Chapter 24

When I got a chance to meet with Crying Wolf, we talked about the Navajo projects and the need to get down there. I’d have to get back and forth from Arizona to Wyoming, almost ad lib. We agreed that he and Desert Flower couldn’t be my taxi service. We’ll try and work something out from the Arizona end.

I told Sensei that I would have to leave for the Navajo Nation, and that I would be away for several weeks.

“You must continue to study, Lexi,” he advised. “Find a quiet place where you can go to your alpha and theta levels at least twice per day. Do your katas daily. You must be at alpha for doing the katas. We can’t have you losing all the progress you’ve made so far.”

Wow. How would I ever get time to do other things? You’d think I didn’t have anything else to do.

[Lexi?]

Yes, Red?

[You know that going to ‘level,’ as you are now thinking of it, takes only ten minutes a day. And you can do the katas in half an hour, as you know. Allowing eight hours for sleep, that still leaves more than fourteen hours and fifteen minutes every day for your other pursuits.]

Red, you remember what I said about humans being analog creatures.

[Was I too specific, Lexi?]

No, no problem with being too specific. How can I explain it? I don’t want a minute-by-minute accounting of my day. You told me to enjoy my free time. I want to do that. But I can’t do that and develop the Navajo projects, and the Spirit of the Hunter kiln, too. And whatever happens next.

[Of course you can. You are doing so much better than I had hoped for, at first. You must delegate your chores, and then review the progress of your subordinates. Think about Marylou Deer Horn. You have given her virtually a free hand with the kiln project. Do you know how much insulation she ordered? Or exactly how far apart the supports, for holding the walls up, are? No, you found someone you can trust and went out to look at things infrequently. And it worked – is working. I looked at the future newspapers and it will be producing lithium crystals in acceptable quantities in a couple of months.]

[The longer-term reports on the Navajo chip project are positive. It will be producing by the end of the year, with a heavy infusion of Intel technicians. The short-term news reports are spotty: it doesn’t get much coverage. There will be a flurry of reports centered around some sort of security issue by the end of the summer – which doesn’t get much comment from your security team. I don’t want to give you advance information about that, because it will influence your decisions. There are several candidates, and it will be a close choice.]

Oh, that’s too much for me to deal with. In my life #1, I never managed anyone. I’ve got to learn how to do that. Put it on your ‘to do’ list, Red. Find me a management course that I can get into.

... ...

“Dark Wolf,” I began, later that day, “I have to return to the Navajo Nation for a few weeks. There is a project there that I must visit. It will take the output of the kiln and turn it into something more valuable – to begin to change the world.”

“Go then,” he answered calmly. “I suspect the Hunter outside will not visit a humble old man. He never came before.”

“Well, could I ask a favor of the humble old Medicine Man of the Shoshone?” I asked with a small smile. “The Spirit has told me that I will face troubles in the times ahead, both here in the lands of the Shoshone, and in the lands of the Navajo. Some of these troubles could come from man. So I ask: could you suggest a place for me to live here, that will be isolated from potential troublemakers. At least so I can see them coming. I do not wish to involve nearby members of the tribe. They have enough problems without troubles from the outside. I will ask for help from Mr. Maritsuki for finding people who can protect me.”

“I know of several such places,” he replied. “But with just your scooter, it may be a long trip into town. And you will not have many of the conveniences that young people have come to expect.”

I laughed. “As long as there is food. That is the only modern convenience that I need. The recent event I had with two troublemakers was not directed at me, I think. I was only a target that passed near them. Like a dangled morsel in front of a coyote. But the Spirit talked of people directed at me personally.”

“Is this why you are running to the Navajo?”

“No. I have had no indication if these are close-by threats or things that will be in the future. I feel safe here with you, and of course, the Hunter. I have projects in the south that must come to fruition so the output of our kiln can be used properly.”

“White Owl, never fear,” he said, laying a hand on my shoulder. “You will be safe in the land of the Shoshone, forever.” This was the second ‘incantation’ that I’d gotten from a Medicine Man, and it made me feel good – and nervous at the same time. “I will find you a hole that a gopher could not find.”

I went to my room then, and packed only half my worldly belongings. I was coming back, after all.

...

The flight with Desert Flower and Crying Wolf back to the Navajo Airport was routine. Except that we had to go hundreds of miles out of our way to avoid a ‘weather incident’ as Flower put it. If you think that a thunderstorm cloud is impressive to see from the ground, try it from the cockpit of a teeny-tiny King Air. It ranged from many thousands of feet above us, to below our few hundred of altitude. And it was blacker than black. Not too much lightening; though, what I could see was impressive. Glad we were nowhere near it.

We flew due east into Nebraska, glad we could travel much faster than it could. We made a brief fuel stop in Wichita, Kansas, and headed back to northeast Arizona from there. It was a longer, but basically uneventful, trip. Flower told me that the rule for judging a flight was: if everybody could walk away from the plane at the end, it was a success. If you could use the plane afterward, it was a fantastic success. Our flight into the Navajo airport was a fan-fucking-tastic success.

We stopped in at Johnny’s all-in-one shopping emporium and made arrangements to get picked up. Eventually we got to Wild Mustang’s abode, and found him smoking a stinky cheroot and rocking on his porch. He greeted us with an “Ugh.”

I dropped my bags in my room and prowled into the kitchen in search of food. There wasn’t any, but there was a place cleared out for Sky’s wedding cake. It was a three-layer cake with white frosting. I steeled myself and didn’t dip a finger in it. I’m glad it was going to be used this Saturday, and I’d be on hand for the ceremony. I had completely forgotten the date. Without a cell phone I couldn’t remember anything! I made myself a toasted cheese sandwich.