Part 13 - It Is written of me
Chapter 19
Saturday rolled around. Jamie rode his scooter over to school to watch the math competition. Their team was competing against University High, a college prep school in Normal. Helen was the captain of the home team and she was prepared with Pi to 795 digits; the Fibonacci sequence to F99 for which she could prove using combinational arguments. Not to mention her nimble handling of quadratic equations.
Helen had tried to explain the Golden Mean and Pascal’s triangle to Jamie, but his head swam. He knew she was speaking English, but didn’t understand the words. He was just here to cheer her on. Even if he didn’t understand the content of the competition.
He went backstage in the auditorium to wish her luck or to break a No. 2 Pencil maybe. She came running up to him flushed with excitement.
“Jamie!! You’ll never guess who the proctor for this event is. Of course, you’ll never guess. I’m going to tell you. Mahnaz Baktiari. She’s amazing. She’s one of the top female mathematicians in the world. She’s at Caltech, she works for JPL. And she’s here. And I get to meet her.”
Jamie had never seen Helen like this. She was practically bouncing she was so excited. In a further unHelen like move, she leaned over and gave Jamie a quick kiss on the cheek.
“For luck” she said. “I’ve got to go!” and she was gone.
Jamie stood there. Confused, and pleased, and confused and…Shouldn’t he have been the one to give her a kiss for luck. He touched his cheek where he could still feel the warmth of her lips.
There were two teams of five people each. The person, he assumed was Mahnaz Baktiari stood at a podium between the two groups. She would read an equation or problem aloud and project it on screens both teams could say. There was a thirty second clock. The teammates could confer, then hit their buzzer. Only one person would provide the answer. If they missed, the other team had a chance to answer and take the points. At least the scoring did not require advanced understanding of math.
Helen’s team won, although by a thin margin, it was still a win The Uni-High kids were good sports. There were handshakes all around.
Chapter 20
On Monday, Ms. Kincaid arranged for Helen and Jamie to meet with Admiral Kearsarge who had heard back from whatever channels he was able to access. The journalism teacher had not mentioned anything prior as she didn’t want to give them false hopes. The admiral had agreed to a meeting in Ms. Kincaid’s classroom Tuesday after school. He showed up in full uniform. The kids were surprised and impressed when they opened the classroom door.
The admiral got straight to the point.
“I understand that you, Jamie, have a familial relation to Gerald Breen / Jerry Brody. I’m afraid that what I’ve been able to learn is not positive news.”
“Thank you, Admiral, I’m ready, even if it is bad news. We Just cannot figure out what he was doing on a Soviet submarine. From everything we’ve learned about him, Gerald was a quiet, kind mathematician. He was excited to be working on the Orion Project. He wrote his brother letters about his excitement. So why did he throw it all away? From what I gather, he had someone he cared about deeply. He just threw everything away and what, became a spy, sold secrets?”
“Here’s what I was able to confirm and have clearance to relay to you.” The admiral replied. “The sub in question was a small craft, there were seven crew members and Gerald Breen. The boat was trapped for nearly 50 years. It seems likely that the cause of the entrapment was the 1960 Chilean earthquake. It was fortuitous that we were conducting diving exercises when the second earthquake appears to have shaken the sub loose.”
“That’s what we thought too. About the earthquake. Dr. Stuart at the Caltech seismology lab seemed to think so.”
“We know that he brought the plans for the nuclear drive with him, because a copy was found. The copy was in a sealed case and protected from the elements. This copy was different from the plans that were eventually declassified. But I don’t have details on that at this time.”
“Do you know how he died?” Jamie asked. Even though he really wasn’t sure he wanted to know, it had really been bothering him.
“I do know that autopsies showed it was likely thallium poisoning. The entire crew, and your relative dies within days of each other.”
Jamie and Helen thanked the admiral for his time, and thanked Ms. Kincaid for setting up the meeting. Jamie really wanted to talk to Paul. He’d left a message but hadn’t heard back.
***
April 27, 1960
Dear Brother George,
I hope this finds you well. I am not so good bro. I am between a rock and a hard place as Grandma Loretta used to say. I think I have figured out what I need to do, but I do not want this to reflect on you or Mom or Pops in any way. I don’t know how history will see me. Will I be a villain or a hero? What will be written of me? I’m scared brother mine. I cannot call, because I don’t think I can talk to any of you. I cannot give you the details of what is going on, and I cannot let you talk me out of this. I’m so lost brother. Is it right that I should have to risk everything to protect those I love? I think this is the only way. I’ve been given an ultimatum. I only hope that what is written of me, in time, is kind.
Your loving brother,
Gerald
— Lkai
Chapter 19
Saturday rolled around. Jamie rode his scooter over to school to watch the math competition. Their team was competing against University High, a college prep school in Normal. Helen was the captain of the home team and she was prepared with Pi to 795 digits; the Fibonacci sequence to F99 for which she could prove using combinational arguments. Not to mention her nimble handling of quadratic equations.
