Through the Gate: The Chronicles of Cornu Book 1

by L J Dalton Jr

  Mike and Ashley settled into an enjoyable routine. They had similar tastes and similarly demanding schedules. Sometimes Ashley came over to study at Mike’s while he either wrote up reports or read journal articles. Those nights Mike worked longer than normal. Afterwards they would have sex. Ashley was very pretty and very nice to hold. On the weekends they did something. Go out to grab a bite at some place that wasn’t too expensive. Spend time with friends and then luxuriate in the intimacy of sex.

  At NROTC he’d found that he could handle the 80 lbs. of rucksack. It wasn’t all that comfortable, but he was pretty sure he could do ten miles with it. They learned to field strip and put back together the M-16 and the berretta. The M-16 was just another puzzle to Mike and he mastered quickly. The gunny also went over all the drills with the rifle. Order arms, shoulder arms etc.

  One Saturday in early October they drove up to Holcomb and went to the firing range. The Airforce master sergeant had the range open and drilled them on the safety procedures for the range. When Mike shot the M-16, he found it to have the same or less kick than the .243 Winchester he used for deer hunting. He quickly got the feel for the rifle and got consistent hits at 200 yards. He started to get the range at 300 yards and then finally got a couple of hits at 500 yards. He figured that the drop at 500 yards was at least 5 feet.

  That Monday the gunny talked to him after class about his shooting, which the Gunny thought was good. “Gunny, I’ve always hunted deer with a .243 Winchester. I haven’t changed since I was twelve, got a better scope and that’s about it. I don’t try for a shot of more than 150 yards. The M-16 has about the same kick. What I had to get used to was the drop at range. I’ve looked up the ballistics on the cartridge and think I can do better the next time.” That seemed to make the Gunny happy and they chatted a few more minutes before Mike headed to his office.

  Office was a kind word for Mike’s workspace outside of the lab. It was two desks he and Dave shared in a fairly large broom closet. They’d put in a small fridge for soft drinks and to hold snacks and a good coffee maker. Dave also had a tea pot that Mike sometimes used as well. They could be found there most days unless they were in one of the labs or at a meeting. The roommates had lobbied to share the same office, and nobody really seemed to care much, so they got it.

  As it got colder Mike did his running in the gym. On weight days he’d upped the load in the weight vest to 60 lbs. On no weight days, he alternated long runs with interval training. For the interval training it was a quarter mile all out, a quarter mile just jogging then repeat several times. He also didn’t neglect lifting weights. This all added another hour to his day, which he did before his classes. He got up a little before six and was in the gym by six thirty at the latest. He got showered and was on his way to NROTC class by seven thirty. Then he grabbed a quick breakfast on his way to the lab or office after NROTC. The weekends meant a slower pace on the studies. He filled in that time with more exercise in the gym and spending time with Ashley.

  Thanksgiving rolled around and Mike was not surprised when Dave took Linda home for the holiday. He knew that both Dave and Linda were excited and nervous. The relationship had taken a very serious turn. Mike’s plans were the same as always. Go home eat dinner, hang out with the family. Friday get up and drive to Uncle Sol’s and hunt deer. Then drive back to campus and start the grind. Both his sister and sister-in-law had their second kids, both girls. Everyone figured once they were old enough, they would start working on their uncle Mike as well as their fathers.

  Back on campus, Mike was starting to get some traction on the research for his thesis. He’d had a couple of dead ends, but his latest avenue of research held real promise. His thesis advisor was happy and monitored his progress. He’d found the best approach with Mike was to give him some general guidance and then let him go. He knew that Mike would come to him if he needed him. He’d also come to recognize when Mike was busily pounding his head against a brick wall. When that happened, he just left a brick on Mike’s desk and he got the message.

