Chapter 62

The next week we both got everything packed, and soon were in the truck heading to Idaho. When we got there it was late because of some snow through Utah, so we went straight to my house. I saw all the lights were off in the Big House, so I unloaded everything into mine and after showers we were settled into the couch having some hot chocolate as we stretched out holding each other. And I admitted it was much nicer making that trip with another to share the driving and chat with.

The next morning bright and early I was pouring us our first coffee when there was a knock on the door and Hurricane Kim came in. She squealed and gave Mandy a hug first, then came around and gave me one. “OK you to, come on over, we got breakfast waiting.” So we finished getting dressed and went on over.

Mandy of course had to pick up Grace as soon as she came in, and a few minutes later Jeff came out. I walked on over and Mandy was right behind me. I looked at the bundle in his arms, and Jeff smiled at me. “Yes, this is Lawrence Peter Littlebuck.”

I looked at Jeff and his wife and gave a mock scowl. “Lawrence Peter? Funny, for some reason you both did not tell me his middle name,” I said, accusingly.

“Well, what is there to say? Plus we can just call him ‘LP’ if your dad is around to prevent confusion.” Grace squirmed her way out of Mandy’s arms and went to watch TV and we both looked at my newest nephew. And as opposed to the other two, LP looked almost like he could pass for full Shoshone. Darker skin, and black hair. Mandy ran her fingers through it and smiled at me, and I returned the smile. We each held him a bit, carefully passing him back and forth and he slept through all of it. I was holding him when he started to fuss so I handed him to Kim.

We moved into the dining area, and Jeff got a blanket and draped it over her shoulder as she opened her blouse and started to nurse him. The rest of us ate, with Jeff feeding his wife bits as JP had his breakfast. They then asked me what my plan was today.

“Well, I figured we would head out first to the machine shop, I have not seen that yet. Then we will head into town, and see the office at Harry’s old place. After that, we will head in to the shop so I can introduce Mandy to everybody and her get a feel for it. After that, I guess we’ll largely play it by ear.”

Jeff said he would have things ready for us when I came by with Mandy, and Kim said she would also. After a bit we hugged both of them and headed across town. The place was huge, larger than I remembered. Easily around 50,000 square feet, with what seemed to be offices in a second level that overlooked the main floor.

A guy walked up a little older than I was and asked if he could help us. He realized who I was when I said my name, and he grinned. “Nice meeting you Pete, Jake. I’m filling in for Rob most times since he’s still in LA, what do you think?” I admitted it was larger than I had thought, having never been inside before. “Oh yeah, but it’s great. We only have a small crew here now, Mostly getting the trucks unloaded and ready for the next load.”

There were about ten there, and they were mostly doing just that. Moving pallets of machines around, while some were using power tools to bolt them to the floor. Jake pointed out all the areas where the sections would be set up, and it seemed like Rod had things pretty well figured out. “We love these new machines though, once we get moved in here our production is going to increase a lot.” He then took us upstairs, and after looking in all of the rooms and other than offices and a conference room, I saw a combination lock was on the last door. With paper taped on the inside of the windows.

I asked Jake what it was, and he grinned. “Skunk Works II. You got the code? I don’t.” I shrugged and covered it with my body and used the same code for the main office. And sure enough, it worked here also. And like the other location, along the back wall was a series of long tables, with various cases and other things still in the design phase. I asked Jake to wait outside, and he said he would head back to the floor.

“Sorry dude, but I don’t know the policies here yet, and do not want to break any by mistake.” Jake smiled and said it was no problem, he understood. So Mandy and I both looked at the projects. Most of these I had already seen, and I explained to her what they were. One of them though was new even to me. It was a case, but in the front instead of plastic it was like a hardened spray foam that had been carved to how they wanted it to look.

The metal part was bare steel, unpainted. I looked at the back, no mounting or holes for the motherboard, but the opening for the power supply was there. And it was mounted sideways. In fact, the case was very thin, as wide as the power supply was high. And in the front instead of the CD drive mounted the normal way, it was on it’s side also. It was just as high as a standard case, but half as thick. And the fake door that rotated inside the case like our first model was made of cardboard.

