Avery Junior, Mentalist Extraordinaire - 3. Celebrations, Crises and Promotions

Celebrate good times, come on (Let's celebrate)

There's a party goin' on right here
A celebration to last throughout the years
So bring your good times and your laughter too
We gonna celebrate your party with you

Kool and the Gang - 1980

7

November third 2060 began like any other day. Lieutenant Commander Avery Noonan Jr. woke up at seven AM as usual. It would be a stressful day. His father had been chosen to be Albert Pelson's vice president in today's elections. Polls were nearly dead even through the previous night. His commander, Captain Cassidy Almonte had given her XO (executive officer - second-in-command) the night off to follow the election results. To be completely honest, she allowed her entire team to attend a viewing session in the main conference room. With a few exceptions, only AJ's immediate reports chose to attend, but it was still a raucous crowd when the AP called the election. The polls were accurate, but nearly universal. Albert Pelson won by a small margin in thirty-eight states, including all the largest and so-called battleground states. While the popular vote was only in his favor by roughly two million votes, he garnered 340 electoral votes; practically a landslide.

AJ went through the next few days in a daze, hardly believing his father's good fortune. Nearly everyone on the ship congratulated him at some point over those few days. But, duty called, and by Thursday, things were back to normal. Ship's operations were once again paramount in AJ's mind. There would be another minor celebration on January 20th, for the inauguration, but otherwise, the day-to-day remained normal.

That all changed on April eleventh, 2061. Air Force One was shot down over the Atlantic. President Pelson and forty-one others perished in the attack. AJ's father was temporarily acting President. Two days later, the President's body was recovered. His father was sworn in as President and declared war on the Republic of Cortuna. AJ's ship, the USS Michael Gilday went on high alert. There was no immediate action it was called to, but that would change.

At two PM PDT on April 21st, radar picked up an incoming missile headed in the general direction of San Diego. Captain Almonte called all hands to battle stations. AJ took his position at Primary Flight Control, to oversee the launching of aircraft, should it become necessary. It quickly became apparent that takeoffs would not be useful. The bogey was estimated to hit somewhere to the east of San Diego within ten minutes. AJ was extremely concerned, his home was located in Lemon Grove, roughly ten miles to the east of the San Diego Naval Air Station. The ship's radar team attempted to get a firing solution on the missile, but was unable to before time ran out. AJ and his officers had their eyes focused to the east, hoping that they wouldn't see what they knew was coming; an explosion somewhere near their Lieutenant Commander's home.

The missile fell off radar. All eyes were peeled to the east, looking for the explosion that never came. Was the missile a dud? Was this simply a warning? Nobody knew. Captain Almonte was in constant contact with her superiors, immediately informing them that no detonation occurred.

Shortly thereafter, the phone was ringing at AJ's house.

"Hello?"

"Mrs. Noonan, this is White House Chief of Staff Hayden Sinclair. Are you alright?"

"Yes, Mr. Sinclair, why wouldn't I be?"

"This may come as a shock to you, but a missile landed within a mile of your home. Initial reports were that the city of Lemon Grove was destroyed. With conflicting satellite imagery, I was requested to contact President Noonan's family. Are you home?"

"Yes. With two young children and another one on the way, I'm almost always home."

"Thank you Mrs. Noonan. My office will be in touch later if there is further need. I am glad to know that you are indeed okay."

"Obviously, I am too. Goodbye Mr. Sinclair."

8

AJ's excitement wasn't yet over. An hour later, Captain Almonte called AJ into her quarters.

"At ease, Mr. Noonan."

"Yes ma'am. What can I do for you?"

"Nothing, at the moment. I summoned you here to give you some news."

AJ couldn't help but open his mind to read Captain Almonte. This was not something he'd often done with his superior officers, but with all that had happened recently, he couldn't resist. Echoing her thoughts, "About my family?"

"Yes, but probably not who you're thinking?"

"My wife and kids are okay, though?"

"Yes. White House Chief of Staff Sinclair spoke with your wife personally. It's your father. He's had some kind of breakdown. Apparently, a number of other cities were attacked in the same manner as Lemon Grove."

"What cities?"

AJ knew a moment before the Captain voiced them, still reading her.

"Wooster, Ohio, Morristown, Tennessee, and Kingsville, Texas."

AJ felt it was time to shut the mind-door, "Oh my God. My sister, grandmother, and brother live in those cities."

"Yes. That fact possibly contributed to your father's breakdown. He's been taken to George Washington University Hospital for observation, but appears to be physically okay. That's all I know so far."

"Thank you Commander. May I have some time to call my mother?"

"Yes, of course. You are relieved of duty for the immediate future, I will speak with your most senior officer to cover for you for the time being. Let me know when you feel comfortable returning to duty."

"Yes ma'am. Thank you."

"I hope everything will turn out alright. Dismissed."

AJ returned to his own quarters and made a phone call.

"Hello?"

"Hi mom."

"AJ. I'm guessing you've heard."

"Yes. How's dad?"

"Well, he came to for a while. But then Mr. Sinclair mentioned that there were a number of Cortunans that didn't comply with the evacuation orders. Knowing he inadvertently killed roughly fifty innocent people, well, he's shut down again."

"Captain Almonte said he was physically okay though. Is that true?"

"Yes. Right now he's simply shut down mentally. The doctors have no idea when he might recover."

"PC, Mads, and Grandma are okay too?"

"Yes. False alarms in all cases, just like Lemon Grove."

"Let me know if anything changes. I'll come home if need be."

"Of course. But right now, there's nothing you can do. I'm sure an emergency leave will be allowed if something unexpected happens."

