Dedicated to my sister, Jo Ann, for whom this story would not have been told otherwise and my loving wife, Loretta, for all those hours rereading and prodding.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Any resemblance to reality is purely coincidental, all characters and places are fictional.

(If you think you’re in it, you’re deluded)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All cover art and text content is the original creation of the owner and all rights are retained by copyright.

What is will be again

 

 

 

            Leo’s gaze fell upon the Tiger. It was an unrecognizable smoldering hulk as the fire suppression system had expended the last of its reserves. The thirty-foot long vehicle had a hole nine feet in diameter that encompassed the front right hand corner. The hull was blown cleanly away and the hole covered more than a third of the nose and almost a quarter of the right side as well as a section of the roofline. The caterpillar track on the right side was twisted and broken like an old worn out discarded watchband. The rear left corner was mushroomed out as a peeled banana from the exit of the devastating weapons effect. The interior was completely gutted and burning debris was strewn in all directions but mostly in a path down range in the direction of the hit.

            Leo’s gaze was abruptly torn away as someone rolled him onto his back. If the Tiger was dead, he could not be far behind. A convulsion forced a warm fluid out his mouth and it ran down the corners of his lips and along his cheeks into his hair. He knew it was blood but it didn’t matter. A golf ball would have easily passed through the hole in his left upper chest that perforated his body.

Through his glazed eyes he looked into a maroon sky with pink and orange streaks ripping across it. Deep blue and violet shadows formed on the underbelly of the high altitude cloud layer that was bathed by the bright red-giant star’s light that hung low on the horizon.

He gasped for breath but only a slurping sucking sound was reward for his effort. His body was dyeing, but he had no fear. Slowly he entered a So Shin Do trance and as the shimmering sky faded an image formed of a boy that lived a carefree life and had a mind filled with adventures.

 

                                                                                 FEARSOME

                                                                                        Chapter 1

                                                                                  Boys will be boys

                                                                                   BY Dean Dodson

Deep inside the pirate's hideout Leo slithered along the cold moist cave floor, flashlight in hand and fantasies of pirate treasure about to be liberated on his mind. He loved it down in the dark dreary mine that once produced small amounts of silver and copper. It was latter used by the military, during a long past war, to conceal war secrets and Leo found small tidbits, left behind in the following peace, which he collected under his bed.

He had never been this deep before. He was in uncharted territory. In the past he noticed that the tunnels that were wired with electricity always led to neat stuff and it was a thick harness he had been following all afternoon. All of his maps were based on electrical circuits. He would just let the wires lead him where he wanted to go. All of the main circuits led to main distribution panels near the entrance. He could recognize the older installations; coax and fiber-optics always led to dead ends but the old style rigid conduit would lead him to the best of the treasures.

Most of the treasures at the ends of the tunnels were moldy reports about air defense deployments during World War Two, stuff that held little value to anyone except Leo. To him they were treasures. Sometimes though he would stumble across a forgotten box or crate. The ones marked “eyes only” were the greatest of all. They were the Holy Grail of his searching’s. Once he found one marked JFK and passed it over when he couldn’t open it.

Today he had high hopes of coming across something special. He came to an intersection and his light flickered. The high intensity LED, Light Emitting Diode, lamp was guaranteed for life and the power cell was lithium ion with a 2000-hour life. The hour counter indicated only eight hundred used. He continued down the tunnel following the cabling as he updated his map programmed into his handheld visa-view. His light abruptly went off and he was in total darkness. A rush of fear shot through his body, he had been stuck in the dark before and it wasn’t a pretty sight. This time he had his radio and his visa-view. When he checked them they were dead as well.

He reached out with his right hand and found the wall of the tunnel and placed his left hand on it turning around. He felt pretty sure that he was facing the way he came. He took one step and his light and other equipment powered back up. He heard about strong magnetic fields killing devices before in science class. He turned around again and slowly pushed his visa-view along in front of him until it went dead again. He probed along the mouth of the tunnel. It was like a vale that would not let him pass.

He shined his light as far as he could distinguish into the darkness. The 70,000-candle power was welcome at times like this. Just at the edge of the beam of his light something glistened. Definitely metallic. Leo couldn’t resist the call of his treasure. He placed the light on the ground and aimed the beam in the direction of the metal form. The first step was the hardest one to make, even for pirates.

He didn’t really have a clue as to what was waiting for him in the darkness. He saw mostly nothing in the old mine but dusty tunnels but there was the bottomless pit near the entrance. He froze. A blast of adrenaline shot through him and he almost ran for the safety of the light. He used So Shin Do mind control technique to control his fear. As he relaxed he noticed a glow coming from behind his treasure. His curiosity got the best of him and he headed towards the dim glow. As he approached it he could make out a filing cabinet as his target and the glow seemed to come from the cabinet itself. He reached for a handle and the glow radiated from within the top drawer. He slid it open and a bright light escaped, pushing the darkness aside. It took several seconds for his eyes to adjust to the brightness. A set of folders was highlighted for his attention. He grabbed up the files and stuffed them into his booty bag. At the first touch the strange light ceased. In the distant total darkness of the mine he could hear, no, feel a powerful humming. He had never detected any sounds other than the ones he made before. There definitely were more secretes concealed beyond his reach that was cloaked in the impenetrable dark. It made for a formidable deterrence.

 

On a hot, sweltering summer day in the desert of California the dust hung heavy in the air as the sun lightly touched the horizon and cast long shadows across the air base's housing complex.  A tall slender blond went to the front door of her humble abode. She leaned on the doorway and gazed out at the uniform, modular houses of the modest officers quarters. The only movement was the dust carried on the lazy breeze. She opened the screen slightly, smelling the hot, dry atmosphere, and thought to herself. This dry air is turning my skin into a lizard’s. She had been young once. But that was before her last birthday. Now she was only mature. She could still hear her son saying so. There was a new wrinkle at the corner of her eye to prove it. She didn’t mind her life. Though at times like this, she would fantasize about what her life would have been had she followed her career instead of her husband’s. Hell, in this environment she might as well have been in the Gobi desert digging up artifacts.

She called out, "Leo, dinner's ready!" She paused, not really expecting a response and called again, "Leo...dinner!"  She waved the dust from the air. She thought to herself. That boy, he's out of pocket again. She feared she would go mad if school didn’t start soon. Returning to her work, in the small brightly decorated kitchen that she worked so hard to liven up, she turned the almost ready potatoes. Through the steam, from the glass pot, she checked the large silver clock hanging above the halogen cooking surface and realized her husband was going to be late again, as usual. He kept such long hours. But she understood the pressures of required performance and being faced with deadlines. Her father pushed her so hard when she was in school, the thought of failing was simply not accepted as a possibility. That seamed long ago now. And to think she was wasting a Master’s degree. Her father would turn over in his grave if he knew. She stirred the potatoes again. She finished at the top of her class and really expected to continue and earn her P.H.D. But then her new husband received his orders to the Middle East. The stress proved too much so she dropped out of the program.

 Irritated, she traversed the room to the base-station radio set that sat on the small table in the corner. Her son and husband built the radio together during one of the rare slow-downs at the flight test center. Larra switched the frequency control to channel fourteen. While letting the transceiver warm up, Larra checked that all the settings were correct, the boys gave her such a rash when she didn't get it right. Larra keyed the microphone, "Base one, mobile two. Base one, mobile two." After no reply she turned the squelch down to a minimum. The set crackled and hissed as she keyed the microphone once more, "Base one, mobile two. Base one, mobile two respond please." Listening to the erratic popping from the speaker, negative thoughts raced through her mind. Base security had been very blunt about the consequences if her son were caught in a restricted area again.

From outside came the whaling sound of an ambulance and Larra could almost see her son in the back rapped in bandages from head to toe. The siren slowly drifted out of earshot.

Rapidly losing her patience, she griped the microphone firmly and almost shouted, "Base one to mobile two, respond young man!" Only the screeching radio answered her call.

 Staring thoughtfully at the speaker she mumbled to herself. “If that boy is out on the missile range again I'll kill him myself, if some jet jock doesn't do it for me. Well, he's probably down at that old mine. If I've told him once I've told him a thousand times.”

 In a last ditch effort to make contact Larra cranked the RF gain to the peg and keyed the microphone one final time. Speaking in her always clear, educated tone, she strained not to yell, "Leo, if your down at that mine you’ll be grounded for a week. You have got ten minuets to get your empennage home for dinner."

 She left the table and proceeded with the ritual of preparing dinner, she counted the seconds. Once the ten minuets were exhausted she returned to the radio. This time she went for broke and switched on the thousand watt linear booster.

 The thought crossed her mind, that even if the signal didn't reach him under-ground then at least the people in Mexico and half of the Reformed United States of America would know one ten year old boy was in big trouble.

 

Suddenly the hand held transceiver on his belt squawked to life. "Leo, if your not home in five minuets you'll think your butt is in napalm after I'm through with you and I'll call the M.P.'s... You remember what your father said he would do the next time that happens. Base one, out."

Leo finished arranging his gear exclaiming, "Oh-my-gosh! Mom's gunna' kill me for sure!"

He ran all the way to the mine entrance throwing caution to the wind at the bottomless pit where his trusty, rusty bicycle awaited his return. In his own mind even if he had fallen into the pit it would have been a quicker end to his impending judgment. During one of his earlier expeditions Leo kicked a piece of electrical conduit over the edge of the pit and never heard the expected clang at the bottom and there after he was convinced that there was no bottom at all. There was evidence of an elevator hoist and it surely must have been the express ride to hell. Leo pedaled at full speed across the desert sands. It was most of an hour before he arrived in front of his home panting and gasping for breath.

As he climbed off his bike he heard the approach of a flight of jets turning on final. Because of the screaming scramjets passing over head he could only see his angry mothers lips move as he climbed the few steps to the porch. Boy was he glad.

Leo had his mother’s eyes and his father’s face. His dirty hair was usually a light blonde but now covered with the dank mine’s dust it was a dirty brown, the same color as his father’s.

Once inside, his mother demanded, "Well Lt. Fearsome, just where have you been?"

Looking down at the sheepish little boy she could see a miniature version of her husband looking back at her. Her mood lightened only slightly.

               "I...I tried to call in but there's something wrong with my unit." He croaked in reply.

"Uh hu...well, lets take a look." She said with a suspicious glare.

               "Well...I...I took it over to Jim's and we fixed it over there." He said, looking down at the floor in fear that his ruse would be seen in his guilty face.

"We'll see what your father thinks of your bull-lony story. Now get in that bathroom and get cleaned up for your cold dinner.

"Perhaps you'd rather spend the next few days working around the house."

“Oh Mom.” Leo said, knowing he deserved more than just a few days for his disobedience. He went to the bathroom to check out his haul for the day and maybe wash his hands.

   At that moment the visa-view chirped its singsong tones. The proximity sensor diligently watched for someone to come to the machine and when Larra did, the image of Leo's father flickered into a bright high-resolution picture.

 Lt. Colonel Johnithan Fearsome was a gentle but commanding six foot three inch, two hundred forty ponder with light sandy brown, curly hair cut to regulation. His handlebar mustache was the constant center of harmless teases. In addition to being the Armed Forces Martial Arts heavyweight champion, he was the senior test pilot for the Air Force of the Reformed United States and also the most highly decorated combat pilot of the “Rag Head” wars of the 2020's.

"Hi love, just called to tell you I'll be late so don't hold dinner."

"Oh, thanks for the early call. It's already stone cold."

"I'm sorry dear, I got tied up in a briefing. You know, sometimes I wonder if Donnols is trying to kill the program."

"It's okay really. Leo's been a pill all day. Boy, will I be glad when school starts again." She brushed her soft hair from her face reviling the strong yet lovely portrait.

"Yah, I bet.”

“What do you mean about killing the program? You all have worked so hard.” Her brow wrinkled in thought.

“Oh, I don’t know. He just throws wrenches into the works sometimes. Hay, I have to go...oh, that reminds me. General Donnols wants us to go over to their house tomorrow night for cards."

"We sure are lucky they don't mind being beaten continuously. What time?" She said with a chuckle.

"He said about nineteen hundred."

"Okay, love you, bye." Larra said longingly.

"Bye, now." Johnithan saluted her as if she were the Chief of Staff.

Larra turned from the visa-view to find Leo standing behind her, face still grimy. "Well, Mom looks like it's just you and me for food again."

"Get in there and wash that face, you silly thing." She shook her head as she watched Leo hurry into the bathroom and wondered who he would become with so much mischief at hand.

Leo examined the papers he obtained at the mine. Several old style photos showed pilots that were involved in a secrete mission. The lead pilot was Wade Fearsome. He was standing next to an XB-70, high speed and long range test bed and was in full flight gear. This must have been in the nineteen sixties. No Fearsomes showed up on his X-plane pilot list other than his father, Leo knew them all by heart going all the way back to the Bell X-1. Aviation trivia was one of his and John’s favorite past times. He would have to look at this stuff in more detail later.

 

In hanger eighteen Lt. Colonel Fearsome and Major Randy (Rod) Phillips inspected the new top secret, prototype fighter code name "Have Hammer". The air superiority/anti-satellite orbital vehicle's design specification centered on the ability to take-off and land on standard, National Aerospace Plane, twenty thousand-foot runways. It would cruse at Mach four with dash speeds up to Mach six below ten thousand feet and Mach twenty-six plus at high altitude with low-earth orbit capability.

The operational atmospheric range on internal hydrogen-slurry fuel was four thousand miles plus optional weapons bay tanks to extend the atmospheric range to seven thousand miles. Duration in orbit was not to exceed forty-eight hours. Payload was to include all inventory missiles capability.

 The Colonel caught up with Rod after the day’s successful mission. He had been unable to attend the post flight briefing due to the meeting with the General. His interest was more than curiosity; he had a need to know. "Major, how about a summery on your post flight report?" The Colonel asked.

"Yes Sir. All prescribed objectives were accomplished without any failures to perform. The thrust vectoring programming change you ordered increased efficiency by five percent." The Major replied.

"Thanks, Rod how did it help with takeoff roll?"

"I'm not sure. Do you want me to get a report from telemetry control?"

"No, I'll do it myself. You coming to the tournament in the morning? It's my son's brown belt test." Johnithan said with that sparkle in his eye only a father has. "And besides I need someone in my corner for the exhibition match."

"Wouldn't miss it John. Are we through here?"

"I don't see why not. O' eight thirty at the coliseum?"

"I'll be there Colonel. What happened with General Donnols today? He looked like a well fed shark when he left."

“I’m not sure myself. He ordered me to audit the prime contractor again and to not proceed with flight testing until it was complete.” John said with a shrug.

“What does he expect you to find? I’ve never worked with a better group. They’re under budget and ahead of schedule but not for long if he keeps this crap up. I don’t know how you’ve kept this program rolling.”

“And they’ll stay that way if I have anything to do with it. I’m on my way over there now to get the audit started tonight. I have some over-time money left over from Phase One I was saving for a rainy day. With luck, we’ll be back in the air by next month.”

“He’s not on that material contamination thing again is he?” Rod asked with a raised eyebrow.

“No, I put that wild goose to bed once and for all with the X-ray diffraction analysis results. Even he couldn’t question double blind results from five different labs.”

“What a bull dog.” Rod said shaking his head.

“Easy there pard. He is in command and I’d hate to have to bust you for insubordination.” Johnithan looked over his shoulder as if watching for a spy.

 “Yah, that would blow. On second thought, would I get out of the audit oversight duty?” Rod saluted sharply and hurried out of the hanger walk through door.

Johnithan didn’t bother to answer. He returned the salute and shook his head with a smile. “Your dismissed, Major.” Johnithan could not figure out what the General would gain if the Have Hammer program were to be canceled. The general had nothing to lose, his position was secure, but how could he profit from it? The whole situation didn’t make any sense. Fearsome on the other hand would suffer dearly. The program was his responsibility and if heads were going to roll from failure it would be his first. John finally said out loud. “Over my dead body.”

John loitered in the hanger like a hungry wolf appreciating the awesome aircraft looming over him as though it were his pray. He anticipated the time when the flight envelope would be expanded to the point that it would be his turn to reach out to the stars and take the Hammer trans-atmospheric at last. But alas, that was still nine months on the development schedule. The disappointed pilot booted the nose gear tire as he left for home and his loving wife and son. As he departed he turned for one last look.

