A Shepherd Afield Pt. 05

"I wouldn't want to impose!" the man exclaimed.

"It's no imposition at all. I work from home so I'm home all day," Ben insisted.

Jack looked back at his truck. "That would be very generous of you. I think the missus would prefer sleeping in a bed than in the car."

"Sure. I'm just right here. You can pull into my driveway and I'll meet you out front," Ben suggested.

"Will do," Jack said with a nod and headed back to his truck.

Ben went up his driveway and slipped inside his front door. Gretchen met him with a brilliant smile. "Hi, could you ask Lucy to change the sheets and pillow cases on the bed in the guest bedroom. We're about to have guests and they'd been driving all night so they'll need to sleep in there." She nodded and rushed off to find Lucy as Ben stepped back outside.

They were getting out of the truck and Ben got his first look at Catherine's mom. She was petite, maybe 5' 5", and a smaller version of her daughter. Obviously Catherine got her height from her 6' father. Based on Catherine's age both parents had to have been at least a year or two into their sixties but they both looked like they might only be in their fifties. He smiled at them as Jack carried some luggage with him up to the door.

"Welcome! I'm Ben. Come inside where it's warm."

"Lynda," she said shaking his hand and stepping into the foyer.

Ben followed Jack in and noticed Tina, Lucy, and Gretchen had gathered in the hallway to greet their visitors. "Let me introduce Tina Lee, Lucy Bennett, and Gretchen Hahn. Ladies, this is Jack and Lynda McGovern, Catherine's parents." Three beautiful smiles beamed back at the surprised parents.

"Oh my! Such lovely women and I look like a train wreck from driving all night." Lynda fretted.

"That's silly! You're gorgeous! I can see where Catherine gets her looks," Ben said with a smile.

"Already flirting with my wife?" Jack said with a fake snarl. Lynda playfully slapped his arm and smiled at Ben.

She looked closer at the women and noticed the casts. "Oh! Was there an accident?" she gasped.

Tina shook her head. "I was pushed over a store display by a nasty reporter almost six weeks ago."

Gretchen, taking a cue from Tina, answered next. "My husband broke my arm. He died," she blurted and blushed furiously. She looked at Ben nervously. She still wasn't comfortable around people.

Jack's eyebrows went way up and he glanced at Ben.

"He was abusive and was beating her when he slipped and fell off the boat we were on and into Sydney Harbour. Sharks got to him," Ben said with a grim but satisfied expression.

Lynda then noticed Tina's baby bump. That was a happier topic! "Ah! When are you due?"

"March," Tina replied with a happy smile.

"June," Lucy blurted then her mouth dropped open in embarrassment as her face flushed a deep red.

Confused and surprised eyes turned to Ben once more. "Lucy just discovered this morning that there's a very good chance she's pregnant. It's been an exciting day and it's not even noon," he said with a chagrined smile. "Listen, we can have a more formal introduction later but I think you both should get some rest. The guest room is just down the hall, the first door on the left. The guest bathroom is across the hall. Fresh sheets on the bed and fresh towels," he looked at Lucy and she nodded, "are on the bed for your use as well."

"That's very kind of you. Sleep sounds like a good idea," Jack said guiding his dazed wife along towards the bedroom. "A few hours of shut eye are just what the doctor ordered."

"There are guest robes on the back of the door as well," Tina offered.

"Thank you," Lynda replied as she passed. The couple went into the bedroom and closed the door. Ben smiled at the ladies as Lucy walked up to him and leaned her head on his chest.

"I royally fucked up that introduction. I'm sorry," she moaned.

Ben chuckled and gave her a hug. "Don't be silly! They seem like good people. It's fine."

Gretchen was standing before him, looking anxious. "Did I ruin the introductions?"

"Not at all. You did very well," he replied and she smiled timidly at him.

"Lucy has an appointment with my obstetrician Monday morning at 8:30AM," Tina said. "My appointment to get my cast removed is on the following Friday." Ben nodded.

Lucy looked up from his chest. "You and Gretchen have a 10AM appointment next Wednesday at a fertility clinic. I wrote the address down for you on the pad in the kitchen. Did you know Gretchen has never used the Internet?"

