Josiah West 1: Kaleidoscope (13 page)

“Do I look alright?” Nora had changed from her normal work greens to summer whites, and that was the third time she had asked that question.

“Seeing as we are walking down the hall to the Admiral’s office, I would think it a bit late to worry about that.” He pushed the big glass door open, and they walked in.

“This is Petty Officer Gregory Phon; Phon, this is Nora Parente.”

As they shook hands, Phon corrected Josiah, “Just Phon, ma’am; if you ever need anything, just holler for Phon.”

“I’ve heard about you”; she cast a slight sideways look at Josiah, “I hear you can…ahh…find things that are not normally available.”

Phon had both of his hands on Nora’s right hand now and a sly smile on his face, “I think of myself as a facilitator, a fulfiller of wishes and needs. Speak to me, my Lady, and Phon will be at your service.”

She withdrew her hand and turned to Josiah, “You’re right, he is frightening.”

Josiah turned her toward Molly’s desk and waved a hand at Phon, “Down boy, down.”

Molly came around from behind her desk and gave Nora a hug, “Excuse my bypassing military protocol, but you have become something of an item of discussion around here, and I feel like you’re one of the family. Just call me Molly.”

Nora was not distressed; Josiah knew she preferred it that way. She had been looking forward to meeting Molly and dreading meeting the Admiral.

“Thank you, Molly; I’ve been wanting to meet you ever since that day on the Caldwell. I was very impressed by the way you handled the situation; I got this vivid image of an iron fist in a velvet glove.”

Molly got a thoughtful look, “I like that; I’m going to have to come up with some way to incorporate that into a logo or something,” she turned toward the inner door, “but the Admiral is waiting; I told him you were here.”

The marine guard palmed the lock plate.

The Admiral and Captain Beltozi were standing in the seating area to the left as they entered. Josiah saluted, “Lieutenants West and Parente reporting as ordered, sir.”

The Admiral returned the salute and immediately put out his hand toward Nora, “So, I finally get to meet Lady Parente.” He put his other hand around her waist and steered her into the seating area, “This is Carlos Beltozi, my Chief of Staff. Sit here, next to me.”

Nora was a little taken aback but went with it, “Thank you, sir.”

After they were all seated, Admiral Jacks turned to Josiah, “Your Mother called.”

Oh, crap!

Then he turned to Nora, “It seems that she really wants to meet you and ordered me to give you both some leave.”

Oh crap!

Back to Josiah with a big smile, “I like talking to your Mother; and your Father, too. Actually, we talked for a couple of hours.”

Oh crap!

His expression got serious and he put a hand on Josiah’s shoulder, “That may seem a bit strange, but not only was I talking to the head of Westland Flight Systems, I was talking to the two people most responsible for producing the only reason I’m still alive. They get a hell of a lot of points for that. I told them that I will be making a personal visit in a couple of months after I get through this regen stuff.”

Josiah brightened at that, “Why, that would be great; I know they would love to have you out there.”

“Plan on it, two or three months.” He looked from one to the other, “For now, as of this Sunday the two of you are on a special detail.”

Nora
got a questioning look; Josiah hadn’t mentioned the Admiral’s plans for her.

“You will begin at 1300 Sunday at hanger 4 where you will check out a Falcon. At that time a passenger will arrive. You will drop her at the
Drive Systems School in Atlanta.” Admiral Jacks smiled at Josiah, “You, probably, know her, a PO3 Seeley. From there you will proceed to Lark Field.”

He reached down and slid a data pad over to Nora, “During your stay with Lieutenant West’s parents, you will devote some time to the transport operation at the McCord Facility in
Washington State. A Commander Ridge is in command there. They seem to be having scheduling problems, and there have been some complaints. I don’t expect anything major. Your unit here seems to be a model of smoothness, so I want you to see if you can do anything there or recommend changes. You will find a complete file on this pad.”

He turned back to Josiah, “Use of that package you received last week is authorized for the full period of this detail. Commander Phelps will cover for you while you are gone. Try to be back a week from next Monday if possible.”

With that, he stood up and helped Nora to her feet, “And now, I promised my long-suffering wife a nice dinner at the officer’s club and a good night’s sleep before I go in for a regen treatment tomorrow.”

Nora spent the entire meal at the BOQ reading the data pad. She had even told him to order her something and went to their table. As they were walking back to his quarters, he asked, “Did you find anything in that file?”

“Oh, nothing you could stick a knife in, but I have a couple of ideas. Would you be available to give some check rides? I have a hunch that could help.”

They were at their door; he took her hand in both of his and kissed it, “Speak to me, my Lady, and West will be at your service.”

She smiled shyly and swiped her arm over the lock plate, “Ok, if you insist,” and yanked him into the room.

Later--much later--Nora was at the desk reading more of the file. Josiah leaned past her and activated the work station, “Here, go through this in your spare time.”

Nora read the title at the top of the screen, “Alliance Falcon - Navy models D1 through D6: Flight systems, specifications, and emergency procedures.”

“By the time we get to Lark Field, you will have your Falcon rating.” He stood back up, put his right hand flat against his chest, and struck an aloof pose, “After all, an officer of my exalted status should have his own driver.”

The annoyed look he got served as an effective check on his “exalted status”, so he shifted gears to a more practical approach; he pulled her off of the chair, held her close with an arm around her shoulder, and swept his free arm out in front of them to present the scene he had in his mind, “Imagine what it would be like to arrive at McCord flying your own Division 1 Command D6 Falcon.”

He dumped her back in her chair and pulled up another one to face her, “Think of what it looks like; a lousy J.G. walks in after being dropped off by a common transport jumper or you step out of a new Command Level Falcon in front of the whole transport section.”

