The Vaults of Heaven (AU)

[jemhouston]

Which brings up the question, who started the process in the first place? A US OGA or someone in Mexico who didn't like what happened in Mexico City.

You'd need someone with an ability to take a lot of disparate data that collected by people who aren't in the habit of talking to each other and reaching a counter-intuitive conclusion from it.

Gee, I wonder who might fit that description.

King of Prussia and Archangel

John Clark also, but he's a little junior to push it.

[Poohbah]

Which brings up the question, who started the process in the first place? A US OGA or someone in Mexico who didn't like what happened in Mexico City.

You'd need someone with an ability to take a lot of disparate data that collected by people who aren't in the habit of talking to each other and reaching a counter-intuitive conclusion from it.

Gee, I wonder who might fit that description.

King of Prussia and Archangel

John Clark also, but he's a little junior to push it.

Yabbut...

Who would be the person who put the pieces together and called it to the attention of those august personages (even if it was in May)?

[Wolfman]

Someone who, in the main timeline, helped lay the groundwork for BOLO II and is busy in some "Wretched hive of scum and villainy" in recently-liberated Kansas?

That place makes Mos Eisley look downright respectable and you know it.

[Poohbah]

14 May 1988
Headquarters, 7th Special Reconnaissance Squadron ("Garryowen")
Williams AFB
Phoenix, AZ

Mantell picked up the phone on the first ring. "Unsecure line, Squadron Ops, Chief Warrant Officer Mantell speaking, sir."

It was Ishizake. "Chief, could you come down to my office, please?"

"Certainly, sir."

Less than a week on the job and I have a pissed-off CO. Nice work, Mantell! What was the name of that truck driving school? Truckmasters? Might need that.

* * *

"Shut the door, please."

Ishizake's face went from congenial to, "I haven't decided to fire you, but that's how it's looking, bubba," the instant the door clicked shut.

Ishizake held up a copy of Mantell's report, Potential for Influencing or Utilizing Present Insurgency on the Baja Peninsula. "Chief, maybe you need a quick refresher on the chain of command here. We're a theater-level asset, and that means there's no group CO to act as a buffer between me and 23rd Actual. Now, Slade Gorton's gone on to USSOCOM HQ, and I don't have a solid read on Lieutenant General Lee Vining. I can't send some half-assed weird shit up to Altus."

"Did you read the entire report, sir?"

"For fuck's sake, Mantell, does anyone ever read beyond the Executive Summary?"

"I do, sir. Especially if the summary is telling me something that isn't in line with my expectations. So, tell me where I'm wrong, sir."

Ishizake stared at Mantell. "You expect a busy guy--specifically, me, or General Vining--to read the entire report? Damn thing's over 80 pages!"

Mantell felt his temper surge. "Sir, there's 12 full-page maps and tables. That reduces it down to 68 pages. Then there's 23 pages of footnotes. That takes it down to 45 pages, and it's double-spaced so you can make annotations and comments. If you're going to shitcan me over to the Buffalo Wings, sir, please do me the courtesy of reading 22 and half pages of text first. Is there anything else, sir?"

* * *

Mantell smiled at the tall brunette who reminded him of Kathy.

He remembered Kathy's parting words that last morning in Philly: I don't have a claim of ownership on you. If you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with.

The brunette smiled back. "You're not what I expected."

Mantell quirked an eyebrow. "What did you expect?"

"Um . . . Captain America, actually."

"I can't be Captain America, I'm a Warrant Officer. Captains have to be gentlemen, warrants can drink beer straight from the bottle. Besides, Cap's overdue for promotion to Major and a staff position."

The brunette laughed, then said, "Deborah MacAllaster, but you can call me Debs."

"Josh Mantell."

The phone rang, and the bartender picked it up.

"So, Josh, what brings you to Williams--"

The bartender came over to Mantell and handed him the phone. "Sir, you have a phone call."

"Mantell here."

"Chief, am I interrupting anything?"

"An interesting conversation."

