We’d hiked the trail that takes us past the remote hogan, and we saw smoke coming from the smoke hole. But, there was no one here. We entered the hogan and found a fire burning in the fire pit and a sand painting on the floor of the Yei spirits. We felt a need to meditate and did.

Later on Sunday, when we were back at the apartment there was a message from Dr. Joe. Our people at Los Alamos had set up a meeting for Monday morning at ten. What about my classes?

When we went to the meeting at Los Alamos on Monday, we learned three things, that Dr. Joe had been granted a security clearance, that I had been granted a security clearance, and that we have a new research project. I’m happy.

Then I was asked if I planned to stay at the university. It was easy to answer, and the answer was, yes. Then I told the Dean and Dr. Joe about wanting to buy a house. That brought some discussion. But, when I mentioned bringing the ’57 Chevy out here from Ohio it brought some excitement, even from the Dean.

Monday evening, we met up with Dr. Joe and Mary for dinner. After what we’d eaten this past weekend, both Amy and I ate light. Dr. Joe asked, “Are you two sick? Kai, you normally eat like I do, but you’ve eaten very little.”

“If you would have seen the food that we ate or could have eaten this weekend you’d understand.”, I said.

Amy then explained what was on the menu for both Friday and Saturday’s dinner. When she finished, Mary said, “Who paid for all of that?”

“Some company that had the whole resort reserved for the weekend, and they picked up the cost of the meals.”, Amy replied.

“What company?”, Dr. Joe asked.

“I don’t know.”, I said. “But, it’s owned by some guy called Armbruster.”

“Harold Armbruster?”

“Yeah. I think that’s his name. Know him.”

“No. But, I know of him. He owns an engineering firm that specializes in electrical engineering.”

“That’s him.”

“Does he know about you?”

“A little.”

“Like what?”, Dr. Joe asked.

“He’s heard about me being here at the university.”, I replied. “That I have a degree in electrical engineering. And, that I’m an instructor and put together the new course in computer design.”

“Be prepared to be recruited.”

“He’d do that?”

“Kai, when he sees something he wants. He goes after it big time.”

“Hmm. He was very friendly but didn’t seem that interested in me. But, I felt that he had an agenda.”

“He probably does. Just wait.”

“You sound like you know this from personal experience.”

“I do. He tried to recruit me a few years ago.”

“It’s obvious that you said no.”

“I did. I didn’t want to work for a company like that. I like the university and want to stay here.”

“Thanks for the heads up. Armbruster was very forward and wanted to talk. And, it wasn’t like I didn’t like him. There was something about him that bothered me. So, I was able to avoid him most of the time.”

“He will want to talk with you, and he will offer you a lot of things if he really wants you.”, Dr. Joe said.

“He said that he keeps his finger on what’s happening at the university, and knew about a girl that was doing what I’m doing.”, I said. “At first, he thought what he was hearing was wrong. But, as he heard more, he began to believe that it was true. And, he wanted to meet me.”

“Now he has. And, you’ll hear from him again.”

“I wonder if they’re getting inside information?”

“You think that someone at the university is passing information to them?”

“Yes.”

I think the girls got tired of listening to us talking about this stuff, because Mary said, “Amy, I hear that you are planning on buying a house.”

Yes.”, Amy replied. “Now, that this mess with Los Alamos is over. And, we know that we’re staying here.”

“Any ideas of what you’re looking for?”

“Something big enough for company to stay with us, and for kids. And, a big kitchen.”

“You like to cook. Don’t you?”

“Both Kai and I do. And, I think we’d like a house made out of adobe.”

“Those are nice and they’re popular out here.”, Mary said.

“And, we want out of the city so we can see the stars.”, Amy replied.

“That would be nice too. When do you want to do this?”

“Before our parents come out this summer.”

“Are they staying with you all summer?”

“No. They’re flying out, renting a motor home, and traveling around. But, they’ll use our place as a home base. Plus my brother and his girlfriend are coming out when they get back from Scotland.”

“That’ll be fun.”

“Yes, we really like Bridget. She’s a lot of fun.”

“Does she know about Kai?”

“Bridget is a psych major.”, Amy replied. “And, was very surprised, but very accepting of Kai.”

“Have you ever had anyone not accept Kai?”, Mary asked.

“Not that we know of. But, we’re also very careful about who finds out. Kai can tell when she meets people how they’d feel about it.”

Then I asked Dr. Joe, “So what do I tell my classes on Wednesday about today.”

