Josiah West 1: Kaleidoscope (14 page)

The Falcon series was the luxury personnel transporter for both civilians and the Navy. Besides the two pilot positions, it could accommodate up to twenty passengers; the one they had was set up for only ten in very comfortable circumstances. It had a food prep area, full shower and toilet facilities, storage for gear, and could carry any amount of cargo that you had room for and would fit through the wide hatches on both sides aft of the passenger area. It was, also, one of the few flyers with large ceramo-plast side windows in the passenger area; the view at altitude was spectacular. Arriving in one did not go unnoticed, even if you didn’t have an Admiral call sign.

Nora settled the Falcon on its pads with her usual expert touch
in front of the main ramp door of the Atlanta Navel Drive Technician School. Josiah looked past her and counted nine people waiting for them, “Do a full system shutdown; I don’t think we’re going to be doing a scrape-n-scoot.” He rose from his seat and leaned close to Nora’s right ear, “Watch how these people react to us.” He continued out of his seat and waved for Seeley to follow him, “Get your gear and just put it on the deck; I’ll get someone to take care of it.”

“Yes, sir.”

He palmed the plate on the port cargo door and descended the three steps. The group was approaching, led by a captain he recognized as the Commanding Officer of the school. Again, the surprised look that he was getting used to when they saw the Admirals Star. They stopped and nearly saluted as one. Josiah returned the salute then offered his hand to the captain, “Captain Arnold Cruz, I believe?” The Captain nodded in surprise. “I’m Josiah West, and this,” he indicated Nora who had come up beside him, “is Nora Parente.”

She saluted and shook his hand, “Nice to meet you, sir.”

Cruz did a quick round of introductions before getting to the main item, “We were very surprised when we heard there was a Division staff officer coming here. I hope there is no problem that I am about to be made aware of.”

Josiah just smiled, “Absolutely not, sir. Lieutenant Parente and I were on our way out to Westland Flight Systems
, and Admiral Jacks asked us to drop off one of your new students.” He turned back toward the Falcon; Seeley was still standing by it. He waved her over. “Captain Cruz, this is Astrid Seeley; she starts drive tech school tomorrow.”

Seeley gave Cruz her winning smile and saluted. Cruz returned the salute and smiled at her and Josiah, “The Admiral, himself, provided transport?”

Josiah gave Cruz a “look,” “The Admiral has an interest in this.” No further explanation was required. “Captain, could you have someone retrieve her gear and get her set up here?”

Cruz almost twitched, “Why, yes,” he looked back at his group and waved at someone, “Marsh!” A blond female Lieutenant J.G. came hurrying up to the front, “Get someone to get her gear and I want you to personally see that Petty Officer Seeley is signed in and quartered.”

She nodded at the Captain, “No problem, sir.”

Before the Lieutenant and Seeley could walk away, Josiah held up his hand, “I have one more thing for Seeley; excuse us for a moment.” He put an arm around her shoulders
and walked out of earshot; he stopped with his back to the group and talked quietly, “Ok, Seeley, here it is. You’re going to be here for the next eight months. Neither I nor the Admiral wishes to hear anything but good news about you. Forget about boys, forget about being homesick; you are in the Navy and you’re in one of the most prestigious and expensive schools we have. This is the door to your future, and arriving here the way you did will give you a little boost. Be a bit mysterious about it; don’t just go blabbing about a chance meeting at the BOQ. You could let it slip that my family is Westland, and we were talking about drive systems one day. It’s amazing how a small but unusual thing can start a rumor mill.” He pointed a thumb back toward the waiting crowd, “This will get things started; don’t disappoint people; they love a good mystery.” He took out a small card from his shirt pocket, “My personal number. Do not ever call me unless you are on fire, understood?”

She got a huge grin, “Yes, sir, and if she doesn’t marry you, I will.”

“Huh…what? What are you talking about?”

She gave him a disappointed look as they headed back, “Really, Lieutenant?”

At least he was right about doing a complete systems shutdown; the campus tour took two hours.

