Simba - 8. Simba Ch 8

I ended up having three surgeries over a five-day period, with a day of rest between each surgery, and Uncle Nat was at my bedside, every time I woke up from each surgery, and we chatted about a how things are going with his new position at the base in Adelaide. Four days after my last surgery, I received a surprise visit, from Brigadier Purnell.

“Hello young Jacob, I am sorry to see that you injured yourself during training, get your Uncle to make out a compensation claim and I will make sure that it gets processed. Now the main reason I am here, well there is two actually, the first is because you were just a week short of completing your training, it was agreed to award you your graduation certificate, and that you will remain in the Army but you won’t be going to ADFA.

The second thing is, the Army has decided to put you through University here in Canberra, to study Computer and Cyber Security. We feel that you would be suited to that field from the reports we have received from your University In Adelaide as well as from the training personnel at Kapooka, what do you say to that?” the Brigadier said to me.

“Well sir, I wish to thankyou for the opportunity to still work within the Defence Service, so I am presuming this is so I can go on to being with either Defence Intelligence or Signals Directorate?” I replied, “That is correct, and when you have finished your University studies, your Honourary rank will be become your new rank,” the Brigadier announced.

“Thankyou sir, I will do my very best to make you proud of my achievements,” I said, “I am already proud of you son, just keep up the good work. You are being released from hospital tomorrow, so the rest of your recovery will be done at home in Adelaide, good luck?” the Brigadier said before leaving.

“We are booked on a late afternoon flight from Canberra to Adelaide, and the Army has reserved business class seats for us, so there is plenty of room for your plastered leg for the journey, Uncle Nat said to me after the Brigadier had left the room.

“What about all of my gear?” I asked, “Already sorted, your friend Hugh packed it all up for you, and I collected it all earlier this morning, I have here a change of civilian clothes for you for the flight tomorrow, and I will collect you from here at 11 am,” Uncle Nat informed me.

The two-hour flight to Adelaide was just bearable, as I was still in a bit of pain from my injuries, and I had to be transported by wheelchair for the next two weeks, until my leg is well on the way to healing. Although it was a bit of a struggle in the minibus taxi from the airport to home, I was warmly greeted by my friends, who helped me out of the minibus and into the wheelchair and pushed me into the house.

Chris and Will were very happy to see me home again, telling me numerous times how much they missed me, and because of my mobility issues, I was given the guest bedroom, next to Uncle Nat’s bedroom. This will also give me my own bathroom, and I will be able to get around the main living areas of the house no problems in the wheel chair, and a shower chair had been purchased, to make it easier for me to shower.

Uncle Nat had informed me that for my first five days back, Mrs Fogliani would be in every morning for four hours to help me if I have any problems, and to make sure I am well looked after, while Uncle Nat is at work and the lads are at University.

With my laptop, I was able to keep busy with ideas for project Birds Nest, even though I was not sure if that it would be continuing or not. I had come up with a great idea, after reading a news article about the Federal Government shutting down a remote research base, so I was now putting together a proposal to submit to the Defence HQ and the Minister.

I had deferred University for a semester, too allow me to fully recover from my injuries, and for the first two weeks, I kept myself busy with the new proposal, which I printed out and emailed to Uncle Nat for his reviewing, and ideas on how it may be improved on.

That evening, Uncle Nat arrived home early and he was smiling, as he held a large envelope in his hand. “I am very proud of you nephew, I think this is a brilliant proposal, and I will be having it sent by fast courier to Brigadier Purnell, first thing in the morning.

I have added a letter at the end of your document, which I thought that you should read before I send it,” Uncle Nat said to me, as he handed the envelope over. “Brig Purnell, Army HQ, Canberra; Sir, it is with great pride that I present this proposal to you, that my nephew Corporal Jacob Blackwood is the sole author of.