“The truth.”, Dr. Joe replied.

“A lot of these kids are really anti-war and know that the Los Alamos National Laboratory does work for the Defense Department.”

“Part of the agreement that the university has with them is that we don’t do research for the Defense Department unless it is something that could help mankind.”

“That won’t ever happen.”

“Do I sense a little anti-war attitude?”

“Remember I lost a very close friend to this damn war. Plus, the father of my best friend back in Ohio, even though he served in Korea, is really against this one.”

“I know about your friend that died, Kai.”, Dr. Joe said, “Just tell your students the truth and maybe mention the Apollo project.”

“I guess I could do that.”, I replied.

“That’s what I’m going to do with the classes I missed.”

Later as Amy and I cuddled in bed, Amy rolled over, looked at me, and said, “Max’s death still bothers you. Doesn’t it?”

“Doesn’t it you?”

“You know it does. Even what happened to Kelly’s brother, Conner, when his helicopter was shot down bothers me.”

“That bothers me too. That was too close.”

Tuesday started out as normal as any other day does. We were up early, I had a class to teach at eight, and Amy was working in the ER from eight to four. So, we walked together to the university, as we stopped in front of the ER, Amy said, “See you at four, love.”

I smiled, and said, “I want to kiss you so bad right now.”

“I know. I want to do the same to you. Now get going before I do kiss you.”

“I’ll wait until I get the kiss.”

“Brat. Get going, and I’ll see you at four.”

I taught my two sections, went to my grad-level class, and then stopped by to see if Dr. Joe wanted to go to lunch. He wasn’t in his office, so I walked over to the student union and went to the faculty dining room, and picked up a light lunch.

As I sat there eating, I listened to a conversation at the table behind me. No, I wasn’t eavesdropping, they were talking loud enough that I couldn’t help but hear them. It was a man and a woman talking, and the first thing that really caught my attention was when the man said, “Armbruster told me that he met the girl this weekend.”

“But, I thought that he was at the management team training.”, the woman said.

“He was. But, she’s somehow related to the people that run the place and was also there for the weekend.”

“So, he wants to try and bring her on board?”

“Yes, but he said that she’s very confident and knows what she wants. And, it may be hard to do. He said to pull out all the stops. But, why her, she’s an Indian?”

“Yes, a very smart one. She graduated Cum Laude from Ohio State.”

“You’re kidding me?”, the man said.

“No, and here she went from being a graduate assistant to a part-time instructor very quickly.”, the woman added. “Plus, they’ve given her a research fellowship.”

“She must be a hell of a researcher.”, the man said. “Our contact at Los Alamos did say that she’s even impressed their upper management. And, they offered her a job when she got her masters, and she turned them down.”

My temper was close to the boiling point.

“Turned them down.”, the woman said. “Is she crazy.”

“She must be. I’ll bet that Armbruster will probably do what ever it takes to get her on board.”

At that point, I turned around, glared at the two people and said, “You can tell Armbruster for me, that I am in no way interested in any proposal that he has. No way would I ever work for him.”

Then pointing at the woman, I said, “I've seen you in the engineering building. And, I’ll be talking to the Dean about you.”

“And, you.”, I said pointing at the man. “You, I don’t know. But, I will find out who you are, and I’ll have you banned from this university.”

And, I had raised my voice when I confronted this couple, because as I stood I noticed a few people looking at us. As I walked away from the table, I heard the man say, “Oh shit! That’s her.”

I turned around, and said, “You’ve got that right buddy!”

I stopped at the cashier, paid my bill, and headed for Dr. Joe’s office. As I walked out of the student union and headed towards the engineering building, I sensed someone running after me.

I stopped, spun around, and it was the man from the faculty dining room. He was too close for comfort. I quickly took a defensive stance, and in a loud voice, I said, “Any closer and I will hurt you.”

He quickly stopped, and said, “Please let's talk.”

“Get away from me now!”

“Please talk to me.”

“I have nothing to say to you. Leave now.”

A couple of male students came up, and one asked, “Is there a problem?”

The man said, “No.”

I said, “There will be. If he doesn’t leave me alone right now.”

A few seconds later, I heard a familiar voice say, “Kai, what’s wrong?”

I wouldn’t take my eyes off the guy, so I asked, “Dr. Joe?”

“Who else, Kai. What’s going on?”

Then I saw the woman from the faculty dining room standing in front of the student union watching us. As I pointed at the woman, I said, “This guy and that woman over there where in the faculty dining room talking about the Armbruster guy wanting to recruit me. I overheard them. And, then I confronted them.

