Chapter 17
“I told you it was going to come back and bite you on the butt.” Mom said to me as she came into the dining room of our house. It was a windy March day outside, and the sun was just now setting to the west, framing the Diamond Peak with beautiful red and gold tinges of light reflecting off of the snow-capped peak. The field outside our back patio was green with alfalfa about two inches high. It would be several more weeks before it was ready for harvesting. Meanwhile, I had some English homework to finish up, which I was doing at the dining room table.
Dad was in town still, talking with the manager we’d just hired for that mobile home park he’d wanted to buy two years ago. When the money from those patents the President and Attorney General had negotiated for me started to roll in, I had found myself in dire need of investments before taxes ate it all up. So far, I had sunk nearly half a million into that lot, and two adjoining large lots that were all filling up fast with military families.
Eureka was bursting at the seams with the additions to the military base. It was no longer just an observatory, but now also a communications hub, and a high-altitude training center for Special Forces. The latter was both a cover for the addition of two squads assigned primarily for my protection and a real-use for high-desert training of Special Forces from every branch of the service. They were on a one-year rotation ever since we had failed to find the Chinese time traveler before he came back in time last year. Even now, in 1984, we were still having trouble finding out who he was and what his agenda was in the secretive communist government of China. Six of our agents had been found and executed in the hunt for him. Now, the world stage was being altered slightly and we knew it was him at the wheel.
“A communist government in Argentina will face the same problems as any other government in that country.” I finally responded to Mom’s comment. She’d just watched the news on television and was taking a moment to gloat on being right. Over the last two years, she’d managed to weasel more information out of Dad and me than I’d ever thought possible. She should have been an interrogator or a negotiator because she wielded tactics from both fields like a sharp knife.
“Was there ever a communist government there before?” She asked me sweetly as she got some food out of the fridge for dinner. Dad should be home by the time she was done, and Jenny would be back from the Jerkins Ranch sometime soon. I’d bought her two horses now, and she spent more time there than she did at home. Last summer she’d even won a few awards at various shows.
“They had a socialist government there for awhile, but not a communist government.” I admitted sourly and Mom smiled even more sweetly. She really could be irritating. Of course, she was now more of a presence in my life since Mrs. Hampton (the school secretary) had retired last year and Mom had been promoted to take her place. She knew everything that happened to me at school now, and there was no hiding anything from her about my life.
“Mr. Farringer said your last essay didn’t have the quality of your earlier assignments.” Mom said, changing the subject now that she’d rubbed her point in. “You need to keep your grades up.”
“Well, I’m trying to work on it now.” I said deprecatingly and she gave me a warning look.
“Just trying to help you maintain your cover.” She teased me and I resisted the urge to groan aloud. Since she’d been told, she made it a point to stress her ‘authority’ over me at every opportunity. Somehow, I knew it was a sign she still loved me, but I wished she’d find another way to show it.
“I appreciate it, Mom.” I finally said after running through several different retorts. At least that got her to stare at me with a slight smile before she nodded and got out a frying pan. It looked like we were having pork chops tonight; something Mom was always good at preparing.
This morning, Argentina’s government fell to a communist regime after three military juntas had failed to stabilize the country following the mess in 1982.
The original Falklands Invasion in April had never happened. The US Secretary of State and British Foreign Secretary had delivered a warning in late March to their government, and when their invasion fleet sailed, it faced a joint US/British task force with more than enough firepower to send them to the bottom. They’d turned tail and run back to port.
That government fell a month later, and a new military junta took over. In early 1983, they got a new carrier, an old British World War II ship, from some shipyard where it had been refitted for them. In mid-1983, that ship had set sail with their fleet to take back the islands. They’d caught us partially off-guard, but to their detriment we had some ships in the area.
