Young Again
Copyright© 2018 by Edward Douglass Patterson
Chapter 2: He’s Alive
“This is Captain McRae.”
“Sheila, I have another urgent job for you. Mark Sawyer is alive. He’s in a hospital near you. I want you to go and talk to him. Explain about the plane crash in Hawaii. He has been sick up at his cabin in the mountains for the past week.”
“Larry, we are almost at his cabin. It’s in the center of where we are now looking. He may have been infected by the biological agent.”
“No, the medical report we got says he is recovering. He should be able to leave the hospital in a couple of days.”
“OK, we’ll give a look around here, then we’ll head back down the mountain. It’s very beautiful up here. Luckily, it looks like there’s no one else up here for miles, so Mark Sawyer may be the only one that could have been affected. We probably won’t be able to find anything in the next few hours. The first of the SEALS will be here tomorrow. I’ll meet with them and go over what they need to do. Dr. Stanley and I will see Mr. Sawyer by midmorning tomorrow.”
Larry heard a car door closing. “That should work. Call me if you have anything urgent.”
“If the NTSB continues to handle the plane crash, I would like to stay here and coordinate the search. They have the expertise and will make sure everything is triple-checked.”
“Thad wasn’t happy when I told him you were going to head up the investigation. Since the National Transportation Safety Board took over, he has made sure his people gave them anything they needed. His orders actually instruct them to suggest all possible information or thoughts that may help to understand what happened. Your present assignment is actually benefiting us more by not having you in Hawaii. Since I only have one of you and keep giving you more work, I want you to stay away from the investigation unless something turns up. You are still in charge, but I think we can wait a while before you become actually involved again.”
“The Chinese continue to strike North Korean military facilities, especially the underground manufacturing ones related to the North Korean nuclear program. After we sent the warning that one of the missiles targeted us was biological, they have slowed the advance of their ground forces. They are rushing biological protective clothing and mobile decontamination facilities to their forces in North Korea.” Admiral Kyser was personally giving the briefing. “They have been supplying the Japanese and us with information on all their operations to ensure that there are no misunderstandings. I would like to reciprocate with information on our operations in the area, especially relief operations in South Korea. After the mutinies in the North Korean forces on the border and their surrender to the South Koreans, there has been an increased flow of refugees from the North. Many were injured before paths through the minefields were cleared and marked.”
“Is it safe to restart civilian relief flights into the country?” President DeSantis had stopped the US-originated flights after a plane had been overrun by refugees.
“Yes, sir. The military is putting North Korean soldiers under southern officers and NCOs to work handling the refugees and distributing the aid. They are setting up refugee camps around the southern-owned manufacturing facilities just north of the border.”
“Yes, the Chinese ambassador has informed us that they were accepting the South Koreans annexing land near the border, but not farther north.” Mario DeSantis smiled. “That was during a discussion that I had on coordinating aid. It surprised the South Korean ambassador. The Russian ambassador thought that Russia would have no trouble with it once they figured out who was in charge. I have reports of some fighting but quite a number of assassinations of hardliners.” He paused. “Admiral Kyser, diplomatic channels to Russia don’t exist. If you could have members of the military who have contacts in the Russian military talk to them and find out what is going on, we could use the information. Emphasize that we are ready to start aid flights but that we need to have someone in charge to coordinate with.”
“Yes, sir. I personally have a few that I will call. It would help if the NSA could supply information on where and how to contact them. I tried a couple but they weren’t answering.”
“I’ll see that you have the name of someone to send the names to. The NSA will be able to use that information also in piecing together what is happening. Give them a list of names and numbers whether they were answered or not.”
“Mr. President, others may have tried to contact family or friends in Russia, China, or the Koreas. If you set up a hotline so that people can report people that they are unable to contact, we could also gather information that way while at the same time helping those that are trying to contact people over there.”
“Giving the NSA a humanitarian project that will also help us.” The President smiled. “I like it. Excellent suggestion. I will talk to the NSA director about it. Probably Commerce and State will need to be involved also. No, more than that. We could make it international.”
It was late Monday morning when the doctor stopped by to see Mark. “Mr. Sawyer, the tests all show that you have nothing wrong with you except the aftereffects of the virus that you got. You have to make sure that you get your flu shot every year.” Mark nodded. He saw no reason to tell the doctor he always got his flu shots. “The Alzheimer’s Disease test showed no signs of you having it. You should get your doctor to repeat the testing. I cannot understand why their test would have indicated that. You are very healthy. Your recovery from the virus was faster than I would have expected from a man your age. Whatever you’re doing, keep it up.”
“I was having problems with my memory before I caught the virus. Could that have done something to help?” Mark was in agreement with his doctor’s diagnosis.
