Josiah West 1: Kaleidoscope (9 page)

As they entered the BOQ, a tall, blond Petty Officer First-Class was behind the reception counter to the right of the entrance. The desk plate said, ‘PO1 Jesse Clanders’. He rose from his stool as they approached, “I believe you would be Lieutenant Josiah West.”

“That is correct Petty Officer. I understand you have an ex
cellent dining facility here; I and my guest, Lieutenant Parente, have been at it all day and we are starved. I hope the dining room is open.”

“The dining area never closes, sir. We have transient traffic at all hours. Only the menu changes with the time of day. And just call me ‘Jesse’, sir. You’ll be seeing a lot of me around here. Now, can I please scan you in for registration and you ma’am as a guest of Lieutenant West?” They both raised their left arms and Jesse ran a wand over them. He then checked the screen on the counter, “Very good!” He looked back at Josiah, “The dining room is down the hallway behind you on the second floor. You are assigned to
suite 202 which is on the second floor at the far end of the hallway to your left.” He pointed up at the overhanging walkway to Josiah’s left, “You have also been assigned a ground vehicle. It is parked in slot six. You will find that your quarters are near the back entrance; your vehicle is right outside of that entrance. Just swipe the reader on the vehicle and entrance door. If you will leave your bag here, I will see that it is taken to your quarters; any questions, sir?”

Josiah couldn’t think of anything
, so he placed his bag on the counter, “I’ll probably think of something later but now it’s just food I want. Thank you, Jesse.”

“You’re welcome, sir.”

Josiah and Parente headed for the stairs and started upward.

“Oh, Lieutenant, Jesse called out, “there is one other thing.”

“Wait here, back in a moment.” Josiah returned to the counter.

Jesse leaned forward and spoke softly, “Sir, I didn’t tell you that your uniform allotment arrived and your suite includes a full clothing service station
, but the main thing is that, now that I have the lady scanned in, I can set it up so that she has access to the rear entrance and your quarters.” Jesse raised his right hand in a halting motion, “But only if you want it that way. You just let me know.”

That sign must be on my back.

“Ah, thank you, Jesse, I’m glad that got up there.” Much quieter he said, “I’ll let you know.”

As they headed up the stairs he answered her questioning look, “Jesse forgot to tell me that my new uniform allotment arrived and that I have a clothing service station so I won’t have to take my uniforms out for cleaning.”

The top of the curved stairway ended at the walkway and they turned to the left. The left side of the hallway seemed to be offices and a conference room. The right side was just a wall with some artwork hung on it. Just before the dining hall was a small store that looked like it focused on small personal items like toiletries.

The hallway ended in a floor-to-ceiling window that was continued into the dining room and formed an entire wall of that room. The room looked like it could hold a hundred diners. There were only two people sitting at one table near the door, “Looks like we’re early. Good, I hate crowds.”

There was an older female Chief Petty Officer behind a long counter to their right. As they approached she smiled, “Hello, I don’t believe I’ve seen you two before. I’m CPO Edna Barnhill; just call me ‘Barney’. Please, swipe in.” She indicated the reader on the screen she was standing behind: It was one of four on the counter. After they had done that, Barney checked her screen, “Ah, Lieutenant West, I see you just checked in and this lovely young lady will be your guest.”

Josiah could only smile at her,
Darken her hair a bit and she’s Grandma all over again
, “Yes, Barney, we require a good meal after the day we’ve had.”

She just smiled again, “Well, you two certainly don’t look any the worse for it. Let me explain how we work here: You scan in as you just did at whatever counter station is manned, make your selection from these menu screens,” she pointed up to the screens along the wall behind her, “then go find a seat and we will call your name when your food is ready
; then you just come up to the counter and get it. We don’t have enough personnel to have waiters but the food is excellent.”

Josiah picked a
medium-well steak, baked potato, green beans, and lemonade. Parente looked at him funny and said, “You’ve been reading my file.” She then turned to Barney, “Make that two of the same.”

Barney just grinned as she tapped in the orders. When she had finished she looked up, “You two dears go find a seat. I’ll bring your dinners to you. We won’t have a rush for almost an hour yet.”

Josiah started to turn away then stopped, “Say, Barney, would you happen to know a guy named ‘Bax’?”

She lit up with a big grin, “Oh, you’ve met my grandson!”

“Yes, I have; good man; knows his job.”

“I’ll be certain to tell him you remembered him.”

They found a table at the farthest back corner by the window and Josiah pulled the chair out for her. It was obvious that she liked that simple courtesy. As he sat down opposite her she said, “You wouldn’t believe how much she reminds me of my grandmother; both of them.” Josiah had to explain his laughter.

