There Must Be a Mistake Ch. 04

Suddenly she dove under the water trying to make me guess which way she was going. I stopped and waited for her to surface. After a moment she surfaced holding a four-pound trout in her hands. Everyone in the encampment, including the guides looked at her in awe.

"I just caught dinner Uncle Even."

I didn't have time to ask her how she did it. One of the guides did it for me.

"Miss how did you do that?"

"It was easy. I read it in a book when I was very young. It said if you could go underneath the fish and stroke its belly very lightly, it would stay calm, and you could grab it. I stuck my finger into his gills so he could not get away, and here is dinner."

"Could you do that six or seven more times so everyone could have trout for dinner?"

"Do you have a net or something that I can throw the fish into so I don't disturb the water?"

"Throw that one to me, and I will catch it in my shirt. We will rig something bigger for the next one."

20 minutes, and eight trout later, Delicious received a round of applause from the guides and our entire group of intrepid campers. I was so proud of her I forgot why I was angry. I kissed her and told her how wonderful she was.

*********

14. Their World Falls Apart

"Delicious everything you have been doing for the past several weeks has proven to me that you are ready to do work at a higher level than I have been keeping you at. When we get home I want you to work with me on my project of bending radio waves. There will be no more tiny things for you to do. I am sure I have everything correct, but I want you to check everything, from the beginning to the end. If you can find problems with the Milli-Newton Thrusters in your spare time, I want to know if you can find problems with my Bending Radio Waves in your full-time. From this moment on every patent submitted will have both our names on it, and we will share in the profits."

"How angry are you going to get with me when I tell you something Uncle Even?"

"It all depends on what you are going to tell me?"

"I broke your security code to get into the computer, and onto your site."

If looks could kill she was dead, and she knew it.

"Uncle Even please relax and breathe, because that's not the bad part."

"There is that damn echo again. What did you do to my program?"

"I did what you just asked me to do, but I did it before you told me to do it."

I stormed away from her before I killed her. No one, I mean no one tampers with my programs. She had committed a mortal sin, and that was something even God found unforgivable. I was furious with her. I wanted her out of my life; NOW. I did not care where she went or what she did, but she was gone. I was going to put her on an airplane and send her to California without me. Now was the time for her to grow up on her own. I cheated and lied to her about unimportant things to help her grow up, and understand life as it is. Now she would have to find out the rest of it by herself.

I stayed away from the group, and did not eat dinner. She tried to approach me, and I told her to stay away. She started to cry but my heart was ice, and no amount of tears was going to melt it.

As darkness fell and everyone settled down for the night, I started walking up the narrow path to the top of the plateau. I knew I was an idiot for trying to do this in the dark, but I did not care. If I made it fine; if I fell off the side of the trail to my death that was fine with me also. Everything I had hoped for between us had been torn away, because she had invaded my privacy, and no one does that. I never felt so empty in my life.

Nearly 6 ½ hours later I made it to the top; don't ask me how. I was scraped and bruised on every exposed portion of my body. I walked to the parking area and used the keyless entry to open the door. I decided to leave her the car and everything in it. I kept $10,000 on me for traveling money, and left her a note.

"From this moment on, you are on your own. I want nothing to do with you except if you are in a dire emergency and need money. In that case call Rod. I will have him forward it to you. I cannot forgive you for what you did. It was theft of Intellectual Property. I have no room in my life for anyone who would do that to another person. Call Rosalynn and have her forward your checkbooks to you. I wish you well in your new endeavors as long as they do not include me. Even.

I changed my clothes so I would look presentable and waited outside the lodge in hopes of catching a ride to Flagstaff. I was luckier than that. A young couple came out at 6:30 AM and I offered them $200 for a ride to Flagstaff. They said they were not going north. They were going to Phoenix to catch a flight to Miami.

I said, "I'll give you $400 for a ride to Phoenix."

The young lady asked, "Who are you, and are you going to kill us on the way to the airport?"

