“I look forward to it, sir.”
Hal did, of course send and receive all vid-cons to and from Howard Beck. Hal recorded every conversation in intimate detail. However, Howard had programmed Hal not to access the conversations without his permission. If Howard needed Hal for anything while he was on a vid-con, he simply raised the level of his voice slightly and spoke the phrase “Hal, I need you.” This would trigger another program, separate from Hal, and bring Hal into the conversation. Howard felt he deserved a level of privacy from the computer he built.
“Continue, Old Man. Anything happen on the compound last night?”
“No, sir, nothing of consequence happened on the property last night. Some wildlife did make it on the property and caused damage to some of the landscaping on the south lawn.”
“Son of a bitch. Please tell me it wasn’t the Middlemist’s Red. What furry little shits did it?”
The Middlemist’s Red was his wife’s favorite. They had met when they were seniors in college. Howard immediately knew that Meredith was the woman he would marry. When Howard was able to slow his brilliant, genius mind down long enough to focus on one thing instead of dozens, it was not something to be ignored. It had happened twice before. The first was when he was old enough to sit in front of a computer. The introduction to the world of Star Trek was the second time. Captain Picard was the coolest guy to grace both the big and small screen. The richest man in the world could hardly manage to keep his composure when he met Patrick Stewart. The kind Englishman managed to put Howard at ease and the two became friends. Howard honored Mr. Stewart as being one of the few men in the world to say he had seen the inside of Howard’s $500 million home.
During his senior year at MIT, Howard was relentless in his pursuit of Meredith. When he finally found a piece of data that he knew would win her heart, he gave her the flower and asked her to marry him. Meredith was deeply touched by the flower. However, she smiled, kissed him on his forehead and explained to Howard that she couldn’t very well marry a fourteen-year-old boy.
Howard decided to wait until he was eighteen and finishing his second doctorate to ask again. Meredith was twenty-six and engaged to another man. She adored Howard and cherished his friendship. Howard was not fazed in the slightest by his competition. He knew it was only a matter of time before the engagement would end. They were meant to be together. Computers… Star Trek… Meredith. It was going to happen; Howard just needed to wait. Howard finally had his chance when the engagement ended just like he predicted. Three years later he founded Beck Enterprises and asked for her hand in marriage a third time. Meredith knew that Howard was a profoundly brilliant man who would change the world. She also fully understood what made Howard the way he was.
Howard had Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of high-functioning autism and a pervasive developmental disorder that seriously impairs social skills and the demonstration of empathy. Aspies, as they like to be called, also have a hard time maintaining eye contact and understanding facial expressions and other social cues. This makes interpreting subtle nuances like sarcasm and deception (playful or sinister) very difficult. Aspies are very direct and speak their mind, often forgetting the impact that such honesty can bring to those around them. Meredith did not consider it a “disease” or a “disorder” or even a “syndrome”. She cherished Howard dearly and embraced every single thing about him. She agreed to take things slow and the two became a couple.
A year later the two were wedded. Meredith wore her grandmother’s dress, and Howard wore a Starfleet Dress Uniform from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Meredith thought he was kidding when he mentioned the idea. Howard’s reaction was to have a total meltdown and lock himself in his room. When he finally calmed down, he was able to explain to her that the first time he saw the dress uniform in the seventh episode of season one entitled “Lonely Among Us,” he decided right then and there that he would wear exactly the same dress uniform at his wedding. He then proceeded to try to describe the episode in detail and began to quote the dialogue when Meredith stopped him and kissed his cheek. When Howard made up his mind about something, it was set in stone and could not be changed. When Howard made plans to do something, it was not easily deviated from. Howard was heartbroken when he deduced that the only logical conclusion was that Meredith was going to call off the wedding because he was trying to ruin it.
Meredith simply smiled and told him that she loved him so much he could wear a potato sack to their wedding. She stood beside her handsome Starfleet Captain and made her vows. After the ceremony, Howard’s gift to her was a garden of Middlemist’s Red flowers. She had forgotten the young fourteen-year-old Howard giving her the flower on his first of three marriage proposals. For decades she regarded the flower to be a beautiful and symbolic representation of their marriage. She told Howard he was unique and special, just like the flower. Howard just saw the flowers as something that made his wife happy, even though they cost a fortune to bring to the U.S. and to keep alive. He could not understand what was so special about the flowers. The camellia named for John Middemist wasn’t even red; it was a deep pink and looked more like a rose than a camellia.
“No, sir, the Middlemist’s Red are fine. The offending creature was not a ‘furry little shit’ as you so eloquently put it. It was in fact a Northwestern Great Horned Owl attempting to catch a mouse, which it did, I might add.”
“Really? They come this far south?”
“Yes, sir. In the winter they have been seen this far south.”
“Thank God the damned flowers are fine. Her Highness would never let me hear the end of it. Where exactly did we get those cursed flowers from this time?”
“From New Zealand, sir.”
“Yeah, that’s it, how on earth did I forget that?”
“I have no idea, sir.”
Howard’s estate was one of three locations in the world that featured the flower. It was incredibly difficult to keep the flowers alive in Colorado. They were kept in a greenhouse and when weather permitted, the greenhouse walls were programmed to retract. Howard’s wife insisted on it; she felt that the flowers should be a part of nature when possible. Botanists and flower enthusiasts from all over the country begged to get a look at them. Howard wouldn’t hear of it. The thought of his home becoming a tourist attraction made Howard sick to his stomach.
“Thank you, Hal. Is that all?”
“There is one more thing, sir. A vehicle passed in front of the estate last night.”
“Really? Belong to a nearby resident?”
“No, sir. The vehicle had an out-of-state license plate.”
That got Howard’s attention immediately and frightened him. He began to tap his fingers and rock back and forth. “What? Out of state? Did they slow down at all or do anything suspicious?”
“No, sir. They did not slow down or attempt any surveillance of the property.
This made Howard nervous. In the year 2027, very few people traveled outside of their hometown, let alone out of their state. Interstate travel was unheard of during the Second Great Depression. Few people could afford to travel long distances, and the ones that did have the wealth traveled by jet on the last remaining airline in the country. Long distance travel was for the élite.
Howard snapped out of his train of thought and addressed his computer. His eyes fluttered around the room, his speech became more erratic. Howard was not handling this well.
“Hal, what can you tell me about the vehicle? What state? Anything on the driver or passengers?”