Dr. Joe and I had a talk about her, and then we went to talk to her advisor. We found out that her dad, Colonel Pratt, had pulled some strings to get her enrolled and into higher level classes, which she had no business being in. Apparently, our talk with the advisor, Mrs. Woodall, had done some good, because, the girl, Heather Pratt, wasn’t in class on Thursday.

Also on Thursday, Heather had stopped in after class, and we’d had a talk. Then I introduced her to Ajie, and Ajie had her see Vickie, who’s the Dean of the nursing school. And it appears that Heather has an aptitude for nursing. Problem solved. Maybe?

And Lieutenant Zimmerman had solved the question of what kind of bird, a Bald Eagle or a Golden Eagle, was visiting our backyard. And it turned out to be a Golden Eagle. Which is still a sacred bird.

Saturday, Ajie worked the day shift in the ER, and I’d taken her to work because we were going out for dinner when I picked her up. Yep, it’s going to be Nunzio's. And I spent the day working on a new midterm test for my classes, and I also did some housework.

On Sunday evening, when we talked to our parents, we brought up the possibility of them coming out here for Christmas. When we’d brought it up to my parents, my dad asked, “Why?”

“Dad.”, Ajie said. “Think about this. If everything works out, we will have two babies who are only a month old. Now would you like to travel on an airplane with them?”

“Not really. But you could drive.”

“Dad, normally, it would be a three day trip by car, but stopping to feed them and change diapers would slow the trip down.”

“Oh. Well then I guess we’re coming out there. But it won’t be a white Christmas.”

“Dad.”, I said. “If we don’t have snow here, which is entirely possible, we can take you up on the Crest, and I’ll guarantee you that you’ll see snow.”

“You can drive up there in the winter?”

“You can. But the Tramway would be better.”

What was funny. Was that the talk with Ajie’s parents about Christmas was almost the same as the talk with my parents. Ajie dad said just about what mine had said.

I’m not going to bore you with what happened on Monday. It was as normal as we could have had. But we figured that we needed to get some more hikes in up on the Crest before winter set in. I still had in the back of my mind to take the Tramway up and hike back down.

Now Tuesday was almost a typical day. Well, it was typical until my second class ended because as the last student left the classroom and I was picking up my things, I heard a man’s voice say, “Miss Nez, we need to talk.”

I looked towards the door at the back of the room and saw a man in a military uniform standing there looking at me. It was Colonel Pratt, Heather’s father. I had a bad feeling about this, and what I’ve been taught about fight or flight was kicking in. There is a back door out of this room. But I said, “About what, sir.”

“My daughter, Heather.”

“What about her.”

“I want to thank you.”

Hmm. Maybe this isn’t bad. So, I said, “Thank me?”

“Miss Nez, do you think we can sit someplace and talk, so we’re not yelling at each other across the room?”, Colonel Pratt asked.

“Oh, sorry. Yes, we can sit in the lounge area by the elevators.”, I replied. I still wasn’t sure where this was going, so I wanted to be in a public place.

I quickly packed up my things and headed to the door where Colonel Pratt was standing. As I got closer, I saw Heather standing there too. As I walked up, I said, Hello, Heather. Colonel Pratt.”

“Hello, Miss Nez.”, Heather said.

“Miss Nez.”, Colonel Pratt said.

“Come with me, and we can sit over here.”, I said.

The three of us walked over to the same place where Heather and I had talked. As we sat, Colonel Pratt said, “Miss Nez, I want to thank you for helping Heather.”

“I’m happy that I could.”, I said. “I’m good at problem solving. And I saw a problem and had to solve it. If she had continued with my class, she would have probably flunked it. I knew that she was out of her comfort zone by what happened with her first day quiz.”

“First day quiz?”

“It’s a short quiz that I give to see where my students stand. This class is a second-year class, so any second-year student should be able to answer all the questions. And I don’t think Heather knew any of it. Did you, Heather?”

“No, Miss Nez, I didn’t.”, Heather replied.

“I guess you sent her to the nursing school, and they found that she has an aptitude for nursing.”, Colonel Pratt said.

“That’s what I’ve heard. She talked to my cousin who’s a nurse and on the faculty there, and she saw something in Heather too, or she wouldn’t have sent her to see Dean Etsitty.”

“That’s what Heather told us.

“And I’m afraid that I got angry when Heather told us what was going on. But, for the first time, she stood up to me and told us how she felt. I never realized what I was doing to her. I just hope that she’ll forgive me.”

