Chapter 11

I took off my old lab jacket and put the new one on.

“Thank you. I, um, well, I’m not sure what to say. I’ve been halfway wondering if this is just a dream, ever since you said Ed could tell me the news.”

“Well, Stephen here knows I’m a pain in the ass, and stuck in my ways. We have to be in this field, to a certain extent at least, because we’re dealing with people’s lives. A bad clothing designer can cover his mistakes with glitz. A bad cook can cover his mistakes with ketchup. A bad doctor covers his mistakes with dirt. Our solemn responsibility as instructors is to make sure no bad doctors ever graduate from this school. You’re definitely not one of those, so you’ve ... graduated.”

He shook his head. “You’re going to lose patients. You can’t save everyone. But it sure sounds like you’re going to save thousands in Africa. That’s the sign of someone who has his heart in the right place.”

“David, you were at the press conference. I saw the look on your face when Elroy answered John’s question about conflict of interest, and I heard your response to John’s comment. There are almost certainly times I’m going to make a mistake. Just ask my wives. I have terrible issues with time zones. I told Eileen Barnum – she’s the head of Kennedy Space Center, in Florida – that we’re going to lose people in space, when we’re building the space station, or later on when we’re exploring Mars and mining the asteroid belt. That’s why it was my call to launch Challenger, even though there was the possibility for the booster to fail. When it did fail, it was also my decision, and mine alone, to let the mission continue. Those four seconds of booster failure ended up not mattering, but if it had, and the shuttle had been destroyed and those men killed, it would have been on my shoulders, because it was my responsibility.”

He nodded. “I know that. I’ve heard about it, but – standing here, listening to you tell us about it – I’ve heard men that are supposed experts in their field try to dodge responsibility when they’ve made mistakes before. Men a hell of a lot older than you are. But none of them more mature. That’s ... that’s why you get that lab coat today. You’ve earned it.”

There was a knock on the door. Ed opened it and stuck his head in. “Are you guys about done in there? We need the room.”

“Come on, let’s get out of here,” Stephen said.

I led the way out. As soon as I got into the hallway, I was bombarded by flying confetti and streamers, with loud shouts of ‘Congratulations’ coming from all around.

“Come on, we’ve set up a small table in the waiting room, with punch and cookies,” Ed said. All my lab assistants, plus a lot more of the Stanford medical department staff, were waiting for me. They lined up to shake my hand and wish me luck. I was blown away.

It was a couple of hours before I left for home. When I got there, the first thing I noticed was all my other lab coats had already been modified. The celebration at dinner was quite low key. The one afterwards, behind the bedroom door, wasn’t.

At breakfast, I asked, “Did I miss Holly last night? I thought she was going to be here yesterday evening.”

Jennifer and Margie were the only two up with me this early.

“No,” Margie said. “With Elroy and Earl here all week for the prosecution and upcoming trial, and since the Bank is closed Monday anyway, Gloria came out for the launch, too.”

“Um, trial?”

Jennifer shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. You won’t be called to testify, since it’s under Federation jurisdiction, and everything you said was recorded. Missus McEvoy was working with the governments from Africa. The civil lawsuits against her are, to quote Elroy, ‘the cherry on top’ of things. The FBI raid on her office and home here and her home in Washington found ... well, let’s just say she’s going to be behind bars a long time, if she’s not simply executed.”

“Oh,” I softly said. Then I frowned. “Trial and execution?”

“Yeah. You filed a charge of treason against humanity against her as the Head of State of a Federation Member Nation. Federation justice is almost as swift as your own justice. Her lawyers are screaming, but since you’re a sovereign monarch, they’re screaming very, very softly.”

Margie said, “Gloria and Holly will go back to Kansas late Monday night. Earl and Elroy will be here for a while longer. Now, give us a kiss and get to the stadium. We’ll see you there shortly!”

That I gladly did.

The first thing Coach did when I showed up in the locker room was check my eyes. “Okay, it looks like you got at least some sleep last night.”

I laughed. “I’m fine. Speaking of fine, is John cleared to play today?”

“You’re thinking the same thing I am, for later in the game? He’s supposed to be seeing Doc Wendt, even as we speak.”

