Altimexis

The skin on my face still stung a bit from my very first shave as I emerged from my prison into broad daylight. The biggest surprise was that after walking up three flights of stairs, I found myself at street level. At no point had I suspected that my prison was located underground. When I looked behind me, what I saw was a very traditional colonial-style building in the typical pastel colors that seemed to dominate the landscape of the buildings around me. The black limousine I got into drove f

Thanks!

I don’t usually reply to something like this, but other than the fact that the story is a first person account told entirely from JJ’s perspective, this misses the point. JJ is alone and he has no idea what’s going on back home. He’s isolated and the lack of contact is driving him crazy. Not only would switching viewpoints be out of context, but it would negate the sense of isolation and loneliness. I wanted the reader to feel what JJ felt during his time in captivity. The next chapter will be posted this Saturday, and the first words out of Henry’s mouth when they’re reunited will be, “Don’t you ever do that again!” At least Henry knew that JJ was kidnapped and that he didn’t just disappear, thanks to surveillance video from Times Square, but otherwise, he heard nothing from the captors for seven weeks. Of course Henry and his family, and the Walters missed JJ. Of course Applazon pulled out all the stops to obtain JJ’s release. The full force of the US government would have been involved, but not even JJ will learn the entire backstory of the kidnapping until near the end of the story. Please be patient. All will be revealed in time.

In 2004, I had the opportunity to travel to Cuba in a State Department program that was curtailed shortly afterwards. I went with an open mind, believing as I still do that the trade embargo has been a failure and that it would be better to engage rather than isolate the island. That said, I found the situation to be one of the most repressive of any place I’ve visited. It reminded me of Eastern Europe under communism, only worse. At no time was I ever free to set my own itinerary, nor could I escape the propaganda to which we all were subjected. I went there thinking all of the hype about the Castro regime was overblown, but I was wrong. It was even worse than I could have imagined. If the terms of JJ’s release involved an opening of Cuba, that would be huge, and not necessarily in line with what his Russian captors had intended. Trust me, there’s more going on than meets the eye.

The thing that pissed me off the most about being in captivity was that there was so much I needed to do that wasn’t getting done. I was supposed to go with Larry to Pittsburgh to interview a couple of very promising candidates for research positions in the division, but that was a couple of months ago, and I couldn’t help but wonder if Larry ended up going without me. I was supposed to be working on my Ph.D., and I was missing the twice-weekly seminars. I wondered if I’d be able to make them up

“This isn’t in the block of rooms I set aside for my guests,” I noticed as we got off the elevator on the V.I.P. floor of the Holiday Inn. “How do you think I was able to talk my parents – our parents – into staying at the Drury Plaza in St. Louis?” Franklin asked. “It’s not that they’re pretentious or anything. I don’t want you to think we’re snobs, ’cause we’re not. Both Mom and Dad give generously of their time and money, and Dad does a lot of pro bono work. I wasn’t kidding about using

With trepidation, I got up to deliver my eulogy. I kept it short, but poignant. I am proud and humbled to speak on behalf of the Gonzalez children – Celia, Camilla, Hillary and Lindsey; Rob, Sammy and last but not least, Henry. And of course we have a new ‘daughter’, Sam, the love of Rob’s life, and me, another ‘son’, not by blood but through a set of improbable circumstances that highlight the kind of man Jerry Gonzalez was. I knew him, not as a military man but as a father, a husband and

With Franklin now in his junior year at HSMSE, living in a dorm during the week, and with Henry and me in school as well and busy with our studies, the only time we could all get together was on the weekends. Not all of my weekends were free thanks to the demands of the corporate world, but as much as possible, we made it a point to get together. Franklin took pleasure at showing us all the places in New York that he thought were the coolest. Of course, there were multiple trips to the Metropoli

True to my word, I picked the Walters clan up promptly at 6:45 the next evening. The Mach-E was branded as a Ford Mustang, but it was an SUV that didn’t resemble the original Mustang in any way other than the logo. Not only did the Mach-E have significantly more room inside than my Tesla, but it had smoother delivery of power and handled better overall. Although the Tesla Model Y, which was called an SUV, had an extended range per charge of over 300 miles, the all-wheel-drive, extended range per