The Have Hammer's graceful, tail-planeless sloping lines of the fuselage appeared to have no cockpit canopy and mated with a thirty six foot, variable geometry wing span that telescoped to a full fifty feet for low speed maneuverability. Devious looking active canards on the nose gave it the look of a huge bat with fangs as the small forward wings drooped down slightly. Twin low drag, variable geometry intake nacelles flowed to the two, eighty thousand pound output, axial-flow hydrogen-slurry, turbo scram-jet engines and were coupled to wide angle thrust vectoring nozzles. The plane was coated in a stealthy, three tone gray camouflage and was a beautiful yet frightening site to behold. The four internal weapons bays provided an ample supply of carnage capability.

               John shook his head and thought as he turned to leave, Man, I'd hate to be on the receiving end of that. He knew that no machine could fully makeup for a poorly trained pilot but with this plane even a cadet could expect to give an F-22 handled by a veteran a run for his money and with the same veteran it would be unmatched in the skies.

               That night Leo studied his liberated goods in earnest. There wasn’t much on the pilot named Fearsome or of the others for than matter. Inside the reports it described how the Air Force covered up the crash of an XB-70 making it look as though it was an accident during a photo shoot. An F-104 Starfighter was caught in the currents surrounding the XB-70 and sucked up over the back, spun around one hundred eighty degrees and smashed into the center of the right wing, tearing off both vertical stabilizers and damaging the left wing tip as well. After several seconds of struggle to maintain control of the doomed plane it departed into a flat spin and only one of the pilots was able to eject just seconds before impact. But what really happened was an aircraft that was never photographed caused the crash. Witnesses described an aircraft of unknown design using some kind of weapon on it causing a mechanical failure. It was the only airframe to be totally lost but the program was quietly shut down and forgotten. It was the first time Leo came to understand that the government would do just about anything to hide the truth. He knew the stories about Roswell and Area 51. They were legend but now they seem to hold some truth. It was fun to think that his family had a connection to those legends.

 

               Leo practiced his katas every day in hopes of advancing to the brown belt in Tae Kwon Do. The judging panel would test very hard a young boy trying for such a high degree position. He also knew that he had to defeat an opponent in combat to prove he had mastered the techniques of that level. For a full hour after every workout he meditated on style and conquest for future success and mental centering.

               John taught Leo the path of the So Shin Do technique of meditation from the time Leo first showed interest in martial arts. Leo demonstrated control few ever attained even after years of study. John learned the So Shin Do path when he had toured in South East Asia from a Master of the lost art. As far as John knew he and his son were the last of the So Shin Do practitioners. In the way of the So Shin Do, masters would reach levels of consciousness that entered the realms of the paranormal. The technique was a combination of ancient Taoist yogic breathing, mediation and exercise methods with emphasis on acupressure patterns to direct bio-energy, but more than that it was a method of directing that energy with conscious intent of the spirit. Part of its very name means spirit way in Japanese. Its roots dated to over five thousand years and was believed to have been developed in secrete monasteries in Japan during the feudal pasts when Shogun ruled and only his philosophies were excepted and all others were criminal acts against the state, being caught practicing meant sure death. As a result the art was hidden and fell into obscurity passed down through family lines until the path led to the Fearsomes. The technique saved John’s bacon on many occasions during combat and test flights when superior concentration meant the difference between life and death. The ability to focus his mind while pulling G’s so high that other pilots would blackout allowed him to outmaneuver his foes sending them to their fiery deaths or regain control of experimental aircraft after it separated from its flight path and overcome other deadly conditions that threatened him.

The next morning Leo and John were up early going over advanced maneuvers for Leo's fight and doing yoga exercises to extend his flexibility. John was amazed how quickly Leo learned and knew he was a one in a million natural. Leo seemed to learn through osmoses, he only needed to see a technique demonstrated once and he could reproduce it with almost perfect precision. It had taken John most of five years to reach the brown belt and now Leo was about to obtain his in less than three.

It was already warm and the sun was just beginning too bath the base in golden light when Larra called the boys for breakfast. She prepared Leo’s favorite pancakes made with blueberries and cashews. Leo invented them when Larra had been in the hospital for minor surgery. At the table, Leo was very quite and removed. John watched his son quietly pick at his pancakes. John had no trouble remembering his first really important competition in his second year at the academy.

The gymnasium was packed with cadets and the sounds of excitement echoed off the whitewashed walls. Everywhere John turned someone was yelling for him to knock the other guy's block off. John hadn't wanted to fight his instructor but when his Captain discovered John had held a black belt for five years the Captain forced him into a demonstration match. Now that John was in the ring he was determined to win. John was in his prime and his instructor was several years older but had been competing for a very long time. After the dust had settled both fighters were in pain and exhausted but no one had won decisively, it marked the beginning of John's amateur fighting career and was a very important transitional point in his life.

John broke the silence, "We'd better eat light, don't you think Champ?"

"Yes Sir, I don't want to be weighted down." Leo said as he traced an intricate hand technique in the air.

"You still need your nourishment even if you are super mutant ninjas from outer space." Larra said with a smile.

"Oh, Mom." The boys chorused in harmony.

“Hay Dad, you ever hear of a pilot named Wane Fearsome?”

“Sure that was your Great Grandfather.”

“What did he do?”

“He flew SR-71’s and TR-1’s for the CIA.”

“Wasn’t the TR-1 similar to a U-2?”

“That’s right.”

“The SR-71 was that really fast one, wasn’t it? The Blackbird I think.”

“Mach 3.5 cruse.” John held his hand out and Leo slapped it.

“Did he ever fly the XB-70?”

“Oh, you mean the North American Aviation, Valkyrie. Man, what a plane. It was designed as a high-speed long-range bomber. Cost the Russians plenty. They developed the Mig-25 just to counter it. Then we ended up not even fielding the damn thing. Honey,” He turned to his wife. “It had wing tips that folded down sixty five degrees at high speed to produce compression lift so that it could fly at higher altitudes. Let’s see, first flight was in…1964 and last flight was in 1969. It had the best lift to drag ratio of anything designed up to that time. It was the first plane to cruse at mach 3, publicly anyway.”

Larra just nodded her head as she tended the pancakes. She rarely heard the details of the lessons on aviation history. Not that she didn’t care, she had just heard it all before at one time or another.

John looked at his son wondering where he was getting those questions. “I don’t remember Wane ever being involved with development programs. But he could fly anything with wings. It was said that he flew the 747 carrying the Space Shuttle once when the real pilot got sick. Now why he was even on the plane to begin with is a mystery.”

“That’s not the only one.” Leo said as the family got up from the table to leave.

“You’ll have to tell me about it some time.” John rubbed his boy’s hair.

Leo wasn’t ready to confess his ventures into restricted areas again.

The family soon left for Los Angeles where the tournament was to be held. John made sure that his shotgun was loaded and locked in its slot along the driver’s door of the dark brown electric van. The shotgun traveled any time the family did. There had been a recent increase in insurgents from the south and the gangs were stepping up hit and run strikes along the highways leading into L.A. and a Fearsome wasn't going to go down without a fight.

The ride in the electric cruiser was smooth and quite with only the soft hum of the motors and occasional bump in the ceramic road. There was no way of knowing when they left one city limit and entered another because it was solid with buildings the entire distance from Edwards Air Force Base to L.A.

From the back seat Leo watched as the scene scrolled by. In the distance he could see several gun-ship helicopters circling an area hosing it with rapid fire cannons. Only after a bellowing cloud of black smoke rose above the skyline, did the choppers cease their attack.

"Those dirt bags won't be so cocky next time. Will they Leo?" The Colonel said looking at his son in the rear view mirror.

"No doubt." Leo could almost feel the stick in his hands as he envisioned himself strafing the gang hoards.

As they pulled into the packed multi-level civic center parking lot, Leo got a strong rush of adrenaline that sent a chill up his spine that was triggered by the thought of reaching his hard sought goal. They spiraled up to the top level where they found a parking slot and joined the crowd that was funneling across the sky-bridge into the coliseum. The coliseum gleamed like a giant pearl in the mid-morning sun. This event was one of the biggest in California and was a good place to see the top competition for the different championships, even though there were no titles on the line.

Leo and John had pre-registered via the Internet so they only needed to check in with the judges and obtain their locker numbers then change into their uniforms. The locker room was packed with males of all ages who had come from all over California to test their skills and become ranked in the national listings. Leo was at the far end of the huge locker room and couldn’t even see his father as he slipped into his traditional costume that bore his family logo across the back. The logo was made up of an open hand over a closed fist forming the top of a triangle, the arms sloped down forming two sides with a staff making the third side across the bottom, an eye between brain hemispheres was in the center of the triangle. He recognized some of the other people from the events he had attended in the past. He tipped his head with respect as he made eye contact with those that showed recognition. Leo made his way to the kata test mats and could hear the crowds respond to the exhibition fights that were being carried out on the upper level of the coliseum, that was where John would be by now working through the elimination portion of the day’s activities. If Leo passed the kata test he would go there next as well.

After waiting behind a long line of students that grew longer throughout the day Leo finely met his judge. The short Asian women looked at him with a frown of doubt as she examined his test request. Her hair was pinned in a bun atop her head and she wore a belt that was black with four white slashes at the ends. Leo bowed deeply to her and she returned it with a shallow tip of her head and called out the katas in order of progression. When Leo had performed the last required style she ordered him to demonstrate the different kicks and punches in a series that started with the simple to the advanced. Before she stopped she had progressed into techniques that were delving into the levels of the black belt. She hardly seemed impressed that Leo never faltered even when taxed beyond the required techniques. Sweat streamed down Leo’s face and he was sucking air past his teeth laboriously. Without warning she declared him passed the kata test and placed an adhesive backed sticker on his uniform that allowed him access to the combat test and the upper level of the coliseum. Leo looked at her in surprise and she bowed deeply and smiled at him as though she was his best friend, at that point she surly was.

Johnithan advanced through the elimination bouts without harm and Leo was surprised to learn that three hours had passed sense he had left the musk smell of the locker room. Larra congratulated Leo on his effort and reminded him of the next step to his brown belt. “You looked good out there kid. Do you think you’re up to the combat test?”

“He can handle a fifteen rounder. Can’t ya boy.” Rod said as he punched Leo on the shoulder.

“Hay, Uncle Rod!” Leo shouted with a confident grin. Leo wasn’t as sure as his face portrayed. His feet felt like lead weights and his hands were like bricks.

“You’ll be fine Son.” John said as if he had read Leo’s mind. He knew exactly how Leo felt, he had been there many times before.

They took a break for launch and ate light and drank water to keep their strength and fluids in the green. After which Johnithan sat Leo down and talked him into a trance like meditation.

Leo found himself in a cool lake with blue waters that supported him like an air mattress. As the light waves of refreshing coolness lapped across him his fatigue faded until he was totally at rest and had slept a full night’s worth. Just as suddenly cumulus clouds gathered and continued to build and he drew strength from them. Soon the clouds were a ragging storm and with every strike of lighting Leo became more powerful until it seemed as though he could defeat an army single handedly.

When Leo opened his eyes he could hear the throngs of people around him and was almost surprised to find them there. “How do you feel?” John asked him. It was time for Leo’s combat test and the judge was motioning him to his staging circle on the mat.

“Great, thanks Dad.”

“Get em, Leo!” Rod said.

“Be careful Honey.” Larra said as she hugged him.

“Oh Mom.” Leo’s cheeks turned a bright red.

 John strapped Leo's gloves and pads on while trying to keep his son's attention off the other boy, who snarled every time Leo looked over. Leo’s state of relaxation started to slip away as his surroundings soaked in. He tried to control his anxiety but all he could see was the boy across the mat, the way he spat into a bucket and wiped his chin with the back of his hand. He looked mean. Leo became so nervous that the world seemed to close in around him as he stepped onto the mat. The moment of truth for Leo had arrived and he had to defeat the large, tough looking young man that stood at arm’s length. He was about to explode with anxiety as he waited for the judge to step onto the mat. The blood rushing through his ears was all that he could hear as the judge began the match.

The taller, more mature boy made the first move with a front kick at eye level followed by an advancing back-fist, reverse punch combination.

Leo parried the kick, sidestepped the fisted attack and countered with a spinning back-kick, which landed in the ribs of the other boy. Leo was scored a full point and they returned to middle court.

Apparently unaffected by the blow to his side, the young man resumed his attack upon the signal from the judge to start. He threw a series of over hand strikes with lighting speed, one of which landed and brought a flood of bright red blood streaming from Leo's nose. He was awarded a full point.

John had to hold Larra back to keep her from stepping across the white line that marked the out-of-bounds to help her son.

"If I weren’t a lady I'd slap a hair lip on that bully!" She said as she covered her eyes.

John just smiled and said. "Yah, he's damn lucky he's not fighting you." Rod held back an urge to laugh.

The doctor was called out to determine if the match could continue. After examining Leo vary closely and being able to stop the bleeding he decided to let them resume their contest.

Leo stooped to adjust his shin pad and catch his breath.

His father told him. "Leo, it's okay. Center yourself. Don't let him hit you like that again and everything will be fine."

Leo thought that was about the dumbest thing he had ever heard. He remembered the time back at their work out room when he had gotten too cocky and his dad had knocked his head off and he had just fought that much harder. This time was no different and this guy was a lot smaller than his father.

"Kick his butt Leo!" Rod yelled shaking his fist.

With his newfound determination he stepped back onto the mat with a round of cheers from the crowd.

The judge gave the signal to begin and Leo attacked with a ridge-hand strike followed by a reverse punch. His attack was effectively fended off. Leo continued the assault with a stepping sidekick that put his opponent off balance. Leo pressed forward with a front leg snap-kick that caught the other boy out of position and connected so hard Leo thought he had broke his foot, instead it had broken his adversary's jaw. The boy was laid out on the mat as the doctor made his examination and stopped the match. Leo was given a full point for scoring the hit making his total score two to one, which gave him victory and his new belt. There was a mix of positive yells and boo’s coming from the crowd as the judge raised Leo’s hand above his head. Leo bowed to the judges and the other boy’s family who had rushed to his aid then jumped high into the air with elation.

Larra ran from her seat and grabbed her son with loving affection and said to him, "Are you all right Leo? I'm so proud of you. You'll eat steak tonight."

Tears formed in John's eyes as he opened his mouth to speak but only croaking sounds emerged. He roughed up his boy's hair as he hugged him hard enough to make Leo gasp for air.

"Thanks Mom, Dad, I love you both so much." Leo said softly.

With the excitement of Leo's accomplishment behind them they pulled together for their next challenge. The military had sponsored martial competition for years in an effort to bring ever more aggressive recruits into the ground forces as a result many members of the military were active in all levels of amateur and professional contact sports. Most of the lead ranking, martial arts competitors were also combat veterans on active duty.

John's most dangerous opponent was Gary Cortez, a NCO in the Special Forces who had virtually walked through all of his adversaries. Gary was known in all of the cyber news as the “One to watch”. He was ruthless. Fans referred to him as a practitioner. He had studied around the globe and enjoyed displaying his exotic forms. He was more than a stand up fighter or a wrestler or a martial artist, he was an expert by every definition in the book. He had run out of serious competition in the pro circles and found artist in the amateur leagues. Fearsome was his next target. Their match would be the last one and the highlight of the tournament.

Rod made his way through the other competitors and spectators to congratulate Leo and to help psych-up John. "Hey, well executed moves kid!" Rod rubbed Leo's head knocking Leo's hair into his face. Rod turned to John. "You ready to punish that army flatfoot?"

Rod had known the Fearsomes ever sense the last “Rag Head” war and was John’s wingman during that time. He was of medium build and had a boyish face that made him look much younger than he really was. His short premature graying hair always looked like it needed combing and would have been quite curly if it were aloud to grow out.

John said without even the slightest amount of apprehension. "I intend to make him whine all the way back to Fort Bening."

"Sergeant Cortez has requested Freestyle rules. You going to go with it Colonel?"

"Why not?" He shrugged his shoulders.