She folded her arms on the table and leaned forward, “So, Lieutenant West, you were going to tell me about the ‘yellow brick road’.”

He held up his hand, “Ok, let’s put a stop to that. Just call me Josey when we’re alone.”

She smiled, “Only if you call me Nora.”

“Alright...Nora, the yellow brick road starts almost five years ago when I left the Academy....”

The food arrived and Josiah talked around mouthfuls. Barney hovered nearby and refilled their glasses. Josiah did not leave out any details and an hour went by unnoticed. He enjoyed talking to Nora
, and Barney could see that. They never noticed that she was steering arriving customers to seats well away from them.

“...and that’s when I met you and you know the rest.”

Nora was a bit wide-eyed through most of his story but they narrowed now, “I would call that one of the most preposterous tales of fiction I have ever heard...,” She looked at the front of his shirt, “...except for the Admirals Star, the Bronze Cluster, the Marine Combat Award, on a Navy uniform for cripes sake, and Command Instructor Wings.” She looked back into his eyes, “Plus the fact that you introduced me to the Commanding Admiral of the Division and got him to promote me on the spot. It’s slightly disturbing that a four-star Admiral now knows my name.”

He smiled at her, “It’s worse than just being introduced to him; both he and his wife now have you on their short list.”

That wiped any semblance of a smile off her face and she sat up straight, “What do you mean, ‘short list’?”

He put his elbows on the table and interlaced his fingers just under his chin, “Admiral Jacks is on a hunt for the best people he can find and is getting rid of the dead weight; as you saw today. I saw how Molly smiled at you when she thanked you for calling her; she likes you. The Admiral had your record checked after I talked to him on the
Caldwell. He would never have promoted you if there was anything he didn’t like.” Josiah reached down with both hands and picked up hers from the table; it seemed the right thing to do.
Wow, she has beautiful hands!
He looked back into her eyes; they were wide with an anxious look. “You are intelligent and capable, the Admiral and his wife will be watching you. Try not to let it go to your head, just be aware that you may be getting a strange call one of these days.” He glanced over her shoulder at the clock above the main entrance, “It looks like we’re getting on into evening hours. How about we check out my new wheels and I take you home? Say, where do you live?”

“I...
live off base with another girl from the transport section, but...,” she gripped his hands now and lowered her eyes so she was just peeking at him through her lashes and spoke very quietly, “...I could just get a few things from that store in the hallway and stay here tonight. You did say you had a clothing station in your quarters so I can clean my greens and be ready for tomorrow.”

There are moments in a person’s life when you just have to believe that there is a beneficent God no matter how doubting you profess to be. It can be well said of Lieutenant Josiah West that he resisted the urge to hold Nora’s hand until they had turned down the hallway leading to his quarters.

Barney was smiling as she watched them leave.

By 0800 the next morning--after a night of no disappointments--they were back in the dining hall having breakfast at their ‘usual’ table with Barney, again, engineering a privacy shield around them. As they finished the last of their coffee, Nora stroked a finger across the back of his unoccupied left hand, “Josey, where are we going from here?”

Now, Josiah West is far from ignorant of how the female of his species functions at the physical, intellectual, or emotional levels
, so he understood exactly what she meant. However, Josiah West is, also, well possessed of a perverse streak that tends to surface when the need arises, “Well, I guess it’s about time to go to work.” That got him several deep dents in the back of his left hand that would not, entirely, disappear for a couple of hours, “OUCH!”

“LIEUTENANT JOSIAH WEST, you know exactly what I mean. I want to know if you’re thinking of me as stand-by equipment or...or something a bit more...permanent?” Her voice had trailed off and had acquired a tone of uncertain anxiety.

He pushed his empty cup to join the rest of the dishes at the edge of the table and held out a hand toward Nora, “Give me your pad and open up the memo section.”

That confused look returned to her face but she opened the pad and the memo file as requested. Josiah took it and started writing with the stylus, “Do you have a formal dress uniform?”

“Ahh...I have a dress uniform but not a formal. Why?”

Josiah finished writing and turned the pad back to Nora so she could read the list of uniforms and accessories that he had entered, “When you get a break today
, I want you to go over to the base store’s uniform department. You should find Master Chief Elizabeth Warner there. Tell her I sent you and to scan you and deliver this list of items to my quarters at the BOQ. He pulled out his own pad and began working on it. After a few seconds he stopped and looked over at Nora who was staring wide-eyed at the list on her pad, “You did say you didn’t have a vehicle, didn’t you?”

She realized he was talking to her and looked up, “Huh...yes, no, I don’t have a vehicle.” She pointed at the list and shook her head, “I can’t afford this stuff. I...”

