determined to enforce its will on its citizenry. I wondered: What might have occurred in the past to motivate Pennsylvania’s characters to rebel against Transport? But when I finished “Gelassenheit,” one of the characters in the story wouldn’t let me go. So I decided to write more about them.

  I also wanted to update their story and bring them into Michael’s contemporary world of New Pennsylvania. So I spun the hands of the clock ahead a quarter century for Gettysburg, the first of the B-Company tales. Weaned on military/adventure sci-fi and Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos World War II comic books as a kid—and, as an adult, being a huge fan of Bernard Cornwell’s historical military fiction—I decided to create a band of TRACE commandos fighting the good fight against Transport. And I promoted my character from “Gelassenheit” to be their captain. Connection made. Let the fun begin!

  Gettysburg and its sequels happen as a parallel storyline set at the same time as Pennsylvania. (In fact, some of Michael’s characters make cameos in my B-Company stories, so keep an eye out, Pennsylvania fans.) I was so blown away by how well Michael and his readers received Gettysburg that I decided to write its first sequel, Susquehanna. That tale ended on a bit of a cliffhanger, and so Columbia—the third and final B-Company tale—was born. (Michael thinks I had a master plan for these stories, but honestly, one begat the next, so shhh, don’t tell him otherwise.)

  It isn’t absolutely necessary for you to read The Pennsylvania Omnibus before reading this collection, but I highly recommend it. First, it’s a great read and, as I mentioned, an innovative take on the sci-fi genre. And beyond that, if you’ve read Brother, Frankenstein, you know the story we pick up in Pennsylvania is part of the same universe.

  But if you don’t read Brother, Fr
ankenstein or Pennsylvania, “Gelassenheit” should give you all the background you need to enjoy the three tales that follow. By the way, I mentioned above that “Gelassenheit” is told in the first person; Gettysburg and its sequels are written in the third person, and the reason for that is to give the reader a bird’s-eye view of battle from the perspectives of different characters. I hope you don’t find the switch too jarring.

  One last thing—I originally published each of the B-Company tales separately, and with each, I included an afterword explaining the historical background for that particular story. For this compilation, I’ve kept those “historical notes” with their respective stories. However, I’ve collected the acknowledgments for those who helped me on the individual tales—artists, readers, editors—into one section at the very end of this collection.

  So—I’ve delayed you long enough. I hope you enjoy my take on Michael Bunker’s world of New Pennsylvania. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride.

  Chris Pourteau

  May 2015