Berlin and Martinez had retrieved their bags, and Josiah opened the outer hatch. He saw three men approaching as he stepped out, two he recognized from earlier as ground crew members. The third was an armed Marine Sergeant with Base Security shoulder marks. He stopped in front of Josiah and saluted, “Sir, we have been sent by Admiral Jacks to transport your passengers to his office.” As Josiah stepped out of the boat and returned his salute he caught sight of the security van and the second Marine parked on the apron by the terminal. He stepped aside and allowed the others to exit, “Here they are Sergeant.” It was obvious the Sergeant had not been briefed on who or what was involved but he quickly determined that the Major with the Command Authority Badge was in charge and he saluted him, “This way, sir.”
Josiah stood there watching them walk away. Looking at Berlin’s body language caused a small twinge of sympathy to stir, not too big a twinge, but still....
“Lieutenant!” Parente was standing in the hatch holding his cap and bag.
“Oh, thanks!” He put his cap on, took his bag, and stepped further from the hatch as she completed the formality of handing the boat over to the ground crew. His attention refocused on Parente; he put his bag down and waited for her to finish. When she had, she walked to where he was standing in the shade of the stub wing. He held out his hand, “Let me have your logbook again.” Without a word she called up the file on her pad and handed it to him. He began to make entries by tapping on the input panel and then switched to the stylus and began writing. He made sure he wrote slowly.
Finally, she cracked, “Sir, do you approve my second-class rating?”
He dragged it out a bit more before paying attention to her question without even looking at her, “That will be a big negative Ensign Parente. There will be no second-class rating for you today.” He continued writing on her pad and, occasionally, looked past the side of it to see her reaction. He saw her beautiful hands ball-up into fists.
Uh-oh!
“Lieutenant West, I...would like to know just what you think I did wrong to not deserve that rating. I’ve accumulated far more than the required time in more than the required types and a lot of hours have gone by since any instructor complained, and even you didn’t say a damned word about my performance, and if you’ll look carefully you will SEE THAT WE STILL HAVE ALL THE PAINT WE LEFT WITH.”
Wow, she is really mad! Then he noticed the tears in her eyes. That rating really was important to her. Well, I can understand that. He looked back into her dark, dark eyes for a few seconds; she is incredibly beautiful! He held her pad out to her, “I agree; that’s why you now have a first-class rating.”
Confusion slowly replaced anger and confusion. She managed to unclench her hands and looked down at the pad as she took it from him. She began to read the Statement of Award, “In my years in the Navy I have seen pilots of all levels of ability and skill levels. There have been, sadly, almost none that would make me totally comfortable as a passenger on anything they were flying. It is, therefore, with the greatest pleasure that I authorize the rating of Pilot First-Class be awarded to Ensign Nora Parente in recognition of her outstanding skill as a pilot on this day 7 April 2132 - signed: Lieutenant Josiah West, CI.”
Parente dug a rag out of her pocket and started wiping the tears from her face. Do women only carry rags when they wear greens? Without warning she threw her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. Then, just as suddenly, she seemed to realize what she was doing and backed away, “Oh, sorry, sir.”
“That’s alright, I’m getting used to it.” She returned to looking at her award entry; Josiah pulled out his pad and called Molly.
“West, what can I do for you now; do you need an air strike?”
“I’m glad you’re smiling when you say that because I have only a small amount of doubt that you could arrange it. No, there was one other matter that I discussed with the Admiral that I would like to take care of now.”
Molly smiled again and held up a data pad, “Oh, you mean this. Hang on.”
The screen went to hold for a minute. Parente still had her pad open but was smiling at him. She is really beautiful!
“West?”
He jerked his eyes back to the pad, “Yes, sir.”
“I take it that nothing has developed to change your previous evaluation?”
“No, sir, I think you should sign it.”
“Is she there?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Hand her the pad.”
