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.Excelsior	By : keithcompany Category: Titles in the Public Domain > Gulliver's Travels Views: 2163 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: This is a work fiction, based on Gullivers Travels by Jonathan Swift.

Chapter List
- 3
- 4
- 5
Meanwhile, Jack was thinking about what the B's had said. A project consumed his weekend free time. Of course, since he was grounded for a month, he had lots more free time than he was used to.
Monday afternoon, he placed Brun on the kitchen table, got her a drink and a cookie crumb, and disappeared.
She shrugged and opened the file for her math homework.
"Brun?" She looked up to find him back, kneeling on the floor, looking at her.
"What, Jack?"
"I was wondering, if you want to, if they'll let us, would you let me take you to the dance?"
She put down her stylus and leaned back in her chair. "What if I say no?"
"You can, of course," he said. "Or if you want to go with anyone else, we can do that. I just...." He raised up one hand. She saw that he was wearing a glove. Stitched to the front of the glove was an action figure.
It appeared to walk over to her as he flexed the glove. It knelt, awkwardly, but recognizably. "I want to dance with you," Jack said. "We should probably practice a bit, before the night, but if you want, my parents say they'll let me-"
"I'd like to," she said. They smiled silently at each other for a bit.
-----
About that time, Brielle asked for help. The morning they'd been out for medical care, she'd noticed that their Algebra teacher had had to work a lot harder to get answers out of the class.
She remembered how often Jack and Brun had been the ones with their hands up (or a little signal flag waving). Then she realized the duo were mathematical dreadnoughts.
"So," she was asking, holding Brun in her hand, but glancing back and forth between her and Jack. "Can I, I dunno, study with you guys after school?"
Brun shrugged, looking over to Jack. He shrugged back. She got thoughtful. "Can you dance, Bree?"
"Um, yeah. Sure. Why?"
"Biggie my date for the dance here, well, he is not up to date on human dancing styles."
"Dances are like sports trophies," Jack said with a small smile. "Something that happens to other people."
"Ah. And you want me to teach him to dance?" Bree asked.
"Teach us," Brun corrected. "You with his feet, me with his hand." After that confusing image was straightened out, she agreed.
Jack noticed that with Bree attending their afternoon study sessions, his mom actually made fewer passes through the kitchen to check up on him. That seemed backwards, to him, but he wasn't complaining.
Bree made sure to get her money's worth out of the math tutoring, getting as up to speed on each formula or concept as she could. The double team teaching her was fantastic at explaining things in a way she could grasp. Certain better than their professional instructor.
After an hour of that, they turned to dance. It was a trip, she found, especially after Jack produced a second glove, with a female figure on it, for demonstrations.
Everyone learned and confidences grew. But Jack forgot that Bree was on the Dance committee.
He should have realized that en elf at the dance would be an event. And considering the amount of attention they'd be getting, the arrangements were rather amenable.
A table was set up near the drinks line, decorated as a miniature of the gym. It was as far from the band as was physically possible, to protect Brun's ears and yet still allow her to be 'at the dance.'
Part of the dance floor on the table was in the view of a minicam, and displayed on a wall screen halfway around the gym. It allowed interested parties to see 'them' dancing, without crowding the elf.
And yet, part of the floor was expressly out of view, so she could have privacy when desired. Later, the two of them complimented the B's on their thoughtfulness and ingenuity.
Right then, Jack froze and the two of them stared at the display. Confidence dipped.
"Well," Brun finally said. "We'll look far more foolish if we back out."
"At the speed I want to run, we won't look anything but gone."
"If we run," Brun insisted, "it's an insult to Bree."
"She's tough." Jack pointed out. Just then Bri and Bree danced up to him and took him by both arms.
They survived the evening, even having actual fun by the second song. When no one burst out laughing at the dancing doll (which he'd carefully repainted, at Brun's request. Or, well, her demand.), he relaxed a lot.
He even managed not to pass out when Bree demanded one dance with her student. Her boyfriend, Marcus, declined to dance with Jack's date, but three boys did make the attempt.
The glove took too much practice, so they made do with fingers alone. Brun smiled and kept clear of their somewhat hamfisted exuberance.
"Thanks for taking me," Brun told Jack on the way home.