“Daddy.”, Heather said. “I forgive you. All I need is my space.

“And, Miss Nez, your cousin was wonderful to talk to.”

“I’ll tell her that you said that.”, I replied. “Just watch out if you have her for class, she can be tough.

“And, Colonel Pratt, I’m glad that you listened to your daughter.”

“I’m glad I did too, Miss Nez.”, Colonel Pratt said. “I should have seen this much earlier. And if there’s anything that I can do for you, please let me know.

“Now, I have a meeting, so I need to run.”

“It was nice seeing you again, Colonel.”

“You too, Miss Nez.”

Colonel Pratt got up, bent over, and kissed his daughter on the cheek, and said, “See you at home tonight, honey.”

“Sure thing, daddy.”, Heather said.

The Colonel and I then shook hands.

Heather and I watched her father walk away. And when he was out of earshot, Heather said, “Miss Nez, I don’t know where I got the courage to stand up to him, but after talking to you the other day, I just had to do it.”

“Sometimes the courage just comes to the forefront when it’s needed.”, I replied. “And it surprises you when it does.”

“It was a surprise. We’d just finished dinner when I broached the subject. He got angry. But I stood up to him, and he backed down when I told him about the talks and the tests. And that Dean Etsitty was working with me.

“After he’d calmed down, I told him more about the talk that you and I had, and he wanted to talk to you. At first, I was a little concerned about it, but as we talked more, I became at ease with him talking to you.”

“Heather.”, I said. “I’m glad you and your father did come to see me. It makes me feel like I did some good.”

“Miss Nez, you did a lot of good.”, Heather said.

We got up to leave, and I received a friendly hug. And, I said, “Like your father said if there’s anything that I can do for you, let me know.”

“You’ve already done a lot for me, Miss Nez. And I’m forever in your debt.”

“Yes, you are. And it will be paid in full when you graduate from college. And hopefully, someday you can pay it forward by helping someone else.”

I could tell that I surprised her when I agreed that she was in debt to me. But she smiled when I told her how to pay the debt, and she said, “Miss Nez, I’ll do that. I’ll do both of those things.”

When we were parting company, Heather said, “Thank you again and goodbye, Miss Nez.”

“Miss Pratt.”, I said sternly. “We never say goodbye. It’s too permanent. Being a Navajo, we say hágoónee'. Which means see you later. Or you can just say, so long.”

“Miss Nez, I know that I’ll see you again. So, I’ll say so long.”

I smiled and said, “We will see each other again. Hágoónee', Heather.”

As I watched Heather walk away, I thought, ‘Well Ajie, I think you and I have done a good thing.’ Then I headed to the office.

Dr. Joe wasn’t there when I walked in, so I sat at the desk, and found something interesting to read. A new technical journal.

A half an hour later, Dr. Joe walked in, he looked at me, and said, “What are you so happy about?”

“What do you mean?”, I asked.

“You look like you’ve solved the problems of the world.”

“Nope. That’s going to take another day or two. But I did talk with Heather Pratt and her father, the Colonel.”

“And you’re still alive?”

“It was a good meeting. He thanked me for helping Heather.”

“Really?”

“Yes, Heather stood up to him. And he said that he didn’t realize what he was doing to her.”

“Too busy with work.”

“I think so.”, I said. “So, have we heard anything from Los Alamos?”

“Nothing yet.”, Dr. Joe said.

“Do you think I should take a wait and see with them, and see if they can come through with that project, or look for something else?”

“Do you have any ideas for something else?”

“A couple. But I’d sure like to use that module for the Apollo.”

“So would I, if I’d have worked as hard on it as you did. If it was me, I think that I’d give the Los Alamos people another couple of days.”

“I’ll do that. Now, I’ve got some reading to catch up on, so I’m heading home. And I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“See you, Kai.”

As I pulled into the driveway, I stopped and checked the mail. There was no mail. But the newspaper was in the box. I grabbed that and finished the drive up the driveway and into the garage. Ajie wasn’t home.

As I walked into the kitchen, I looked at the answering machine, and the light was blinking. So I walked over and rewound the tape, and as the tape was fully rewound, it broke. I won’t tell you what I said because it wasn’t pleasant.

I took the cassette out of the answering machine and looked at it. The tape had broken right where the tape meets the leader.

