There Must Be a Mistake Ch. 09

"How did you guess? I'm a very good Doctor you know. So now tell me why you're fucking with your children's minds?"

Robert said, "I really like this doctor of yours mom."

"Robert no matter what I do to her today, I can never get even with your mother. What she did to me while she was in my care is still to talk of North Westchester Hospital, and she was there before you were born. She was such a bitch of a patient; I was thrilled when your father kidnapped her. The only problem was, he brought her back; alive."

"Joyce remember I am still alive and I can still cause you trouble."

"No you can't, because I received a phone call from your father this morning."

"What the hell is going on in my life? Is everyone ganging up on me?"

Dr. Nall said, "Children, one, two, three: YES!"

"Fuck off Joyce."

"Be nice Patti or I will call your father."

"How does it feel mom?"

"It feels like someone's going to have to pull my head out of my ass. Joyce knows what I was going through at the time, and I am sorry I put the three of you in my place. Should I get some help Joyce?"

"Why, you are as dumb as the rest of us. Just let your kids grow up. Help them; do not stop them from doing what they want to do, as long as they are not going to hurt themselves. No smoking, no drugs, no guns, 'no sex'. Your father told me to put that one in. Let them be as normal as I am, not as abnormal as you always have been. Let them fix the world we screwed up."

"Joyce you always were a pain in my ass."

"If there was ever a pot calling the kettle black. Get the hell out of my office; you are wasting my sick patients' time."

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

"As they were walking down the hallway to the elevator, Laura and Anna grabbed their mother's arms.

Anna said, "Mom if I wanted to be a doctor I would want to be one just like Joyce."

"That is Dr. Nall to you missy."

Laura asked, "Are you going to hold on to Timeless?"

"Why would I hold on to Timeless?"

"So the three of us can help pull your head out of your ass."

"We still have a lot of talking to do Laura. It is not going to be as easy as all that. I admit I made many, many mistakes, and I will do better. You will have many more options, including the option to leave if you still want to go. There is a lot of money riding on the project Dr. Luck is proposing. Billions of dollars are going to be spent, and billions more possibly to be made. We are going to discuss that today amongst the adults. You do not talk about dollar amounts that size amongst children."

"I don't know why mom. It is just a number followed by nine zeroes."

"When you start making that kind of money, you can say to me it is just a number followed by nine zeroes."

"I never will, mom. I am going with them. Please don't yell, if you do I will leave and go to grandpas."

Using every ounce of control she had, Patricia reached into her pocketbook, took out $200, and handed it to Laura.

"Please go there now before I start screaming. If the two of you want to go with her, please do."

Robert went with Laura, while Anna continued holding her mother's arm.

"I know you wanted to go with them; why did you stay with me?"

"Someone had to stay with you and bring you back to dad. It always winds up being me."

"Was I so wrong this time?"

"She wants to uncover the secrets of stasis. Do you believe she would stay behind and not experience it for herself? She wants to live or die in space to find out if she was right. If you did it, would you stay behind and never know if it worked?"

Patti thought about all the work she had done in the past, and then wanted to hit herself. "I am such a fool. She is me, and I am her. Would you call her please and tell her I have to speak to her. Tell her I understand now. I will not yell. I just want to talk."

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

41. Take Me To Your Leader

I received a phone call from Philip Castronova late Friday evening, East Coast time. It was only 7:30 PM here so I wondered why.

"Dr. Luck, we would like you and your family to be our guests in New York tomorrow afternoon at 4 PM. If you want us to be your partners in this venture you will be here to meet your boss. It's not that we don't think you are capable of doing it, but you are a scientist and not a leader. A jet has been chartered for you, with a 9 AM departure time from Denver International. There will be a limousine waiting for you at LaGuardia Airport to bring you to us. The decision is yours. Goodbye Dr. Luck.

Philip didn't wait for my reply. If I wanted them as my partners, we would be at the airport by 8:30 AM. There was no doubt in my mind we would be there.

I yelled to everyone, "Pack a bag; were going to New York tomorrow morning."

