David was cut off by Mr. Thompson coming back into the room.
Mr. Thompson tries to remember where he was in David’s orientation as he recites the following: “Space is filled with vast amounts of dust and clouds of gas which normally block our view. Infrared light though can penetrate these obstacles which allow us to see into the regions of star formations, the center of galaxies, planetary systems that are newly forming, and much more.”
He than decides that he probably already covered this and resolves to end his initial orientation with an invitation to David to continue his understanding and education of the missions, departments, objectives and information already learned from these resources, by visiting the company’s library or viewing the vast amount of information published on their website.
“Let’s take a walk Davy, I’ll introduce you to the rest of the gang.” He then leads David to another building on Moffett Field not far from the main Engineering offices. Upon entering he is led to a large room partitioned into many small office cubicles.
Here he is introduced to his immediate supervisor, Steve, “Department Manager – Infrared Camera Division”. They talk and he is given a tour and meets others in his group. He is shown to his cubicle where he has a desk, chair, computer, file cabinet book shelf, and other various items suited for his job and position.
He is given various manuals and documents concerning the present status of the infrared camera unit that he will be working on. He finds that they are still in the beginning research stages of design. He is left for the rest of the day to get acquainted with the information given him. Tomorrow morning they will have a team meeting to discuss the status and future direction.
The week ends, Susan has returned and has already started volunteering at the space camp.
Since her schedule is Monday through Friday, David arranges his schedule with “RoboTech-West” to volunteer a few hours in the evening, three days a week. This gives him a few evenings during the week to himself and the weekend to spend with Susan.
Waking early Saturday they go for a jog and then decide to spend the day in San Francisco. First stop Golden Gate Bridge. Here they park in the parking lot to the side of the entrance to the bridge. A leisurely stroll across the bridge brings an enjoyable view of the ocean and the city. Various boats sail and motor around the bay. Their conversation turns to their friends Brian, Beth and Kim.
“Brian accepted a job with a financial firm,” David mentions. “I received an E-mail from him last night.”
“Oh, what is he doing for them?” she asks while hanging on to David’s arm and watching the boats along the bay.
“He’s starting in the H.R. department to get familiar with the company. After that there are a few options available to him but he’s not sure where he’ll end up yet.”
“I’m glad he’s finally landed something.”
“Me too. He also says that he has been keeping in touch with Beth and Kim via E-mail on a regular basis. Have you heard anything from them recently?”
“They’re fine,” Susan starts to explain. “Beth is still working at her family’s store trying to learn as much as she can. Kim has decided to continue spending the summer doing various internet research. She’s also started a very rigorous exercise program which includes long hikes and jogs around the nearby hills as well as swimming and light weight lifting.”
David chuckles, “Is she trying to become a body builder?”
“No,” Susan smirks. “She just doesn’t want to get soft and none of us really have much time to keep in shape while in school... If I tell you something promise you won’t tell Brian, at least not yet?”
“He’s my best friend. You know I can’t keep anything from him.”
Susan wrinkles her nose. “Well if you can’t then I won’t tell you.”
“Fine, don’t tell me. I’m not the curious type anyway,” he says as he turns away pretending not to care.
She hits him. “Ok, fine I’ll tell you...” Before David can protest or inquire as to whom she thinks she is satisfying by tattling, she blurts out, “Beth likes Brian. She is the one that started corresponding with him. She even got Kim to E-mail him also so that it wouldn’t look like she was coming on.”
David considers this for a minute. “Well this ought to be interesting. What is she expecting a long distance relationship? She should know they don’t usually work out.”
“Who knows? It might!” she replies sarcastically.
David just shrugs.
The rest of their morning is spent picnicking in Golden Gate Park. In the afternoon they tour Pier 39 and visit the Aquarium of the Bay. A nice dinner at the famous Bubba Gump Shrimp Company followed by a popular comedic show of female impersonators topped off the evening.
Sunday they again wake early from a hotel room in San Francisco. After a simple yet elegant breakfast in the hotel the couple head to Santa Cruz. A morning walk around the boardwalk commences a shopping spree for swimwear.