I went into the office and found the scotch tape, a small pair of scissors, an x-acto knife, a small screwdriver, and I got a cutting board from the kitchen. And I took everything to the dining room table. I was able to carefully pull the recording tape and leader out of the cassette. I scotched taped the two ends together, then using the x-acto knife, I carefully trimmed the edges of the recording tape where I’d scotched taped the two ends together. Then I carefully rewound the tape into the cassette.

I got up from the table, went to the answering machine, and carefully placed the tape in the machine. Then I pressed play and I heard, “Kai, it’s Dr. Joe. It never fails. Just as you walked out of the office, the phone rang, and it was Dr. Fontheim. The Los Alamos people want to have a lunch meeting on Friday. Let me know if you’re available.”

That was the only message that was on the tape. I pressed stop and removed the cassette from the answering machine. I put everything away. Then I found the spare cassette tape, took it out to the kitchen and put it in the answering machine.

Then I picked up the phone and called Dr. Joe. When he answered, I said, “Hi, Dr. Joe. It’s Kai. So, what’s up with Los Alamos.”

“I’m not completely sure, Kai.”, Dr. Joe said. “But, they said that they wanted to have lunch with us, and they’re bringing someone with them.”

“Who?”

“They wouldn’t say.”

“Secret squirrel stuff?”

“Could be. But there’ll be four of them, plus the three of us with the Dean. I’m going to reserve the small room at the faculty dining room.”

“Okay. I guess we’ll find out. If I don’t see you before then, I’ll see you on Friday.”

“See you on Friday. Hágoónee' - (see you later), Kai.”

“Hágoónee', Dr. Joe.”

As I hung up the phone, I heard the ding from the sensor in the driveway. Ajie must be home. I walked out into the garage just as Ajie was pulling in. As she got out of the car, she said, “Come help me with groceries.”

I walked over to the car, Ajie tried to hand me a bag of groceries, but I bypassed the bag and kissed her. She said, “Silly. Save that for later.”

“You’re no fun.”, I said with a fake pout.

“Oh, I’m not.”

“Let’s get these groceries in the house and put away, and I’ll show you how much fun I can be.”

It took both of us two trips to carry the bags into the kitchen. Then about half an hour to put everything away. Then Ajie said, “Go and close the garage door, lock up the house, and meet me in the bedroom.”

It didn’t take me long to close the garage door and lock up the house.

Then, should I say, there was a little afternoon delight? Yeah, I should say that.

A long while later as we cuddled together in the bed. Ajie said, “So, I’m no fun?”

“No way lover.”, I said. “You are a lot of fun.”

“Now, go make us some sangria.”

She didn’t have to ask twice.

The next two days were just typical. Classes, home, and cuddling with Ajie out in the courtyard with a nice fire.

On Friday, after my ten o’clock Electronic Circuits and Systems class, I walked into the office, and Dr. Joe was there. We exchanged greetings, then he said, “You’re not dressed for a meeting.”

I smiled and set my purse on the work table. First, I took out the pipe bone choker with the silver medallion and silver feather and put it on. Then I added two bracelets on my right wrist to go along with the one bracelet on my left wrist. Then I added three rings to go along with two that I was already wearing. Next, I opened my briefcase and took out a Concho belt and put that on. Then I removed the simple braided headband that I was wearing and replaced it with the fancy braided leather one with the Eagle feather hanging down by my left ear. I then looked at Dr. Joe and asked, “Any better?”

Dr. Joe just shook his head. But then he said, “You know you should wear the Concho belt all the time with the long skirts.”

“You think?”

“Yes, it doesn't look right without it.”

“I’ve always thought so too.”

Just before twelve, we walked into the Engineering College’s offices. Sara saw us, smiled, and said, “Hello, Dr. Oshie. Kai.”

We both replied, “Hello, Sara.”

“Go on back. The Dean is waiting for you.”

Dr. Joe and I walked back to the Dean’s office, and Dr. Joe knocked. We heard a “Come.”

We walked into the Dean’s office, he looked up and said, “Miss Nez, I hope you aren’t dressing like that when you’re teaching class.”

“No sir.”, I replied. “I reserve this look for meetings.”

“Yes, Miss Nez, I know.

“Dr. Oshie, are the people from Los Alamos meeting us here or at the faculty dining room?”

“Here, sir.”, Dr. Oshie said.

“Good.”

Just then, the phone rang, and the Dean answered it, “Yes, Sara.” … “Thank you. We’ll be right out.”

As the Dean hung up the phone, he said, “Let’s go. Our guests are here.”