Josiah put Nora through the usual simulated systems failures as they headed west. Falcons had a single-pilot system that was at the top of industry standards along with top-of-the-line redundant power, logic, and flight systems. They had, and deserved, one of the highest ratings in the world; the check ride for a pilot with Nora’s experience was a mere formality, and Josiah signed her logbook as they were crossing into California.

When they arrived, there was a crowd in front of the building, “Well, I was here a couple of weeks ago, so they know what I look like,” he gave her an executioners smile, “it looks like the parade is for you.”

“Oh, crap! Do I look alright?”

“Since when do you say ‘Oh, crap’?”

She was distracted as she checked her uniform and arranged her cap, “I don’t know; I just picked it up somewhere. Do I look alright?”

He sighed, and hit the lock plate, “Fabulous, just fabulous.”

Allea and his parents headed the mob that swarmed the boat. Nora and Josiah met them at the bottom of the steps, “Nora Parente, this is my Mother, Grace, my Father, Paul, and my Sister, Allea.”

Nora fumbled it right out of the gate, “Lady West, Mister West, I’m…”

“HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!”

Paul’s loud command startled and froze everyone in place. He lowered his arms back down from their position over his head, and stuck a finger in Nora’s face, “If we ever hear anything besides ‘Paul’ and ‘Grace’ from you, we are going to be very annoyed. Is that understood, Lieutenant?”

Josiah leaned in next to Nora’s ear, “Ex Master Chief; he’s very pushy.”

“Ah…yes, sir…Paul, understood.”

Josiah’s Mother was about four centimeters shorter than Nora. She took her hand, “My, you are a tall one. You come with us, dear.”

Nora disappeared into the group as it flowed back into the building. Sam Gates was still standing next to him, “You asked her to marry you yet?”

“Huh…what? What are you talking about?”

Sam gave him an exasperated look, “You’re screwed, kid.” He turned toward the Falcon, “Nice ride, let’s put it in the hanger.”

He didn’t see Nora until later when the five of them went to a favorite restaurant for dinner. She was really getting along with his family, and he began to feel like a third coil. They had already made plans for her to spend her days at the business learning the various operations. Everyone wanted time with her. He had to remind her about the McCord thing and explain it to the others. They finally settled on Thursday for that problem. Until then, she vanished into the maw that was
Westland and his family; when he did see her, she was always wearing dirty greens and wanting a shower.

McCORD

“You’re going to wear greens to McCord?” he said as she finished dressing.

“I’ve been thinking about what you said about how to present myself; arriving in greens would make the situation look less critical and make me look like someone that is ready to help. It should, also, add emphasis to my ‘mission’ at
Westland being the major problem and the McCord thing is just a quick look-see.”

Josiah was intrigued, “I like it, very good.” He stuck his nose in the air and sniffed, “Ahh, waffles.”

Sam had the Falcon out of the hanger and the ground check complete. When Nora had completed her check, Josiah gave her his final pep-talk at the bottom of the steps, “On your way there, focus your mind on the job you’re heading for. Forget about the
Falcon; forget about the red shoulder boards. Don’t point them out, don’t talk about them. Let everyone else do that. They are only tools and indicators of your current responsibilities.”

She kissed him, “Yes, sir.”

It was a small shock to realize that her request for an Admiral call sign was for her and her alone. There was apprehension, but there was excitement, too.

She had called Commander Ridge on Tuesday after she was nice and dirty and made sure that her visual background consisted of a Gardener undergoing extensive repairs and the edge of the easily identifiable logo of Westland Flight Systems. She still smiled at the memory of just how fast a dirty Lieutenant Junior Grade Staff Officer in that environment could get through to the facility commander.

Ridge had not heard of any inspection or unfavorable attention to his operation. That was not unusual; Admiral Jacks liked just “dropping in” to say “hello.” She had advised him of her ability to “fit” him in to her schedule on Thursday and attempted to calm his fears by pointing out that if there was really something wrong, a higher ranking staff officer would have been assigned; it seemed to help.

There were six people waiting for her when she put down at the end of the active flight line.
No doubt about it, this parade is all mine.
She did a complete system shutdown and used that time to center her mind. As a last thought, she activated the external recorders.
Josey might want to see this.

