Episode 54

Chapter 232

Adam Stone

11:31 pm, November 4th, 2006

4:31 pm November 5th, 2006 (local time)

The table was set up perfectly. There were two cups of tea with the rest of the tea set off to the side. The cups were positioned in front of the chairs. Condiments were close by. A small plate held crackers and cheese.

All was indeed in readiness, I saw Jacob arrive.

Jacob paused at the entrance to the mess hall. He clapped once.

A member of the Density Force ran over to help him stand for a moment.

Jacob looked around. It was as if he was observing everything and seeing nothing. Then he saw where I was waiting. He slowly sat back down in his wheelchair.

Time to show him that he is not the only Stone able to set things up.

I snapped my fingers in the style of the Addams family.

There were several response snaps as things started to happen.

First a Marine went over to where Jacob was and tried to push his wheelchair in.

Some teenager blocked him.

I caught Jacob's eye and nodded.

Jacob turned to the teen. "Stand down, Mike. I trust my brother."

"Sure." Mike did a hand gesture.

Throughout the mess hall various teenagers sat back down.

The Marine turned to Jacob. "Cpl. Comb, sir. Your brother is waiting. May I take you to him?"

Jacob gave one of his regal nods.

Cpl. Comb started pushing Jacob over to my table.

The entire room watched as the wheelchair was pushed through.

As far as I could tell, the whispering could be divided into three groups. The first group were the teenagers from the Density Force. They sat in groups throughout the mess hall. Their comments tended to be about such things as school and their parents. It seems as if they were afraid the battle with the base was the easy part. As for the Marines, I think there were two groups of thought. Both of those schools were upset with Jacob. One of them seemed to be getting more understanding.

Still, I could sense an undercurrent of displeasure with the situation. No matter how many of the teenagers were Marines, it still was a hard thing to swallow that these high school kids beat them so easily.

Cpl. Comb finished pushing Jacob over to my table.

"Here you go, Sir. Let me know if there is anything else I can do for you."

Jacob smiled a little. "Perhaps." was all he said.

A smile? I haven't seen him smile in days. In fact, the closest I've seen to him smiling was a tight lipped glare. Maybe there is hope.

"Hi brother."

"Hi Adam. It's been a while."

"Too long. How's the recovery coming?"

Jacob shook his head sadly. "I think that for a happy answer to that kind of question, I should ask it of you."

"You can ask, but I still want you to answer it. I'll go first however if it makes you happy. My leg should be fully healed by next week. According to the medic, my cast can come off on Monday. The therapy will be finished a few days later if nothing else happens to me."

"You are safe. You are not the Stone that fate has things happen too. As for my condition, a paraphrased country song describes it best. I have no idea what condition my condition is in."

"Yes you do. I've seen it in how you look at your legs when you think nobody is looking."

"Damn it, you're right. You happy now? I'm stuck in this thrice accursed thing until at least Monday. Maybe later. They keep telling me to practice my physical therapy. They say this, but they do not want to say just how soon all that practice will bear me the desired result. No. That's wrong. Not the desired result. The needed result. I have no intention of spending the rest of my life sitting in a wheelchair, no matter how good a wheelchair I can build. It's bad enough that after last week's events that I need a cane most of the time. I'm odd enough at that school. The cane did not help any."

Suddenly I stopped looking at my younger brother. I must have reached new levels of denseness. This is not about his injuries. Normally Jacob would not waste three thoughts on that subject. He'd correct as much as he could naturally, and then he'd correct the rest through science. No, something else was hurting Jacob, and it was hurting him a lot. Enough I guessed that he was transferring his rage to this situation.

In my personal experience there was only one thing that could cause this with Jacob. Emotional stress. Something overcame his defenses and he still has not recovered.

Now Jacob was looking at me funny. "Alright Adam. Why are you looking like you suddenly realized what the answer to the mysteries of life really are?"

"Well, I did just figure something out."

Jacob started designing something on some papers before crumpling them up and throwing them to the floor. "No. I'll be damned if I start compensating for it. I will beat this."

"That's good to hear."

"Another thing that would be good to hear is what you just figured out."