She gave him a questioning look as he handed her his pad. Her eyes went very wide when she saw Admiral Jacks looking back, “Admiral, good afternoon, sir.”
“Good afternoon Ensign Parente. Apparently you have made a conquest of my Lieutenant West. He spoke highly of you when we last talked. I pulled your record, and, I too, was impressed. Therefore,” he took the data pad from Molly and signed it “effective immediately you are promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade. Now if you will hand the pad back to West, I believe the Master Chief has one more thing, and I see I have guests arriving.”
Parente had a blank look as she practically dropped the pad back in Josiah’s hands.
Molly was on the screen, “Yes, Molly?”
She had that smile, “West, tomorrow you are scheduled to spend the day with Commander Phelps. Whenever you decide to break for lunch I want you to give me a call.”
“Ok, what’s it about?”
“Just call, nothing official.” She broke the connection.
Today was turning out to involve an ungodly amount of confusion.
Parente was still standing there holding her pad but looking at him, “What just happened?”
He put his pad away, knelt down, and removed a small case from his bag. He opened it and turned to her, “I have a couple of things that I won’t need anymore. He picked up a first-class pilot’s wings set and placed then over the third-class wings that were auto-stitched on her greens. The cluster of tiny hooks grabbed the threads and held firm, “I wore these for a long time.” He then removed the pair of Lieutenant Junior Grade shoulder boards and replaced her Ensign boards with them, “These have never been worn.”
In spite of the surprising developments in her day, she recovered quickly. She looked at her new rating and rank symbols with obvious pleasure, and then turned a narrow-eyed look on Josiah, “Knowing you is crazy. What else ya got?”
“Ah...well, I would like you to join me for dinner tonight...providing I’m not stepping on any other relationship you may have that I’m not aware of.” Crap, I hope I’m not blushing.
That was...unexpected. Her surprised look turned into more narrowed eyes and a smile, “Why Lieutenant West, I believe you’re blushing.”
Oh, crap!
She tilted her head back and pointed an unfriendly look at him along her nose, “There are no relationships to interfere with, but why should I go to dinner with you after that nasty trick you just played on me?”
Josiah got an immediate message from her attitude and body language; their relationship had just gone from superior-officer-and-subordinate to boy-girl. Going to play coy, huh? He countered with his own nonchalant attitude, “Well, you did indicate a desire to be briefed about the yellow brick road that led us to this day.” He bent and picked up his bag and started to, slowly, walk toward the terminal building, “A story like that would fit very nicely over dinner, and I’m starving; seems I forgot lunch.”
She dropped into place beside him with her hands behind her back and turned her head toward him, “And you would take a lady to dinner dressed the way I am?”
Still on the coy thing? He stopped and turned to face her, “You are an officer in the Navy wearing a clean and tidy uniform of that organization, and, if I may be allowed a strictly personal observation, you look very good. I was thinking of keeping it informal anyway. I haven’t checked into the BOQ yet, but I hear they have a nice dining facility.”
She lit up with a big smile, “Ok, that’s all I wanted to he
ar. Let me go check out; I’ll meet you at the main entrance.” She started to turn away and then stopped, “Oh, I don’t have a vehicle; we’ll need a ride.”
As she had turned, Josiah was facing the ground vehicle parking area in front of the terminal, “No need, our ride is waiting for us.” He pointed at Bax who was leaning against his van. He waved when he saw Josiah point.
Parente went into the terminal building and Josiah went to meet Bax. I completely forgot about calling him; good man.
Bax straightened and saluted when he approached. He took Josiah’s bag and asked, “Will the lady be joining us?”
“Yes, you can drop us both at the BOQ. We are going to have dinner there, and she will probably need a ride to her quarters; how long are you on duty?”
“I’m flexible, sir, but not normally past 1800 hours. However, as a staff officer, they will have a ground vehicle assigned to you at the BOQ.” Bax lifted his eyebrows and gave Josiah a slight sideways look, “You could handle that task yourself, sir.”
