Chapter 26: Expanding Horizons

The beginning of the Christmas Holidays lightened everyone's mood a little. The successful execution of the plan to have Sasha and Millie picked up after Marvin's extraction helped boost everyone's confidence that the bigger project had a chance of success. The one depressing item was Admiral Grayson's refusal to even consider leaving Earth.

Toby, Jake and Janet had gone ahead with the original plan and submitted applications for graduate study to the Dean of Admissions at MIT. They were trying to find an alternate team, but unless the subject was dead or the technology old, public knowledge of weapons researchers was rare.

"I'm sure that if the three of us were teamed with Charlie, Darlene, Jamal and some of the others currently at MIT we could develop some kick-ass weapons. The problem is who's going to believe in us enough to send a ship to get us? We need Admiral Grayson in order to have the level of credibility that will convince the Confederacy to commit resources to us." Jake had recovered some of his optimism, but none of them had fully recovered from the depressing Thanksgiving trip.

Lesa, Leslie, Sara Jay, Jake, and Sarita were all sitting in Lesa's kitchen wrapping up breakfast. Sara Jay posed the question, "What are we going to do for New Year's Eve?"

Jake suggested, "Sit in front of the TV and watch the ball drop in Times Square?"

"That sounds really exciting," Leslie quipped, "I'll probably fall asleep."

"What if we watched it live and in person?" Sarita suggested, "I've never been out of Georgia, except for an occasional trip to the beach."

Lesa gave Sarita a very sympathetic smile, "Oh honey, it's just too crowded in Times Square on New Year's Eve for it to be any fun. We'd have to stand around for hours if we're going to be within blocks of the Square."

Leslie gave Jake an evil smile, "Jake knows someone who lives there. Maybe they could get us closer to some action."

"There's more than enough 'action' around here, thank you very much!" Jake was struggling not to laugh.

Lesa began to develop an idea, "I wonder where the Grayson's will be on New Year's Day, anyone want to make a wager?"

"I wouldn't if I were you," Sarita recommended. "Mom doesn't make bets unless she already has a lock on the outcome. So, Mom, where will they be and why do we care?"

"Well..." Lesa began; then waited for dramatic effect. "You sound like you've been deprived of travel opportunities, and the Grayson's will be visiting relatives in New York on Christmas day; then returning to Boston before New Year's Eve. They have train tickets for a scenic rail line that skirts the coast most of the way between New York and Boston. Anyone feel like taking a train ride?"

Leslie got a wide-eyed look, "Are you thinking about ambushing them when they're in a good mood? That's so devious!"

"You can always threaten to throw grandma off the train," Sara Jay suggested.

A dark expression passed across Jake's face, but he pushed it aside. He hadn't talked to anyone about Lesa's massive rifle, or the skill she displayed as she handled it with confident, practiced moves. He hadn't even broached the subject with her because he wasn't sure he'd like the answers, if she answered his questions at all.

"We'd best get tickets if we're going to get on the same train, they return home next week." Lesa turned to Sara Jay, "Can I prevail upon you to stay with Franklin and Samantha while Sarita and I take Jake for a jaunt?"

"I'd like that," Sara Jay answered. "Thank you for trusting me with your children."

The whole crew met Ralph, Janet and Misty for lunch at Cracker Barrel. Sarita rode in Jake's car with Leslie, and Sara Jay rode with Lesa and the little ones.

"How's the apartment hunting progressing?" Sara Jay asked Janet while they were waiting for a table that could accommodate the ten of them.

"I guess it's the usual, anything that's within our travel range is out of our price range," Janet sighed.

"There has to be a lot of married students who live close to the campus, and they can't afford expensive places," Leslie's tone was sympathetic. "Where have you checked?"

"We started with housing assistance," Ralph replied. "There's a long waiting list for married couples who're looking for affordable student housing."

"I wonder," Jake was mostly thinking out loud as he repeated himself. "I wonder what it would take to finish that big building near the cemetery. It was mostly offices, but I'll bet it could be adapted to apartments with shops and offices on the lower floors. It's only a couple of miles from the campus. A bit far to walk, but there's got to be a bus."

Lesa smiled, it was the first time Jake had spoken about anything associated with the pickup last week. She kept the conversation going. "It would take a month or two to get windows installed and walls put up inside. It looked like the previous owner was changing the upper floors from office space to apartments already. Maybe we should give him a call?"

The hostess signaled them that their table was ready and the group followed her into the dining area. After the waitress took their drink orders, Sarita spoke up. "Mom is going to take Jake and me on a train ride from New York to Boston next week. Want to take a break from your apartment hunting and come along?"