"Okay. I'll touch base again tomorrow."

"Okay, dear. Talk to you soon."

"Bye, mom. I love you."

"I love you too AJ. Bye."

At that point, AJ had his own mini-breakdown. Nothing like his dad, but he did sit by himself in his quarters in a daze for an hour or so. His was at least partially driven by the headache he acquired opening his mind to his Captain's thoughts. He "reached" for a bottle of Acetaminophen.

9

AJ went back on duty the next morning. Since there was nothing he could accomplish for his father by doing nothing, he saw no reason not to resume his duties. Captain Almonte attempted to convince him to take more time, but he refused. He was, after all, an officer in the US Navy. He had an important job to do. If he was able, he was going to do it. This did not go unnoticed by his commander.

He did communicate with his mother for the next three days, thus reaching her after his father awoke. He had a short conversation with his father.

"Are you doing okay dad?"

"Yes, AJ. I think I just needed a mental reset."

"So, back to work as usual?"

"No. Your mother and I are going back to Camp Hill. You probably haven't heard then. I've been relieved of my command."

"That sucks. They couldn't wait a few days?"

"No. The doctors had no idea when, or even if I'd wake up. Congress really had no choice. It's okay though. I never really wanted the position anyway."

"Yeah, but still. Once you got it..."

"No, really. It's better this way. I'd rather leave the office like this than, well, another, more drastic way."

"I get it. Well, take care of yourself. Damn, I'm the highest ranking Noonan once again."

"As well you should be. You take care too. I'll talk to you again soon."

"Bye, Mr. President."

"Ha. Goodbye, AJ."

So it was back to business as usual for AJ. He had a different ultimate boss, Martin Thompson, but otherwise nothing changed. After spending almost six years as a Lieutenant Commander, in July of 2064, he was once again promoted. This time, he was given the title Commander and provided his own command of a naval aviation squadron. He was given command of the VRM-30 Titans. A Fleet Logistics Multi-Mission Wing squadron, based out of the same base, in San Diego. The squadron was first deployed during 2021 aboard the USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) as part of Carrier Air Wing Two to the Pacific Ocean. The carrier had a long and glorious history, including on 2 May 2011, following the death of Osama bin Laden, his body was brought aboard Carl Vinson, which was operating in the Northern Arabian Sea, and buried at sea following religious rites.

By this time, his father was back in politics again, becoming Senator of Pennsylvania once again a little over two years before. AJ was happy to see his father at the presentation of his new command.

"Damn, I'm proud of you son. Not even thirty-four years old, and a Commander. What's that equivalent to in the other services?"

"It's Lieutenant Colonel. Yeah, quite an accomplishment for my age. My promotions have almost all come slightly earlier than the norm."

"What's next?"

"Jumping the gun a little, aren't you?"

"Just curious."

"Oddly enough, Captain, although the equivalent in the other services is Colonel."

"And if all goes well, how long would that take?"

"Another six years. But you're really pushing it. Not every Commander gets promoted to Captain."

"I'm sure I'll be calling you Admiral at some point."

"Well, you made it to the top, I guess that has to be my goal too, at least still technically fully in the military. I'll leave the politics to you."

"I'm sure you have seen your share of that, too."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. But with a different focus."

10

Avery was right, and AJ was conservative in his estimate. Just over five years later, August 12, 2069, AJ became Captain Avery Noonan Jr. At the same time, Captain Almonte was retiring. AJ was given command of his old ship, the USS Michael Gilday. Many of the officers and enlisted personnel were the same as when AJ previously served on the ship. Old acquaintances and friendships were rekindled. All were happy to see him return as their Captain.

But, as they say; all good things must end. Although in AJ's case, it was because of another good thing. And another of his father's predictions came true. His father had recently retired from politics at the ripe old age of seventy-nine, so there was nothing keeping him from attending the ceremony promoting AJ to Rear admiral (lower half) on December first, 2076. Less than three weeks before his forty-sixth birthday, AJ became a one-star Admiral.

And the promotions kept coming. AJ made Rear Admiral a month after turning fifty-three, in January of 2084. A second star now adorned his uniform. Vice Admiral was next. AJ got lucky to some extent for that one. Less than three years later, two of the current Vice Admirals retired within days of each other, AJ replacing the second. Thus, once again giving the Navy its limit of 162 active-duty flag officers. At this point, AJ was assigned as the Superintendent of the United States Naval Academy. This promotion put him among the elite, because for the Navy, no more than 20% of the service's active-duty flag officers may have more than two stars. It was a proud fifty-sixth birthday when AJ received the third star on December eighteenth, 2086. He became the thirty-first to currently hold that rank or above.

Sadly, it would be the last star his parents saw him get. While wearing the three stars customary to the rank of Vice Admiral, AJ unfortunately lost both his parents. Lindy Noonan was laid to rest on February twelfth, 2087, his father following on May ninth of the same year. Fortunately for the Noonan children, their father knew what days those would be roughly two weeks beforehand. They were all present for both deaths.

There was still one more promotion and assignment in AJ's future, however. David Millingham was elected president on November fourth, 2092. AJ's sixty-second birthday was preceded by the addition of a fourth star, and nomination by the President-elect as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The nomination came six days after the election, confirmation by the Senate four weeks later, on December 1, 2092. AJ's term began and ended with Millingham's two terms. On January 20, 2101, AJ retired.

Since their father never shared even the approximate date of his children's deaths, they all found out the conventional way. AJ lived until he was ninety-five, dying June 1, 2126.

The End (Part 2)