Josiah West 1: Kaleidoscope

by C. T. Christensen

He pulled the picnic basket over, found an egg salad sandwich for Nora, and handed it across the table to her, “I am really going to miss these picnics. Doctor Balistra said something about going somewhere else…I can’t remember where.”

  Nora put her free hand on his, “I know, but I’ll be there.”

  They sat in the shade of a huge oak tree and watched as the Marines practiced in a field near them. One of the assault boats crashed, and the Marines started chasing the pilot after they all crawled out of the wreck. Josiah pointed the little finger of the hand that was holding his sandwich, “They still don’t seem to have their pilot training program up to what it should be.”

  Someone touched his right hand; he thought it was Nora but both of hers were occupied with her sandwich.”

  “Josiah, take deep breaths.”

  No, not now!

  He took a deep breath and reached out to Nora, but she was looking at the Marines.

  “More deep breaths; that’s good.”

  He took another deep breath and tried to get Nora’s attention. He didn’t want to go.

  #

  This time the face wasn’t behind a shield, and it was on the same level as his.

  “Doctor…Balistra…I…pre…sume?” Josiah managed to get out. Coming out of those drugs left his mind a little gummy. “To…what…do…I…owe…this…rude…intr…usion…into…my…dreams?”

  He was lying on his right side in a grav sling. She was sitting on a chair next to it with her smiling face close to his, “You are now completely off of support equipment with just a couple of IV drips and a liberal coating of bio-mat gel left.” Her smile lost some of its intensity, “I’m afraid that it is now time for you to return to stark reality. How do you feel?”

  His vision was still a bit blurry, but both of his eyes were now sharing the blur. He pointed them both at her as best he could, “You’re…kid…ding…right?”

  Her grin had a distinct impression of relief behind it, “Your right arm and hand are in good shape,” she indicated a small shelf and a cup with a straw next to the sling, “here is something to drink in case your mouth gets dry; it tastes like strawberries.” She sat up and waved at someone, “I think Nora wants to talk to you.”

  Nora eased her unusual bulk into the chair that Doctor Balistra had just vacated.

  He managed a small smile through the lighter drug haze, “You’re…fat.”

  She had been crying; she had, probably, been crying a lot. She took his good hand in both of hers and held it to her cheek, “Yeah, well, you caused it.”

  “I…had…help.”

  They remained that way for a couple of minutes just absorbing the fact that they were getting to see each other again.

  Those dark eyes were so beautiful, “Sor…ry…I’m…late. Some…thing…came…up.”

  A few minutes later, Doctor Balistra leaned over and put her hands on Nora’s shoulders, “He’s asleep now; we should leave.”

  Nora stopped in the monitor room next to Josiah’s sling chamber and looked at the wall of electronics and the two techs that always seemed to be there. She turned to the shorter, gray haired Doctor, “You need some sleep yourself, Anita.”

  Balistra cast a longing glance at the cot in a shadowed corner at the back of the room and then back to Nora, “I think I might take you up on that.” She put her arm around Nora’s shoulders and steered her toward the door, “The fact that he fell asleep on his own is a good sign. It means that his normal biological and psychological functions are working.”

  She stopped and turned to Nora when they reached the hall. “That crap we’ve been pumping through him to keep his mind active and inclined toward a sense of happiness would make a freight train take a dirt road if we used it in a healthy person. Rebuilding a body is not that much of a problem these days.” Balistra leaned, tiredly, against the wall, “Keeping an isolated mind from going insane is where the fun begins.” She smiled at a thought, “I have a skull-thumper two floors up that is wearing a path in his carpet he is so anxious to talk to Josiah about his experiences under the drugs.” She pushed herself away from the wall, “You go get some lunch, and some rest. I don’t need two more patients on my hands. Be back here tomorrow at noon.”

  Nora finished wiping her eyes before hugging Balistra, “Thanks, Anita, thanks for everything.”

  She returned the hug with a smile, “Well, it is my job, and wait until you see the paper I’m going to write.”

