Episode 43

Chapter 174

View of Sgt. Matthew Lane

5:45 am, November 4th, 2006

11 pm November 4th, 2006 (local time)

I met Major Stone at the door to the private ward.

"Thank you for coming." Stone told me.

"I got the message. However, I'm surprised that Jacob wants to see me enough to send for me."

"He doesn't know. My wife and I decided to send for you."

"What do you expect to happen?"

"We don't know. But something happened that night in the mess hall. His mother and I expected him to take you apart and verbally dissect you for any information you had. Instead, he listened. Something already happened. We just do not know what."

"What do you want to come out of this meeting?"

"I want you to talk to him. The fact that he did not verbally dismember you at dinner that night means he's starting to listen. Tell him the military is not the monster he's grown to expect. No, don't tell him. Show him through your life that there is much good to us."

"You think he will listen?"

"Yes. I asked him to. Jacob knows that when I ask rather than order, it is truly important. In that at least he is a typical teenager."

"Which ward is he in?"

"Number eight. The last one on the left."

I walked over to the door marked eight and knocked.

"Enter!" A tired voice called out.

I did.

Then I looked at the person sitting on the bed in front of me. He had a lot of bandages and looked pretty much like he hated every last one of them.

Jacob was dictating into a recording device.

At least I think it was a recording device.

"The distances in Space are so vast that even given the current generation of ships is pushing it to reach the Moon safely. Light speed is currently impossible. Light speed exactly, that is. If these odd calculations plaguing the back of my mind can work, the secret lies in the mass to space ratio. The more mass, the more space needed for supplies. The escape could possibly be in a form of mass to reality. The more real the state of mass, the more supplies required. What if I can calculate the point of frequency where energy is close enough to where I need it to be to punch through the limitations of light speed? Back up Jacob. Settle for converting a test ship to light speed for a journey and successful conversion back to standard mass first for data recovery." Jacob looked up. "You are?"

"Matt. I spoke to you in the mess hall the other night."

Jacob looked me up and down. He took in my dress A uniform with it's ribbons and combat badges. He noticed I was shaven and looked like somebody who was about to march in a parade.

After a few moments, he replied. "No, you are not."

"Yes, I am." I came back.

"Not possible. The person I spoke to that night looked so dirty and battered that he made road kill look good. You are entirely too neat and orderly to be him."

"But I am." I pulled out my military identification and handed it to him. "Sergeant Matthew Lane, United States Marine Corps at your service."

Jacob looked at the card. He handed it back. He made an odd gesture at the machine sitting next to him.

The device's lights blinked twice and went out.

"Very well. You are Matthew Lane. Why dress up?"

"As a sign of respect."

"Respect? Why?"

"Because you were a guest here to start with, here to visit for a family funeral. The Marines like to respect their guests."

"Do they?" Jacob asked.

The room chilled rapidly from his tone.

"Yes."

"I know why you're here."

"Why am I here?"

"Because my parents thought you could brighten the military's image in my eyes."

"Partially correct."

"Explain."

"That's why I came now." I emphasized the word 'now'. "I would have visited anyway. Just not so late at night."

"You would have come anyway, even though you knew there was an odds on chance I'd have you kicked out of this room in half a heartbeat."

"Yes."

"Explain."

I paused.

"I'm waiting." Jacob prompted.

"I don't know how to say it safely."

"What do you mean?"

"Listen, this is hard. You are Jacob Stone."

"This I know."

"Do you know that your craft put this base in a shambles? Do you know you are in command of a group that mobilized and gave the Marine Corps, not to mention the rest of the American military, one hell of a culture shock? You are a dangerous man to upset."

Jacob had stopped listening midway through. He was struggling to get up. "The Density Force attacked here? Is that what dad and mom wanted to settle before they gave me a full report?"

I tried to push him back on the bed. "You're not supposed to be up yet.

Then Jacob spoke in the voice I had been expecting ever since his dad told me about him. "Since when was Jacob Jehoooosophat Stone limited by what others thought he should do? I am going to see the ward. Now. This is not, under any circumstances, up for debate. You can follow, or you can help, or you can wait here. This trip is going to be made." He swung his legs over the side of his bed.

I hesitated, hoping his injuries would hurt enough that he would give up.

Apparently I didn't know how stubborn he was.

Jacob made it to his feet. "Damn it, where's that cane?"

"I didn't see any cane when I came in."

"Then I'll just have to use the walls."

"No. Lean on me."

Jacob nodded.

I held him up as he limped to the outer ward.

Major Stone saw us just as we reached the ward door. "Jacob! No!!"

Jacob grimaced as he held his hand up in a commanding manner. "I have to do this." Then he opened the door to the ward.

There were Marines and high school students lying in the beds. Some were heavily wounded. There were moans of pain.

I watched as Jacob's face fell.

"No." Jacob shook his head in sadness. "All for me. All because of me." He stared a few moments longer. "Very well. Take me back. I have seen too much."

Major Stone waited until we had cleared the door before closing it. Then he caught up and put his hand gently on Jacob's shoulder. "Why son?"

"Because I had to know." Jacob pointed weakly towards the ward. "That is all my fault. The question that I face now is what do I do about it?"

"Please son, give me until the morning. I'll have a report on everything. We need you better and thinking. Matt, tell him what you told me."

I helped Jacob back to his room.

He returned to his bed with a look of deep thought on his face. He looked in the direction of the casualty ward. Then he looked at me. "The Density Force liberated me?"

"Yes."

"And they conquered the base to do so?" Again it was not a question.

"Correct."

"Then it is not a stretch to say I am the true commanding authority of this base."

I nodded.

"Then I, Jacob Jehooooosophat Stone, the creator and the ultimate authority in the Density Force, order you to speak freely. Forget the reputation I may have. Forget the power I can call upon. You have a message. Deliver it as if you were talking to somebody else."

