Lieutenant (An Ell Donsaii story #3) (25 page)

When Major Geller arrived, the Captain said, “Major, Captain Norris reporting for duty. I’m to relieve…” he looked up at the orders displayed on his HUD.

Geller whooped. “Finally!” He stepped forward holding his hand out to shake.

Norris said, “…a Lieutenant Ell Donsaii.”

“God damn it!” Geller exclaimed.

***

When Ell got back up to the real world on the surface, it turned out that the driver who had delivered Norris had waited for Ell in order to take her back to the Pentagon. She reported as directed to the Office of the Air Force Chief of Staff.

A Captain looked up when she knocked. She appeared to be shocked, “Lieutenant, what are you doing here in BDUs!”

“Sorry, Ma’am, I wasn’t told what uniform to wear and I thought I was catching a flight back to Nellis.”

“Oh my God! We’re supposed to have you at the White House this afternoon for some kind of ceremony. Please tell me you have a dress uniform with you?”

“Yes Ma’am,” she held up her duffel. “Where can I change?”

“You can’t wear a uniform that’s been wadded up in a duffel to the White House! Let’s take it over to the Pentagon cleaners and get them to press it.”

Ell smiled, “It isn’t exactly ‘wadded’ but I take your point.”

Captain Platt shepherded Ell around, getting her uniform pressed and then back to her office where Ell changed into her dress blues. “Oh my God! You look like a recruiting poster! How did you get such an exquisitely tailored uniform?”

Not wanting to say anything about how clothes just seemed to look good on her Ell said, “I took a few seams in myself.”

Platt said, “Wow! You’ll have to teach me how to do that!”

Platt then took Ell to meet an official car that took Ell to the White House. The entire time Platt kept up a chatter about protocol for visiting the White House. She got in the car with Ell, still continuing her patter. Ell finally interrupted, “Do you know why I’ve been invited to the White House?”

Platt looked surprised, “No, don’t you?”

Ell shrugged, “Well I have an invention that I would think they’re wanting to incorporate into military communications, but I’m not sure why I’d need to meet the President for that? I would expect that military brass should be making those decisions.”

After stopping several times for security checks, they pulled up to a side entrance portico and got out. Platt consulted her HUD and said, “We’re supposed to go to the Blue Room.”

A White House staffer met them at the entrance, “Lieutenant Donsaii, right this way. Oh Goodness! We want you to wear your Medal of Honor!”

Ell ducked her head minutely, “Sorry, it’s in storage at present. I
am
wearing my ribbon.”

Platt exclaimed, “You won the Medal of Honor?!”

The staffer said in horror, “No one told you to bring it?”

To Platt, Ell said, “Yes Ma’am.” She turned to the staffer, “I’m sorry Ma’am, no one told me until this morning that I was expected at the White House.”

The staffer put her hand to her brow as if she’d developed a headache. She almost moaned, “I suppose they wanted to keep it a surprise!” She turned and looked down the hall, “Jimmy!” A young man stopped and looked questioningly at her, “See if you can scare up a Medal of Honor. I think they keep one or two for impending ceremonies.” The young man nodded and started purposefully down the hall. He returned shortly with a Medal of Honor in its display case.

Platt helped Ell put the Medal around her neck, then Ell was directed to a room filled with military brass. When they stepped in, Platt said, “Oh-oh, lotta gold leaf in here!” She turned to Ell and said, “Just keep calm and we’ll stand over here and fade into the woodwork.”

Ell did as recommended but moments after they entered Admiral Larsson spotted her and started their way. Ell’s stomach tightened with some apprehension that he would begin another confrontation; however he stopped in front of her, came to attention, glanced down at the medal around her neck and gave her a dress formation salute.

Nonplussed to be receiving another indoor salute, Ell returned it.

