Josiah West 1: Kaleidoscope (12 page)

The capacitor and GS assi
sted landing on a back road in Southern Montana went smoothly and Josiah started a main reactor relight as Phelps checked a display, “Well, it’s pushing 10 A.M. in California; what say we go visit your folks? I could use some lunch.”

Josiah nodded, “ATC this is Admiral 0ne-zero requesting direct to
Lark Field, California.”

“Admiral one-zero, direct to Lark below two-zero kilometers is approved, Contact Red Bluff Control on approach on channel three-three-six. Continue LATS and two-zero-zero.”

“Admiral one-zero.”

Thirty minutes later they were nearing Red Bluff, California.

“Red Bluff Control this is Admiral one-zero on three-three-six, two-zero-K northeast at five-triple-zero for Lark and Westland Flight Systems.”

“Admiral one-zero, descend and maintain two-triple-zero until clear of Red Bluff TCA then direct Lark.”

“Admiral one-zero.”

Josiah reduced speed as he descended to 2,000 meters and entered the low level traffic zone. “We should be on the ground in ten minutes.”

Allea West stepped out of the office and scanned the floor of the huge repair facility looking for the bright red shirt that her father always wore to make himself visible in the general clutter and confusion. She spotted him four bays down with his head stuck in a Falcon drive coil. She ignored the stairs and stepped on the GS pad for a quick drop to the ground level floor.

Her father still had his head in the coil along with the head of Sam Gates--their chief drive tech--as she came up behind them, “Dad!”

His father kept working, “What?”

“I just heard Red Bluff Control clear someone with an Admiral call sign direct to here. I have no record of any Navy deliveries or planned visits and…well….”

The confusion in her voice as she trailed off was enough to turn both heads in her direction, “I…well, I would swear that it sounded like Josey.”

That was enough to get both heads out of the coil.

“An Admiral call sign?” her father asked.

Allea nodded and all three of them turned toward the open overhead door that faced the flight operations area. They walked a few meters from the building and scanned the sky. A few minutes later, Sam pointed, “There!”

The thing that came out of the sky and settled to the ground at the far end of the apron was marked with standard Navy insignia and painted the current and correct two shades of gray and midnight blue, but it was definitely NOT a standard Navel vessel.

“Dad, is that a…”

“Panther D.” her father finished for her. “Or…at least…it used to be. Unless I miss my guess, that’s the personal shuttle of Admiral Arthur Jacks the CO of Division One. What call sign number did they use; was it one?”

“Ah…no, I think it was ten, one-zero.”

“That means it’s not the Admiral on board, but it does mean a staff officer is on it.”

A sudden, frightening thought hit him, “God, I hope the Admiral hasn’t sent one of his staff to offer condolences because Josey went and did something stupid again and got himself killed.”

With that evil thought now circulating in all their heads, they could only stand at a safe distance and wait.

With the post-landing checklist complete and all systems shut down, Josiah and Phelps went through the main passenger area to the cross-hull airlock structure that had been added between the passenger area and the two private bed/sitting/work rooms. Phelps opened the starboard side hatch and they walked down the steps.

As they walked toward the three standing near the building, Josiah pointed them out, “The one in the red shirt is my Father, Paul; the girl is my Sister, Allea, and the guy in the blue coveralls is Sam Gates, our chief drive systems tech.”

Josiah could tell when his Father recognized him. They were about thirty meters away when his body language changed. Nothing was said when Josiah and Phelps stopped in front of them. All three had stunned looks on their faces. Finally, Paul West braced to attention and saluted his son. It caught Josiah by surprise but he was proud to return it.

Paul West looked at the medals, ribbons, and shoulder boards, “I take it you’re not getting out of the Navy in a few months?”

Josiah sighed and got an apologetic look on his face, “Well…no, something’s come up.” Then, he smiled and put an arm around Phelps shoulder, pushing him forward, “This is Steven Phelps. Commander, I would like you to meet my Father, Paul, my Sister Allea, and Sam Gates. Commander Phelps is Admiral Jacks’ personal shuttle pilot and I’m his replacement.”

After shaking hands all around, Paul asked, “How long have you got?”

“Only a couple of hours, we were doing a check ride and decided to drop in for lunch. Is Mom around?”

“No, she’s at home, but I’ll have her here real quick. Let’s go to the cafeteria, you have a lot of explaining to do.”