“He followed me out here. And, I told him to get lost. And these students showed up to help me.”

Dr. Joe looked at the woman, and said, “That’s Sheila from the civil engineering department.”

This Sheila woman quickly ducked back into the student union.

I looked at the students that had shown up, and said, “Thanks, guys.”

“You’re welcome, miss.”, the one boy said.

And, ten seconds later a university police officer showed up, and asked what was going on? I explained everything to him. When I was finished, the officer looked at the man and asked to see some identification. The man took out a drivers license and gave it to the officer.

Looking at the license, the officer asked, “Mr. Wilson, do you have a university ID?”

“No.”, this Mr. Wilson said.

“Why are you on campus?”

“I was meeting with this young lady.”

“Sir, you are a liar. I was not meeting with you!”, I said.

“Miss, who are you?”, the officer asked.

“I’m, Kai Nez. And, I’m a member of the faculty.”

“Do you have any identification?”

As I dug into my purse and dug out my driver's license and university ID card, I said, “Yes, sir.”

I handed my IDs to the officer, he looked at them, and said, “Thank you, Miss Nez.”

Looking at Mr. Wilson, the officer said, “Mr. Wilson, I tend to believe Miss Nez. If you and Miss Nez will come with me to my car, we’ll see if we can get to the bottom of this, and I’ll get the information that I need for a report.”

“I don’t think so.”, Mr. Wilson said.

The officer said something into his portable radio, then he said, “Mr. Wilson, you are trespassing, as you have no business with the university. You have harassed a university employee, Miss Nez. You have lied to a police officer. Are you going to add not following the directions of a police officer?”

“All right! Let’s get this over with.”, Mr. Wilson said.

Just then another police officer walked up, I looked at him, and it was Detective Edwards. Detective Edwards had worked with us on my stolen exam problem. I smiled, and said, “Detective Edwards, it’s nice to see you again. It looks like you’ve recovered.”

“Miss Nez!”, Detective Edwards said. “Not you again?”

“Afraid so. You’re in uniform, and I’m glad to see that you’re not lying on the floor?”

“Don’t remind me. We sometimes need extra uniformed officers on campus, so we take turns. Today is my turn in the barrel. So, what’s going on?”

I told Detective Edwards what had happened, and who we thought was behind it.

The students that had stopped to help me were still there, so Detective Edwards, said to the other officer, “Dave, take Wilson’s statement, and I’ll take Miss Nez’s statement and the statements of these students.”

“Okay, Bill.”, the other officer said. And, the officer and the Wilson guy walked away.

Then Detective Edwards said to the boys that had stopped to help me, “Did you see all of this?”

“Yes, sir.”, the one boy said. “We were watching this pretty Indian girl walking across campus, and we didn’t realize that she was faculty. Then, we saw this guy run up behind her, she turned, confronted him, and told him to a couple of times to leave her alone. And, he wouldn’t. So, we came over to help her.”

“That was very nice of you. And, that guy should be happy that you did come over. You probably kept it from getting any worse for him. She could have put the hurt on him. She knows Karate.”

“Oh wow!”

I looked at the student, smiled, and said, “A girl has to be able to take care of herself.”

“I guess so, miss.”, the boy said.

Detective Edwards took our statements. And, then Dr. Joe walked with me to the Dean’s office. As we walked, I asked Dr. Joe, “How did you end up out on campus at the same place that I was?”

“You know.”, Dr. Joe said. “I just felt like taking a walk.”

“Hmm.”

“What?”

“I don’t know. But, isn’t that kind of strange.”

“I guess maybe it is.”

When we walked into the Engineering College’s office, we were surprised to see the woman, Sheila, from the altercation, sitting in the outer office. She looked at us with tears in her eyes, and said, “Please, I’m so sorry.”

“That won’t buy it.”, I replied, and I wasn’t quiet when I did. “What are you doing here?”

“I … I … I knew that I was in trouble and I wanted to see Dean Rutherford.”

“Oh. You’ll see him all right. It’s Sheila. Right?”

“Ye … Yes.”

“Sheila, what you were doing was wrong. Working to recruit people that way.

“Do you realize what it’s like to be sitting there, trying to eat lunch, and hear people talking about you? People who you don’t know. People that don’t know you. And, the worst thing is the people don’t care about you. They’re treating you like a piece of meat that’s up for bid.

