Honor Thy Mother & Thy Father Ch. 29

"What are we doing staying at the residence of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court?"

"We rented it through a travel agency for $8000 a month. That was a great question, and I did not think about that. Anyone else have an idea or question that I may have missed."

"Are we going to stay on site or are we going to be going into town frequently?"

"I want to protect my husband at all costs. I want to stay on site. Sharon and the girls may want to go into town, and that is fine with me. It has no effect on your duties to protect me. Any other questions or thoughts."

"My staff will not be back for another 90 minutes' so feel free to roam around as you are. I am going to make some coffee. Would anyone prefer tea?"

One of the agents patrolling the perimeter said to another, "I swear I saw 2 women in the house walking around naked."

"Would you like me to tell the boss you have been seeing naked women running around in the Presidential mansions?"

"No, I think I will pass on that. He would have my head examined through the hole he put in it."

"That is my point exactly. Keep your eyes on the outside of the house, you can get in less trouble that way."

*************

133. OH MY GOD - IT'S THE KIDS.

The Chase family was spending the summer in Glens Falls, as was the Zabo family.

Soon after Congress approved the bills to clean up the atmosphere using the revolutionary 'Patented Programs 'Harold and Patty had brought together, there was a constant stream of visitors during the year. They now had 3 helicopter landing pads on the property, along with 4 guest residences. Most of Patty's guest were corporate executives and engineers who had to go over the designs for the equipment needed to retrofit the coal-fired energy plants.

Patty and Harold had decreed a two-month moratorium on seeing anyone in reference to their programs, and the new designs needed to put them into the working phase. They were taking a long needed vacation, even though they were staying in Glens Falls for the first few weeks.

The children got along famously, with JR being the leader of the pack. William and Jemma looked at their son, with great pride as any set of loving parents would do. They enjoyed the way he set up games of skill and chance for his young nieces, nephews, and friends. They were so good together they were allowed into Patty and Steffs' house, unescorted, to watch television or play the electronic games that were there.

Each morning, when it was cool, the children would play outside, while their parents were inside, talking about all the money that was flowing in. William, with all his knowledge of finance and the banking systems of the world had never had to deal with sums of money this large. He joked with Harold and Patty saying, "What State would you like to buy?" They had already endowed four universities with grants in Science, Technology, and Robotics. They also endowed each of their Alma Maters' with endowments that would never run out of money. With all this philanthropy, the money was still coming in faster than they could give it away.

When the adults went outside in the afternoon, the children went inside to play their games.

On the afternoon of July 4, as everyone was seated outside by the pool, enjoying a breezy day at the foothills of the Adirondacks. At 11 AM, over 70 local, state, and federal agents raided Patty's ranch. The agent in the helicopter used his megaphone telling them to stay where they were, and not to make any sudden movements."

They all complied.

After checking them for weapons, the lead officer asked, "Is there anyone in any of these homes?"

William replied, "Yes, our children are in the large home behind us."

"How old are the children?"

"My son is almost 11, and the remaining four children are 7 years old. What is going on officer?"

"The Russians went on to a manual nuclear alert mode, because someone shut down all their military communications, satellite links, and computer systems, at the same time. They called President to see if we used a new weapon, and were attacking them Pre-emptively.

President Atwater assured them we were not attacking them, and our armed forces were still deployed in a peacetime mode. He called a meeting of everyone to brainstorm this problem. The Director of the FBI, who was listening in to the conference call, blurted out, 'Oh shit, I bet Patty is playing with that program again.' That is why we here."

Patty and Harold looked at each other and laughed. The laughter froze on their faces as they said simultaneously, "OH MY GOD -- THE KIDS!"

Harold and Patty took off running towards the main house. Stephano, Jemma, Callie, and William were laughing, as they trailed behind them.

The agent asked, "What is so funny?"

"Call Michael Free and give me the phone."

"Mister Director; Mister William Zabo would like to speak to you."

"Hello Michael, it was not Patty, she was sitting with me and our guests by the pool. She has 7 witnesses to prove it."

"That is bad news William. I hoped she accidentally found something that tricked their systems. Now we have to continue looking before a war starts."

"I said Patricia did not do it. I did not say I did not know who did it."

"It was Harold Chase wasn't it?"

"No it was not Harold either. You can guess all day and you will never get it. Are there jails for 7-year-olds Michael?"

"Don't do this to me William. You will force me into early retirement if you tell me it was the girls."

"I know a very good store where you can get your golf clubs fitted perfectly."

"No, William, tell me it's not true."

"All the children, including my son, apparently got into the secure basement. Patty and Harold are going down there now, to trying to figure out who did what to whom. I know in my heart it is them."

"William, I cannot even put them in jail, they are too small. They could fit between the bars. I am going to head over to the White House. Have Patty call me before I get there."