Right at that moment, John walked in, looking upset.

“What’s wrong, Mister Paye?”

“Doc Wendt is home sick. Marty said he called him early this morning, and he can’t make it.”

“Huh. Well, that fits,” I said. “Probably a third of the students I saw yesterday had some kind of mild illness. Basically acting like a mild flu virus, more than anything else.”

“Yeah, well, I need to have a release signed by a doctor before I can play today.”

I looked at his ribs. He was healed up.

“Where is it?” I asked.

He pulled out a piece of paper. I held my hand out, so he handed it to me. It was a standard form, that said John Paye had been examined by a physician and was cleared to play. I grabbed an ink pen from Coach’s pocket, then took his clipboard and put the paper on it. I signed the form, ‘California Lewis, MD.’

“Congratulations, John. Get suited up, so you can play some of the second half.”

“What the hell?” he asked.

I handed Coach back his clipboard and pen. “It’s official, as of yesterday afternoon. I still need do my residency, but I am now a graduate of the Stanford School of Medicine and an MD. Between when we’re done with the season and our Bowl game – and I just realized something about that – I have to do a week of residency. Then, I’ll be at the hospital the entire Spring Quarter. I’m not licensed by the State of California, but we’re not in the State of California, as Doctor Blau mentioned yesterday.”

“Works for me, if you’re comfortable with it,” Coach said, looking at John.

John had a big grin on his face. “Damned straight I’m good with it! I’d trust Cal over Wendt any day.”

I looked over at the wall, where Dave was leaning back and shaking his head.

“What?”

“Nothing. What was your revelation?” he asked.

“Bowl games are on January 1^st. I’m supposed to be in Punjab that day.”

“No, actually you aren’t. Give Cain and Abel, and both Prime Ministers Gandhi and Bhutto some credit. There is a ton of paperwork that needs to be signed, relinquishing territories and control of assets. It’s your nation, effective that day. There won’t be any ceremonies until Friday, though. Those, you have to be there for. And they’re going to last the whole weekend, through Monday. Don’t worry, we’ll make sure you’re back in time for the Championship game.”

Coach Elway said, “Well, Mister Lewis, we still have today’s game to win to make sure we get to the bowl game and the championship game. Would you care to put on your warm-up uniform, so you can participate in today’s activities?”

I looked at him and yelled, “Coach! Yes, Coach!”

He snorted, then went off to meet with other arriving players.

Since I was a little early, I went out to the field with a couple of the guys, to help them with their stretches. I heard Helen calling to me, and I looked around, because it wasn’t her mental voice I heard.

“Hey, Hero! We’re up here.”

I turned, to see her, Earl, Elroy, Gloria, and Holly holding Ivory in her arms. I ran over to the stands. “I wasn’t expecting to see you all this early. We don’t kickoff for another two hours.”

“I couldn’t sleep late this morning, even with these two trying to wear me out last night,” Gloria said. “I’ve been to all the Salthawk games this year, but this is a lot bigger than Gowans Stadium!”

At my look, Holly said, “We had to play half the season there, because the crowds were just too big.”

I noticed she was wearing a sweatshirt with the Salthawk on the front. “Spin around.” It said ‘Awarai’ at the top on the back, with the number ‘8’ below it.

“Good enough, that won’t get confused with my jersey, since we wear the same number. Come on, you can help me warm up the receivers.” After handing Ivory to Gloria, Holly vaulted over the railing as I finished saying the last word.

Helen chuckled at her sister’s impetuousness, then said, “Come on, let’s get to our suite. We won’t see her again until game time.”

Most of the offense was out on the field now for stretches and warm-up exercises.

“Who’s this, Cal?” Coach Baldwin asked.

“This is our starting quarterback in three years, Coach. She’ll be entering as a Freshman and ready to start then.”

I’ll give him credit, he only blinked once, then yelled out, “Cotten! Richardson! Coffin!”

The three of them came running up. “Yes, Coach!”

“Coffin, since you’re Kurt’s back-up, take this young lady out to the ten, and practice some snaps with her. You two, take turns running patterns ten to thirty yards, alternate with each other as defenders. No contact or tackles with each other.”