"Why not? Why not? I'll tell you why not. That guys a killer. He might fight by the rules but he won't hesitate to use dangerous locks or holds. What if he breaks a bone? How will you fly then?"

"Look Rod, I've had some two hundred matches in the last fifteen or so years and not all of them fought fair. I can take care of myself. Okay?"

"Just be careful Colonel." He put a concerned hand on John's shoulder showing the friendship that went back to the days of the “Rag Head” wars. It wasn't the first time Rod had seen the Colonel take risks. Back when they fought together in Syria, John was known as the "Man of Flame" because he refused to disengage from the enemy until his plane was either burning or the enemy's was. Needless to say, John kept Air and Sea Rescue busy on a regular basis.

"I thought you were supposed to get me charged up not burn me out."

Rod shrugged his shoulders. "Since when do you need anyone to light your fire?"

John punched Rod on the shoulder with an affectionate tap.

The public address system boomed the announcement of the main event. "Ladies and gentlemen the moment we've all been waiting for is about to begin. This is a non-title bout scheduled for three regulation rounds. The three knockdown rule applies. Much to the enjoyment of all, this is a Freestyle contest. Will the competitors please report to your assigned corners?"

John headed toward the main event ring with an air of confidence. Larra held Leo back as she let her husband go striding through the crowd without them. She always had the need to be separated from him at least physically when he took risks with his health. She knew there was nothing she could do to stop him and she was more afraid to try. She could easily remember the pit in her stomach the day he shipped out on his first combat tour of duty and the lecture she had received when she tried to get him to retire his commission. She could also see how much Leo was becoming like his father and wouldn’t risk the pain to change it.

Once in the ring the introductions were commenced. "In the blue corner. Weighing in at an even two hundred forty pounds. The two-time Armed Forces Heavyweight Champion with twenty-five consecutive knockouts for a total of sixty-six wins, two draws, no losses. Lieutenant Colonel Johnithan Fearsome!" The crowd roared with approval and there was a long pause waiting for the crowd to settle.

"In the red corner weighing in at two hundred thirty seven pounds, founder of Praying Mantis Kenpo, five time National Amateur Heavyweight Champion, Two Thousand Twenty five Olympic Gold Medallist with an impressive amateur record of one hundred fifty five wins, no draws, no losses. Staff Sergeant Gary "The Dark One" Cortez.” Again the crowd exploded in waves of inpatient expectation.

The two warriors met briefly at center ring long enough to receive the typical explanation of rules by the judge which neither of them heard, and a quick bow to each other and the judges. They stepped back, faced off and the match was on.

The first round passed without much action both men cautiously sizing the other up. Fainted and pulled faked moves attempting to draw the other into a mistake filled the seconds. The crowd sat in silence holding their collective breath waiting to see who would fall into the trap first. When the bell rang closing the round a loud gasp filled the coliseum.

The second round however was much different. The bell rang and Cortez almost ran to Fearsome's corner growling like an animal and attacked with a furious volley of kicks and punches.

Fearsome parried and blocked until Cortez left himself open to a counter-punch, which snapped his head back showering the audience seated within five rows with sweat and blood from above his eye.

Modern civilization was not that much different than those of ancient Rome or any of the other blood thirsty cultures and these people were very hungry. They leaped from their seats almost diving in competition for the blood that sprang forth.

Undaunted Cortez came back with an elbow that made it through John's defenses to his Solar Plexus that knocked the breath and his mouthpiece out. Cortez continued to pound Fearsome until the bell finally saved him.

Fearsome staggered back to his corner breathing laboriously. "Man, he almost knocked me out." He said gasping for air. Sweat poured from every pore as he fought for control of his body through the pain.

"I see that. Swallow." Rod commanded as he squirted water into John's mouth. "Don't let him get inside you, he's using Kenpo so watch out for more of those inside elbows and knees. Now get him!" He slapped John on the back.

"I think I'm getting to old for this shit." John said as he stood to return to battle.

The bell rang and again The Dark One met Fearsome on his own ground slamming every hand, foot, elbow or knee he could into John.

Just when it looked like it was all over, the champion in Fearsome came to life. John stepped through a doorway in his mind and the world took the back seat as he handed back with each gloved fist payment in full for that which was distributed across his body. He was making a historic comeback. John could see in slow motion, Cortez’s hand met his wrist at exactly matched velocity, and remained in contact as he recoiled. John was only aware of the contact because of his heightened senses. He was powerless to break the hold and the resistance that wasn’t there. It was as if Cortez had fused himself to Johnithan and when the force reached an apex he found himself flying over the top rope out of the ring and crashing into the mob of people that had (luckily for him) rushed the ring in hysterical jubilation.

Rod thought John was injured in the fall and threw in the towel ending the match. As the blood stained terry cloth left his fingers he knew he had made the wrong choice.

John rolled to his feet with fluid motion, infuriated with Rod's action, and stormed over to where Rod, Larra and Leo waited.

"What did you think you were doing?" John roared at Rod, who took several steps back while Larra moved between them.

"Now John, calm down! We all thought you were too injured too continue." Larra pleaded in defense of Rod.

"I'll see you all at the cruiser." John said, coming down slightly from his rage. He turned away and stomped off.

"Hey, old man, want to finish this now or wait for the Armed Forces Championship." Gary called to John with a laughing sneer.

"Up yours, ass hole!" Leo yelled back and gestured a crude sign language with his hand.

"Leo!" Larra scolded.

Rod gave Leo the thumbs up when Larra wasn't looking. And Leo returned the signal to Rod.

 

                                                                                       Chapter 2

                                                                          A Long Way From Home

 

Nine months passed and school was in full swing, so was the Have Hammer program. The flight performance envelope expanded on schedule and was safely under budget. Johnithan had been at the controls for the last two test flights; ever sense the operational altitude had exceeded eighty thousand feet MSL, above Mean Sea Level. The Have Hammer’s engines had been up-graded to their final configuration that included the advanced scram-induction boosters and the direct hydrogen flow accelerators that inject hydrogen slush directly into the afterburner stage. With the package in place the Hammer would be capable of extra-atmospheric flight modes and sustained low-level, hypersonic speeds.

"This is the Hammer taxing into position and ready for takeoff. Do you copy? Over."

"Anvil, to Hammer. You are rocking our sox off. All indicators are green. You are cleared for takeoff on our mark."

 

Leo was in the school chemistry lab packing his solid rocket engine for the rocket club. He was thinking about Wane Fearsome, it had frustrated him when he was unable to obtain any information about him on the Internet. It was as though he had never existed. Only a birth certificate was listed for him. He had found him in a photograph with a group of early astronauts and he was in Air Force colors but Leo couldn’t make out the shoulder patch or rank. He tossed the puzzle around in his mind several times when the building shook from an unknown force.

Leo thought. Oh boy not another earthquake.

The chemistry lab door burst open and Jim, a chubby kid with a good sense of humor, came sliding through. "Leo! Me and the guys were in the electronics lab listening to today’s flight test on Sidney’s new radio and it sounded like the flight might have run into trouble." Even though security was tight there was little that actually happened on base that the officer’s wives didn’t know about and if they knew then so did everybody else. Rarely did really important information leek but pillow talk was inevitable. Leo heard that there was a “big” test today and that his father would be at the helm.

Leo's heart sank to the bottom of the ocean and his stomach clawed at his throat. As tears formed in his eyes, he ran from the room yelling back. "You better not be playing games Jim, my dad's flying today!" He ran all the way home trying not to think of the unthinkable, the terrible possibilities, that threatened to break his heart. His father often talked about the dangers of his job and the possibility of war but it always seemed like he was speaking about someone else. Leo never considered how he would react if his dad were gone forever. The thought scarred the blood right out of his face.

As Leo arrived home, a base motor pool car came screeching to a stop in front of his house. He ran inside panting to find his mother waiting with her purse in hand.

"They're here for us, let’s go Leo." She said with an expression of pain on her face, Leo had never seen before. He was still trying to catch his breath as they entered the rear compartment of the staff car.

When Larra met John she thought he was indestructible. She would watch him as he performed feats of courage and it would make adrenaline shoot through her body but as they grew older she began to see their mortality. John's tours in the Middle East during the Rag Head Wars had left her an emotional derelict. And when John requested return tours, time after time, she knew that all she could do was wait and pray for him to survive until the end of the conflict. Now this conflict threatened to break her once and for all. She didn’t need to hear the explanations or the apologies and sympathy would never make up for the years spent knowing that this day would come.

Without saying a word Leo began preparing for the news he knew was coming, as he knew his mother was. The short ride in the dark blue staff car was deathly silent except for the soft wine of the electric motors. Leo had never been in the administration complex before and starred wide eyed at the modern architecture. Most of the buildings were tall sweeping skyscrapers but the one they approached was low lying and more closely resembled a bunker.

When they arrived at the administration building General Donnols was waiting for them in the lobby. The lobby had a low ceiling and was exposed dull concrete with thin gray carpet, which did not convey a warm invitation. Pictures and models of the lineage of the X-planes were around the parameter of the room, under different circumstances they would have been interesting to Leo but he hardly even noticed them today. After a solemn greeting the General invited them down into his subterranean office. They went through the security scanner booth and submitted to genetic identification verification after which they were issued a pass they wore prominently on their chests.

The ride in the elevator was hardly incredible except of the length of time it took to travel into depths of the underground complex. The doors finely opened exposing the General’s office. Leo looked around the large room, his gaze stopping on an oak display case filled with brightly colored ribbons with gold and silver medals hanging from them, some of which Leo recognized from his father's case in their workout room at home. He was tempted to mention the fact that his father had more medals in his display case than the General but thought better of it.

               When the silence was broken the General spoke in a soft, matter of fact tone as he sat behind his large hard wood desk. "Larra, I'm so sorry to have to tell you this, but at O'nine fifteen hours, the plane your husband was flying malfunctioned and was destroyed. We're still searching the splash-down area but there's no chance that he survived, not from that altitude and speed."

The words were too much for Leo to bear. His emotions exploded from him. "You don't know he's dead! Don't say that about my daddy!" Larra rapped her arms tightly around her son trying to squeeze the pain out of both of their hearts.

Choked with tears, she asked. "Can we hear the flight transcript General?"

"We don't usually allow civilians access to that information but because we go so far back I'll make the exception. Are you sure you want to Larra?"

"Yes, I have to know what happened." She said sniffing back tears.

"Very well. One minute while I set it up with telemetry control."

After what turned out to be several minutes on the visa-view the General made the declaration. "Larra, they're ready. They're going to patch it through to us now." He pushed one of the brightly lit buttons on the visa-view control pad. "This is audio only."  

"Chase One, to Anvil. I am in position."

"Anvil to Chase One, roger that. Anvil to Hammer, come to full power and release for liftoff."

"Hammer acknowledged. Throttle setting, one hundred percent. Power response nominal. Releasing breaks now."

"Telemetry control to Anvil, acceleration: six G's; angle of attack: thirty degrees; velocity at mission time three seconds: point two five-mach. We have lift-off."

"Hammer to Anvil, altitude five thousand feet. Rate of climb, fifty thousand feet per minute. Indicated velocity, two point two six-mach and increasing. Changing angle of attack to seventy five degrees."

"Anvil to hammer, we confirm your data. Turn to heading two eight three for your window."

"Hammer, coming to two eight three. Power now at ninety percent, reducing throttle to ninety percent."

"Telemetry control to Hammer, mission time four minutes. We now show acceleration, six G's. Angle of attack seventy five degrees. Velocity, eight-mach. Distance down range, twenty-five nautical miles.

"Hammer to Anvil, five seconds to throttle back, mark."

"Anvil we copy."

"Hammer to Anvil, Throttle set at sixty percent. Power level at sixty percent. Acceleration steady. Velocity twenty two-mach. Altitude two hundred twenty thousand feet."

"Telemetry control to Hammer, we confirm your data."

       Several minutes passed and all was going as planned the technical chatter continued between the ground stations and the airborne units when at fifteen minutes mission time something went very wrong.

"Telemetry control to Anvil, we're experiencing technical difficulty. I have a Red light…zebra six. We've lost the Hammer data link. Do you still have com?"

"Hammer to Anvil, I'm showing a decrease of velocity of three percent. Am increasing throttle to sixty five percent to compensate."

"Anvil to telemetry control, our link just went down, stand-by. Anvil to Hammer, begin abort sequence. Do you copy? Repeat…Do you copy?"

"Hammer to chase one, can you confirm that blue glow?"

"Chase one to Anvil, something's going on with Hammer, am transmitting video now. What do you make of it?"

"Anvil to Hammer, descend to ejection altitude and pop it. Acknowledge."

"Hammer to Anvil, have lost all control, emergency engine shut down not engaging… Am experiencing severe vibration, the ship is breaking up..."

"Anvil to hammer, do you read?"

"Chase one to Anvil, the Hammer just exploded. Major debris sections over area alpha four four delta."

"Roger chase one, attention all emergency units, stand-by for convergence coordinates."

"Well, Larra that's all there is really."

"What about the blue light?" Leo asked.

"Probably just temperature inversion." The General dismissed it with a wave of his hand.

"He was so calm, right to the end. Thank you General." Larra said with a sob.

“I don’t believe it! You’re covering it up just like they did with Wane Fearsome!”

"Now son there’s no cover ups. You’re just upset.” The general said with a tone of apathy.

“Leo don’t make this any harder than it already is.” Larra burst into tears.

“Patty is waiting at your house with some dinner. If there's anything we can do we'll be there for you both." He helped Larra out of her chair and escorted them to the security station. He wondered how Leo could have known about the fate of Wane Fearsome. That had been a kept secret for almost a hundred years.

It was a quiet ride and nothing was said all the way home. When they arrived several of their neighbors and a visa-news crew was gathered outside their home. "Boy, news travels fast around here. Hu, Mom?"

"I'm afraid so Leo."

As soon as their feet hit the ground a reporter shoved a visa-corder into Larra’s face "Mrs. Fearsome, how do you feel now that your husband has been added to the list of senseless Department of Defense deaths?"

"Get out of our way, or I'll smash your face." Leo declared with a growl. They pushed past the reporter and hurried up the steps and into the shelter of the house.

"Kid thinks he's tough." The reporter said with a laugh. His over styled hair hung like a glazed helmet in the hot sun.

A neighbor standing nearby retorted with a glare. "That kid happens to be a karate expert ass hole."

"Hey, that's great human interest stuff. What else do you know about them?"

"Takeoff jerk!" The neighbor yelled. "Can't you just leave them alone?" He turned and walked away.

By the time Larra and Leo made it inside, Patty Donnols was talking to the visa-view. "...well I don't care who let them through the gate. They better be gone before I get a hold of my husband or you'll be in deep sh..., well, you'll be in deep."

"Yes ma'am, I'll dispatch a squad immediately. I apologize for any inconvenience. My name is Sergeant Dibbs please contact me personally if you have any more problems."

"I'm sure." She disconnected the hook up with a smirk. She turned to her best friend and gave Larra a long hug. Patty was shorter than Larra with a light build and short brown hair shaved up the neck. All the time Larra had known her, she had always worn silly horn rimmed, plastic frame glasses, straight from the nineteen sixties. After being an officer’s wife for thirty-five years she knew all the tricks for getting what she wanted done. Despite her sometimes battleaxe persona she had a true heart of gold. Therefore she used every tactic and weight of her position to help the families of service men under her husband's command when they were in need.

"Larra, I'm sorry about that mess outside, I was in the kitchen and didn't notice. Are you all right?"

"I'll be okay, thanks. I just need time to think and make some calls."

"Why don't you have Leo come stay with us for a few days." She patted Leo on the shoulder.

"No, I think we need each other right now." Larra looked Leo in the eye and they could feel the pain radiating from each other.

"Of course. Well, food is on the table and call me if you need anything at all."

"Thanks again, Pat."

"Don't mention it kid." Patty gave Larra a hug that she had given to others, a time too many and sniffed back tears as she hurried out of the house. It was her unspoken duty to console the survivors of her husband’s subordinates that were lost in the line of duty. It had been a long time sense she had to do it and she was out of practice. During the wars she would go through the motions three sometimes four times in a week. She had almost convinced herself that she had forgotten how bad it hurt to see her friends destroyed like this. Patty got into her small speeder and sat there quietly thinking to herself. Without warning she bawled out loud.