Have I got a sign painted on me? “Oh, I didn’t know that; I guess this job has its perks.”
Parente came out of the terminal main entrance and over to the van. Bax saluted and held the rear door open for her.
She favored him with a big smile “Thank you Petty Officer.”
“Just call me ‘Bax’, ma’am, everybody calls me ‘Bax’.”
Josiah entered after her and another realization about her jumped into his mind, she likes being treated like a lady more than an officer.
She turned toward him, “You should have seen the jaws drop when they saw all of this,” she swept a hand across her shoulders and wings, “it was funny.”
She had a big smile pointed right at him. God, she’s beautiful! Helen of Troy must have looked like her.
#
As they entered the BOQ, a tall, blond Petty Officer First-Class was behind the reception counter to the right of the entrance. The desk plate said, ‘PO1 Jesse Clanders’. He rose from his stool as they approached, “I believe you would be Lieutenant Josiah West.”
“That is correct Petty Officer. I understand you have an excellent dining facility here; I and my guest, Lieutenant Parente, have been at it all day and we are starved. I hope the dining room is open.”
“The dining area never closes, sir. We have transient traffic at all hours. Only the menu changes with the time of day. And just call me ‘Jesse’, sir. You’ll be seeing a lot of me around here. Now, can I please scan you in for registration and you ma’am as a guest of Lieutenant West?” They both raised their left arms and Jesse ran a wand over them. He then checked the screen on the counter, “Very good!” He looked back at Josiah, “The dining room is down the hallway behind you on the second floor. You are assigned to suite 202 which is on the second floor at the far end of the hallway to your left.” He pointed up at the overhanging walkway to Josiah’s left, “You have also been assigned a ground vehicle. It is parked in slot six. You will find that your quarters are near the back entrance; your vehicle is right outside of that entrance. Just swipe the reader on the vehicle and entrance door. If you will leave your bag here, I will see that it is taken to your quarters; any questions, sir?”
Josiah couldn’t think of anything, so he placed his bag on the counter, “I’ll probably think of something later but now it’s just food I want. Thank you, Jesse.”
“You’re welcome, sir.”
Josiah and Parente headed for the stairs and started upward.
“Oh, Lieutenant, Jesse called out, “there is one other thing.”
“Wait here, back in a moment.” Josiah returned to the counter.
Jesse leaned forward and spoke softly, “Sir, I didn’t tell you that your uniform allotment arrived and your suite includes a full clothing service station, but the main thing is that, now that I have the lady scanned in, I can set it up so that she has access to the rear entrance and your quarters.” Jesse raised his right hand in a halting motion, “But only if you want it that way. You just let me know.”
That sign must be on my back.
“Ah, thank you, Jesse, I’m glad that got up there.” Much quieter he said, “I’ll let you know.”
As they headed up the stairs he answered her questioning look, “Jesse forgot to tell me that my new uniform allotment arrived and that I have a clothing service station so I won’t have to take my uniforms out for cleaning.”
The top of the curved stairway ended at the walkway and they turned to the left. The left side of the hallway seemed to be offices and a conference room. The right side was just a wall with some artwork hung on it. Just before the dining hall was a small store that looked like it focused on small personal items like toiletries.
The hallway ended in a floor-to-ceiling window that was continued into the dining room and formed an entire wall of that room. The room looked like it could hold a hundred diners. There were only two people sitting at one table near the door, “Looks like we’re early. Good, I hate crowds.”
There was an older female Chief Petty Officer behind a long counter to their right. As they approached she smiled, “Hello, I don’t believe I’ve seen you two before. I’m CPO Edna Barnhill; just call me ‘Barney’. Please, swipe in.” She indicated the reader on the screen she was standing behind: It was one of four on the counter. After they had done that, Barney checked her screen, “Ah, Lieutenant West, I see you just checked in and this lovely young lady will be your guest.”
