Alex had already spent a lot of time on this. He sat down across from them.
“Listen to me, both of you; no one has ever been in control of their own future.
But we can always make decisions in the face of…circumstances—where we go, how we go, what we do and don’t accomplish. Our ending story belongs to us, even if we can’t always write the context.”
Cynthia seemed calm. Remarkably so. “But the context here is the end of the world.”
“All right,” Alex said. “I’ll grant you that extreme. But what we do about it is still in our hands. We can sit around and wait for what is handed to us or we can meet the challenge and do what we can. I for one refuse to go quietly. I have the two of you to think about and your futures. I will give my life doing everything I can to ensure that you have one.”
“Dad, I love you so much,” Cynthia said, “and you’re right we’re being childish.”
“Did I say that? You’re scared about what may come. You have regrets about things undone or maybe unsaid. There’s nothing childish about any of that. I am on the same emotional roller coaster. But you can’t let it seize your survival instinct. Don’t let it take that spirit of accepting a challenge from you. If we’re going to die, then let it happen while we’re giving it our best shot.”
“Dad we’re with you,” Curt said.
“Good. Now a couple of practical things. Howard’s arranged to pay you two each $150,000 a year. You will start getting auto deposits next week in your checking accounts.”
“That’s about ten grand more than I’m making now,” Curt said.
“That’s a whole lot more than I make in a year,” Cynthia mentioned.
“Especially if you forget about taxes and your 401Ks. I’ve got a luncheon with this Dr.Chenowith today, then tomorrow we all fly to Coeur d’ Alene and start earning our pay.”
The drive out to Davis from his home was a reminder of how much agriculture there was in California—field after field of crops. What would it look like in three years?
When he located Dr. Chenowith’s office and knocked on the door, a young woman opened it. Must be a graduate student.
“I’m General Hanken; I’m here to see Dr. Chenowith.”
“Sandra, there is an absolutely gorgeous man out here to see you,” she said.
“Terri, behave yourself.”
And then Dr. Chenowith walked out of her office. She was nothing like what he expected “Pleased to meet you, General,” she said. “Ready for lunch?”
“Oh Sandra, are you taking him to Edna’s, I want to go please?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Dr. Chenowith said. “You’re a grad assistant. You’re supposed to starve.”
As Alex drove to the restaurant, she pointed out various sites around the Davis area. Edna’s was a small place—a private home that had been converted, from the look of it. But a vine covered patio with tables gave it some charm. It was a little chilly outside so she asked for a table in the corner overlooking the patio. The waitress took their drink orders and left the menus for them to look over.
“General Hanken, this place serves classic American cuisine—, pot roast, meat loaf, fried chicken, and it is all excellent.”
Ah, the stereotypes. “I’ll take your word for it. I’m more a Cordon Bleu man.”
“Really? Give me a good steak any day. I hope Terri didn’t embarrass you.”
“Not at all. Though, I can’t recall ever being called gorgeous.”
“Well to be honest, you are very handsome man, not at all what I expected.”
“What did you expect?”
“Short—, most pilots are short. Balding,— most Generals I know are balding. Okay, now it’s your turn.”
“I must admit, you’re not what I expected either.”
“And?”
“Well I was expecting a doughty, flower-dressed, gray streaked hair, hunched back earth mother.”
“Hunched back?”
“From carrying the weight of the world.”
“Oh my gosh, you are a real prize.”
“And what do you see?”
Despite himself, he was actually starting to enjoy this. There was more wit here than he expected, and plenty of spirit. “I see a very attractive woman in front of me.”
“Well, Gen—.”
“Can we drop the General? Please call me Alex.”
She nodded. “I’m Sandra.”
“Perfect.”
The waitress came with their drinks and took their order. He ordered pot roast, and she ordered the same. He couldn’t stop looking at her eyes, they were light smoky blue and she had astonishing strawberry— blond hair. Her skin was lightly tanned but clear, he guessed her age to be in the mid-forties, but she was in what appeared to be terrific physical condition.
“So what should we talk about?” she said.
“Sandra just how much have you been told.”
“Well I’m a designated person, so I know everything you know, I wish I didn’t.”
“Yeah, same here.” At least he didn’t have to reinvent the wheel.
“Sandra I’m flying up to Coeur d’Alene tomorrow to start looking for potential survival facilities. I know this may be short notice, but I’d like you to come along and assess the area as an agriculture center post event. I plan on being up there for two or three days.”
“Well, I don’t have anything more important on my schedule. I just put in my sabbatical notice, and today was my last day at UC Davis.”
“Fantastic.”
“When I get back to the office I’ll pull the Ag stats on that county and the surrounding counties, I’ve never been there before, it should be interesting.”
“Excuse me for being forward, but is there someone that you have to account for?”
“Husband or a boyfriend? Or girlfriend?”
“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to intrude. It’s just that I’ve had to deal with my son and his fiancée and trying to figure out how I was going to skirt around all these issues without alerting them. I didn’t manage it.”
“No offense taken. And to answer your question, no, I just jettisoned a suitor. A male suitor.”
“To a pilot the word jettisoned, can be both good and bad.”
“I am going to enjoy working with you. So are we driving up or what?”
“No we’re taking the plane they gave me.”
“What is it, I’m a pilot myself?”
“It’s a C-21— military version of an eight seat Lear. Brand new.” She was a pilot? No wonder it costs so much to attend a university, all the professors are out playing around in their private planes.
But her eyes.
“Hey first class I’m going to like this I can tell.”
“The plane is for our exclusive use, and the government picks up all the tabs no questions asked. But we’re not flying down to Rio in it.”
She sobered. “Wouldn’t dream of it. We’re going to be busy.”
They