A Twist in Time Read Online Free Page B
Author: Frank J. Derfler
recruiting poster," the Chairman quipped as he returned the salute. "Sit down. Ted, how are you? No Bullshit."
"Feeling like I should, Sir. I got beat up, but I'm moving well and there's no funny stuff in the head. I've got a flight physical next week."
"How's your attitude? How's Sally's attitude? No Bullshit," the Chairman said again.
"No bullshit. We've both got mixed feelings, Sir. We've been doing this off and on since ninety-five. It amounts to a huge amount of boredom interspersed with moments of sheer terror. Sally doesn't mind the terror parts as much as she claims. We both know that at some point it would be good to get out and make some real money, but the economy isn't great right now."
"Shit, Ted, you're a major general and she's a GS-13, you're not about to starve."
Ted simply nodded. He sensed that the Chairman had more to say than to ask him about his attitude.
"In hindsight, I should have invited Sally up here too. I forget how much you both are linked into this. I have to tell you something that might change your minds.... one way or the other."
Ted remained silent and kept his gaze on the Chairman. The other man played with a pen on his desk for a moment.
"Let's go for a walk," the Chairman said, catching Ted totally by surprise.
Ted followed the four star out the door and out into the E-ring corridor. An aide and a security officer in plain clothes scurried to catch up and then walked several steps behind. "Been to the POAC lately?" the Chairman asked. He pronounced the acronym as poe-ack.
"I was here when they opened the new facility in 2004. It blew everyone's mind," Ted replied.
The Pentagon Officer's Athletic Club or poe-ack was how both men remembered the run down, dark, moldy facility in the basement of the Pentagon that dated back to the end of World War II. During his Pentagon tour starting in 2002, Ted was a daily customer. As dingy as it was, in the good old days the officers had a facility where they could play basketball, lift weights, snap towels, fart, maybe even bring in a keg of beer for a special event, and talk trash without being naked in front of a bunch of enlisted men they commanded. In 2004, the enlightened DoD opened a new athletic facility for "all ranks." It is clean, glistening, sober, egalitarian, a little elegant, and completely boring.
Both men entered the ground floor of the shiny athletic center and the Chairman led the way to an observation deck overlooking the pool. The Chairman looked around and confirmed that they were totally alone. The aide and security officer took up casual poses some distance away. The four stars on the Chairman’s shoulders guaranteed their privacy. The Chairman moved closer to Ted as they stood by the railing. The sounds of the swimmers chugging out laps in the pool echoed around them and drowned out any possibility of anyone overhearing them.
"I don't think my office is bugged, but who the hell knows. In the 1970s they were still finding bugs in the Joint Chiefs offices that Kissinger put in to spy on Westmorland. They had a whole security investigation called Grapple Trip. They claim they got everything, but now with Homeland Security prancing around, who knows. We're safer here for a few minutes.”
The Chief gazed at nothing for a moment. “Here's what you need to know. For the time being, no one has briefed this administration on the Project at any level. We haven't briefed the political appointees in the Pentagon and we haven't briefed anyone in the White House. Those people are all too busy taking over the banks, running the car companies, and hijacking healthcare. In all honesty, we don't trust them. God only knows what they would do if they knew they could change history without anyone knowing what they've done."
Ted kept looking at the pool and grunted to show
"Feeling like I should, Sir. I got beat up, but I'm moving well and there's no funny stuff in the head. I've got a flight physical next week."
"How's your attitude? How's Sally's attitude? No Bullshit," the Chairman said again.
"No bullshit. We've both got mixed feelings, Sir. We've been doing this off and on since ninety-five. It amounts to a huge amount of boredom interspersed with moments of sheer terror. Sally doesn't mind the terror parts as much as she claims. We both know that at some point it would be good to get out and make some real money, but the economy isn't great right now."
"Shit, Ted, you're a major general and she's a GS-13, you're not about to starve."
Ted simply nodded. He sensed that the Chairman had more to say than to ask him about his attitude.
"In hindsight, I should have invited Sally up here too. I forget how much you both are linked into this. I have to tell you something that might change your minds.... one way or the other."
Ted remained silent and kept his gaze on the Chairman. The other man played with a pen on his desk for a moment.
"Let's go for a walk," the Chairman said, catching Ted totally by surprise.
Ted followed the four star out the door and out into the E-ring corridor. An aide and a security officer in plain clothes scurried to catch up and then walked several steps behind. "Been to the POAC lately?" the Chairman asked. He pronounced the acronym as poe-ack.
"I was here when they opened the new facility in 2004. It blew everyone's mind," Ted replied.
The Pentagon Officer's Athletic Club or poe-ack was how both men remembered the run down, dark, moldy facility in the basement of the Pentagon that dated back to the end of World War II. During his Pentagon tour starting in 2002, Ted was a daily customer. As dingy as it was, in the good old days the officers had a facility where they could play basketball, lift weights, snap towels, fart, maybe even bring in a keg of beer for a special event, and talk trash without being naked in front of a bunch of enlisted men they commanded. In 2004, the enlightened DoD opened a new athletic facility for "all ranks." It is clean, glistening, sober, egalitarian, a little elegant, and completely boring.
Both men entered the ground floor of the shiny athletic center and the Chairman led the way to an observation deck overlooking the pool. The Chairman looked around and confirmed that they were totally alone. The aide and security officer took up casual poses some distance away. The four stars on the Chairman’s shoulders guaranteed their privacy. The Chairman moved closer to Ted as they stood by the railing. The sounds of the swimmers chugging out laps in the pool echoed around them and drowned out any possibility of anyone overhearing them.
"I don't think my office is bugged, but who the hell knows. In the 1970s they were still finding bugs in the Joint Chiefs offices that Kissinger put in to spy on Westmorland. They had a whole security investigation called Grapple Trip. They claim they got everything, but now with Homeland Security prancing around, who knows. We're safer here for a few minutes.”
The Chief gazed at nothing for a moment. “Here's what you need to know. For the time being, no one has briefed this administration on the Project at any level. We haven't briefed the political appointees in the Pentagon and we haven't briefed anyone in the White House. Those people are all too busy taking over the banks, running the car companies, and hijacking healthcare. In all honesty, we don't trust them. God only knows what they would do if they knew they could change history without anyone knowing what they've done."
Ted kept looking at the pool and grunted to show
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