Chapter 11

Tuesday, 12 Mar.

It has warmed back up again for a while, or at least the weatherman says so. He is predicting morning temperatures in the upper 40s to lower 50s, and daily highs in the upper 70s to lower 80s for the next seven days. That I can handle, no snow, no cold north wind, no rain, and decent spring temperatures. It was just Brad and I this morning for the ride into school.

"Bob, I asked Kaitlin Ross if she'd like to go to the ballgame on Thursday after school and then maybe a date Saturday night. She said yes, wow, she said yes!"

"That was a little quick, huh? You thought she might be looking you over and I guess she had. How did the breakup affect Kelly?"

"That was the easy part, I told her she wasn't the girl for me anymore and she said, 'OK.' Can you believe that, she just said OK and walked away?"

"Well, Brad, you kind of knew she was flaky to begin with, but it appeared that she really didn't care about you after all. Girls, well all females, are really hard to know, one minute they're all over you and then they just walk away like we were nothing. Like the comedians say, 'Women; you can't live with them, and there's no open season on them'."

"Hey, I like that, no open season on them. Ya, now don't get me wrong, there are a lot of really nice girls and women out there, but a few of them give can leave a bad taste in your mouth."

"Yeah, I understand; Rachel Fletcher was one of those until her sister read her the riot act. She seems to have turned around."

"Yeah, she really has, I saw her with Fred Demarco the other day and they looked happy, both of them. So I guess she has turned around. Who would've thought that, after almost three years of her being a man-hating, bitch?"

"People can change, it may take a real eye opener like it took Rachel, and sometimes slow and subtle, like with Ronnie, but they change. Let's hope it takes and neither slides back to their old ways."

We arrived at school and we went our separate ways. My entourage escorted me to homeroom and we started our school day. Mine was over quicker than most and my aunt let me drive to work. I thanked her and I was off to work. We ran our first section fire drill in Section G this afternoon, then turned around and did Section B, as well. Both drills were a little slow and uncoordinated, as the people weren't sure where they were supposed to gather. But we got everything sorted out.

While we were letting people from Section G go back in, I received a phone call from Dr. Schulman. He had somewhat good news. The guys and gals recovering there would love to get letters, but as of right now, there wasn't anyone in authority that would say yes about a centralized location or address to send letters or being able to dole the letters out for newcomers.

"Doc, what about you getting a list of the injured together and sending it to me and we, us two, can act as go between for the troops and the students. I figure you can send a paper around during one of your group sessions and have the people who want to receive letters give an e-mail address, then you can scan the list and send it to me and I can pass it out. How does that sound? I know that it may take a little time out of each of our lives, but I think it may be well worth it, don't you?"

"Bob, that sounds like a great idea. I have one more group session this afternoon and I will try it then. That may be what we have to do in the meantime, until I can get someone to understand just how important this type of thing can be. I have to go, but I wanted to let you what I found out. Talk to you later, Bob."

"Yeah, thanks, Dr. Schulman, I'll keep in touch."

We hung up then and it was back to work for both of us.

The rest of the day was pretty normal, Section B had a lot fewer people and their fire drill was much better and more orderly. I think their supervisor had a meeting with them on Saturday and went over where they were supposed to go and how to get there. We had assigned certain places around the buildings as gathering points for each section. The places were situated close to that section's egress point and we would have a Support person stationed there to get with the supervisor or designated alternate to see if everyone was out there. This made for an orderly drill and gave us information about anyone still left in the section. Support Services, the cafeteria, and the mechanical rooms were in the basement. Sections A through G, the production areas, were on the first floor, along with Security and the mailroom. Shipping and Receiving was in another building about fifty feet away. There was a freight elevator in the basement that went to the second floor, and an enclosed walkway over to the warehouse (Shipping/Receiving), where new product could be transported in inclement weather. The warehouse was actually on a hill, level with our second floor, near the main building. HR, Administration, Budget and Finance, and the executive areas were on the second floor.