“That’s actually kind of cute,” Mandy said. “If I did not say better, I would say this is almost a female case. Not as hulking as the normal ones are.” And in that I agreed with her, and that it would take up less space on a desk, even if it was not as expandable. And she liked the other cases they were in the process of working on, and they all looked good.

Although when she asked I had to admit I had no idea what they were going to be used for. “I simply told them to start designing new cases. Even if we do not use them for Gem, we can still sell them to other companies. And having a dozen or so ready to go would be a good thing.” She nodded, and after talking to Jake a bit more we headed into town. We talked to the gals in the office, and they ran through their normal day for us, which was mostly working as a billing and new subscriber location. But that they “sold” about eight to ten computers a week as well.

After that we stopped at Dead Steer, and both had the finger steaks before heading to the shop. And I saw Mandy smile when she saw the large six foot sign in front. I shook my head, and said I could not believe I did not recognize it as her work.

“Well, that was the idea, Pete,” she said as she got out and hand in hand we walked over to it. She then pointed out how she would have done things differently if it was in her own style. “But Dee asked for it suitable for a company logo, and I knew that had to be simply bland and functional. So that is what you got, but I’m still proud of it.”

“Oh, I love it. And yes, I see what you mean now. It is very unlike anything I have ever seen you draw before.”

We went inside, and started with the small call center we had here and slowly worked our way through the various departments until we got to Gem. There after showing her around we went upstairs with the “Think Tank” into the Skunk Works and I looked over what was here.

It was mostly the same as the other facility, but not quite as well done. Morgan explained how this is where they actually made the initial designs, and they then sent them to Rob and his team to clean them up. “What you saw there are the final stages before they become actual prototypes. This is the actual design phase though. We will send one to him, and we bash it out together for a bit. It then comes back and he makes the final ones before a limited production run.”

Mandy was impressed with what all they had been doing, and said if she had any ideas she would make some drawings and send them over for evaluation. I then went to make some calls and do some of my end of the business as Mandy spent most of the rest of the afternoon talking to various people.

After another family dinner and Mandy seeing the first of her board meetings. Where she got approval to hire a staff of two, one up here and one down in LA. And after dinner and chatting a bit more we headed back to my house. After getting drinks we went downstairs, and she said she wanted to go online for a bit. And a few minutes later she was doing some emails as I turned on the stereo and then went and kissed her cheek. Mandy patted the chair next to her, so I sat down right before she logged into AdultNet chat.

Mona again entered the SF Valley chat, and I told her what I knew of who was in there. And as usual, she soon had guys sending her messages asking “ASL”, and the other super cheesy and creepy things that most of them seem to do. But she was actually having a lightly flirty conversation with CunningLinguist.

I chuckled at one exchange, and she winked at me. “Oh, this is just fun, don’t worry lover. And he actually is rather witty, and not dirty like so many.” By this time Apple had joined in, and she also chatted and flirted just a bit, but nothing else happened. Finally Mandy was ready to log off, and asked what else was there. So I had her bring up a room list, and I saw one that made me see red.

I asked her to get out of the chair, and I logged her off and logged on with my Jenny nick. And I popped into two rooms I saw. “#teensex” and “#younggirls”. And there were about twenty people in one, and over a dozen in another. Mandy was looking closely over my shoulder. “Jenny_Talia, eh? I take it you are using that name for a reason?”

I nodded, as the first of six private messages came in asking my ASL, and I said in all of them I was F/15/Idaho. And within seconds even more were asking me for details, like bra size. I did not recognize any of the names, but made a capture log and took down the information of everybody in those rooms. And grinned when I saw eight of them were using my service.

I waited about fifteen minutes, and had admitted to twenty guys that I was 15. And every one continued to press me for more information. I then said I had to go and left the room. And five minutes later kicked each of those individuals off of AdultNet, and banned their IP address from logging back in. I then wrote a letter to Sue, and directed her to immediately cancel the accounts of the eight I had identified as using our services, and to send them a letter saying they were terminated for prohibited activities. And included the logs and told her print them out and put on file in the event of somebody wanting to be an idiot. Like say trying to sue me.