"I'll get to that. There's something I want to say first. Remember that Sam and I gave you our recruitment bonuses to help start your projects?"

"Of course. I'd most likely still be working at the theoretical stage without that help."

"And you know we haven't asked for anything in return."

Jacob very politely chose not to mention the fact that Sam was not going to be asking favors of anybody anymore. "Yes, you have not." Jacob paused meaningfully. "Until now."

"Indeed. I see you're beginning to see my plan. And you are correct. I want you to accept the base command handover offer."

"Quite the initial request for a favor."

"Tell you what. Ask one of your own people how things are going here. See if that helps."

"Agreed." Jacob looked around. Then he pointed to somebody at one of the tables.

That person came over quickly. "You wanted me?"

"Indeed. Your name?"

"William."

"Very well. Which group do you belong to?"

"The Density Force."

"And within the high school."

"The football team."

"Ah yes. An excellent group. I have a question for you."

"Anything I can help with, I will."

"How do you judge the interactions between the Density Force and the Marines are going?"

"Amazingly good."

"No issues?"

"Not since your father made the deal with the General running the place."

"And the base's compliance. Is it restrained and proper, or is it better than that?"

"Better. Several Marines have gone out of their way to explain the systems and methods around here."

"Helpful indeed. Thank you, William."

William left.

Jacob stared at his tea cup for a long moment.

I knew better than to interrupt his deep thinking times.

"Adam?" he finally asked.

"Yes, Jacob?"

"Set it up."

I had to ask. I needed to be sure that he wanted what I thought he wanted. "Set what up?"

"The base changeover ceremony."

"Thank you. The other thing I promised to tell you is this. You're stress is based on emotions. Something caused you a lot of pain and I doubt it was the military. Colt may have added to it, but it was not the military that caused it. Think on that, will you?"

"Perhaps I should."

Chapter 233

Amy Stone

11:43 pm, November 4th, 2006

4:43 pm November 5th, 2006 (local time)

I arrived to see one of the busier scenes since Jacob took control of things.

The area by Jacob's usual picnic table at the lake was filled with people going back and forth. Teenagers were checking in constantly. Jacob would read what they handed him and respond.

Of to the side my husband watched with interest.

I walked over to him. "Hi Daniel."

"Hi Amy. I see you heard."

"Heard what? I'm just here to see if I can do anything more to talk sense into Jacob."

"Not needed, dear."

I looked at the man I loved as if he had not been paying attention the last few days. "What are you talking about? Last you told me, Jacob was still being stubborn. What changed?"

"He had tea."

"Dan, he has tea every day, at least he does if he is conscious."

"True. But this time he had tea with his brother. Adam talked to him not too long ago. Apparently he suddenly realized why Jacob was being stubborn and it had very little to do with the military. At least it had little to do with the military people he is dealing with here."

"Okay. I'll bite. What's his problem?"

"Emotional stress. Everything that's happened since early this week has just built up the troubles. But that is neither here nor there."

"You're probably right." I told him.

General Smith came up to where we were. "I'm glad he changed his mind."

A teenager walked over to where we were. "Hello there. It's good to see you all here. My name is Lou. Jacob asked me to ask each of you a question. He wants me to start off by saying that even now it is not to late to cancel things."

General Smith started to say something.

Lou held up his hand. "Wait until it's your turn. Jacob insists on this. From recent experience we should all know that he usually has one or more very good reasons when he does things like this."

General Smith ceased trying to object.

Lou cleared his throat. Then he checked a piece of paper to make sure he got it right. He turned to me and spoke in a formal tone. "Captain Amy Stone, United States Naval Air Force. Supreme Commander Jacob Jehosophat Stone of the Density Force wishes to give you one last chance to ask that the changeover of power be cancelled. He wishes to remind you that once this changeover occurs, you will not be viewed as a member of the Density Force any longer. This means the United States Code of Military Justice can and probably will be applied to your deeds since the takeover of this base by the Density Force, including your actions in the war currently existent between the Density Force and the Armed Forces of the United States. He wants you to think of the potential difficulties you face when you lose the formal protection of the Density Force as described by the arrangements to take place today?"