I laughed, and showed them my identification. "No, my name is Doctor Even Luck. I am a scientist from MIT. I was so involved in studying the rock formations; I was late getting back for the last bus leaving for the airport. If I don't get their by 12 o'clock I will miss my flight to Atlanta. The tour guide has all our tickets, and passports, and if I miss my flight to Paris I am going to get a gun and shoot myself."

She said, "Get in the car Doctor, no one misses a flight to Paris."

I never realized how small a Volkswagen Golf is in the back seat, especially when you're sharing it with luggage. However, that little sucker can move. It not only kept up with traffic on the interstate, it passed many cars that were on it. When we got to the airport, instead of returning it to the rental agency first, they dropped me in front of Continental Airways, and bid me a fond farewell. I gave them $500 and a great deal of thanks. My only problem was figuring out where to go. It was 10:30 AM and I hoped there was a message from Rod at home, so I called. The machine was blank, just like my mind. I had no idea what to do or where to go. I had never been at such a loss for what to do.

I looked at the departure board for the next flight leaving. There was a flight to Minneapolis-St. Paul departing in 40 minutes. If I hurried, I might just make it. Instead of going to the ticket desk, I ran straight to the departure area. It was filled to overflowing. I asked the agent at the desk if there were any seats available. She told me that coach was full and there was a waiting list. However, there are only three people flying first class, but the cost is $1560 one-way. I told her I would take one. I paid cash. I didn't want anyone following me; I wanted to be a ghost.

It doesn't matter what you look like when you're flying first class. You could be wearing a loincloth, and they would treat you like a god. The flight attendants pamper you. They come by every few minutes asking you if you're comfortable if you would like a pillow, blanket, a drink, everything except what you really want, which is for them to open the door and let you jump out. They were so bothersome I had to find something for them to do.

"Miss, could you call ahead and get me the closest connection to Fairbanks Alaska. I don't care what airline, or what class of service. If coach is available fine, if not, I will take first-class. I would like to be off the ground as soon as possible after we land."

"Yes sir, right away sir, is there anything else I can do for you sir, would you like to feel my tits sir."

She scurried to a telephone to speak to one of the officers on the flight deck. One of them would relay the message to the company dispatch. They would call their reservations department, who would look in their computer and find the information I asked for, and reserve a ticket for me until they received my credit card information.

I screwed all this up when I told them I was paying cash.

They agreed to hold the ticket at the departure desk until I arrived. I would have a one hour and five minutes delay to catch the five-hour Delta airlines flight to Fairbanks. I told them it was acceptable. The cost for a coach seat was $954 plus all the extras they could think of."

I got off one airplane walked across the concourse, paid cash for my next ticket, and walked onto another airplane. This must be my lucky day I thought, because coach was not even half-full. Oh how wrong I was. I went to my assigned seat, in the center of a five-seat row hoping to stretch out. On the aisle to my left a silver haired grandmother sat down, said hello congenially, picked up a book and began to read. I smiled to myself knowing she was going to be quiet during the trip.

Then four-year-old precocious Gordon entered the row and sat beside me. Gordon's mother was gorgeous. She was five foot seven or eight, eyes as black as her hair, skin as white as snow, and an hourglass figure. Her name was Jennifer Stars, a single mother, flying to Fairbanks to take care of her family's affairs, because her mother had just passed away.

I asked her where she was from, and she said, "It's a small town you have probably have never heard of just outside Denver Colorado."

"My name is Even Luck. I live in a small town near Denver Colorado. It is called Idaho Springs. It is about 25 miles west of Denver. I bet you my small town is smaller than your small town."

She had a delightful laugh. "My small town is Brighton. It's about 45 miles northeast of Denver."

I said, "My goodness, we are almost neighbors."

Then Gordon jumped in. "Mommy, you are not supposed to talk to strangers. You tell that to me all the time. Gordon don't talk to strangers, they could hurt you, and take you away"

"Gordon, we are on an airplane, where could he possibly take me or you? Why don't you ask the gentleman what he does so you could get to know him?"

Gordon popped up in his seat, looked me in the eye, and asked, "How much money do you have?"