  She stood for a few seconds and watched Nora waddle off down the hall before turning back into the monitor room and heading for the cot. “Wake me in an hour.” she said as she passed the nearest tech.

  #

  Josiah was now in the suite that Nora had been in since he had arrived here; it had windows and sunlight and normal beds. The last month of physical conditioning had created a great longing for that peaceful trail by the gentle stream. Everyone in the facility referred to the physical therapy area as The House of Pain. They were right, but Josiah could walk now even if he did need to use two canes for balance. The greatest help was his determination.

  He reclined in the bed after a therapy session. Molly sat in a chair next to him, and Admiral Jacks sat on the edge of the bed on the other side; today was the first time they had visited that they were able to have a normal conversation.

  Molly had his, now usable, left hand in both of hers; she had wet eyes and a critical expression, “I don’t know what we’re going to do with you; Arthur’s afraid to let you operate anything more dangerous than a can opener.” She managed a small smile at that.

  The Admiral objected, “I only said that for while he is recovering; after that, maybe a ground vehicle that won’t go any faster than 10kph.”

  Josiah looked from one to the other, sensing the fading panic and fear, “How have things been for you two?”

  He felt Molly’s grip tighten; that told him all he had to know about her feelings. The Admiral got a grim look on his face, “Everyone except Edwards, Marks…and you were in my office going over routine business when we were notified of a problem with the Hahn-Wright Station. By the time we got clearance from the Chinese Government to send military assistance, it was over three hours after impact.”

  He gave Josiah a grim smile, “We were watching feeds from various satellites and ships orbiting the area and marveling at the dumb luck that had dropped it on the north side of those mountains instea…instead of a few kilometers further south.”

  He had to stop talking for a moment. Josiah could see the brimming wetness in his eyes, “We didn’t know, we just didn’t know.”

  He took a deep breath and got his composure back, “It was right about then that someone over at Atmospheric Traffic Control put two and two together and checked with Tampa Traffic Control to see if they had information on Admiral 6. They called us when they realized that the last fix they had on you was when you were doing an atmospheric dive across the South China Sea heading straight toward the Hahn-Wright Station. Beltozi got on the Orbital Search System ELT scan link and found yours mixed in with several others at the crash site. It had been ignored because of the obvious mess.”

  Josiah could see the Admiral’s eyes lose their focus, “That’s when things got a little fuzzy. I think I remember screaming orders to get everything we had in there.”

  Molly said, “Yes, he did.” to Josiah.

  The Admiral got up and started pacing, “We got to the hanger and grabbed a couple of Falcons.” He stopped pacing for a moment and smiled, “For the first time in my military career I declared a full emergency and used those forward screens like they’ve never been used before; we were on top of your ELT signal in forty-two minutes.”

  He sat back on the edge of the bed, “Unfortunately, Kaleidoscope wound up as a debris trail three kilometers long; it was hours before you were found and it was a couple of weeks before the full picture of what you did started to become clear.”

  He started pacing again, “The entire world thought it was just
plain luck that it didn’t hit Beijing.” He stopped pacing and looked at Josiah with a huge grin, “I remember when we released the first report about what we found on the recorders. I was watching one of those annoying news shows with those annoyingly happy vacuum heads that never shut up. The pretty little thing was so stunned that she couldn’t finish reading the printout.”

  He came over to the bed and put a hand on Josiah’s shoulder, “I don’t believe I’m being overly dramatic when I say that the whole world gasped.”

  Molly caught the surprised look on Josiah’s face, “Have you been watching the news feeds?”

  Josiah looked at Molly then back to the Admiral, “Well…no, I guess I haven’t. I’ve been out of it and too involved in therapy and sleeping to bother turning on a vid. All I’ve gotten are some remarks I’ve heard about a lot of newsies being around and the President being briefed on my condition. It’s been so quiet around here that I figured I’d get a medal out of it, write a book, and get a disability pension if the docs couldn’t fix everything.”