The rest of the day was quickly over. Soon, I was riding home with Sam and discussing the fire drills. Supper tonight was baked pork chops, applesauce, and green beans. After supper, I sat back in my recliner and suddenly I was gone again.

I recognized the bridge of the Orthanian ship of Orthanon. As soon as I was able to, I said loudly, "What now, Orthanon? What have you done now that makes you kidnap me again? WELL?"

Orthanon was not on the bridge, another being was in the same uniform, but this was a male.

"First, I am not Orthanon, nor do I like being yelled at by some nothing boy who thinks he can meddle in Orthanian affairs."

I immediately called Harlou, "Harlou, can you hear me, I am back on this damn ship and some new guy is hassling me."

"Not to worry, Bob, his bark is much worse than his bite. He took over for Orthanon and his name is Defendorship. He is very gruff, but has no power; just let him rant until he winds down."

"Thank you, Harlou, I will talk to you later."

"OK, Defendorship. We will talk civilly, why have I been brought to this ship again?"

"You were requested by the Leptoe Fleep. I do not know why, and I was ordered to produce you."

"OK, then open communications to the Leptoe council."

Suddenly Fleep was pictured on the view screen, "Greetings, Bob from Earth, I am Fleep, do you remember me?"

"Yes, of course I do, how are your people, safe I trust?"

"We are well, Bob from Earth. I wanted to talk to you about the scientists that they want to send here. They are scientists, not medical doctors; they have no idea how to approach birth control. We need medical doctors so we can help them discover effective birth control methods for their people."

"Thank you, Fleep, I will get this straightened out as soon as possible. I will call you later."

"Thank you, Bob from Earth, we will await your call."

"OK, now Defendorship contact your ruling council and I will speak to them."

"I am sorry, Bob from Earth, it is the time of night and none of the council is available now."

"Well, how long before they are available?"

"It will be about 5 blerms."

"I am not going to wait around here for that long, either wake them up or send me home. Now get this straight, One: do not just take me from my planet ever again, without asking for my permission. Two, I'm about ready to ask my friend to blow this ship and all your dinky little ships into a million pieces. Three, you heard what Fleep said about the doctors that need to be sent to Leptoe to work on this problem your people have, and Fourth, if I am disturbed one more time with your ineptitude and bungling, I will personally kill you myself. Do you understand me?" The last five sentences I said with a command voice.

A cowered Defendorship squeaked out, "Yes Sir, Bob from Earth. I will comply with your orders." I noticed everyone I could see on the bridge was crouched down or cowering in their seats, even the two guards had laid down their weapons. I figured I had done enough damage for one evening, so I asked nicely, "Please send me home again, thank you."

I was suddenly back, in my chair at home. My family was looking at me and dad said, "Son, I hope I never see you that mad again, it scared all of us as we heard what was going on. We also saw a lot of what happened too, except for when you got mad at the end of your stay; then our vision of that ship was gone, we only saw red. I guess when people say that someone went into a red rage, I can believe them now. It wasn't a purple rage, thank goodness, I'm not sure we could have stood much more."

"Oh, Dad, I never thought that you guys would be along for the ride. I know somehow this linking to each of you has almost become automatic. I know that Suzie and I are about linked all the time now, well except for school, but I think we are then too. It's what I'd call a soft link. We can still function like ourselves, but we're linked in the background. I never wanted to hurt you guys. Next time, I'll try to break the link except to let you know I'm gone and where. I will definitely link back if I get into trouble."

"Son, your powers have grown tremendously if we are always linked. For us to see and hear what we did over that great distance, in mind numbing. Please try to keep the rest of us safe anytime you are gone."

"Yes, Dad, I will. I know that when Orthanon attacked me with her power, I immediately threw up my cage, hoping that it would protect me, but when her power bounced back to her, I didn't know it would do that. Next time, if there is a next time, I'll try to shield you from anything I encounter."

"Honey, that is all we can ask, I, like your father, never even realized that your powers were so great. I guess we all have to be more careful and hope this never happens again."