"Thanks for giving me a reason to go," he replied.
--------
Familiarity breeds contempt, sure. But also trust. Despite the initial fears and worries, the rules about time alone together lessened in force over the year.
On Halloween, the Juston's threw a party. As alcohol would be involved, they felt it would be more responsible for Brun to be around sober people for the evening.
Jack carried her apartment over to the Lender's guest room for the night. The two stayed up late, watching Gulliver's Travels (the Tim Burton classic, a Channel 57 tradition for the holiday) and making fun of each other's bunny slippers (Jack's were Jackalopes, Brun's were designed on the Monty Python Bunny of Death).
By the Thanksgiving holiday, the adults of both families were attending parties on the same night. After some discussion, they laid heavy guilt trips on the kids ("We just want you to know that we are sure you won't embarrass us, or hurt Brun's parents...."), but essentially trusted the two to survive one night together.
They were watching an old James Bond movie when Brun turned to Jack. "You know, I have never seen your bedroom."
"Schyeah," he laughed. "My mom's 'kill-the-kid' alarm would go off and she'd send the Dadman after me."
"They said they won't be home until midnight..." she started.
"Which would mean eleven PM on a real clock. So they can catch us doing what they say they'd never suspect us of doing, or else they'd never leave us alone."
"Just a peek?" she asked.
-----
The poster drew her attention right away. He held her up to see the details, and back to see the whole.
"I know someone on the Excelsior," she said. "Maybe you can meet him some time."
"That'd be great," he said. She was fascinated by his bookshelf. Half the volumes were on topics she'd never have suspected he was interested in.
It lead to a discussion of the academy, his hopes, his plans, and the general reason for his academic profile. She listened with rapt attention, laid across his chest as they gazed up at the ceiling, but both of them saw stars.
Mr. Lender found them there, fast asleep. He scooped up the smaller teen with a smile and deposited her in her own bedroom, lifting the lid to put her to her own bed.
------
December was a hectic time for seniors and for the guidance counselors. Deadlines for applications to colleges, universities and academies had been creeping steadily earlier for years. Someone jokingly observed that people's college careers would soon be based on their kindergarten transcripts.
Congress, institutionally incapable of detecting a joke, established a mandated window for applications in all institutions of higher learning that accepted federal funding.
So senior year, classes shifted to independent study and group projects. You never knew when a student's guidance counselor would pull them from class, to go over the finances, to overhaul an application, to trim down the list of colleges, or to contact a congressional representative's office in hopes of a sponsorship.
By then, there were plenty of people that could take care of Brun for a class or two while Jack was dragged away. It relieved exactly one worry from the teen while he was adopting twenty or thirty more.
The sponsorship letter for the academy involved no less than ten people advising him on what to, and what not to, include. Charting a path through the often-contradictory advice was enough to drive a saint to rail against, if not God himself, at least the middle levels of angel hierarchy.
After that, picking out three backup colleges, out of a hundred he had absolutely no interest in, was almost trivial.
Until the counselor noted the tiny holes in the college list.
"Did you throw darts at this, to pick your schools?"
"Um...no?"
Following the twenty-minute lecture on the importance of a well-chosen school, an honest application, and growing up, he staggered back to class.
Brielle smiled sympathetically as she handed over the carrier. Jack nodded, he'd heard her name over the loudspeaker as he got back to the class.
Brun asked how it'd gone. He glanced around, seeing the class more or less researching their reports, in groups or alone. The teacher was deep into some sort of paperwork on his laptop and paying little attention as long as actual fires didn't break out.
"HAHA! You DID throw darts at the form!" she said. "Three times!"
"Well, yeah," he argued. "Once would be random. Three times, that's checking my work. Hey," he had a sudden thought. "Where are you going to college?"
She waved that aside as insignificant. "Daddy has that all picked out for me. Arranged it when I took a placement test in 4th grade."
"Wow. I thought our parents were anal...."
"No, no, it's a family tradition." Then she quieted and wouldn't explain any more. She shifted the topic.
"I'm going home for your holiday vacation."
Jack stared. "Do you...guys celebrate Christmas?"
"Something like," she said. "The two-week stand-down is long enough for a good visit, makes the travel worth it."