She stepped off the bottom step and tapped the external lock plate to close the hatch. She turned to greet the approaching group and saluted Commander Ridge, “Commander, I’m Nora Parente.”

He returned her salute and shook her hand, “I am very pleased to meet you, Lieutenant. Allow me to present certain members of my organization that have never seen a staff officer before.”

He said that last with a strong note of resignation, and she had to smile.
It’s already sounding like a typical transport unit.

MARTY

Lunch had ended; everyone else had gone back to work, leaving Josiah sitting at the picnic table under the apple tree across from Allea and his parents. It had been a long time since the four of them had gotten together to just sit and talk. Josiah thought that that alone made it odd, but his Father putting the small chip case in front him with the apparent understanding and approval of the other two pushed it right into the “strange” category.

“What’s this for?”

“I was showing Nora our small parts fabrication shop yesterday. I had her hold an emitter base in the 3D optical wave scanner; the file is on this chip”

Josiah shrugged his shoulders, “I’ve done that a thousand times. So?”

“You remember Marty Napoli?”

Josiah shrugged again, “Sure, the jeweler in town. How’s he doing?”

Paul leaned closer, “He’s doing very well, but you should go see him today, and take this to him; he has equipment that can read this file.”

Josiah was still far from enlightenment, “What does he need with a wave scan of an emitter base? I don’t think that Diamat sheathed emitter bases would be very cost effective.”

Allea and his Mother were smiling. Paul put his finger on the little case and lazily scooted it around, “This scan also gives an absolutely and stunningly accurate image of Nora’s left hand; an image that is more than enough to accurately make an engagement ring for her.”

Annnd there it was, right between the eyes.

His Mother reached over to put a hand on his, “This is our way of telling you that we really like her and want her in the family.”

Josiah saw that Allea had tears in her eyes but was smiling and nodding; she had always wanted a big sister.

His father grabbed his free hand, turned it over, and wrapped his fingers around the chip case, “It is, of course, your decision, but you’ll be twenty-nine soon, and I don’t ever want to admit that I have a fool for a son. That young woman is stunning and impressive. Put an image in your mind of her out of your life and into the life of another man.”

It took a moment, “Uhhh…well, what if she says ‘no’?”

Allea fell off the bench, shrieking with laughter interposed with that annoying snort of hers. His Mother buried her face in her hands and began crying…no, laughing. His father reached across the table, grabbed his uniform tie, and pulled until their noses touched, “Don’t be a total twit.”

Allea finally managed to regain her seat and leaned against her Mother, “They really are the last to know, aren’t they?” His Mother could only respond with a vigorous series of nods behind her hands.

His Father turned an exasperated expression toward his wife, “Gracie, I’m going to schedule a genetic scan; he can’t be mine.” Allea fell off the bench again.

It doesn’t matter how many medals I get, I’ll never have a problem getting my head through a door around here.

Marty
Napoli clapped his hands together and rushed out from around the counter. The old Italian jeweler only came up to his chin but he managed to get his hands on Josiah’s shoulders and give him a good shake, “Josiah, my boy, I would never have forgiven you if you had not stopped by.” He let go of one shoulder and turned to call to the back room, “TINA, COME HERE.”

Thankfully, Tina Napoli was a centimeter taller than her husband so bending over to give her a kiss wasn’t too difficult. They both stood back and admired the change in his uniform, “Oh, my, you look so grand, dear.”

Marty was grinning from ear to ear and shaking his hand, “He does, he does.” He looked around the shop where the four customers and the sales people had stopped what they were doing to look at them, “Let’s go in the back.”

The
Napoli family was well known in the jewelry industry for the quality of their work; Marty and Tina’s Son, Kenneth and his wife, Angela, were both working in the shop behind the salesroom. Angela was of Irish decent but looked just as Italian as Kenny did. They both stopped what they were doing to greet Josiah. They all gathered at the back table, and it was an hour of intense catching up before he pulled out the chip case.

“Marty, there is a wave scanner file on this chip that has a rather sneakily obtained image of a hand that I was wondering if you co
uld make an engagement ring for.”