  He looked from one to the other as they looked at each other and got totally weird expressions on their faces. There was only so much they could do to control it and they finally busted out laughing.

  “Ok, Admiral, it seems that I have missed something. Two medals?”

  When they could breathe again, Admiral Jacks put a finger a millimeter from Josiah’s nose, “First, from now on, when we are alone you will call me Arthur and I will call you Josey. That is an order.”

  “Ahh…yes, sir, Arthur.” Molly was grinning.

  “As far as medals go, I think they’re going to hang so many geegaws on you that you’ll have trouble standing up.”

  He settled back down into a serious mood, “You are the most famous and revered man in the world. They have made vids based on the recordings pulled from the wreckage.” He gripped Josiah’s arm and locked eyes with him, “I was invited to watch a preliminary screening of one of them at a Marine base. When it was finished, strong men were stunned and women were weeping.” Arthur leaned a little closer, “The world needs a hero, you’re it, and because of those recordings, they got to see an ordinary man in the act of becoming extraordinary.”

  He let go of Josiah’s arm and began walking around again. “The fallout from this is amazing; I can’t go anywhere without being recognized and mobbed. You’re my boy; I found you; I put you there. Your entire life is known. The Mars incident is now a vid and I and my staff have been consultants and advisors for all of this. When any of my staff are seen, they’re mobbed too.”

  Arthur stopped by the side of the bed, “Difficulties we have had with the Chinese have disappeared. Other situations around the world have cleared up or are, suddenly, open for negotiation.” He stopped and smiled directly at Josiah, “That ring that Marty Napoli designed for you has become a sensation. Luckily, Marty had a copyright on the design and is getting rich with licensing and producing lower cost versions of it.” Arthur stopped and raised a hand, “Oh, Marty cleared it with Nora. He felt that it was yours and hers and you should ok it. Nora said you would approve.”

  Josiah smiled and nodded, “I do.”

  Arthur was smiling down at him when a thought crossed his mind, “Oh, the Navy is making a bundle licensing out the specs and rights to build models of Kaleidoscope. The last I heard, the model maker doesn’t expect to catch up with orders for a year.”

  That brought a sharp memory back to Josiah; he looked at Arthur, “I met Kaleidoscope.”

  Arthur was confused, “Met?”

  Josiah nodded and smiled, “Yeah, those drugs I was swimming in; I conjured up a personification of Kaleidoscope. I have to admit, he sure fit the role.”

  There was a light tapping at the bedroom door and Anita Balistra poked her head in, “I don’t want to interrupt anything but Josiah is going to be a daddy in a little while; Nora just went into labor.”

  Arthur pointed at Josiah, “Tell me about that later, right now,” he spread his arms wide, “I’m going to be an Uncle.”

  He found the canes, handed them to Josiah, and grabbed an arm, “Come on Aunt Molly; let’s get him down there.”

  #

  “How do I look?”

  Josiah stepped into the living area and all eyes turned his way except for those of Eliana Karin West, who was comfortably curled up in Molly’s arms.

  “Skinny!” Nora said.

  He looked down the front of his uniform at the belt sticking out past the buckle and the wrinkles in his shirt where it entered his trousers, “Yeah, I’m still down about ten kilos.”

  Josiah looked at Admiral Jacks with a touch of anxiety in his eyes, “Sir, is this show really necessary? I don’t need people applauding me and telling me how great I am. Frankly, it’s kind of embarrassing just thinking about it.”

  Admiral Jacks nodded, put his arm around Josiah’s shoulders and started to wax philosophical, “A few months ago you made a decision. Had you gone the other way there would have been no repercussions, no one would have thought what you did was even possible. You were the only one that realized that you had the only tool capable of altering the obvious outcome and were in a position to use it. You offered your life to save others, and the whole world got to watch you do it after the fact.”