The Dean, Dr. Joe, and I walked out into the main part of the office. Standing there were Dr. Millman, Dr. Höllmann, and Dr. Fontheim, our people from Los Alamos. And there was a fourth man who I’d never seen before.

We walked over to them and exchanged greetings. Then Dr. Höllmann said, “Dr. Clark, I’d like you to meet Dean Rutherford, the Dean of the College of Engineering. Dr. Joe Oshie, a member of the faculty and a researcher in the Department of Electrical Engineering. And last but not least, Miss Kai Nez, also a member of the faculty and a Research Associate.

“Dean Rutherford, Dr. Oshie, and Miss Nez, I like you to meet Dr. Robert Clark. Dr. Clark works for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and is in charge of a part of the Apollo Project.”

I thought, ‘N.A.S.A.!?’

And the three of us exchanged greetings. Then Dean Rutherford said, “Why don’t we go over to the Student Union, and we can talk over lunch.”

We all agreed. Then I noticed that Dr. Fontheim picked up a metal briefcase. And Dr. Clark also picked up a metal briefcase that was somewhat bigger than the one that Dr. Fontheim had picked up.

As we walked, Dr. Clark and I talked. And most of that was him asking me questions about my formal education and why I’d chosen electronics.

Once we were in the small room off of the faculty dining room, we ordered off the menu and talked while we waited for our food. At one point, Dr. Clark said, “Miss Nez, I was surprised to find out that a girl, sorry woman, had worked on this project. It’s just something that you don’t see very often.”

“Sir.”, I said. “I think it’s something that you will see more and more of. People will realize that there is a wealth of intelligence out there being wasted. You will see more and more women scientists, doctors, and politicians, and in other male-dominated positions as people realize that a woman can do the job as well as a man can.”

“Miss Nez.”, Dr. Clark said. “Please don’t take me wrong. I agree with you. I’ve met Admiral Grace Hopper¹, and I was duly impressed. I’ve heard her speak, and she said something that I’ll never forget, and I try to live by. She said, ‘You don't manage people, you manage things. You lead people.’”

“I’ve read some of her things, and I was also impressed with her.”, I said. “And, Dr. Clark, I like that saying of hers.”

“Dr. Clark.”. Dr. Höllmann said. “You pushed one of Miss Nez’s buttons.”

“So it appears.”, Dr. Clark said. “She’s a strong woman.”

“That she is.”

“Dr. Clark.”, I said. “May I ask why someone from N.A.S.A. is here?”

Before he could respond, they brought our food. After the waitresses left, we started eating, and Dr. Clark said, “Miss Nez, I’m here because of you.”

“Because of me?”, I asked.

“Yes. You designed and built a module for us.”

“Yes, we did. Dr. Oshie was also involved.”

“Dr. Höllmann, she’s also modest. Isn’t she?”

“She can be.”, Dr. Höllmann replied.

“Now, Miss Nez.”, Dr. Clark said. “We know that you designed and built that module. And that Dr. Oshie helped you. But the major part was all you. Correct?”

“I guess.”, I said.

“We also know that you’re working on a doctoral degree in electrical engineering. Correct?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And you ran into a problem with a project that you were working on.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And we’ve learned that everyone sitting at this table, including myself, feel that the module that you did for us would make a good project for your doctoral. Wouldn’t it?”

“Yes, sir.”, I said. “It would make a good base for a doctoral dissertation.”

“We also understand that by turning that module into an integrated circuit that it would have other uses.”

“Yes, sir. I feel that it would.”

“You do realize that N.A.S.A. will maintain the ownership of this circuit if that happens.”

“Of course. And all I can say is I hope you release it to the public sector.”

“We’re in the talking phase about releasing it. But there’s a good chance that it will be. And we’ve decided to allow you to use the circuit that you designed and built in your degree.”

I knew that I had a broad smile on my face as I said, “Thank you so much.”

“In this case is the original breadboard circuit that you made. The original printed circuit board that you designed and built. All of the original documentation that you were given and the notes that you made. Plus, there is one of the completed circuits that your module is a part of.”

I looked at Dr. Clark and said, “Again, thank you so much. But can you let me have the completed navigation module?”

I saw Dr. Clark look at Dr. Höllmann, then back at me, and then he asked, “Miss Nez, who told you that it was the navigational module?”

“No one.”, I replied.

“Then how did you know?”

“An educated guess.”

“An educated guess, Miss Nez?”

“Yes, sir. I read a lot. And there were a few articles about the Apollo project. Some talked about how they were going to revamp a few of the systems on it. And that one of the systems was the guidance system. I put two and two together and got four, so it made sense.”