"Ah. So, do you need to spend time shopping for gifts?" As the words left his mouth, he realized that he had absolutely no idea what to get her.
"Yes," she said. "Mrs. Juston's taking me to the Mall on the weekend." She turned up to face him and smiled brightly. "But your gift, I already have." She smiled even brighter at his expression. "Oh, don't worry. I know what you're getting me, too. I'll tell you later."
Then, after that little bomblet, she wouldn't talk about anything but atomic structure for the rest of the hour. Even when he threatened to put her in a box and mail her home for Christmas.
----------
Just before the break, Brittney shanghaied Jack into helping the counselors put everything in the mail.
Volunteers from the student government (and their minions) helped collect, sort and apply postage to every application package they'd put together.
Then they used a borrowed pickup to take everything to the central city post office and register each piece. Despite numerous comments, from teachers and students, that the Post Office would come to the school for this, Miss Derose would have nothing to do with it.
She'd had exactly one bad experience with that, one student's application out of seventeen years of counseling, and refused to risk it ever again.
So Jack and a few others carried milk cartons of manila around for a couple of hours.
When they returned, there were cop cars parked at the entrance to the school. Concerned, but not panicky, he sought out Brun and Brielle. Both were in the office.
Brielle was sitting outside the principal's office, Brun was on the secretary's desk. Jack naturally aimed for her, first.
The Lilliputian waved him away, pointing towards their friend on the Penalty Bench. He looked around, but no one seemed to want to block him, so he sat down next to her.
"What the hell happened?" he asked. He finally noticed that her shirt was torn and she was bleeding from a cut on her face.
"Stupid shit," she muttered. One tear ran down her cheek. He grabbed a box of Kleenex and offered them to her. She nodded thanks.
Jack waited patiently for the story to come out. A glance over to the desk showed him that Brun was alright. She waved two thumbs up in an exaggerated motion. He probably should have gotten the plugs out of his locker.
Voices rose in Mrs. Kolp's office. He only made out the principal saying a name: "...now Mr. Graves..." Oh.
"Tommy Graves?" he asked. Bree nodded.
"We were in study hall. He wanted our help on his project for Health. We asked what we could do. You know Brun's always up for interaction with yet another human."
"Yeah," he nodded. They joked that the elf cut a notch in a toothpick every time she talked to another human. You were supposed to ask: 'Why a toothpick?' The answer was: 'It's all that's left of the 2x4 she started with.'
"Well, he pointed out that Brun was just the right size to roll a condom over. He said the theme of his project was going to be... To be... Um."
"To be, 'Bree please punch me in the face'?" he offered, knowing that he really didn't want to hear anything Graves said.
"Essentially," she said with a laugh. "All I really remember is trying to find the catch in his throat. That's what I was looking for when they pulled me off of him."
"What?"
"Oh, you know. Like when you open a container canister? Or the hood of a car?" She looked at him quizzically. "That's what I was thinking of. That there had to be a... a release. So we could take that head off of him, and put something useful there. Like a cabbage, or a bowling ball."
"Or a sack of shit?" Jack suggested.
"Yeah," she laughed again. "Some sort of improvement." The vice principal came out of the office, glanced at the Penalty Bench.
"Jack," he said, "Brun had nothing to do with this. You can take her back to class." Jack glanced over to his friend Bree. "Oh. Yeah. You." He stood next to the girl and looked her over. She sat up straight, unwilling to admit to any error, no matter the man's judgment.
Mr. Fobbes was notorious as a disciplinarian. Anything short of a life-threatening injury, he felt should not get medical attention until after the Lecture. The pain helped drive in the lesson, he said.
And he was a violent pacifist-by-proxy. There were things worth physically fighting for, he allowed, but very, very seldom did they come up in the halls of public education. Anyone fighting was most likely wrong, anyone starting the fight was doubly wrong.
Jack's estimate, based on the track record of classmates, was about an hour of bench time, an hour of lecture, then suspension for at least four days.
"You should go home and clean up," he told Brielle. Both the teens' jaws dropped in surprise. "Stay home for a day. Come back day after tomorrow. We'll call it a 'cooling down' in the attendance. We'll call it a suspension for anyone that asks."
No one moved. This was a major deviation from how the students knew reality to work.
"Quick," he said, nodding his head towards the exit, "before that ass or his son come out."