“And, you know Sheila, I don’t care about you. Or that clown that you were with. I hope you both lose your jobs. And, Los Alamos might like to know that you found out that they offered me a job and I turned it down.”

Sheila broke down and sobbed uncontrollably.

“What is going on out here!?”, I heard Dean Rutherford say.

I looked at him, and said, “Hello, Dean. Sorry to disturb you. But, we need to talk.”

“Now what?”

“Does the name Harold Armbruster mean anything to you.”

“Oh dear God! Don’t tell me that you’ve run into him.”

“Okay, I won’t tell you.”, I said. “But, I did.”

“Okay, you and Dr. Oshie come on back.”

I looked at Sheila, and said, “Sheila, don’t move.”

“O … Okay, Miss Nez.”

Dr. Joe and I went back to the Dean’s office, sat, and looked at him. The Dean finally said, “Okay, Miss Nez. What’s going on?”

“This past weekend Amy and I went to the resort.”, I said. “This company had the whole place booked, and …” And, I went on to tell the Dean everything from this past weekend through today.

When I finished, the Dean sat there and looked at me, then he said, “Miss Nez, you are making my life too interesting. But, you know, I can live with it.

“It sounds like you’ve already made up your mind about Mr. Armbruster and his company?”

“Dean, I know nothing of his company. But, his recruiting methods are too much. He can have his company. And, if I never see him again, it’ll be too soon.

“I should have listened to the first feelings that I had about him.”

“I’m afraid to ask this, but is Sheila Wilson involved in this?”, the Dean asked.

“If it’s the Sheila that’s sitting in the outer office, yes she is.”, I said.

“I was afraid of that. Was she the women who was talking to the man in the faculty dining room?”

“Yes, sir. … Wait a minute. Dean, did you say Sheila Wilson?”

“Yes. Why?”

“The last name of the guy she was talking to was Wilson.”

“Maybe her husband?”, the Dean asked.

“I don’t know.”, I replied. “But, earlier Dr. Joe and I were talking about Armbruster’s recruiting policy and recruiting people from the university. And, the thought that someone from inside the university might be passing information to them came up.”

“Are you thinking a husband and wife team?”, Dr. Joe asked.

“I am now.”, I said.

“That muddies the water some more?”, the Dean said. “Miss Nez, what do you think we should do with her?”

“Is what she did illegal?”

“It may be illegal, but that would be up to the University’s Legal Department. But, I think that what she has done is at least against university policy. Like sharing your private information for none university reasons. Again something for the legal department. Was she paid to do this? If she was this could get ugly.”

“Dean, I’m not a vindictive person. But, I’m getting so tired of all this crap. I don’t know if making an example of her would do any good or not.”

“I’m going to have to get President Lingham involved in this. There’s a relationship between Armbruster and him.”

“Oh.”, I said. “So, the university’s president is friendly with Armbruster?”

“Not so much friendly, but they do some philanthropic things together.”, the Dean said. “And, Sheila Wilson answers to me. So, I’m going to have a serious talk with her, and see how it goes.”

“Dean, I’ll go along with whatever you decide.”

“If Sheila is still out there, have her come back and see me.”

“She’ll still be there, Dean.”, Dr. Joe said.

“How do you know?”

“Kai told her to wait there.”

As we walked into the outer office, Sheila was still sitting there. And, Dr. Joe said to her, “Sheila, the Dean wants to see you.”

We watched as she got up and walked towards the Dean’s office.

Sara, the Dean’s secretary, looked at Dr. Joe and me, and asked, “Kai, what happened? She sat out here and cried the whole time you were back there.”

“I’ll tell you later, Sara.”, I said. “But, right now I need to find a good bottle of wine.”

“Can I join you?”, Dr. Joe asked.

“Company would be a good thing. Amy’s working until four.”

Dr. Joe and I walked to a store that I knew sold wine, I bought a good bottle of already chilled wine, and we walked to the apartment. I got two glasses out of the cupboard, we sat at the table, sipped wine, and talked about this whole Armbruster thing.

Then just before four, Dr. Joe and I walked back to the university, he went to his office, and I went to pick up Amy. Right at four, she walked out of the ER and into the waiting room where I was. As we walked to the apartment, she said, “Are you alright?”

“I guess.”, I replied. “I had a run in with some of Armbruster’s people today.”

“What!?”

“I’ll tell you about it when we get to the apartment.”

“I have a feeling that this isn’t going to be good.”

“We’ll see.”