It’s about 11:00 when David decides it is warm enough to take a swim. “Ready to go in?”
“Do you think the water is warm enough now?” Susan asks.
“It’s as warm as it is going to get.”
They find a public rest room and shower facility and change into their swimsuits. Upon leaving the changing facility they tromp down the beach, along the path at the end of the boardwalk, to the edge of the water. There is a short and narrow inlet that runs between the cliffside and the end of the boardwalk’s beach. The corner of the cliff sticks out into the ocean slightly and there is a hole in the bottom of the cliff made from the waves that allows access to that beach by swimming across the shallow inlet and through the hole in the cliff.
David aims for the hole and runs through the shallow water diving into an oncoming wave. After submerging fully he discovers it’s quite a bit colder than the Atlantic Ocean. He reflects instantly on his memories of growing up in Florida and how the ocean temperature was almost always warm; that it was like being in a bathtub. He grits his teeth and turns around to face Susan and grins.
“How’s the water?” she calls.
“Great!” he yells. “Try to dive into an oncoming wave its fun.”
Susan sizes up the waves waiting for just the right one. She runs about six steps into the water near waist level and stops suddenly, shrieking, “Its c...” just as the wave she was waiting for hits her head on knocking her back and under the water.
David laughs uncontrollably but watches to make sure she arises safely.
Susan bounces up sputtering and wiping the salt water from her face. She looks for David who is still laughing when she spies him, “YOU!” she scorns, sputtering and spitting water. “You did that on purpose.”
David trying to control his laughter now tries to argue in his defense, “Well what did you expect? This is thePacific you know.”
The rest of the summer is typical of this weekend. They work and volunteer during the week and spend the weekend together traveling the popular sites of the Silicon Valley and the surrounding areas.
Chapter Nine
It’s been five years since David began working for the National Space Agency.
For two years after spending that first summer with David, Susan continued to return every summer to continue their romance and routine. Her last summer trip here she returned as a college graduate and started working full time for the space camp as the program director. She and David are married and have a son, Jamie who is two years old.
David has been promoted to team leader on the primary mirror project for the telescope. Progress has continued on schedule. They are completely finished with R & D and now into fabrication. Revisions and new design concepts for support equipment continue. Presently his team is working on revisions for the foldable mirror retention strut.
David and his family now live in a two bedroom house on base with a living room and separate family room which he and Susan use as an office. His portion of the rent has decreased considerably due to his length of service as well as his promotion to team leader.
Over the years, he, Susan, Brian, Beth and Kim have continued to stay in touch and vacation together whenever their schedules permit. They have tried to schedule and maintain semi-annual back packing trips and for the most part have been able to do so. Once in a while one or more of them have not been able to make a trip and the group would sometimes go with the remaining members and sometimes cancel if too many of them couldn’t make it.
Beth was able to start and maintain a long distance relationship with Brian. The regular group vacations helped with her plan. She and Brian are now married and have a daughter, Mary, who is one year old. She has finally started her chain of sporting good stores and now lives in Florida with Brian where she has set up her corporate office. Brian now works with her as a partner and together they manage the chain. Brian still dives regularly but Beth has never taken to it.
Kim has also gotten married about a year ago. Her husband’s name is John Baker and he is a University professor. He has recently taken a position with a University in Japan to head a very ambitious and accelerated English program for Business men and women. Kim is doing freelance journalism work for various newspapers and magazines. She coordinates and conveys information back and forth to the U.S. via E-mail and the internet.
David and Susan have just received an E-mail from her that reads in part,“...there’s a bun in the oven. Sonogram shows a girl. We’ll name her Sarah.”
Susan is now a certified SCUBA diver. She learned the second summer she came out to visit David. She and David spent quite a few weekends diving various coastal locations in California and Mexico.
Brian even came out a couple of times to dive with them that year. He has decided notto do it again, the water being too cold for his enjoyment and style of diving.