"I, uh, need a ride..." she started to say.
"I have the car today," Jack offered.
Fobbes nodded sharply. "Yes. Good. Maybe you two should take the day off... I mean, cool off for a bit. See you Thursday."
They ran before the planets realigned.
--------
Sunday after New Year's, Jack drove to the airport to pick Brun up. When he got to the ElfAir ticket counter, he was sent to a VIP lounge to wait. A man in a Space Corps uniform greeted him.
"Jack Lender? I was told to gather you and your friend and take you with me."
"Take me?" Jack asked. "Where?"
"Oh, just a short flight."
"Flight? Sir, I don't know anything about a flight anywhere. I'm just here to pick up-"
"This," the man said, producing an envelope, "is supposed to explain a lot."
Jack ripped it open. A pretty standard 'Season's Greetings' card was inside. He recognized Brun's 'biggie letters' signature, where she wrote with letters as long as her forearm.
The only additional print was a tiny, tiny note. "Merry The Christmas," it said. He looked up at the officer, confused.
The man shrugged. While they waited for Brun to appear, and to explain, Jack found the man entirely the opposite of forthcoming.
"Where are we going?"
"Somewhere." He flipped through a magazine that was in the lounge.
"How long will it be?"
"Who can tell?"
"I have to be home by-"
"It's all arranged."
"What's arranged?"
"Someone moved your car from 'waiting' to the short term lot. They also got your suitcase from the trunk and put it on the plane."
"I didn't pack a suitcase!"
"Then in the spirit of things, someone else arranged it. Probably your mom." He tossed the magazine onto a table and stretched out over a couch. He tilted his uniform cover over his face in a clear indication that he was sleeping, not talking.
"What is going on?" Jack persisted.
"Sleeping," the man said. "Not talking." Jack fumed.
Then, as there was nothing else in the room to occupy his attention, he examined the officer. He saw that the man had earplugs installed.
Then he studied what he could see of the profile.
"Captain Lewis?" he whispered.
"Sleeping," the man said. "Not captaining." Jack laughed. He sat quietly in another chair and picked up a magazine.
Lewis lifted his cap up slightly. "What? No badgering me for an autograph?"
"I'd love one, sir. You're one of my heroes!" Jack enthused. "But I've read enough to know not to bother you when you're...when you don’t want to be."
"Great," Lewis said, swinging his feet to the ground. "You're smarter than you look." He produced a folder and slid it across the table. Inside were some pics of Lewis, of the human, elf and giant crew members, and a banner signed by them.
Jack unfolded it in awe. Albalureindis' sig stretched four feet, everyone else's crowded around in the spaces between. She'd dotted her eyes with o's, and the Lilliputians and Blefuscan's had signed inside of that.
"Sir, this is..." Another officer pushing a luggage cart entered the lounge. He saluted Lewis and left. The only thing on the cart was a travel-box.
Brun was in the main window, waving madly. Jack sprang up and opened the box.
"Merry the Christmas!" she offered.
"Thanx," he said, waving towards the banner. "This is the greatest."
"What? That?" she asked. "Not from me. Listen," she waved him down. For special news, she preferred that the listener actually heard her, not her transmission. He knelt and leaned close.
"My uncle is getting a promotion. He doesn't have a lot of family. He invited me to the ceremony. It's in Cocoa Beach." She started to pace back and forth, turning up to his face on a regular rhythm.
"My parents are worried about me traveling. He can't come get me, too busy. And he can't really promise to take care of me while I'm there. So...your present to me is to be my escort. If you don't mind?" She looked nervous.
"Kennedy Space Center? God, no, Brun. I'd love to go. But I don't know if my parents..."
"Taken care of. How stupid do you think I am? Justons are in on this, Lenders, the.... My family approves. The Space Corps will transport us, we'll be two days there, a day back. Brianna will email us homework. 'Kay?"
"'Kay," he agreed.
"Kay!" Captain Lewis shouted. He started ushering Jack out into the terminal.
As they walked along to a gate, thoughts crowded through Jack's brain. Brun had a 'friend' on the Excelsior. The captain of the Excelsior was escorting the two of them to a Lilliputian's promotion ceremony.
