Nerd and the Marine (9 page)

Yours,

Lainy - who needs more
sleep for some reason. Three hours don’t seem to work
anymore.

P.S. Please return
safely
.

Lainy clicked the send button and
watched her message disappear. She sent her computer into sleep
mode after fixing the firewall and yawning, trudged to the door to
allow Bentley-the-tired-squirrel-chaser through. He sent her the
most pathetic look she'd seen yet and Lainy patted his head, locked
the door, set the alarm, and then they padded up the stairs
together.

*****

After finally returning to the base a
week later, Mitch had to pass the post office on his way to report
to his boss. On the way, he dropped in.

A package awaited him.

This one bore Lainy's return address,
and eager to see what she'd sent, he wanted to finish this report
business with his superior officer fast. As usual, when he wanted
speed and efficiency, his boss had eighty lengthy questions for
him. Mitch answered each and hardly thought any disparaging
comments about the man.

The package taunted him as it sat in
mysterious glory beside his chair. He caught an occasional glimpse
of the white, red, and blue postal service box and his heart
tripped. Mitch worked hard not to fantasize about what was inside
this particular carton.

With Lainy's return address, the
contents were even more tantalizing than cookies. The box itself
was heavier than a bunch of pictures but not heavy enough to be
more cookies. Besides the carton was rectangular shaped and thin.
Not at all the container to mail treats.

By the time he'd concluded the
debriefing, feeling confident about this newest project, Mitch’s
patience was stretched. He hadn't reached his limit yet, but felt
some strain on his former limitless reserves. Since meeting Lainy,
his priorities appeared to have changed.

Striding across the base, the package
tucked under his arm, Mitch couldn't help but wish he had Lainy so
securely against him, rather than this package. For that matter, he
wanted both her and Bentley. But since he was half-way across the
world from her, his little dream wasn't going to happen any time
soon.

Their newest project would take a few
weeks to begin and then another few months to complete. At best.
Sighing, Mitch pushed his way into the tent assigned to him and
ripped tape off the package.Opening the drawer with his cookie
stash, he selected one to munch on while he discovered the contents
of this newest mailing. Bubble wrap greeted him, as did packing
peanuts. After he'd dug through those, he also encountered
Styrofoam ends and then held a dark metallic and plastic rectangle
in his hands. With a niggling suspicion, he opened the lid and
encountered a keyboard and blank screen.

She'd sent him a computer.

Granted, this laptop was like none
he'd ever encountered before. He'd seen a few heavy duty models,
but this one topped those. Not wanting to contemplate the cost of
this machine, he instead inspected every inch, fascinated by the
construction. Still a bit rough in some areas, the computer had
been designed with blowing sand and heat in mind. The materials
used were tough and durable and sturdy sliding doors covered all
ports and outlets and other means of entering the
computer.

He checked inside the box and
discovered a letter. Or what looked more like a hastily scrawled
note.

Dear Mitch,

Don't worry, I didn't have
to sell my body or any of the rellys to acquire this computer for
you. Actually I built it, so no worries about cost or my stealing
secrets or anything. This was actually a lot easier than I'd
suspected, and even more fun than I'd anticipated.

The building proved every
bit as challenging as I'd hoped, and the solutions I arrived at
will be useful for a few other projects I'm working on. I didn't
even need to order any parts. I had them all on hand.

Please don't ask - you may
not want to know why.
A smiley face
followed the sentence. Grinning, he kept reading.

I'd love to know how this
performs in an actual desert, or whatever where you're living is
called. This computer is designed to withstand high temperatures
and sand. I'm not certain if it will still work if you get it wet,
so avoid water. I'll have to think about that...

Anyway, I hope you enjoy
the computer and I look forward to hearing what you think. Please
be honest. I can't make adjustments if I don't have some feedback.
You're my guinea pig with this machine. Thanks.
Another smiley face.

It should be ready to go.
You might need to charge the battery, but the computer should be
functional. (BTW - the battery is being assigned a patent number,
too, so this gave me an additional application. They integrated
well, and now I have another market to sell my newest battery to,
yay!)

I'll appreciate any
opinions, advice, and concerns you have as to what will make this
laptop better, easier to use, lighter, etc. Anything!

Yours,

Lainy

Mitch sat for a few moments
and stared at this new laptop in awe. She hadn't purchased this
computer, she
built
it. Using a battery she'd already designed. This woman went
beyond phenomenal. She was almost downright scary.

Eagerly, he hit the power button and
wondered if she sent an instruction booklet. Peering into the box,
he discovered more baseball cards, comic books and the like, but no
instruction manual. He watched mutely as the laptop powered up in a
scant amount of time. This little machine already made his previous
one look bad.

In only a few moments, the
icons all appeared and the arrow blinked in readiness for him to
begin. He tapped into programs with enthusiasm and found an icon
that said,
Help
.
Clicking it, he discovered the owner’s manual, if it could be
called that.

She included frequently asked
questions, and wondered how on earth she'd designed, built, and
sent him the laptop in such a short time. Beginning to wonder
exactly what Lainy Morrison did all day, Mitch closed the program
and selected a few more.

Wondering if this was the first
computer she'd ever built, but doubting it as he glanced at her
note, he reached for another cookie. She said she'd had all the
materials on hand, which meant she had a keyboard and the mouse
components in her inventory. He doubted an electronics expert would
have such items on hand if she didn't plan to produce a computer,
or had indeed produced one or ten. Course, he could be wrong, since
he liked using electronics, but didn’t know much about their
composition.