The Admiral said, “Lieutenant, I owe you a heartfelt apology and my sincere gratitude. My attitude toward you during the recent crisis was inexcusable, born out of years of exhibiting a lack of respect for junior officers who have not yet earned it. In your case my low regard was unfounded and unacceptable. I have reviewed the actions for which you were awarded that Medal of Honor and I am truly humbled by the bravery you have shown.” He raised an eyebrow, “Your tolerance of my bad behavior is typical of the forbearance I’ve heard that you offer others with my tendencies. Much, much more, I appreciate that you provided my command with the means to pull its irons out of the fire off the coast of China without loss of life, to say nothing of the fact that you successfully averted a war. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

Platt gazed in astonishment as Ell, apparently calmly, said, “Thank you Admiral. I am fully aware that we were
all
under a great deal of stress.”

Platt’s eyebrows remained high as a number of other senior officers including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff came over, each saluting the young woman in turn, then offering congratulations.

At one point, when none of the brass were speaking to Ell, Platt leaned near and whispered, “What did you do?!” but before Ell could respond the Secretary of Defense came over to offer his congratulations.

Then they were all asked to remove their AI equipment before being herded into the Blue Room. Once they were seated the President spoke briefly to the entire assembly. “The people in this room deserve our Nation’s public congratulations and thanks for their roles in averting a war in the Straits of Taiwan. Unfortunately, a public announcement of your roles and celebration of your achievements would further damage our shaky relationship with the People’s Republic. But, even if I cannot do so publicly, I at least intend to hold this closed door ceremony. I’m sorry about requiring that you leave your AIs with their attendant cameras out of the room, but I want there to be no chance that this ceremony might be recorded and become verifiably public.”

The president began calling some of the senior officers to the podium to present them with Distinguished Service Medals for their roles in the crisis, finishing with Admiral Larsson. Because Distinguished Service Medals were typically given to Senior officers Ell wondered why she was there? Perhaps the President intended to speak to her about incorporating PGR chips into the military after the ceremony?

Then, to her surprise, the President said, “Lieutenant Donsaii, if you’d approach the podium?”

Platt’s eyes were wide as she watched the young Lieutenant gracefully rise and approach the President without apparent apprehension. Platt couldn’t know Ell was breathing with long slow inhalations just to try to stay out of the zone. Not just her cover girl looks and elegantly fitted uniform made her draw the eye but even her stride as she approached the podium demonstrated uncannily graceful coordination. It seemed as if she approached the President every day. The President said, “Lieutenant, I have two items for you. First, I hear through the grapevine that your junior rank served as a significant impediment during your attempts to accomplish some of the tasks recently set before you by your Commander in Chief. Therefore I would like to replace those single gold bars,” he opened a box, “with these paired silver ones.” The President displayed a set of Air Force captain’s bars to the room. “Now I understand that I haven’t promoted you far enough to have prevented some of the obstructionism you recently received at the hands of officers superior in rank to yourself,” he smiled, “however, apparently even the Commander in Chief is constrained from jumping an officer too many grades in a ‘time of peace.’”

He turned back to the room, “I’m not sure everyone in the room is aware that this young lady is the one who developed the theory for and worked out the construction of the communication chips that saved our bacon when the satellites went down? But here she is, nineteen years old and in this past week, arguably the most important person in our world. Thus, Captain Donsaii, I’d like to add a medal to your collection of Presidentially awarded symbols of your Nation’s appreciation. It seems to me that your Medal of Honor is lonely.” He turned to the room, “Don’t you think it would look better with the Presidential Medal of Freedom accompanying it?” The room surged to its feet in applause as he lifted a medal out of its box and hung the ribbon around her neck. As he did so he said in a low voice, “Please stay here after the ceremony, I’d like to speak to you about how best to utilize your talents in the service of your country?”

“Yes sir.”

A session of hand shaking and congratulations all around followed. At some point Ell noticed that the President had left the room and wondered if she should have followed him but then a staffer came and guided her quietly away to the Oval Office. While she and Platt waited outside, Platt pinned on her Captain’s bars. Then Ell was admitted, though Platt was instructed to wait outside.

President Teller and Secretary Amundsen were seated in comfortable chairs with another man Ell didn’t recognize. To her surprise they all rose to their feet when she entered. The President extended his hand and she shook it as he murmured, “Captain, so good of you to come.”