Dr. Höllmann then said, “Dr. Clark, I told you that she was smart.”

“So, who else knows this?”, Dr. Clark asked me.

“No one until right now.”, I replied.

“Not even Dr. Oshie?”

“He asked once before I figured it out, but not since. So, I didn’t tell him.”

“As far as the guidance system is concerned, there were two proprietary integrated circuits that were removed and replaced with a simulated one.”

“Okay. Can anyone see these circuits now?”

“Yes, they’ve been declassified. These now belong to the university, and they can do anything that they want to with them. Put them on display or whatever.”

“That’s good.”, I said. “I was thinking of doing something.”

What’s that?”, Dr. Clark asked.

“I was thinking of doing something with my classes, and maybe anyone else that’s interested on the day of the launch?”

“What are you thinking of, Miss Nez?”, Dean Rutherford asked.

“Well.”, I said. “The planned launch of Apollo 7 is on Friday, October 11th at 9:00 AM local time, and I’m not going to miss it. So I was thinking of getting a large lecture room with televisions. Having my two classes that day meet there. And invite anyone else that wanted to watch the launch join us.

“And now having something that is part of the Apollo spacecraft, I thought it might be good to tell everyone about the university’s involvement.”

“Miss Nez.”, Dean Rutherford said. “I like your thinking. Work with me, and we’ll make it happen.”

“I wish I could be here.”, Dr. Clark said. “But I need to be at Cape Kennedy then. And I see no problem with you showing the modules that you have.”

“I wish I could trade places with you.”, I said.

“I can arrange for you to be there.”

“I’d love that. But I have classes to teach. So maybe the next one.”

“I’ll keep the invitation open.”

“Thank you, Dr. Clark.”

“Miss Nez, it’s my pleasure.”

We sat and finished our lunch, then Dr. Clark said, “I need to get back to Houston. So I need to get going. It’s been nice meeting all of you, and especially you, Miss Nez. So I need to say goodbye.”

I looked at Dr. Clark and then gave him our talk on why we never say goodbye.

“Miss Nez.”, Dr. Clark said. “That is very wise. So, I’ll say so long.”

Then Dr. Millman said, “Dr. Clark, I drove up separately from Dr. Höllmann and Dr. Fontheim, and need to go back to Los Alamos. So I can drop you at the airport.”

“How about the Air Force Base. There’s a plane there for me.”

“I can do that.”

As we said so long to both Dr. Clark and Dr. Millman, I again thanked Dr. Clark for everything. After they left, Dr. Höllmann, Dr. Fontheim, Dean Rutherford, Dr. Oshie, and I went over a new project. It was anticlimactic after the talk about the Apollo program. But it was an interesting project. And it was classified.

After we’d said so long to our people from Los Alamos, we walked back to the Dean’s office. And the Dean reminded me to get with him about the Apollo launch.

Then as Dr. Joe and I were walking back to the office, with him carrying the case for the new project and me carrying the case from N.A.S.A., Dr. Joe said, “I think you made a new friend today.”

“You think?”, I said.

“Yes, I do.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“And, what’s in that case you’re carrying is amazing.”

“I know. I can’t wait to look in it.”

When we got back to the office, Dr. Joe put the case he was carrying into the fireproof file cabinet. I put the case from N.A.S.A. on the work table.

I looked at the case and hoped that it wasn’t locked because they hadn’t given us the combination. And being the nerd that I am, I wrote down the numbers that were set on the two locking latches. Then I tried the latches, and they opened.

I opened the case, and there sat the breadboard, the printed circuit board, and the full guidsnce board. I looked at the guidance system board, and our board was mounted on it using standoffs.

Dr. Joe said, “What’s in the envelope?”

I was so interested in the three circuits that I didn’t see the envelope. I looked and saw the thick manila envelope with a N.A.S.A. emblem on it and some letters and numbers. I took it out of the case, opened it, took everything out, and looked at it. All the documentation that we’d been given to work on our part of the system was there, as was a lot of other things.

As I put everything back in the envelope, I said, “Since this is no longer classified, I guess I can take it home and read it over.”

“I guess you can.”, Dr. Joe said. “Now, one last question for you, Miss Nez.”

“Uh oh. What did I do now?”, I asked.

Picking up the guidance module, Dr. Joe said, “You didn’t tell me what this module was for.”