"It is most wondrous! So much information at your fingertips! So many things to see!" Gretchen gushed, wide eyed.

"Not all of it is safe to look at," Ben suggested and Lucy grinned at him. "I suppose I should pick up a tablet for Gretchen... and a cell phone." Lucy nodded.

"I get my own tablet and cell phone?" Gretchen asked incredulously.

Lucy snorted quietly and moved to the living room with Tina as Ben took Gretchen's hand and drew her to stand close before him.

"Yes... Gretchen, you're part of my family. We're going to be married and we're going to try to have a baby. Buying you some electronics is the least of it."

She blushed then looked at his mouth. "May I ask for a kiss?" she asked quietly.

He smiled and took her face between his hands as he caressed her mouth with his. She caught her breath and he kissed her a little more firmly, nibbling her lips with his. She really did have wonderfully soft lips. He avoided touching the spot that Rainor had split as it was healing nicely.

Her eyes were dreamy when he pulled back and she was breathing hard. She bit her lip as she watched his mouth.

"We should probably stop now and pick this up later," Ben said, adjusting himself in his pants.

She trembled seeing him do that and dark eyes looked hungrily into his. "I feel so tingly," she whispered.

He smiled. "Me too." He kissed her nose making her blink then walked into the living room with her following close behind. He picked up his laptop and settled on his chair. Gretchen found a spot on the couch beside Lucy who was using her tablet. Tina was on Lucy's other side using her own tablet.

He worked for a moment then felt himself being watched. He looked up over the screen and saw Gretchen smiling back at him. Tina and Lucy were lost in their own worlds. Ben snorted softly and shut down his laptop. He stowed it away in the case and stood up. "Let's go buy you a tablet and phone."

Gretchen climbed off the couch and rushed to get her jacket and boots. Ben gave Tina and Lucy a kiss and headed over to get his jacket, boots and keys. "We'll be back shortly." They nodded happily.

Ben maneuvered his truck around Jack's as he pulled down the driveway and they were off. They drove over to the big box electronics store and parked. Ben held out his left elbow and Gretchen put her right hand through to rest it on his arm. She flashed him one of her brilliant smiles which gleamed against the dark lipstick she'd applied before they left the house.

They made their way to the tablets and Ben picked out one that matched the ones Tina and Lucy had but in black to make it different from their white and gold ones. Then he brought her over to choose a cell phone. He pointed to a touch screen phone and she nodded happily. She picked the black one to match her tablet. Ben asked her to pick out a protective case for it and told her the make and model of the phone so she would find one that fit. She walked off to find one while Ben sat with the salesman while they set up her cell number and linked her account to his. Gretchen returned with a blinged out case which was encrusted with crystals to make it look like it was covered in diamonds. There was certainly no way her phone would be mistaken for anyone else's at home. She looked at him hopefully and he just chuckled and added it to the purchases. He paid and they left the store.

"I'll set up the tablet for you when we get home but the cell is ready to use. Ask Tina or Lucy to help you add important numbers into your address book," he said handing her the phone and the bling case. They got in the truck and she worked on getting the phone into the stiff case. They made it home and she was still struggling to get it in. She looked at Ben with a pout and handed it to him. He ran his thumbs along the edge and popped it in. She grinned excitedly when he handed it back. They went inside and she immediately rushed off to the living room to show the women her new phone.

He made his way there and spent the next fifteen minutes running the set up on the device. Soon he had it configured for his network and she was online. The machine restarted and was ready for use.

"It's ready. Please get instructions from Lucy on safe surfing practices and good sites to use," he said handing over her tablet. She looked at him hopefully as he looked up at her expectantly. She tentatively touched her lip and he smiled and nodded. She immediately dipped her face down to kiss him. Then she rushed over to the couch to sit with Lucy.

Ben spent the next three hours corresponding with Bill Freeny who had received the contract, signed it and couriered a signed copy back to Walter. When Ben told him about the meeting with the Colonel the next texts from Bill were quite excited. Ben did his best to calm Bill and bring him back to earth. In his opinion he wanted to keep the unit prices of the filters low enough that they would be affordable to a wider market than just the military. This volume method had worked for him in the past when he believed the product had a wide application base.