I heard Gray yell, "Stop, you're not dressed."

Their bedroom door opened a fraction and Delicious yelled, "Why are we going to New York?"

"The people who gave me $30 billion yesterday want me to meet my new boss in our 'Space' adventure. If I agree they will back us in that venture also. They want us all to come. I believe they would like you to be dressed however."

"Very funny daddy, we were just straightening up the room."

"You two do the funniest things at the weirdest hours of the day and night. Jennifer and I would be getting ready to fuck ourselves to death right now, but you two are just straightening up your room, while you are naked; how very British of you."

"Very funny, actually dad, I think you're hysterical. I believe that's $20, isn't it"

"I believe I can afford it. We will leave at 7:30 AM, if you finished straightening up your room that is."

"We will try our best to be on time.

Jennifer walked out of our room wearing a very tiny and sexy teddy. "Delicious, we will try to be on time also."

Delicious stared at my love. "Show off."

Gordon popped out of the bathroom, and saw his mother standing there.

"Mommy where are the rest of your clothes, you're almost naked."

"Yes Gordon I know. I was just yelling at your father, because he hid the rest of my clothes, and I can't find them. He's coming into our room now and getting them for me. However, he has to put you in bed first."

"I can get into bed by myself if you want. You must be getting cold standing there like that."

"Oh no Gordon, I am getting very hot standing here like this, very hot indeed."

"Dad I think mom means she's getting angry with you. You remember, the inappropriate use of the English language thing, where one word means something else."

"Yes Gordon, I know exactly what you mean. I can handle the trouble your mother is mentioning. Let me put you into bed. We are flying to New York City in the morning. I will pack your bag, after I wake you up."

"I hope you're not in too much trouble dad."

"Don't you worry about me son, I'll take care of your mother, even if it takes me all night."

"Thank you for being so good to my mommy. I love her a lot."

"I love her too, Gordon. I'm going to love her an awful lot tonight too."

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

The limousine dropped us off in front of the Pierre Hotel, directly across the street from Central Park. On the outside the hotel looked like grand old lady. On the inside, she was totally awesome. Our bags were taken from us, and never seen again until we were in our rooms later that day. No one had their hand out looking for a gratuity. Apparently, our benefactors had taken care of everything in advance.

We were taken to a private meeting room, where fresh fruit, coffee, cake, and other desserts were available in such varieties they were too numerous to count. Gordon did a great job at sampling each and every one of them. I had to warn him not to get sick on the sweets.

Several minutes later, Philip, Celeste, and Antonia joined us. We had a polite conversation but nothing important until the other families started filing in. I was amazed to see the difference in Patricia Valentino. She was smiling and playful with her children. Something had happened over the past few days that had changed her. I wondered if she was now on medication.

We were all seated at the table, still talking in generalities until the door opened again. Everyone jumped to their feet, even my daughter.

"Dammit, sit down I'm not the President anymore."

The man who walked in behind him said, "They didn't stand up for you, mighty mouth, they stood up for me."

"Go back to your room Fred, and write a speech for the opening of the Supreme Court."

"You know me Mr. Grumpy; I did that day court recessed."

I asked Gordon if he knew who these two men were.

"Dad the tall one is President Atwater and the smart one is Fred Hastings the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court."

Pres. Atwater asked my son, "What do you mean the smart one, young man?"

"I read about your relationship with Judge Hastings when I was two years old. If it wasn't for him you would not have been Governor of Connecticut or President of the United States."

"Where did you read such lies?"

"It was in your wife's book Mr. President."

"I never did get around to reading her book. I think I'll kill her when I get home."

Fred said, "Why Sir, all she did was tell the truth. I wrote all your speeches, did all your research, and told you which shorts you were wearing. The only thing I didn't do was dress you in the morning. I'm sure Ms. Julia did that for you."

"You mean you weren't hiding in our bedroom watching?"

"No sir, I was busy making love to your niece. You do remember what that's like sir, don't you?"

"Why did I ask you to come down here? I was having a good day until now."