Jennifer yelled, "Gordon that wasn't nice. You never ask someone you don't know about their finances."

"I don't mind Jennifer. I am very rich Gordon. I am a scientist. They called me Doctor Even Luck, but I am not a doctor that you see when you are sick. I am the kind of Doctor that studies science and technology to make things better and easier to use."

"What did you make that made you rich?"

"Stop it Gordon."

"Do you know the headphones everyone uses to listen to music?"

"Yes, mommy has a pair of headphones."

"When you're mommy paid for her headphones some of that money came to me because I invented the technology that makes them work."

"Wow, mommy did you know that?"

"No I didn't Gordon."

For the next 30 minutes Gordon grilled me with question after question. He kept asking me what else I invented, and I told him what I could without going into details. However that was only the beginning of my problems.

Everyone around us heard me talking to him, and now they had questions they wanted to ask me and I could not say no. All I needed was a white board and felt tip markers and I would have had a class to teach. The only thing that made it worthwhile was the look in Jennifer's eyes. Every time I glanced her way it seemed like she was drinking every word I said in, and I never had this depth of feeling for a woman before.

Finally after nearly four hours of questions and answers I said to the people around me, "Class is dismissed for today. I appreciate all your questions. You may read my doctoral thesis for MIT online anytime you wish."

The flight attendant brought me a can of root beer, and thanked me for making this the easiest trip to Fairbanks she had ever had.

Jennifer said to me, "You are absolutely amazing Even. I have never met anyone as bright as you in as many areas you covered on this trip. Everything from astrophysics to anthropology; you know it all. How did you gain all this knowledge, and still major in one specific field?"

"I have a photographic memory Jennifer. If I see it, hear it, or read it, I remember it. I can tell you now that you should change your shoes, because your right heel is about to break. It may not happen today, or tomorrow, but there is a linear crack on the outside of that heel which will cost you a twisted ankle or possibly a break."

"Why didn't you say something before?"

"I didn't want to seem presumptuous, or make you think I was a pervert looking up and down your legs as probably every man that sees you does. I don't know what is going on with me, but normally I cannot talk to a woman, any woman, anywhere, under any circumstances. My tongue gets tied, I become embarrassed, and I don't know what to say or how to act. I normally just run away and hide.

I am 33 years old and I have never been on a date, because I am afraid of women. Yet, in the past few days, I have been able to talk to a woman police officer and now to you without any problem. At this moment I have personal problems that I am trying to work out. When I have taken care of them I would like to get to know you better. I was not lying to Gordon when I said that I was very wealthy. I hope that doesn't matter to you one way or the other, but if you wouldn't mind, sometime in the very near future, I would like to call upon you and take you out to dinner so we could talk."

"Well Doctor Luck I haven't had much luck with men in my life. This young man's father took off the day I told him I was pregnant. You would think I didn't have a dollar to my name or a family to back me up. He just didn't want to be tied down to a wife and child. I don't know what you consider 'Very Wealthy,' but I am not on welfare myself. My grandparents left me with a sizable trust fund, and my parents have added to it substantially. I own a few thousand acres of land north of my home in Brighton, most of which I lease to ranchers for grazing their cattle. Some oil companies have approached me to do some research on the land, and I own all the mineral rights below it. So if it's a dinner date you want I think I would like that also. You don't have to worry about a gold digger who is looking for your money, and I don't have to worry about anyone looking for mine."

"Can I ask you a personal question?"

"We have already laid ourselves bare as to our finances, how much more personal can we get?"

"Not much, I guess. Why are we both flying coach?"

"It's something my father used to say to me. ' Have you ever heard of an airplane backing into a mountain?"

"Do you realize how awful that is?"

"My father said it, not me."

"If you are going to listen to your father, you should be sitting in the lavatory."

"There are no seatbelts on the commodes."

"Does Gordon always fly this well?"

"He does with a little Dramamine in his milk."

"You are sneaky. Can I have your phone number and address before we land?"

"Give me your cell phone and I'll put it in it."