"You sure?"

"Very. Begin now."

"As you wish. First, I told your dad and now I'm telling you this. I really wish I had been able to do this for your brother David. The military is not heartless. The objective does not matter so much that everybody will die to do it. Sure, there is reasonable risk, and we accept that. Also, the military is not made up of one type of person. It takes all kinds to make the military work. But all kinds do not get press attention. Ones like Colt make more controversy. Controversy gets better ratings. Think about all those others. Such as your brothers and parents. There are so many others like them. Kind caring people caught up in their mission. They do things some people don't like. Maybe some of the recent missions are unpopular or diplomatically unethical. I do not know. But you are treating the military as a tool from what I've been told. A tool used or discarded. Or worse yet, a tool thrown out because it is not doing the job exactly as you think it should. On the high theoretical level, maybe you are correct about that. I don't know. I've not thought about that much. But I will tell you what I have thought about. I've thought about the people in it. The people in my unit, the people in my squad, the people in uniform I've seen in the news when they get hurt, the families when my fellows get killed. I've seen all this. I see the people in those uniforms and that's what I think about when I think of the military."

"The people." Jacob repeated contemplatively.

"The people. Did you judge any other group like this? Lumping them all together? Doesn't sound very smart."

"Outside of my family and maybe four or five others that I have met so far, I have been given no reason to think differently."

"Have you tried?"

"Tried what?"

"Tried looking for a reason to think differently?"

Jacob just sat there.

"Tell me, have you met any group that is all evil or all good?"

"No. The fact that human beings are a part of a group prevents those possibilities."

"Do me a favor when you are released tomorrow. Choose a few people at random on this base. Maybe elsewhere if you can. Talk to them."

"I could try."

Chapter 175

Jacob Stone

6:20 am, November 4th, 2006

12:20 am November 5th, 2006 (local time)

Great. Just great.

Still can't sleep. Usually I'd read something to relax. A good book can often put my mind into an alternate reality that I can dream about myself being in. it works wonderfully.

Only one problem. No books.

And there is no way I'm taking a walk tonight. There is no way I want to see that room again.

Guess it's another of those too much on my mind to sleep times.

Oh well. "Activate!!"

The recording machine woke up and flashed it's readiness to record what I had to say.

Then I noticed there was an envelope on the bed. Strange. Why didn't I notice before? It was obvious that it had been put there so I could reach it easily. So I reached for it. "Deactivate." I told the machine. "Illuminate." I commanded it instead.

The room brightened a bit.

I turned back to the envelope. It turned out to have a letter and another, smaller envelope in it. I read the exposed letter first, figuring that it would have some clues to the second envelope.

"Son,

If you are reading this, then you are being called upon to live up to the Legend you hate. We know how you think and by now you we are probably doing what we can to convince you. The military is not the root of all evil. They do have to answer for their misdeeds. But now we need you to try to be the Legend. We know you have pain and we promise to help you through it. When you read David's letter, remember who you told us you are.

Mom and Dad."

Damnation I muttered. What am I? A Greek or Norse god? So much power and a few traits of humanity to make it interesting? There is a reason a lot of gods pretended to be mortal so much. So be it. Jacob Jehosophat Stone will be the Legend. It is not as if he got much chance to be the mortal man. Or even a kid for that matter.

I opened the second envelope.

"Jacob, no make that Jake,

That's right. I called you Jake. And yes I know how you hate that. But if you're reading this letter, it does not matter. Because I am, as you like to put it, too dead to care. Before we left on our last mission, everybody in our unit wrote farewell letters. This is mine to you. I know that you will be upset. I also know what you are capable of. Trust me, believe me when I say this was my choice. I know mom and dad are trying to get you to think about a military career. They told me that many times, that perhaps you would consider the Air Force if only you were shown that there were things you could do there that you could accept. The military is not all about war. We do things to rebuild countries, help with disaster relief in dangerous areas. We even teach non weapon skills to those who ask, within reason of course. Even you must understand the need for that. I know you expected a farewell letter to be filled with emotion and love, but I know also you hate showing your emotions. Just know the love is there. I have a request for you. Consider this my last request if you will. Visit the Air Force Academy. Take a tour. Listen to them. That's all I ask. That you at least listen.

Love, David (Elijah Stone, USMC, deceased)"

My face hardened before I had finished half of the letter. By the time I reached the end, I was resisting tears.

Then I forced my emotions down. The Legend does not feel emotions. The Legend uses emotions.

"Can't sleep?" my dad asked.

I did not even blink. They want the Legend, they shall get him. "What exactly has been going on?" I asked evenly.

"You were rescued by some high school kids and brought here. You were really beat up and needed a few operations. After them you were brought to this room to recover."

"Very good. Very concise, even accurate. Now tell me what you left out."

"Not yet."

"Dad..."

"Jacob, you are not even fully healed yet."

"That does not matter. You wanted the Legend back. Well, as far as the Legend is concerned, he is quite capable of handling things."

"Very well. The whole story. Somehow Colt gained control of the base. He had us all imprisoned. You know what he had done to you. I was treated a little better. I think they hoped I would convince you to give them what they needed. Your mother and the girl that came with you were simply held as bait. Either you gave up the information they wanted or the girls would be given up to Colt's followers to be used for sex. Somehow, a bunch of your high school friends figured out something was wrong. They manned all your ships and launched the Density Force. The Density Force attacked here. There was a heavy but one sided battle. Your friends captured the jail, rescued us. It turned out the girl you were with had escaped them. She rescued General Smith. I then got Smith to surrender the base to the Density Force. The Density Force took over local operations, and recently killed bin Laden as well as made sure we Americans honored our commitment to Palestine."