"Ladies, gentlemen, I must admit I have no idea what I am doing down here at this moment. Would someone care to give me the particulars?"

Everyone pointed towards me, even my traitor of a son. I stood up and introduced myself.

"Mr. Chief Justice, my name is Dr. Even Luck. Our group is here today to discuss a privately funded operation to send a large group of people into space. We will not return. Our destination has not yet been determined, but we have the means at our disposal to do it. We have the ability already to leave earth's atmosphere without using hydrogen and oxygen to blast our way off this planet as current governments do. That technology will be made available to our government after we leave the planet, not before. We want to be first to go to the stars."

"Dr. Luck I have read about your exploits in the paper a few days ago. It would appear some people don't like you very much, and they have access to some very powerful and illegal weaponry in this governments' arsenal. How do you propose to go about this venture of yours?"

"Believe it or not sirs, the hard part, the propulsion units, are already in place. We have conquered Earth's gravitational problems by negating them. For the next six years our total focus will be on the science of design and function. The craft will be totally non-metallic. It will be carbon fiber, ceramics, and polycarbonate materials that have an extremely high heat and cold resistant.

I have already spoken to eight prominent scientists to see if they would like to join us in designing this vessel. Once I announce it to the world others will come to join us.

I am putting my total fortune on the line for this project. These fine people will be adding many billions of dollars to that. The long-range gains they will see from their investment are unlimited, because I am going to put most of the new patents in their names.

My family will be joining me on this adventure. My wife Jennifer is going to be the pilot in command. My son Gordon is the navigator. My daughter, Delicious, is in charge of the engines. Dr. Grayson Thyme and I will be working side by side with me designing the structure itself. Currently he is working with NASA on the Orion project. He will be leaving that agency shortly.

Laura Valentino is going to be working on one of our most difficult problems 'Stasis.' We have to conquer that before we can leave this planet. We cannot carry enough food for 100 light years."

Laura said, "Excuse me Dr. Luck, but I won't be working on the 'Stasis' project alone. My mother has agreed to work on it with me."

"I noticed a smile on your face this afternoon Patricia. Have you come out of your shell?"

"Thank you for not putting it the way my children would have put it, but yes I have taken my head out of my ass and rejoined the human race."

"For myself and for this project can I say I could not be more pleased with your timing?"

"Thank you Even I will be as much help as I can. The rest will come from my family."

At that moment, the door to the room opened, and a large birthday cake was rolled in by a chef in a large white top hat. He was followed by Dr. Oyster and the six-member flight team from Orion, in their NASA flight uniforms. Each of them was carrying a large brown box.

Dr. Oyster said, "Mr. President, Mr. Chief Justice, please excuse this interruption. We found out the Savior of our mission to Mars was in New York and we had to take this opportunity to thank him properly. No it was not just Dr. Luck, but that little imp sitting beside him. The four year old monster named 'Gordon Luck', took my three PhD's and made them look like paper fit for kindling. He found seven errors in the Flight Program to Mars that would have killed these astronauts before they passed the moon, and we would never have known why. Then, Dr. Luck, Gordon, and their computer fixed the problems with my Newton-Milli-Thrusters. I had been working on that problem for nearly 17 months, and they fixed it in a matter of days. The computers at Cal Poly are now being reprogramed because of these two men, and their marvelous computer. Ours was giving us incorrect information, and we never knew it.

Gordon we were going to try to do this in Colorado, on your real birthday, but when we found out you were here, we decided to do it today. These are the men and women you saved. They are not pictures in the newspaper, or people you see on television. They are flesh and blood like you and me. I wanted you to meet them, and they wanted to meet you, just to say thank you. They also wanted to give you and your family a small gift to show their appreciation."

One by one every member of the Orion team shook Gordon's hand and thanked him for his work on their project. Then they took up a position behind us.

The mission commander put a leather jacket with NASA, and Orion symbols emblazoned all over it on him. The best part was on the back of the jacket. Emblazoned in gold was the name, "FLASH GORDON."