The third summer Susan came to California she and David took a few weeks to go to Florida and visit Brian and Beth. They spent half of their time SCUBA diving the Florida Keys. Susan has now become hooked on warm water diving also, not just because the water is warmer, but because the amount of equipment and gear you need to carry or wear is reduced and the most important factor being the visibility and scenery under the Atlantic Ocean. The coral reefs alone are enough to cause almost any diver to desire to dive these waters on a continuous basis. She and David find they are now diving in California less often.
It’s Tuesday evening, David sits in front of the TV, head in hands with an anguished look on his face. A newscast is on screen presenting a story about an escalated religious conflict in the Middle East and the deplorable living conditions that result from the fighting. The story shows families leaving their homes to escape the bloodshed. It shows people starving due to the lack of potable water. The land they take refuge in is barren and unable to produce crops.
He shakes his head, then pauses considering something. He reaches for his lap top and punches a few keys taking him to a website that he has visited many times before. The title reads: International Peace Core. Familiar with the site he quickly clicks on various links taking him to the ‘Volunteers Needed’ section. He clicks on the category entitled ‘Engineering’. As he scrolls through the list of available positions he notices that a few more Mechanical Engineering positions have been added. He clicks on one. Just then Susan enters returning from work.
“Hi hon. Whatcha doing?” she asks.Depressed, David just shrugs, then loosely points to the computer and flops back against the couch throwing his hands behind his head and stares at the ceiling.
“Nothing,” he says. “Forget it.” He reaches over and shuts the laptop.
Susan recognizes this routine. “The Peace Core again?”
“Yeah,” he answers reluctantly while scratching his chin and staring at the floor.
She drops her bag on the chair near the door and sits next to David and kisses him on the cheek. “David, I’ve told you many times before, if you want to do this then do it. We have enough money saved and Jamie and I will be fine while you are gone. Besides, I’ll still be working while you’re away.”
“But it would be a whole year. I don’t really want to leave you guys alone that long... I don’t know.”
“You know, military wives do it all the time. I’m telling you we’ll be fine. You’ve been volunteering with the school now for a long time and that doesn’t seem to be enough for you. You need to do this or you’ll continue to be miserable and you’ll probably regret it if you don’t at least try.”
He is about to continue with this discourse when the phone rings. He leans towards the end table adjacent to the couch and picks it up, “Hello”.
“...Is this David?” the voice on the other end of the phone asks.
“Yes it is.”
“This is Roger, Brian’s father... I have some bad news.” There’s a short pause and David can hear sobbing in the background. “Brian is in the hospital, he’s in a coma,” Roger states matter of fact and sounding as if he is going to cry any minute.
“What?” David responds, not quite sure he heard the message correctly and then deciding quickly that if he did he doesn’t want to make Roger have to repeat it again. “How... what.... happened?” David asks hesitantly.
“He had a SCUBA diving accident and ...” Roger tries to explain but his voice ends up crackling and David can hear him sobbing.
“Its Ok sir, I will come, we can talk when I get there. Where is he?”
“Tampa General.”
“Ok, I’ll be there tonight if I can get a flight, or tomorrow at the latest.”
“Ok, see you then.” Roger hangs up.
David just sits blankly staring at the framed picture of a Morey eel which Susan took on one of their dive trips to La Bufadora, near Ensenada, Mexico last summer. He tries to wrap his mind around the idea that Brian could have had a SCUBA diving accident. He was a highly experienced and safe diver. “How could this have happened?” he mumbles to himself.
“What is it?” Susan nervously asks.
David snaps out of his transfixed state and picks up the phone again. “Brian’s in the hospital,” he states as he dials information.
Making sure she heard him clearly she somberly asks, “Brian’s in the hospital?”
David holds up a finger as he writes down the number to the airlines. He hangs up the phone and looks up at Susan wide-eyed. “Yeah, Roger said he’s in a coma. I’m going to try to get a flight out tonight.”
Knowing how close David and Brian are she reaches over and hugs him tight, “I’m so sorry,” she says wiping away the tears from her eyes. “I would like to go also.”