Actually, the British had one old and small patrol craft. The real threat to the Argentineans came from the US nuclear submarine Los Angeles and the British nuclear submarine Trafalgar. When the patrol craft cruised out of Port Stanley to challenge the approaching fleet, the Argentines had sunk the patrol craft. That was enough for Washington and London to order their two subs to attack the approaching armada. Those two submarines slammed eight Harpoon anti-ship missiles into the escorting destroyers and frigates before unleashing torpedoes on the carrier and amphibious assault ships. The loss of nearly eight thousand soldiers and sailors caused a popular revolt in Argentina and ended their naval threat to the Falklands. A new junta of junior Colonels took over only to be replaced six months later by more military commanders. Now, those men were dead and a communist government was in charge. Their first act had been to announce military and economic relations with the Peoples Republic of China.
Mom was enjoying this far too much.
“Are you still going to spend tomorrow night at the Wells house?” Mom asked me as she started frying the pork chops. I nodded, enjoying the way my longer bangs fell over my eyes. My hair was longer now, and I was finding it quite enjoyable. My hair had been shaved off last summer, when I’d attended a summer military academy with David, Sam, and Derek.
Sure, we’d only spent four weeks there, and the rest of the time in Europe, but that wasn’t common knowledge around town. Their parents knew, since they’d had to agree to their children traveling out of the country, but no one outside the small circle of those who knew something about me was privy to that knowledge. The trip had become a summer ritual, with us gone from Eureka all summer. It created fewer questions or raised eyebrows if all four of us left for the summer for a ‘military academy’. The twins and Derek had all expressed an interest in being military officers when they got older, so it provided a good explanation.
After four weeks at the academy on the VMI grounds, we boarded a plane for Europe. The trips to Europe were mostly so that I could meet and talk with different European and NATO leaders who had been let in on the secret of time travel. Real efforts were being made by the intelligence services of eight different countries to find and eliminate the Chinese time traveler, something many considered should have been done back in 1981. Even more importantly, a multi-national intelligence team was avidly searching Moscow for Alexei Shevardnadze. The general consensus had it as an important goal to find and eliminate him the moment he ‘came back’ in time. There still wasn’t enough support for just killing him when he was found like I’d pushed forall along. Unfortunately, he had disappeared from Moscow State University before the first team could get in place and it was widely suspected the Chinese time traveler was now in contact with Moscow. What that would spell for us was something no one knew.
“Davey!” Mom’s shout roused me out of the round of thoughts I had become lost in. Despite the sunny day outside, I’d begun to feel like clouds were looming on the horizon, and something worse than the World War Three of the last time line might happen. I looked up at Mom who nodded towards the entrance. “Answer the door!”
“Oh, sorry.” I said with a shrug. I hadn’t heard the doorbell at all. I went past the living room on my way towards the entrance and barely noticed all the new furniture. That had been another gift from me to the family, leather armchairs and a leather couch as well as a new laser disk entertainment system and television. Pictures of our family lined the entryway as I went down the short flight of stairs and looked out the window next to the door. The man outside surprised me.
“Uncle Billy!” I exclaimed in surprise as I opened the door. My mother’s brother was dressed in his Air Force BDU’s and smiled at me. I had no idea he was in the area, and it was nice to see him.
“Hello, Davey.” He said with a smile. His black hair was a little thicker, and he had more of a gut as well as an extra stripe on his sleeve, announcing he’d reached the rank of E-9. We hugged quickly and he held me at arms length afterwards. “You’re taller!”
“Yes, six-foot even now.” I said with agrin. I was taller than him now, actually taller than any other family member, and had a physical build that most people found intimidating.
“You need a haircut though.” He noted as the wind ruffled my hair. I just gave him a dirty look.
“What are you doing out here?” I asked him to change the subject and he frowned at me.
“I got urgent orders to repair a SQV-19 secure channel transmitter.” He answered and smiled as my eyes went wide. “I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone where I’m going, but I knew I’d get a chance to stop by and say hi to my sister before I left.”
“Oh, so you’re done already?” I asked him and he shook his head.
“No, I just got to the base an hour ago and they told me the transmitter was out here.” Uncle Billy answered. “Imagine my surprise when I found out it was your house.”
