There Must Be A Mistake Ch. 27

"My son Richard just turned 10, Gordon is 15, Zoie is 16, and most of the other children are younger. So if you're looking for playmates, you don't have many. If you're into science and mathematics your future is endless. You have to make this decision based on what you want, not on what your parents want or need. If Einstein is right, we could live for 200 years out there, and you would be the loneliest two children in the world. Please think about yourselves first, adults can handle themselves much better than children."

"Thank you very much Doctor Luck. It was so nice to meet you."

"It was very nice to meet you two young ladies also."

"Goodbye dad, I am their escort."

Deborah said, "Your dad is very honest."

"My dad would not tell a lie with a gun pointed at his head. Come with me I'll show you my station."

What Gordon showed them over the next two hours would make stunning reports for, "What I did Last Summer" as they returned to school.

*************

131. Me Help You

In full uniform, Lucius walked into Dan Morgan's office, and saluted.

"Good morning General."

"Why do I have a feeling I'm in trouble?"

"Sir, I am the one that always gets you out of trouble. Would I ever get you in trouble?"

"Do you really want me to answer you Lucius?"

"Not until after you hear my proposal sir."

"I can't wait to hear this, go ahead Lucius, remember, I have my gun in the drawer."

"I need you to fly to Nashville with me, in full uniform, and be part of a flag bearing detail for Colonel Jack Daniels."

"Jack's not dead, or did you kill him?"

"The answer to that is not easy sir. After December 25, he will not have contact with anyone on earth. He may as well be dead."

"He's leaving on the spacecraft?"

"Yes sir, they realized they needed an engineer, and Jack fit the bill."

"How old is Jack, 80?"

"No sir, he's Jack Benny's age, 39."

"You are a lying sack of shit Lucius."

"You have said that to me numerous times general, but I have always come through for you."

"Who is getting the flag?"

"His youngest daughter, she treats him as a babysitter for her children. When they get home from school, she puts them in the playroom, and leaves. He may as well be a prisoner in her home."

"Why does he put up with it?"

"This daughter is a single mother of three. All his other children are married, and live in other parts of the country. While she has him, she won't do anything for herself. Jack says she's a good-looking woman, but doesn't go out looking for any man, because she has him, and his paycheck."

"What are you going to do about that little item?"

I will send her an official looking document, and a check for $250,000 stating this is the insurance on his policy. Due to his death, he no longer qualifies for military benefits, and we are sorry for your loss."

"I won't do it Lucius; I have a bad feeling about this."

"Thank you for your time general, I completely understand. There will be another $50 million in your account in three days."

"Don't you dare, I will murder you."

Pointing towards Margaret's urn, Lucius said, "If you murder me, you will never see her again."

"You rotten bastard. You know how to pull every one of my strings."

"I've learned that over many years general. I started learning them the day after you had me kicked out of the Army."

"I should've had them put you in front of a firing squad instead."

"I should have had my attorney put you on the stand. I would have been found not guilty, and you would have been kicked out of the Army on an Article 32."

"I never concealed evidence in your trial."

"You never concealed evidence, because I didn't have you put on the stand."

"Why didn't you put me up there?"

"Because you were my friend, and I wouldn't do that to you."

"You rotten son of a bitch."

"I'm taking a few days off sir. I should be back by Sunday."

"When are you leaving?"

"We are leaving Thursday morning sir."

"Picking me up at my house before you leave. I'm going with you."

"Thank you very much sir, your time, and your presence will be much appreciated."

"Did you love Margaret?"

"Yes sir, I loved her very much."

"The only reason you didn't do anything about it was me, am I correct?"

"Yes sir."

"I really am a first-class bastard."

"No sir, you are a Lieutenant General, and a good general officer."

Lucius saluted, turned on his heel, and left the room."

Dan looked at the urn containing Margaret's ashes.

"Maybe Lucius loved you more than I did. He hovered around you and never said a word, because of me. I turned my back on you for so many years, because I swore I would never get married. I hated Lucius because of the tactics he used in the Balkans. I had him kicked out of the one thing he loved. I find out too late in life how much you both sacrificed for me, and my career. I would do anything to be able to go back in time and fix the things I screwed up."

