Going Home - New Work

'General Boudreau knows. That's about it at JPL as far as I know. Bobby, that information isn't classified but I'd just as soon not have it spread around. It might make things difficult for me. The military school grads wouldn't like hearing that they work for a ninety-day wonder that was promoted from second lieutenant to major the same day he was commissioned.'

Bobby shook his head. 'Merda,' he said.

'But Bobby, I am a major. I'm ordering you not to divulge or discuss what I've told you.'

He looked at me in the rearview mirror. 'I can keep my mouth shut, sir. I didn't get to be a sergeant by talking out of turn.'

After that day, Bobby didn't call me sir. He didn't address me as Jonas, either. I decided I could live with that.

I was staying an hour or so later than the rest of the staff to tackle the boxes of invoices and bills of lading. When I got into the third box, I found a bunch of papers that were bundled together. Everything to that point had been just stacked in the boxes. I examined the papers in the bundle immediately and didn't like what I found. The invoices and bills of lading were for materials that were never received at JPL as far as I could tell. I'd never seen any of the items on the bundle of paperwork. I went out into the labs and looked around. I didn't find any of it. I moved all the old invoices out of my office and into a storage cabinet in the lab that had a lock on it. I had the only keys to it and hid them.

The next day, I had the locks changed on my office and on the filing cabinets. Two days after the locks were changed, someone broke into the office. The window was broken on my office door. The lock was jimmied on the filing cabinet that should have held the invoices and bills of lading. I was glad I had relocated them from the office to the locked cabinet in the Air Force project room.

Bobby picked me up early the morning of the break-in. I wanted to go over my notes before meeting with my officers that morning. I was the first one in the building. When I found the break-in, I called security and went outside to await their arrival. I ordered everyone that arrived for work to remain outside. Security took one look and called the Criminal Investigation Division (CID). There would be no work that day. Security posted a guard. A small army of CID investigators descended on the lab that afternoon.

Everyone was detained and questioned extensively. I was held longer after I told them I suspected whoever broke in wanted to obtain the old invoices and bills of lading I'd received. I showed them the bundled documents and told the investigators that I couldn't account for the items on the documents. They weren't anywhere in the lab.

The investigators seized all the documents and carried them away. They shut down the lab and posted armed guards round the clock. Two weeks after they took the invoices and bills of lading, I was brought in, along with an officer from each project. We were all taken to the lab. CID had compiled a list of everything in the documents. We went through every piece of equipment, every cabinet, every item in the building. Everything was accounted for except the items documented on the bundled papers.

The dates on the documents were all for the period when I was at Officer's Candidate School. The other officers, with one exception, were also not at the lab during the same time. The officer assigned to the project during the time covered by the documents was placed in detention, pending completion of the investigation. The rest of us were released with orders to remain available. General Boudreau assigned the other officers to temporary duties. I was ordered to continue to come to my office each day, including weekends, so that I could be immediately available. I was ordered not to talk to Dr. Tenney, Capt. Duren, or any of the enlisted personnel. The enlisted personnel were all taken to San Diego and assigned to various duties until the investigation was completed. I was also ordered not to mention the investigation to my wife or anyone else.

My activities at work were confined to what I could do in my office and the adjacent meeting room. Phyllis was placed on leave. Every day someone from CID, usually the lead investigator, would pepper me with questions. Most of which I couldn't answer. Master Sergeant William Forrest had an odd persona. While his questions were direct and probing, he almost seemed casual about the whole matter. It made me uneasy. A breach at a secure military facility was a serious matter.

Forrest's casual attitude disappeared when he and another investigator showed up at my home instead of my ride one morning. They brought three other men who searched the house and put up a barricade to prevent the contractors working on the loft and the studio from entering the property. That day, the questions got uncomfortable. He knew everything about my finances. He knew about the houses in Massachusetts and told me that CID had teams searching both properties. He knew Elizabeth was my daughter and asked pointed questions about why I lived with two women, one my wife, and had fathered children with both, and the nature of our relationship. We answered every question truthfully. I assumed he already knew everything. Evading any question would just make matters worse.