That, also, took a moment to sink in. When it did, the back pounding and happy tears began. The
Napoli’s were family friends from way back, and they had always thought of Josiah as Son Number Two. When Marty finally got one of his logic pads and read the chip, the first question was, “Do you have a picture of her?”

Josiah pulled up an image on his pad and turned it so they could see it. Kenny was first with, “Wow!”

Tina was next, “Where do her people come from? She looks Italian.”

“Close, she’s Portuguese and Spanish with a distant touch of French.”

Marty started to look thoughtful, “It would have to be something special. Do you have anything in mind?”

Josiah put a hand on Marty’s arm, “I am a c
omplete dunce when it comes to jewelry and what women like. That’s why I come to you and Momma for this one.”

Kenny reached over and took the chip from the logic pad, “Let me check something first.” He took the chip to a work station and ran it through a full evaluator program. He came back with a data printout while the replicator was building a model, “I make it a forty-eight. Poppa, what about that Spectrum design you always wanted to make?” Kenny smiled knowingly, “Josey can afford it.”

Marty’s eyes wandered while he thought of something. He looked back at the logic pad and started tapping. He turned the pad to face Josiah. The image was of a ring, of course, that was slowly rotating, “Josiah, you know that I do not like to make stupid stuff for people that have more money than brains. I like to make special things that have meaning for people and that they can wear without making some part of their body useless. This is a ring that a woman can wear all the time without concern. The stones are small, but they are all perfect. All of the gold and other metals and half of the colored stones come from Earth; the rest of the stones come from Mars, various moons and a couple of asteroids. It has taken me thirty-two years and two hundred thousand credits to assemble them. You may have this ring for the cost of the materials.”

Marty reached over and tapped a key; the image changed and the ring started going through a cycle where it separated into three parts, then the two outer rings came together without the center ring, and then it cycled back to the three ring assembly.

“The two outer rings run through the spectrum from red to blue and back to red as you go around the rings. The center, all white section, is the wedding ring and is all of the whitest diamonds ever found. Luckily, they were so small they were considered scraps when the main deposit was found. The big stones are in museums.”

Josiah knew he had a stunned look on his face. Being in the Navy and buried in his work had separated him from the reality of the wealth of his family. Besides, being on a ship doesn’t allow you the room to park fancy ground vehicles.
Two hundred…well, it’s not like I can’t afford it.
He pulled his pad back from the center of the table and called Shelly Black back at the plant, “Josey, how you doing and to what do I owe the pleasure of this call? Are you at Marty’s shop?”

Holy crap, it’s a conspiracy!
The thin, blonde, mother of three that headed the financial section was always bubbly--who wouldn’t be if they were handling the money for a company like Westland--but she was practically in a state now.

“Show it to me, show it to me. How much is it? Come on,” she grinned closer to the pickup, “you can tell me. Hey, you gotta tell me if I have to write the check.”

There are so many other places I could be right now…standing on the lip of an active volcano….
“Marty, what would be your price for a normal, good customer.”

“But…Josiah, for you…”

Josiah held up his hand to accompany the strong, exasperated look on his face, “Your normal price. That is an order.”
Finally!

Marty looked dismayed but managed to mumble, “Two hundred and fifty thousand.”

Josiah turned back to the nearly drooling accountant, “Two hundred and fifty thousand credits and you do not get to see it.” He raised a finger and swept it across the faces with him at the table, “I claim the right of full confidentiality. The next person in this universe that gets to see it is Lady Nora Parente. That is an order, understood?”
So, this is what it feels like!
They all smiled and nodded in unison. He looked back at the screen, “Got it?”

She looked very disappointed, “Alright, it’ll be in Marty’s account in a couple of minutes. You’re mean.”

He closed the pad and turned back to Marty, “When will it be ready?”

“Well…how long will you be here?”

“We were planning on leaving Sunday.”

Marty smiled and looked relieved, “Good, we can have it ready Saturday,” he looked around the table, “can’t we?”

The others thought for a moment. Kenny pointed at his Father and Angela, “You two get started on the foundation work, and I’ll finish the stone work.” He looked back at Josiah, “And you give us a call Saturday morning.”