Josiah held up his hand to cut off her protest, “How do you get to work every day if you live off base?”

“I...what? Ahh...well, Ally has an old van
, and I chip in to keep it running.”

“Ok
, open up your personal bank account for a deposit.”

She looked at him like he had fallen out of a tree.

He pointed a finger at her confused expression, “Yesterday you said that knowing me was crazy and you asked what else I had. Well, you are about to find out. Now, open your personal bank account for a deposit.”

She managed to open her account with a feeling that she was about to cut the red wire on a bomb.

Josiah touched the local com touch points together on their pads and did a bit more tapping on his pad, “There, finished!”

Nora looked down at her pad and closed the account access before really looking at what he had done. When she did, her eyes got wider than ever, “WHAT!” She slammed the pad shut, snapped her head around to see if anyone was near them, and then leaned acro
ss the table to talk in a panicked whisper, “50,000 credits? Are you out of your mind? Where did you get that kind of money? Are you running some sort of operation selling Navy equipment on the black market? Now they’ll be after me and we’ll both be in the slam.” She jerked around to see if a security team was coming through the door and started to get up, “Let’s get out of here.”

Josiah had
to get a firm grip on her arm to keep her from taking off, “Whoa, sit, sit!”

The grin on his face finally reduced her state of panic to a more normal state of confusion, “Remember that I told you that my family has a business repairing anti-grav and drive systems?”

Nora managed a shaky nod.

“Well, my
sister and I are the third generation of the family involved in the business. My sister is at home and handles a lot of the daily operations. Because of my position here on the Caldwell, I managed to keep my sister and father advised on any problems the Navy is having. Our company has the highest reputation in the industry and has done very, very well over the years. The result is that my personal net worth is somewhere approaching 300 million credits. Almost all of it is tied up in a string of investments, but a liquid account of 200,000 credits is maintained for my use without my having to make any special arrangements. I just transferred 50,000 credits from that account.” Josiah gripped her hands a little tighter and pulled her closer so he could look into those dark, dark eyes, “Now, today, sometime, I want you to get the items on that list and have them delivered to my quarters. Feel free to get anything else you might need...and”, he kissed both of her hands, “feel even freer to get some of that really nice lingerie, you know, the kind with absolutely no practical use.”

He sat back and just looked at the stunned look on her face, “So, how’s that for what else I got? Oh, and, also, some time today go out to the GM dealer and get yourself a set of wheels.” He looked at the clock, “I guess we should be getting on to work.”

He picked up his pad, Nora retrieved hers in a purely mechanical sort of way, and they headed for the door. Barney was smiling as she watched them leave.

As they walked by above the main lobby, Josiah saw Jesse at the front desk and called down to him.

“Lieutenant West, what can I do for you
, sir?”

Josiah leaned his elbows on the rail and pointed a surreptitious index finger in the direction of Nora, “About that matter we discussed yesterday, go ahead and set it up.”

Jesse gave a big smile, “Sir, it will be done before you hit the back door.” He turned to his terminal and began tapping.

“Oh, Jesse, one more thing…w
ell, two more things, really.”

Jesse stopped and looked up, “What’s that, sir?”

“There will, probably, be another uniform delivery today. Would you see that they get delivered to my quarters?”

Jesse smiled, “Of course, sir.”

“And, would it be possible to have another parking space reserved for a private vehicle?” This question was, also, asked with the index finger supplying unstated information.

“An electric, sir?”

“Yes!”

“Do you have the registration information, sir?”

“No, not yet.”

Jesse went back to his terminal, “How about slot five, sir, right next to your assigned vehicle?”

“That would be perfect.”

“Very well, sir, I have set up slot five for general use and that access situation is operational.” Jesse turned to look at Josiah, “If you would just get me that vehicle registration data when you can.”

“Thank you, Jesse.”

Nora had her arms crossed with her pad tightly pressed to her chest as they walked down the hallway toward the back
door, “What was that all about, the access stuff?”

Josiah stopped at the door to his quarters, “Go ahead, open the door.”

The confused look was becoming Nora’s normal expression; at least when she was around Josiah, but she waved her left arm across the reader plate and jumped when the door swung open.

Josiah turned her to face him, “You now have access to the back door and my quarters. You have a reserved parking place next to mine. An expanded set of uniforms and accessories will be here for your use. All of this is to make things more convenient when our schedules do not conflict. Do you still feel like stand-by equipment?”

It was lucky that he had his back to a wall. Nora dropped her pad and jumped him. Josiah was unable to protest the unseemly assault on a staff officer due to a non-standard number of tongues in his mouth.