"Thanks, Mom; let's get a big hug for the whole family."

We hugged and I went back to resting in my chair. A little later, Suzie and I climbed the stairs for bed. Tomorrow was going to be a very big day for all of us.

Wednesday, 13 Mar.

Big day today, I get to introduce Nathan to my family, my girlfriend, and her family. I get to drive at almost every session left on my driver's training class. When I'm not driving, I will be teaching others how to drive better. I've got about half of my report on Jules Verne in rough draft, and if I can get a free evening, I should be able to finish it. Then it'll just be a matter of running it through my Word editor and let Mom or Dad look it over. I always like them to look over my reports like this, as they are much better at spotting errors that I overlook, because I know what I'm trying to say. Like they say, two heads are better than one, or in this case, two sets of eyes are better than one set.

Time for school, I met Brad at his driveway and we headed in a new direction once we got to town, "Are we picking up Kaitlin, Brad?"

"Yeah, she asked if I would start bringing her to school, I said sure. So I guess I got me a new girlfriend, huh?"

"I would certainly think so, after a request like that. It seems that some girls work faster than others, concerning dating and obligations."

"Yeah, I guess so, besides she lives closer to school than Kelly did, so it's a shorter trip. Saves on gas."

"That's great, I hope this one is a little friendlier and maybe not so talkative about herself, like your last one."

"Well, Kelly was the head cheerleader and the football hero is supposed to have the head cheerleader for a girlfriend. She was only good for a couple of things, if you know what I mean."

"I think I can guess, but I hear Kaitlin is not that kind of girl, and she's smart too."

"Yeah, about ten times as smart as Kelly, prettier too in an odd sort of way. She is beautiful inside as well as outside. It sure makes a difference to me. I really like Kaitlin and I have only been her boyfriend for two days now, well, really only for a day and a half. I asked her out Monday and she accepted, then yesterday, she told a girlfriend of hers that I was her new steady boyfriend. I liked the sound of that. Here we are."

Kaitlin came down the walk of her house and I switched to the back seat, allowing her the girlfriend seat. She leaned over, kissed Brad, and said, "Hi Bob, I didn't know you rode with Brad too."

"Bob helped me get my car insurance for the year and I promised him a ride to school since we live so close. I hope that is not a problem?"

"Not at all, I like Bob, I hear many good things about him and now I know some more."

"Thank you, Kaitlin, I have heard nothing but good things about you too. Welcome to the Castle carpool."

Kaitlin asked me a couple of questions about business class and we talked most of the way to school. I like this kind of carpool. In fact, while all three of us walked in from the student parking area, Brad and Kaitlin were deep in conversation, since she and I had monopolized most of the conversation in the car this morning, short though it was.

I was met by my entourage and they hounded me with questions about tonight and did I hear back from the people at the hospital. I said, "I have not heard anything positive from Ft. Belvoir yet, and I have more to talk about at lunch today regarding how this will all work."

"For now, let's just get a list phone numbers or e-mail addresses of the students that are interested in writing to the injured service personnel, then we can go from there."

"Sounds good, Bob, you're going to be the central contact person for all this, right?" Asked Gail Porter.

"Yes, I guess I should be. But I want everyone to know this will be safe for both us and them, or I won't pursue it at all."

Sandy Gardner said, "That's why everyone wants to do this, they all know that if it's not safe you wouldn't even be involved. People trust you, Bob, and it's why so many people want to do this."

"OK, Girls, we can talk about this more at lunch." We had arrived at my homeroom then and we heard the first bell, so everyone scattered.

In Business I class today, Mr. Charles had me explain all the things that Support Services did to support a large company. A lot of the students were surprised with all the things we did. I even added security under the support blanket, as in some company's security, and purchasing were under Support Services.

In English, Miss Cornet asked that all essays be brought in tomorrow, regardless of how much was done, because she wanted to see how we were doing. Geometry was next, but nothing special happened. Then it was lunch time. I had just sat down when my phone rang. It was Dr. Schulman.