"Well, you ain't scoring tonight. Get your ass back here now."

"Yes, sir."

Mantell handed the phone back to the bartender and said, "I'm sorry, Debs, but duty calls."

She handed him a cocktail napkin with "Debs McAllaster" and a phone number. "Call me when you can. As you said, this was an interesting conversation."

* * *

Ishizake held up the report. "OK, first, you'll need to retype this to incorporate my comments. Second, how the fuck did the intel weenies miss this?"

"In answer to your question, sir, the data was gathered by a bunch of different people who never talked to each other, and we had two file cabinets full of intel information that was signed for and thrown into the filing cabinet without ever being read." Mantell paused. "Sir, what was the big tell for you?"

"You mentioned two guys in the 20th TFW getting ratlined to an extract after three days wandering around El Coloradito on the eastern coast. 20th doesn't have an assigned mission over Baja, they're tasked with strikes way down in southern Sonora and into Sinaloa. Turns out their Wing King has a standing order--battle damaged aircraft are to exit northwest, cross Baja on specific corridors, and either try to get feet wet over the Pacific or feet dry into Imperial Valley. Barring that, they have some designated bailout areas in Baja del Norte. The Wing King is a classmate from Air Command and Staff and thought I'd know about it, because Special Recon is part of the happy horde of AFSOC that recovers so many pilots from Baja. I didn't have the heart to tell him we don't do that job." Ishizake sighed. "I showed you my ass earlier, Chief. I learned something: if the report is telling you something you didn't expect to hear, read the thing before forming an opinion. Can we reset?"

"Yes, sir."

They shook hands.

Thirty minutes later, Mantell walked back into the CO's office. "Sir, here's the smooth with your recommended changes." He handed Ishizake the spiral-bound report, and then passed a file folder. "Here's a CONOPS for inserting a Special Recon Team into Baja. Outline is that we use some MC-130 flights over Sonora to decoy the SOF hunters east of the Colorado, and then use two blooding raids into out of Imperial Valley and Campo to insert teams into the Mexicali Valley and Tecate. We ask a sub to give us a lift to Cabo San Lucas-La Paz at the tip of the peninsula. Once inserted, we tap phone lines, microwave links, and listen to tactical comms. Avoid contact, stay radio silent, get picked up by submarine after yomping to an empty beach down south, and wait for another raid and hitch a ride in a Bradley up north."

Ishizake looked at Mantell. "How fast do you type, anyway?"

"73 words per minute, sir. On Day One, I was a mild-mannered aircraft maintenance administration clerk."

"Why the hell am I using you for ops planning? My secretary barely cracks 40! Get out of here, ya bum, maybe you can resume that interesting conversation."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

Mantell walked back into the club and saw McAllaster at a table with another woman. McAllaster saw him and waved him over.

"Josh, this is my friend, Jeanna Canyon."

Jeanna was lithe woman in Army BDUs. Major's oak leaves were on her collar.

"Damn, Debs, he's even better-looking in person."

"Down, girl, I saw him first."

Jeanna stuck her tongue out at Debs, then asked, "Didn't they teach you to share in kindergerten?"

Mantell managed to avoid choking on his drink, but it was close.

Debs leaned back in her seat and said, "Dear God, Jeanna, you know I love you, girlfriend, but he's a midwestern boy and probably isn't ready for a threesome on a first date."

"Actually, I'm from San Diego--"

Jeanna said, "Hey, a fellow West Coast degenerate like both of us, I'm from Santa Barbara. Debs is from Seattle."

Debs snorted. "Oh, yeah? Where'd your parents grow up, Josh?"

"Afton, Minnesota."

Debs smirked at Jeanna. "Yeah, you were saying? Probably raised old-school Lutheran--"

"Catholic, actually."

"Even worse."

Jeanna said, "He's not a blushing virgin, honey. He's holding his own. And honestly, he looks delicious, and I know you are. I say we get dinner at the Huntress--"

"Jeanna, we'll both get thrown out of the club."

