Reincarnation
Copyright© 2026 by A Well Traveled Man
Chapter 10
Early Sunday morning, Wyatt listened to two more French-language CDs. Then he showered, dressed, and went to the kitchen. While they ate breakfast, Mom said they had to go to the market first thing this morning. Then, after putting everything away, they would go to the mall, and Wyatt groaned, causing Mom to laugh. She said we both need some things for our wardrobes, and it won’t be a long shopping trip. Wyatt mumbled famous last words, and Mom giggled.
They went to the market and got food and supplies for the week. When they arrived on their street, the next-door neighbor was getting the newspaper. Wyatt yelled Hey, pervert, how’s it going. The man froze, peed his pants, and ran into the house. While carrying the supplies into the house, Mom asked what that was all about. Wyatt told her that after dropping her off at the dealership, he returned home. When he pulled onto our street, he saw our neighbor climb into a tree by our fence.
He parked, walked up to the tree, and yelled, “What are you doing?” I guess my voice shocked him, and he lost his balance and fell. He looked alright, so I kicked him in the balls, got into the Tahoe, and went home. Mom said the tree overlooks my bedroom window, and it’s a good thing we got new blinds. Wyatt said Mommy’s got an admirer, and she punched him in the shoulder, laughing. Once the groceries and supplies were put away, they went to the mall.
The short trip ended up being an all-day affair. They were in the women’s section of the department store, and Wyatt held up a see-through nightgown. He asked what the purpose of this was, and Mom and several ladies nearby laughed. Mom said it’s none of your business, and Wyatt asked why there was nothing like this in the men’s section. More ladies had come after hearing the laughter, joined in, and Mom pulled Wyatt out of the section because he was causing a scene.
It served his purpose of getting out of the store, but it was short-lived as another interesting store had to be explored. Then the dreaded last stop to see if his suits were done at Brooks Bros. They were, and then the shirts and ties to match the suits were needed. They took over twelve bags to the Escalade, along with his suits. On the way home, Wyatt said he was glad it was only a short trip, and Mom laughed.
Upon arriving home, they unloaded the SUV and put their purchases away. Mom started dinner and said she would go to the office by herself tomorrow. But for him to keep his phone nearby in case there was an issue about confrontation with Senator Hodge. Mom also promised to get him a parking pass for the Tahoe. While they ate, Mom asked what he would do tomorrow. Wyatt lied and said he’d catch up on his studies. They finished dinner, said goodnight, and went to bed.
Wyatt was in the basement beating the heavy bag with kicks and punches early Monday morning. When he finished his martial arts workout, he showered, dressed, and went to the kitchen. While they ate, Mom reminded Wyatt to keep his phone with him, and he agreed. After breakfast, Mom took off for the Capitol, and Wyatt went to the workshop. First, he opened the safe and found boxes of CDs on the right side. He looked, and they were in alphabetical order by last name.
He determined that Karen Allen’s father was monitoring communications from Washington, and for what purpose he didn’t know and didn’t want to know. The car accident could have been a result of his snooping. The left side had cash, binders of stamps, and coin collections. The bottom shelf had a variety of handguns and ammo. Wyatt looked through two binders and knew they were valuable. Karen’s Dad must have sold information and used the proceeds to buy rare coins and stamps to launder the money.
Then he looked at the racks of servers, and he noticed several had CD recorders beneath them. Wyatt turned off the recorders and went to the computer. He entered the password, then performed a speed check. He was shocked at the speed, and it had to be tied into a trunk line. Wyatt checked the programs on the computer and found an NSA icon. He thought for a few minutes and then deleted the icon. The NSA knew of Karen’s father’s death, and logging in wouldn’t be a good idea.
Wyatt didn’t want to monitor communications or the internet of people in Washington. So, he had work to do to change everything to suit his needs. This was an ideal place to have his own private cloud storage and maybe sell backup services to companies and individuals. He locked up the workshop and drove to Office Depot. He bought a commercial-grade shredder to destroy the CDs. Returning home, Wyatt shredded all the CDs and had almost two trash bags full when finished.
After locking up the workshop, he put the bags in the Tahoe, took them behind a strip center, and threw them in a dumpster. On the way home, Wyatt stopped at Wendy’s drive-thru for lunch. After eating lunch, he went to his room and did the homework for his online courses. Then he listened to the final French-language CDs and started the German ones.
He just finished the third CD when Mom arrived home and called him to dinner. While they ate, she said they were invited to the White House tomorrow at 10 a.m. to meet with the president, vice president, and the Senate majority leader. Wyatt said we’d better bring backup because we were outnumbered, and they laughed. Mom told him to wear one of his new suits, and they finished dinner, said goodnight, and went to bed.
Early Tuesday morning, Wyatt ran four miles, returned, showered, dressed in a new suit, and went to the kitchen. They ate breakfast and drove to the Capitol. At 9:30, they went to the White House and stopped by the Secret Service. They confirmed the appointment, checked the vehicle, and then told them where to park. Then they went through a second Secret Service checkpoint and were escorted to the Oval Office.
President George Bush welcomed them along with Vice President Dick Cheney and Senate Majority Leader Roy Wilkens. President Bush gave them his condolences on the death of Senator William Armstrong. Then Vice President Cheney asked Wyatt how the fight with Senator Hodge took place. Wyatt said it wasn’t a fight, but the asshole, excuse me, Senator Hodge, entered Senator James’ office demanding to see her immediately.