“Yeah, there’s some equipment out back that we’re not supposed to talk about.” I said quickly, trying to push him in that direction. “Can you stay for dinner after you get done? Mom just started cooking.”
“Oh, I’ve been over the equipment out back.” Uncle Billy told me and my heart sank. Why would they have to send him out as a technician? “The problem is the secure phone line inside the house. Would you happen to know where it is?”
“Yes, follow me.” I said and turned to enter. Just as he followed me inside though, Mom appeared in the entryway upstairs and let out a squeal of surprise. She flew down the steps with a spatula in her hand and hugged her stepbrother.
“Billy, what a surprise!” Mom said excitedly as her stepbrother returned the hug. “What brings you out here?”
“I’m here to fix the secure phone.” Billy answered and Mom frowned before looking at me.
“Well that’s in Davey’s office so he can show you there.” Mom said and I did groan aloud this time. I’d planned to pass it off as Dad’s office, but the cat was out of the bag now.
“Well, we’d better get to work.” Uncle Billy said with a curious look at me.
“You’re staying for dinner.” Mom told him firmly. “We’re having pork chops.”
“Sounds good, Sandy.” Uncle Billy said and nodded for me to lead the way while Mom went back up into the house. I could hear the appreciative whistle from Uncle Billy as he saw the nicely decorated basement. The weight equipment was well-used, but still in good shape, as was the pool table. When I led him to the office and punched in the lock code, I realized he’d never have thought it was Dad’s office because a kid wouldn’t have the code. Besides, I had a couple of trophies from sports and debate on a shelf near the door, and the sweats I’d worked out in earlier were still draped over the chair. Plus, my Dad never left an office as neat as this one.
“It’s over there behind the computer.” I pointed out to Uncle Billy who just nodded. His eyes held a lot of questions, but he set to work. After fifteen minutes of examining the phone he just shook his head and went back upstairs to the jeep he’d borrowed from the base. He returned with some parts and finished up just as Mom yelled to wash up for dinner.
He picked up the phone and tested that it worked, then turned back to face me. “So, this is your office and your secure phone.” Uncle Billy stated while locking gazes with me. “You’re going to try to pull some bullshit about National Security or try to pass it off as your father’s, aren’t you?”
“I had thought to blame it all on Dad.” I said with a shrug and he smiled for a split second before frowning again. Fortunately, he’d been silent while he was working and I figured out what to say.
“I’ve got a very high clearance.” He told me. “I was in Turkey last summer and heard some scuttlebutt about a genius kid meeting with NATO brass and we weren’t supposed to know.”
“Amazing, isn’t it how scuttlebutt flies around.” I stated and he gave me a very knowing look.
“I know your Mom very well.” Uncle Billy said. “It won’t take much to get the full story out of her.”
“You’re welcome to try, but it requires Presidential clearance to hear the information.” I retorted and his eyes widened slightly. “Uncle Billy, you’re best off just forgetting this ever happened. You’ve got a damn good career behind you and it’d be foolish to waste it now. The ‘best case’ response to you getting the answer to your questions would mean that Aunt Paula would hate you for having to move out here. You know she never really got along with Mom or Dad.”
“They wouldn’t.” Uncle Billy said in horror and then frowned when he saw I was serious. He finally let out a sigh. “The reason I have a high clearance is that I do know when to keep my mouth shut.”
“Good, let’s get to dinner.” I said with a smile and led the way out, making sure the door was locked.
Dad had come in while we were gone, bringing Jenny home from the Jerkins along the way. He was just taking his brown leather jacket off in the living room. His brown and white western shirt was still neatly pressed, and he was wearing the bolo tie Mom had bought him last Christmas. When we came up from the basement he smiled at Billy.
“Sandy said you were here.” Dad said as he shook Uncle Billy’s hand. “I didn’t know they’d be sending you out to fix that phone.”