"The Huntress?"

Jeanna stared at Josh. "Well pilgrim, you really are a stranger to these here parts. The Huntress Club is the lesbian and bisexual women's one stop shop for like-minded female companionship."

Debs said, "Rule One is 'No tourists.' You're not supposed to be recruiting for a threesome with your boyfriend. They do cancel memberships for doing that."

"Can we claim I'm a lesbian trapped in a man's body?"

Debs was sipping her wine, laughed, and had it come out of her nose. Jeanna laughed delightedly and said, "Debs, honey, I think he's good to go. Josh, my dear, lovely girlfriend obviously missed the announcement that The Huntress Club's grill now accepts takeout orders. And you must try their venison tenderloin in lime crema sauce, it's amazing. I'll call in the order."

* * *

15 March 1988
Mesa, AZ

Mantell came awake when the phone rang.

Debs picked it up and mumbled, "Hang on," then passed it to Jeanna on Josh's opposite side. Jeanna said, "Major Canyon speaking--oh, just a second." She handed the phone to Josh. "It's Colonel Ishizake."

Mantell rolled onto his back. "Good morning, sir."

"I guess it was a really interesting conversation, Chief."

Mantell felt his brain stop and his face flush.

Jeanna grabbed the phone. "Whatever you said to him, sir, I'll have you know he's extremely cute when he blushes."

Mantell grabbed the phone.

"Ah, sir--"

"Cool your jets, son. Listen, I forwarded your report to 23rd Air Force last night. Apparently, the duty officer read it last night, ran down your references, and now we're invited to a conference call at 0730 local. Be there, ready to discuss, or else we're getting sent to Thule."

Mantell rolled toward Debs and looked at the clock. 0507.

"I'll be there, sir."

"Very well." Ishizake hung up. Mantell reached over Debs and hung the phone up, then said, "Ah, ladies, I had a lovely time--"

"Oh, so did I, honey," Debs said.

Jeanna smiled. "Same here."

"But, once again, duty calls. Could I trouble someone for a lift back to the Doubletree?"

Jeanna nodded, and said, "Sure."
* * *

Josh stepped into the conference room at 0700 and smelled coffee. Lieutenant Colonel Zens was grabbing a bearclaw from a box of doughnuts. Mantell looked for the coffee mess can.

Ishizake said, "Don't worry, Chief. When I order you in on a day off without time for breakfast, I front the food."

"Thank you, sir." Mantell poured himself a cup of coffee and grabbed a glazed old-fashioned doughnut.

Ishizake took one look at Mantell's plate, frowned, grabbed a blueberry muffin, and put it next to the doughnut. "Gotta make sure you eat enough, Chief."

He directed Mantell to sit opposite Zens, who asked, "Sir, who's the guy who got a wild hair up his butt regarding this mess?"

"An SRO named Henrix."

Mantell blinked. "Sophie Henrix, sir?"

Ishizake said, "Yeah. You know her?"

"SInce junior high, sir. She was the first SRO. Note that I'm not saying she was the first woman SRO, she's the first of the breed, period."

Ishizake's eyebrows went up. "So, what is she like? Smart like you?"

"Smarter, sir. On Day One, she was on a full ride scholarship at MIT."

Zens blinked, then said, "Holy shit."

"Ditched it all to enlist, got picked up by General Lodge."

Ishizake looked at Mantell, then asked, "This just occurred to me--do you happen to know a Technical Sergeant Adam Lodge?"

"SInce high school. He's a Master Sergeant now, sir, and word is they're sending him to Montgomery to become a warrant officer."

"Is he related to General Lodge?"

"The General is his uncle. And, oh yeah, Sophie is Adam's girlfriend."

Zens rolled her eyes. "Enough nepotism to form a county government."

Ishizake smiled and gently waggled his finger at Zens. "Tsk, tsk!" He took a sip of coffee, then asked, "Mantell . . . do you have any insight on why he does that? It's been noticed. He damn near always picks exactly the person for the job."