When we were back at the apartment, Amy said, “Two wine glasses. Who was here with you?”

“Dr. Joe.”, I said. “He came back here with me, and we had a glass of wine.”

“I didn’t think Dr. Joe liked wine.”

“I didn’t either, but he commented on the good selection that I’d made.”

“I’ve got to take a shower. And, I’ll make it quick.”

“I’ll have a glass of wine for you when you’re finished.”

“That would be good.”

Amy then kissed me and ran upstairs. I got two clean glass and took the bottle of wine out of the refrigerator. Then I waited until I heard Amy come out of the shower, and I poured us each a glass of wine.

When Amy came back downstairs, I handed her a glass of wine, and we sat on the couch. She took a sip of wine, and said, “This was a good choice.”

“Thanks.”, I said.

“So, what happened.”

I took a long sip of wine, and said, “Well, after my classes I stopped at Dr. Joe’s office to see if he wanted to go to lunch. He wasn’t there, so I went to the faculty dining room, got my lunch, found a table, and started eating. I couldn’t help overhearing the couple behind me talking. Then I figured out what they were talking about, and it was me. It was about Armbruster wanting me to work for him. And, they knew things about me that they shouldn’t have known.”

Amy took another sip of wine, and said, “I know there’s more. Go on.”

“I confronted them right in the faculty dining room. Then I left, and …” And, I went on to tell Amy the whole story.

When I finished, Amy looked at me, and said, “I think that you did the right thing.”

“Thanks. But, why me.”

“I think that this Armbruster character is used to getting what he wants. And, he wants you. You, who wants nothing to do with him. I think that he’s going to learn that you can’t be had at any price.”

“I’m glad you feel that way because so do I.”, I said. “Do you think we should tell Uncle Paul?”

“I would say, let's keep them out of it for now.”, Amy replied. “The resort and your aunt and uncle don’t need to be put in the middle of this.”

“Good thinking. I told the Dean that I’d go along with whatever he and the university decided.”

“That also was a good thing.”

We put together a nice dinner, then just cuddled together on the couch, and listened to music until bedtime. Amy decided to take my mind off of what happened today, and I’ll leave it to your imagination as to what happened at bedtime.

Wednesday, when I walked into my classroom about half of my students were already there. I walked to the front of the class and up onto the small stage. I set my briefcase on the desk, opened it, and took out my notes for today.

When the bell rang, I looked around, and it looked like everyone was here.

I walked in front of the desk, and said, “Before we start, I want to apologize for Monday. But, I had to attend a meeting at the Los Alamos National Laboratory with Dean Rutherford and Dr. Oshie, my advisor, and that meant that I missed teaching both of my classes and couldn’t attend my graduate course.”

I saw a few of my students giving me a puzzled look when I’d said, Los Alamos National Laboratory. So, I said, “Yes, Los Alamos. I know that some of you know that I have a research fellowship here at the university. And, that means that I do research. And, it just happens that the university has an agreement with Los Alamos to do research for them.”

One of my students said, “Miss Nez, don’t you know that Los Alamos supports this lousy war? Does this mean the university does too?”

“Yes, I know that Los Alamos supports the war. They are part of the Department of Energy. But, part of the agreement the university has with them is that the research that we do is not research for the Defense Department unless it is something that could help mankind. And, I’m sorry I don’t know what the university's official stand on the war is.

“I’ll tell you this. I lost a very close friend to this war. And, it was a closed casket funeral, so I wasn’t able to say a proper goodbye to him.” I felt the tears start rolling down my cheeks. I paused for a few seconds.

Then I said, “So far I’ve only worked on one research project for Los Alamos, and have just agreed to do a second one. Normally we can’t tell anyone what we’re working on. But, I can tell you little bit about the first one, and I know for certain that the first project wasn’t a military project. It was something that will be going into space on all the remaining Apollo space crafts.”

That raised some eyebrows.

I continued with, “With the new project, we just received the proposal yesterday, and aren’t really sure what it’s all about. And, even if I was sure, I couldn’t tell you.

“With the class being canceled yesterday, I will assure you that we will cover all the material for this quarter before it’s over.

“Now, give me a second to compose myself, and we’ll get on with the class.”

“Miss Nez.”, one of my students said.

I looked at him and said, “Yes.”

“I lost my older brother to this crummy war. So, I feel your pain.”

“It’s Mr. Caldwell. Isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“Mr. Caldwell. No, I feel your pain. Which is much more than mine.”