Nearly three hours later, Phelps, Josiah, and his parents were standing at Kaleidoscope’s hatch. “Lunch” had turned into a carnival when most of the people in the plant had filled the cafeteria to greet Josiah and then insisted on a complete tour of Kaleidoscope. Phelps reached into his com pad pouch and fished out a tiny chip case, “Mister West…Paul…” he corrected as Paul West held up a cautioning hand, “I have here a complete copy of the Statement of Commendation and a video and audio recording of the ceremony.”

Josiah turned a startled look at him. His telling of the story in the cafeteria had been…somewhat…lacking in the sharper edged details.

“Your Son, understandably, does not want to distress you with the full measure of what nearly happened, but there are some very dear friends of mine that are alive only because he was there and willing and able to do what he did. His parents have a right to know how well they did.” He handed the chip to Paul and turned to Josiah, “I’ll be on the command deck.
Have you told them about Nora yet?” He smiled and left.

“Who’s Nora
?” his Mother asked.

Josiah tried to suppress runaway speculation, “Just a girl, Mom, just a girl.”

She looked where Phelps had gone and then back at Josiah with a suspicious and totally unconvinced look, “Just a girl, huh? Spill it.”

With the walls closing in, there was no way out with his Mother blocking the only hatch. He pulled out his pad and called Nora. She was
at work, “Josey! Where are you?”

“I’m in
California, still on that check ride. I won’t be back for another hour at best. The main problem I have now is that I am being threatened with great bodily harm unless I introduce you to my parents.” He turned the pad over to his Mother, “Nora Parente, I would like you to meet my parents, Grace and Paul.”

Josiah eased away a couple of steps and focused his attention somewhere else. A couple of minutes la
ter his Mother took the pad and walked away from Paul who then came over and put an arm around Josiah’s shoulder. He had a toothy grin, “Veeery nice! And I thought I was impressed by all of this crap on your shirt.”

Nora and his Mother talked for fifteen minutes before she handed him the refolded pad. She gave him a stern look, “I like her. I want to meet her in person. Arrange for some leave and bring her with or I’ll call the Admiral myself and find out why not. Given recent events, I think he owes you a few.”

Josiah tried to remember if, in the three days that he had been a full Lieutenant, he had had the opportunity to give someone an order instead of getting them.

“Mom, I promise that I will do my best; it’s just that I may be busy with a lot of new things.”

“Work on it. Now, give me a kiss.”

He watched them walk away and sealed the hatch.

Phelps had his seat reclined and unlocked; he had his hands behind his head and was spinning lazily in circles. He grinned but said nothing.

“Thanks, Phelps; now I have to see about some leave and bring Nora or my Mother is going to call the Admiral.” He turned a sincere look at Phelps, “Believe me; she’ll do it, too.”

Phelps got hi
s chair back into position, “So? You should be up to speed on Kaleidoscope in a few more days. Give Molly a call tomorrow and see if there is some clear time coming up.”

Josiah
had just initiated the reactor start sequence when Phelps said that, “You think it’s possible? That seems like a short time to clear work schedules and make travel arrangements.”

Phelps leaned on the arm of his chair toward Josiah, “You haven’t got the complete picture yet, do you? First off, at this point, you aren’t fully involved with your new position. Besides, the Admiral isn’t going to be going anywhere until he
’s finished with his regen sessions. Second, you work for the CO of the entire Division; many things are possible. Third, that remark Beltozi made about saving the life of the husband of the Division Administration Master Chief Petty Officer giving you ownership of the Division wasn’t, entirely, a joke. Fourth, if you have personal travel to do, just grab one of the Falcons that you saw in the hanger; that’s what they’re there for.”

Josiah’s eyebrows went up at that, “I can do that?”

“The Admiral insists on it. If you’re anywhere this side of the Moon and he needs you back here, he does not need you fumbling around for a ride.”

Things were looking up, “Ok, I’ll check with Molly.”

“That’s the spirit. Now, get us a high altitude clearance and let’s see how much those forward screens can take.”

Forty minutes later they had Kaleidoscope snug in her hanger. It was pushing 1900, and Eddie had waited for them, “Well, Lieutenant, how was it?”

They were walking toward the office door, and Josiah put a hand on Eddie’s shoulder, “Smooth, Eddie, real smooth. As someone that knows what it takes to make something like that work, I can tell you that I was impressed. Just the fact that you managed to provide a fifty year old assault boat with a flawless single-pilot control system is pretty near a damned miracle.”