We cuddled on the couch with a glass of wine each, and she admitted she could see what was so addictive about it.

“Yes, it can be a lot of fun. And remember, this is not the only chat service out there, I have found over a dozen of them so far. But it is I think the first one dedicated to more adult topics, and is getting a lot of attention for that reason.”

Pete, do people really use those rooms like those were trying?”

“Well, some do. And you saw my reaction to it. All were kicked out. If you read the TOS or ‘Terms of Service’ agreement when you log on, you consent that you are 18 and older, and will not do anything illegal. Hence, Jenny was 15. Oh, there is a room called 18Teens, and I know one of the guys that runs it. If somebody claims to be under 18, he himself kicks them out and tells one of us. He is actually kind of creepy, I met him once. He’s around 35, and likes legal teens. But only legal teens, not kids. If I see any rooms about children, rape other than fantasy, or prostitution outside of where it is legal they get the boot.”

“Bestiality? Incest? Cheating?”

“Mandy, those are gray areas. If all state it is only fantasy, I think it’s disgusting but leave it alone. I do not want to be any kind of morality cop. But I will also not allow illegal activities to be conducted on services I run. There is even one called ‘SchoolgirlFantasy’, and I do allow that because once again I have gotten to know the gal that runs it. She has a ‘Catholic Schoolgirl’ fetish, as does her husband. It is entirely roleplay, she also will kick out somebody and let one of us know if she thinks somebody is really under 18. I think she is around 26, her ‘character’ is like 16 and goes to a Catholic school in New York. But if asked, she admits it is only a fantasy.”

“Wow, weird. I mean, I can kind of see it, but it’s still weird.”

“Oh, it can get even more weird. Go to the DogSex room sometime. Some guys and gals actually roleplay being dogs. Yeah, I’m not kidding. One guy there is actually named ‘Rover’, and his specialty I have seen is, well, trying to convince girls to put peanut butter on their privates so he can lick it off.”

“Eww! Oh, that’s fucking gross!”

“Yeap but since I can not prove he is really an Irish Setter I ignore it. But if I ever do learn he is really an Irish Setter, he is gone. As there are no Irish Setters that are over 18 years old.” Mandy laughed. “And after all, is such really much worse than having my girlfriend get gangbanged by a bunch of goblins? Or making Holly masturbate after seeing Minotaur dick?”

“Hmm, well, I guess not. Of course, you always tended to make them silly and sexy, not gross.”

“And many in those might be the same way. But all are in there voluntarily, and state to be 18 or over. So long as none say it is more than a fantasy, we allow it.”

“Do you even do those dirty dungeons anymore?”

“Nope, not done one in years actually. Oh, XX-XY is still in business. But I am more of an editor now, I review submissions and sometimes run playtests if I think a submission has promise. But it is not that I do not want to, I simply have not thought of a concept to base one off of in a while. But if I do, I will likely write another one.”

We chatted and cuddled for another hour, then after several long and deep kisses headed off to bed.

The rest of the trip was mostly me talking to different prospective clients, and Mandy working with Dee to start a basic marketing campaign. For one thing, they decided to slowly bring to an end the “Computer Giveaway”, as we were already phasing out buying used systems and other promotions would be more profitable. Like two free months of service if a customer paid for ten months up front.

Things for the next week back in LA were mostly finalizing a few things before the next trip. Reservations were all confirmed, and Mandy had all the requirements needed. We had dinner with Rosie and her husband the night before we left, and we both promised that we would have a real family dinner at my place when I returned.

Finally everything was packed and we got up early and drove to LAX. Mandy was gripping my hand tight, and only then admitted to me that she had never flown before! I asked her if she was nervous, and she nodded. “Don’t worry, this will actually be rather boring for the most part. It will be 12 hours of boredom, mostly flying over the ocean so there is not much to see. Then two hours in Tokyo, then another two hours to Naha. The rough part will be the jet lag. We will lose an entire day flying there, and arrive at around 3 in the afternoon local time.”