“But, won’t they just think that you’re the pilot?”

“I won’t be there; you’
re going alone.”

Nora got an alarmed look on her face, “But…I…what about the check rides? I can’t do those.”

He took both of her hands and leaned forward, “Look at it from their point of view. If you arrive alone, you are the authority figure. If I arrive with you, I am the authority figure, and you lose status. If you arrive alone flying a Command Level Falcon, then the eyebrows go up. You spend a day there, maybe two, and then you show up the next day with me as a hard-won resource that your influence was able to obtain. Add to that the fact that you are, currently, quartered down at Westland Flight Systems, without explaining why, and you become the Great Mystery. The final straw is the Admiral call sign that you use that has everyone looking out the windows to see who’s coming.”

“I can’t use an Admiral call sign when I arrive alone, so how do I get everyone to look out the window, buzz the field?”

“Ah, yes, that. Hang on.” Josiah got up, went to the lockbox, and removed the case. He handed it to Nora as he sat again, “This will help with that.”

He had to break through the blank, wide-eyed expression by waving his hand in front of her, “You may put those on only as we are leaving here Sunday. You are to wear them for as long as we are away.”

He took the case, closed it, and put it on the desk so he could get her full attention again, “Do you remember when I told you that the Admiral had his eye on you?”

Nora gave a small nod.

“Close your mouth. This ‘special detail’ is more of an opportunity to watch you than to fix any great problem at McCord. When you wear those red shoulder boards you have to be aware of how other people perceive you. They tell people that you have the ear and trust of the commanding Admiral and potential command authority well beyond your apparent rank.”
Hmm…a thought!
“What was your first impression when you first saw me?”

She had to think about that, “Well…” she smiled, “I saw a tall, handsome Lieutenant…” her smile went back to a thoughtful expression, “You’re right, when I realized you were a staff officer I could only think there was some kind of trouble. I stopped seeing you as a Lieutenant and had the impression that I was talking to the entire command structure. I remember being a little pissed when I thought you were looking at me as a problem and started questioning my record.”

Josiah’s turn to smile, “Yeah, that kind of came through. When you wear those, you are the Admiral. It’s your job to make him look good. Be careful what you say and do; try to put people at ease. When you talk to Commander Ridge, assure him that you are only there to help, and that the Admiral thought that your experience in transport could be a benefit to him.”
Another thought!
“It might also help put him at ease if you imply that coming to see him was just a secondary idea. You know, you just happened to be in the area down at Westland, working on something you can’t talk about, of course.”

She still had that thoughtful look as she ran his ideas around in her head, “I like it. I assume Admiral Jacks will want a report?”

“Oh, yes! Take your time; talk to people. If you can help then do it; if it requires major intervention then suggest what kind. Either way, report your experiences.”

He looked at the clock, “I have a few things to do tomorrow to get ready for Sunday. I’m going to bed.”

Nora turned back to the desk, “I’m going to read for awhile.”

ON LEAVE

They arrived at the hanger a couple of hours early so Nora could familiarize herself with the Falcon. Eddie was there and had one of the ships sitting in front of the hanger; Josiah drove up next to it, and Eddie came down the steps to greet them. He saluted as they exited the vehicle, “Lieutenant West, you’re a bit early; I haven’t finished the ground checks yet, but I should be finished in thirty minutes or so.”

“No rush, Eddie; I’m giving Lieutenant Parente a check ride and brought her out early so she could get the feel of it; besides, we have a passenger that won’t be here until 1300.” He turned to Nora, “Eddie, this is Nora Parente; Nora, this is Eddie Jefferson, our senior ground crewman.”

Eddie saluted and broke into that toothy grin. He grabbed her hand and started pumping, “Rumors have been circulating about the beautiful lady that Lieutenant West found; it’s good to see that those rumors were not an exaggeration.” He pulled her toward him, put his other arm around her waist, and started walking her toward the Falcon, “Lieutenant West, why don’t you bring your personal gear while I show the ship to the lovely lady?”

Ok, let’s go over that again, how many people have I given orders to since I got this rank?

Josiah wound up doing the grunt work of loading both sets of uniforms and personal gear into the storage area at the rear of the Falcon. Nora and Eddie seemed to be having a great time with Eddie going far past a normal pre-flight and familiarization when he started opening panels and pulling up deck plates. Josiah started to wonder if they would have the ship back together in time.

It was getting close to 1300 when Josiah moved his vehicle to the parking area. He was just getting back to the ship when a base transport van pulled up next to it; PO Seeley got out with a huge grin on her face; it was the first time he had ever been saluted by someone that was on the edge of giggling.

“Lieutenant West, they didn’t tell me you were taking me to school.” She looked and saw Eddie and Nora in the Falcon; the smile turned into a worried look, “You are the one taking me to school, aren’t you?”

He put his arm around her shoulder, “Yes, Seeley, I’m heading for California and the Admiral told me to drop you off on the way.” He turned back and told the rating driving the van to put Seeley’s gear in the ship.

Nora and Eddie were on their knees with their heads down in an open deck access port with the south end of a northbound Nora pointing out of the open hatch.
I had better not tell her about this, not that there’s anything wrong with it.

He knocked on the side of the hull next to the hatch, “We have our passenger. Do we have a ship?”

Eddie looked up and Nora rolled over to sit on the deck; Josiah waved a hand at them, “Astrid Seeley, this is Nora Parente and Eddie Jefferson.” Seeley reached in and shook hands with them. Eddie managed to clear the open access port and exit the boat without letting go of her hand. He left Nora with the task of resetting the deck plates while he put an arm around Seeley’s shoulder and wandered away.

Josiah t
urned back to Nora, “I believe the word is ‘fickle’.”