“What about Jamie?”
“I think we can leave him with Nancy for a few days. I have to go pick him up right now anyway. I’ll check and see if she’ll watch him.” She leaves for the short two minute walk to Nancy and Doug’s house, all the while thinking, “Oh no, poor Beth she must be devastated. There’s no maybe I must go, she’ll need me.” Susan cries as she continues her walk.
David calls his department manager and explains the situation and is told to take as much time as needed.
He is packing for his trip when Susan enters with Jamie. “Nancy said it’s Ok to leave him. I brought him home now to feed him.”
“That’s fine; we may not be able to leave until tomorrow anyway. I tried to call the airport but the line was busy. I’ll try again in a minute.” He finishes packing and dials the airport again. He finds that there is a flight out tonight in about three hours. “We can make it,” he thinks and books the flight.
While Susan packs, David calls Robert and lets him know that he will not be able to volunteer for at least a couple of days and briefly explains the situation.
Susan makes her phone call in order to get excused from work. She then feeds Jamie and gives him a quick bath in the kitchen sink.
David puts the luggage in the car while Susan takes Jamie to the babysitters. They make it to the airport with forty-five minutes to spare.
David and Susan arrive at the hospital and find Brian’s parents, Roger and Lily, in the hallway outside Brian’s room. Roger is trying to calm Lily when he sees David and Susan walking towards them.
“Davy’s here hon.” he says to Lily in an attempt to get her to look up and greet them.
She tries to stand as she attempts to reach out to David but her legs fail her and she sits back down. David holds her hands and follows her decent while bending and hugs her tightly as she lands back in the seat.
He stands erect and hugs Roger. Indicating a chair he says, “Here, please sit down.” Roger sits and David sits next to him.
Susan hugs Lily, “I’m so sorry for your pain,” she says offering her sincere apologies. “Brian will pull through. I know as well as anyone how strong he is. You have to believe that he will fight.” She attempts to be polite and supportive. However, her true desire right now is to see her friend, and Brian.
“Thank you dear,” she cries. “I’ll be ok. You should go try to comfort Beth; I know you two are very close.” She smiles and pushes Susan’s hand gently toward the door into Brian’s room.
“How is he?” David asks.
“Still in a coma,” Roger replies trying to regain his composure.
“You said it was a SCUBA accident?”
“Yes, apparently he was diving with a couple of newly certified divers. They were on their way back in and low on air when one of them, not reading the undertow correctly, got caught up in it. According to the third diver, Brian seemed really calm when this guy signaled distress and was yelling “lost buddy”. He said that Brian looked at his gauge, sized up the waves and dove back down. Since this third guy was still new to diving and the fact that he was almost totally out of air, he did not attempt to follow Brian.” Roger blows his nose and continues, “They found him attached to the second guy floating out away from the undertow not breathing. They gave him CPR on the rescue boat and he regained respiration but not consciousness. When they checked his gauge they found that he had run out of air.”
“What about the guy he went after?” David asks.
“He didn’t make it. They figured he probably got knocked around by the undertow and lost his mouthpiece and drowned because he still had a few hundred pounds of air in his tank.”
David ponders this for a minute. “Was Brian’s BCD inflated?”
“No, actually the other guy’s was,” Roger answers.
“That doesn’t make sense. Brian would have used his air to ascend.”
Remembering something Roger looks up. “That’s what one of the rescue divers said also, but then noticed that the mouth piece was full of sand and said that it malfunctioned and that Brian probably lost his ‘ascending breath’ trying to get air from that regulator.”
David shakes his head, “no, he would have used the guy’s octopus.”
Being familiar with the various gear and terminology from watching Brian and David go off on various diving trips over the years, Roger simply replies, “Didn’t have one!”
“He didn’t have an alternate?” David asks clarifying the previous comment.
“Not according to the rescue team.”