"I will do it Michael. I am sure Dolores will enjoy having you at home all the time."

"I am too, William. She will enjoy it just like she enjoys a good toothache."

***********

Patty led the way into the secure area of the basement, which held the Cray 6 Supercomputer. As she breached the doorway, all 5 children screamed.

"Don't any of you move. Stay exactly where you are. Mister Chase and I have to talk to each of you about what you have been doing in here."

Laura said, "Mom, we did not hurt your machines. I came up with a program change for one of the games we were playing upstairs. Our computer was too slow, so we borrowed yours."

Patty shook her head. "How did you know the combination on the electronic keypad to get in here?"

Robert replied, "The code was easy mom. You are very predictable. The combination is all of our birthdays backwards from the youngest to the oldest. Our only problem was granddad. JR didn't even know what year he was born."

"How did you get past the Retina Scanner?"

"JR took the sensor off-the-wall a few weeks ago and adjusted the tolerances on it, until it accepted Laura's right eye."

"JR, you have to show me how you did it. The manufacturer guarantees his product is tamperproof."

"Sis, it didn't take me 3 minutes to do. An eyeglass screwdriver and a tiny piece of gum was all it took."

"Harold, I think you better call the manufacturer and get one of his techs out here in a hurry. These are the same scanners they use on our missile silos."

"Laura, the program you designed; did you save it?"

"Yes mom, I did."

"May I have the disc please."

"Here mom, this is the only one we made."

"Would you remember how to do it again?"

"Oh yes mom that would be very easy."

"If I asked you not to do it ever again, would you listen to me?"

"I always listen to your mom, I never disobey you."

Patty smiled at her mother's namesake. She said, "NEVER?"

Laura smiled shyly, and replied, "Well, almost never."

"I do not want you to write this program down for anyone; not even yourself, ever again. It is very dangerous, for a lot of people. It is also very possible that it could be very important one day. I am very proud of all of you who put this together. I am going to keep it in a very safe place, where only Stephano and I can get to it."

Robert said, "Mom don't put it behind that fake beam in the argument room. It is much too easy to get at."

"Young man how do you know about that beam?"

"I was bored, because it was raining outside. I decided to go on a hunting trip inside the house. I wanted to see what I could find."

He grinned broadly, "I found a lot of cool stuff, mom."

Patty's head spun around and looked at her husband. "Your father will talk to you about that cool stuff later, young man. Won't you Stephano?"

"I think he has little young, but yes, I will have to talk to him about some of those things."

Patty asked Laura, "Did you give your program a name?"

"Well, sort of."

"Baby, when you write a program you must always give it a name so you can remember who wrote it, and what its purpose was. What did you name this program?"

"We named it C R A W L(Christian, Robert, Anna, William, Laura)."

Harold looked at the 5 children and was awed by each of them

"Kids, you must never open this program again. It is one of the most brilliant programs ever conceived, and the oldest of you, William, is not yet 11. We as your parents find the 5 of you beyond amazing. Your talents may already exceed those of mine and Patricia. You just do not realize it yet.

Now you are going to have to learn to channel your efforts into productive endeavors; rather than science fiction, or science fact as you did today. Most of all, we want you to remember that you are still children. We want you to play and grow up as normal children do. We enjoy seeing you running around and having fun. We don't want you to stop going on hunting trips around the house, or playing outside, or writing your horses, because of a computer program you are thinking about. We want you to enjoy your youth. Play with your toys, Play your computer games, and play with the big computer, in your spare time."

The youngsters looked at each other and laughed.

"Oh no," Harold asked, "What did you little monsters do now?"

Anna said, "We found mom's best chess game, and we beat it with ours."

Patty laughed and said to the little imps, "You did not, no one beats that game."

She heard Stephano say, "Do You Want To Bet?"

She spun around and glared at him.

"NO."

"WIMP!"

"GUILTY. Anna will you run that program please."

Anna sat down at the console, and cued up her chess program against her mother's Caro-Kahn Gambit. Everything went as it was supposed to go, until the point where Patty moved her Bishop into a position everyone thought was a blunder. However, Anna's White pawn did not take the Black Bishop. It stayed in position. The entire right side of the Whites defensive position remained intact. 12 moves later Black was in an untenable defensive position. Patty lost a Rook, a Knight, and 2 pawns, without being able to remove any of Whites pieces from the board. Patty resigned and kissed her daughters' head.

"Marvelous Anna, just marvelous; no one has ever beaten me when I play that game. You are now my idol when it comes to chess. How did you figure out that non-move?"

"It was a simple math equation mom; and you know how much I love doing math. Once I figured out the next 15 moves, everything else fell into place easily."

Stephano coughed. Patty turned to him and said, "If you do it again, you are going to wish you were back at Penn."