Rumor had it that Lewis was about to retire and he'd chosen, as his replacement....
"Your uncle Ruspahar is taking command of the Excelsior?" he said slowly.
"Nowhere near as dumb as he looks," Lewis said.
KSC was long-eclipsed as a hub of space exploration. The administration and industry had all moved into orbit. There was still an operational tracking station, though, and of course all the historical exhibits.
It was also the traditional site for most change of command ceremonies, retirement ceremonies and promotions of anyone Commander or above. It allowed them to invite guests without having to qualify them for space travel.
A crewman of the Excelsior, a human, gave the two visitors a tour of the facility, including direct access to spaces only VVVIPs got to even see. They sat in capsules, talked to orbiting platforms, touched rocks from space and watched an asteroid being brought into parking orbit for mining.
Their escort was with them all the day, until delivering them to their hotel room. They nodded off almost immediately.
The ceremony and reception the next day was nearly anticlimactic. They were guests, but not ranking guests. Captain Rus managed to see Brun once in the morning, and shook Jack's finger. Then he was gone. Another crewman got them seated. As personal guests, they were near the front. Another section was closer, for Lilliputians, but Brun preferred to sit with Jack.
Ruspahar actually had two ceremonies that day, promotion to full Captain and command of the Excelsior.
Jack held Brun as they watched history being made. It was the first time an elf was given an independent command with non-elf crewman. While humans had served with Lilliputians (and Blefuscans) that outranked them before this, there'd always been a human officer above them both.
Brun's pride in her uncle was so obvious, Jack wondered if it was going to burst her into flame.
Captain Rus had a bit more time during the reception. He swung by the table they were seated at, pulled a chair out of the centerpiece and had a drink while they ate.
Brun introduced him a bit more deeply, with reference to his Academy plans. Rus wished him well.
"Especially since you already have a start on speaking our language," he smiled.
"Oh, crap," Jack muttered. "I suppose everyone in the family knows about 'Please my nuts a crushing to request'?"
"Well, the fact that you can take a joke like that worked in your favor after you broke her arm."
"I didn't break..." He noticed that they were both smiling. "I see that her lethal sense of humor is a family failing." They smiled wider. So did he.
"Look," Rus said, standing to move on and mingle. "I've got about six years in command of that ship. If you graduate in the top ten percent of the Academy, I can ask that you be assigned to the Excelsior before I go."
"I..." Jack was dumbfounded. "I..."
"Biggie to Uncle, thanking is saying," Brun snickered.
"I figured," he replied.
"But," Jack protested, "I have to finish High School, four at the Academy, then four years in human only..."
"No one told you that could be waived?" Rus asked. Jack stared. "Well, again, since you already speak the language...."
Brun tagged along with her uncle for the rest of the evening. He promised to return her in time to pack before the flight home.
Jack just reveled in the atmosphere of so many Space Corps luminaries. Faces out of the SpacePlace blogs, names from the history books, voices from news release quotes: he couldn't get enough.
He stayed until the wait staff flat out told him to leave. On the way out, he noticed on last partier near the entrance. Captain Lewis sat next to a fountain shaped like a Titan rocket, sipping from a bottle of clear fluid.
Jack arrowed over to pass by the man. "Great ceremony, Captain," he said. "History, huh?"
Lewis swore. Jack froze up. The man had a reputation for an acid sense of humor, but he seemed sincerely pissed off.
"Sir?"
"Drink?" Lewis asked the teen. Jack shook his head and took a step back. "S'alright. Probably put you inna 'spital, anyway." He took another sip. Jack moved carefully to sit down beside the man.
"Captain, do you need help?"
"That elf..." he said, gesturing towards the reception room. "That MAN. Shoulda had his own command... Years ago. And he shoulda gotten it on his own merits."
"Didn't he?" Jack blurted.
"Well, yeah. But it should have been his merits WITHOUT me threatening to quit the Corps. And tell the Corps. Press, that is, not space. Why I quit. Because humans treat two thirds of the three races like second class citizens."
He paused and stared into space. "Two thirds times three times seconds... Equals..." He looked over at Jack. "You're a whiz kid. What does it equal?"
"Inequality?" Jack guessed. The captain laughed.
"Th't's right. Good answer. So. You joining the service?"
