CHAPTER 18

Why they were not just flown directly into Vandenberg was a complete mystery. It all seemed so stupid. As far as Julia was concerned, if the government wanted to be stupid, that was up to them. She felt as if every second they wasted, now, was her own. She had told them the situation and surely they could understand? Why were they taking so long? Why were they even bothering with things like this now? Why send her and Joey all the way to California if they were going home anytime now?

Julia’s mind could not let go of it. She sat quietly in her bus seat and watched the world go by but, her mind was somewhere else. She toyed with the one possibility of why she was here. The one she did not want to admit too. Maybe they really weren’t going to release her from her contract? No! That could not be it! It was just the government being slow. That had to be the problem.

There was another feeling stirring deep inside Julia. It was different and it scared her. The feeling felt so alien and like another presence welling from some mystical nowhere. It was not her because Julia knew with every fiber of being that she was terrified of the idea of going into space. This little voice just kept saying, “GO!”

“You all right Julia?” asked the man who sat down beside her. She almost jumped. Jerry Pullman had shaken her out of an almost meditative trance.

“Hi Jerry,” Julia said catching her breath. She flung her dark frizzy mop of hair against the back of the seat and sighed, “I’m fine.”

The laughter at the back of the bus was a deep contrast with the somber attitude lingering around Julia right now. Jerry pointed that out and asked, “you know these last six months have been pretty rough on everybody. I think we all deserve the chance to blow off a little steam. Maybe you should give it a try?”

“Me?” Julia’s eyes spelled out N and O all too clearly as she shook her head. All it took was one look back there and the sight of Gina Fujitsu making an ass out of herself. Everyone was laughing at her antics and it in no way inspired Julia to join them. “No thank you Reverend.”

“Well I have noticed that you have worked harder than everyone else. That’s on top of taking care of a son.” Jerry smiled warmly, “you’ve earned my admiration for what it’s worth.”

That caused Julia to take stock. Was he serious? Julia found it kind of hard to believe. Jerry had never acted like he felt that way. Then again, he seldom acted like he felt anyway at all. Most of the time it was hard to even remember he was in the same room. The guy never said much of anything. He would answer questions but stuck mostly to professional subjects. He talked about his religion, naturally, and had no problem speaking at his little Sunday morning prayer meetings. From the little bit that Julia had seen of him, he sounded educated and very articulate. He just chose never to use it.

It got Julia to thinking, and fidgeting, and finally she just had to say it, “you know you’re pretty strange for a preacher?”

He gave a polite laugh, “It has been noted.”

That was typical of a Jerry answer. It was usually right to the point and most often a conversational dead end. Julia decided to pry this time, “you’re not originally from Tennessee are you?”

“My accent give me away?” he quickly responded, “you’re right. I was born and raised in Iowa.”

Once again he gave her no where to go with it. She pressed on anyway, “so exactly how did you get to be a preacher?”

For the first time he seemed reflective and ready to actually talk. Julia wondered if everybody had been going about Jerry all wrong. His button was hidden in plain sight. He wasn’t as complicated as everyone made him out to be. He was just too simple for them to understand.

“The calling is a funny thing Julia,” Jerry told her. “One day you just know. It doesn’t come along when you’re up and ready. It doesn’t happen when you’re in college trying to figure out your major. God does it when he’s ready.”

Julia smirked, “and when did you get the telegram?”

If Julia had only meant that in a light hearted way, Jerry, on the other hand, replied very seriously, “it was after the war. I looked out on a nation full of desperate, homeless, and hungry people. I knew right then they needed more help than any mere man could give them. In my own little small way I knew it was how I had to help make amends.”

The sudden impact of a large object on the window, next to Julia, sent her almost flying into Jerry’s arms. After she stopped screaming and squirming they were trying to see what had put a crack in the glass. The task was made easy by the fact that the first brick was followed by a barrage of objects.

The bus had come to a complete stop now. Julia was really hoping this was because the bus was at a gate. If that wasn’t the reason then it would mean that the large and hostile crowd of people were. Air Force Security Police did their best to keep the sign waiving protestors off the road and to the other side of saw horses. They were outnumbered and loosing the battle.

It was only after the Air Police got reinforcements that they finally managed to get the situation in hand. Many of the protestors had attempted to lay down in front of the busses. Most of those had to be picked up and carried away. While that was going on, the crowds behind the barricades waived huge signs that proclaimed their disgust with the Hermes Mission. If that was all they were doing then Julia could have lived with it. Unfortunately, they also continued to fling projectiles as well.

Julia could never remember being so happy as when the bus started to move and they were inside the gates of Vandenberg. She was a bit shaken by everything going on outside. Looking ahead, pale, and visibly upset, she asked, “I don’t understand?”

On the other hand, Jerry seemed to be completely unaffected by the carnage they had just left behind. He shrugged it all off, “that’s people for you.” Jerry looked back over his shoulder as if he could still see the protest lines. The sight was long behind them now but he still looked anyway. At that point Julia noticed the sharp, keen, eyes he had. Was that anger she was seeing?

Finally when Jerry looked to his front he said, “try and do something good in this world. People don’t appreciate it one little bit.”

Julia sighed, “I can relate.”