Episode 53

Vice Admiral Bright

10:20 pm, November 4th, 2006

3:20 pm November 5th, 2006 (local time)

I found him precisely where she told me he'd be.

He did not react.

That meant he already knew I was here. I know I made the trip quickly, but I also knew enough not to think that I moved faster then the high school kids could gossip.

Jacob Stone sat at the lake side watching the birds along the shore. In his lap was a load of papers. They looked about a foot high. He was reviewing them. Occasionally he would make some notes somewhere on the paper he was looking at.

There was a teenager with him. That teenager stood off to the side somewhat to give him a little privacy.

I have to give him credit. Stone had a good idea there. He probably gets a lot of work done out here with the soothing environment. The lack of a staff keeps the interruptions to a minimum.

The teenager that was with Stone looked in my direction. He saw me approaching and bent down to whisper something to Jacob.

"Thank you Mike, but I knew already that somebody was there. The birds told me."

I knew it... wait a minute... birds??? Does he seriously think he can talk to the birds?

Apparently Mike had the same question in his mind. "You telling me that you can talk to the birds along with your other skills?"

"Not exactly. But when all the birds stop going in a certain direction, odds are it is because something else has gone there."

Betrayed by birds. About par for my messing with the life of Jacob Stone.

"You scare me at times." was Mike's response.

"That's not my intention. Find out if he is on the shortlist. If he is, send him towards me. Otherwise, send him away in my name."

Mike came over. "Excuse me, but can I have your name?"

"I am Vice Admiral Bright, United States Navy.

Mike looked over a sheet of paper for a moment. Then he eyed me rather closely. "Your name is on the list. Come forward."

"Thank you Mike."

"How do you know my name?" Mike wanted to know.

I'm not going to say I just overheard it now. I do not want Jacob thinking I've been paying too much attention to what he's been doing. That will not help with what I need to get done today. "I overheard one of the other students the other day talking to you."

We walked up to Jacob.

"Jacob? It's Vice Admiral Bright of the United States Navy."

Jacob did not even look up. He just moved on to the next sheet of paper in the stack. "Thank you Mike. Can you give us a little privacy?"

"Sure thing. Wave if you need me." Mike walked off into the distance.

"Greetings Vice Admiral. I did not expect to see you here."

I was not going to play verbal games, teenager or not. This issue had to be settled soon. This was not science in which everything could be as controlled as possible. This was life. And life has a habit of going out of control is you wait too long. "Jacob. I will not treat you like a fool. Kindly do not treat me as such. You know very well that the Density Force cleared my jet to land. I'm sure they told you already."

Jacob's voice hardened. He matched me tone for tone. "Indeed. I was not commenting about that. I was commenting about the fact that you came here at all." Jacob indicated the ground where they stood as he said the word 'here'. "Could it be that you're the next in the series of officers to try to convince me to relax my discontent?"

"Perceptive, aren't you?"

"If I was, I'd have figured a way out of this mess by now. Let me guess. You're here to give me a pro military pep talk. Right?"

"Right."

"I'll listen. But I think you and all the others are missing a vital point."

"Vital enough to make most of my speech useless?"

"Quite probably."

"Then let's skip to that point."

"No. You went to a lot of trouble to come here. You could have more easily called my mother, than have had her arrange a private call with me. You have something to say, anyway you think it important enough to go to a lot of effort. So why not say it?"

"You are right. Why not? I'll start by telling you what your mother said to me after you left the room where you explained how you interfered in the missile tragedy." I waited for him to say something.

Jacob just gave me one of his piercing looks.

I took that as permission and incentive to get on with it. So I did. "Your mother told me that I was one of the few military people outside of your family to be what you thought all military people should be. I was glad to hear her say that. I was also sad. The military could not have lasted this long with the respect it has without there being a lot more good than evil to it. I'm here because I think you know as well as I do that you are judging based on the experiences of a few and the bad press of others. You must know that the bad things get the most attention. You know the size of the military. The number of people that you met or even heard about can't be a large percentage of it."

"You are the second person to talk to me with such a reasoned argument. I'll tell you what. I'll try to be a little less judgmental. At least until I'm proven right. I hope I never am. The faults of the few do taint the many though, especially when they all share the same uniform."

"Trying is a start. Now, why don't you try your father's agreement with General Smith?"

Jacob finally looked up at me. "Ah, yes. We've reached the point in the conversation I have already thought of. Please continue."

"Oh no. This time, I want to know what you are thinking first."

"That's easy. If he regains command of the base, he will have two choices. Work with us, or immediately fight against us. If he works with us, it will cost him everything he holds dear. Career, freedom, depending on how the political situation turns out, his life. If he works against us, we'll come down upon him far worse than the first time. There is also the fact that he is probably worried that if he goes that route, my parents will not be able to mitigate things. In that he is right. I will be doing everything I can to minimize their role in this in the hopes I can salvage what is left of their careers."

"You don't think that General Smith knows that?"

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. You don't get to be a General Officer by being a fool."

Jacob's next statement was in the most disbelieving tone I ever heard a teenager speak. "Oh really? Does the name Colt mean anything to you?"

From the tone of his voice, you would have thought I tried to sell him the idea that there really was a man in the moon, and that we were due to meet him in an hour.

"He's the exception that proves the rule."

"I should certainly hope so. Otherwise a downward spiral of destruction is imminent."

"Then you'll sit through General Smith's requests? Remember, your father did agree to work with him."

"I'll listen. But whether I'll comply is not assured."

10:42 pm, November 4th, 2006

3:42 pm November 5th, 2006 (local time)

There was a knock on my office door.

I looked up. "Enter."

A teenager came in. "General Smith?"

"I am he."

Who exactly did he think would be sitting at my desk? The mascot for the Philadelphia Phillies?

"Excellent. You are summoned to the outside work area of Jacob Stone."

Almost any other time I might have scoffed, if not laughed for at least ten minutes. The only time I tend to obey a teenager's summons is when it is my daughter relaying a message from my wife.

Well, I best make the exception that proves the rule today. These things need to be settled and Jacob is now the only one who can finally settle them.

With these thoughts in mind, I got up to go.

Ten minutes later my jeep pulled up to the area he was known to perch at.

Sure enough, he was there.

I exited my jeep and sent the driver off. Then I walked towards him.

Some teenager blocked my path. "What is your business with Jacob?"

"He summoned me."

The teenager took a better look at me. "Oh, it's you, General. Wait one, please." The teenager went back to where Jacob was sitting. "Jacob. General Smith has arrived."

"That was quicker than expected. Send him up. Then make sure we are not disturbed unless it is a level one emergency or worse."

"Yes Jacob."

The teenager beckoned to me.

I approached and stood there.

Jacob Stone sat there and looked at me.

He summoned me, so he can start this meeting.

I took this time to give him a good looking over. I expected him to look tired and weak. He looked nothing like that. He was sitting almost regally in his wheelchair. It was as if he had converted the wheelchair in his mind into a throne and mentally justified what put him in it as the basis of his authority. He was well dressed and radiating the aura of power that I sensed so restrained before this all started. It was as if his temper snapping that day woke a sleeping dragon and that the dragon was looking on me as either a toy, or dinner.

The quiet pause stretched itself out for awhile.

Then Jacob Stone spoke in a voice of barely restrained power. "I can wait all day."

The power hinted in his voice should have had the grass catching fire by now.