Everyone in the room applauded as Gordon the glowed in his new possession.

Suddenly, I was asked to stand. They gave me an identical jacket to my son's, but I was Dr. Zarkov, the good scientist, who was trying to save the earth from eminent disaster.

One by one every member of my household received a jacket.

Jennifer's jacket was emblazoned with the name of Flash's sweetheart; 'Dale Alan.'

Delicious was Princess Aura. Gray received the title 'Ming the Merciless.'

Delicious could not let this opportunity pass without commenting.

"Gee Gray, they don't even know you, yet they know you so well."

"Did you just say you wanted to run through Central Park tonight?"

"I only brought high heels with me dear."

"I'm sure there are sporting goods store in this big city."

"If you find one I'm sleeping in a different room. You can't say a word about it either, because we are not at home."

"I can say one word dear; BITCH."

"You know me so well."

"Are you two children finished now?"

"Yes dad, I've put him in his place, for now."

"If everyone would join me in singing happy birthday to our son; we can throw him into his birthday cake."

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

After the festivities ended, I asked Gray and Delicious to watch over the children, while Jennifer and I listened to what the President and the members of the four family's wanted from me to proceed with this project.

As I expected, Delicious wanted to stay, but Gray picked her up by her ear lobe and said, "Would the last teenager in this room, come with me please?"

"Not funny Gray, that hurts."

"You're moving aren't you?"

"You could be dead by morning."

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

Celeste took over the meeting, because she knew me the best and the longest.

"Even, you may be the most brilliant person and scientist I have ever known, but you do not know how to run an operation this large. You have given yourself a 10- year timeline. You told us you are going to need thousands of miles of carbon fiber. You can't be at the factory watching the men putting the fiber into molds to fit your specifications. You can't be at the extruders to make sure that everything comes out at the exact thickness, and hardness that is required to take the stresses of light speed. You need someone who knows how to run an operation this large. You and your fellow scientists take care of your work. Let President Atwater set up a team of top-notch administrators that will report back to him, and make sure everything is done properly. You do the science; let him do the administration part.

Stephano has agreed to take care of the financial aspect of the project. All the funding goes through him. All the purchasing goes through him. There will be no delays. If you need something, you will get it as fast as humanly possible. The same will go for your fellow scientists.

It would be nice to mass-produce everything locally, in the United States, especially that nuclear engine. The timeline for that is going to be a bitch. The Nuclear Regulatory Agency is going to go over that design with a fine toothcomb. Its internal workings are so radically new it's going to take them a while to get their heads around it. The ceramic casing is going to blow them out of the water.

If they piss us off, we will have it built in South Africa, transport it here encased in lead shielding, and load it onboard the spaceship, weeks before your departure. Our lawyers will be able to stall them in court long enough for you to leave their jurisdiction.

If the government will not allow you to build your spacecraft on federal property, we will buy a large enough tract of land for you to build it on, and launch it from safely. We will build a temporary building around the spacecraft, to fit the parameters of your design. We will guard it like the military guards Cape Kennedy. No one gets near that facility without proper authorization. All you have to do now is say yes to Pres. Atwater being in command of this operation and we are behind you, with our money, and our businesses one hundred percent."

I did not hesitate, because I hate paperwork. It takes too much time and energy. It also causes aggravation, because some kid at the other end of the telephone typed in a 6 rather than an 8, and sent the entire order to Saskatchewan, instead of Santa Fe.

"Yes!" If you would you like me to say it again for emphasis, I will?"

"I think that will do Even. I said you were the smartest man I ever knew."

"Mr. President I think she just insulted you."

"Fred, you insult me all the time."

"Yes, but I earned that right. I was still a teenager when I started working for you. I took your abuse, since I was still an impressionable child. After 26 years of working for you, you had to get rid of me, and put me on the Supreme Court just to get rid of me forever. I knew every one of your tricks, and you couldn't take it anymore."

"I told you I would get even with you."

"No sir, I am going to get even with you. Four of your pet projects are coming to the court within the next three sessions. Should I tell you which way I am going to vote?"