I just wish to add that I think that this proposal has merit and should very seriously be considered, along with the recommendation that Corporal Jacob Blackwood, be the Founding Base Commander of this project if his proposal is accepted. Sincerely, Colonel Nathaniel Blackwood, Warradale Army Barracks, Adelaide.”

“Wow, that is awesome, thanks Uncle Nat, although I am not really sure that I am capable of managing a military base,” I replied after reading the letter. “You will have all the support that you need, I will make sure of it, and with your proposal of the Joint Army & Civilian Base for Communications, Aircraft and Shipping Tracking as well as a Research Facility, you are the best person for the job in my view,” Uncle Nat said.

The Federal Government is considering quietly closing down the current Research Base located at the far north end of Macquarie Island, which not only is it riddled with Asbestos Contaminated building materials, but more recently suffered sever damage to roof damage to the main building, from a recent severe storm, and remove all existing buildings off the island.

What I am proposing is to establish a Multi-Purpose Facility, which would be built at a different part of the island, on the west coast, where Bauer Bay provides a sheltered bay, and it is located 8 kilometres south of the current Research base. This would be ideal for supply and research ships to stop by, and where there is a wide rocky area, which would be suitable for offloading supplies and equipment when needed.

Bauer Bay is also an ideal location for a new base, as there is a sheltered flat plateau that is about 220-metres above sea level, well clear of any possible storm surges. Having done a careful analysis of the island with the assistance of Google Earth, and a topographical map that I purchased of the island, I concluded that this spot was the best location on the whole island because of it safe bay for anchorage as well as space to establish a new base well above sea level.

With the proposal now completed and sent, I very quickly became bored, and found watching television, playing cards and reading books was not enough to keep me occupied with all this spare time, and with it being the day that Mrs Fogliani didn’t come to the house, I decided to go exploring in the wheelchair.

With a backpack on my back, loaded with my laptop computer and some water and snacks, I locked up the house and set off in search of an adventure, and after about an hour, I was starting to feel tired, so I headed to the nearest shops for a soft drink and to rest a little.

I was starting to understand how people who are permanently confined to wheel chairs feel, as I was coming across a number of problems that I had to tackle on my little excursion.

In the end, after a short break in the shade, I retrieved my mobile and called for a disability-access minibus taxi, and I was informed that there was not one available in this area. I ordered an ordinary taxi instead, and once I had climbed into the taxi front passenger seat, the driver, loaded my wheelchair into the boot, and I gave him the destination address.

When I arrived at the front gate of Warradale, I told the driver to let me out at the front, and once I was in my wheelchair, and had paid the driver, I wheeled up to the gate and presented my ID card. “Corporal Blackwood to see the CO, please,” I said to the gate guard, who looked at my ID carefully, before going inside and making a call.

“I am sorry Corporal, I had to check that you are genuine, the CO is on his way here, as he sounds not very happy,” the Gate guard informed me, and so I waited. “What the hell are you doing here nephew, you are supposed to be home resting,” my Uncle shouted at me, which was a first to see him so angry.

“I am sorry Uncle, but I was bored shitless at home, so I went out for a bit of a ride around, and then caught a taxi to here, as I had nothing better to do,” I explained, “Well… I guess I can’t blame you really, since it was a work injury,” Uncle Nat said as he indicated to the guard to let me pass, and Uncle Nat pushed me to the Admin building and inside.

“One of the staff is away on long service leave, and there has been no replacement made, so you can have her office, and I will find something to keep you busy,” Uncle Nat said to me, as he pushed me into a single desk small office. Uncle Nat grabbed the office chair, so that I could get behind the desk, and he placed it behind the door, out of the way.

Grabbing my laptop from my backpack, I set it down on the desk and opened it up, as Uncle Nat smiled and left to return to his work, and I was looking at my master copy of the proposal when a Corporal entered the office. “These are some security assessment reports, the Colonel would like you to review,” he said to me as he placed a pile of folders on my desk and left.

