“What changed the policy?”
“Someone felt that it was time to analyze a turn around to see if there are any difficulties with the personnel. There will come a time when the entire flight crew will be required to do turn arounds, don’t you think?” Wisp said in a patronizing tone.
“I would like to know who the someone who made the decision is?”
“I don’t see what interest it would be of yours Mr. Boroughs,” Wisp’s tone had turned to snooty, “after all, public relations is a difficult enough proposition. I imagine that you have much more pressing issues at hand.”
Carl finally got angry. “I’m sure you can understand it is necessary to keep up with all aspects of the program. I need to cover everybody’s ass when someone makes a mistake, Colonel! That is public relations!”
“Mr. Boroughs, this kind of thing is not that important.” Wisp sat back, using a condescending tone. “We feel the time has come to expand the responsibilities of some of the personnel. This is the perfect situation, don’t you think?”
“Who made the decision Colonel? That’s all I’m interested in right now?”
“Mr. Boroughs,” Wisp sighed, “it is not something you should concern yourself with.”
“Very well then. I can inform you that Mac Macmillan will be calling for the information.”
“I don’t understand what all the fuss is about?” Wisp cried. “Major Ackerman is very capable of handling the upcoming mission. He has guaranteed me that the additional responsibilities on this next mission will not overburden him.”
“Ackerman wanted to go?”
“Yes, he was very determined, and the committee was interested in his reasons.”
“Which were?”
Wisp sighed again, “Mr. Boroughs, you know I can’t give you that information. You have no need to second guess departmental decisions. You do your job, everyone else does theirs. Isn’t this agency set up like that, or do you think you are above that?”
Chapter 24
“YOU HAVE SOMETHING IMPORTANT?” Mac asked impatiently, as Carl sagged down in his customary chair in Mac’s office.
“I’m not sure, but I had that asshole Wisp chewing my ass out for daring to ask questions,” Carl said.
“He’s a dork, a catch twenty-two in the flesh.” Mac waved the complaint off with his hand. “He can’t get a ride because he’s an idiot, so he’s a bigger idiot because he can’t get a ride. He didn’t hurt your feelings, I hope, because right about now I don’t need people that are sensitive?”
“I’m just thinking.”
“About what?” Mac finally looked up. “Spit it out Carl.”
“In my head, I think we might have a problem.”
“Is this an intuition, or do you have some serious reasons?”
“A little of both, but I can tell you, if it was just a feeling I wouldn’t be here, yet.”
“I appreciate that. With all that’s going on, I really do, but seeing you have some valid reason to be here, tell me.” Mac looked earnestly at Carl. “You do have a valid reason?”
“It’s about Ackerman.”
“Oh shit Carl, not now! Goddamn, he’s scheduled to go in three weeks. I can’t believe this!”
“That stuff with his wife, she’s not the only one that’s noticed the difference.”
“Great, fill me in, ruin my day.”
“There’s not much really. Only that Ackerman has undergone a complete change in personality.”
“If he’s weirded out, why did he get the okay on this next launch?”
“That’s another thing I wanted to talk to you about. Since when does an astronaut take a turn around schedule?”
“Ah, I don’t know.” Mac’s attention went back down to his desk. “All I got was they were interested in some new research. They said they wanted to study the effects of a quick turn around. It made sense to me.”
“I wonder who’s baby this one is?” Carl looked at a paper he had in his hand. “Getting back to the weird thing. That’s exactly what he’s not. He’s just a different Ackerman. All his colleagues sense this, but are kind of looking the other way, claiming people change, but his wife is still insisting that it’s not him, period.”
“What do you mean everyone is looking the other way?” Mac asked, not looking up.
“Ackerman has improved himself. He’s now the perfect astronaut. He was well thought of before, but now he’s super guy, all around.”
“And you don’t believe it?”
“That’s not the point. I’m supposed to look out for you, and if something goes wrong you get the big heat. This is just doing my job.”
“What do we do?”
“I don’t think Ackerman should go yet. We need to sort this out.”
“Oh Christ Carl.” Mac looked up. “Do you know what they’d have to go through to change the crew at this late date? It might mean dropping the whole mission and you know we can’t do that. We’re not an airline, we can’t pull flights without everyone getting suspicious.”
“That’s not the point.”
“Damn Carl, anything we do now is going to be automatically defined as an overreaction. We’re getting paranoid down here, etc. I’ve heard that more than once.”
“Do I have to spell out the point?”
“Point, point, Carl you’ve used the word a lot, so what is the point?”
“I don’t know, exactly.”
“There you go!” Mac went back to his work. “When you get something solid, come back. Look, if I have to pull Ackerman it has got to be within a day or two. I need something more than just a change in philosophy to act on this. What does Ackerman have to say about his apparent change?”
“Ah,” Carl threw his hands up, “he says Donald’s death made a profound influence on him, ‘Made him think’, was his quote.”
“Well, there you go.” Mac’s head came up. “That is viable, it makes sense!”
“I though so too, but there’s still his wife. I’ve gone over and over it with her and she doesn’t bend. Ackerman is not Ackerman, according to her.”
“Carl this agency is not run by spouses. Would you like to see that?”