***************

Friday morning, at 10 AM, Lucius led General Morgan and two men dressed up as captains, up the walkway to Gretchen Croft's home. He knocked on the door.

She answered wearing a pretty white dress as if she was expecting company.

Lucius said, "Mrs. Croft, we cannot give you our names because of the secret area we work at, but may we come in?"

Seeing the serious faces on these men, and the insignias on their shoulders, and medals on their chests, she allowed them to enter her home.

"Gentlemen please be seated, what is this all about?"

None of them sat as Lucius continued, "Mrs. Croft, on Monday, two weeks ago, your father was leading a demolition team, of eight men, through a tunnel that was built by some unknown enemy. The tunnel caused our communications building to collapse. As he was crawling through the tunnel, he spotted something ahead of him. He told the rest of our engineering team to stay back. We refused, until he gave us a direct order. When he reached the area, he ordered us to move back 30 yards. He proceeded to use an advanced infrared microscope in an attempt to see what was inside the box.

We are unsure, at this time, as to what happened next, but the explosion made a hole in the ground 50 feet in diameter, and 20 feet deep. There was nothing left of your father's body to recover. We are extremely sorry for your loss, but due to your father's caring nature, and leadership ability he saved eight members of his team. The United States Army, the United States Air Force, and the people of this great nation will be forever in his debt."

Her hand went to her mouth, and she screamed, "Daddy!"

General Morgan stepped forward, "Mrs. Croft, I know it is of no great comfort to you at this time, but the United States Department of Defense has posthumously raise your father's rank to that of Full Colonel, and awarded him a bronze Star for actions above and beyond the call of duty. I wish to offer you the flag of our great nation in his memory."

"Thank you very much general. Do you know what I do now?"

"The Colonel will advise you of everything."

"Mrs. Croft, because of the secrecy of this mission, it will be reported that your father died of natural causes. It means he will no longer receive his military benefits. However, Jack does have an insurance policy in your name only. It is in the amount of $250,000. If you wish to share it with your siblings, you may. However, it is my belief that if Jack wanted his other children to share any of this benefit, he would have put their names on this policy. I believe he wanted only you to have it. I believe he loved you the most, and was exceedingly close to you and your children."

"We felt the same about my father. He was a loving and gentle man. He told me this was a dangerous undertaking before he left. He looked forward to it with all the energy he has always had. He loved it when he got those phone calls, and had to run to help. It made me feel like he was the best engineer in the country."

"Without debasing all our other engineers, when we had a big problem that no one else could handle, Jack could. That's why we always had his number at our fingertips. We don't know what we will do without him. We have to leave. You should have a check in the mail within two weeks. You will also receive a nondisclosure agreement. You may never again contact the Department of Defense or any military agency in reference to your father. His work was so secret his name is being removed from all military databases. If someone starts looking for his files, it could become material for a congressional investigation. Things could come out that could ruin relationships between United States, China, Russia, and several friendly countries around the world. Your father was absolutely an amazing man, and I will miss him greatly."

"How long did you know my father?"

"I was with Jack for more than 40 years. I learned more from him than I did in school. I was a very lucky man."

"Were you one of the men in the tunnel?"

With tears rolling down his face Lucius said, "I was directly behind him."

She got up from her chair, and hugged him.

"It's okay Colonel, we will both survive."

"He always talked about you. He wanted you to go out and find someone handsome, strong, and worthy of you. He never wanted you to be alone. That was his greatest fear. He didn't what you surrounded by cats."

"He has nothing to worry about Colonel, I hate cats."

"He would be happy to hear that, I'm sure. Good day ma'am."

********************

"God dammit Lucius, you could sell anything to anyone."

"Thank you general, I'll take that as a compliment coming from you."

"It was a compliment you asshole."

'I was the man directly behind him.'

"Shit, I nearly cried. Maybe you should go to Hollywood, and become a star."

"I was in the picture once, but they edited that part out because I punched the director for calling me Shorty. I broke his nose and jaw at the same time. They had to shut down the set for eight weeks while he recovered. I think it cost than $18 million, because of it. When he was able to talk, he threatened to sue me. I told him to go ahead. Then I asked him if he expected to live to see a penny of it?"