David is about to continue the discussion but decides not to. He considers inquiring about the third diver in order to have a conversation with him concerning the absence of an alternate regulator but figures there is no point now, it won’t change anything. On second thought he thinks, “if I bring to his attention the advantage of carrying an alternate regulator and explain to him how it could have saved Brian and possibly his friend, since we do not know exactly what happened down there, and how it could possibly save his or another person’s life in future dives, maybe he will start to carry one. Wait, this third diver may have had an alternate, maybe it was just the second diver that didn’t.” David decides to abandon the idea of confronting the other diver.
Susan finds Beth sitting beside Brian sobbing and holding his hand. Her heart breaks as she witnesses her friend in so much pain. “Beth,” she whispers.
Beth looks up and gently puts Brian’s arm back on the bed. She stands and hugs Susan and finally let’s loose of her emotions and starts crying almost uncontrollably.
Susan lets her cry for awhile. After she calms down somewhat, Susan sits next to her on the bed and comforts her as best she can.
“Darn him!” Beth cries. “Why did he have to try to help? He always has to be the hero.... darn him, darn him.” She starts crying again.
Susan spends a couple of hours comforting Beth and listening to her tell the same general story that David had received in the hallway. The five of them spend most of the night by Brian’s bed. Finally the nurse comes around. She offers a comforting smile and explains, “You should all go home and try to get some rest. Visiting hours have ended long ago. You can leave your phone numbers at the desk. If his condition changes we will surely call you.”
It takes quite a bit of persuasion to get Roger, Lily and Beth to leave but with the help of David and Susan, they agree.
“I’ll call a cab,” David says as he starts to head for the nurses station.
“No.... it’s ok. I have my car here. You can drive David,” Beth offers as she fishes for her keys. “You guys can stay at our place.”
David starts to protest, “We can get a hotel...” when Susan gives him a look that tells him to stop. “Ok, that’ll be fine. You sure you have the room?” he asks feeling a little uncomfortable.
“Yes, we have a few guest rooms, please don’t worry about it.” Beth turns to Roger and Lily, smiles and says, “Mom, Dad, you are of course welcome to stay with us if you would prefer not to be alone. We can stay up and talk, I can make coffee.”
Roger smiles, “Thank you Beth but I think we would get a better sleep in our own bed. I think some quiet is what we need right now.”
Beth hugs both of them, “I understand, it’s ok we’ll see you tomorrow.”
David offers them a ride but Roger declines.
Friday arrives. This is the third morning David and Susan have awakened in a spare room at Brian and Beth’s house.
“Hon, I think I need to get back to Jamie,” Susan says holding onto David’s arm in a comforting manner.
“I know, it’s alright, I am going to stay a while longer though. Who knows maybe Brian can hear me when I talk to him. If nothing else I need to be here for me and his parents. But I’m going to check into a hotel.” He doesn’t need to explain how uncomfortable he feels here alone with Beth.
Susan understands and nods.
Joining Beth downstairs for breakfast they sit around the table and talk about Brian. Afterwards while Susan and Beth continue to visit, David calls the airport to arrange Susan’s flight back.
The three of them take Beth’s car to the hospital and proceed up the elevator and down two corridors towards Brian’s room. David heads to a pay phone to call a taxi for Susan while the gals go in to see Brian.
“Brian, I hope you can hear me,” Susan whispers leaning over him. “We all love you and hope you come back to us. David and Beth are here with your parents and they miss you terribly,” she continues with tears flowing down her cheeks. Wiping the tears away she adds, “It’s too soon for you to go, please wake up...” she sobs. Her voice fails, she can’t continue. She stands and hugs Roger and Lily. “I am very sorry for you,” she whispers. “I’ll pray for Brian....and you both.” She smiles and gives each of them another hug and turns to Beth. “I will pray for Brian,” she says crying softly. “Try to be strong. I’ll call you tomorrow. Give Mary a hug and kiss for me.”
They both hug and say their good-byes.
David walks her out of the room and down to the waiting taxi. He gently wipes the tears from her eyes. They talk for a minute, kiss and she leaves.