Ben was shutting down his laptop when he heard a rumbling sound. He stood up and looked out the picture window at the circle court. There was a convoy of military vehicles coming around the circle. In the front was one of those bulky personnel carriers like the bigger brother of the truck Don Blake drove. The second vehicle was a black SUV with tinted windows and the last vehicle bringing up the rear was another personnel carrier. Ben's eyebrows rose up as the convoy stopped in front of his driveway with the SUV parked at the end.

"Who the hell is coming to visit you?" growled a voice from beside Ben. He turned to see Jack standing beside him, wrapped in the fluffy white robe with white guest slippers on his feet.

"Did they wake you?" Ben asked.

"I'd recognize the sound of those carriers anywhere." He looked at Ben. "You do work for the military?"

"No! I mean, I've designed something they're interested in and I was told they wanted to meet me but I wasn't expecting them so soon. My latest device caught the eye of a Colonel Alexander Hargrave." Ben said watching the vehicles at the end of his driveway. No movement yet.

"Crap. That blowhard. I've heard of him. He's apparently more of a salesman than a soldier." He tipped his chin up at the display. "This is one of his shock and awe moves. He wants whatever you're selling. What do you do?"

"I'm a Mechanical Engineer. I designed a filter for radioactive particles. A very good filter," Ben said.

"Well, that's going to make the Army stiff in their kilts," Jack said with a grin. He gave Ben an appraising look. "You don't appear very intimidated by the display."

"I'm not. It seems overly dramatic," Ben replied.

"Like I said, Hargrave's a blowhard and I've heard his method is to bully people into getting what he wants. I do know he doesn't have half the authority he pretends to have." Jack explained.

"Good to know. I don't like bullies," Ben said with a scowl.

"You'll do just fine then. If you don't mind I'm going to avail myself of that wonderful looking shower."

"Not at all! Enjoy!" Ben replied with a smile.

Jack moved away as silent as he'd approached. Ben was glad to have him on his side.

He looked back at the trucks just as someone exited the front passenger door to open the rear door for a man, most likely Colonel Hargrave, to step out. He placed his hat on his head and began walking towards the house. The man who opened the door closed it and fell in step behind the Colonel.

Ben turned to see the wide eyed ladies standing in a group behind him. "Do you think I might have the living room to speak with the Colonel in private?" he asked.

"Of course Ben!" Tina said and led the others to the kitchen as Ben made his way to the front door. The doorbell rang and Ben opened the door.

"Hello, can I help you?" Ben said.

The Colonel's smile slipped just a little. "Colonel Hargrave. Don Blake mentioned I was coming to see you?"

"Ah yes Colonel, please come in," Ben said and gestured for the men to enter.

They saw the boots lined up against the wall by the door and Ben was in socks so they slipped off their shoes and followed Ben into the living room.

"This is First Lieutenant David Kendricks. He works for me in the Office of the United States Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology. OASA(ALT) for short."

Ben shook his hand and gestured for the men to take seats on the couch. He sat in his favorite chair across from them.

"Are you the person solely responsible for the design of the filter we saw the test results for?" Hargrave began.

"Yes."

"Where did you do this work?" the colonel asked.

"Right here. My office is in the basement," Ben answered.

"You're an independent contractor?" Hargrave asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yes, I'm semi-retired. I keep an eye on the engineering boards and when I see a puzzle that intrigues me I do what I can to solve it," Ben said looking at the intrigued expression on the face of the Colonel's assistant Kendricks who chose that moment to speak.

"So you've designed other devices?" the man said in interest.

"Dozens," Ben responded, drawing a smile from the man.

Hargrave threw an annoyed glance at his assistant. "Coming back to the filter, you've filed for a patent. Our people confirmed this. I suppose if we looked further we would have found patents for these other devices?"

"Yes, though some which I felt had a limited application I sold," he replied.

"We've seen the test results but we haven't seen the actual device nor seen its specs to prove it does what they claim it can. If it's legit we would be interested in perhaps purchasing the patent from you."

"This one isn't for sale," Ben said clearly to ensure the man heard him.

"Really? The offer would be financially significant," Hargrave said with a sly smile.

Ben sighed and looked at the men. He stood as they looked up at him. "Please come with me."