After Patty left the sound of the food storage unit cycling was the only sound to be heard for quite some time until Leo said. "Well mom, looks like it's just you and me for real." They sat in the living area holding each other in silent reflection. Larra knew she wouldn’t be sleeping without the aid of pharmaceuticals for a long time to come.

 

The next few days brought challenges Larra had hoped she would never have to face but she had always known the possibility was there and now she was determined to carry on with her life. Larra kept telling herself that she was ok and that she and Leo would be fine but just under the surface was more fear of the future. She was tired of being afraid. Afraid when her husband would fight, afraid when her husband would fly, afraid when her son would grow up. Her fear was going to have to change, change into determination or she would not survive this disaster. She could feel her father’s presents very strong sometimes and had used the added confidence it gave her to get past the hardships of the past. She hoped that same confidence would not let her down now.

The Air Force took care of the memorial services and provided a monument since no body was ever recovered. The search for his body had been called off after only twenty-four hours. The search for the wreckage would continue for months or until all the plane was recovered. There was little doubt that all of it would be found. It was only a matter of time. The Air Force posthumously promoted John to a full bird Colonel and awarded him the Airman's Medal (it was his seventh).

 At the memorial site there was so many people Leo couldn't count them all, from officers to enlisted men, even a few civilians. Complete strangers would approach him and offer their thoughts as to how good a guy John was or how much a hero he had been. The hole time Leo was thinking that some of them must have known his father better than he himself had. His father had been gone for long periods of time on tours of deployment when he was in a fighter squadron. And when he became a test pilot he would go to Dryden for stints lasting weeks.

A tall man wearing a black suit and tie sat down next Leo and without looking at him spoke in a soft even tone, looking straight ahead. “Leo, I met your father many years ago. We were flying out of a secrete base in the desert. I had made a bombing run and had gone in to low. The blockbuster I crapped blew my tail feathers off and I was able to eject about ten miles down range of the target. Needless to say, the locals weren’t too happy with me and were looking to put me down for good. I was shooting it out with them from the trench my plane had dug when it went in and they were about to flank me. I had made my peace with God and was ready to meet him face to face, when this fighter jock strafed those bastards. I didn’t hear him coming and neither did any of them. Their world just went to shit all around them as the rounds from his cannon hit. He was so low when he over-flew me that I thought he was going to crash as well. The bastards that were still alive peppered him with small arms fire and he was trailing smoke badly. But the mad man pulled it up and did half a Cuban eight and came right down on them again. That sent those sand munchers pack’n. He loitered for almost an hour dodging shoulder fired missiles and ground fire all the while smoke’n like a cigar until the F/A-18’s showed up. A Search and Rescue Blackhawk finely picked me up. When I figured out who he was and tracked him down, I tried to say thanks but you know what he said?” Leo shook his head no. “He said to keep it out of the dirt next time. And walked away. Now I’m tell’n you. That was a man I’d trade places with right now if I could.” When Leo looked up at the man’s face he could see tears flowing freely down his cheeks and his bottom lip quivered as he stood. The man pivoted smartly and snapped and long salute toward Leo then disappeared into the crowd.

“There are a lot of those stories around here today, Leo.” Rod said so quietly just Leo could hear. “Your old man refused an Airman’s for that man’s favor. He told me he was just do’n what was right.”

“He never mentioned any of those things. Everything’s always a secret. And you can’t believe a word that comes out officially.” Leo made quotations in the air with his fingers. “I think General Donnols is a liar, I think there was more to it than just an accident.”

Rod didn’t answer, even if he agreed he couldn’t say a thing, after all it was classified.

Rod stood by to lend support and Leo tried to keep him as close to him as possible. Leo knew his father was gone forever and he needed someone as a surrogate and Rod was the best man for the job. Leo had never seen more brass in one place, the list of high ranking was long and it took forever for them all to pass by the reception line to give them their condolences.

General Donnals gave a eulogy that was long and arduous. Johnithan accomplished so much and was loved and respected by so many. There was not enough that could be said about the man who had devoted his life to his country.

At the end of the ceremony four scramjets did a fly-by in the missing man formation. When the plane fell out of position and streaked into the sun leaving the other three to fly on alone Larra fell to her knees and sobbed. Rod knelt beside her and Leo and hugged them close as he cried too. A twenty-one-gun salute in honor of John’s sacrifice in the performance of his duty boomed as the planes screeched out of sight. As the last shot was fired the band played Taps. It seemed as though even the sky shed tears for their fallen friend and colleague.

It all seemed like an incredibly bad dream. Time just crept by as if in slow motion. Everything anyone said was muffled and distant, all was a fog in the boy's mind. He was more an observer than a participant.

After the ceremonies the Donnols had Leo and Larra over for dinner at their luxurious condo (the privilege of rank) in the mountains just east of the dry lakebed where the base was located. The General asked Larra. "Have you decided what you're going to do now?"

"Yes, you know about the three hundred thousand credit, life insurance policy John had. That will make sure we don't go hungry and cover Leo's college and we've got his pension. I can never say thank you enough for pushing that grade promotion through for us.”

“Don’t mention it. He was due, the paper was already in the pipe.” The General said. General Donnols had been pushing for Johnithan’s promotion for several months. John earned the grade many times over but just had to do the time at rank before he could be moved up the chain. Donnols had reason to want Johnithan advanced out of the flight rotation. If Fearsome had been promoted sooner, Donnols could have reassigned him to other duties. Something where Fearsome didn’t affect the program so directly, some safe position flying a desk where his decisions couldn’t keep things flowing. Programs seemed to advance too fast for Donnols’ liking when Fearsome was in charge of them. Donnals was sure that Have Hammer would die with Fearsome even at the mature stage of the development program. He would see to that.

“I've talked it over with my brother in Chicago and he thinks after Leo finishes this school year, we can move up there and he can get me on at the Museum of Natural History. He knows the curator."

"That's right you do have a degree in... What is it, archeology?" Patty said interjecting.

Larra nodded. "I got my masters when John was stationed in Cambridge and I thought I might go for my doctorate if I have the time."

"So what do you think of all this Leo?" The General asked trying to bring Leo into the conversation.

"What ever, I just wish my dad were here." Leo pouted lugubriously. He pushed the food around his plate with his fork.

"We all do Leo." Larra said putting her hand on his arm. She looked at the crystal chandler above the table focusing on the refracted light as if it were her own little rainbow from God.

The months that followed did little to ease the heartache even Larra’s friends seemed to become more distant. She didn’t know if she had pushed them away or if it was just too uncomfortable for them. All she really knew was that it was time for a change. Her family needed to get away from the base, away from military life and strike out on their own and start anew.

                                                                                       Chapter 3

                                                                                 Life in the big city

 

Before the revolution the law enforcement agencies had become the most powerful force in the nation under the pretense of the so-called "War On Drugs" of the late nineteen hundreds. Through this build up of personnel and state-of-the-art weaponry the United States became a fascist state controlled through the Department of Justice. A President placed trusted appointees in agencies that were important to his plan of dictatorship. Reduction of prosecutions at the federal level ensured a high rate of violent crime and after every high profile event the call for tighter and more stringent gun control laws was sounded in the Rose Garden of the White House. The only true obstacle of tyranny was the Second Amendment of the Constitution and millions of gun owners. With growing media support, it was easy to convince liberal leaders in Congress to help discredit the hard-line conservatives and paint them as supporters of crime, it was only a matter of careful double-talk. Unable to change the Constitution, the White House resorted to legislation through litigation. The legal precedents had been set through successful frivolous lawsuits against the tobacco industry after which no industry was safe. An industry could be found libel for anyone injured even through a person’s own actions regardless of their own negligence. The firearms industry was next on the list. It was faced with multiple lawsuits filed against it from cities and states and the Department of Human Services hungry for the easy money and bankrolled by tax coffers. The gun manufactures settled, agreeing not to sell firearms to anyone except the military or law enforcement agencies or face continued attacks in the courts. The firearm industry had to cave in, regardless of whether they could win or not, because they could not afford to defend themselves against so many lawsuits at once. Following this successful version of prohibition, class-action suits were filed against all gun owners for damages due to violent crime. Surrendering of all firearms owned excluded those who cooperated, providing a level of amnesty. Million dollar judgements destroyed those who did not cooperate and their weapons were confiscated along with all their possessions, which were liquidated to cover their judgements. Another nail in the coffin used to bring down gun owners lay with adverse legal interpretation on issues such as the Sporting Purposes rule of the 1968 Gun Control Act. In that most arms were declared illegal by definition of style and appearance. Lists were developed of owners made by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in direct violation of the Firearms Owners Act, but these violations were “justified” through claims of enhanced public safety. Arms were confiscated and those who refused or resisted where labeled terrorist and were hunted down and killed in raids, so called Hostage Standoffs, carried out by enforcement agencies. One such agency was the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms. When members of Congress tried to stop the Constitutional infringements, the Justice Department refused to send the cases to the Supreme Courts. Those members that tried to expose the truth were branded as traitors and arrested. It didn’t matter that the accused never went to trial or if they were even truly guilty. If the polls said they were, then they must have been as the Media let them quietly disappear in the jails. The Media had what they wanted; a “story” and they could say anything about anyone as long as it was against the opposition. As the noose was tightened with more regulation of restraint, a new agency was formed called the Central Regulation Enforcement Agency. This agency controlled who was in local elected offices by "political machines" as they were called. Those that they didn't get elected directly were forced into compliance through blackmail and by threat of arrest and prosecution on any number of trumped up charges. Gaining support of local law enforcement was easy enough with payoffs and funding cuts. When these local agencies became ineffective, federal agents were brought in to restore order.

Then it happened. As the nation spiraled toward the loss of its constitution, a “terrorist” group killed twenty-eight of the ruling party leaders and the President declared a state of emergency and all law enforcement was brought under control of the federal system. This new system needed money to operate and as the taxes went up even the supporters felt the heat of the government out of control. Open protest hit the streets of major cities first. Finally unjust convictions and executions brought the people out in droves. When the federal police started shooting demonstrators indiscriminately, the military stepped in and took charge. It was a military coup at its best. When the smoke finely cleared, a completely reformed system was in place.

One of the major changes was a flat rate tax system where everybody paid fifteen percent of their income with no deductions. That served to level the tax burden and stimulate the economy. Another change was required: firearms training for all school age children with the head-of-households required owning at least one firearm for self-defense. That served to reduce the police to investigation services and special weapons and tactics only.  Individual's safety had become their responsibility as it had been in the early days almost three hundred years before. Violent crimes plummeted. James Madison would have been proud.

One of the changes most fought by the politicians was the limit of length of term in office to two years with the number of re-elections limited to two. Gone were the days of the professional politicians. Also, any law or policy could be petitioned for removal from the statutes with forty five percent of the census population over eighteen years of age signed in and verified and then popular vote held. The Constitution as it had been originally written in 1789, was exempt from the change process except as originally allowed.

In the business world many changes had occurred also. All corporations or companies with one hundred employees or more had to call in their stock and redistribute it among all of their employees that were three years vested. As a result every person who worked for three years or more became part owners in the company they worked for. This move vastly improved the quality of life for the working class person and streamlined American production, increasing global competitiveness. Gone too were the totally open markets for countries that refused to open their own markets as well. The free ride of foreign business went down with the professional politicians.

Limits on personal liability were enacted as well as protection against frivolous lawsuits. If a suit was filed and found frivolous by the court, all cost had to be paid by the filing attorney. A cap on the amount an attorney could receive for services rendered was set at a maximum of a few thousand dollars per case based on the average income levels in the area per capita. Punitive judgements against companies or individuals were distributed to non-profit charitable organizations. Gone were the days of get-rich quick schemes through the courts perpetrated by lawyers.

Drug addiction was the number one killer of people in America and Europe. Other than ADS#4's, there were one million deaths annually just in the Reformed United States alone. Each year ADS#4 killed ten million plus in each of the Latin American and African continents, where five in seven people were infected. Many top scientists believed the answer was in genetic engineering and great strides had been taken in that area. Genetic research was applied to every day life, mostly in identification of people and stopping inherited diseases.

Every person when born or at census time, was genetically analyzed and issued an identification card with all their personal records stored in a micro-microprocessor embedded in the plastic card and also in the main super-computer called the Anti-Christ by some. Many said the card was the mark of the "Beast" because it was first used in Europe and you couldn't get or do anything without it. But because it was such a reliable system, almost all countries were using it now. A massive underground subculture had grown out of the resistance to the Beast and the Mark. Entire cities operated outside of the official system and barter systems still used paper money or trade goods instead of Credits. Fiber optic cables crisscrossing the globe allowed one to almost instantaneously convey any information anyplace around the world. That, combined with the thousands of satellites that ringed the Earth like a crowded necklace, linked every point of the globe.

 

Leo hadn't left his bedroom all day and Larra was more than just a little upset. "Leo get your hiney down here and help with this party or I'll turn everyone away!"

"Okay, just one more minute!" Leo called from his room.

Ever since they moved from his uncle's to their new condo downtown, Leo had been nervous as a cat. Larra thought it was probably the girl down the hall that had Leo hiding in the shadows and had invited her to Leo's birthday party, his fourteenth.

Leo spent most of his time immersed in his studies. He felt that if he were thinking about something, anything, else he would not be thinking about his father. This technique served him well over the past few years and had become habit. He finished the report he was working on and went down to help his mother. She adopted the same philosophy as Leo regarding her late husband and the two of them pretended not to notice. Larra tried to get Leo out into the world and hoped a birthday party would help him bond with his schoolmates.

As people began to arrive, Leo forgot about everything else except his new friends from school, over the noise and confusion, Leo heard a knock at the door.

Leo's stomach tightened as he fumbled with the many locks down the heavy, high security door. He was too afraid to look at the hall monitor to see whom it was outside in the corridor. He feared his mother had taken action with the girl down the hall. He finally flung the door wide and sure enough, his fears were justified. Standing less than two feet in front of him was a young woman about five feet tall with dark brown eyes. Her hair was almost black and flowed over her shoulders and framed a soft Hispanic oval face with lips of rose petals that made him just melt, wanting to kiss them. The thought made him blush brightly.

"Don't just stand there Leo, ask her in." Larra called from across the room.

"May I come in?" She finally said to Leo, his mouth still hanging open. As she pushed her way past him, she joked. "Don't catch flies." Leo closed his mouth with a surprised look on his face.

Larra introduced the girl as Sophiea Cortez the neighbor from down the hall. She attended the same school as Leo and his friends. One boy, Larry, had the same classes as she, which made her feel more comfortable.

The games Larra set up were on the side of old fashioned. Everyone complained about playing ancient birth rite rituals. Pin the tail on the donkey had been just a memory for a long time but they all had fun anyway. Leo kept catching himself watching Sophiea and would look around uneasily, hoping nobody had noticed. Larra smiled inside as she watched Leo reach a new dimension in his journey to adulthood. She knew the last few years were hard for him because he loved his father so much. He was a little behind in social development.

After the party was over and everyone else had gone, Sophiea gave Leo a small package wrapped in an iridescent covering. "Here, I thought you might like this." referring to the gift as she handed it to him. "It's just something I picked up from my dad's gym."

"Thank you. You shouldn't have." Leo opened it with vigor. Inside was a ninja throwing star, matte black and sharp.

"It seemed like the kind of thing to give a guy." Her mind was on other things however. "Look, I've got to tell you something." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I've been watching you since you moved in and I think you're the best guy on the soccer team. Maybe we could walk to school together tomorrow. ___Bye." She smacked Leo on the cheek with a kiss, spun on her heel, and without waiting for an answer, hurried to her parent’s condo at the other end of the hall. Leo watched her the full distance and waved when she looked back at him as she went inside smiling. He felt as though he was at the top of the world.

Leo had never felt this way about a girl before and he didn’t know what to do with it. He kept the image of Sophiea tucked nicely away in his mind’s eye. Although he hadn’t practiced martial arts since his father’s death, he couldn’t help practicing the So Shin Do way. It just helped keep everything in perspective somehow. He also continued to expand his mind with the concentration techniques.