"How long do you anticipate being in Alaska?"

"The estate is quite large, and I don't know how long the attorneys are going to need to get everything settled. I also don't know how long they are going to need me here to take care of everything. It could be a month, it could be six months. I just don't know."

"In that case I will just keep calling your number when I get back home. One day you will answer, and I will be at the other end of the line. I will ask you when you are available, and we will set up a date."

"I will look forward to it."

"So will I Jennifer; I never thought I would say those words, but so will I."

I said goodbye to Gordon as he weaved his way down the terminal, and shook hands with Jennifer, although I wanted to do more. I watched her as she walked away from me and wondered what took me so long to get to this point in my life. Oh well, I guess better late than never.

I took out my cell phone and called home. There was still no message from Rod. At this point I knew something serious had to be wrong, but I could wash my hands of it, because Delicious was no longer in my life. I realized at that moment I had not thought about her for almost 14 hours, and it felt good.

I had a three-hour delay in Fairbanks. I stopped at a good restaurant and had a substantial meal, while looking out at the bright sunshine of central Alaska. That is when I cognitively realized I was in ALASKA, and I didn't have a coat. I was fine for 100-degree heat in Austin Texas, but I was not fine for 50-degree Fairbanks Alaska. Thank goodness Fairbanks is a joint use airport for the US Air Force. I went into the military store and purchased everything from boots to whiteout goggles.

When the Sergeant, at the register, asked to see my ID, I showed him my drivers' license which said, "Doctor Even Luck."

He asked, "Are you going to be with us long Doc?"

"No, I am going up to Point Barrow to do some research. There's nothing like going to the end of the world to find nothing."

"Yeah, at least you won't get frostbite at this time a year."

"I did this trip once before in January. I swore I'd never do it again, but here I go."

"You know what they say Doc, 'When they have you by the balls, your heart and mind will follow."

"You can say that again brother. You have a good one, and stay warm."

I signed that the electronic pad for the receipt, and what would cost a civilian nearly $2000 to purchase, cost me $730 in cash, and a little conversation. He never asked if I was on a military mission, and I didn't lie by telling him I was.

Fairbanks to Barrow is 504 miles of the worst turbulence you ever want to fly through. The winds are horrendous and the terrain is mountainous. What the hell was I doing here, punishing her or punishing myself? If I was the one that wanted to hide, I should've gone to Los Angeles. There are more people there to surround myself with, and if there is an earthquake there, I could hide under a fallen building, or a building could fall on me. Bouncing around in this fucking airplane is downright stupid, and so was I for being on it. I couldn't wait to get on the ground. When the pilot attempted to land, and the wheels touched, it wasn't once or twice, but three times before he steadied the aircraft on what was supposed to be a runway. Well, anyway we were down, I was out of airplane tickets, I had plenty of money, and no one knew where I was. Now smart-ass, what are you going to do with yourself; buy a pole, and go fishing? You don't even have a laptop with you. Maybe you should find yourself a hotel room for the night so you don't have to sleep outside in a pup tent.

*************

Delicious did not sleep well during the night. She tossed and turned knowing how upset her uncle was with her, and not knowing how to make it up to him. She did not think she had done such a bad thing, because she thought she was helping him. But it all came down to that one saying, she did notTHINK! What could she do now to make it better? What could she do to make it up to him? She loved him with all her heart. She loved him as much as she loved her mother, but she let him down, and she had never let her mother down. She had only been with him 11 weeks; could she have destroyed everything in so short a time? She hoped that when the sun came up he would talk to her again.

She must have dozed off but the guides got up and they were yelling that someone was missing. They did their count one more time, and someone was definitely missing.

Delicious jumped out of her sleeping bag and yelled, "Uncle Even where are you?"

There was no answer she called out again, and again, and became hysterical when he did not answer. The guides use their radios to call in help. All the mules were there. Guides checked for footprints going towards the river but there were none. They checked for footprints going down the sandbar and again there were none. They checked for footprints going up the donkey trail and found footprints heading up the mountain.