Nonplussed, Ell thought to herself that he was acting as if she had a choice but to obey her “Commander in Chief.”

Teller turned and said, “Of course you know Secretary Amundsen and perhaps you recognize my Science Advisor, Doctor Horton?”

As Ell shook their hands Horton stared at the young woman, finding it difficult to reconcile this highly attractive, college freshman aged girl, with the Donsaii who’d turned physics upside down. He shook his head, reminding himself that beautiful women
could
be highly intelligent, bemused that the old stereotype was confounding him when he should know better.

They all sat and a staffer brought coffee. When Ell didn’t want coffee he promptly produced a Coke per her request. President Teller steepled his fingers and looked at Ell over them, “Doctor Horton tells me that you are likely the most brilliant scientific mind since Albert Einstein and he has been chiding our military commanders” the President grinned at Amundsen, “for utilizing your incredible talent to fly UAVs.”

Ell blushed, “I’m sure that’s not correct. I was simply very lucky to work out a math that manages to fit a 5th dimension to quantum results. Even luckier finding a physical means to build the PGR chips based on that math.”

Horton laughed, “Maybe Einstein was lucky that E=MC
worked out too?”

Secretary Amundsen interjected, “I must say, I
am
embarrassed that we failed to recognize her potential despite her graduation from the Air Force Academy in only two years and her notification to us that we were entitled to royalty free use of her new PGR communication chips. Apparently, whoever received that notice did not recognize the chips’ value and simply filed the notice. Do you mind if I ask what kind of royalties you receive on that invention?”

Quietly Ell said, “Two point one billion dollars.”

The three men’s eyes widened. The science adviser said “You sold it for two billion dollars?!”

Again quietly Ell said, “No sir, that’s the minimum annual royalty.”

“My God!” the President said, also in a quiet voice. “How can it be worth so much?”

“Sir, it should replace
all
forms of communication over the next one to two decades. It is far cheaper than laying fiberoptic cable, has much higher data rates than radio, is uninterruptible, uninterceptable and undetectable. I would strongly recommend that your administration give some thought to minimizing the economic upheaval this technology will cause in the communication industry as it supplants all broadcast radio, cell phone technology and hard wired communications.”

President Teller’s eyes widened in alarm, then he grinned. “Crap! I’ve been thinking of you as a solution, turns out you’re another
problem
!”

“Yes sir.” Ell said apologetically.

The three men, some of the most powerful people in the world, looked at one another in a mixture of consternation and bemusement. The President narrowed his eyes at Ell, “You aren’t about to create even more upheaval with some other technology are you?”

Abashedly, Ell said, “I’m afraid that appears to be likely, sir.”

Dr. Horton exclaimed, “What kind of technology?!”

“Sir, I only have a minimally functional prototype at present and it is unclear whether this technology can be matured sufficiently to be broadly useful but it will likely at least heavily impact current satellite technology. In view of current patent law, I’m sure you can understand why I wouldn’t want to fully divulge its nature without a non disclosure agreement in place?”

Horton guffawed, then grinned at the other two men, “Someday I’m going to tell my grandkids about the day a nineteen year old told the President of the United States she wouldn’t talk to him unless he signed a Non Disclosure Agreement!”

Teller shook his head ruefully, “Somehow I don’t think this will be the last interesting story you’ll have. Tell you what, Chip, you sign a non disclosure agreement with her, learn what it’s about and then decide if and when I need to know about it.

“All that aside,” the President continued, “we still have the initial issue we set this meeting up to discuss. Captain Donsaii, it is my belief that your talents are wasted as a soldier. Do you agree?”

Ell tilted her head, “Not wasted perhaps, but it
is
plausible that they could be utilized more fully.”

This time Secretary Amundsen laughed, “Politely put. I suppose that my idea of setting you up with your own Air Force funded research lab wouldn’t be ‘full utilization’ either?”

Ell slowly shook her head.

The President said, “How would you suggest we use your talents? I believe you still owe some time on your military commitment?”