“Someone high up said it was a high priority, and with your regular tech on leave, I was the closest person qualified.” Uncle Billy explained quietly. The sound of running water from the bathroom said that Jenny was in there washing up. “They flew me out today and my return flight will leave in the morning. It was actually a common problem with these systems. They’re very sensitive to power spikes. I’ll speak with the techs at the base to make sure they install some surge protection in the power lines coming into the house.”
“Thanks.” Dad said, giving me a nervous look.
“Davey says I shouldn’t ask too many questions or I might end up being stationed out here.” Uncle Billy stated, testing what I’d said.
“He’s right.” Dad advised Uncle Billy with a firm frown. My uncle wasn’t stupid, and took the hint.
“How’s life in the wilderness treating you, Sandy?” He asked my Mom who was just putting the gravy on the table.
“It’s pretty good.” Mom said. She was dressed in jeans and a red and green blouse. Dad had been doing speaking engagements around the country, while staying out of the media, and he earned good money doing that. I hadn’t had to pay a household bill in nearly eighteen months.
“Uncle Billy!” Jenny squealed in delight as she came out of the bathroom. She was wearing a tight pair of jeans and a blue t-shirt that showed she was maturing rather quickly. She was as tall as our uncle now, and had a build that I would describe as ‘sturdy’ for a girl. She wasn’t fat, indeed she’d started using some of my weight equipment over the last year and so it was almost all muscle. Working with horses had only built her up even more. Her blond hair was long, and tied back in a single pony tail as she hugged Uncle Billy. “What are you doing out here?”
“I had to fix some things for the Air Force.” Uncle Billy said with a smile.
“Oh, more of Davey’s government crap.” Jenny frowned as she spoke. She even wrinkled her nose a bit. “He’s always doing stuff I’m not supposed to know about so I just pretend I don’t see it at all.”
“That’s a smart way to go about that.” Uncle Billy told her fondly as she broke the hug and moved over to the table. It was the most I’d ever heard from my sister on that topic and I started wondering how much she knew and didn’t know. Dinner was lively with him there as everyone caught up on the basic events of each other’s lives. Jenny, as usual, talked about her latest horse show where she’d won three ribbons. She was even planning on participating in the next summer Rodeo in town. Billy was fairly impressed with that, and even mentioned possibly sending his daughters out here for a few weeks during the summer. He seemed to think getting them away from Sacramento’s sprawling city limits might do them some good. I silently blessed the President for already having made sure I’d be gone all summer.
I did NOT relish the thought of being in the house with his daughters.
After dinner, Billy stated he had to get his equipment back
to the base, and Dad drove his own truck behind Uncle Billy’s jeep. Mom
had offered, and Billy had accepted, for him to stay with us tonight instead
of the rather spartan BEQ. I went outside to take the trash to the burn barrel
and start the lawn sprinklers while Mom and Jenny cleared the table. The burn
barrel was fairly full, so that required me to start it on fire to burn it down.
We’d probably have to make a trip to the county dump within a few days.
[
When I was done, I went back inside and saw the phone light going off upstairs.
Those had been another addition to the house in the last two years. After a
few missed calls from the President, they had wired small red lights that would
flash in the dining room, living room, and my bedroom if the secure phone was
ringing. Mom just sighed when she saw the light and gave me a look that said
‘answer that damn phone’. By the time I was done with the phone
call from the President, it was nearly eleven and I was worn out.
“Late night, huh?” Uncle Billy said from where he was playing a round of pool with Dad. I’d just come out of the office and shut the door behind me.
“Yeah, it is late.” I agreed with him and he smirked at me.
“Did you get your homework done?” Dad asked and I let out another sigh.
“Not yet, I still have that essay to finish up.” I said softly.
“Well get it done before you go to bed.” Dad directed and I groaned aloud. He gave me a dirty look and I nodded quickly.
“Yes sir.” I said aloud and took off upstairs. There were certain things we had reached compromises on in order to maintain a semblance of normal home life. I went to Europe during the summer, worked out with Special Forces soldiers nearly every day, practiced regularly at the gun range, and Dad told me to finish my homework and take out the garbage.