Helen had tried to explain the Golden Mean and Pascal’s triangle to Jamie, but his head swam. He knew she was speaking English, but didn’t understand the words. He was just here to cheer her on. Even if he didn’t understand the content of the competition.
He went backstage in the auditorium to wish her luck or to break a No. 2 Pencil maybe. She came running up to him flushed with excitement.
“Jamie!! You’ll never guess who the proctor for this event is. Of course, you’ll never guess. I’m going to tell you. Mahnaz Baktiari. She’s amazing. She’s one of the top female mathematicians in the world. She’s at Caltech, she works for JPL. And she’s here. And I get to meet her.”
Jamie had never seen Helen like this. She was practically bouncing she was so excited. In a further unHelen like move, she leaned over and gave Jamie a quick kiss on the cheek.
“For luck” she said. “I’ve got to go!” and she was gone.
Jamie stood there. Confused, and pleased, and confused and…Shouldn’t he have been the one to give her a kiss for luck. He touched his cheek where he could still feel the warmth of her lips.
There were two teams of five people each. The person, he assumed was Mahnaz Baktiari stood at a podium between the two groups. She would read an equation or problem aloud and project it on screens both teams could say. There was a thirty second clock. The teammates could confer, then hit their buzzer. Only one person would provide the answer. If they missed, the other team had a chance to answer and take the points. At least the scoring did not require advanced understanding of math.
Helen’s team won, although by a thin margin, it was still a win The Uni-High kids were good sports. There were handshakes all around.
Chapter 20
On Monday, Ms. Kincaid arranged for Helen and Jamie to meet with Admiral Kearsarge who had heard back from whatever channels he was able to access. The journalism teacher had not mentioned anything prior as she didn’t want to give them false hopes. The admiral had agreed to a meeting in Ms. Kincaid’s classroom Tuesday after school. He showed up in full uniform. The kids were surprised and impressed when they opened the classroom door.
The admiral got straight to the point.
“I understand that you, Jamie, have a familial relation to Gerald Breen / Jerry Brody. I’m afraid that what I’ve been able to learn is not positive news.”
“Thank you, Admiral, I’m ready, even if it is bad news. We Just cannot figure out what he was doing on a Soviet submarine. From everything we’ve learned about him, Gerald was a quiet, kind mathematician. He was excited to be working on the Orion Project. He wrote his brother letters about his excitement. So why did he throw it all away? From what I gather, he had someone he cared about deeply. He just threw everything away and what, became a spy, sold secrets?”
“Here’s what I was able to confirm and have clearance to relay to you.” The admiral replied. “The sub in question was a small craft, there were seven crew members and Gerald Breen. The boat was trapped for nearly 50 years. It seems likely that the cause of the entrapment was the 1960 Chilean earthquake. It was fortuitous that we were conducting diving exercises when the second earthquake appears to have shaken the sub loose.”
“That’s what we thought too. About the earthquake. Dr. Stuart at the Caltech seismology lab seemed to think so.”
“We know that he brought the plans for the nuclear drive with him, because a copy was found. The copy was in a sealed case and protected from the elements. This copy was different from the plans that were eventually declassified. But I don’t have details on that at this time.”
“Do you know how he died?” Jamie asked. Even though he really wasn’t sure he wanted to know, it had really been bothering him.
“I do know that autopsies showed it was likely thallium poisoning. The entire crew, and your relative dies within days of each other.”
Jamie and Helen thanked the admiral for his time, and thanked Ms. Kincaid for setting up the meeting. Jamie really wanted to talk to Paul. He’d left a message but hadn’t heard back.
***
April 27, 1960
Dear Brother George,
I hope this finds you well. I am not so good bro. I am between a rock and a hard place as Grandma Loretta used to say. I think I have figured out what I need to do, but I do not want this to reflect on you or Mom or Pops in any way. I don’t know how history will see me. Will I be a villain or a hero? What will be written of me? I’m scared brother mine. I cannot call, because I don’t think I can talk to any of you. I cannot give you the details of what is going on, and I cannot let you talk me out of this. I’m so lost brother. Is it right that I should have to risk everything to protect those I love? I think this is the only way. I’ve been given an ultimatum. I only hope that what is written of me, in time, is kind.
Your loving brother,
Gerald
— Lkai
Wow. Someone was blackmailing Jerry. This was a very full set of chapters with quite a few revelations. The kiss was the best. Thanks! (Macoff)
ReplyDeleteInteresting developments!! Great writing!
ReplyDeleteLoved each of the chapters and how clean and clear your writing is. The math competition and the kiss was pure joy.
ReplyDelete