I watched as, on their first play, Spencer cut in front of Ken defending and was wide open. Holly threw a perfect pass that Spencer dropped. He shook his hand, and then his head. “I’m sorry, that one’s on me. Can we try that again?”

Holly was upset when the ball hit the ground, but Spencer’s apology mollified her. This time his crossing pattern was five yards deeper, and he caught her pass in step so he could cut upfield ahead of Ken.

The four of them talked for a second, then Holly lined up in a shotgun behind Robbie. When she yelled, “Hike!”, Ken took off. He didn’t have Jeff or Carl’s wheels, so Spencer stayed right with him. Holly had been moving behind the line of scrimmage, avoiding imaginary tackles, and when Ken was thirty yards out, she threw a perfectly arched spiral that landed right in Ken’s hands, beyond where Spencer could reach it. Spencer tagged him, so they called it a tackle, and came back in.

Coach Elway was outside by then and saw Holly’s last throw. He blew his whistle and waved his arm in the ‘gather on me’ signal. Everyone on the team ran over to him. John, Fred and Greg all had their hands ready, and gave Holly a fist bump as she joined us in the group around Coach.

“I’m going to guess there’s not a single player on this team that doesn’t recognize the team symbol on the front of this young woman’s shirt. Turn around, let everyone see the back of it.”

Holly slowly turned, so her last name and number could be seen.

“I’ve already heard from her fathers how her season went,” Coach said. “Twelve running touchdowns! Twenty passing touchdowns! In her first season as the quarterback for the undefeated Salthawk Junior Varsity. Gentlemen, if her academics continue to match her athletics, this is the starting quarterback for the 1988 Stanford Cardinal, Holly Awarai.”

I simply stepped forward, picked Holly up and hoisted her onto my shoulder. “Oh, just so you guys all know, she won’t be fifteen for another week, and she’s my little sister!” I warned.

The rest of the team slapped her hand as we walked by them, then I carried her back over to the stands.

Bill and Wayne were both standing next to Bruce, who was talking to William Dangu.

“Hey, Cal! Who’s this?” Wayne asked.

“My eventual replacement on the field. Holly, this is Bill Dwyre with the LA Times, Wayne Walker with KPIX 5, and that’s Bruce Wilson, from the Melbourne Herald. Gentlemen, and I’m even including you in that, Bill, since you’re not the asshole I thought you were when we first met, this is Holly Awarai, my little sister.”

Bill nodded. “After a couple of moments of self-reflection courtesy of multiple interviews with you, I agree that I was one, and I’m glad you don’t consider me one now. So, I’m guessing you’re Helen’s younger sister, and from what we saw on the field just now, you play football as well?”

I boosted Holly up so that William could reach down with one hand and pull her up and over the railing.

“Go ahead and give these guys an interview, Holly. Ah, here comes someone who has the parental authority to make that statement I just made legal. Is Jule here today?”

Wayne shook his head. “No, she had to go to Hawaii for something out there. Hey, you were at the press conference last weekend,” he said.

“Yes, I was,” Elroy said.

“Cal said it was okay for me to give these men an interview, Dad.”

“He did, did he?” Elroy asked with overtones of menace in his voice.

“Oh, guys? That big guy that Bruce is talking to? That’s William Dangu. He works for me, too. And with the same job description as Sayel, only his job is to protect Holly. So, have fun, I’m getting glared at by my coaches.”

I turned and ran back to the field then, like nothing had happened.

Coach Elway just shook his head, and let it be.

A couple minutes later, Jeff James came over to me. “I’m guessing that was basically Helen’s younger sister, right?”

“Uh, yeah, why?”

“I don’t suppose there’s another one in the family? This is not me being a pervert or anything, but ... damn!”

I laughed. “Sorry, my friend. Helen’s about a year older than you, and no others between her and Holly. Oh, and Holly already has a boyfriend. It could be worse. Wait until you see their mother!”

He slapped me on the back, then we went back to warming up before we went into the locker room to finish getting ready for the game.

‘That was funny,’ Helen mentally said to me. ‘Thanks for linking with me while Holly was down there, so I could listen in. Me mother is concerned, though, that you’re trying to fix her up with some young college students.’