I was done by one in the morning and went to sleep knowing I’d be waking up in slightly more than four hours.
Five o’clock rolled around and the shrill beeping of my alarm clock pulled mefrom a deep slumber. I got out of bed, silently cursing the idea that I’d ever taken part in these morning runs. That didn’t stop me from taking a quick shower and getting dressed in a gray pair of sweats. By the time the Special Forces squad arrived at my house, I was warmed up and ready to join them on the run.
What had started two years ago as a lark, continued as a normal morning routine now. Not a single one of the soldiers I greeted and ran with this morning had been here two years ago, but they’d continued the tradition of picking up the ‘chaplain’s kid’ as part of the morning routine. Two of them this morning were recent arrivals and hadn’t acclimated to the higher altitude yet. Their faces showed their irritation an hour and a half later as we entered the base’s perimeter and they were breathing harder than I was. Today’s leader, Navy Petty Officer Ridgeway had set a hard pace and while I was feeling the effects with wobbly legs and heavy breathing, I was still in better shape than the two men who were all but falling down from the effort of getting enough air into their lungs.
In two years, the base had practically sprung up from the ground. It was still a mile run from the highway to the actual base entrance, but that was about all that was the same. Twelve large radio telescopes sprouted from the ground, and the telescope observatory was nearly complete. Another fifteen large transmitters were clustered at the northern edge of the base, as far away from the radio telescopes located at the southern edge as was possible. In between, nearly forty buildings dotted the once-desert landscape. The largest was a four-story administrative complex while the others were barracks, repair sheds, and equipment buildings as well as four laboratories. On the far west side was the base armory where we headed. There were showers in that building that I used, and also several vehicles, including the one that would take me to school along with four soldiers who were part of the rapid-response team.
The Air Force rented a trailer near the school (not one that I owned), and there were always four soldiers there as part of a rapid-response team. Ever since the Chinese time traveler had come back last year, there were worries that the Chinese might try to eliminate me. Instead of a Secret Service presence like in the last timeline, it was far easier to just have a group of soldiers stationed in town where they could respond to any emergency relating to me within minutes. During last year’s basketball season, they’d even sent several men to each of our away games, with them driving in a car behind the school’s bus.
“I’m leading your detail today.” Ridgeway told me, really his first words besides the usual chanting as we’d run. We were in the showers so I just nodded while looking at him out of the corner of my eye. He had that California surfer look and I’m positive he could have gotten some good screen-time if he ever went into television or the movies. His chiseled body was perfect, something I tried not to think too much about. Unfortunately, my body was in the full grip of puberty and no matter how much I tried to control it, it still had a will of its own.
“I’m staying in town after school.” I told
him. As I turned away so I could no longer see him. Unfortunately, that gave
me a full view of Army Sergeant Millerhouse, who was equally as well built,
except with black hair instead of blond. That made me just sigh and close my
eyes before washing my hair with shampoo. I just couldn’t win with my
eyes open in these showers. “Tammy decided we were going to the movies
after school today. Then, I’ve got the baseball game tomorrow with David
and Sam so I’ll be staying at their place tonight.”
“We know.” Ridgeway said with a hint of laughter in his voice. I
knew they thought the situation with Tammy was hilarious. Over the last year,
Julie had started to go out on dates with Derrick, and Tammy had decided that
meant I should be dating her. To say that her father wasn’t exactly happy
was an understatement, but he’d been heard to grunt that she could have
chosen worse. Whether I was interested or not had never been a factor in the
matter.
“Man, that’s one girl I’m glad I never knew
in High School.” Millerhouse said from the other side of me as I rinsed
out my hair. I was done with my shower, and glad to be ready to head out of
the shower room.
“Try having to deal with her father as your coach at the same time.”