As the family went about preparing a list of family and friends to notify of Jerry’s passing and the funeral, I, too, had a list to prepare. I assumed Juan or Lucinda Gonzalez would notify the Rodriguez family, back in Kansas City. If not, I would. Of course, I’d call Jitendra, and I expected Henry would want Franklin Walters to know. His parents, too. Not that I’d expect them to come to the funeral, but I’d want Greg and Billy to know. Greg, in particular, would understand what we were going th

We could have taken a much more direct route to Fargo heading back down U.S. Highway 85 to Belfield and heading east on Interstate 94, but we’d left time for taking a more leisurely, scenic route, so we turned onto North Dakota Road 200 just south of Grassy Butte. Taking the long way to Fargo wouldn’t have been possible, however, were it not for the recent addition of a Level 3 charger in Totten Trail on Lake Audubon. Even so, there were a number of sites we would have liked to have visited, suc

We arrived at the North Unit entrance of Theodore Roosevelt National Park at 8:20 and showed the ranger Henry’s Military National Park Pass and were at the Juniper Campground at 8:40, but the campground was full. Noticing a couple who seemed to be getting ready to break camp at a campsite right next to the restrooms, I parked the Tesla across from them while Henry got out and confirmed that they were getting ready to leave. It wasn’t a prime spot, but any spot in the Juniper Campground inside th

I mentioned previously that the Pentagon bought fifty of his original data mini-centers, and that was before he’d even discovered room temperature superconductors. The application to quantum computers, which I don’t actually get around to explaining until several chapters from now, is profound. JJ’s technology could be used to tackle many seemingly impossible problems, including being able to design pharmaceuticals to correct genetic defects or to counter pandemics, or even to track thousands of incoming missiles and to target all of them in real time. I mentioned that application specifically. So yeah, JJ’s work has military implications and the US government is aware of his work, all the way up to the White House. Add to that the energy implications of his ideas for motors and wind power, and you have a kid who’s invaluable and he doesn’t even realize just how much so. Naturally, everyone is going to try to get their hands on the technology by any means possible, and some, barring successful industrial espionage, might even resort to kidnapping… or to killing JJ to keep America from having the technology if they can’t. It’s even possible that the CIA would kidnap him for his own sake. It could also be a criminal organization, seeking a ransom in the trillions of dollars. The smart money, however, would be on one of the major world powers, which creates its own problems as there’s a risk it could lead to war. Such an operation would have to be well-planned, and while they might attempt to use torture to get JJ to reveal his secrets, that would be a foolish endeavor with at best short-term benefits. They might try brainwashing JJ into long-term cooperation, but with his history of abuse, he’s likely resistant to those sort of techniques. Without giving more away, it could be months before his kidnappers even contact Jeff Barlow to make their demands known. If Applazon and the US government are smart, they’ll keep JJ’s disappearance quiet, as they want him back and don’t want to take a chance on provoking his kidnappers. Of course they’ll know he’s been kidnapped, as the whole thing was undoubtedly captured on the numerous cameras that make Times Square one of the most heavily surveilled places on earth. The kidnappers know that and are counting on it. Henry and the Walters will of course be devastated and will probably draw closer as a result, but we’ll be seeing things from JJ’s viewpoint. Strap yourselves in as the roller coaster ride is underway.

The cliffhanger at the end of this chapter is a warning of a major cliffhanger to come at the end of the next. Otherwise, the next chapter is a happy one, revolving around the celebration of Henry's sixteenth birthday. There will be a few major cliffhangers to come in future chapters, but I promise that things will work out in the end, and soon J.J. will be catapulted to the upper echelon of the corporate world. That said, meteoric rises are sometimes followed by epic falls, but there are often golden parachutes involved and you know J.J. and Henry will turn adversity into new opportunities. As promised before, you're on a roller coaster now. As to my background, I never suffered abuse as a child, but did lose my father to a heart attack when I was sixteen. I never killed anyone that I know of, although as a physician, it's natural to question if something could have been done to save every patient lost. I'll go into a bit more detail on my background in the afterword to the story. I have a Ph.D. in electrical engineering, which explains my knowledge of solid state physics, even though it wasn't my primary area of expertise. My career was never quite so illustrious as J.J.'s as I chose academia over profit, but I have few complaints. I've always been passionate about writing. The combination of talent in so-called left and right brain skills is quite rare and something I'll never take for granted. I'm thrilled to be able to share my imagination with others. Thanks to all for their kind comments.

