The man bent down to speak closer to her, as though he were hard of hearing. “Are you Alexis Schultz, Ma’am?”
“Yes,” she nodded.
He held out his hand to introduce himself. “My name is Able Rigby. A long time ago I was an aft gunner on board a B52H Bomber Stratofortress, named Maverick’s Menace.”
Alexis gasped at the name and threw her arms around him. There were tears in her eyes as she embraced the stranger.
“My Commanding Officer was a Major James Maverick. To this day, I believe he was the kindest, most intelligent and decent man that ever lived.” Able smiled warmly. “And I believe you were his one and only niece. He spoke about you often. You were his one big regret. He used to say he’d lived a good life, but he wanted to see you grow up.”
“What happened to my uncle?” she asked.
“He died only recently. Pneumonia of all things. Can you believe it? After all he’d been through? I just wanted you to know that he was good man. Someone you should be proud of.” Able handed her a red leather bound journal. “This was his journal. He wrote every day. Not much, but something. He wanted you to have this. He hoped that from it you might come to understand why he decided to support Robert Cassidy.”
“Thank you,” she said. Wet droplets were running freely down her freckled cheeks. “Thank you for your duty, for supporting my uncle and for giving me closure.”
“You’re welcome.”
Alexis watched as Abel Rigby walked away. He hadn’t left her sight before she untied the leather bindings and opened her uncle’s journal. She flicked through until she found the first page he’d written in and began reading.
Dear Alexis,
If you ever find this journal let me begin to explain the circumstances surrounding our commitment to a man named Robert Cassidy and a Project that commenced back in 1962. You see, you have to understand I lived in a time when the world had gone mad. The two superpowers, the United States of America and the Soviet Union were never engaged directly in full-scale armed combat against one another, but they were heavily armed in preparation for a possible all-out nuclear world war. Each side had a nuclear deterrent that deterred an attack by the other side, on the basis that such an attack would lead to total destruction of the attacker. Both sides focused on the doctrine of mutually assured destruction if either party attacked.
We were all mad. In a world filled with madmen, sometimes the only person to turn to is a mad man. That was how I came to trust my friend, and ally, Robert Cassidy.
In September 1983 Robert Cassidy had attempted peaceful de-escalation negotiations with low level representatives of both the U.S. and Soviet Union. Shortly after the clandestine meeting a passenger plane was accidentally shot down by the Soviets while carrying one sitting U.S. Senator. President Ronald Reagan feared the Soviets were in the process of attempting to steal the Cassidy Project and would use it against them with the most gravest of outcomes for the U.S. Consequently, Ronald Reagan ordered the destruction of the Island and betrayal of his long term friend, Robert Cassidy.
This was part of that assassination attempt, and as you read the rest of my journal, I hope you’ll understand why, I too, decided to help Robert Cassidy.
Chapter Eighty-Eight
Sam smiled as he saw Alexis. He knew Able Rigby had given Alexis her uncle’s journal — he had given her the truth. At a glance he guessed her tears were a mixture of pride for who he was and of loss of what he could never be. Sam wanted to be there for her. In whatever capacity she needed him. Alexis stood up to meet him. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him. At first Sam thought she just wanted to be held. Needed to be comforted. And then he felt her lips on his. It was gentle at first. Tentative. And then filled with strong, passionate and drawn-out kisses. Afterwards Sam sat down next to Alexis, holding both her hands in his.
She smiled. Her green eyes were full of intelligence and life. “You’ve been busy.”
“There were a lot more people down the green tunnel than we expected. Robert Cassidy created a unique, self-sustaining community. But it’s done now.”
“Where will you go?” she asked.
“From here we’ll return to Florida. The Maria Helena is due for an overhaul, not to mention repairs for our helicopter and the replacement of the hovercraft. I might take a vacation. Do you want to join me?”
Alexis sat up. She fidgeted. What doesn’t she want to say? “I can’t. They’ve given me the go ahead to lead a team of scientists to determine the feasibility of utilizing the Massive Hadron Collider in East Antarctica. By the sounds of things, the signatories of the Antarctic Treaty System are willing to go for it.”
“That’s great news.” Sam squeezed her hand and watched her eyes turn away from his. “But something’s not right.”
“I spoke to Aliana Wolfgang this morning.”
Sam smiled. “Wow. You know Aliana?”
“We were Rhodes Scholars together.”
“You went to Oxford, before Harvard? Talk about being an overachiever.”
“Yes,” she blushed at his complement.
“How is she?” Sam asked with genuine interest.
“She sends her love and hopes you are well. I called her because something about your name sounded familiar. It wasn’t until the Island had sunk and we got the internet running again that I googled your name and it all came back. I remembered Aliana talking about this really great guy the last time I saw her — that was about twelve months ago.”
Sam squeezed her hands. “We broke up amicably. She has her research and I have my projects. The two kept us pretty far apart.”
Alexis brought his hand up to her lips and kissed it tenderly. “You know I can’t do this again?”
“Because of Aliana?” Sam asked.
“No. She told me about your situation. I’m with her — I couldn’t be with someone I was always waiting to find out wasn’t ever going to come home. The world needs heroes, Sam — they do. The problem with heroes though, is there are very few who live long enough to grow old with someone. You know that, don’t you? Luck only lasts so far.”
“I understand what you’re saying.”
She smiled at him, leaned close. Closed her eyes and kissed him again. “But I’m really glad you showed up when you did.”
“Am I likely to see you again, sometime?”
“Probably not.”
He looked a little crestfallen. “I understand.”
“It’s not that, Sam. I’m staying here in Antarctica.”
“You liked the cold that much?”
“Yes. The cold helps with the overall running of the world’s largest Hadron Collider.”
“They’re going to let you keep it?”
“It will take years to overcome the red tape, but yes — I think we’ll get there. The world needs new energy sources if we’re ever going to colonize space.”
“We have to colonize space?”
“Course we do. Colonization is built into our genes. It’s part of human existence. Think of all the wars in the world. We just aren’t difficult to get along with, the human race is genetically programed to propagate and expand. Like locusts, we inevitably destroy the environment while we flourish. If we want to survive, one day we’re going to have to colonize the stars.”
“You’ll never live long enough to see it through.”
“Someone needs to start the steps so that generations thousands of years down from us can lead better lives.”