I remarked as I left the room and the men inside burst into laughter. For these
morning runs, I always brought my backpack with me so I’d have my schoolbooks
and a change of clothes. Today was going to be a long day, so I had my regular
tennis shoes instead of cowboy boots (something I’d strangely grown accustomed
to wearing), a tight pair of 501 jeans, and a tight dark blue t-shirt. I knew
the effect the tight clothes had on some of the kids at school, and I enjoyed
seeing the eyes of most of the girls, and a few of the boys running over me
as I walked through the hallways. Over it all went my new jean-jacket and then
it was time to try to comb my mass of hair into some semblance of order.
“You should get another haircut.” Ridgeway said as he came out of the shower and saw me combing my hair in the mirrors at the side of the changing room.
“I’m not on Active Duty, Petty Officer.” I said with a frown for him. I’d slipped back into my ‘officer’ voice by habit and earned myself another frown. Like most of the people on the base, all he knew was that I was some sort of ‘kid genius’ who consulted with the Air Force. That story had since leaked out into the town and was widely perceived to explain a lot of odd things about me. After some teasing at the beginning of the year had resulted in two Seniors (both of whom had just moved to town and were from Air Force families) receiving the thrashing of their lives from me, they also figured out I was also some type of Karate Kid.
“Shame that, well I guess you’ll be getting it shaved soon enough at VMI.” He teased me again and I had to stick my tongue out at him. Ten minutes later we were on the road and headed into town. Along the way we passed by the old county airport. It was no longer owned by the county, but by the federal government. The Air Force has purchased it last year after determining they needed a longer landing strip. Under the purchase agreement, the airstrip was still open to the public (and especially the post office plane that brought the town’s mail), and hangar space was provided for those civilians in the area who had planes (two crop-dusters and the town’s doctor so far – although Dad was wanting me to take flight lessons with him and then buy us a plane, or more likely two planes, one for each of us).
Currently, the airport sported eight new hangers. Six were large enough for the two-engine small passenger jets the Air Force typically sent, as well as the smaller cargo planes. The other two were big enough to accommodate the C-130 cargo planes that were frequent visitors. None of the planes were permanently stationed here, but quite often they’d stay overnight. New fuel bunkers had also been added underground (just as underground personnel and command bunkers had been added at the base although very few people knew about those).
Once past the airport we soon reached Highway 50 and turned left, heading into town. We went up the hill that led to the canyon where the town was located, and I caught sight of the large radar site located on the southern side of the road. The height of the hill provided the best radar coverage of the area, and an underground data line transmitted the signals back to the base. When we reached town, I reflected on how much had changed in the last few years.
The town was thriving. Old houses that had long been vacant were fixed up and either rented or owned. Nearly a third of the available store fronts had been empty when we moved here, and now they were all full of clothing shops, restaurants, bars, and other businesses including a video store (they’d bought out our class video business last year, giving us nearly fifteen grand in the bank). From a population of five hundred and fifty-four when we moved here two years ago, the town now boasted just over one thousand people. On the far eastern end of town were the three lots I had purchased for the mobile home park.
They were the most expensive, and nicest homes in town – even though they were doublewide trailers. Each trailer sat on a spacious lot with lush landscaping and plenty of shade. There was also a clubhouse in the middle of the park with an indoor swimming pool (the ONLY indoor swimming pool within a hundred miles), and a large playground for the kids. Dad was quite happy with the property and checked on it nearly every day. Sure, it was listed in my name, but to him the property was his.
Another new addition to the town was the radio relay transmitter located on the back lot of the high school. It provided clear communications for the base in the local area, and was also the site of a secret weapons locker that very few people knew about. Some paranoid official somewhere had gotten it into his head that I would be a high-value kidnap target, and they used the 2004 kidnapping of Sean and Brandon as an example of the danger I could be in here and now. Could it happen? Maybe, but I seriously doubted they’d try anything yet. They just didn’t have the technological or intelligence resources they had in the latter part of the last timeline.