That night he dreamed of his dead father and his mother. They were fighting some terrible monster. Every time Leo would try to help them he would get knocked back. Then Sophiea dropped from the sky and together they defeated the huge slimly ocean creature, freeing John and Larra. Leo awoke wondering what it could have meant. He had dreams that left the kind of feelings he was now experiencing before. The dreams would end up helping him in some unexpected way by preparing him with knowledge or by just not being surprised when the event came to pass. Sometimes the event would be far in the future or may be just when he woke up from the dream. He never knew. But he was sure that it was some kind of vision.

The next morning Leo found Sophiea waiting by the lift. "Hi."

"Good morning, Sophiea. How you do'n?"

"Just great." As they road down on the silent lift, she was saying. "I have karate class today after school... Want to come?"

Leo was taken aback. The doors blinked open and Sophiea hurried out. Leo followed, saying, "What style are you learning?"

"Kenpo, it's my father's specialty. Well, one of them anyway. Do you know any Karate?" She didn’t really expect an affirmative answer.

Leo answered proudly. "I've got a brown belt in Tae Kwon Do."

               "Oh really." She said, looking at him sideways.

"Well, I did anyway. I haven't practiced much since my dad died." Qualifying the response.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know. But that’s cool that you kick ass."

"That's okay." They stepped off the steps onto the wide sidewalk, busy with people on their way to wherever, and little was said on the short walk to school.

They climbed the long steps leading into the school.

"See you here after eighth period. Bye Leo."

Leo watched her trim, muscular shape as she ran up the steps ahead of him. His attention wasn't as caviler as his mother would have hoped, but what she didn't know wouldn't hurt her. He looked around with a sly expression to see if anyone had caught him.

Devotion and Cortez were considered synonyms. This included Sophiea’s mother, Martina. Martina cheered Gary closer to his Gold Medal as the final fight reached a climax. As the fourth round started, her water broke and with the end of the fifth round Sophiea had entered the world. The first sounds Sophiea heard after leaving the womb were the focused yell of her father defeating the new Silver Medallist. Gary entered the ring expecting a tough fight and left the ring an Olympic Champion and a new father. Martina delivered Sophiea on the aisle floor in the third row of section B. Martial arts started her life and she knew martial arts would be there at the end of it. When Sophiea took her first steps it was on a regulation mat greeting her father after a hard fought victory in Detroit. Her first word spoken was keeya, in imitation of Gary as he smashed a tall stack of bricks with his elbow. As Sophiea grew, her knowledge of technique grew with her. It was part of her. She knew more about the different styles than experts many times her senior. Sophiea taught classes very day. Because of her age she was restricted to the beginner levels even though she could instruct the most advanced students. People much older than she just didn’t respond to a kid giving them orders and correcting their mistakes. That didn’t bother her as much as the young boys that always challenged her against her warnings. They didn’t respond to their defeat any better. She prayed Leo would be different.

 

When they walked into the karate studio Leo knew that this place was somewhere that he was going to spend a lot of time. Something about the name of the dojo rang a bell. The entry opened into a large warehouse. Along one wall was one workout machine after another. Straight ahead was a one hundred square foot mat where a lesson was being taught with forty or fifty students and on the other side of it was a regulation ring.

 Leo could see someone in the ring giving private instruction to a student. It was a style Leo had never seen before. Its fluid circular movements were beautiful and obviously very deadly.

"What's that?" Leo asked pointing.

"That's my dad on the left."

"No, I mean what they're doing."

"Praying Mantis Kenpo. Dad doesn't teach it to very many people, it's too dangerous." Sophiea pointed at the student with the Master. "That's Keven Sands. He has two black belts, he teaches some of the intermediate and advanced classes. I'd stay away from him if I were you. He’s kind of mean." 

"I can see why...wow. What's your dad's name?" Leo said with a vague memory coming to the surface.

"Gary Cortez." She answered.

"No... You’re shit'n me. The Dark One?" Leo said with doubt in his voice. "I remember him. I should have guessed."

Sophiea had a puzzled look on her face. "I have to go warm up now. Are you staying?"

"For a while."

 Leo sat and watched Sophiea join an advanced class just starting but couldn't help turning to watch the master doing his deadly dance. His rhythmic movements were beautiful and frightening at the same time. Leo was entranced with the art form and he knew that he would master it someday. He found himself attempting to mimic the hand positions as the master went from one form to another like water flowing down a stream. Leo ended up staying until Sophiea was finished and walked her home.

“I saw you watching my Dad. You pick up forms pretty fast.” Sophiea was genuinely impressed.

“That style is awesome. Do you think he would teach it to me?”

“Not until he knows he can trust you. That could take a long time.” Keven had betrayed that trust and it would take someone very special to break down the barrier Gary had constructed.

 

At dinner Leo could think of nothing else but Karate and the memory of his father.

"Mom, do you think Dad would mind if I started Tae Kwon Do again?" Leo always finished what he started and would not be satisfied until he held the top belt in Tae Kwon Do. He wouldn’t consider starting a new style until reaching that level.

"I think your father would have liked that very much. Have you a school in mind?"

"You remember that girl at the party? Turns out, her pop is that gorilla who threw Dad out of the ring, you remember. Can you believe that?"

Larra nodded and listened to Leo carry on.

"I think I want to learn Kenpo also. I'll bet that's what he used on Dad. Dad would have kicked butt on him if old Rod hadn't thrown in the towel." They both laughed in joint remembrance.

"If you want to take lessons from this guy, then go ahead, but keep this in mind; he just might recall what you said the last time you spoke to him, so don't expect roses from him." She knew that the art was something that Leo loved and there was so much of her husband in him that she couldn’t think to stand in his way.

"Thanks, Mom!" Leo kissed her on the cheek.

 Leo ran to his room to do his homework for Civil Responsibility class. Due was a report on home defense concerning firearms of choice. The weapon, which Leo's father had chosen, was what they called in the old days a scattergun although people from those times would hardly recognize it as one. Because Larra had been a service man's dependent, she had been licensed to own military type weapons thereby retaining the right to keep John's shotgun.

As Leo examined the magazine fed select fire, automatic twelve gage, he unloaded the chamber and removed the box magazine. When he moved the toggle switch to the single shot position from the three shot burst position, the telescoping butt stock automatically extended with a swooshing sound. He lifted the amazingly light gun to his shoulder and sighted through the four power, light intensification scope with laser rangefinder, out his window and across the street to ground level. Sweeping the street below, he saw Sophiea talking to some other girls on the far side of the street. He watched her and could almost read her lips saying something that included his name. The group of girls laughed and broke up as Sophiea turned towards her building. Leo tracked her until the angle from her approach robbed him of the view. Well satisfied with himself he turned to his secondary item of interest.

The magazine, if loaded to capacity, would hold fifteen rounds but instead was loaded alternately with all shot loaded shells and ultra-high velocity sabot, pre-fragmented slugs totaling ten rounds. The shot pellets found inside both type cartridges were made of steel. One in every four was an acceleration activated, radio micro-transmitter that could be received and tracked by the globule positioning satellites thereby enabling the authorities to find anyone who had been shot with them dead or alive, but most likely dead.

 Leo finished his report and went to tell Sophiea the good news about him joining the karate school. When the door of Sophiea's condo opened, Leo had to take a step back and look way up to see the face of the mountain in front of him.

After several seconds Gary boomed. "Can I help you?"

"I...I came to see Sophiea. But I can talk to her anytime. Sorry to bother you, sir." Leo backed away, bowing.

From inside came a soft beckoning voice. "Wait Leo, it's all right. Come on in." Much to Leo's relief, Sophiea was waving him in.

"Yes, come on in son, I don't bite. At least not too often." Gary said with a smile.

"Thank you, sir." Leo said as he hurried past him and over to Sophiea.

"Let’s go back to my room where we can talk."

"You sure it's all right with your dad?"

Gary answered for her. "It's okay, you'll keep your hands to yourself won't you." It was a statement not a question. And Leo had the correct reply.

"You bet uh...sir."

Once they were alone with the door closed, Leo was like a cat on a hot tin roof. He was afraid to touch anything.

Sophiea, much to her amusement, sat quietly watching Leo bite his lip nervously.

"I just came over to tell you I'll be starting lessons at your dad's gym tomorrow."

"Oh good. I was hoping you would. I was telling Dad about you and he told the funniest story about him and your father out in California a few years ago."

"Oh great, he'll probably kill me for mouthing off at him back then."

“"Na, if he were he would have by now. He said your father was the best Tae Kwon Do artist he had ever fought." Shaking her head.

“Yah, he was the best, the greatest ever.” Leo remembered his father vividly and he knew that he was not exaggerating.

They played some computer games; Sophiea won almost every game. She accused him of letting her win and Leo just grinned. He knew that she had beaten him like a dog, but wasn’t about to admit it to her face. When he got tired of being stomped like a cigarette butt, he politely excused himself and returned home. Leo could win or lose, he played games for the recreation, but losing every game was kind of embarrassing but it wasn’t something that he would lose sleep over. He just needed more practice. Then he would give her a run for her money. Leo loved a good fight and believed that in order to excel at anything, one needed to be pushed by good close competition.

 

As days turned to weeks and weeks to months, Sophiea and Leo came closer and closer together as did Leo and Gary. The three of them started working out together every day.

Leo made up lost time in nothing flat and was wearing his brown belt again in only two months. It wasn't long before he was working on his black belt. Sophiea enjoyed teaching Leo and he liked her style. Sophiea’s method of instruction hit the mark without dancing around the problem like so many instructors who would politely suggest a correction as though it really didn’t matter if you did it right or not. For Sophiea there was only one way to do it and it wasn’t right until it was perfect. What she liked was that Leo could actually get it perfect. Over the course of another year, Leo was ready to test for his Black Belt.

There was one obstacle that posed a more difficult victory for Leo than the belt tests itself. Keven Sands. He was several years Leo’s senior and was in top condition. His short cropped hair stood straight up and looked as sharp as his well-defined musculature. Keven was tall and heavy built with an air of arrogance that preceded him everywhere he went. The other students kept a wide margin of clearance between them, out of justified fear.

Leo could feel Keven’s piercing eyes watching him from a distance, always there in the shadows, waiting for something. Leo could not figure out why Keven hated him so much. Leo refused to be intimidated by the glaring young man. Keven made remarks that pointed out the fact that he didn’t like him and would hold it out waiting for Leo to make something of it.

Keven Sands was in charge of all belt testing and had made it quite clear that he would make it as difficult as possible for Leo to advance as quickly as he was learning. When the time came for Leo to face Keven in the ring, Leo was hard as rock from the constant encouragement and help from Sophiea in training, for she knew that he would have to be in the best condition possible to avoid injury.

Keven waited across the regulation ring for Leo to finish stretching. Leo was killing time to add a little pressure to Keven’s steam.

Sophiea talked softly to Leo so Keven could not overhear. “Just stay within your forms and Dad will rank you.”

“No problem.” Leo put his mouthpiece in and bit down hard. He moved to the center of the ring.

Keven crossed to middle ring in two stepping kicks. Leo blocked the kicks and attempted a back leg sweep, which Keven flipped out of and countered with a ridge hand strike.

Leo threw a block, pivoted and struck out to Keven’s extended elbow. Keven was too fast and retracted his arm before Leo’s move landed. They were fighting inside now; the distances where big kicks and straight-arm punches would only get you hurt. Keven attacked with a flurry of knees and elbows. Leo looked like he was climbing on top of Keven as he repelled every thrust. Keven finally broke contact by springing back into a handspring ending at the edge of the mat.

Leo stood totally focused not moving a muscle. Keven shuffled around Leo in exotic footwork until he was directly behind him. Leo shifted his direction to face Keven. Keven attacked with an all out assault determined to connect with any part of Leo’s body. Leo made his first mistake leaving his foot in the same place just a little too long as Keven came down on it with all of his weight and energy. Sophiea heard the bones break as Keven spun on his heel. Leo double punched at Keven who rolled away unharmed. Keven laughed. “That doesn’t hurt does it?”

Leo recoiled in pain. He grabbed his foot. “Damn It! Did I say Damn It?”  He glanced at Sophiea.

Sophiea shook her head and looked away trying not to laugh to his face.

He saw her shoulders bouncing up and down. That was what turned his cheeks red with embarrassment, but he recovered quickly. Leo applied an acupressure block on several pressure points down his leg, his fingers digging deeply into the pressure points at mid-thigh, the knee and at mid-calf. The block would only be temporary but he only needed relief long enough to finish the test. Once the pain was effectively blocked he entered a stylized defensive stance. Leo’s vision tunneled, all he could since was his opponent across from him as he entered a So Shin Do trance.

Keven became infuriated with Leo’s composure. He would teach him a lesson once and for all.  Try as he might, he couldn't force Leo to break style. That thought made him even angrier than before. He bounced across the mat in a complex maneuver, designed to distract and cause his opponent to become unbalanced. It was a Praying Mantis Kenpo technique. He had broken style. He had never seen a victim escape this move and he had Leo dead to rights, his grasping hand came within an inch of Leo’s throat. Keven’s hand closed on thin air. He was shocked at the fact that Leo was gone.

Sophiea’s mouth dropped and she heard gasps from the crowd that had gathered. She simply could not believe what she saw. Keven had his open hand around Leo’s throat when it appeared that Leo phased right through Keven’s very body. Turning around and facing Keven’s back he immediately placed Keven in a protected reverse-choke hold. As Leo locked his hands under his arms so not even his fingers presented a target, he kicked Keven in the back of the knee taking him to his knees. Leo held him like a red-faced fool for long seconds after Keven began slapping on his upper arm in submission. He couldn’t even gurgle an expletive for Leo.

Leo released him only after Gary ordered him to. Keven dropped to the mat, gasping for air as he coughed, his eyes bulging in their sockets.

“No hard feelings, Keven?” Leo held his hand out for him to take.

Keven slapped it away. “Only when hell freezes, Fearsome.” He crocked.

Gary climbed into the ring and looked Keven over. “Hit the showers, Sands. Leo, you could have let him go sooner.” He examined Leo’s foot; the bone of the third digit was obviously displaced.

“Could I have, Keven?”

Keven just smiled and presented a shallow bow then climbed out of the ring. “You’ve trained him well, O’bewan.” He bowed to Sophiea as he backed away.

Sophiea said. “You were the one that pushed him. You should be proud.”

Leo was escorted to the stage where belt ceremonies were held. He stiffly knelt down in front of Gary who had already knelt. His acupressure block was weakening. Gary poured a cup of tea and drank from it, then passed it to Leo. Leo put it to his forehead and bowed putting his nose to the mat without spilling a drop. When he drank from the cup Gary laid the crisp, new ebony belt on the mat between them. Leo sat the cup aside and removed his old worn and sweat-soaked brown belt on the mat beside the new one. He bowed with his nose to the mat and kissed his new belt. He sat back up and wrapped the belt around his washboard waist, tying it in a very firm knot. The crowd applauded in admiration.

After Leo’s Black Belt ceremony, Sophiea cornered Leo. “What happened out there?”

“I took him out?” He said with a sheepish grin.

“Duh…I mean that thing you did.” Exasperated, she threw her hands up.

“What are you talking about? I just kicked his ass.”

“You did more than just kick his ass. I’m not even sure what I think I saw.”

“Really, I don’t know what you mean.” Leo had no idea that every student there had witnessed something incredible. Something only Gary could surmise. Something only a So Shin Do Master could explain.

The broken foot did little to slow Leo down. Soon after receiving his black belt Leo trained in Kenpo style and with Sophiea's help he advanced quicker than any student that had ever attended Gary's school. Sophiea was falling in love with Leo and it made her blush when the two of them would become entangled in complex locking techniques. She would struggle with full effort to break the holds and use every method at her disposal to escape. It would often leave Leo badly bruised and stunned, wondering what had made her fight like a pinned tiger.

 Keven's resentment grew with every higher belt Leo attained. Until one spring afternoon when Keven challenged Leo to a freestyle match.

"Are you out of your mind, Leo? Keven has been looking for a way to get you for the last two years. He won't hesitate to use Preying Mantis on you. Dad has said more than once he shouldn't have taught him any of that." Sophiea pleaded, red faced.

"Well, then why does he let him stay?"