“Well, that does not sound so bad, Pete.”

“Well, that will be around 10 at night for us. And the best way to adjust will be to stay awake until around 10, then go to sleep. That will be over 24 hours awake, other than any sleep we get during the flight. It will suck, but trust me. When we wake up the next morning, the new time will seem normal. I have done this two times now, four if you include my flights back home. It will be a piece of cake.”

They called our flight, and gripping my hand we walked onto the plane. I had been smart enough to get seats right behind a wall, three seats side by side. I knew that would give us the best legroom, and the other seat would likely be used by aircrew. And sure enough, they were starting to close the doors and the seat next to me was still vacant.

Mandy marveled that she understood most of the briefing in Japanese, and was gripping my hand almost painfully tight as the engines wound up and we started our takeoff roll. She was glued to the window though the entire time, but was disappointed that shortly after takeoff all she saw was ocean. “Get used to it babe, it will be like that all the way to Tokyo.”

“Was it like this each time you flew?”

“Oh no, my first flight there was on a MAC flight, the same for my flights home. LA to Anchorage, then to Tokyo and Okinawa. Or the reverse, those were all on military charter. This is my fifth flight now, and only my second on commercial air. Trust me, this is much nicer. A MAC flight is cheap, but it takes around 30 hours. This, is about half as long.”

They served lunch a few hours later, and the stewardess smiled when Mandy asked for the tuna and rice in Japanese, and the same for me. And when the lights were turned off for the movie, we closed the shade and Mandy had me change places with her. And leaning against my side, she curled up against me and after a few soft kisses we were soon asleep.

I woke up a few hours later, and stood up and paced for a bit around the plane. This was my first long flight since the accident, and my leg was not real happy with not moving for so long. The crew smiled when I pointed at my leg and nodded. I guess that was something they were used to.

I was in the seat and holding Mandy when the lights came back on, and they announced breakfast. Mandy looked at me, and I grinned. “Remember, we are crossing time zones, it is around 8 in the morning in Japan, so this is the meal we would have if we were there.”

And two hours later, Mandy was gripping my hand again as we landed, but also looking out the window. We shared a long soft kiss when we were finally on the taxiway to the terminal, and we were both filling out the customs forms. Then we left the plane, and after picking up our luggage headed to customs.

Mandy was a bit nervous, but going through was uneventful. They stamped her passport, and simply checked my military ID and gave our luggage a brief check. And I was glad I had exchanged a few hundred dollars before we left. I bought us both a candy bar, which gave me a 100 yen coin so I could get a cart, and we were soon checked onto our connecting flight. We had about 30 minutes, so we wandered around that area of the terminal, and things were starting to feel familiar to me again.

When we landed at Naha, I looked around, not really knowing where to go next. And Mandy knew spoken Japanese, but not much written. So I did the next thing I knew, and once we got our luggage we headed to the military reception desk. A Marine Sergeant was there, and smiled when we walked up and asked for my orders.

“Sorry Sergeant, I’m actually retired. But if you can help me, I need to know where the Enterprise car rental desk is.” She smiled, and pointed the way. I actually laughed, as I could actually see the desk from where I was. We both thanked her, and she wished us a good stay.

I got a Corolla, and soon we had the luggage in the back seat and were heading out. I asked Mandy if she was hungry, and she said she was. I drove until we got to Okinawa City, and soon was driving down BC street. “Pete, are those strip clubs?”

“Yep, sure are. This is kind of the bar district, we are about a quarter mile from the gate to Kadena Air Force Base.”

“You are taking me to a strip club?” She grinned as she said that, but I shook my head.

“Nope, a place I used to eat at fairly often when I was here, Trust me, you’ll love it.”