Gwen and Michelle were mortified. Isabella terrified when they questioned her. Their interest in her ended quickly. After getting Forrest's okay, I told Isabella to take the rest of the day off. Gwen would call and let her know when to come back. As she was leaving, Forrest warned her not to talk about anything she saw that day. The twins were more curious than anything else. To their credit, the CID team were friendly to the children. The house was a mess when CID left around mid-day. But it wasn't horrible. I never learned what they were looking for but whatever it was didn't require tearing the house apart. The three of us were able to get everything back in order within a couple hours.

The phone rang just before dinner time. Gwen answered and quickly handed the phone to me. To say my father was livid doesn't begin to describe his anger. CID had shown up at his office and taken him to his house. They had also gone to Jane's office and taken her to her beachfront house. All father was told was they were investigating a security breach at Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Jane hadn't been told anything. I let him vent for a few minutes. Once he calmed down, he asked only a few questions.

'Jonas, do you what is going on?' was the first thing he asked.

My answer was a single word. 'Yes.'

'Are you in trouble?'

'I doubt it, but I'm not sure. All I've done is report a problem.'

'Can you tell me anything about what's going on?'

'No, I can't talk about it.' As a career naval officer and an admiral he'd accept that answer. He wouldn't like it, but he'd accept it.

'Okay, Jonas. We should stay away from each other until this is over,' he said.

'That's probably a good idea, Dad. Hopefully, it will be soon,' I told him. We both said goodbye. It would be nearly a month before I talked to my father again.

The next time my phone rang, it was General Boudreau's secretary. Once she had me on the phone, she transferred the call to the general. The conversation was brief. And brusque.

'Major Taylor, you're not to report to JPL until contacted and told to return. For the time being, you're confined to your home. Any questions?'

'What about my wife and family, sir? Or our contractors?' I asked.

'They're free to come and go.'

'Am I under arrest, sir?' I asked.

'No. Essentially, you're restricted to base. CID wants to know they can reach you if necessary.'

I didn't like being confined to the house. But it was far better than being in detention at JPL.

My return to work was odd, to say the least. My doorbell rang shortly after breakfast three weeks later. Michelle answered the door and called for me. I was giving Elizabeth a bath and hollered down that I'd be a few minutes.

'Sgt. Forrest said to take your time,' Michelle hollered up from the bottom of the stairs.

Sgt. Forrest was waiting for me in the kitchen with a cup of coffee in his hand. Gwen and Michelle looked uneasy. Forrest looked like he didn't have a care in the world.

'Good morning, sir. I'm here to take you to work this morning,' Forrest told me.

Now I was uneasy. 'Where's Sgt. DeMateo?' I asked.

'He's doing his job at JPL. I came so we can talk on the way to JPL. Sgt DeMateo will bring you home. The investigation is complete. The entire project team is enroute to the lab. You'll be up and running again by the end of the week.'

'I need to shower and change,' I told him.

'Take your time. I'm in no hurry. The coffee's good.' He briefly looked at Gwen and Michelle. 'And I've had worse company.'

When I returned, in my uniform for the first time in several weeks, Forrest was sitting with an empty plate in front of him talking about his kids with Gwen and Michelle. Both seemed at ease. Isabella was playing with the twins outside.

Forrest turned to me. 'Ready to go, sir?'

'Yes, Sergeant.'

'Thanks for breakfast, Mrs. Taylor, Miss Dicken.

I kissed my wife and gave Michelle a peck on the cheek. Then took a moment to say goodbye to the twins and Isabella. When we go to his car, Forrest opened the front passenger door for me, then went around and slipped in behind the wheel.

'You live,' he hesitated, 'an interesting life, Major Taylor,' he said.

I shrugged. 'I admit, it's not the life most people live,' I admitted.

Forrest laughed. 'I'm dead certain of that. I know my wife wouldn't tolerate my fathering a child with another woman. Living with her in the same house? She'd castrate me for the first one. Stuff them down my throat for even thinking the latter.'

I was uncomfortable talking about my living arrangements. And I was sure he wanted to discuss other matters. 'Is that why you picked me up Sergeant? To talk about how I live?' I asked.