Janet looked at Sarita, then at the sheepish look on Lesa's face, and began giggling. "Okay, what gives? I can see you and Jake on a romantic train ride. I can see Jake and Sarita on a romantic train ride that's met by the cops and we never see Jake again. But, the three of you?"

Lesa recovered her composure. "I'm NOT looking for a threesome with Jake and my daughter! What you must think of me! I was going to talk to you about this in a different setting. Really, I wasn't trying to slip away. Well, maybe a little. I want to meet Martha Grayson somewhere that she and I can talk without her husband butting in, and the five-hour train ride should give me an opening. Surely such an elderly couple won't be joined at the hip for the whole trip."

Janet shook her head. "Martha is much too savvy to think your meeting her on a train is a coincidence. She and Benjamin are incredibly close. So close that he'll not consider any plan that would have them separated for more than a few days. He's such a romantic for being such a stiff Navy man. Trust me, once you meet him you'll not think of him as Dr. Grayson ever again. He'll be Admiral Grayson first and a research physicist second. The titles of 'Professor' and 'Doctor' will be way down on the list."

"Okay, so, I'll have Jake entertain him while she and I talk in private." Lesa respected Janet's assessment.

"That might work," Janet allowed. "But, a sure distraction is to have Misty talk with him about airplanes. Who knows, she might even get him to let down more than just his hair!"

Misty punched Janet for suggesting she talk the Admiral into dropping his pants. "Even if I thought I could get him interested, it would be too dangerous. We'll have no a chance of getting him off-world if he's dead from a heart attack."

Lesa asked, "Is he really in that bad a shape?"

Jake and Lesa nodded as Misty answered, "Martha's convinced that any kind of excitement can trigger another heart attack, and his next one may well be fatal."

The waitress interrupted the conversation to distribute the drinks and take everyone's food order. When that was accomplished she headed back to the kitchen.

"Where were we?" Lesa asked; then answered herself. "Oh yeah, we need to separate Grayson from his wife long enough for me to speak with her woman-to-woman. There would have to be an opportunity during the five-hour ride from New York to Boston, especially if we get various conversations going. I was thinking about taking the train from here to New York, but it's an eighteen-hour trip and sleeping accommodations are more expensive than plane fare into La Guardia. If you guys come along, then maybe we can talk Misty's pop into letting her fly us into Newark."

"Actually," Misty spoke up, "The airport at Teterboro is better equipped for general aviation aircraft, and it's really close to the George Washington Bridge."

Lesa smiled, "Sound's like we have a plan. I'll call the travel agency and have them add three round-trip tickets from New York to Boston. I'll also add a room to the hotel reservation I have downtown. Couldn't see going to Boston, turning around, and heading right back to New York. We need to do a little shopping at the very least."

Lesa was on the phone when the food was delivered to the table. "All set," she told everyone. "We have the last seats on the scenic excursion to Boston. There were three left, and now there are none."

Jake and Janet were troubled while they ate. When they finally made eye contact, the concern flowed between them as though they were telepathic. Jake was the first to voice the shared concern. "Listen, if we just show up on that train, then Martha may be too paranoid, or maybe suspicious is a better term..." He appeared to be arguing with himself for a moment before continuing, "Whatever. If we just show up, then they'll know we've been spying on them and may too offended speak with us. Let me try something, okay?"

"What are you thinking, Jake?" Janet asked from across the table.

Jake suggested, "I thought I'd call Denise and ask her about her plans next week. If she tells me, then we'll have plausible deniability about having investigators snooping around. If not, we're no worse off. But I'll bet she'll tell me about the train ride."

When Lesa nodded agreement, Jake pulled Denise's number from his contact list and initiated the call. "Hello Denise, this is Jake Caulfield. You introduced me ... No, I guess the crowd I was with would be hard to miss or forget. Listen, the reason I'm calling is I have a friend who would like to speak with your grandmother about some of the things that were discussed at Thanksgiving. I believe I mentioned that I had a friend who also graduated from Vassar ... Right, she's a librarian at Tech ... Trust me, Lesa shouldn't be underestimated. She could talk the Pope out of his crucifix."

Lesa frowned at Jake while Janet nodded and did her best not to laugh as Jake continued. "So, where do you think she'll be between now and New Year's? ... Visiting your folks in New York? That sounds exciting. You'll be traveling with them? ... Taking the train there and back? Wow, that sounds like a fabulous ride! I've never been on a train before. Do you think it would be too much of an intrusion if we rode to Boston with you guys? I really don't want to intrude on your time with your parents ... That's great, Denise. We'll meet you in Penn Station next week if we can get tickets. By the way, which train are you taking? ... Got it, thanks a lot, Denise. See you next week."