  Admiral Jacks turned Josiah to face him and placed both hands on his shoulders, “The deed is done; the consequences are now yours to deal with. But…today is not for you,” he stuck a thumb over his shoulder, “it’s for them. The world knows you and is still in a state of shock that a man with so much to lose would put it all aside. You haven’t seen the recordings; I have, many times. There is no hesitation; there is no indication of second thoughts. There is only cold calculation and hard orders. The world needs to see that you are well; they need to show you that they are worthy of you.”

  He returned to an arm around Josiah’s shoulders and addressed the others with a smile, “You would not believe the number of times I had to change my shirt because teenage girls cried all over it.”

  The Admiral checked his watch, “Molly, we should get started.”

  Molly gave Eliana to Grace…with obvious reluctance. She came up next to Josiah as Admiral Jacks retrieved something from a document pouch he had brought with him. It was one of “those” cases. He opened it in front of Josiah; it contained a set of Lieutenant Commander’s staff officer shoulder boards.

  “Effective this morning at 0900 EST, Lieutenant Josiah West is promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander.”

  He handed one to Molly and they each changed one of his old boards, “Molly and I got to do this about a year and a half ago. This time is even better.”

  #

  The auditorium at the medical center only held 1,800 people, but every seat was full, and the film screens around the arc of the back wall were all operating and showed vast crowds around the world watching the transmission of the GS pickups that were hanging above the audience.

  Josiah peeked around the edge of the side wall and swallowed. He reached over and tugged on the Admiral’s sleeve. They put their heads together, “Arthur, how many people are watching this?”

  Jacks thought for a second, “Remember the funeral of Holy Sister Ondalla nine years ago?”

  Who didn’t? Josiah nodded.

  Jacks smiled, “More!”

  “But what do I say? Nobody told me I had to give a speech.”

  “You don’t; just assure them that you are doing well and let them see you. Say whatever comes into your head that seems appropriate.”

  Josiah’s knees felt a little rubbery and he found a stool to sit on. Just as he sat down, a chime sounded, indicating the start of live transmission. Arthur turned to Josiah, “Be ready, I’ll introduce you.”

  The Admiral strode onto the stage to the small podium, “I am Admiral Arthur Jacks. I command Division One of the United States Federation Navy. It is, also, my pleasure to be Josiah West’s Commanding Officer.

  “You are all aware
of the personal feelings that I and my wife have for Josiah West. In a way, I was responsible for his meeting the girl he would marry. I was Best Man at their wedding.”

  His expression lost its pleased look, “The Beijing Incident, and the time right after that was a horror to all of us here. To find out that a loved one had put himself in harm’s way without our knowledge and without warning was mind numbing.”

  He raised his right hand and slowly swept a pointing finger across the screens, “As we dealt with the strain of his near death and slim chance of recovery, it became known to us that all of you were just as shocked and were praying for him.”

  He spread his arms to take in the people in the auditorium and the whole world, “For that, you have the thanks of his family and friends.”

  As the applause from the audience and the sound feeds from the film screens grew, Arthur stepped away from the podium and waved for Josiah to join him.

  Josiah swallowed again and stood up. He noticed a young girl standing near a system control board, “Would it be possible to get rid of the podium and have someone take this stool out there?”

  She was paralyzed, just staring at him. An older man standing near her noticed and said something in her ear. She looked embarrassed but picked up the stool and took it out on stage. The man hit a button on the board, and the podium descended into the stage.

  Josiah took a breath, leaned on the cane in his left hand, and limped out on stage. The girl had a huge smile on her face as she passed him.

  Admiral Jacks steered him to a spot in front of the stool and had to yell to be heard over the noise, “It’s all yours, kid.”

  The applause continued for several minutes, resulting in the most embarrassing and exhilarating moment in his life; for a little while, all of the aches and pains were forgotten.

  Finally, it grew quiet, and his voice could be heard. As he had walked onto the stage, he had noticed that the leftmost screen showed the Chinese government’s main assembly hall with President Chiang sitting front and center. He turned to face the screen and its pickup and bowed, “President Chiang, I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to you and the people of China and, especially, to the people in and around Beijing. What I did caused the deaths of many of your people that should not have died even while saving others.