And thankfully, I found the place with no problem. I parked the car, and for the first time in years entered my favorite little family restaurant on Okinawa. The waitress did not recognize me, but we exchanged bows and she brought us to a chair. She handed us menus, and Mandy asked me what I was having. I told her I always had the shrimp fried rice here, and she said that sounded great. When the waitress returned, she grinned when Mandy ordered for both of us, and brought us both Cokes.

“You know, this is not much different than a place in the US. Other than half of the seats are on the ground.”

“Yep, this is actually common. This close to the base, they cater to both the Americans and Japanese. A lot of places here do that actually, and will accept yen or dollars. But the money does not go as far as when I was here last time. But it’s still not bad, around 100 yen to the dollar.”

The waitress returned with our food, and after thanking her we both started eating. And Mandy admitted it was excellent. “How did you find this place?”

“Oh, by accident while exploring. I actually used to come here all the time.”

“The bars, right?” she teased.

“Sometimes, but also for the food here, and there is a small park at the top of the hill a short walk away. If you want, we can walk up there.”

The waitress came up as we were finishing, and she asked if we had eaten here before. She grinned when I said it had been many years, but I used to eat there once or twice a month. “Ah, hair shorter then, you younger. Yes, I remember. You get same thing then also, shrimp and coca-cola.” I nodded, and said it was still excellent.

When she brought the check I paid in dollars, and soon hand in hand we were walking up the hill. Mandy was asking me all kinds of questions on the walk, and even stopped across the street from one of the houses. “Oh my god, Pete. Shisa!” Mandy almost skipped across the street, and stopped in front of a house that had two of the concrete guardian animals. These were small, maybe a foot and a half at the shoulder, and mounted on the posts on each side of a metal gate.

“They are so small though. I thought they would be bigger.”

“Well, we will have a week to explore the island, you will see many that are a lot bigger. I guess it all depends on the owner of the house and where they want them mounted.”

We finished walking to the top of the hill, and she marveled at the view. We could see Okinawa City spread out below us, and the Pacific in the distance. “Wow, this is beautiful, Pete. I can see why you said you used to come up here a lot. This view is amazing. This must be a special memory for you.”

I sighed, and nodded. But Mandy noticed, and turned and looked at me, and asked me what was wrong. “Well, this has some not so good memories also, combined with good. The night I got the envelope from your sister, Jackie brought me up here. This kind of became a special place for us also you might say.”

Mandy hugged me tight, and we just held each other for several minutes. I sighed, and gave her a soft kiss and I had her turn around so I could hold her from behind, my arms around her waist. “I was pretty torn up then, she helped me a lot.”

“You know, now I can see why this would be special in another way. Back then I wondered what you were going through, how you were dealing with it. And seeing it now myself, I can see why you would come up here. We were on the other side of that ocean. It must have seemed so close, yet so far away.”

“That was often my thought then also. I would come up when I missed Linda, almost imagining we could see each other across this ocean. And with the time difference, I would be watching the sunset, imagining she would be on the other side, seeing it as sunrise. This was kind of my secret meditation spot, Once or twice a month I would come up here, and look over the city and ocean. Then after I came back, it was you I would think of when I looked across the ocean.”

She hugged my arms, and softly said “And Holly also, I imagine.”

“Holly also, yes. But mostly you. Somehow even then I knew she and I were over. She was already looking to settle down, but I had a hope you would be waiting when I got home.”

“But I didn’t wait, did I, Pete?”

“That’s OK, we both had some growing to do, Mandy. But we’re together now, and together here. And you can finally see for yourself why I loved this place so much.” She turned in my arms and grinned, and we shared another kiss before hand in hand we walked around the park.

And the first thing that fascinated her was that there were several tombs right inside the park. “Pete, these look a bit like the ones you photographed, but different.”

“Yes, these are all newer ones, I would guess made at the turn of the century. Before then, most of them are the classic “turtleback” design like the ones I photographed for you to illustrate. These are a more simple box design. But notice, still a small courtyard in front, and benches for the family to sit on when visiting. In some ways it is strange, almost like the entire island is a cemetery. Back then, they put them near the farm or house, then as the cities grew they remained. It is not unusual to drive down the street, and just see one between houses or behind a store.”