Mantell was chewing a bite of his doughnut. He finished, took a sip of coffee, and thought for a moment.

"Sir . . . I've only dealt with him a couple of times. I do know that he's a big believer in getting to know people. He was very sociable and approachable when he was showing the flag for the Air Force at my high school, ready to talk--at length--to prospects. I'm assuming he was sizing them up and filing them away in his mental Rolodex. And he's done some wild stuff over the years. When things went to hell in Vietnam, he . . . um . . . borrowed . . . a South Vietnam Air Force OV-10 to rescue an agent and the agent's family."

Zens raised an eyebrow. "Borrowed?"

"Well, ma'am, if you want to be excessively ethical, he may have technically engaged in international piracy."

Ishizake laughed. "So, he got his agent and the agent's family out. What happened next?"

"He landed the plane on the Enterprise. The Navy wanted to keelhaul him, sir. International piracy, unauthorized foreign travel, and making a night trap without a day trap. The kicker is that an officer assigned to the PACOM HQ Forward cell was on the Enterprise that night, and he talked PACOM out of court-martialing him. Said someone was making good on at least one of America's promises." Mantell paused and looked at the other two officers, then said, "That officer was Commander Zachary Mantell, sir."

Ishizake was quiet for a moment, then said, "Just damn."

* * *

"Good morning, we are polling all stations on this call. 23rd Air Force Forward?"

"23rd Forward is on."

"DIA art King of Prussia, Pennsylvania?"

"DIA is up."

"Air Force Electronic Security Command?"

"ESC is up."

"7th Special Reconnaissance Squadron?"

Ishizake said, "7th SRS is up. Garryowen!"

"MACROSS?"

"MACROSS is up."

"All attendees are present, be advised this conference is classified Top Secret."

"This is General Vining at 23rd Air Force. Sorry for the short notice, but this got my staff awfully excited. Is Chief Mantell on this call?"

Ishizake said, "Yes, sir."

"Chief, walk me through the logic here."

"Sir, the first thing I did was to examine the geography of Baja California. Now, there's three ways to get to Baja from the rest of Mexico, sir. You can fly, you can ride a boat, or you can take Highway 2 from Sonora. That's it. We've been interdicting all three routes, sir. Because Baja connects to mainland Mexico only across the Colorado River Delta, commerce has always gone mostly north/south along the El Camino Real, the Royal Highway running from San Jose del Cabo at the southern tip of Baja to Sonoma in Alta California. That's how it was from the time of the Franciscan missions in the 17th century, all the way to the Communist revolution in 1984. Baja's always been more attuned to Alta California than Sonora, and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo didn't change that. The Communists did, but not for the better, sir. They've left the people of Baja broke, starving, and the secret police have been pretty brutal the entire time because . . . well, sir, because unlike us, they recognized where Baja's true loyalties lay. Back in the bad old days of colonialism and mercantilism, et cetera, there was a saying that held, 'the flag follows trade.' There just isn't any real trade between mainland Mexico and Baja California, sir. It was always us gringos. They don't see the damage we're doing, sir. "

There was a long silence. Mantell sipped his coffee, Ishizake fidgeted, and Zens looked at the map again.

"Chief, my own team is inclined to concur with your analysis--the operator who got us spun up last night used a purely mathematical analysis that pretty much said the same thing your maps told you, and the supporting info we've dug up matches, or even amplifies, your own. The Navy does their own Caesar ops in northern Baja, and they haven't lost anyone who successfully bailed out over Baja since July of 1986. I said it would've been nice if they told us, and it turns out they did. We're all choking on data and starving for knowledge."

Mantell hastily wrote that on his notepad.

General Lodge said, "Gentlemen, this is DIA. This got my attention. As Clausewitz observed, war is politics by other means, and our masters are, for various reasons, looking to extract a pound of flesh from Mexico. Invading would be bloody. This wouldn't be an invasion, if we can get a new government in place--or plausibly in place--to invite us in."