Josiah could only smile at her, Darken her hair a bit and she’s Grandma all over again, “Yes, Barney, we require a good meal after the day we’ve had.”
She just smiled again, “Well, you two certainly don’t look any the worse for it. Let me explain how we work here: You scan in as you just did at whatever counter station is manned, make your selection from these menu screens,” she pointed up to the screens along the wall behind her, “then go find a seat and we will call your name when your food is ready; then you just come up to the counter and get it. We don’t have enough personnel to have waiters but the food is excellent.”
Josiah picked a medium-well steak, baked potato, green beans, and lemonade. Parente looked at him funny and said, “You’ve been reading my file.” She then turned to Barney, “Make that two of the same.”
Barney just grinned as she tapped in the orders. When she had finished she looked up, “You two dears go find a seat. I’ll bring your dinners to you. We won’t have a rush for almost an hour yet.”
Josiah started to turn away then stopped, “Say, Barney, would you happen to know a guy named ‘Bax’?”
She lit up with a big grin, “Oh, you’ve met my grandson!”
“Yes, I have; good man; knows his job.”
“I’ll be certain to tell him you remembered him.”
They found a table at the farthest back corner by the window and Josiah pulled the chair out for her. It was obvious that she liked that simple courtesy. As he sat down opposite her she said, “You wouldn’t believe how much she reminds me of my grandmother; both of them.” Josiah had to explain his laughter.
She folded her arms on the table and leaned forward, “So, Lieutenant West, you were going to tell me about the ‘yellow brick road’.”
He held up his hand, “Ok, let’s put a stop to that. Just call me Josey when we’re alone.”
She smiled, “Only if you call me Nora.”
“Alright...Nora, the yellow brick road starts almost five years ago when I left the Academy....”
The food arrived and Josiah talked around mouthfuls. Barney hovered nearby and refilled their glasses. Josiah did not leave out any details and an hour went by unnoticed. He enjoyed talking to Nora, and Barney could see that. They never noticed that she was steering arriving customers to seats well away from them.
“...and that’s when I met you and you know the rest.”
Nora was a bit wide-eyed through most of his story but they narrowed now, “I would call that one of the most preposterous tales of fiction
I have ever heard...,” She looked at the front of his shirt, “...except for the Admirals Star, the Bronze Cluster, the Marine Combat Award, on a Navy uniform for cripes sake, and Command Instructor Wings.” She looked back into his eyes, “Plus the fact that you introduced me to the Commanding Admiral of the Division and got him to promote me on the spot. It’s slightly disturbing that a four-star Admiral now knows my name.”
He smiled at her, “It’s worse than just being introduced to him; both he and his wife now have you on their short list.”
That wiped any semblance of a smile off her face and she sat up straight, “What do you mean, ‘short list’?”
He put his elbows on the table and interlaced his fingers just under his chin, “Admiral Jacks is on a hunt for the best people he can find and is getting rid of the dead weight; as you saw today. I saw how Molly smiled at you when she thanked you for calling her; she likes you. The Admiral had your record checked after I talked to him on the Caldwell. He would never have promoted you if there was anything he didn’t like.” Josiah reached down with both hands and picked up hers from the table; it seemed the right thing to do. Wow, she has beautiful hands! He looked back into her eyes; they were wide with an anxious look. “You are intelligent and capable, the Admiral and his wife will be watching you. Try not to let it go to your head, just be aware that you may be getting a strange call one of these days.” He glanced over her shoulder at the clock above the main entrance, “It looks like we’re getting on into evening hours. How about we check out my new wheels and I take you home? Say, where do you live?”
“I...live off base with another girl from the transport section, but...,” she gripped his hands now and lowered her eyes so she was just peeking at him through her lashes and spoke very quietly, “...I could just get a few things from that store in the hallway and stay here tonight. You did say you had a clothing station in your quarters so I can clean my greens and be ready for tomorrow.”
Josiah West 1: Kaleidoscope Page 8