“Oh, if it were that simple. You might have been under strain, and the time at your cabin and being sick helped you to relax.” He wrote some more on his clipboard. “I will have the nurse come by with a wheelchair in a few minutes. Get dressed, and she’ll take you downstairs so you can take care of your bill. Do you have someone to take you home?”
Mark sagged as he thought of his family, but the doctor was still writing and didn’t see his reaction. “I will hire a cab to take me home.”
On Tuesday morning, Mark was in the MSI Security office waiting for the Director, Don Alexander, to get in. He was talking to the third shift supervisor about how the employees were reacting to the death of his family. When he saw the supervisor’s reaction after the door opened behind him, he ended the conversation. “Mike, thanks for talking with me. If you or anyone else has any concerns, I’ll be working long days here at least the rest of the week. Next week, I plan to visit the other facilities, but I’ll be back here after that. I want to ensure that we can move forward and no one has to worry about their job.”
“Thank you, Mr. Sawyer. I’m sorry about your family, but you will get everything straightened out. I know that I didn’t believe the memo, but when you walked in here, I knew everything would be alright here at MSI.”
“Mark, let’s go into my office.” Don Alexander said as he shook Mark’s hand. “Mike, get with Carlo. I will miss the meeting this morning.”
Mark didn’t say anything until Don closed the door. “How many more like Mike are there?”
“Over half are looking for a job, and the rest aren’t sure what to do. After Rusti shut down, the job situation locally is terrible. If I wasn’t so close to retirement, I would be concerned.”
“Don, I would like you to stay on here or in another company that I may be starting. I will need good security for what I plan for it.”
“Of course, Mark. What are you planning?” Don had worked for the Sawyers since retiring from the military. He had never seen the intensity that he saw in Mark. He also was not acting like someone his age.
“We were surprised by what the North Koreans did. We shouldn’t have been. I want to make sure that no one surprises us like that again. If we don’t have the technology to ensure that, MSI can develop it. I will make sure we get the government behind this if I have to talk to every politician and military officer in the country. We were lucky. Lucky is not what we need when the stakes are this high.”
Don smiled. “You have me as long as you need me. If you need me to talk to some of the officers, both active and retired, that I know, let me know what you want me to say.”
“Thanks, I will get with you when I get started on that. First, I need to make sure that MSI is solid. I need a new badge; this one is old.” He handed the badge to Don.
Don looked at the picture then at Mark. “Yes, this picture makes you look too old. When did you get the plastic surgery?”
“Why would I waste time on that?”
“Mark, you look younger than this picture.”
Mark took the badge and looked at it. “That’s not possible, but the Alzheimer’s has gone away.”
“Alzheimer’s?”
“I was diagnosed with it right before the trip. I didn’t take the news too well. That’s why I skipped the trip to Hawaii. I just got out of the hospital. Jim and Sarah Pierce found me sick up there. Sarah had heard from Ashley that I hadn’t gone with them. If it weren’t for them, I would have died. I had the doctor check for Alzheimer’s disease while I was in the hospital. There was no sign of it. I haven’t felt this good in years.” Mark suddenly smiled. “What do you think of Jim and Sarah?”
“Jim Pierce seems like a good replacement for Len Smith. Len is a great choice to run the company unless you are going to do it.”
“No, Len will do a better job than me. I intend to help anyway that I can, but I need to work on the new company. What about Sarah?”
“Isn’t she a little young?”
“Yes, if she didn’t have her mind set on being a doctor, I would have her running the company when Len retired. I need to make sure she learns everything I can teach her.” He saw the look on Don’s face and laughed. “No, I’m not crazy. I think she may be smarter than me. She has her head together better than I did at her age. That’s probably because of Ashley.” He saw that Don didn’t understand. “You know that I have hired a large number of very good people over the years. Jim Pierce is in the top ten of them. Sarah is above everyone else.”What would it have been like to have her and Ashley working together?
Mark’s second stop was HR. He needed an office and even more important, he needed a good assistant, that knew the company and would allow Mark to concentrate on things he needed to do. “Naomi, what are you doing here?” Naomi Brown had been his daughter Kathy’s assistant.
“Len had Fred Samanski take over Kathy’s job. Fred wanted to keep Bruce as his assistant, so I’m covering here until another position becomes available.” Naomi didn’t appear too hopeful.
“Good, that could take care of the first thing I came here for. Would you work with me?”
That Mark phrased it as a question surprised Naomi. She laughed. “I would love to. Your second need is offices, and you don’t want to kick anybody out of theirs. Dr. Schultz moved over to the new manufacturing building a couple of weeks ago. It’s not too close to Len’s office, being a floor down.”
“Excellent. Do you have a copy of Kathy’s contacts, mainly the family ones? I need help setting up a memorial service, unless someone else is working on it. The only one that I think might be doing that was Ruth, Abby’s sister.”
“Yes, I still have it. I figured MSI might have to do that if no one else did.” Naomi paused. “How much time will you be here at MSI?”