Jake looked around the table with a big smile on his face and his thumb pointed skyward. "That was too easy!"

"I think she has the hots for you, Jake," Misty commented.

Jake blushed, "I haven't come on to her at all!"

"Which is probably why you have her attention," Janet suggested, "Remember what happened when Toby ignored Tiffany?"

"Yeah," Misty added, "She jumped his bone on the way home."

Misty parked the Aztec on the ramp at the terminal building that serviced light twins. She went into the FBO's desk and arranged for it to be refueled and moved to a hanger for three nights.

Even with the two carts loaded with luggage they had no trouble getting a taxi into Manhattan from the busy airport. The group had decided to spend a couple of days in New York before heading to Boston the next afternoon. Misty was sure she'd be fine even after a seven-hour train and taxi ride to safely fly to Atlanta, but was overruled. They planned to spend another night in New York on the way back and do some more tours and shopping before returning to Atlanta.

None of them really wanted to visit Ground Zero, but Jake and Ralph talked them into visiting both the USS Intrepid at her berth on the Hudson, and the four-master HMS Peking at the historic South Street Seaport on the East River.

"Can you imagine crossing the Pacific in this thing?" Misty was awed by the size of the all-metal Peking. Even the masts and decking were steel.

"She was constructed in 1911 and is one of the last windjammers ever built." Jake was reading from a pamphlet he'd picked up. "It took too much coal for the early steamships to round Cape Horn with nitrates and wheat for the voyages to be profitable. She displaced 3,100 tons when loaded, and the only thing that moved her was the wind!" Jake looked up at the masts that towered 170 feet above the water. "Is that something or what?"

After dinner in one of the restaurants in a converted warehouse that was part of the South Street Seaport Museum the group made its way back to their Midtown hotel to change for an Off Broadway show. Lesa had gotten tickets at the concierge's desk when they checked into the hotel after lunch.

Jake was a very serious young man when he stepped out of the cab. "How can we allow the Sa'arm to destroy all of the history in this city alone?" He didn't wait for nor expect an answer as he held the door for the ladies.

Even though it was Off Broadway, the play was a very professional production featuring a small cast of very skilled actors and actresses. Lesa and Misty were the only members of the group that had even been to a professional play. The cast's interpretation of 'Equus' was quite moving.

Sarita was graceful and didn't make trouble at bedtime. She took a bed to herself while Jake and Lesa shared the other bed in the room. They, too, were considerate and went to sleep after turning out the lights.

Things were not as quiet in the other hotel room. It had a single king-size bed, and its springs were getting a vigorous workout, along with the three occupants.

Everyone was up and out early the next morning to be on the first ferry to Liberty Island. There was no chance of getting close to the Statue, much less up inside, unless you were among the first to exit the ferry. While it may have had more significance than the ships they had visited the previous day, the Statue of Liberty had never been a part of people's daily lives the way the ships had been. It was an icon of human history, but not a living part of that history.

They had checked out of their rooms before leaving the hotel that morning, but left their luggage with the bell captain. They returned to the hotel to collect their bags before taking taxicabs to Penn Station.

Two porters were helping them with their luggage when Jake, who had been lagging behind the ladies, spotted Denise and her grandparents. "Good afternoon," Jake greeted the three. "It looks like we're going to have beautiful weather all the way to Boston."

As Admiral Grayson shook Jake's hand he commented, "You don't discourage easily, do you young man?"

Jake smiled, "No sir, I don't. Not when it's something that's really important to me. Please, my friends are aboard the train getting their luggage settled. Would you care to come aboard and meet them?"

About that time Misty stepped out of the train car and approached the cluster of people and suitcases. "Hello again," she greeted Denise and Martha with a hug, but the Admiral only shook her hand. She hesitated a moment, then bore in to give him a hug anyway. He was hesitant to return the embrace, but did so even though he was clearly uncomfortable with the invasion of his personal space.

Martha laughed, "She's a cuddlesome little slip, isn't she dear?"

He just colored a bit and looked at his wife, but didn't comment.

Jake and Misty handled the introductions as everyone claimed their seats. They had seats near each other, but not in a single cluster.

The hundreds of large apartment buildings that came into view when the train emerged from the tunnels and began making its way across The Bronx fascinated Sarita. Even though she lived in the large metropolitan city of Atlanta, she had trouble picturing so many tens of thousands of people living in such close proximity.

As the train skirted the Sound and crossed into Connecticut, Martha approached Lesa. "Would you care to join me in the club car?" She asked the mildly surprised Lesa.

"Of course," Lesa responded. "That sounds very nice."

When Sarita moved to get up and follow her mother, Jake stopped her with, "You and I can go in a minute. Just look at the classic church steeples in these little villages along the coast."