  In early October Ashley and Mike packed up and headed up to New Hampshire to see the fall colors. They’d made an early reservation at Moose Brook State Park in the White Mountains, so they had a campsite. They drove up there and pitched the tent. Ashley liked the blowup queen mattress and the sleeping bags that zipped together. She was a cuddler, which Mike didn’t mind at all. The colors trails weren’t that difficult, and the colors were gorgeous. When they got back to campus on Sunday night, they both felt better. It had been a good way to decompress from their hectic schedules.

  Thanksgiving was Mike’s normal routine. He got home late Wednesday evening and hung out with his parents. Thursday was the big dinner and Julie and Bill brought their two kids over. Sharon and her now husband, Tony, were there as well. His mom and dad kept their two grandchildren until Saturday. They wanted to keep them to Sunday, but Julie was pretty sure that they would be exhausted by Saturday. She also needed to get the kids calmed down and some rest. After dinner as they were sitting around Sharon innocently asked. “Mom does this mean that we can drop our kid off with you so Tony and I can have some alone time?”

  His mother’s mouth fell open. “Sharon are you pregnant?” asked his mom.

  “Yes, three months, we were holding off on telling you until everything was good. The OBGYN says that everything is going great.”

  This brought a round of excitement and congratulations. Everyone, except Sharon, drank a toast to the new baby. After everybody left, Mike kept his nephew, Will amused playing some simple game that the kid loved. Eventually, grandma came to take him to bed.

  Friday morning, Mike was up and packed to head on up to Uncle Sol’s for a couple of days of hunting. When he got there, he told his aunt and uncle about Sharon being pregnant. That had his aunt looking at her two children, Issac and Rebecca. Issac’s wife Nora, said. “Mom, Issac and I are working on that, we’re doing the best we can.”

  Joel didn’t say a thing and left it to Rebecca to talk to her mother and father. “Joel and I are talking about it. We’re hoping for next year.”

  Mike leaned over to Joel and whispered. “You in on the plan?” Joel nodded yes.

  The next day they went out for deer. The first day wasn’t all that good, although Sol’s son-in-law did get a doe. They decided to go out again on Sunday morning and this time Mike got a doe as well. Once the meat had been distributed to the food banks, Mike packed up and headed back to campus.

  There wasn’t all that much time between Thanksgiving and the start of Ashley’s exams. So, he didn’t see that much of her as she put her head down to study. Mike spent his time in either the lab working on his thesis research or in Dr. Peterson’s lab. As exams approached, Ashley would call and then dropped over for some ‘quick relaxation therapy’. Which in simple terms meant that Mike got laid.

  He decided to take off ten days for Christmas, leave a couple of days before the holiday and get back to campus on January 2nd. He made sure to pack some journals he wanted to read and bring his laptop so he could review his research results so far. The trip to New Jersey was uneventful. Christmas dinner was great both his sisters and their husbands had to make sure to visit both families. Mike and his family were the last stop of the day. Next year it would reverse. His nephew Will was starting to appreciate that he got presents at Christmas and looked forward to it. His niece was just as happy with the wrapping paper and the boxes as what she got.

  Mike had looked up a place near Harrisburg that rented M-16s. It was a little over three hours away. Mike made a reservation for two days. He told his mom and dad that he needed to go up there and get more familiar with the M-16. When he got there, he explained the situation to the proprietor. He bought 100 rounds of ammunition. He went out on the range and spent about three hours shooting them off. After about 50 rounds he found the range at 300 yards and was hitting it consistently. He then went to 500 yards, that was a bit more difficult. He resolved that the next day he’d get th
e hang of it at 500 yards.

  That evening he spent at a holiday inn. It wasn’t bad. He found a place to eat that he could walk to and had some fish and a couple of glasses of wine. Then he headed back to get some sleep. When he woke up, he packed his overnight bag and checked out. As he got to the range the proprietor was waiting for him. He bought another 100 rounds and went out on the range. By the time he finished he was comfortable hitting the target at 500 yards. He didn’t think that he could go much beyond that with any real accuracy.

  He spent a relatively quiet New Year’s Eve and then headed back to campus. When he got there, he found that Ashley was already there. She came over and they eventually made it out to get something to eat.