“Full time, well, maybe ten or twelve hours a day until I get everything straightened out. I figure we need two people to help you so that I have support when you’re not here. I also plan to set up another company, which I will need your help with also. So you will probably end up working for me and not MSI. Get with Helen and work out how that should be set up. Figure out an appropriate title, and your raise should be at least ten percent to start.”
“You want me to do all that myself?” Surprise showed on Naomi’s face.
“Kathy was underutilizing you. If it’s more than what you want to do, then you need to help me find someone else. The company that I’m planning to start will focus on seeing that we’re not surprised again by something like the North Koreans did. I need to set that up so that it gets done, and the company will continue after I’m gone. I’m not sure what is needed, but it will be a big job.”
Mark saw a tear in Naomi’s eye and looked away. Kathy and Naomi had been friends.
“I’m with you.”
Mark and Naomi took over the empty offices, including some of the adjacent ones. Naomi’s assistants would need their own office, and Sarah would need an office and an assistant. Mark again explained what had happened over the weekend and his hiring of Jim and Sarah Pierce before they started planning the memorial service.
“OK, that should do for the initial list for the memorial.” Mark stretched. “ I’m going to need to start exercising. If I become young and healthy, I need to see that I improve how I have been treating this body.” “
“I need to take a break. When I get back, I need to contact Abby’s sister. She will be at her law office, Jacobson and Lessner.”
“Who is this?” Ruth Lessner got on the phone as soon as she heard that someone claiming to be Mark Sawyer was on the phone.
“Good morning, Ruth. I need to talk with you and Bob. My skipping the flight left me alive, but MSI is taking the loss of the family almost as badly as I am. I need your help to ensure that I can fix things.”
“Mark, how are you alive?” Ruth had known Mark since her sister Abby had married Don Sawyer.
“I got upset because I was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. I hid up at the mountain cabin. Turns out the diagnosis was wrong. I keep thinking if I had gone, they would be alive, but that is a what-if that I have to live with. What is important is that I need to take complete control of MSI, pay the inheritance taxes, and keep going. If I remember right, Abby’s and Don’s wills keep ownership with the family unless we all died. Since I’m alive, that means me. You weren’t planning what you would do with MSI, were you?”
Ruth laughed. It was definitely Mark Sawyer, and he was like he used to be. “No, Bob maybe, but I would rather sue someone, and I don’t think Bob is interested either. MSI is all yours as far as I’m concerned.” She paused. “I have been trying to figure out how to sue someone for them all dying. We don’t need the money, but there are plenty of others that lost someone. It looks like the government is untouchable unless they did something purposely. Do you have any idea how to sue North Korea?”
Mark laughed. “No, I think that the people that survived need every penny they have. Have you been letting your interest in suing someone be known?”
“Have you ever known me to be quiet unless it served a purpose? I don’t think that I can worry the government enough to get them to pay the survivors.”
“Ruth, go the other way. Make it about how the politician will look good to the voters. They are giving billions to South Korea, Russia, and China in relief supplies. Giving North Korean survivors something will make them look good and it will not cost anywhere near what is going overseas.”
“Damn, I have been trying to do things backward.” Mark heard Ruth talking to someone in the room with her. “It’s Mark. He wasn’t on the flight. He just helped me, but he needs our help.” Ruth turned back to the phone. “Mark, Bob is here. He’s been looking into your family’s wills so let’s start off with him explaining how things are set up.”
Len Smith had been expecting a call from Mark Sawyer all morning. Don Alexander had reported that Mark had been at the Security office talking to the night Security supervisor when he got in. Don had also let him know that Mark was on top of the problem that MSI was having with the death of the Sawyer family. He had also said that Mark was definitely alive and looked younger and more alive than Don had seen him in years. Martha had just let him know that Mark was on the line.
“Mark, are you settling in for a long stay?”
“Yes and no. MSI is yours to run. You’ll do a much better job than me since I no longer have any interest in the day-to-day job of running a company.” Mark paused. “I do have a problem with the ownership of the company and also want to talk about two projects that I want to do. One of the projects should take care of the ownership problem, and the other is still vague, but it relates to this war that I missed, which took my family. I’ll go over all this when we meet. I’m looking for your advice and to coordinate with you so that I don’t upset the transition work you are doing or the running of the company. What I’m asking for are a couple of hours to talk over my ideas, followed by a daylong meeting next week. After that, we should have regular meetings to coordinate. I will also make myself available when you need me either for advice or to help with VIPs.”
Len was surprised. Even before Mark had retired, he had stayed in the background to allow his three children to run the business unhampered by the shadow of their famous father. Mark was offering to leave running MSI to him but to be available when Len needed him. He was obviously interested in his two projects but not at the detriment of MSI. He was a little concerned about the project dealing with the war, but it was probably Mark’s way of dealing with his loss. He would have to see what he had in mind before he made a decision on whether to support that project. Mark had given no information on the other project, other than it would take care of the ownership problem. Last week, when it was thought the entire family had died, everyone had been concerned about what would happen to MSI.