“Well, when you asked me, I didn’t know. And when I did figure it out, we were well into another project. And it never came up again until today.”

“You’re forgiven.”

“Thank you, oh great one.”

Shaking his head, Dr. Joe said, “Kai, just go home.”

I put the briefcase from N.A.S.A. in the file cabinet, and it just fit. Then I placed the manila envelope in my briefcase and said, “See you later, Dr. Joe. Say hi to Mary and little Makwa for me.”

“I will. You say hi to Ajie.”

“I will.”

I walked to my car, then drove home. Ajie had taught her classes and then came home. So I was greeted at the door from the garage with a hug and a kiss. Then Ajie said, “You seem happy.”

“After the meeting that I had today, I am.”, I said. “And now, being with you, I’m very happy.”

“So, what happened at the meeting?”

“Let me show you something.”

Ajie walked with me to the kitchen, I set my briefcase on the breakfast counter, opened it, took out the manila envelope, and showed it to her. Ajie looked at it and asked, “N.A.S.A.? Is it that N.A.S.A.?”

“Yes, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.”

“Oh! The Apollo people.”

“Yes. A Dr. Clark from N.A.S.A. came today with the people from Los Alamos and gave me everything, including the completed module from the project that we did that’s now a part of all of the Apollo space crafts.

“And they gave me permission to use it in my doctoral dissertation. Plus, they gave us my original breadboard circuit, the original printed circuit board that I designed and built the circuit on. And, they gave us one of the navigation systems from the Apollo spacecraft that our circuit is a part of.”

“They gave you all that? Isn’t it classified?”

“Yes. And, it’s no longer classified.”

Then I told Ajie about my idea of having my classes in a large lecture hall with television sets to watch the launch. And how the Dean felt about it. She was excited about the idea. And asked, “Can I come?”

“Of course, and sit on the stage with me.”

While I made dinner, Ajie made sangria. And we ate out in the courtyard. Then after cleaning up, we, as we like to do, cuddled up together and watched the stars.

We’d been sitting there for a little while, and Ajie said, “Honey, do you think that everything is good with us?”

“Do you mean between us?”, I asked. “Or something else.”

“I mean like everything. You and me. Being out here. Doing what we’re. Having this house. Adopting.”

I turned so that I was looking at her, and said, “Love, I feel that everything is working out. Being with you is all that I need. But with the things that have recently happened, like the house, which I love. With the university, there’s been some ups and downs, but I feel that things are on the right path. And the adoption thing I feel great about.

“I've been feeling that things have been moving closer to hózhó. - (in balance and beauty with the world.) At times where there. At times we’re not. But I feel that we are at that point more and more.”

“You know.”, Ajie said. “I’m feeling the same thing. And I just feel so good with the way things are.”

“I’m glad, love.”, I said. “And I hope that things keep going like they are.”

“Me too. And you know, Naainish said that we should try to visit the four sacred mountains. And I think we should do that.”

“Well, he said that three of them are tough hikes, but can easily be seen from roads. But that Tsoodzil - (Mount Taylor), the blue mountain, is supposed to be a fairly easy hike.”

“We might want to look at doing it on Sunday since we’re going to Vickie and Tom’s for dinner tomorrow.”, Ajie said.

“That’s probably a good idea.”, I said. “Then we should probably go to the outdoor shop tomorrow and see what information they have on the trails in that area.”

On Saturday, after doing some housework, including grocery shopping and stacking some wood, and lunch, Ajie and I headed into Albuquerque and to the outdoor shop where we liked to shop.

When we were at the outdoor shop, we started looking through their collection of trail maps. And sorry to say, we were weren’t having any luck in finding what we were looking for. So I found a salesman and asked, “Do you have any maps of the trails around Grants, New Mexico?”

“Yes, Miss, we should. Let’s take a look.”, the salesman said.

We followed him over to the area where they had all kinds of hiking trail information. Then the salesman asked. “Is there any particular area around Grants that you’re looking at.”

“Yes.”, I said. “We're looking at hiking to the peak of Tsoodzil.”

“Tsoodzil?”

“I’m sorry, Mount Taylor.”

“Oh. There. I’ve hiked that, and it’s nice. And I know we have a trail guide for that.”

He went to a section of the trail guides and picked up one. He opened it and showed us descriptions of the various trails in the Mount Taylor area. Then he asked, “Do you do much hiking?”

“We try to.”, I said. “And we like to hike up on the Crest or the east slope of the Crest.”

“So, you’re used to that altitude?”