* * *

Ishizake hung up the phone and said, "All right, we have our marching orders. Chief, I want you to work with Master Sergeant Ojeda and build your CONOPS into a complete mission order, then we'll have all of the available flight commanders look it over and red-team it. Colonel Zens, once we have a good FRAGO, I'm going to need you to work the joint resources requests. That said, this is a marathon, not a sprint. Enjoy the rest of your day off, get cranking tomorrow."

[jemhouston]

In a short time, someone (Sophie) will light a cigar and say "I Love it when it plans comes together."

I'm hoping Josh is too smart to smoke.

[Wolfman]

In a short time, someone (Sophie) will light a cigar and say "I Love it when it plans comes together."

I'm hoping Josh is too smart to smoke.

And then the plan goes to Hell in a dumpsterfire.

[jemhouston]

In a short time, someone (Sophie) will light a cigar and say "I Love it when it plans comes together."

I'm hoping Josh is too smart to smoke.

And then the plan goes to Hell in a dumpster fire.

Man plans, God laughs.

[Wolfman]

In a short time, someone (Sophie) will light a cigar and say "I Love it when it plans comes together."

I'm hoping Josh is too smart to smoke.

And then the plan goes to Hell in a dumpster fire.

Man plans, God laughs.

Then the camera pans over from the dumpster fire to show Poohbah’s characters roasting marshmallows and trying to hide various incendiary items that were used to ignite the dumpster fire…

[jemhouston]

And then the plan goes to Hell in a dumpster fire.

Man plans, God laughs.

Then the camera pans over from the dumpster fire to show Poohbah’s characters roasting marshmallows and trying to hide various incendiary items that were used to ignite the dumpster fire…

Nope, he's no where to be seen. There is however an oxygen tank feeding the fire, and smell of burn flesh from bodies being burned.

[Wolfman]

Man plans, God laughs.

Then the camera pans over from the dumpster fire to show Poohbah’s characters roasting marshmallows and trying to hide various incendiary items that were used to ignite the dumpster fire…

Nope, he's no where to be seen. There is however an oxygen tank feeding the fire, and smell of burn flesh from bodies being burned.

I said his characters, Jem.

[Poohbah]

And then the plan goes to Hell in a dumpster fire.

Man plans, God laughs.

Then the camera pans over from the dumpster fire to show Poohbah’s characters roasting marshmallows and trying to hide various incendiary items that were used to ignite the dumpster fire…

CWO3 Sallquist is cheerfully folding incriminating supply records into paper airplanes and throwing them into the fire, Josh Mantell is making S'mores while saying, "Admit nothing, deny everything, make counter-accusations," Roberta is hastily stowing leftover thermite grenades back in her Grizzly breaching vehicle, Helen is roasting two marshmallows (hers and Roberta's) and saying"If You Ain't Cav, You Ain't Shit," and Kathy Barzanian is admonishing Sophie for both conspicuously enjoying the chaos and trying to find VMFA-451 flight surgeon Doc Lisa's tonsils with her tongue...

[Wolfman]

Man plans, God laughs.

Then the camera pans over from the dumpster fire to show Poohbah’s characters roasting marshmallows and trying to hide various incendiary items that were used to ignite the dumpster fire…

CWO3 Sallquist is cheerfully folding incriminating supply records into paper airplanes and throwing them into the fire, Josh Mantell is making S'mores while saying, "Admit nothing, deny everything, make counter-accusations," Roberta is hastily stowing leftover thermite grenades back in her Grizzly breaching vehicle, Helen is roasting two marshmallows (hers and Roberta's) and saying"If You Ain't Cav, You Ain't Shit," and Kathy Barzanian is admonishing Sophie for both conspicuously enjoying the chaos and trying to find VMFA-451 flight surgeon Doc Lisa's tonsils with her tongue...

And my character is in the background rolling on the floor, laughing his ass off.