Carl didn’t say anything.
“What about family, other people close to him?” Mac asked.
“There’s no one really, small family, scattered, not close. Ackerman hasn’t seen any of them for years. He was mostly a loner.”
“You’ve got to get more Carl. I can’t act on this unless you get more. If I did, it would look like we’re trying to sabotage someone.”
“I figured that, but I thought I should fill you in. Look, just find out how the quick turn around happened, who pushed it through?”
“Why’s that so important?”
“It’s something Jennifer Ackerman said, I can’t get it out of my head.”
“What’d she say?” Mac asked with a big sigh.
“She said Henry told her this next flight was the big one. The one that would change everything.”
“She’s just making it up, trying to get attention.”
“Maybe, but what if she’s telling the truth?”
“And we act on that and that alone?” Mac was shaking his head no. “I need more Carl, a lot more.”
“Is it okay if we get him in here, talk to him,” Carl asked.
“There you go, that makes sense,” Mac’s tone was patronizing.
Chapter 25
“HENRY, WE KNOW YOU’RE EXTREMELY BUSY - with the upcoming mission and all, but there are some issues Mac and I need to take care of,” Carl asked the astronaut as soon as he sat down in Mac’s office.
“I’m all ears gentlemen,” Ackerman answered, a big smile on his face.
“You know your wife is a little concerned about you,” Carl continued.
“Bless that dear, sweet lady. You know, it’s funny. All the years that I was so damn inconsiderate about her, and other things, I didn’t realize how much a little respect would get you.”
>
“It’s not only her, everyone says that you are a different person,” Carl commented.
“I’ve been wanting to change many things about myself for a long time. I’m sure you both know you could stand a little improvement.” Ackerman lifted his eyebrows and looked at Carl for a moment and then shifted his gaze to Mac. “Well, seeing one of my comrades, I respected very much, die, not only made me realize it can happen so fast, but that I should make my changes before it might be too late. I had the perfect example to follow because Donald had all the qualities I was missing.”
“So you’re saying your improvement is a tribute to him?” Mac asked Ackerman.
“What better tribute, and besides, like I said, we all need a little improving now and then. I just decided to do it,” Ackerman proclaimed, getting up. He reached for Carl’s hand to shake it. Ackerman gave Carl the same extended pumping shake he had used on Mac, but the results were different. Carl’s demeanor was one of curiosity, and it showed on his face.
***
“Do you get the feeling we’ve been bullshitted a little,” Carl asked Mac when Henry Ackerman had left.
“Carl, the man did sound sincere and his reasoning was very sound.”
“Yeah, he was right about you needing some improvement.”
“And you don’t Carl?”
“Ha, ha, he 'is' rather convincing, I’ll say that, but something I heard recently comes to mind.”
“And what’s that?”
“Oh, about trying to be perfect. That it is impossible, hence, it is a waste of time.”
“You think that Ackerman is trying to be perfect?”
“Not only is trying, I’m saying he might just be.”
“And you say it’s impossible, so something’s wrong?”
“Something like that,” Carl said, lightly rubbing the hand Ackerman had shook.
Chapter 26
“COLONEL WISP - why did Ackerman request to go back so soon?” Mac asked the man. They were sitting in Mac’s office, Carl was present.
“He felt the problem with the computer during reentry, and the loss of the signals needed to be looked at,” Wisp explained. “Considering he was aboard the mission and has spent considerable time going over the information, he felt that he would be the best man for the job.”
“He felt!” Carl yelped.
“And we concurred,” Wisp returned quickly.
“You know, I’ve been over and over this thing with the programmers and they say it’s a system glitch. It can be fixed from down here, if it ever pops up again,” Carl stated.
“Ackerman felt that someone should get the data from onboard, when it happens again.” Wisp shrugged.
Carl quickly looked at Mac. “He’s expecting this again?” It wasn’t a question, but a statement.
“Excuse me, I meant ‘if’,” Wisp suddenly looked nervous.
“No, no!” Carl said, holding his hands up, stopping Wisp. “You said Ackerman was expecting it to happen ‘again’.” Carl got up, standing over the Colonel. “I don’t want your opinion.”
“Carl, that’s enough!” Mac jumped in. “I’m sure the Colonel was not trying to mislead us,” Mac gave Wisp a scolding look. “Isn’t that right Colonel?”
“Yes, of course.” Wisp was trying to regain his composure. “I meant if it ‘did occur again’, we should be prepared, that’s all.”
Mac got up from behind his desk. “I think we’ve covered everything, sorry to waste your time Colonel.”
***
“Thanks for getting rid of that lying sack of crud,” Carl said as soon as the door closed behind Wisp.
“He’s part of this program, and I don’t like your attitude,” Mac scolded.
“Excuse me!” Carl shot back. “I thought we were trying to get to the bottom of this, and he sits here and lies, and now your telling me to forget it. Is that what I’m hearing?”
“Accusations are not going to solve anything,” Mac said calmly.
“No, I guess not, so I’ll have to do this on my own.” Carl was on his feet, also heading out the door.
“Don’t stir the pot,” Mac warned, “I won’t help you out of any holes you dig for yourself,” Mac added as the door shut behind Carl.