'No, Sir. There are other things to talk about. Your living arrangements and children were a concern. But my superiors determined that it was unlikely to present a security risk. You may not discuss it with many people, but you're not hiding it either. Both your family and Miss Dicken's family are aware that you're Elizabeth's father. And you're listed as the father on the birth certificate. Your wife, Miss Dicken and you answered our questions about your relationship truthfully without trying to hide anything. At least that we could find. From that the conclusion was that you would not be susceptible to coercion or blackmail as a result of your living arrangements.'

'I'm glad you think I'm not a security risk, Sergeant,' I told him.

'Why didn't you take the job as a civilian, Major?' Forrest asked.

I looked over at Sergeant Forrest, wondering where he was going with this question after his narrative. 'Yes, Sergeant. I wanted nothing to do with the project.'

'Was that because you were no longer interested in the work that led to your doctorate. Sir?'

'No, Sergeant. I didn't want to work with Capt. Duren.'

'That's what Capt. Duren told us. He said you hated him for no good reason. And that you were framing him.'

I didn't say anything for a moment, while I considered how to answer. 'Capt. Duren oversaw the funding for my doctoral research. I found working with him intolerable. He was difficult, unreasonable, and had unrealistic expectations. I had to get his approval before I could buy a box of paper clips. I often had to spend my own money to advance research that was supposedly being funded by the Navy. When I learned he was going to be project manager, I refused the opportunity despite my interest in the work.'

'You don't like Capt. Duren.' It was a statement, not a question.

'I don't trust Capt. Duren,' I told the sergeant.

'Why?'

'He pulled the equipment from my lab and shut me down without so much as a word. Then went out of his way to block defense of my thesis by suddenly deeming it too sensitive for the doctoral examining committee. He tried to take away three years of my life, Sergeant. Of course, I don't trust him.'

Forrest remained quiet for a moment. 'Did you frame him? As he claims?'

I laughed. 'Hardly, Sergeant. While I don't trust Capt. Duren, my current gripe is the way I was coopted onto the project. My career was blocked until I had no work options either in education or the private sector. My wife's education was derailed. And when I still wouldn't sign on, I was drafted and shuttled through basic, Advanced Combat, and Officer's Candidate School. It took someone above Capt. Duren's pay grade to accomplish that.'

'How much money do you have, Major?' Forrest asked.

'More than I need,' I responded. 'Are you soliciting a bribe? It won't happen. I'm not buying.'

This time it was Forrest's turn to laugh. 'No, Major. I was just curious about whether you knew.'

'Actually, I don't. I live on an allowance. A generous one that's more than I spend. I haven't paid much attention to the trust fund.'

'I know to the penny, sir. Want to know?' Forrest asked.

'I can make a call and find out. But I'm not fascinated by it, Sergeant.'

'Alright, Major Taylor. Here's the scoop. The investigation is complete. Your people are on their way back to the lab. You'll be staffed again by tomorrow afternoon. Capt. Duren, two sergeants on his staff at the Pentagon, and Sgt. Carbone are in custody. Carbone broke into your office to retrieve the bundle you reported to us on orders from Duren. We think Tenney is involved, too, but we haven't been able to prove it. Duren has no concrete proof of Tenney's involvement. But we've yanked Tenney's security clearance.'

'I don't want to know any more,' I told Forrest.

Forrest continued anyway. 'We've also opened an investigation into other projects Duren has been responsible for and expect to find further wrong-doing. By the way, Major Taylor, he milked your graduate research project of almost half the budgeted funds. I'm not surprised you had trouble getting him to approve expenditures.'

I was relieved that I wouldn't have to deal with Duren again. At least now I could focus on the work, get it done and get back to civilian life as soon as I could extricate myself from the Army. 'What now?' I asked.

'You go back to your work and I go on to my next investigation,' Forrest told me as he pulled up to the gate at JPL. He dropped me at Building 16B and drove off but not before giving me some advice. 'You're wise to keep your living arrangements quiet, Major. If they became common knowledge, I'm not sure your apparent value would prevent serious trouble for you.'

I went inside and got back to work.