"He says it's to keep an eye on him. But if you insist on going through with this I'm going to have Dad stop you both." Sophiea said with authority.

"Look... even if he does win, maybe it'll get him off my back." Leo said trying to justify the match.

"You don't get it do you? I'll try one more time. Keven won't be satisfied until he permanently removes you from the picture."

"So what's this guy's problem anyway. Tell me the truth." The light had finely come on in Leo's head.

After a long pause Sophiea told him. "To make a long story short, Keven and I used to be real close but then he started wanting more than I was ready to give and when push came to shove I knew I didn't want him around any more." She was looking at the floor, removed and a long way off.

"But he's what?...Four, five years older. You must have been just a small kid."

"That was the whole point. And he never got over it." Sophiea remembered the look on Keven’s face when she broke his nose. She warned him not to touch her there, but he did it anyway. No one would ever touch her there again.

"You mean he never got over you. What did your dad think about all that?"

"He would have killed us both had I gone along with what Keven wanted." She wasn’t sure who would have died first but there was no doubt blood and guts would have been involved.

Boys either liked Sophiea or resented her with venom as she could defeat grown men at the age of five. She obtained the rank of black belt in the Kenpo style when she was only seven years old, she followed with a black belt in jujitsu at the age of twelve, and she was now well on her way to a third black belt in the art of Kung Fu. The competition between her and the male of the species caused her endless grief and made it almost impossible to have a normal relationship with them. Every time she found someone she liked she would end up forced into a match or other contest. Being a Cortez meant fighting to win and so far she hadn’t found anyone brave enough to except the fact that there was no one capable, in her own age group of defeating her. Then Keven Sands entered her life; he was everything she respected. Keven was strong, fast and mastered technique like nobody she had ever encountered. Like all young girls entering puberty, she developed a crush on Keven. He was good looking and commanded respect from the other students. She was drawn to him like a magnet, but Keven had impulses that also demanded respect.

"You know I can't back down now, especially since it's over you, he'll never let up. Besides I think I can take him."

"Get real! Nothing can beat Preying Mantis."

"Okay, then I'll just learn it myself." He said defiantly.

"From what? A magazine or, I know... a book that's it...shesh." She shook her head in frustration.

"I'll ask your dad to teach me." He said grasping for straws.

"What makes you think he'll do it?"

"He will if you ask him." She knew that he was right and that it was Leo's only hope, but how would she get Gary to do it without explaining everything to him.

I don’t need this. I’ll just kill them both myself and be done with this nonsense. She thought to herself as she stomped away.

Another week passed by without conflict until Leo bumped into Keven in the locker room one Saturday.

"Well, well, well, look’y what we've got here." Keven said in a tone that made Leo grind his teeth. Leo finished putting on his uniform and didn't reply.

"What's the matter with the karate kid?!" Keven said, still taunting.

"Is there a problem here young men?" It was Gary and Leo exhaled in relief.

"No, Sensei I was just leaving." Keven wormed out and disappeared through the door.

"Leo, Sophiea told me everything last night and I believe that there's three choices. A) You can run and never look in the mirror again; B) you can take some pointers from me, not that it will help much, because Keven's been doing that style for a long time; or C) you can learn something that I didn't teach him. Which is it?"

"I think I like the last alternative the best. When do we start?" Leo said confidently.

"Meet me here at six thirty for your first Ninjitsu lesson." He had hoped Leo would be smarter, and run very fast. He hated to see a perfectly good body go to waste.

"Isn't Ninjitsu all death blows and maiming technique?" Leo asked with curiosity.

"What did you think Preying Mantis was?" He knew Leo would need all the help he could get to survive a full force attack from Keven. Keven knew how to use every ounce of his strength and the same of his opponent’s in order to smash bones and rip flesh.

All during spring break, Leo did nothing else but practice attacks and counter attacks, honing his skills to razor sharpness. He had absorbed every piece of knowledge Gary passed to him. He spent hours in meditation controlling every aspect of his being body and mind, praying the conflict with Keven would never come to pass but if it did… He would be ready.

 

On his way home from soccer practice one evening, Leo decided to stop by the fast food joint across the park from his building to play visa-view games with some friends. When one led to another he lost track of time until he looked out the window and saw that it was dark.

 The most dangerous time in the city, nighttime. The street gangs came out of hiding to terrorize people unfortunate enough to be caught out after the sun went down. However, the gang members were careful about choosing their victims as most every citizen packed a weapon of some sort.

Leo decided to take his chances at crossing the park, as it was only a block that way as opposed to the five blocks if he went around.

It was ghostly quiet in the deserted field and the moon was just clearing the trees at the far end, making eerie shadows and silhouettes of the numerous statues that were scattered across it. At the other side of the field, huge trees and thick underbrush flanked a creek.  

Halfway through the park, as he traversed a pedestrian bridge spanning the small creek, he noticed two teenagers following him. He quickened his pace but it was too late. As he neared the end of the bridge two more teenagers stepped out of the darkness to block his path.

"What's up white boy?" The one on the left said. It was too dark to see what they looked like but Leo could tell they were taller than he was.

"Yo boy, tis' here's a toll bridge." Said a voice from behind him.

"Ya, time to pay up or we mail you home to mama in pieces!" The other person's voice laughed as the sound of a spring loaded switchblade clicked into battery. The sound was swallowed up into the empty park.

Fear surged into Leo’s mind and he felt the adrenaline flood his body. Then, just as quickly, the So Shin Do within him took over. His mind became a clean slate where only precise controlled movements could be drawn. Everything around him moved in slow motion and he could hear nothing but the dirty sounds of his prey; for the victim had indeed become the predator. Leo sidestepped and pivoted into a subtle attack stance so as not to alert the enemies that surrounded him of the impending defense that was coiled for release.

The teenager behind him with the knife became impatient and made a lunging thrust at Leo. Leo parried the knifed hand grasping it tightly in both of his own hands and dragged it into the throat of one of the assailants in front of him, slicing the teenager to the spine. Leo sensed the only one left behind him coming up fast and back kicked with the force to bend steel while simultaneously bringing the knife back into the wielders neck cutting him from ear to ear. When the three bodies fell to the walkway the other shocked would-be assailant turned and ran as fast as he could in the opposite direction into the thick grass, disappearing into the deep darkness of the park. Leo was in an elegant posture as if frozen waiting for another attack, but none came. The assailant who was kicked, had flown several feet back along the bridge where he dragged himself to his knees and crawled a distance back across the bridge holding his stomach and staggering to his feet. As he floundered along, his feet banged loudly on the wooden planking while he made his escape.

When Leo came to his senses he realized he had killed two people each with their own families and friends. It was more than he could take. He had never struck out with such force or with such devastating results before. Everything around him shimmered and grew continually darker. Leo fainted.

 

The sounds of official radio traffic droned into discernible communication as the throbbing of heart beats in Leo's ears subsided to a high ringing. Then Leo remembered the park and what had happened there.

"He's awake now, sergeant." A voice from behind a counter said.

Leo sat up, trying to see who was talking when a tall, stocky man rounded the corner and sat in a chair in front of him.

"Hi, Leo, my name is Sergeant Pusser. Your mother is waiting out in the lounge for you. This shouldn't take but a moment more of your time."

"I...I...I killed somebody." Leo said with anguish in his heart, he hid his face in his hands.

"That you did and a damn fine job of it I might add. Those animals have dominated that area for years. Care to tell me about what happened out there tonight?"

After giving a detailed account of the incident, Leo was released with no further action taken against him, only a slap on the back and a warning to stay off the streets at night. His mother, however, had more to say.        

"My God son, didn't you stop to think about the consequences? You have to remember that you're not on a military base any more. What were you thinking about when you started out across that park at night?!” She grabbed him by the shoulders and shook vigorously. Due to the difference in mass Leo stood there looking at his mother shaking herself silly. “God that made me dizzy. You’re getting too big for that shit.” She steeped back holding her head. Once recovered she continued her rebuke. “Do you realize what you've done? You're going to have to live with this the rest of your life. Were playing those games worth the grief you feel now and the grief of the people that loved those kids? I know you didn't ask for them to attack you, but you should not have even been there. You must understand your strength and not put yourself in a position that you have to hurt someone. That was the first lesson your father taught you when he began teaching you self-defense. And this is how you honor his memory?" At that she continued to tongue lash Leo for an hour and a half. Leo couldn't get a word in edgewise. By the time she was finished she had suspended his allowance in addition to grounding him for three months. None of the punishment meant anything to Leo for it was true he would have to live with the horror for the rest of his life.

Leo filled his time of confinement in meditation or homework. He came to grips with his ordeal and he did not forget the fact that he was the intended victim and that he was not the "Bad guy". He had done what he had been taught and trained to do, to survive. Not spending the afternoons with Sophiea was what really got to him, seeing her at school just wasn't enough.

When Leo was released to return to the gym, he found out that Keven had disappeared and no one had seen or heard from him in days. Not that Leo or anybody else really cared; it was just unusual and made Leo wonder what had happened to him.

Even though Keven was gone, Leo continued the Ninjitsu training and Gary was very pleased with his perfection of style and form. Gary called it "text book" performance.

Gary had come to think of Leo as his own son. He trained him in the ways of life and death as he hoped his real father would have approved. Not knowing the man made him depend on his own judgement, but he knew the type; he only had to look in the mirror to find one of them. He enjoyed seeing Sophiea and Leo together but deep inside he never believed that they would stay together. They were more like brother and sister than lovers, and he preferred it that way as all fathers do. Still he wondered what would become of Leo; he could see the look in his eyes; the longing to achieve more, being perfect in all things, to bring his father back from the grave by being everything he thought his father would have wanted him to be. Gary knew from personal experience that that path was a path of failure and could destroy Leo if he didn’t come to terms with it. He also knew it was a path Leo would have to find on his own.

Gary grew up in the mountains of central Mexico. He lived there with his mother and his father’s brother. His uncle was a pepper farmer and Gary stayed with him while his mother was away on science research missions into the South American rain forest. His father had been killed in an offshore powerboat racing accident when Gary was a small child and he had few memories of him other than the stories his uncle and mother would tell him. His mother was a Filipino and had met his father while writing her doctoral thesis. She had brought Kenpo to Gary and raised him to seek out the martial arts. After his mother was killed, trapped by a forest fire in the Peruvian rain forest, Gary immigrated to the Reformed United States at the age of eighteen. He joined the army shortly after arrival in the States and fought in many combat theaters, most of which were in Asia and Southeast Asia, interdicting Japanese terrorist during the Raghead Wars. Everywhere that Gary went, he sought out Masters of various styles and learned everything he could from them during his travels. He spent twenty-five years in the Army Special Forces and met his wife Martina in San Francisco while he was stationed near there. His reputation grew, as did his knowledge in the field of martial arts and he started his own school.  His final years in the military were spent as a training instructor in hand to hand combat; who could have expected any less. He retired as a Master Sargent and relocated to Chicago. Over the years he developed his own style based on his experiences. Praying Mantis Kenpo was a merging of Praying Mantis Kung Fu, Kenpo and Aikee Jujitsu. His style had been tested by practitioners the world over and he had never been defeated using his own technique.

                                                                                       Chapter 4

                                                                                   Leaving the nest

 

When Leo neared high school graduation, he let it slip to Sophiea that he intended to go to the Air Force Academy, knowing that his entry test results would be arriving any day.

Sophiea always had a nagging fear that Leo would want to follow in his father's footsteps and the thought of Leo going down in a bird over some foreign country scared the hell out of her.

"...But Leo I thought ... I thought ... I don't know what I thought!" Sophiea cried as she ran from the lift to her father’s condo.

Leo stood in the smelly elevator in reflection, wondering if he could really leave her behind, until the doors mechanical voice asked. "Please enter floor number or exit at this time."

"Oh, stick it." He said in a repugnant tone.

Leo heard as he stepped out and walked to his condo. "Please repeat last instruction." So he did, shaking his head.

When Larra got home from the night classes she had begun, Leo could tell she was hiding something from him. "Mom is there something wrong?"

"Oh, no. Just that I received a registered visa-fax today from Randy Phillips, that is Colonel Randy Phillips."

"It's been a long time. What did he have to say?" Leo asked with growing interest.

"Did you know Rod is in charge of the academy acceptance board now?"

"He is? That's nice." Then it soaked in. "He is? ... Well what did he say?"

"He said that you've been accepted with unanimous approval." The look in her watery eyes said it all. Leo wrapped his strong arms around her and squeezed until she begged to be released. His earlier exchange with Sophiea tempered his excitement.

Larra took him to the most expensive restaurant in Chicago to celebrate. Leo ate more food than he would have admitted, as did Larra. Neither of them were used to the volume of the seven course meal they ordered or of the quality. The meal cost more than Larra had to spend but it was worth going into debt to celebrate her son’s future, to celebrate the last thing she really wanted for her son. She knew Leo worked as hard as anyone could be expected to and he deserved to be rewarded for his efforts. It was all she could do to push back the memories and the pain of her own past, the past she feared would be her son’s future. When Leo hugged her in thanks, the tears she wept were not the tears of joy Leo thought they were. But she was determined to give Leo the chance to live his life the way he wanted, for better or worse. She didn’t know any other way to handle Leo’s choices other than to support them and give him her love.

It seemed like weeks before Sophiea was willing to have any conversation with Leo because of her frustration with his decision, so the first time she did, Leo was very careful not to bring up the subject of the academy. But that didn't work because the academy was all that either of them thought about since Leo fumbled the punch line.

For Sophiea it was the fact that the only person she felt ever really loved her, besides her mother and father, would be leaving her, most likely forever. The fear of losing Leo in a crash or because of the physical distance of a deployment was more than she wanted to deal with. She had grown up as an army brat and saw her share of broken families from the dangers of military life. Husbands or wives would leave on some mission, never to return.

Her dad tried to convince her that there would be other boys and other loves but she knew where her heart was. She wondered where Leo's was. She felt betrayed. Betrayed again. She could pick them, first a dominating pervert and now a guy with a need to become his father.

Leo arrived at the gym as agreed but not empty handed. "This is for you. I don't know how to make you understand that I do..." He choked on the "L" word. "I love you Sophiea, more than any..."

"More than the academy Leo?" She said with tears building in her eyes. "What do you take me for?" As she shoved the small package back into Leo's trembling hands.

"Please try to understand. I've planned for this all of my life. I owe it to my Dad." Trying a different tack. "My mom and dad were married right after my dad got his commission and they were happy." Leo pleaded.

"Oh yea? Well, just how happy was she when he was killed?"

Leo knew that was coming when he put his foot in his mouth. He took a deep breath to rally his thoughts for his case. "Sophiea if I asked you to marry me after I graduate would you?" He asked, in a tone so serious it surprised them both.

"I...I don't know. Leo, I never imagined I would ever feel so strongly about you." She paused in contemplation. "When I met you I knew that you were meant for something bigger than both of us. What lies ahead of you, only God knows, but I don't believe I'm as strong as Larra. I don't think I can live with never knowing whether you'll come home or not."

After several seconds Sophiea said. "Maybe my state of mind will be different when you get back. I don’t know what to do."

"Will you please except this anyway?" He held out the box as he opened it and inside was a ring with several small diamonds surrounding a small ruby, shaped like a heart. Sophiea began to cry uncontrollably. Leo held her close as he too began to cry. He couldn’t stop the plan he charted, not for her or anybody else. There was only one way to discover what really happened to his father and that was to follow in his footsteps. It was the first time he acknowledged the truth of what drove him, he pushed the thought, the truth, deep into his subconscious.

 

Inside the transport plane, the smell of thousands of unnamed passengers who had sat in the seat that Leo occupied permeated his senses. Next to him sat a man so over large that he occupied the two seats nearest the aisle. All during the long taxiing process the man did nothing but talk from his obvious anxiety, He was rattled really, not unlike the lose carry on compartment overhead. Leo tried to ignore him.

The powerful engines went from a faint hum to a bone-shaking roar as the jet raced down the runway. Leo felt himself being pushed deeper and deeper into the soft cushion as they lifted off. When the plane banked Leo could believe he saw Gary's cruiser with his mom and Sophiea on their way home, down on the bumper to bumper ribbon of highway below, as he sky rocketed towards his destiny.