***
The phone rang in Colonel Wisp’s office, Wisp picked it up.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” He heard Mac’s angry voice through the line. “Carl is not stupid. You are in this all the way, don’t blow it!”
“I don’t know what you are talking about?” Wisp countered.
“You said ‘again’, when it happens ‘again’, you fool!” Mac roared.
“What can he do?” Wisp sounded miffed.
“He just stormed out of this office, determined, and I don’t like the idea of going up against a determined Carl Boroughs. I’d sig him on you, let you take the heat,” Mac was really furious, “but he’d chew you up and spit you out, and we can’t have anything go wrong!”
There was a long hesitation. Mac was waiting for Wisp to say something and trying to cool down, but Wisp was afraid to speak.
“You got anything to say?” Mac finally broke the silence.
“What do you think I should do?” Wisp sniveled.
“Christ, just what I figured; you’re too stupid to live.” Mac slammed the phone down.
Chapter 27
ACKERMAN WAS HUSTLING DOWN THE STREET - having just left his accountant’s office. He didn’t see the tall, scraggly gentleman across the street or just didn’t notice him, being the guy looked like a street person. Henry didn’t pay any attention until it was too late, and the Reverend Hollsworth was upon him, blocking his way.
“You!” the Reverend shouted, pointing at Ackerman. Hollsworth had his feet planted firmly apart, an out thrust arm and ridged finger directed right at the startled astronaut. Hollsworth’s dirty, shabby, ill fitting black garb billowed in the breeze.
Ackerman stopped dead in his tracks, shocked by the intrusion.
“You!” the Reverend shouted louder. There were many people on the street and those that had not noticed the developing altercation after the first shout were alerted by the second louder yell.
Ackerman didn’t respond verbally, just put his head down and tried to walk away.
“You!” the Reverend yelled even louder, stepping to block Ackerman’s path. “You have taken the evil and are calling it your own!”
“Leave me alone,” Ackerman snarled under his breath. The entire street full of people watched the clash with growing interest.
“This . . . this . . .” the Reverend stumbled, looking for the right word, looking around to the crowd, still moving to block Ackerman’s escape when necessary. “This ‘Being’,” Hollsworth finally found a convincing term to use, “has taken it upon himself to speak for you all.”
“Get away from me old man,” Ackerman said a little louder.
“And who does ‘he’ speak for?” Ackerman had finally gotten around Hollsworth, but the crowd had closed in and Henry couldn’t find a clear path, as Hollsworth bore into him.
“He speaks for Lucifer,” The Reverend roared.
Ackerman finally turned around to confront his tormenter. “Stop it!” Henry shouted back. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Henry turned to the people gathered around them. “He’s a demented old man, don’t listen to him,” Henry said in a conciliatory voice.
“You don’t fool me, or them, one bit!” Hollsworth sounded righteous. “I can feel the evil pouring from you. I had a vision, and an apparition came to me. It wasn’t from here, it was created not of this Earth, and I thought it was Donald, but I was wrong, it is you. Why did I think it was Donald?”
“You old fool, what are you blathering about?”
“Don’t dispel me! I know about you. I can sense the power.”
“Bah,” Ackerman tried to push Hollsworth, but the old man was surprisingly strong. “get away from me.”
“But you’re the fool!” H
ollsworth harangued. “I can feel the force, the one you want for yourself. If I can feel it, it’s not yours for the keeping. There are many who are like me, and you will never get to keep it for yourself.”
“If you are so perceptive,” Ackerman had enough and retaliated with a sinister tone, “as you say, you know not to mess with me old man. I can use the power, and you can only feel it.”
“You stole it from Donald?”
Ackerman turned angry “It was given to me!”
“You don’t intend to share it then?”
“I’ll share it, but only with those that I choose!” Ackerman proclaimed.
“That is not something you can decide for yourself,” Hollsworth said calmly, shaking his head slowly.
“Watch me old man. Just you watch me!” Ackerman had spittle flying from his mouth. The crowd parted for him quickly, being more shocked by his behavior than the old man’s.
Chapter 28
CARL AND AMY WERE IN THE BATHROOM - getting ready to go out. “Mac’s bullshitting me,” Carl said, wiping the last of the shaving cream off his face.
“It’s a difficult time for you guys,” Amy answered.
“I know, but this is a different kind of deception.” Carl was sitting on the counter watching Amy put on her makeup. “He’s not working with me. He has his own agenda.” Carl slid off the counter. “It’s like sides are forming, and he’s not on mine.”
“Watch out.” Amy gave him a concerned look. “There’s a lot of focus on you guys, and if sides are forming, he’s only going to be your friend if you go along with his side.”
“I thought you kind of liked Mac?”
“Just because I let him eat my salad, and he compliments me, doesn’t mean a thing. He’s dependent on that political wind that blows through all government agencies. It’s the same one that makes the whistling sound as it rushes between your ears.”
“Is that your way of warning me?”
“I don’t think you need to be warned, just reminded now and then.”
“I don’t think I like where all this is headed.”
“Oh baloney, you live for this,” Amy laughed. “This is what makes you come.”
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