  Dave came back a day later. He’d taken Linda home for Christmas and it was a big hit. The nerves seemed to be gone and he was happy with his relationship. He told Mike, that next Christmas, he was going to visit Linda’s family in California.

  By the third week in January, it became apparent that there would be another paper coming out of the work at Dr. Peterson’s lab. It was incrementally important, so it rated a paper. But not enough of a breakthrough to warrant any patent application.

  With summer coming up, Captain Jameson, upped his game a bit. He had to prepare the seniors for the basic course and the juniors for OCS. They started to go on three mile hikes with the 80 lb. rucksack. Mike got through those without much of a problem. He’d been careful to take care of his feet, which was his big worry. They also spent time packing the rucksack and the Captain Jameson and the Gunny critiqued what they did. The training schedule included order drill. Between the senior Marine options and the juniors, they only had seven people. Mike and the other juniors listened to the seniors who’d been through OCS. After listening to them, Mike added crunches and pushups to his routine.

  Mike established a good routine of lab work, research, writing, exercise and seeing Ashley. This helped him move along through the year. By the middle of April, his thesis advisor thought that it was looking good. He didn’t see any problem with Mike starting to write up his thesis starting in late May. This put Mike well ahead of the curve. Dave was a little bit behind Mike, but he thought that he’d be done in time for his thesis defense in March of the following year.

  Mike wrote up a synopsis of his research for his advisor, Dr. Morrison. He was surprised when he was called into his office, in early May. There was a patent attorney there. The attorney started off. “Mike, Dr. Morrison has reviewed your research and talked to the head of the department. They agree that this will have some industrial application. Nobody knows how much or how little. The University is looking to file a patent on this. They’re going to take the lion’s share of the royalties, but if it brings in $100,000 a year in royalties, you’ll get right around $30,000 a year. What we’re going to need is for you to sign some papers. I’m going to give them to you and ask you to look them over and get back to me in a couple of weeks.”

  Mike thanked him and immediately went back to his office and looked up his friend Ajay from Columbia. He knew that Ajay had gotten his degree in patent law and was with a firm in New York City. Mike found the phone number and called. When he got through to the firm, a receptionist put him on hold. A few minutes later Ajay came on and they caught up on what they’d been doing. Ajay was married and he explained that it wasn’t quite an arranged marriage, but both sets of parents had strongly encouraged it. He was happy she was a good wife and they were expecting a kid in the summer.

  Mike told him about his thesis project and that the University wanted to patent it. Ajay told him to FedEx a copy to him. If it was all kosher, than he’d know in twenty minutes. If not, then they could talk. He agreed that Mike should be careful with these documents.

  A few days later, Ajay called him back and told him to go ahead and sign it. He also, thanked him because he’d contacted the other patent attorney and he might get some business out of it. That made Mike happy and he signed the papers and gave them to his advisor.

  Later in May, he started the process of writing his thesis. It was the length of a short novel. Mike went to the library and looked up some of the better thesis in his area over the last five years. He spent a week going over them and making notes on what they did. Then he went back and built an outline and organized his research. That took another week. By this time Ashley was almost done for the year and the only time he saw here is when she dropped by to ‘relax.’

  When Ashley finished up, they went out to a nice restaurant overlooking Boston Harbor and had lobster and wine for dinner. Then it was back to Mike’s for some after dinner sex and cuddling. Two days later Ashley left for West Virginia and Mike went back to his thesis and his research assistant job.

  June was spent on three main activities, his thesis, his research assistant work and getting physically ready for OCS. When the time arrived, he packed his gear and headed to Quantico. He stopped off in New Jersey to see his folks and then got on 95 towards DC and then Quantico. When was at his parent’s he’d put his Glock in the gun safe. He doubted they’d like him bringing it on to the base.

  OCS.