"I want to. I applied to the Senator for sponsorship."
"Good," Lewis slapped Jack on the knee. "Need people that think people are people, no matter who they are. You do, don't you?"
"You're talking about Lilliputians, sir? Yes, I think they're people. Brun's a... Brunellete's my best friend, sir."
"Great. They need people like you in the Force." Later, Jack would become suspicious about the Captain's exit. He stood up mighty straight all of a sudden, and mighty sober. But all he thought of right then was the hand.
Lewis extended his for a shake. Jack took it carefully. "Welcome to the club," the man said. "Of people that see the souls beyond the big or tiny shells. Never lose that." One firm shake and he walked off.
In a daze, Jack returned to the hotel room. He couldn't sleep, so he sat on the balcony and looked at the stars.
-----
If December was frustrating for the counselors, January made them downright testy. In addition to a tiny window for applications, Congress had decreed that the students should get their responses in one month.
After packages were received, admissions officers and staff had 31 days to suss out the 'real deal' on the applicants.
They called to ask if anything was exaggerated for effect ("Just how many homeless people are there in 'numerous'?"); to see if anything was understated for modesty ("Well, an hour a month is 'some' amount of time to spend tutoring, so is four nights a week, every week. Which is it?") ; to judge just how much 'help' they might have had in their letters ("Does this girl actually use 'obfuscate' in day to day conversation? Really? What's her major?").
Miss Derose wandered the halls of the school, muttering cryptically to herself. Or, possibly, answering questions non-stop, with modern telephone technology, there was just no way to tell if there was a phone involved or if she was just talking to herself.
Most people steered clear rather than find out. Jack found himself with Brittney, following the woman and pretending it was performance art and they were critics.
"She really does convey the air of someone too preoccupied to actually deal with reality."
"Yes, Brit, but I find her whole act unconvincing. She is, after all, being paid by the hour to do something in this school. Is it too much to ask that she do it in her office?"
They pretended to be discussing the spirit banner on the wall as Miss Derose spun around, still muttering. She continued off towards the gym, the teens aimed for the library.
Brun's earplugs had picked up everything Jack's had. She chastised him in no uncertain terms for teasing the poor woman.
"She didn't even know we were there," he replied. Just then, the door opened and every eye slung over to see the counselor enter.
She made straight for the chair where Jack was sitting. "I'm so terribly, terribly sorry, dear, but I thought you'd want to know right away. The Senator turned down your request for sponsorship."
Jack's body went cold. Not so cold that he didn't notice how sincerely the woman felt for him right now. A small part of him regretted the teasing.
The rest just wanted to die.
"Now, this isn't the end of the world," Derose tried to offer. "There're still your backup schools. We won't hear from them for a couple of days. Think positive." She grabbed her ear and started away.
Bri and Bree each stared at Jack. Brun walked across the table to pat his wrist. "I... I don't even remember where else I applied," he tried to joke.
"Something will turn up," Brun said with a shrug. Jack gaped, unable to believe she was so insensitive. Regardless, she turned and walked back to where her carrier sat.
It was a quiet couple of days in the Lender Study Kitchen after that.
-----------
Most everyone else seemed to get one of their top two choices, by letters arriving over the next week. One response was unanticipated by any of the teens.
That Friday night, Brun actually attended a sleepover held for Brielle's 17th birthday. About midnight, Jack was woken by his phone. "Hello?"
"Jack? Brianna. Look, our little friend is freaking out. Can you talk to her?"
"Yeah. What's she doing?"
"We don't know. Listen." She held her cell over the portable apartment. Jack could make out a couple of the words between the squeals. He actually had been working on learning to speak Fuscan, and could follow the gist.
"Well?" Bri asked after a moment.
"She says: He believes me! He believes me! Then she squeals. And dances, I think. Hang on." He dialed Brun's number direct.
"Akme! Agessha fonsa toreed!"
"Yeah, doll, look the girls think you're having a fit. Can you lean out the window and wave, show them you're okay?"
"JACK! Wonderful biggie friend of life! He believes me!"
"WINDOW! WAVE!"
"Sure, sure, surely is!" He clicked to his other line.
"Bri? Is she waving?"
"Yes. What the hell is going on?"
"I promise," he said, rolling to sit up in the bed. "I will call you as SOON as I know."