[Poohbah]

Then the camera pans over from the dumpster fire to show Poohbah’s characters roasting marshmallows and trying to hide various incendiary items that were used to ignite the dumpster fire…

CWO3 Sallquist is cheerfully folding incriminating supply records into paper airplanes and throwing them into the fire, Josh Mantell is making S'mores while saying, "Admit nothing, deny everything, make counter-accusations," Roberta is hastily stowing leftover thermite grenades back in her Grizzly breaching vehicle, Helen is roasting two marshmallows (hers and Roberta's) and saying"If You Ain't Cav, You Ain't Shit," and Kathy Barzanian is admonishing Sophie for both conspicuously enjoying the chaos and trying to find VMFA-451 flight surgeon Doc Lisa's tonsils with her tongue...

And my character is in the background rolling on the floor, laughing his ass off.

General Lodge is rolling his eyes and asking, "Where do we find such men and women?" in a resigned tone, and Adam Lodge is saying, "In your Rolodex, mostly," while drinking Stoli straight from the bottle...

[Johnnie Lyle]

Is this how chaos cakes were born?

[Poohbah]

16 May 1988
Doubletree Suites
Phoenix, AZ

The phone rang. Josh set down his book--a novel titled Gray Eagles, about Luftwaffe and Army Air Force fighter pilots having one last rematch over California in 1976--and picked it.

"Chief Mantell."

"Hi, Josh, it's Jeanna, down in the lobby. You up for a concert? I have tickets for Toto over at the ASU Arena tonight at 5 PM. I was planning to go with Debs, but she got the provost marshal duty at the last minute."

"Sounds like a plan. I'm in."

* * *

The concert had been excellent, and they'd called it a night early. Jeanna had given him a peck on the cheek and her phone number.

Mantell walked to the third floor . . . and found Roberta camped by his door.

"Josh . . . I need to talk to you." She paused, then said, "Alone."

Josh ushered her into his suite. "Can I get you something to drink?"

"No, thank you."

Roberta flopped down on the couch and asked, "Does Kathy know about this?"

"Depends on 'this,' of course."

"You, that brunette, and Jeanna?"

"Specifically? Not yet, but I'm sharing the salacious details with her in my next letter. In general? She told me to not be a monk--and, incidentally, that's also what I got told in therapy out at Vandy. And she's not abstaining, either. Now, look, I'm as human as the next man--"

"Josh, you are the next man."

Josh blinked.

"Excuse me?"

"Jeanna and I were . . . involved . . . in early 1987, while 40th Mech was transitioning to the Division 86 TO&E down in Patton Maneuver Area southeast of here. Look, Josh . . . she'd lost the man she'd loved early on in the war. She needed . . . time, and companionship. I'm worried about you and her. I know what she's like; I know you. You're both running a risk of falling hard for the other."

Mantell reflected on the previous evening's events.

"Roberta . . . I don't see that happening. I've found someone--not who I was originally expecting, true, but she's someone I might be able to grow old with if we survive the war--and I think she's found someone, and she doesn't know what to make of it. Because it came out of left field, and it scares her."

Roberta looked at Josh with what he recognized as her You've got to be joking expression.

Mantell said, "Debs."

Roberta asked, "Debs?"

"Deborah McAllaster. The brunette. I saw how they interacted, and I just realized that she's trying real hard to hide that she's madly in love with Debs."

Roberta nodded. "I see."

"And maybe I need to talk to her."

"About what?"

"About not holding back, about not being afraid of the unexpected. Look, she dropped enough hints over dinner last night that I was able to figure out who she is. Ever hear of Estancia Cañon?"

"Just the people who make the priciest damn wine bottled in the State of California. Wait. She's--"

"Her family's loaded. Estancia Cañon is one of their lesser activities--her Daddy's investment outfit is now twice as big as Berkshire Hathaway was before Day One, the family owns half the land and all of the mineral rights between San Luis Obispo and San Simeon. They don't have fuck-you money, they have fuck-everybody money. Thing is, that kind of money doesn't come without obligations--to both that big pile of money and to her family."