Eddie loved the praise, “Thank you, sir, we all had a hand in making things work together, but Fran probably tops the list for what we did in system integration.”

When they separated outside the hanger and Eddie was out of earshot, Josiah said, quietly, to Phelps, “I think I know why Fran is headed for the Academy.”

ASSIGNMENT

The mornings of the next three days were spent being lectured by Eddie, Fran, Andy, and
Jeremiah about systems updates and changes; the afternoons were spent flying and simulating system failures. Phelps had a habit of initiating a major disaster scenario when it was time for lunch and they happened to be over one of his favorite eateries. Strangely, an emergency landing was always required to complete the procedure, and the restaurant was always located on the edge of a small town.

When Josiah asked what the Admiral thought about those particular types of “emergencies”, Phelps smiled, “Actually, he thought of it; we were returning from a meeting in Japan a couple of years ago when he got a taste for some Texas barbeque. Well, the Admiral is from
Texas and he knew of a place near Houston. We landed in a field across the road and spent the rest of the afternoon talking to the locals and showing off Kaleidoscope. He thinks that was one of the best recruiting jobs ever done for the Navy; we do it every once in a while as the opportunity arises.”

Molly had been told on Thursday morning about the demands and threats made by Josiah’s Mother. She had only asked if there was some critical time frame involved, and he had assured her that there was no great rush.

Six days later he was returning from his first actual mission after having taken C
ommanders Scott and Locke, and Lieutenant Commanders Hoffman, Sun, and Marks to a base in Australia to solve a problem involving some missing weapons. Molly called while they were approaching Baja, “Yes, Molly?”

“West, about that leave request; the Admiral would like to see you and Lieutenant Parente in his office sometime Friday afternoon between 1500 and 1700. There is a small problem in the transport section at the McCord Facility that he would like her to check up on while the two of you are out there.” Molly smiled, “He sees this as an opportunity to give her some experience working for him and to see how she does.”

That sounded good to him, “Thanks, Molly”

By the time he got back to the BOQ it was after 1800. He called Nora and she was meeting him at the dining hall. As he turned out of the upper hallway toward the dining hall there was a shout of, “LIEUTENANT WEST” from down below. Jesse had a big grin on his face and Petty Officer Seeley was running up the steps as fast as she could. She almost fell into him when she slid to a stop, almost saluted, and then threw her arms around him instead, “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

She was so much shorter than he was that he was looking at the top of her head. He was sure there was a surprised look on his face that matched the intensity of the confused look on Nora’s face as she stood at the dining hall entrance. Then he remembered the call he had made to Molly about Seeley.

Seeley finally let go and backed up; she had tears running down her happy face. Her eyes got real wide, “I…I got a call from the Admiral,” she giggled, “…from the Admiral. He said you called and said I should go to drive tech school…and…and…and,” her eyes got bigger, “he signed my orders while I watched. I have to be out of here Sunday because school starts on Monday.” She threw her arms around him again, “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

When she backed up this time, she covered her face with her hands, “Oh, God, I’m babbling.” She wiped tears from her face, “I think I babbled to the Admiral, too.”

Josiah put an arm around her shoulder and walked her back to the stairs, “Don’t worry about it; he likes surprising little girls. I’m sure he thought it was great fun.” A thought occurred to him, “Take out your pad, and open your personal account for a deposit.” Of course, that request took a moment to achieve the desired results. When he had finished, Seeley had another one thousand credits in her account.

That familiar look of confusion set in; she started to protest, and he held up his hand to stop her, “Have you ever heard of Westland Flight Systems?”

“Well…yes, sir, everyone has.”

“My name is West as in Westland Flight Systems; that’s my family’s business. Consider this an investment that my family business is making in its future. Someday, if you are good enough,
Westland might have a job for you when you get out of the Navy.”

As the stunned girl was going back down the stairs, Jesse wagged a finger up at him, “Lieutenant, I should be very mad at you for relieving me of one of my best people, but,” he shrugged his shoulders and got a resigned look on his face, “I can’t help but be happy for her.”

Josiah turned back toward the dining hall; Nora had an accusing look on her face that didn’t quite work because of the underlying smile she couldn’t fully suppress, “So, you’re giving money to other little girls. I’m going to call your Mother.”

Oh, crap!
“Yeah, well, you and I are reporting to the Admiral this Friday between 1500 and 1700, and we are on leave next week. You can report to my Mother then.”

That got her off the
“little girl” thing.