"Kay." Back on Brun's line, she was already talking.
"...with my LIFE! And it's all thanks to you!"
"Yeah. You're welcome." In the hall, his father blearily looked a question to the teen. Jack pointed to the phone and said, "Brun's freaking out. Finding out why."
"I'm not freaking!" she freaked. Dad waved and stumbled down the hall. "I'm so HAPPY! I just got an Email! I'm going to MIT!"
A dark cloud of despair descended on Jack's heart just then. Everyone was getting their dream except him. But he was far too fond of Brun to let any of it show.
"That's great, Brun. Was that your first pick?"
"Only for all my LIFE! But Daddy always said no. That I couldn't ever make it amongst the Englishmen." There was a thud as she danced something over. "But when I told him about all my friends...." She paused, then quieted. "When I told him about you, Jack, he thought maybe I could make it work."
"Oh, Brun. You can make anything work."
"Yes. But you're my first biggie friend. And you've been great."
"After that night at the hospital, I'm surprised your father didn't... I dunno," he said, wringing the sheets in his hand. "Kill me?"
"It was on his 'to do' list. But at Christmas, I told him about everyone I met because of you. Then Uncle Ruspahar told him about you. And about what Lewis was doing for you...."
"What? What's Lewis doing for me?" A moment of silence stretched uncomfortably.
"It's a surprise. Oh, look, popcorn. Gotta get my kernel! B'Bye!" Jack stared at the phone for a minute. When it rang, he almost threw it across the room.
"Well?" Bri asked.
"Oh. Yeah, was just dialing your number. She got into MIT, just found out."
"Ah, that's great." She clicked off and he was alone with 'the surprise.' Was Lewis the reason the Senator dropped the sponsorship?
She managed to keep the secret for a week. The Lenders and Juston's were playing Monopoly at the Lender's house. Jack was having fun despite himself.
When Brun's Laputa piece landed on Boardwalk, Jack looked from his hotel to her and back. Then he offered to forgive her considerable debt if she'd just reveal the surprise.
Jack's Dad offered to flat out give her $5000 if she'd keep it. A bidding war was well underway when she shouted for attention.
"It is not my surprise, it is not my secret to reveal." The phone rang, drawing everyone's attention to the wall unit. Mr. Lender activated it, bringing Captain Lewis' face to everyone's view.
He seemed surprised to be viewing so many people at once, but recovered quickly. Jack introduced him around, he waved back.
"I just need to ask Jack for a favor, folks. Jack, I'm being promoted to Admiral." Jack swallowed loudly. "Each flag officer gets one sponsorship for the Academy. Some hold it until a friend is old enough, some hold it until they can get something in trade... I really can't be bothered to keep it or negotiate with it. Will you take it off my hands?"
Everyone turned to face the teen. He stared at the screen. In his earplugs (and everyone else's), a small voice stage-whispered: "Biggie says: Yes, thanks."
"Yes, thanks," he repeated obediently.
"Cool. It'll be in the mail this week. Thanks, I really appreciate this," and the officer cut the connection.
"Well," Mrs. Juston said into the silence. "I guess any way in is fine, it's what you do when you get there that's important."
"You don't think this is important?" Mr. Lender asked.
"Well, he's just throwing this away so he won't be bothered. I mean, it's a great honor and all, but... well."
"Everyone expected him to pick an elf," Jack said slowly. "But Academy attendance for them is fine. He doesn't need to use his influence to see them treated well there. It's..."
"It's officers that see us as people," Brun said. "That's what he wants to fill the Corps with. People that obey Captain Ruspahar because he's the Captain, not because there's a human strongarm supporting him somewhere in the chain of command."
"Oh. Well, that'd be Jack," Mrs. Juston nodded. "Sorry, it is important. And a good reason to feel proud of being selected." Everyone made noises of agreement.
"Thanks," Jack said. He stretched a finger out to pat Brun on the shoulder. "Thanks for everything," he told her.
"Pffft," she said, mastering the human raspberry at last. "Evens up we both are being." Everyone laughed. "OH!" she continued. "About that bill for Boardwalk? I'm willing to tell you the secret, now."
"Sssssskk!" he hissed, the Lilliputian dismissitive, in response.
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