  Mike drove down I-95 towards Quantico. When he got to Baltimore, he didn’t take the beltway at all, he knew from talking to other people the beltways were often parking lots. It was hot and muggy. He was glad that he had his air conditioner checked and new coolant put in before he left MIT. Getting through DC was slog, no matter how you sliced it, he kept on to Quantico. When he arrived, he showed his ID and orders at the gate. The sentry waved him and directed him to the traffic office. He got his pass for his vehicle and was told where to park.

  Once he parked his car, he carried his duffle bag into the reception area. He was showed to his bunk and told to leave his duffle on the bed and to go to another building to be issued more clothes. He left with his arms full of more clothes and instructions to put his name on everything. When he got back, he got out his sharpies and started marking things. He marked everything and he had waterproof tape to put on some of the gear with his name. Once that was done, everything got stowed in a particular order. He met the other people sharing the space with him and offered to help them get done. Then they all trooped out to lose all their hair. Mike figured each ‘haircut’ took under thirty seconds. That evening they all sat around and got to know each other. Mike and his bunk mate had the end bunk in the bay. He had the top bunk. His bunk mate started off the introductions. “I’m Phil Forde, from the University of Oklahoma, majoring in agricultural science.

  The guys at the next bunk went first. He introduced himself as Art Ullman, from SoCal. He went to UCLA and majored in civil engineering. The other guy in the bunk was Norm Brandenberg from Cincinnati. He went to Notre Dame and was an economics major.

  Then it was Mike’s turn. “I’m Mike Mulvaney, from Montclair, New Jersey. I’m going to MIT and majoring in Material Science.”

  Phil looked at him. “MIT? No shit. Why do you want to be a Marine?”

  Mike answered. “I sat in the student lounge at MIT on 9/11 and watched those assholes crash a plane into the office building where my dad worked. He got out. People we know didn’t.”

  “Well I guess that answers that.”

  They then spent time passing on tips that they’d gotten from their instructors and what they liked to do. When Phil found out that Mike hunted, and used a .243 as a deer rifle, that opened a discussion on hunting techniques and tracking deer. As this was going on Art turned to Norm. “Dude, we must be in the twilight zone. The Oakie and the Brainiac from MIT are discussing deer hunting and the relative merits of different calibers.”

  Mike turned to him and said with a wide smile. “This is really important stuff that requires great deal of careful study, by intelligent people.” Phil put on a serious look and nodded solemnly. This caused them all to chuckle. They eventually got to sleep.

  The next day was a meeting with two officers to go over your autobiography. Mike was the next to last in line for a Captain
Ramirez and a Lieutenant Feely. They looked at his record and he could tell that they were skeptical. They asked him about himself and he gave them a quick synopsis of his life. They seemed to get interested when he mentioned his father being a retired navy captain and having escaped from the World Trade Center on 9/11. The fact that his Uncle had been in Hue brought a couple of nods. They paid more attention when they found out about his brother being LCDR flying FA-18s.

  Finally, Captain Ramirez asked him “Mr. Mulvaney what do you think you need to do to be successful at OCS.”

  “I need to be able to demonstrate that I can be trusted to lead Marines. I realize it’s a privilege that has to earned.”

  Ramirez then came back with “Do you think you can do that Mr. Mulvaney?”

  “Sir, I wouldn’t even try this if I didn’t think I could do it. I’d have people’s lives in my hands.”

  Lieutenant Feely than asked. “Give us a quick rundown on what you do every day at MIT.”

  Mike than went through his normal day, which was ten to twelve hours long, plus what he did on weekends.”

  When Mike left, Ramirez turned to Feely. “Shit don’t that beat everything. A PhD candidate from MIT who is writing a thesis on something to do with Carbon Nanotubes? But everything in here says he’s top notch. We know he’s smart, a hard worker, in shape, but what about leadership?”

  Feely replied. “Yeah, I know, he works his ass off on this PhD stuff. I never knew being a genius was such hard work. I’ve got a good feeling about him; he’s going to be in my platoon. Second week, Let’s make him a squad leader for three days. See how he handles it. If he does well than, we’re good. We’ll probably have others we’ll need to worry about.”