"I thought you were working with William all the time?"

"I was. However, through a friend of a friend, he got me a job on this film. This director insulted him. I forget how, but I was the revenge. The guy always had a big mouth, so I shut it. Everyone on the cast and crew loved it. They all got paid for doing nothing, while the asshole healed. People should not fool around with William Zabo."

"How old is he now?"

"Why don't you ask him, because I won't. I know he is recalling William Junior and Patrick for December 1. He's going to start handing over his empire to Junior, and put some in trust for Patrick, with Junior as his trustee."

"What are you going to do?"

"I will let William tell me what to do. If he wants me to stay with him, I will. If he wants someone younger to stay with Patrick and William Junior, I will recommend Jayden and Logan. We have trained them up to officer status, and they are the best military minds we have."

"What about Jeff?"

"Jeff will be close body protection for Junior. He is better than I was at his age."

"I never thought I would hear those words coming from you Lucius."

"The man is the best I've ever seen Dan. If he went professional, he could kill people for money, and never looked back."

They returned to Temple Saturday afternoon, and went straight to work. Dan went to his office to catch up on some paperwork, and Lucius went to find Jack Daniels.

As always, Jack was designing something. Today he was working on the appropriate way to fill the area between the first and second walls correctly.

Looking over his shoulder Lucius said, "Do you have it right yet?"

"Dammit Lucius, you nearly scared me to death."

"I couldn't possibly do that Jack, you already dead."

"Really, she bought it?"

"She even hugged me, because I was crying."

"You are too much Lucius. How did she take it?"

"She shouted out 'DADDY', and that was it. With my speech, I calmed her down, and told her how much you loved her, and the children. I explained how worried you were that she was going to grow old and surrounded by cats, instead of a strong handsome man who deserved her."

She smiled, "Daddy has nothing to worry about, I hate cats."

"I told her that your records were being removed from all military files because of the secret work you had done for the military throughout your life, because it could wind up hurting our country."

"Man Lucius, did you bring a shovel with you?"

"I did lay it on kind of thick, and she said she thought you were the best engineer this country had because they kept calling you back for these dangerous assignments."

"I wish I was there to see all this."

"Why don't you write her a letter?"

"How can I possibly write her a letter if I'm dead?"

"We can return it to her with your personal effects."

"You are amazing Lucius, you think of everything."

"I will edit it for you, before we put it in the box, and returned it to her."

"Are you sure you don't want to write it for me?"

"No, the paper needs your fingerprints, and you are writing style."

"Why don't you come on the spacecraft with me. At least I'd have someone to commiserate with all the time."

"I like looking at the stars Jack. I don't want to be up there with them."

"Chickenshit."

"I don't believe anyone has ever called me before Jack, but this time is true. Traveling beyond light speed is not possible according to Einstein, and he's never been wrong yet. I don't want to be aboard the first spacecraft to try to prove him wrong."

"Sir Isaac Newton told us that you could not defeat gravity. You saw with your own eyes that it could be done four centuries later. What you have to say about that little problem?"

"Nothing."

"Thank goodness you're my friend Lucius, otherwise I'd call you a dumb son of a bitch."

"I believe you just did Jack."

"I most certainly did not Lucius. ' I said thank goodness you're my friend', otherwise I would call you a dumb son of a bitch."

"I think I need a drink of Jack Daniel's, otherwise I might hit my friend Jack Daniel's."

"Do you want to drink alone, or would you like company?"

"I hate drinking alone."

"Let me wrap this up, and I'll be ready to go in less than five minutes."

"I still think you called me a dumb son of a bitch."

"You think about it, while I cleaned this stuff up."

*************

"You have to wear a condom Joseph, I'm not on the pill."

"Why aren't you on the pill?"

"I wasn't going to have sex with anyone but you, so I stopped taking it."

"I guess were not having sex tonight, because I don't have any condoms in the house."

"Why don't you have any condoms in the house?"

"I don't have any for the same reason you stopped taking the pill."