               At the speeds that modern jets traveled he hardly had a chance to look over the conduct code manual Rod had visa-faxed the night before. Then an alarm made him lurch in his restraint, as the voice of the pilot announced the impending landing.

 The man next to Leo, while wiping sweat from his forehead with a cellulose towel said, "Does it to me every time too. I guess I'm afraid we're going to crash or something."

"Oh.... Yea." Leo agreed groggily.

The plane soon landed and the passengers deplaned into the terminal at Colorado Springs. Leo felt lonely as he looked and looked for his bags. With more investigation at the airline counter he discovered his luggage had been sent to Oklahoma of all places. While he was arguing with the ticketing agent Leo sensed that he was being watched. He turned to find Rod standing right behind him.

"Cadet Fearsome, you haven't changed a bit. A little taller and filled out maybe." Rod hugged Leo briefly.

"How have you been Sir? It's a pleasure to see you again." Leo shook Rod's hand firmly.

"You too. How was your flight? Smooth I hope."

"I read all the way."

"Just like your father. Come on, a MV twenty-two airbus is waiting with the other cadets. When you didn't show at the pickup area, I thought you might have missed your flight so I went to check if you were on the plane. That's when I saw you bitch’n at that girl. What happened?"

"They sent my bag to Oklahoma of all places."

"Awe, might as well be Java. I hope it comes in tomorrow. I'll have someone check on it then." They joined several other young men and women that filled the vertical take-off and landing aircraft and headed to the academy. The plane flew low and passed over the campus then turned for final approach. The MV-22 landed on a round elevated pad and the passengers were ushered to an area to receive their luggage. Leo waited as the other new students collected their belongings then climbed aboard a bus that drove them to the front doors of a large building.

               The dormitory was a huge white building with mosaics of famous pilots and Presidents on every inch of the outer surface, which sparkled, in the setting sun. Leo noticed as he climbed the marble steps, an impression of his father looming over the doors with a poem written long ago by an author unknown. It read:

Clouds above me

Clouds below

Where you send me

I will go

The mission so far

The duty so near

I will not be hindered

By fret

Nor fear

 

The portal opened into a lobby with hardwood floors that shone like a gigantic mirror. Before Leo could see any more sights. "You there! Lower classman scum!" Leo looked around trying to see who was in trouble. When he located the source of the commotion it was looking straight at him. "Yea you, shit for brains. Get your ass over here now!"

 Leo ran over to where the young man was and stood at attention. The older, lean cadet wore a dress uniform with officer's insignia on his collar. "Cadet Fearsome, I'm your nursemaid until further notice, understand?"

"Y..."

"I didn't say you could talk. Do you know how this place stays so clean?" This time Leo didn't even breathe. "Screw-ups... that's how. People who make better janitors than Air Force officers. Which are you Fearsome?" Leo could tell he was being baited and said nothing. "Well you just might make it turdhead. Get your gear and follow me." Although Leo had none, he definitely wasn't going to mention the fact.

They walked for what seemed like hours. Every hall and corridor looked identical except for, Leo noticed the color of the baseboard that trimmed every wall. When suddenly the officer stopped and spun on his heal to face Leo. "This is your quarters. You are to remain here unless I alone tell you otherwise. If someone tries to tell you otherwise the proper response is. Sir, with all due respect, my orders are to remain here Sir. All communication with upper classmates is to be proceeded by Sir and ended with Sir. Do you understand?"

"Sir, yes Sir." Just as the words left his mouth he realized he had blown it.

"Perhaps I haven't made myself clear. Follow me." They walked to the end of the hall and stopped in front of a plain looking door. "Behind that door Mr. Fearsome, you will find everything you'll need for the next few hours I expect to be able to eat off this floor when I return." The upper classman marched down the hall. The sound of his clicking shoes could be heard long after he was out of sight.

Leo opened the door to the cleaning supply closet to find another cadet standing on his head in a mop bucket. "What did you do?" Leo asked.

About that time a different upper classman jerked the door out of Leo's hand. "What the hell's go’n on in here?! Who told you to interfere with the performance of this low-life's duties? Speak up, dirt bag." The very tall upper classman glared down at the surprised Leo.

"Sir, I was instructed to clean the hall sir." Replied Leo as he snapped to attention.

Just as he completed his statement his upper classman turned the corner. "Report Lieutenant."

"Cadet Lieutenant first class reports while dispensing discipline to assigned cadet. Unidentified cadet interrupted proceedings. Sir."

"Come with me Lieutenant."

They marched down the hall just out of ear shot and talked for a while. When they returned they both wore big smiles.

 By the time they left, Leo was mopping the floor with the bucket the other lower classman had his head in and it still was. The warm water came to just below his nose. Leo was beginning to wonder how much of this he would be able to take.

The upper classman returned as the equipment was being stowed in the closet. "I hope the two of you have learned something from this. You have been assigned to the same quarters. Inspection will be at O'five hundred. Maybe you'll get to eat tomorrow. You may speak to each other but only in your quarters. Any questions?" By this point they both knew better than to answer. "Good... Dismissed."

               Morning came sooner than Leo liked. His roommate, Sherman Whitfield, knew more about the academy than he did so they decided to stay close together. When the upperclassmen came for inspection they were amazed how close to regulation the cabin was. They were able to find only fifty demerits as opposed to the other cadets who found themselves cleaning the outside of the building from bos'n's chairs.

The next year was devoted to studying and more studying. When Leo wasn’t studying, he practiced drill marching. Every morning started with exercises and a long march, then breakfast. Classes came next with a short lunch. He became an expert at eating a full meal in less than ten minutes.  When Leo found time, he explored the large base. He discovered the multi-religion sanctuaries that were all located in the same building. Each having a full size pipe organ. Because of the superb architectural acoustics no organ could be heard outside the individual cathedral. The stained glass windows and the way they passively illuminated the surroundings were about the most beautiful thing Leo had ever seen and brought the thought of Sophiea to his mind. Leo used the tranquil surroundings of the cathedrals to perfect his martial arts katas into flowing, super slow motion ballet.

Every day before muster Leo would go to the cathedrals. In the soft pastel light of the rising sun, Leo would disappear into his forms as he learned to combine the martial art and the So Shin Do in the ancient way. Sometimes he could hear faraway voices instructing him, correcting his technique. When he would reach the zenith of body and mind he felt he could walk into another dimension. If only he could find the door.

 

Being the son of a General is tough enough but for a cadet it is a death sentence. Sherman hid that fact well and hoped that no one would figure out his secret. He was born on an island in the South Pacific, Deago Garciea, it supplied secure communications and command links for ships and aircraft operating in the southern hemisphere for the Reformed United States Armed Forces. Sherman grew up on so many bases around the world that he could hardly remember any of them and making friends was difficult at best. He lived the life of a loner and was always reserved, his father insisted that he display an air of calm and control. It is fitting for an officer to put a face of authority and command forward and that meant having those emotional qualities reigned in tight at all times. His mother just wanted him to be a kid and have fun, but like most boys, living up to daddy’s expectations was his priority. The thought of doing anything other than becoming an officer in the Air Force never even crossed Sherman’s mind. Everything he did was in anticipation of entering the academy; he worked his ass off for the privilege to attend. His father could have swung his slot with a visa-view call but Sherman earned his own way in and would never ask for any special consideration. Even after standing in a mud hole up to his waist all night in the rain, he and Leo took turns leaning on each other’s back holding the other up while they slept. He adapted to relying on others fast. He had to. Teamwork was as necessary as breathing air and luckily Leo was as amendable as anyone he ever met and became his first true friend. They relied on one another for everything from getting out of the bed on time to making sure their uniforms were properly attired. Leo was fortunate Sherman excelled at mathematics and willingly tutored him through calculus.

They were studying for finals in the library. “Dad could do this calc in his head.” Leo struggled with the quadratic equation.

“I was reading about your father’s record the other night. He seems like quite a guy.” Sherman pointed to a minor mistake on Leo’s calculations.

“Crap.” He edited the string of steps on the visa-view. “Yah, he was. Some day I’ll find out the truth about how he died.”

“I know you’ve got a plan. You don’t do anything without one.”

“I figure if I make it into the Test and Evaluation Wing, I might get a look in the files.”

“Wouldn’t it be easier to talk to someone that was there?”

Leo stopped working and looked at Sherman as though he had discovered a new element. “He’d never talk.”

“Who?”

“Colonel Phillips.”

“Colonel Phillips, what does he have to do with it?” Sherman asked his curiosity peaked.

“He was subordinate to my Dad on the program that killed him. If anybody knows anything, he would. He and Dad were real close, we all were.”

“Can’t hurt to ask him.” Sherman put his palms up in a shrugging posture. “Who knows maybe he’ll spill his guts all over you.” They went back to work but Leo couldn’t get the thought out of his head. If there were even a small chance of finding out how his father died, then he would have to pursue it.

The next morning Leo met Rod as he was unlocking his office door. Leo snapped a sharp salute. “Good morning, Colonel Phillips.”

“Good morning, Cadet.” He finished entering the code on the electronic keypad. As the door swung open he returned the salute casually. “What brings you around so early Leo?” He walked into the receiving office and picked up a stack of envelopes that were on the small desk and sorted through them. He noticed Leo searching for words and put the envelopes back on the desk. “Speak up Cadet.” He ordered.

“Sir. Permission to speak off the record Sir.” Leo snapped to attention.

“State your intentions.” Rod looked at him with a sense of displeasure.

“Sir. The Cadet requests to speak to the Colonel in private about a personal matter, Sir.” Leo was afraid he was going to send him away.

Rod put his hands on his hips and studied him coolly. “Are you having trouble with your studies?” He finely asked.

“Sir, no Sir.”

“Well what is it son?” Rod looked more worried than irritated.

“Sir… I would like to ask you some questions about my father’s death.”

The Colonel retrieved the envelopes and turned to the door behind him with his name on it. He pushed it open and walked in leaving Leo standing at attention. “Come on in and close the door, Leo.” Leo followed him and shut the door. The Colonel sat down in a large leather chair behind a heavy hardwood desk. There were framed certificates and degrees hanging on the wall behind him. On another wall hung pictures of aircraft and other memorabilia. Leo saw several photos of Rod and his father in locations the world over. “Sit down, Leo.” He motioned to one of the chairs positioned in front of the desk. Leo took it. “Now what’s this all about?”

“Sir, I was hoping you would tell me what really happened on that day my Dad was killed. I never bought the official story and… Well, you were there.” Leo had a pained expression. He pulled the old folders that he had found in the mine at Edwards out from under his tunic and handed them to Rod.

Rod looked through the papers and photos. “Leo, let me tell you how things are done in this Air Force. When I filed my last report and the Program was canceled, I received my Final Debriefing. Do you know what that means on a Top Secret program?” Leo shook his head. “The Black Suits from Intelligence perform a post hypnotic interrogation with the aid of drugs and do what we always called a mind wipe. So even if I did want to tell you I couldn’t because I can’t remember a damn thing that they determined to be classified.” Leo’s head hung low.

“I understand Colonel. I won’t bother you with this again. It’s just that I know more about the way the Air Force does things than you might have guessed.” He reclaimed the evidence and tucked it back in his tunic. “I know there is more to my dad’s death than what they told us, I can feel it in my gut.” He stood up to leave.

“I’m sorry son. I wish there was something I could say that would help you past this.” His heart hurt for Leo, it always had.

“Thank you, Colonel.” Leo came to attention and saluted sharply. Rod stood and returned the salute.

“Dismissed.”

Leo spun on his heel and left the office. When the door closed Rod relaxed the salute and walked over to the photos on the wall. He stopped in front of one that showed Johnithan reaching down from an open helicopter door, helping Rod enter it. Rod had bloodstains on his flight suit and was hanging from a winch in a rescue harness several hundred feet above the ground. He saluted the photo, the image of Johnithan.

Rod remembered that day like it was yesterday. It was the same story. He and Fearsome had been deployed on a Combat Air Patrol mission in F-22’s. They had just topped off their tanks and separated from the refueling aircraft when a surface to air missile hit the tanker’s left wing sending it spiraling in flames to the ground. Nobody made it out and all were lost. Fearsome instantly called in a report over the communication link and rolled in on the SAM battery with Rod close on his right wing. They dove on the missile launcher and strafed it with their twenty-millimeter cannons. A large plume of smoke followed them up as they climbed away from several secondary explosions. As they leveled off at their assigned altitude, a warning sounded from Rod’s tactical display informing him of five approaching aircraft. They were identified as enemy SU-27’s and were on an intercept course. They had closed by using passive infrared tracking sensors and directions from the ground crews. The F-22’s attacked. “Break right.” Fearsome called to his wingman. And they turned sharp in a high “G” maneuver.

Rod’s display lit up like a Christmas tree as multiple missile launches were detected. “Releasing countermeasures.” Rod announced.

“Let’s try to split them up. You head east and I’ll go west, we’ll join-up at angels 13 grid fifty three.” Fearsome called.

“Roger that.” Rod responded. They flew through the enemy formation as they launched Sidewinder short-range heat seekers downing two planes in the first pass. Rod turned east and two of the remaining fighters banked hard to turn in behind him. He pulled on the stick hard jinking as he maneuvered in behind one of the SU-27’s. He locked up the enemy with his synthetic aperture radar and fired a Sparrow missile then rolled inverted as he banked again looking for the second SU-27. He never saw the explosion of the target as the missile flew right up its tail pipe. He knew that if he couldn’t find the other plane on active scanners then it was probably on his tail. “Jolly Two to Umbrella. Do you have bogey on your scope? Advise.”

“Jolly Two be advised, bogey is at your six, range two miles, speed four fifty, altitude angels nine.” The AWAC EC-3D reported.

“Roger that. Jolly One, what is your status?”

“Jolly Two, I’ve got my hands full with this one.”

“Roger.” Rod deployed his decoy, decelerated and began a shallow turn, hoping his foe didn’t have visual contact with him. If he didn’t, then he would follow the decoy. If he did, then Rod most likely would not live to know the difference.

He did survive that day, barely. But when he was rescued the first face he saw was Johnithan’s. He was there in every photo, every memory. Every time Rod needed anything, Fearsome had been there. If only Rod could pay him back, some how. Helping Leo would have to do.

When Have Hammer was canceled he was transferred or was it relieved from the Test and Evaluation Wing? He couldn’t remember for sure. All he was sure of was that he had never been offered a flight slot again. It was Donnols that transferred him, relieved him. It was relieved he was sure about that now but he still wasn’t sure why he was relieved. Had he been involved in Fearsome’s death? Could he have been responsible for it? He couldn’t believe he could be mind wiped of that, regardless of what drugs they might have used on him. Maybe the more painful the memory the easier it would be to bury. People did that without any help at all. He had heard of repressed memories and that was all a mind wipe was any way. Still it raised questions that he had no answers for, questions he never thought of before. Could that have been part of the mind wipe? Would you want an apple if you never knew you ate one and liked it?

That night Rod went to bed but did not sleep. He could not get the thought of him possibly being responsible for his best friend, his virtual brother’s death out of his mind. The next night he slept only from exhaustion and when he did he dreamt. Terrible nightmares tortured him for weeks. There was only one solution he had to face the truth no matter what had happened. But how could he get past the mind wipe. It was supposed to be infallible to the point that even a captured subject couldn’t divulge wiped information. But he wanted to know, he needed to know. He mulled the matter over for several days when he remembered something Johnithan had said about the So Shin Do way. Something about how the wipe could not defeat such powerful focusing techniques. Johnithan could remember details that were supposed to be wiped if he wanted to. There were times when he would pull information out of his butt that saved time and resources that had come from other programs and he would use that information to benefit the current program. It never compromised security but saved many costly delays and even entire programs that would have been canceled otherwise. Perhaps Leo could use those techniques on him. Rod was sure that Leo still practiced the method. Once you trained in the ways Rod doubted you could quit based on what Johnithan said.