She took her camera out of her purse and took a picture of a few of them, and said she would remember this for the future. And hand in hand we walked back down the hill and got in the car for the short drive to base.

I had her hand me her passport, and when we got to the gate I handed the guard that and my ID card, and he smiled and waved us in. I pointed out the USO as we drove by, and soon we were pulling up in front of the Air Force Inn. We unloaded all of our luggage, and were soon checked in and she looked around the room. “Not bad, actually. It even has a fridge, microwave, and coffee maker. Damned good for the price.”

“Well, the price is based on rank. The higher your rank, the more you pay. Since I retired as a Sergeant, it is about the same as a decent motel back home. Come on, let’s take a look around. But also suitable for a Colonel, and they expect more than a $20 a night motel.”

We got back in the car, and first we drove to the PX. Mandy was surprised it was like any other store in the US, and I said it pretty much was. We picked up some soda, snacks, and then walked to the Class 6 and I got us a bottle of scotch. Then we went into the main exchange, and she again marveled at how it looked like a small mall.

“Actually, this is the largest PX complex in the Pacific. I think the only one bigger is in Germany. Go to most bases here, it is not much bigger than a convenience store back home, maybe a very small discount store. Over there is the only bookstore on the island for us.” I turned down a hallway, and opened a door. “And this is where the game group started. We had out first convention right here in the PX. Right in this room is where I met Jacki and Fred.”

She kissed my cheek, and I closed the door and we headed out again. I drove around a bit, and sighed when I saw the open lot. “That there, was our first clubhouse. They must have demolished it since then. Fred is the one that got it going, but I helped.” Mandy nodded, and I turned around and drove to the barracks area. And there it was. I also saw a large sign, that was covered with a tan tarp in front, and another tarp above the entrance.

Hand in hand we walked in, and the place had hardly changed. I looked at the counter, and smiled as I saw a familiar face. I walked up, and when she raised her eyes from a form she was filling out I said “Hello Dorothy, long time no see.”

“PETE!” she screamed, and ran around the corner and threw her arms around me and laughed as I saw heads turning to see what the commotion was. She kissed my cheek, and asked when I had gotten in. I told her just a few hours before, then introduced her to Mandy.

She called on the PA and somebody else came up to take over at the counter, and we went back into the manager’s office. “I knew you were coming, but it is so good to see you! Bobbi got in yesterday, and a few others. It’s almost like 1986, all over again.”

I smiled and nodded, and I pointed out the plaque. “I see you’re the manager here now, congratulations.” In fact, her husband had gotten out of the Air Force two years before, and he was now her civilian dependent husband, and she was the DoD employee. We talked for a bit more, then she gave us a tour of the place. Not much had changed, but there was now a covered patio on the side. And the wall with the photos of the past Presidents had Fred’s with black bunting around it.

Mandy called me over, and the display case sure enough still had my manifesto inside, as well as the awards I had donated. Along with several others, mostly for best MWR facility. Both Island and for the Pacific. Not bad, nice to see it was still the best of the best.

It was getting late, and I could tell Mandy was starting to drag a bit. I hugged Dorothy again, and said we would be here on Monday for the ceremony. She hugged both of us, and I drove to the NCO club. Once there we shared some chicken strips and fries, as we were a bit hungry. Then once in the room we both had a drink, and were soon in bed.

The next morning we headed to the chow hall for breakfast, then I threw a few things into the trunk and we headed out. First stop, Camp Butler. I pulled into the parking lot by the barracks, and pointed out which one I had lived in, and Franny’s which was across the street. Then we walked a few blocks, and stopped outside of my old shop. I decided to take a peek in, and just walked in the back door as if I owned the place.

We had barely stepped in, and a Lance Corporal came over and asked if he could help us. I explained that I had worked there years ago, and was showing my girlfriend where I had worked. He gave me a look, and said he had to check with the NCOIC. I said that was fine, and we would leave as I just wanted to show her where I had worked for three years.