Everyone laughed, and Wyatt said he told Senator Hodge that Senator James was busy, but he could make an appointment with the receptionist, Cathy. He shoved me aside, tripped on my foot, and fell face-first to the floor. Now he was old enough to be my grandfather and overweight. I felt sorry for him because he hadn’t seen his best friend in years, so I let it go. Everyone laughed hard, including the Secret Service.
When they recovered, Wyatt told them Senator Hodge got up, threatened to kill him, and punch me in the jaw. I responded with a kick to his balls and knocked him out with an upper cut to the jaw. Then I carried him to the reception area, turned a chair facing the corner, and sat him there. I told Cathy, the receptionist, that Senator Hodge was in a time-out, and when he wakes, ask him to be a good boy, or he’ll get a spanking. Everyone laughed hard again, and one of the Secret Service agents fell to his knees laughing.
Once everyone recovered, Wyatt said, so it wasn’t a fight but a dust-up. If it were a fight, Senator Hodge would be in the hospital, handcuffed to the bed. But if the asshole, I mean Senator, wants to press the issue, I’ll call the Capitol Police and file charges of felony assault and making terrorist threats to a minor. With twelve witnesses, he’ll be serving 5 to 15 years in jail. Vice President Cheney said that wasn’t necessary, and he’ll be disciplined accordingly.
Then he asked about the patent Wyatt sold to Intel/IBM for seven million. Wyatt told him it was a process to double the internet speed. They are going to use it on their new processor and servers. Vice President Cheney asked about the new processor, and Wyatt said it’s four processors in one. They call it layering, and with my patent, it will blow the competition out of the water. President Bush asked Dick whether we had just ordered new computers for the NSA.
Dick said yes, and they are building them now, but I’ll stop the order unless they have the new processors. The meeting ended with everyone shaking hands, and Wyatt told President Bush and Vice President Cheney he would get them ring-side seats for the next fight, leaving them laughing. On the way back to her office, she thought the meeting had gone well. Wyatt said yes, but how did Dick Cheney find out about my patent sale?
Upon arrival at the office, Mom ordered lunch delivered. While they were eating, Senate Majority Leader Roy Wilkens entered the office. Wyatt said we need to get better security, and everyone laughed. Roy told them that the President and the Vice President were impressed with your visit. He said they expect great things from Jenni, and the Vice President is interested in Wyatt. Wyatt told the Roy to thank the Vice President, but he doesn’t swing that way, and everyone laughed.
Roy said the Vice President has a project in mind for you, so don’t be surprised when you’re asked. Roy left, and while they finished lunch, Mom wondered what they wanted him to do. Wyatt said, Probably something so secret I can’t even discuss it with you, but involves a three-letter agency. Isn’t it great that you have meetings that you can’t discuss, and I’ll have projects that I can’t reveal, and they laughed.
Nothing happened for the rest of the afternoon but bills that Mom had to review. Then the Intelligence Budget was dropped on Mom’s desk. It was the size of two phone books, and they said shit together. Mom asked what they were supposed to do with it, and Wyatt said nothing. Whoever gathered the information and printed it knows no one will read it or understand it. The key will be to wait until a hearing is scheduled and read that section.
Mom asked what happens when all the budget hearings are done and some sections remain unaddressed. Wyatt said that where the dark projects are hidden, and she said shit, and they laughed. Before they left for the day, their parking passes arrived so that they wouldn’t be hassled at her office building or the Capitol. On the way home, Wyatt told Mom they had an escort tailing them with government plates. He told Mom to turn right and pull into an alley or parking garage.
She did make a right turn, then quickly turned into an alleyway. The black SUV passed, and they continued home. Mom started dinner, and they changed into comfortable clothes. While they ate, Mom wondered why they were tailing us. Wyatt said it could have something to do with our meeting today at the White House. Or it could be about your Intelligence Committee activities. Today was easy ditching them. Tomorrow, they will be better prepared. They finished dinner, said goodnight, and went to bed.
Early Wednesday morning, Wyatt was in the basement practicing martial arts on the heavy bag. When done, he returned to his room, showered, dressed, and went to the kitchen. While they ate breakfast, Mom warned Wyatt not to engage any of their government followers. She will try to find out who they are and what they want today. Wyatt said Ah, Mom, you take all the fun out and they laughed.
Mom left for the Capitol, and Wyatt went upstairs and had an idea for his computer security. He figured the government wanted him for a programming problem or a project they were planning. So, he tried to make it more difficult to hack into his computer. Wyatt programmed a doomsday clock to appear when someone tried to access his hard drive. Once the clock started, it would appear on the hacker screen along with the bots as they entered their computers.
When the clock reaches zero, their connection will be terminated. Unknown to them, their hard drive would be uploaded to his cloud account. Then he copied all his personal information and programs onto a removable hard drive and deleted them from his hard drive. That way, if they seized or stole his computer, they would get nothing. Then he programmed a reformat command if the login failed three times. The final thing he did was to encrypt his firewall and anti-virus program, and he rebooted his computer to ensure the changes were made.
Toby Reed received an email instructing him to hack into Wyatt James’s computer, and he went to his supervisor at the NSA. Toby asked his supervisor, Ron Jacobs, what this was about and showed him the email. Ron said it’s from the White House national security desk, so do it. Toby said there’s no warrant, so I need a letter authorizing it, or they can kiss my ass. Ron told Toby you’ve got the email request, so what’s the problem?
Toby said it isn’t signed, and there’s no name on the email. So, if they want it done, we need documentation, so I’m not the one without a chair when shit hits the fan. What they want is illegal, and they know it. Ron said he would make a call to find out more details and agreed with him. Toby returned to his workstation, wondering who Wyatt James was and why they wanted his computer files.