“Mark, thank you for the offer. We’ve had the wolves sniffing around our door since the plane crash. Even after the news that you hadn’t been on the flight, they are still there. A rumor that you have Alzheimer’s disease surfaced, and they are asking to talk with you.”
“I was diagnosed with it two weeks ago, but yesterday they found no signs of it.”
“Both Jim and Sarah mentioned that was why you didn’t go on the trip. They both agreed that you were very sharp, especially as sick as you had been.”
“Good, that’s what I wanted them to let you know. When we meet, I will ensure you have no doubts. What do you think of the two of them?”
“I would be lucky to find someone like Jim after months of searching with headhunters. Between him and Louise, I can concentrate on running the company. Is that why you chose me?”
“No, finding Jim was just very, very good luck. Don was worrying about losing you to another company that needed a CEO. What about Sarah?”
Len hesitated. He was unsure how to put his thoughts into words. “Extremely bright, intuitive, driven, makes friends easily.” He realized what he sounded like and decided to say what he hadn’t wanted to say. “A younger you but female.”
Mark laughed. “Yes, she’s just the person to take over the other project after she finishes medical school, if not before. When can we meet?”
“Let us start at noon and continue to two twenty. I have a senior management meeting at two thirty that I would like you to sit in on.”
“That sounds good, especially if I can get two huge roast beef sandwiches with horseradish. I still feel like I’m starving.”
Len laughed. “Will do.” After they hung up, Len thought about the conversation that he had just had. Mark definitely didn’t have Alzheimer’s. He was more like the man that he had been when Len had joined the company but much more driven. What were the two projects that he had in mind? The one that he wanted Sarah’s help with was medical, something that MSI had never been involved in, which meant either a separate division or another company. He wasn’t thinking short-term. Sarah was just starting high school. Mark was planning for her to run it when she finished medical school. That was a long-range project.
As to MSI, with Mark’s help, he would have no problem with the transition. He had ideas where he wanted MSI to go, but he expected no problems with Mark there. He had always encouraged personal initiative.
Sarah sat in her room working at her computer. No reports of remission of Alzheimer’s disease. Some possibilities of slowing the symptoms, but nothing confirmed. That second report looks more like wishful thinking. No wonder they published it there. She heard her brother return. Check on effects of flu on Alzheimer’s. She typed in the query and switched to the other screen. “How was football practice?”
Jimmy was standing at her door watching her. “I made first string. I just kept picking Bert’s passes out of the air. Nobody else could match me.”
“Is he still___.” Sarah didn’t complete what she was thinking but turned around and looked at Jimmy.
“Yeah, I don’t know what’s bothering him. I tried to talk with him when I gave him a ride home after practice. He just shook his head.” He took a long look at his little sister. “You’re doing a lot better since you and Dad rescued Mr. Sawyer. What have you been working on?”
Sarah knew that Jimmy was right. Losing Ash still left a big emptiness that she was trying to fill by helping Grandpa Mark. “Research for my new job. This is only MSI headquarters and R&D facility. The Savannah facility is over six times bigger, and they have five others.” She stopped at the look on her brother’s face. It mixed disbelief, envy, and pride for her.
“You know Jen and I have to work our tails off at Denny’s for just over minimum wage and tips.” Jimmy was now smiling. “How much are you getting for telling Mr. Sawyer his ideas are good and getting him coffee?”
She swatted at his hair but held back, not wanting to hurt him.
Jimmy jumped back, but he wasn’t fast enough to get away. “You’re lucky I need to take a shower, or I might have to remind you to respect your big brother.”
“I could use some light exercise. I’ve been sitting at the computer for a couple of hours since my run.” She moved towards him.
Jimmy hastily backed out of her room. “Maybe later.” The last time he tried to mix it up with Sarah, she had shown him that eight inches and seventy-five pounds didn’t give him an advantage. The martial arts classes that she and Ashley had been taking had made her someone who more than held her own. As he started to turn, he remembered what he had planned to ask her. “Do you want to go with Jenny and me shopping for clothes for school?”
“Did Mom put you up to that?” She saw by the look on his face that she had guessed right. “No, I got a lot more to do. The two of you don’t need little sister chaperoning. I’ll go with Mom later in the week.”
“If you need to talk, I’m here for you.” The smile that his offer put on her face made him glad that he had offered. Then he saw her hesitate. “What?”
“Do you have dreams that you know aren’t dreams?” When he shook his head no, Sarah continued. “I keep having dreams of Ash on a small island. Something about them feels real, not like a dream.”
Jimmy didn’t answer as he thought about Sarah’s dreams. “How do they differ from your normal dreams?”
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