“Have a good day.” Ridgeway said as he dropped me off near the back entrance of the school. One effect of the recent growth was that the high school was in serious danger of becoming overcrowded. We now had more than one hundred fifty students, which put us at capacity. A number of Air Force spouses had been hired as teachers, but they rotated in and out with their spouses. Classrooms were getting crowded (some classes actually had twenty students in them!), and it had been decided to expand the school. That meant a lot of land had to be leveled, which had just been started. Over the next summer, they’d add another wing of five classrooms to the school.
Dad had even given them a donation of five hundred thousand
dollars to help with the construction costs. Of course it was my money, but
he made the public presentation and the check just said “David Jones”.
Most people assumed he made more money than he really did from all the speaking
engagements.
“You’re going to be late.” Mom said to me from the office
window as I entered the school. I couldn’t help but shoot her an irritated
look. Her response was to just smile at me sweetly. Here she was the boss and
made it a point to remind me of that as often as possible.
“Dude, you’re late today!” Sam said as he and his brother got up from where they were sitting in the eating area with two girls. Those girls were Erika and Monique from their class, and their latest ‘conquest’. The girls looked irritated at how quickly they were abandoned, but they should have known better by now.
“Ridgeway decided to go an extra mile today.” I said with a shrug. They smirked at that, knowing from past complaints that Ridgeway liked to do stuff like that.
“So you’re staying tonight, right?” David asked with a slightly nervous shuffle of his feet. He didn’t quite meet my eyes either.
“Yes, I’m supposed to take Tammy to the movies after school, but after that, I’ll head over to your place.” I told him with a smile and he actually smiled back quickly.
“Dude, I’m taking Monique to the movies after school so we can all go together!” David said happily and I nodded. It took awhile for me to catch on but I’d finally come to realize he was carrying a torch for me, and I did my best not to encourage it too much. Besides, with the AIDS quarantine stuff, being openly gay in school now was almost begging to be harassed and ostracized.
Oh yeah, the AIDS quarantine was having effects no one had imagined. Sure, the incident with Dad and Wilks had generated a lot of initial sympathy for the victims of the disease, but people like Jerry Falwell had managed to twist it again as a danger to American society brought in through the destructive lifestyles of certain people. The end result was a two-faced approach to the disease. In public and whenever questioned directly, people would talk sympathy and compassion, but in their daily lives they practiced isolationism towards gay people. Gay bashing and physical assaults against gay people weren’t tolerated, but there was no warmth or friendliness mixed with the veneer of tolerance and often times, gay people would end up being shunned or feeling unwelcome from the cold response of those around them. It was hard to describe until you saw the looks, and the ostracizing of anyone suspected of being gay. To the credit of my friends, they hadn’t adopted those attitudes, mostly because Derrick and Sam continued their physical relationship while dating girls publicly, and David was carrying his torch for me. When rumors had started about Mike Hollins, a new kid in our freshman class, most of the other freshman had closed ranks around him and made sure the other classes knew we weren’t abandoning him.
“Well, I’ll see y’all at lunch.” I said as the bell rang for homeroom. When I entered the homeroom for freshmen, Tammy made it a point to smile and point to the desk next to her. Derek and Julie were already sitting there and I joined my friends with everyone nodding their head in greeting. Mr. Luce was already there and looked like he had a long list of announcements, which he did. This was the nice thing for me. At home with the events in Argentina, and the possibility of a communist plot hatching in Venezuela, I was embroiled in world politics and hip-deep in work. Here, I was just another student who needed to hand in his permission slip for the yearbook trip to Ely next month.
Another change in the school I attended was that we now had several language teachers besides just French and Spanish. One of them was Russian, and I had signed up for the course knowing it would be a very easy ‘A’ grade for me. The instructor was the wife of the base’s new Operations Officer, and would be here for at least three years since her husband’s post had a longer rotation than normal. I had her class just before lunch, and actually found her to be a good teacher. Like all languages, Russian took a lot of practice and while I’d maintained a good vocabulary through reading and writing stuff in Russian, my speaking skills in that language had deteriorated. It was the basic-level course we were taking, but she had quickly figured out I knew more than that and had begun using me as her teaching assistant. David and Sam had dropped Spanish so they could be in this class, and it was a nice mix of Freshman and Sophomores that included Derek, Tammy, and Julie as well as several kids whose parents served on the base.