At the end of the day, Uncle Nat entered my temporary office. “How have you like today?” he asked me, “Good actually thanks sir, I am glad to be doing something instead of being bored out of my mind at home,” I replied.

“That is good, I have arranged for you to work here four days a week, while you are recovering from your injuries, so when you are ready, we can head home now,” Uncle Nat said and I followed him out of the room, and once I was loaded in the car along with my wheelchair, we set off for home.

I was so glad that I now had something to do, to pass the time while I fully recovered from my injury, and for the next four weeks, I spent four days a week at the Army base and one-day attending doctor and physio appointments.

I now have titanium pins in my lower leg bones to secure them to my artificial foot, so as to prevent any more damage to my leg bones, and this meant that if I ever go through a airport scanner, that I would trigger off the alarms, because of all of the metal that I have.

On the same day, that I was given the all clear by my specialist, I also lost my temporary job at the base, as the person I was filling in for had returned to work. Once again, I was left wondering what to do next, as there was still three and a half months before the commencement of the second university semester.

Once everyone had gone to work or university, I considered this question, and looking at the time, and I estimated that it was about 10 pm at night where Mum and Dad are in Canada, and decided to call them, hoping that they are still awake.

“Good evening son, you are lucky we have not gone to bed yet, what is the problem?” Dad said as soon as he answered the call and I chuckled at this. “Hello Dad and Mum, yes sorry about the lateness of the call, just wanted to let you know that I have been cleared to work again by the specialist, he said that I healed remarkably well, considering the seriousness of the injury,” I informed my parents.

“That is very good news, but I am sure that is not all that you called us for?” Mum said, “Well no, as you know I have had to postpone my studies for this semester because of the injuries, and Uncle Nat had given me some work at the base for four weeks while a soldier was away on leave, but now she is back, I have nothing to do.

I am not sure if you know about a special project that Uncle Nat is working on with the Defence Force, which I did a presentation to his CO, and now that I have a few months free, I would like to travel to the UK to do some more research on this project,” I asked my folks.

“Ok, we will have a chat to Nathaniel about it, and when he has the time, he will tell you what our decision is regarding your possible solo trip to England. Now we must get to bed, as we both have a busy day as usual, it is nice to hear from you again son, and we are very happy that you are now fully recovered, goodnight,” Mum said before ending the call.

For the rest of the morning, I was looking at all of the video clips of the different designs that Ten Fold Engineering has with fold out buildings. I still a mixed on deciding on which is my favourite designs, and I knew that I really need to see these buildings in person, to get a better idea of how they work.

As I was making some lunch, the house phone rang, and I quickly answered it. “Hey nephew, I have some good news and some bad news,” Uncle Nat said to me, “Ok? What is the good news?” I replied, “The good news is that we have agreed to fund your trip to the UK,” Uncle Nat announced.

“That is awesome, so what is the bad news?” I responded sounding very happy, “you had better start packing as your flight leaves tonight,” Uncle Nat replied, “What? Really! Wow,” I replied a little shocked at it being so sudden.

“Your flight is leaving at 0700 tomorrow morning and you need to be there two hours before departure, so you need to be ready to go at 0400 hours.

Do not forget to pack your laptop computer, wallet and passport in a carry-on bag, and you had better take your Army ID with you as you will need it, but not you are uniform.

I will let you start packing and I will see you soon, bye,” Uncle Nat said and I quickly made a sandwich and a cup of tea, before grabbing my usual medium size luggage suitcase, which is small enough to carry onto the plane, and I ate as I thought what I should pack.

When my phone indicated that I had an email, I looked at it and saw that it was from Uncle Nat, and in the subject line, it stated, “itinerary, look at it after packing”. I chuckled at this, before I began to pull out what I need and laid it all out on the bed.

By the time Uncle Nat arrived home from work, I was packed and waiting in the dining room for Uncle Nat to arrive, and I remembered the email and retrieving my phone I opened it.