"You mean neither of us have had sex in 18 months?"

"The only woman I ever wanted was you. If I couldn't have you, sex was meaningless."

Deborah yelled through the gap underneath the door, "I have two condoms."

Rebecca followed with, "I have four more if you need them."

Joseph yelled, "What are you two doing with condoms, and why are you listening to our private conversation under our door?"

Deborah replied, "We know all about sex daddy, we wanted to find out about love."

"Do I kill them now Sandy, or do I kill them later."

"You two get in here."

"We can't, where naked."

"All the more reason to get in here now."

The two prepubescent girls walked into the room as red as red could be.

Sandy asked, "How does it feel to be embarrassed in front of your parents?"

Suddenly Deborah couldn't open her mouth, so Rebecca answered.

"I feel very ashamed mom."

"How do you think your father and I feel about the two of you listening to our very private conversation. It is the first time we have been together in a year and a half. It was very special to both of us, and you two ruined it. We wouldn't have cared if we slept together and didn't have sex. One more day would not have mattered to us, but you two had to make a joke of it. What do you think a fitting punishment should be for the both of you? Should I take pictures of you just as you stand, and put them on the Internet for your friends to see? Should I have you pose together as if you having sex with each other? Tell me what do you think would be appropriate?"

The two girls had tears rolling down their faces, and no words coming out of their mouths. Their mother had never talked to them this way before, but then again, they had never been guilty of acting in such a rude manner.

Joseph said, "Go to your room, we will talk more about this in the morning. Your mother and I will not be having sex tonight, or any other night, because you two can't be trusted."

The two girls raced out of their parents room sobbing. They tried to sleep, but they couldn't. They twisted and turned, and looked at each other, but did not talk. Tears kept rolling from their eyes.

A few hours later, the phone rang, and shortly afterwards they heard the front door close, the car start, and drive away. They knew their dad was on the way to the hospital. This was a doctor's life. The rewards are great, but they gave up much of the comforts of home and family, to save people who were in trouble. After their actions tonight, they had to make a hard choice. Did they give up their lives for their parent's wishes, or the day stay here on earth to live their lives as they wished? It didn't seem fair to them to throw their lives away going on a trip Doctor Luck said they were not going to enjoy, unless they were into science and math. They were not going to have playmates, friends, or husbands in the future. Doctor Luck was correct, it was too much to give up even if there parent's had to be separated again.

Rebecca turned over and looked in Deborah's eyes.

"Were you thinking about what I was thinking?"

"I can read you like an open book Becky. We're staying here."

"I can't see any other way. We won't have a life up there."

"I agree. We will tell mom and dad in the morning."

"We are going to get yelled at in the morning."

"I hope they don't think that is the reason we are not going. We will have to explain our reasons to them so they know it didn't have anything to do with last night."

"Get some sleep Deborah."

"That's easier said than done baby sister."

"I know, but tomorrow morning is going to be brutal, and a little sleep is better than none."

************************

Breakfast was a very silent affair. The girls had their heads down as they ate their eggs, bacon, and toast. When they were finished, the girls cleaned up their dishes and put them in the dishwasher. They took their parents dishes and did the same thing.

"Did you notice anything different this morning Sandy?"

"Yes I did, the table was magically cleaned Joseph. I can imagine why."

Deborah stepped in with both feet.

"Rebecca and I know both of you have every right to be angry with us, and you should be. We acted very stupidly last night, and we apologize from the bottoms of our hearts. What I said last night was true. Both of us know all about sex. If you want a dissertation on oral, vaginal, or anal sex, we can both give it to you. The only thing we didn't know was about love, and we know the two of you love each other deeply. If we had kept our mouths shut about the condoms, you would never have known we were there. We learned more about love last night, than we had ever known. When dad refused to have sex with you after 18 months of abstinence, because he didn't have a condom, and you were not on the pill it showed he only wanted to keep you safe. He didn't have our answer if we were going on the spacecraft or staying here on earth. There would be no way for you to explain to your parents how you got pregnant, while they were on vacation. You would never have gotten an abortion, because it was dad's baby. It would've caused all sorts of problems for us."