 

Leo finished that first year with honors and Larra and Sophiea came to see him during the short break that marked the beginning of a new class. Leo took them to all the special places he had found and showed them all of the local sights. Sophiea was especially impressed by the Royal Gorge and was afraid to cross the metal grating bridge that spanned it. The fact it was over a hundred years old only enhanced her discomfort. Every time she looked down all she saw was the snake like river and rail line hundreds of feet below. There was no way of talking her into riding the antique cable car that free-spans the gorge either, but they all got a good laugh out of it. Nobody would have ever believed that Sophiea was afraid of heights.

“I can’t believe that you’re so chicken.” Leo teased his hands on her waist nudging her forward towards the edge of the bridge’s railing.

“Well you can, now stop pushing.” She turned her body at the precise timing of Leo’s applied force to send him past her looking over the edge.

“Careful you two. You’re making me spastic.” Larra scolded as she clinched her throat as if stricken with panic.

“If he doesn’t stop I’ll through him over the side.”

“Ok.” Leo held his hands up in surrender. He was half convinced she was serious. For Sophiea there was no doubt.

Every day the cadets performed their marching skills, decorated in their blue dress uniforms for all the visitors in the wide spanning assembly/parade area. It brought back painful, but happy memories for Larra. She said one afternoon to Sophiea while watching the ranks file by, "You know I was about your age when I first came here. I can still see John, as he would snap a salute when they marched by here. Just like that." She pointed at Leo as his class came by. "That's why I always stand under the flag."

Sophiea looked up at Old Glory and wondered if her man would die for that flag too. The thought made her shiver. Larra seemed to read her mind and put a comforting arm around her shoulders.

 Watching the cadets reminded Sophiea of the stories her grandmother told her when she was a little girl; about a nutcracker fashioned in the likeness of a soldier who came to life and a young woman that was rescued from evil forces and fell in love with him. But in the end, the soldier reverted back to the form of the nutcracker and the woman was left alone with only her memories. Sophiea became very depressed and reserved. She knew what had to be done: either kill Leo or leave him; she couldn’t kill him, so that left her with little choice.

At dinner both Leo and Larra saw the emotional stress that Sophiea was experiencing and Larra hurried to finish her dinner so the two young adults could be alone.

"Well that was an excellent meal. I don't have to worry about how they're feeding you. I think I'll go for a walk and leave you two alone awhile. See you in the morning." Larra stood and turned to leave the mess hall.

"See you later." Sophiea and Leo said in concert.

"Sophiea..." Leo began.

Sophiea interrupted him by reaching across the table and taking his hand. "Look Leo. I know how important all of this is to you. But I don't think I can wait for you to decide when the time is right for us. If you knew how much sleep I've missed since you've been gone maybe you'd understand.” She took a deep breath. “I think it would be best if you didn't use my visa-fax service any more." She looked straight-ahead, eyes glazed with held back tears. "I'm going to be leaving Chicago in a few weeks and I'm leaving here tonight." She wanted to explode. The struggle she fought threatened to swallow her. Sophiea wasn’t as strong as everyone thought she was and she didn’t care what they might think. She just wanted to end the fight, end the conflict between her heart and her head.

"What? But Sophiea..." Before Leo could say anything more she pushed her chair away from the table and almost ran from the hall.

Leo started to follow her then remembered the officer's code of conduct and slowly finished his meal. After eating he went and found Larra.

"Mom, I don't know what to do. I love her but I can't quit. Did you know what she was planning?"

"No, I knew something was up but I had no idea she intended to leave tonight, let alone leave Chicago." Larra knew exactly how Sophiea felt. She considered doing exactly the same thing many times during John’s carrier not for lack of love but for lack of courage. In some ways she almost envied Sophiea for her having the will to move on instead of spending the rest of her life wondering if her love would come home to her.

"Where is she going? What will she do when she gets there?" He asked broken hearted.

"Oh, Leo I'm so sorry." Larra held him in her arms the way she had when he was a small boy and had hurt himself, she could help him then but there was nothing she could do for him now. She knew Leo would get passed this. He was young and had his whole life ahead of him. If only he could stop living to make up for the past, stop living for people who were dead and start living for life’s sake. Larra wished she could find the words to release him and set him free but only he could do that.

 

Sherman caught up with Leo at the target range where he placed consecutive rounds into the center of the two hundred-meter targets. “Cease fire on the firing line!”

Leo opened the bolt on the rifle and removed his hearing protection. “Want to take a few shots?”

“Colonel Phillips has been looking for you everywhere.” He handed Leo a data disk. “He asked me to pass this to you.”

“Thanks.” He slipped the disk into the visa-view on the shooting bench. The face of the Colonel replaced his current score and a graphic of the bullet placement on target.

“Cadet Fearsome, you are ordered to report to my office ASAP. These orders supercede your other duties.” The screen when blank.

“Sherman can you secure my weapon for me?” Leo stared arranging his accessories in his carrying case.

“No problem. Leave that shit, I’ll get it for you.” He picked up where Leo left off.

“Thanks again, you’re the best Sherman.” Leo hurried to the Colonel's office and found him pacing the floor. “Cadet Fearsome, reporting as ordered Sir.” Leo snapped to attention and saluted rigidly.

“At ease, Cadet.” Rod sat down behind his desk. “Leo I want to ask you some questions.”

“Anything Colonel.” Leo volunteered.

“No, I’m not asking as a superior officer I’m asking as a friend. Totally off the record.” Rod wrung his hands nervously.

“What can I do for you Rod?” Leo sat on the edge of one of the chairs. He noticed that Rod had dark circles under his eyes and looked a little pasty.

“Do you still practice that So Shin stuff?”

“Sure, Dad used to say I had a knack for it.”

“So I gathered. Do you think you could talk me into one of those trance things your Dad did?”

“No problem, it’s easy. Why?”

“I need to help us by remembering a few things, but I don’t think this is the place to do it.” He looked up at the ceiling.

Leo looked up and noticed a camera mounted in the light fixture. “Ok, let’s go.” He followed Rod out to the parking lot and got into his sports speeder. They stopped at the guard gate.

“I’m taking Cadet Fearsome with me to do some yard work for disciplinary measures.” It was common for officers to recruit cadets in this manner.

“I’ll log him off base in your custody Colonel.”  The Guard said as he saluted him through the checkpoint.

They arrived at Rod’s house and went into the backyard garden, it was heavily overgrown and provided good privacy. “How do we start?”

“First you’ll need to change into something comfortable.”

“Ok I’ll be right back, want something to drink?”

“Yes please.” Rod went inside and Leo looked around the yard, he felt kind of strange. The yard was small and confined with a table and metal chairs that appeared to have never been used, the grass needed a good mowing as well. Presently Rod returned dressed in sweats and carried a jug of water and two glasses. Leo took the glasses and Rod filled them.

“This feels kind of strange.” Rod smiled with a crook at the corner of his mouth.

“I know what you mean.” Leo drank the entire glassful. “Ok sit in that chair and let’s get this over with.” Rod sat in one of the rod iron garden chairs and stacked his feet upon the matching table.

“Not very comfortable.” He adjusted his rump until the hard surface was tolerable. “Ok I’m ready, do your worst.”

“Ok, now close your eyes and breath deeply and slowly, don’t hyperventilate. As you take air into your lungs visualize refreshing energy entering your body. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. As you exhale, see the tension and anxiety flow out of your body as though it is a tangible thing like dust or weight being lifted off of your shoulders.”

“I see dirty water running out of my mouth.” His eyes darted back and forth under his eyelids.

“Very good. You feel the pressure becoming ever decreasing with every breath.” Leo applied pressure to key pressure points along Rods shoulders and neck. Rod responded with deep breaths and Leo could feel the tension leave his muscles.

“Rod you can hear only my voice. All sounds are fading except the sound of my voice when you hear it you feel the comfort and security you find in the safest place you know or have ever known. How do you feel?”

“Warm and fuzzy.” Rod made a soft giggle more like a child than a man nearing his fifties.

“You are fearless, you can go anywhere, do anything.”

“Anything…” Rod repeated so softly Leo could barely hear him.

“You remember the day your best friend Johnithan Fearsome died.”

“I was there… I saw…” Rod winced in pain.

“You are relaxed and you feel nothing. As though you are floating in a bathtub of warm water. The sound of my voice removes all sensation.” Rod relaxed and his eyes no longer squinted in agony. “You remember being comfortable after the debriefing.”

 Rod smiled.

Leo continued. “Tell me about it.”

“Those jackasses from the NSA were saying how good I felt.”

“That’s right, and you did, don’t you?”

“Yes I do.”

“You feel good before then too don’t you?”

“No, it hurts.” Rod cringed. “They told me it does.”

“They were playing a game with you. Every time they tell you that you hurt, you really feel good and want to talk about what they want you to hide.”

“They don’t play nice. They’re cruel they keep showing me things, pictures that are not nice. They say they will do the same thing to me, to my friends, to my family. I don’t have any family.”

“Those pictures are not real they don’t hurt you any more you are safe and your friends are safe you see them waving to you. Wave back.”

Rod smiled and raised his hand. “ Hi, there.” Waving. “But I don’t like those guys.”

“They are leaving. You see them fade away like a stain rinsed clean from your mind.” Rod grinned from ear to ear. “You can remember everything clearly now.”

Rod screamed in pain, his back arched as his fingers clawed at his scalp.

“You feel no pain. You only hear my voice.” Rod continued to writhe in agony. Leo dropped to his knees at Rod’s side and pressed hard against key pressure points at the base of his neck as he went into a So Shin Do trance of his own.

Leo was standing in a pool of liquid fire he could hear Rod begging to be put to death in the distance. Leo moved in the direction of the cries for mercy. As he passed through the flames he could see General Donnols and three men crowded around Rod who was melting from the heat of the flames. Leo sprayed a stream of water from a hose that formed in his hands but the water only turned to steam and Rod rolled in the torment. Leo could feel the heat building around him. Panic was only a few steps from him now as he solidified his concentration. He pushed the men away from Rod and scooped him up in his arms. The flesh dripped away in large sheets. Leo jumped up and away from the building flames they followed behind them as they fled into the expanse of Rod’s mind. Leo tied Rod’s arms around his neck like the limp arms of a sweater and turned to face the billowing flames. Suddenly a wall of soothing cool separated them from the flames. Slowly the flames began to subside. Soon they were facing the four evil men. Leo began to disassemble them piece by piece; he started with the men dressed in black. They fought, trying to keep Leo from touching them but Leo built a wall around them too. When he was done with them he started on General Donnols but every time he removed a part it would reappear. Leo realized that this was no implanted memory, General Donnols represented a real threat to Rod one that had already done damage. Leo moved closer to Donnols and followed him as he tried to move away. Suddenly Leo was looking at Donnols as he sat behind his desk. He was typing something on his visa-view. Leo moved around the desk and could see the orders that were being generated. It was a report stating that the Air Force could either court martial Rod, allowing the truth to be heard in a court of law or transfer him to a desk position and rely on the mental conditioning to keep their secret. Rod moaned at the reality of it. He was no longer tied around Leo’s neck but was standing next to him. “Why?” He cried looking at Leo.

Leo found himself looking at Rod as though he was a spirit floating beside him as he piloted a Venture Star Space Shuttle the Earth loomed above them. Rod was making inputs to a visa-view display when his attention was diverted by a view from outside the window of the ship. Leo looked, but couldn’t see what Rod was studying. All he saw was the huge blue ball with streaks of white swirling across its face. The ship was inverted, trapped by the laws of physics in orbit around the Earth. Rod tapped the display and two blips appeared on the screen with range and speed information associated with them, one of the blips was labeled Chase One, the other was labeled Hammer. Chase One was far below the Hammer as the Hammer climbed towards orbit, then Leo noticed what had Rod’s undivided attention, within the streaks of clouds was two very straight parallel contrails with specks at the growing ends. As Leo watched the specks he saw what Rod was so interested in, it was a third object. Leo looked at the display again. There was no matching blip but it was closing on the Hammer. Rod was calling into the communications gear but Leo could not hear what he was saying, or refused to hear. Rod tapped inputs into a different display furiously and the Venture Star spun around and was traveling backwards in its orbit. Soon a blast from its main engines shook the ship and Leo could see the “G” forces of a strong breaking maneuver push Rod deep into his seat, it was a very long burn and Rod was fighting to remain conscious against the strain. Finally the vibration ended and the ship spun around forward as Rod grasped the manual joystick. He rolled the ship one hundred eighty degrees, and pointed the nose down in a steep dive. He was arguing with an unknown voice as he piloted an interception course with the Hammer. The unidentified object was much closer now, but was obscured by an opalescent energy bubble that had a blue-green hue to it. As Rod’s ship came slowly closer, the blue-green bubble extended until it surrounded the Hammer as well. Red flames licked over the nose of Rod’s ship as it entered the atmosphere warning lights flashed from all over the cockpit and instrumentation but Rod held the stick steady, sweat popped out on his forehead and smoke drifted up from below the consoles. He was flying the ship from the instruments as he continued to close on the Hammer. Only when a collision alert flashed on his main screen did he pull up on the joystick. Monetarily the flames outside subsided and he could see the two engulfed crafts ahead of him by only a few hundred meters. Then a bright flash caused Rod to involuntarily cover his eyes with his arm.

Leo could hear the vaguely familiar voice of Chase One reporting. "Chase one to Anvil, the Hammer just exploded. Major debris sections over area alpha four four delta." Seconds later Chase one exploded due to the same mysterious blue glow. Leo watched as the unknown craft blurred into a long streak of red flames as it accelerated out of site into the void of space.

Leo snapped out of the So Shin Do trance and fell over backwards as he careened in shock at what he had witnessed. He laid on his back in the tall grass looking up at the clouds over head, they seemed totally at peace as they swirled intermingling, a stark contrast to the turmoil inside him.

Rod opened his eyes slowly sat up in the chair; he rested his elbows on his knees as he rubbed at his tear soaked eyes. “I don’t know where to start. I remember everything like it was yesterday. Missions and programs, I never knew I took part in some of them.” I feel that I missed most of my life. It’s going to take a while for me to sort it all out.” He stood and walked into the house.

Leo recovered from the exertion and brushed the grass from the areas of his uniform he could reach. The sun setting fast, his shadow already long, he began the long walk back to the academy. He topped a hill two or three miles from Rod’s house when Rod pulled up beside him in his speeder. “Sorry about that Leo, I don’t know what I was thinking, leaving you out there like that.”

Leo slid into the leather-covered seat and buckled up. “That’s ok, I needed some time too.”

“So that’s how a So Shin Do master does his thing?” Rod looked at Leo sideways as he changed gears.

“That’s the first time anything like that has ever happened. I wasn’t sure it happened at all.”

“You were inside my head weren’t you?”

“Yah, I was there. I saw most of it. I don’t understand though, Dad never said a thing about stuff like that.” Leo’s head was swimming.

Rod stopped the speeder along the road. “When a program advances, pilots have flight responsibilities for different phases. I had the atmospheric portion; your father had phase two, which was the orbital phase. I was assigned Chase Two and was to join-up in formation with your father as he entered orbit. When I sighted the bogey intercepting the Hammer I broke mission profile and attempted to intervene, but I was too late.” Rod leaned his forehead against the steering wheel and bounced it several times in mocking punishment. “That bastard Donnols relieved me of all flight duties because of the heat damage to the Venture Star and breaking the mission flight plan’s profile. Instead of a court martial, they just wiped my brain and sent me here. Put out to pasture for trying to help a friend. Isn’t that the shits!”

Leo couldn’t begin to imagine how Rod must feel losing his wings and now knowing it was never official, but it might as well have been. “What do you think the bogey was?”

“At the time I figured it to be either from the European Union the Japanese or the Chinese, they’re the only ones that have the technology or the budgets to produce aircraft with those capabilities. But in retrospect, I can’t believe that either would have risked war to stop the Have Hammer program. I was too far away to get a good look at it before I entered the stratosphere. But I’m sure my digital video recording would have been able to provide positive identification. It just doesn’t make any sense.”

 “Donnols knows the truth.” Leo promised himself that he would know the truth before his life would end. One way or the other.

“I don’t see myself staying in the Force knowing what I do. The chance of me going ballistic is pretty high right now.”

“Maybe a vacation would do you some good.” Leo hated the thought of Rod quitting because of anything he did, but inside he knew it wasn’t what he did but what Donnols had done. Donnols had a lot to reckon for.

 

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