“Yes.”

“Good. The peak of Mount Taylor is a little over eleven-thousand three hundred feet.”

“That’s a little higher than the Crest.”

“Only a few hundred feet. And, the trail that I hiked was a nice trail that I’d recommend, especially if you like to hike the Crest.”

He turned to a trail description of the Gooseberry Trail. And both Ajie and I read it. It said that the trail went from about nine-thousand three-hundred feet at the trailhead to a little over eleven-thousand feet at the summit and is rated intermediate/difficult, with an average grade of thirteen percent. And it was three and nine-tenths of a mile point to point or seven and eight-tenths of a mile round trip.

I looked at Ajie and said, “Think it’s doable?”

“Sure.”, Ajie said. “We’ve done steeper trails than that on the east slope.”

“You probably have.”, the salesman said.

“Okay. We’ll take this trail guide and a topo map, if you have it, of the Mount Taylor area. And I think two more water bottles and some food for the trail.”

“We should have that topo map, and while I’m getting that, why don’t you go and grab the water bottles and trail food.”

We did as he said, then we met back up with the salesman as the cash register. And as we were checking out, he asked, “I’m curious, but why did you call Mount Taylor, Tsoodzil?”

“It’s one of the four mountains that are sacred to the Navajo.”

“Interesting. What are the others?”

“There’s Hesperus Peak, which we call Dibé Ntsaa and Blanca Peak, which we call Sisnaajini. Both of them are in Colorado. And, San Francisco Peaks or Dook’o’oosliid in Arizona.”

“That’s good to know. Are you Navajo?”

“Yes.”

“That’s also good to know. You probably know a lot of the native lore of the area?”

“A little.”

We paid for our purchases, thanked the salesman, and headed home. As I drove, Ajie glanced at the trail guide, and she said, “There’s instructions on how to find the trailhead, and from reading this I don’t think we need Uncle Paul’s four-wheel drive. I think we can do it with one of our cars.”

“Good. The more information that we have, the better off we’ll be.”, I said.

Then just before six, we were pulling into Chief Tom and Vicki’s driveway. And we were surprised to see Charlie and Jackie’s car there. Then as Ajie and I got out of the car Dr. Joe and Mary pulled in behind us.

We waited for Dr. Joe and Mary, and as they got out of their car, I noticed that they hadn’t brought little Mark with them, and I said, “Where’s little Makwa?”

“Home with a sitter.”, Mary said.

“A night out without him?”

“You need that every once in a while.”

We walked up to the door, and Dr. Joe pressed the doorbell. Shortly Chief Tom opened the door, and I said, “Yá’át’ééh alní'íní, Naat'áanii Tahoma. - (It is good, Chief Tom.)”

Chief Tom responded, “Yá’át’ééh. T'áá shoodí wóshde´e´’. - (It is good. Please come in.)”

We followed Chief Tom out to the patio, and Vickie, Jackie, and Charlie were there finishing up dinner. There were hugs all around. Chief Tom and Vickie had put together a cookout. Hamburgers, hot dogs, baked beans, potato chips, potato salad, and soft drinks. And watermelon for dessert.

When I came back to the table with my second helping of baked beans and potato salad, Vickie said, “Kai, I heard that you had an interesting meeting yesterday.”

“You could say that.”, I replied. “We had a meeting with our people from Los Alamos, and they brought someone with them. He works for N.A.S.A. and works on the Apollo space project.”

I got a look from Chief Tom, and he said, “That must have been interesting.”

“It was fascinating. He brought us everything that we’d done on the research project for them and more.”

“More?”

“It turns out that the module that we built was part of the guidance system for the Apollo spacecraft. It’s what will guide the total mission. And since it’s no longer classified, he brought us the completed guidance system.

“And they’ve given me permission to use the part we did for them as part of my doctoral dissertation.”

“So you’re back on track, Kai?”, Vickie asked.

“It looks that way.”

“Tell them the rest, Kai.”, Dr. Joe said.

I went on to tell them of wanting to set up a large lecture hall with televisions for my students and anyone else that wanted to come to watch the launch of Apollo 7. And then give them a quick talk about the university’s part in the program. Both Vickie and Chief Tom thought that it was an excellent plan.

Then Charlie said, “I want to see this.”

“It’ll be on October 11th at nine in the morning, but we don’t know where yet.”, I replied. “And all of you are more than welcome.”

Then I looked at Vickie and said, “Vickie, what’s going on with Miss Pratt?”