Roberta nodded. "Your life becomes . . . well, it's not really hers, anymore, is it?"

"Exactly. And she's madly in love with a woman, and what will her parents think, and will they cut her trust fund off, and can Debs understand this, and why did she have to be the only single kid in her family, and how is everyone at the country club going to react, and why did it have to be her, and does Debs love her, and how can she explain this . . . it's all wrapped up in that feeling she has for Debs. And maybe she's doing threesomes to make it seem just fun and games, nothing serious . . . but it isn't really working. At some point, the fun and games fade. But love doesn't."

Roberta closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them and looked at Josh. "Josh, where the hell was this amazingly insightful guy I'm talking to on the night before the war started?"

"I needed about a month of inpatient therapy to understand myself before I could even consider understanding others."

Roberta sighed. "I guess going to war matured us . . . I just wish there'd been an easier way to do that."

* * *

Josh got out of the taxi and walked up to the door of the house, carrying a gym bag.

Knocked on the door.

Jeanna opened the door.

"Josh, I thought you wanted to call it an early night."

"So did I. And now I realize I have to talk to you."

"Come on in."

They sat on the couch.

Josh said, "You really love Debs, don't you?"

Jeanna sucked in a breath . . . and collapsed.

"Yeah. I was just . . . scratching an itch . . . before she landed in my life." She looked at Josh. "How did you know?"

"Once upon a time, there was a woman I loved desperately, and she loved me. And then we had a fight, the war came . . . and we both made decisions that can't be undone now, and we're both working through the consequences." Josh sighed. "You know her."

"Really?"

"Roberta Kreider."

"Jesus Gawd, it's a small world."

Josh decided that this wasn't the time to observe the Fifth Marine Division tradition.

Mantell nodded. "It is. Thing is, the only thing stopping you from finding happiness is . . . Jeanna Canyon."

"You don't understand. I'm from--"

"More money than you can shake a stick at, and your family probably has a monopoly on supplying the sticks, too. Now, maybe Debs can't handle that, or maybe not. But you won't know unless you take the risk. And I got a read on Debs; I think she's able to roll with whatever surprises get thrown her way. You can see it by how she carries herself. You might surprise her, but I think she'll surprise you right back by loving you just as fervently as you love her."

"And then there's the past--"

"Roberta told me about the man you lost. Tell me, would he want to see you happy, or forever mourning?"

Jeanna sighed. "Happy."

"And you're worried about how your family will deal with it. Let me tell you: it will likely be one heck of a surprise to them. But I get the sense that your parents raised you to be Jeanna Canyon. Not an image of the perfect daughter, not some other kid . . . but to just be you. And if that includes loving Debs . . . they might have a hard time accepting it for a while, but I suspect they'll come around."

Jeanna sat there a long time, then said, "You're right. Thank you, Josh, for setting my head straight."

"Let me know how it goes."

"I will." She smiled, then said, "Come to bed, handsome. I want to tell two people that I love them very much: Debs, of course . . . and you. And you're here right now, so no time like the present."

[jemhouston]

Josh is damn dangerous on many fronts

[Poohbah]

Josh is damn dangerous on many fronts

How so?

[jemhouston]

He sees things other people don't, both what's going on in the wider world and with in others.

He lives his life to this standard: To Ride (like the wind), Shoot Straight, And Speak The Truth.

[Poohbah]

He sees things other people don't, both what's going on in the wider world and with in others.

He lives his life to this standard: To Ride (like the wind), Shoot Straight, And Speak The Truth.

Instilled into him by his father, who probably made Josh read Herodotus.

[Wolfman]

He sees things other people don't, both what's going on in the wider world and with in others.

He lives his life to this standard: To Ride (like the wind), Shoot Straight, And Speak The Truth.

Instilled into him by his father, who probably made Josh read Herodotus.

If so, then it was probably what Herodotus wrote about the Persian method of raising a boy…