Even before I wrote Franklin's part, I knew I wanted to have J.J. meet his birth family early on and not even realize it. Indeed, the entire point of the Midwestern trip was for J.J. to meet his birth family surreptitiously, and of course to reconnect with Greg and Larry. However, when Covid became such a major issue, I decided J.J. need to come face-to-face with the terrible toll it took. I therefore added that Franklin lost his gran to Covid, and that Larry died from it. I tempered Larry's loss with meeting Billy, the love of Greg's life. Of course Covid also provided a reason for J.J. to travel the world, which was important to the evolution of the story. J.J. would have traveled anyway, but Covid changed that from an adventure to a necessity. The question was, how to bring about the meeting between J.J. and his birth parents without tipping my hand. Obviously, it couldn't happen by accident, but the big reveal had to happen much later in the story. Obviously, if the parents found their long-lost son, they'd scoop him up and not let go, so I needed to have a premise that would keep them apart and make the 'coincidence' of their meeting seem plausible. A kid brother seemed to be the logical way to do that - he'd be naïve enough to search for him, without regard to legal consequences meant to protect J.J. However, none of my readers would have believed a chance encounter to be pure coincidence, were it not for the use of distraction. Franklin's telling J.J. that Henry loved him was a major distraction that shifted the focus elsewhere, but there was a risk the reader would question the coincidence of the meeting before Franklin's comment. I therefore added a second distraction, right at the start of the segment in St. Louis. That came in the form of a hook-up with Dave, the valet. When J.J. checked in at the front desk, the clerk inferred that Dave had been through some tough times. Quite a few people asked about this, and for them I explained that Dave had some bad burn scars on his torso, but that the details had been cut from the story to make room for other happenings. In reality, the hanging question of Dave's past was meant to be unresolved - a distraction to keep the reader's thoughts elsewhere when the meeting with the Walters clan took place. Sorry about Jerry's demise, but I needed a way to cut the summer trip short, so as to accommodate other things that will be happening soon, not to mention the meeting with the Walters. Although cruel, a funeral was the best way to bring about J.J.'s reconciliation with his birth family. It will also give the reader a chance to see how strong Fran turns out to be. I won't say anything more for now, as the story speaks for itself.

At least there's a sliver lining - Henry and his sibs now know there's a risk that they may have aneurysms and they'll now be screened for it. This is also the beginning of a very important chapter in their lives.

Guilty as charged. I'm not big on coincidences and most of the seeming coincidences in my stories turn out to be anything but. However in this case, I'd intended to bring these characters back later the in story but never did. I'm also big on using distraction. Like a magician, I'll focus the reader's attention elsewhere while the real slight of hand is occurring right in front of their eyes. I'm not saying I did that in this case, however, but most minor incidents in the story serve a purpose.

Enjoy this one, as the roller coaster begins on Wednesday. To quote a future line from J.J., "It’s like trying to thread a needle in the midst of an earthquake."

You’re welcome! We have friends in Bermagui, but during my one and only visit there, they sky was overcast. We hope to travel to Australia and New Zealand for my 70th birthday in five years, but we’re not about to be cooped up in an airplane for 24 hours until Covid-19’s no longer a serious threat. The equatorial plain of the Solar System is off axis with respect to the equatorial plain of the galaxy. The Southern Hemisphere points toward the center of the Milky Way, where the star density is much higher. Just seeing even a northern hemisphere night sky is a bit of a pipe dream, now that we live in New York, as it takes hours of driving to get away from the light pollution. Still, I wouldn’t move for anything. Finding an apartment in Manhattan with an unobstructed view and a terrace for less than a million is practically unheard of. From our terrace, we see three of the East River bridges, the Statue of Liberty, the WTC and the Empire State Building. Oh, and the terrace is about 26sq meters, but the rest of the apartment is only 80sq meters. It’s a gardener’s dream. We had no business buying it, as it took more than three years to find a job in New York - actually, it was in New Jersey - and to make the move from Detroit. We walked out of the closing with only $100 in the bank and three mortgages to support. I grew up in Indianapolis, which is how I know so much about the Indy 500, but I never once attended the actual race.