He cleared the computer with security
and added the necessary base software and was soon back at his
quarters. Mitch located the e-mail icon and clicked. When the
program downloaded, he found Lainy in the address book, as well as
most of her relatives. He'd transfer the other addresses he'd need
later but for now selected her’s. He needed to thank
her.

To:
[email protected]

From:
[email protected]

Subject: I got the
computer!

Dear Lainy,

I found a very unexpected,
but very welcome package in the mail from you today. This computer
is amazing! How you managed to build one so quickly and what
appears to be effortlessly, is beyond me. I suspect you have built
others? I'm using it now to send you this message, so you'll have
to let me know if you had any trouble downloading it.

I've never seen any
computer this durable. (We have some here meant for tough
environments.) I've seen some built to resist less than favorable
conditions but nothing this sturdy. I'm impressed, and relieved
that I won't lose contact with you. Plus, now I've got a lot more
storage for pictures. My old computer is ancient and was
threatening to die before I brought it here. Now I've got plenty of
space to file any pictures you can send. (hint, hint)

And, I won't have to
resort to using one of the base computers, which relieves me, too.
Finding one that isn't in use is just about impossible. They've
taken to where you have to sign up and then you only receive an
allotted amount of time.

Thanks for the computer.
I'm going to enjoy it. I didn't get an opportunity to see the other
videos, so perhaps now I can on my new machine. I'll let you know
what I think about this laptop and the videos. Ah, and I notice you
added a DVD drive, so you can't be too worried about the videos
your brother sent.

I hope this finds you
well. And Bentley behaving. Do you folks have another trip planned
for the lake?

Yours,

Mitch

Mitch sent his thank you and then
leaned back and watched as his new computer effortlessly retrieved
his messages. He found one from Lainy dated just after he'd left a
week ago but didn't see any others from her. Odd. She didn't mind
if he didn't send a response every day, but she often sent a quick
note with pictures, if nothing else.

He clicked on the message and while he
enjoyed her writing about her family and his reaction to the video
he'd watched, he still wondered why Lainy hadn't written since.
Until he reached the bottom of the e-mail. She was tired and needed
at least two more cups of coffee. With his heart in his mouth, he
wondered if she’d picked up a virus? In the back of his mind, a
masculine voice yelled about him becoming a complete wuss and to
stop acting like a twelve-year-old girl.

He scanned the rest of his messages
until he saw one that mentioned Lainy. He thought the address was
from Laurie.

To:
[email protected]

From:
[email protected]

Subject: Lainy

Hello Mitch,

Just a quick note to let
you know Lainy is fine, but she's very much under the weather, so
if you haven't heard from her as often as you have in the past,
that's why. She came down with a nasty cold (summer colds are the
worst!) about a week ago and refused to go to the doctor. Now,
she's paying the consequences, and has bronchitis. She didn't
actually consent to go to the doctor, I just had Max pick her up
and carry her there.

Fortunately, she was too
sick to give us much grief and did cooperate. Bentley doesn't seem
like he's been feeling so well, either, so he's hanging low, too.
His vet, another cousin, says he'll be okay. He's been having a lot
of fun, she, the vet, was with us at the lake, so she saw all he
got up to. He seems upset Lainy is feeling so horrible.

Whenever she gets sick
like this, she stops eating, so one of us is with her at all times
and we're taking care of her. Since Grandmom doesn't have any
trouble with her, we let her take on the bulk of Lainy's care.
Which, being Lainy, is minimal at best. But someone is on hand to
feed Bentley and let him out and make certain Lainy is
okay.

She's improving fast, and
would be fine now if she'd gone to the doctor sooner. But alas,
that's not Lainy. She pretty much has to be forced. In her world,
she comes last. Always. (Useful information for you to know, by the
way.)

Oh, and Steve isn't
missing his Game Boy much. I’m glad he doesn't have it this summer
because it's forced him to go outside and play. Which has done
wonders for him. He's a bit solitary.

He's found some cousins
and a kid who just moved into the area and they're all fast
friends. They've discovered building tree houses gives them an even
better opportunity to dump various non-flammable liquids, small
rodents, and many species of the reptile, amphibian, and insect
families on their sisters. This has given no end of amusement to
them and more gray hair to me.

But that's okay, my
husband swears he doesn't mind gray hair. At least the boys are
having a wonderful summer. And the social interactions have proven
invaluable for Stevie. His sister has been contemplating and
planning his death, but other than that, we're fine.

Destiny has actually
become adept at avoiding him. Since she's a teenager, this has
given some peace to our house, too. Many of her female cousins have
joined her, and I believe she's been appreciative of female
companionship. Now if I could just figure out a way to distract her
from the newest loser she likes...

It's not a perfect world,
is it? Well, it was nice chatting at you. I hope this finds you
well. Do you need more cookies? Please be safe.

Lots of love,

Laurie and Family. - Oh
the kids have taken to calling you Uncle Mitch, is that
okay?

Mitch swallowed the lump in his throat
that rose when he discovered Lainy was sick and remained there
until he'd read about Steve's antics. How he'd longed for a tree
house when he'd been a boy. But his mother had died giving birth to
him. Mitch didn’t know his father’s name and as no one had come
forward to claim him, he’d gone into an orphanage until they did.
Only no one had.

What a great thing - to have a tree
house. Especially when one had sisters and female cousins. Mitch
hoped the girls screamed loud, so the boys’ efforts paid
off.