Today’s lesson was on the basic sentence structure and learning how to ask simple questions and how to answer them. Mrs. Lapin had me working with a group that did not include any of my friends. My group was coming along nicely when a god-awful sound disturbed the class.
The first time I’d ever heard the sound, I had likened it to the old call tones you’d hear if you were near the fire department when they got a call. It’d ring out as an alarm and then a voice would tell the firefighters what kind of call it was and where to go. The difference was that this alarm wasn’t about a fire, and it was coming from my backpack. It had not been sounded in two years except in testing on the base and I found my hand actually shaking now that it was sounding for real.
“What is that noise?” Mrs. Lapin asked and I frowned while moving back to where my backpack was sitting near my desk. I opened it quickly and reached into the back compartment that I had never opened here on campus before. I pulled out a hand radio and unfolded the antennae even though, with the new relay installed onsite, it really wasn’t necessary. I had to punch a code into the small keypad and then hit transmit while everyone in the class watched with wide eyes. Derek, Sam and David all knew what this was about and their eyes held hints of fear in them.
“Sandcastle, sandcastle.” A voice blurted out as soon as the code had been transmitted and unlocked the voice channel. “We have a sandcastle situation. Prepare for pickup.”
“Sandcastle acknowledged.” I spoke into the radio while pushing the transmit button. I took a deep breath before clipping the radio onto my belt and reaching back into the bag. One of the new freshman girls actually screamed when I pulled my hand out and it had a gun in it. Mrs. Lapin’s face paled while most of the kids in the class just gasped aloud. Without looking at them I pulled back the slide of the gun and clicked off the safety. Then I looked up and caught the eyes of my friends. “Get everyone against the inside wall and hunkered down.”
“Okay.” Derek spoke first and turned to Tammy and Julie, who were next to him. “Move it, everyone, against the wall and sit down.”
There were some protests until the school’s intercom buzzed to life and Mom’s voice filled the school. “Attention all faculty and students. Please get up from your desks and move to an interior wall and sit against the wall for your own safety. Do not, I repeat, do NOT under any circumstances leave your classroom until an all-clear is announced. Any students and faculty in the hallways should lie face-down on the floor and do not move for your own safety. This is not a drill.”
“What’s going on here?” Mrs. Lapin demanded angrily while David and Sam tried to get her to move against the wall. She had a very panicked look on her face.
[This is Air Force business, calm down and keep your class safe.] I told her in Russian. Most of the kids in here would only be able to catch a word or two of that.
[What?] She asked with a look of shock.
[Do as you are told!] I nearly shouted in Russian while moving towards the door to the hallway. Beside the door, I crouched down and held my gun at the ready. Exactly forty-five seconds later the sounds of booted feet could be heard outside and there was a knock on the door. I relaxed at the knock, but not completely.
“Sunday!” A voice shouted through the door. I recognized it as belonging to Ridgeway.
“Caramel!” I shouted back and clicked the safety back on while Ridgeway opened the door. He had three team-members with him, and all were dressed in full battle-gear with assault rifles at the ready.
“We have a confirmed Sandcastle and need to get you to safety.” Ridgeway told me after a passing glance at the confused class.
“Let’s get going.” I said quickly and moved out into the hallway. As per protocol, I moved into the center of the group as we headed towards the side exit. Someone else would be coming from the Air Force to have a little discussion with the class I’d just left, but for now I had to get out of there. In the eating area, there were two students on their bellies, moving their faces just enough so they could see us as we went by. Both were Seniors and I vaguely recognized them. They were Air Force kids, so they’d be easier to handle as well. I just hoped that this was real and not some big foul-up because by the time we got back to the base, no matter how many lectures were delivered, the town would be abuzz with rumors.
As with all my stories, E provides immeasurable input, grammar checking, and all those other lovely editing thingies that make the story so much better!
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