‘Nope. But you know just how beautiful she is, even if she’d deny it. She’s like you. The further along she is, the prettier she gets. Think about what it’ll do to Earl and Elroy, to see all these college boys drooling after their wife. She’s the one who said they tried wearing her out last night. We may not see any of them until it’s time for her to go back to Kansas, after the launch.’

Her laughter was so loud in my mind, I thought for a minute she was actually in the locker room with us.

The Beavers won the toss and elected to receive. We kicked off to them and they drove down the field rather quickly, if a bit uneasily, to score. Watching them from the sidelines, it seemed they weren’t playing at a college skill level. After their ensuing kickoff, it only took me six plays to get us across the goal line, with our extra point making it 7 to 7 just over midway through the first quarter.

They took their second possession and drove down the field, making it to our one yard line. With first and goal from the one, they then had two incompletions, and we stuffed their quarterback sneak. That made it fourth and goal, from the one, and they went for it, lining up in a ‘I’ formation. They tried to be sneaky, with a fake handoff, and the quarterback gave a little toss out to their tight end. He juggled the catch long enough for Tom and Eric to wrap him up, causing them to turn it over to us on downs at the one foot spot.

I’ll give them credit. They overloaded the line to try and score a safety against us. The problem, of course, was I kept the ball, and broke free. I got us out to the fifteen, and then we just marched down the field. Time ran out before we scored again, because they’d taken so long on their drive, so on the first play of the second quarter, I made an easy toss to Jeff for our second score.

Our kickoff back to them showed why their victory against Washington had been a total fluke. Their two deep men mishandled the kick somehow, and they started their drive at their fifteen. Two runs that were dropped for a yard loss each time, followed by an incomplete pass, brought them to fourth down. Then their punter screwed up the long snap, and while trying to avoid the tackle, ran out of the end zone. The safety made it 16 to 7, and they had to make a free kick.

That made it easy for me to pick them apart on the short field with some quick passes, and then let Brad run it in from the three for another touchdown. They didn’t bobble this kickoff, but they tried to force the ball downfield. They somehow made enough runs and completions to get to our forty, with a little over a minute to play. Then Walt Harris tipped a pass right into Craig Landis’ arms at our twenty, and he ran it back to their twenty before finally getting dragged down. We just sent David out to kick the field goal, and made the score at halftime 26 to 7.

John went out as quarterback for our first possession of the second half. He didn’t take any chances with his ribs, simply allowing Brad to get plenty of ground yards on the drive, with twelve carries and a second rushing touchdown, making it 33 to 7. Our coaches put in our second string on defense for practice time. The Beavers still screwed up our kickoff, starting at their ten. They made it out to the twenty-seven, then Chris Weber ended up getting tripped up on a pick play and they actually converted a ten yard pass into a seventy-three yard touchdown.

We weren’t concerned they might try an onside kick, because they’d screwed up everything else. They didn’t, and John took us downfield again. This time, their defense actually showed up, stopping us at the ten, so David got to kick another field goal, making it 36 to 14. That emboldened them, and things seemed to click for them as they drove down the field after the kickoff. A couple of our second string guys just weren’t playing well, so Coach Mannini pulled them and sent our regular guys back in once the Beavers were in our territory. That didn’t seem to work, until they were on our ten. Then Toi Cook got right in front of a pass in the end zone, and ran it back to their forty-seven before their quarterback knocked him out of bounds.

Once again, their defense kept John from scoring a touchdown, so David now had three field goals to his credit. But then their offense couldn’t do anything at all, and this time our guys shot the gap and blocked their punt, recovering it on their fifteen. John wasn’t having any of it now, and made a couple of short passes, then handed off a couple of times to Brian, before Brad got his third rushing touchdown of the game, making it 46 to 14. They ended up with one more score with only a minute left in the game, and Coach sent Fred out for the last few plays, just to make sure John didn’t get hurt again.

The family came down to join the line of fans congratulating us as we left the locker room. Holly was standing with Gloria and Helen. At seven months pregnant, Gloria was incredibly radiant. More than one member of the team gave all three of them a second look. Of course, they also knew they could only look. The pleased expressions on Earl and Elroy’s faces kept growing the more my teammates admired their bride.