“Good things.”, Vickie said. “The other aptitude test showed that she did have an aptitude for nursing, so we’re setting her up in the program.”

“That’s good. Have you heard anything from her father?”

“No. But she told me that he’s treating her differently. It appears that her father is letting her do her own thing without trying to push her. But he’s showing interest in what she’s doing.

Good. I was worried that he’d interfere.

“And Ajie.”, Vickie said. “I want her in your Nursing Fundamentals class.

“That’s fine by me.”, Ajie said. “But, and I know we haven’t talked about this yet, if the adoptions go through, I was planning on taking a leave of absence for the winter quarter.

I saw Vickie smile as she said, “I was wondering about that.”

“So who would cover my classes?

“Maybe I’ll just go back to teaching for a quarter as long as it’s just for a quarter.

“It should be.”, Ajie said. We know that the university has a wonderful preschool for children of the faculty, staff, and students.”

“They do.”, Vickie said. “So, you're figuring only a quarter?

“I would hope by the time they were three months old that I could leave them in the preschool for a little while. So that I could teach.”

“What about the hospital.”

“I’ll have to play that by ear. But I see at least being gone from there for three months too. Of course, with Kai, I have a built-in baby sitter.

“I’d watch them too.”, Jackie said.

“Thanks, Jackie.”, Ajie said. “That’s sweet.”

“Can I ask something?”, Mary asked.

“Of course?

“I’m not sure how to say this. But, what are you going to tell people when they see two girls with the children?

“If it’s any of their business, we’d probably tell them what we tell people about us unless they know the truth about us like you guys do.”, Ajie said. “And that’s we’re cousins. And my husband and Kai’s boyfriend are in the military and are in Vietnam. And that we, the four of us, decided to adopt.

“That’s short and sweet. So what are you going to tell the children when they’re old enough.

“We haven’t decided that yet. But maybe the truth. The truth about us and the adoption. I think it will depend on how mature they are when it comes up if it does.

“So, that carhop at the drive-in isn’t your boyfriend?”, Dr. Joe said with a grin.

I looked at Dr. Joe, frowned, and said, “No! Besides, he’s in Canada.

“The war?”, Chief Tom asked.

“Unfortunately, yes. He and a couple of his buddies went up.”

To get the subject away from the war, I said, “Ajie and I are going to hike up Tsoodzil tomorrow.”

Everyone looked at me, questioningly.

Chief Tom asked, “What is Tsoodzil?

“Chief Tom! It’s one of the four sacred mountains. It’s also called Mount Taylor.”

“Oh. That mountain. Isn’t that a heck of a hike?”

“Not really.”, Ajie said. “It’s rated as intermediate to difficult. And we’ve hiked trails like that on the east slope of the Crest. Plus, the peak of the mountain is only about three and a half miles from the trailhead.”

“You two and your hiking.”, Vickie said.

“We like to get out and be one with Mother Earth.”

“Besides Naainish has told us that there are strong spirits there.”, I added.

“Another reason to go.”, Chief Tom added.

“Yes.”

“Be careful.”, Jackie added.

“That’s why we’re telling you where we’re going. So if you don’t hear from us by next Wednesday or Thursday, you’ll know where to send the search party.”

“Not funny Kai.”, Dr. Joe said.

“I know, but it’s good to tell someone where you’re going.”, I said. “Besides, there should be a trail logbook at the trailhead where you log in and out when you’re hiking.”

“That’s a good idea. But call one of us when you get back.”

“Okay. When we’re back home, we’ll call you.”

“So where is this mountain?”, Chief Tom asked.

“Just northeast of Grants, New Mexico. It’s about a two and a half-hour drive from here.”

“Well, have fun.”

“We always do.”

We all helped Vickie and Chief Tom clean up, then we said so long to everyone. And Dr. Joe reminded us to call him when we were back home.

As Ajie and I got in the car, Ajie said, “That was cute of Dr. Joe to tell us to call him when we got back.”

“Yeah.”, I said. He doesn’t want to lose his research partner.”

“I think it's more than being concerned for us. I think it’s a friend thing.”

“Yeah. I know.”

When we were back home we got somethings together for tomorrow, and then it was early to bed. We wanted to get an early start tomorrow morning. It would take us an hour and a half to make it to Grants, New Mexico. Then maybe another forty-five minutes to an hour to reach the Gooseberry Trailhead. Followed by the hike to the summit of Tsoodzil. And then the return trip. A long trip for a hike, but it should be well worth it.