They were a little surprised but they followed him downstairs to the door of his office. He punched in the code and the door unlocked. He went inside and they followed. The lights came on and Ben flipped another switch to light up all of the display cases. Kendricks made an appreciative noise but Hargrave just frowned at his assistant again.

Ben guided them over to the first display case. "In my university years I designed and patented this valve. Far more efficient and safe for use in nuclear power installations. I sold the patent for 4 million dollars and invested it well." Ben moved over to the next item in the display. "This was a new type of insulator which greatly reduces electric current harmonics. I sold the patent for 10 million. I invested that too." They moved on. "I began keeping the patents and just licensing them, earning a good income from the fees and investing that."

He stopped and faced the Colonel. "Money I have. I'm just now starting to find ways to make that money serve a purpose and that feels really good. Finding solutions to these engineering puzzles makes me happy. Spreading the wealth I'm accumulating to improve the lives of those around me and those I work with makes me happy. I'm finally finding a purpose."

He looked at Kendricks who was looking down the row of cases with something like awe on his face. Ben smiled at his enthusiasm.

"Have- would you considered designing solutions for engineering issues from the Army?" Kendricks asked.

"If a request shows up on the engineering board and it peaks my interest I'll take a look to see if I can solve it. Have you ever submitted a request there?" Ben asked.

"We can't post state secrets on a public board!" Hargrave growled, his annoyance with his assistant finally getting the better of him.

"The boards are anonymous to the users and are engineering issues actually state secrets? These boards are currently the only place I look so if I can't see them I can't help," Ben stated calmly.

Kendricks was nodding thoughtfully, ignoring the glare from his superior as his mind worked on this issue.

"Back to the filter. Do you have a physical sample of the device?" Hargrave asked bluntly.

"Maybe. I haven't checked my mail. I may have received a copy of the filter I ordered from the milling shop. I couldn't keep the original prototype after it was used in the test chamber so I sent the shop a request to make me a second one for display." Ben said pointing over his shoulder to the glass cases. "Ah! I do have a picture of me holding the prototype!" Ben held up his phone and the two men stared at the small picture doubtfully. "I could also show you the CAD drawings but I'm not giving out the specs to anyone at the moment. You understand."

"Do you understand that this device would give the States a significant military advantage over its foes in the event of a nuclear exchange?" Hargrave exclaimed boldly.

Ben looked at the man incredulously. "Do you understand that there wouldn't be any advantages left after a... did you really call it a nuclear exchange? Once nuclear weapons are used there won't be a human race to save."

"A limited exchange of nuclear weapons is entirely survivable!" the Colonel argued.

Ben looked at Kendricks who looked embarrassed and angry but wouldn't look at either of them. Ben supposed the man had already stepped as far out on the branch as he was willing to go. Attempting to rein in his boss would be too far.

"If you truly believe that nuclear weapons could and should be used in a 'limited exchange' then I truly pray you are never promoted to a position which would allow you to try to make your fantasy come true. That's a Pandora's Box best left alone." There was an awkward silence as the Colonel scowled at Ben as his jaw muscles clenched. Ben gestured for them to head back upstairs and they did. Once they re-entered the living room Ben addressed them again.

"After your little disclosure downstairs I'm not sure if there is anything you have to say that I might be interested in listening to," Ben stated.

"Mr. Shepherd, as a US citizen who invented a device the US Army believes would give us a tactical advantage-"

"Do they?" Ben asked, interrupting the man's little speech.

"...does who?" Hargrave stumbled, frustrated with the unfamiliar sensation of being questioned so boldly.

"Does the US Army truly believe a filter, a device I believe is best suited for protection in hazardous environments, would give them a tactical advantage? I mean, outside of your unrealistic expectation of limited mutual annihilation? Or is this just more of your own skewed opinion?" Ben said with a frown.

"I AM the US Army!" Hargrave barked angrily.

"No, no you're not."

The three men turned to see a grey haired flat top approaching with a grim look on his face.

"Sorry Ben, I couldn't stand to hear someone bad mouthing an organization I love." Jack said and Ben nodded.

"Who the hell are you?" Hargrave growled.

"Master Sergeant Jack McGovern, US Army, retired."

Kendricks had a surprised expression on his face but he nodded to Jack which drew a scowl from his boss who turned to Ben.