Some of our regular reporters were also nearby. I was happy they were primarily talking to the rest of the team and the coaches.

Bruce Wilson walked up to Diana. “Good afternoon, Your Highness. I understand you’re taking Political Science classes this quarter. I was wondering how that’s going for you, now that you’re very close to your due date.”

She smiled. “Poorly. Oh, my homework and class discussions are perfectly fine, and I have no problems with my grades. I suspect that would surprise most, if not all, of my former instructors and classmates, given my previous history. No, it’s simply a case of no matter how I attempt to manage my liquid intake, our daughter is bound and determined that I can’t sit in class for more than fifteen minutes without having to use the loo.”

He frowned. “I recall when my own wife was pregnant with our first born, she had an issue with that, but not with our other two.”

“Yes, well, don’t forget Wills was just barely over seven pounds when he was born, and Harry was even lighter than that. Their sister certainly feels heavier than that.”

“She is,” I said as I walked over and took Diana’s hand in mine. “I’m not an OB-GYN, but one thing to keep in mind is the difference in nutrition in the US versus the UK. The entire time my wife has been pregnant, she’s been eating differently than she did with her other two. Of course, I’m also five inches taller and about sixty pounds heaver than Chuck, in addition to be quite physically fit, so that makes a bit of a difference.”

Smiling, Diana said, “And better looking, a better father, a better lover, and a much more caring and considerate man, as well.” She put her arm around my neck and pulled me down for a kiss.

Bruce coughed, then said, “I’m, uh, thank you, but I don’t know that I can include that.”

Diana shook her head, then. “Go ahead. I don’t care. It’s not as though Elizabeth and Phillip don’t already know what I think of their eldest.”

I laughed, then gave her another kiss before kissing the rest of my wives as I headed into the locker room to change clothes.

“I know the secret!” David said as he was toweling off his hair.

“Secret to what?” Doug Robison, our punter, asked.

“Getting more field goals! We play teams that have a defense, but no offense.”

John shook his head. “I was taking it easy out there, you goof! Besides, how many points have you scored so far this season?”

“Um, sixty-six. Four field goals after today, the rest are extra points.”

“I think you can do the math, right? That means fifty-four touchdowns where we didn’t go for two points and convert,” John pointed out.

David shook his head. “I know. I’m just mouthing off a little, simply because I finally had a chance to do more than kick extra points. One field goal before today for the entire season, and Doug never punting means we’re doing something right.”

“That’s for damned sure,” Doug said. “I hope I never have to punt.”

Coach Elway yelled out, “Listen up! We play the Sun Devils next week in Tempe. It’ll be a late game, with a five o’clock kickoff. So, we’re going to meet at Moffett at nine that morning, fly down to Phoenix, and then take buses the whopping four miles from the airport to Sun Devil stadium. Make sure you have breakfast before you get to Moffett, we’ll have lunch available at the stadium, and then we’ll have food on the plane ride home. Any questions?”

John held his hand up. “Just one, Coach. Why are you telling us this today, instead of at practice later this week?”

“Oh, yeah, one other detail. No practice Monday, because even though classes are not canceled for the holiday, they should be. Light workouts on your own Tuesday through Thursday, and again, work with the trainers to make sure you’re healthy. Of course, no practice on Friday like usual.”

Even I thought that was odd. “Coach?”

“Yes, I know. There are several things going on here. First off, we’re undefeated so far, both in the conference and overall. I want to stay that way. There was a reason our starters rested for most of the game today – they weren’t needed. They will be, our next two games. In addition, I also made sure our back-up players got plenty of game time today. We’ve already had to put a bridge in someone’s mouth who shall remain as nameless as he is toothless.”

That caused some laughter.

“Okay, your specific position coaches may have you doing a few more things this week. I’m not going to push it. You all know the playbook. You all trust your teammates.” He paused, then rather emotionally said, “This is my second season here as the head coach of the Cardinal. We finished five and six last year. I’m proud of you, all of you. In all of Division One football, there are four unbeaten teams as of today. Air Force beat Army, Bowling Green – I know, who? – had a bye today, and Penn State beat Cincinnati. Oh, and of course, us. Quarterbacks, the five of us will have a meeting Wednesday afternoon. Other than that, Gentlemen, have a good weekend.”