I promise you that in spite of some really close calls, Henry and J.J. are for keeps. Unfortunately, they will suffer loss, but will gain much in the process. As much as I loved hiking in my younger days, I have no pleasant memories of camping. Chiggers, lifelong allergies and serious bullying are some of the more pleasant memories from those boyhood experiences. I always envied those I met who were on backcountry expeditions and there are a number of hikes I’ve wanted to do that can only be seen that way, but never enough to give up a hot shower and a bed at night. However, there were some bug-infested cabins and youth hostels that were considerably worse. For that matter, on-call rooms have a bed and a shower, but sleep is seldom on the agenda. Actually, I do live on a relatively high floor in an apartment with an unobstructed view of Lower Manhattan. Thanks to New Jersey’s air pollution, the sunsets are spectacular. Even though the sun rises behind me, the fiery glow of first sunlight reflected off the buildings of Lower Manhattan, with a dark blue sky behind them, is similarly spectacular. One time - on my birthday, no less - there was a double rainbow at sunrise. It wasn’t from rain, but from the rising mist off of New York Harbor. No sunrise or sunset I’ve seen out west can compare - not that I’d ever give up the hiking done amongst the spectacular scenery of Southern Utah. Before I die, I’d like to see the night sky from the Southern Hemisphere. I’ve been to Buenos Aires, Sydney and Melbourne, but the city lights and clouds got in the way. I’m very fortunate to have traveled extensively with my family and then with my true love, but I’ve never been blessed with anything close to the wealth of a billionaire. As J.J. will come to discover, that in and of itself comes at a steep price.

“The rain seems to have stopped,” Henry noticed. “I think the weather’s supposed to clear today. I wonder if we can switch our first night in the North Unit for another night here. The campground’s not full, by any means.” Actually, it was a small campground with only twelve spots, half of which, like ours, were by reservation only, but the other half were first-come, first-served and usually full all summer, but as far as I could tell, only two of them were in use at the moment. Laughing,

The second movie is typical of many others I’ve seen in the past, but I’m not aware of anything like this about the insurrection. It’s a good premise for a docudrama and I’m sure something like it will emerge, once we’re a bit further out from the events of January 6. It’s still too fresh now, and too political. Perhaps the summer of 2023 would be more realistic. The next two chapters will involve a lot of hiking and a lot of discussion along the way, but be prepared to expect the unexpected.

We got up early for the drive through the rest of the Badlands on the way to Custer, which would serve as our base of operations for the next few days. Shortly after passing through the town of Scenic and turning south onto Highway 27, we crossed over the junction between the north and south units of the park and came to Sheep Mountain Road. It was nothing more than a dirt road and not all that long according to the map, but it looked like it would be scenic, so we turned right and left the pave

It was as we started to eat that Henry blindsided me and made good on his promise to help me work through the PTSD. The treatment of PTSD is controversial, but there is general consensus that counseling is the cornerstone of therapy. The military and the V.A. Hospital System have done the most research in the area, and methods that force the patient to relive the incident or incidents that caused the PTSD in the first place have shown particular promise. The premise is that PTSD symptoms are a d

One of the best Mexican restaurants I’ve ever eaten at was a little hole in the wall place in a strip mall in Red Bluff, CA. Of course, few American Mexican restaurants can compare to the better ones in Mexico itself. J.J.’s comment comparing a place to Chipotle wasn’t meant to suggest that Chipotle was great, but that the dive he and Henry visited wasn’t even as good as a generic chain restaurant.