David, Roger, Lily and Beth spend the next two days by Brian’s side in the hospital. David continues to talk to Brian convinced that Brian can hear him. He talks about their childhood, vacation adventures, Beth, Kim, and Susan. He asks about the SCUBA accident wishing he could know exactly what happened, knowing though that he may never find the answer.
“Jamie is getting so big you should see him. You wouldn’t recognize him,” he tells Brian. He talks about his job and the RoboTech program that he volunteers his time to. He talks for two days, sharing his time only with Brian’s parents and Beth.
Suddenly, around 2:00 Sunday afternoon Brian opens his eyes and gazes straight ahead as if listening to someone. He then turns his head and stares intently at David. Smiling he says, “Don’t worry I’ll be alright.” He pauses briefly and adds, “And so will you. Tell mom, dad, and Beth I love them but I can’t stay.” He loosely points tono one. “They say it’s my time. Kiss Mary for me.” He closes his eyes gently, takes one last breath and is still.
David is stunned! He doesn’t know what just happened or what to do. He just stares at Brian.Instantly right after his last breath, David sees what looks like a thin translucent gaseous wisp rise from his friend. It hovers slightly above his body and then floats towards David and stops. The wisp then gracefully ascends up towards the ceiling and disappears. He is mesmerized by the sight and fixates on the ceiling.
“Beeeeeeep!” Suddenly David’s attention is drawn to the heart monitor that is making a loud steady high pitched noise. He glances frantically around the room for Roger, Lily or Beth and then remembers they stepped out for some lunch. He bolts at a full run towards the door just as a group of people come rushing into the room with a crash cart...
Moments later Brian is pronounced dead!David is crushed. He sits motionless in a chair numb and just stares at the sheet covered body. It’s Roger who now attempts to console David. Lily and Beth are in the hallway hugging and crying.
David stays in town for the funeral which is two days later and then returns home.Chapter Ten
Brian passed away six months ago. David, still depressed continues to mourn his friend. Recently he began having recurring dreams about Brian. Even though the dreams show his friend as happy, he still hurts from the loss. In his dreams he sees his friend in a beautiful dwelling of some sort and gets the feeling this is his home.Can this be true, that we actually have a place of residence as spirits, do we even need one? I always thought that as spirits we have no real body and just float around without the need for sleep, food or other material possessions.He shakes his head to clear the thought and continues considering the specifics of the dream he just woke from once again.The same thing every time: Brian leaving this ‘house’ and traveling to another dwelling of some sort with a sign that displays a picture of a crystal ball. The door is always open and Brian seems to be waving someone in. I wonder if this is supposed to be me.He sits up in bed and rubs his face and the sleep from his eyes.There is the same woman sitting by a table, eyes closed, pen in hand and a tablet resting in front of her. The dream always ends here.David shakes the thoughts from his head once again and gets up to ready himself for work.
It’s Thursday afternoon in mid February. David is at the San Francisco International Airport to drop off Jerry, one of his team members. Jerry is on his way to the Kennedy space center in Florida for a meeting with upper management concerning the present status and timeline of the telescope project.
While Jerry checks in, David picks up a copy of the San Jose Mercury News.Let’s see what’s happening in the Bay Area this weekend,he thinks as he scans the paper looking for the “Entertainment” section. Thumbing through the pages he glances past a coupon for a free psychic reading with Madam Mary. He turns the page and immediately flips back. On the coupon is a drawing of a crystal ball like the one he’s been seeing in his dreams.THAT’S IT!he thinks.He stares at it for a few moments trying to make sense of the coincidence. Without further thought he tears the coupon out of the paper and sticks it in his wallet.
Jerry returns ticket in hand. “My flight doesn’t leave for another forty-five minutes David. You can take off if you wish, there’s no need to stick around.”
They discuss for a minute the upcoming meeting in Florida. David offers to pick him up upon his return. They each say good-bye and David departs.
Susan had asked David to stop by the store and pick up some household and baby items on his way home. He considers the market on base for acquiring the needed items when at that very moment his stomach growls.I guess I’ll get some lunch first,he thinks. He remembers a shopping center next to a little Italian restaurant