After he left the room, John gathered Fred and Greg by my locker.

“What do you think that’s all about?” he asked.

I shook my head, then said, “I don’t specifically know, but if I had to make a guess, he’s thinking about the third quarter from last week. What happens if we have two players on the field at the same time who can throw the ball? We pulled that in high school a lot, having the other Varsity QB on the field. I’d take the snap, do a toss back to him, and then he’d throw to me, or vice-versa.”

Fred nodded. “I’ve seen some pro teams do that, because some of their receivers or running backs played high school and college ball as quarterback. That’s one thing about us, we do have a good depth in quarterback with John and Greg here.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Fred,” Greg said. “You’re not a bad college player, it’s just at this level, there’s not too many of us that are. Well, shit, that sounds like I’m tooting my own horn, doesn’t it?”

The other three of us laughed, then Fred said, “Yeah, I know. We covered that before the season started. Besides, Bowling Green?”

He started laughing and the rest of us joined in.

That evening, we had a simple family dinner, minus the four oldest kids, but including Mike and Karen. We’d just sat down when Brenda and Walter Lestenkoff walked in.

“Welcome! We were just sitting down for dinner, pull up a chair and join us. What brings you down here this evening?” I asked.

Brenda gave me an odd look, while Margie laughed. “Don’t worry, he’s just clueless. He was playing football this morning.”

“It’s perfectly fine, of course. I’ve been talking with our Yakima cousins quite a lot. They’ve remained as true to their heritage as they could, while still losing so much of their past. I admit, I have at times had to be careful to not discuss what I know about our King, although Russel Lewis has mentioned some amazing feats. It was funny when he told me of some of them, like he didn’t think I would believe him,” Brenda said.

Beth nodded. “There was a certain amount of showing off of abilities, but nothing like what you know is possible.”

“That is to be expected. They are a gathering and community of different tribes, from different areas. They had what we would consider an easier life, being in the shadow of Pahto, as well as some of them being descended from her crew along with others that came from the east. And, of course, they didn’t have the sacred souls nearby, either.”

I nodded. “That makes sense. Mike, I would’ve thought you’d be in Africa right now,” I said.

He shook his head. “Welcome to the wonderful world of modern warfare. Marshal Demidov is in command of Federation forces, we’re just the contractor supplying those forces. So, he gets to sit in his modern command center in Switzerland, and decide what the strategy is and issue commands. I just make sure we have the forces available to supply his needs, and also, of course, to make sure your needs are met as well.”

Walter chuckled. “As one who also served the United States in time of war, my guess is this is nothing like what you were thinking the position would be.”

Mike smiled, then. “Not really. When were you in, Walter?”

“I went to Europe in ‘44, served with the Army Air Corps. Our people are naturally small, so I was the belly gunner in B-24s and B-17s. Then I got out, but got called back up again due to Korea. I spent Korea as the rear gunner in B-26 Invaders. God, that sight was a piece of crap. I was credited with three kills over Germany, but we were lucky to even be shooting anywhere near the Korean and Chinese pilots.”

Mike frowned. “I thought the B-26 was the Marauder?”

“Your tax dollars at work. The Invader was originally designated as the A-26, but then the Air Force decided to change the designation after the war, since they’d already gotten rid of all the Marauders. Of course, that’s not the first time the government messed with things, obviously. We’d been evacuated during the Japanese invasion, and when the Army Air Corps was building the airfield on Adak. They told me if I served, then our people would get better treatment, and I believed them. I wasn’t given much of a choice during Korea. But still, better in the sky than in the mud.”

Mike nodded. “I did enough of that. Now, I’m not on the front lines any longer, which I think makes my wife happier. I may not be home every night, but often enough.”

Karen giggled, one hand resting on her distended belly. “Yep.”

“Oh, fine, point out the obvious,” he replied with a grin. “It’s not like you’re Princess Watermelon over there.”

Diana shook her head. “Not for much longer, thank God. I still don’t understand how Jennifer was able to win the Master’s Tournament as far along as she was.”