"I was not making fun of you dear. I just remembered you making part of that same statement to a doctor, about 8 years ago. The next day he paid off your father's $14 million mortgage."

"Mommy, you played chess for money?"

"Yes baby, a few times. That doctor was a very wealthy man; and when I told him I had learned how to play chess by reading books he was sure he could win mommy's airplane. He was wrong. It never occurred to me that any opposing player would not accept taking a Bishop, while only losing a pawn. However, it is all the difference between winning and losing the game."

"Patty, Director Free would like to speak to you; immediately."

"Hello Michael, I did not do it, and neither did Harold."

"Your father and I had a discussion several years ago about this possibility, and that did not include Harold's son. Would you like to know how that conversation went?"

"Go ahead Michael, this should be educational."

"William said, 'Do you know what scares me? If Laura and I produced Patty, and Bruno and Victoria produced Stephano, what are the 2 of you going to produce?' Without delay my answer was 'NUCLEAR FUSION!' You do realize that is what nearly happened today don't you?"

"Do you realize how far ahead of our counterparts in Russia we are now, Michael? Do you realize how much fear this will put in their hearts when they go to the negotiating tables with us from now on? We no longer have to ask for a reduction in nuclear forces, we can demand it.

The Chinese know about this by now, and they are quaking in their boots. Their systems are more antiquated and less secure than the Russians. They will start making nice with us very soon. They will not want to take on a country that can take them back to the bamboo age of communications in an instant.

5 little children did this Michael, and only one of them is in school. You are going to have to figure out a way to keep their names secret. If it ever gets out, their lives will be worse than mine ever was."

"Okay Patty, I will tell the President what you said. We will give credit for this to a combined group of scientists working out of the University of wherever. Their names will be withheld for security purposes. It will have the same effect on the Russians and everyone. How many people up there know it was the girls?"

"Just this agent standing next to me."

"Let me speak to him, Patty."

"This is agent Frankel sir."

"Frankel are you married?"

"No sir, I am single."

"Do you remember the book called, "A Man Without A Country," set against the backdrop of the Revolutionary War?"

"No sir, I cannot say I am familiar with it."

"It is about a young man who is convicted of treason to the young republic. Before he is sentenced he screams, "I wish I never to hear of the United States of America, again." The judge grants in his wish. He is put on US Warships for the rest of his natural life, transferred from one to another, never allowed to reach port. No one is allowed to mention the name of his country to him or give him the news about it. Do you know why I am telling you this story Mister Frankel?"

"Honestly sir, I haven't got a clue."

"The FBI has posts all around the world. Many of them are not in nice places. What you have seen and heard today, especially about those 5 children, NEVER HAPPENED! Do you understand me Mister Frankel?"

"Yes sir, your message is loud and clear. Today's mission was a dry run. We went to the wrong place."

"Good man Frankel, make sure everyone knows that when you leave. You were given bad information, by jealous people."

"Yes sir, I will take care of it."

"I will be watching your career with interest, Mister Frankel, and so will my successors. I would not want you to spend your summers in Death Valley California, and your winters in Point Barrow Alaska."

"Thank you sir, neither would I."

"Give your phone to Mrs. Valentino for a second."

"What did you do to the poor man Michael, he is white as a ghost."

"I told him what would happen if he ever mentioned what went on at your ranch today. I think you got my message."

"I think you nearly killed him Michael."

"How many times did you nearly kill me Patty?"

"I stopped charging you my daily fee, didn't I?"

"Your bank probably did not have any more room for the money."

"Are girls having a good time in Europe?"

"If you spoil them anymore, they are going to want to be adopted."

"We had been over this time after time; your girls helped me when I needed help. Then I disappointed them and hurt them badly when I disappeared. I will spoil them as long as they remain good children to Dolores and you. One more thing, Michael, they would never responsible for that ulcer of yours."

"I knew you were going to bring it up Patty. You had to rub it in. Who knew bugs could grow in stomach acid. That guy from Australia got lucky, cured me, and every time I speak to you, I hear about it."

"I love you Michael."

"I love you too Patty. Take care of everyone, until I see you again."

***********

By 2 PM the morning's events were forgotten. The kids were in the swimming pool, Harold and Callie were lifeguards, William and Steph were manning the barbecue, and Jemma and Patty had just finished setting the table, when Brad, Bonnie and their 2 girls came driving up in their minivan.

The 2 girls ran straight for the pool and jumped in. Bonnie carried a large cake, while Brad dragged a huge chest of ice. He went back to the minivan for another chest full of beverages.

Kicking and screaming the kids were forced out of the pool, dried off and given places to sit down at the table to eat lunch with the extended families.

As the adults were discussing the morning's events, Brad said, "How many times do you people think you can pull my leg and get away with it?"

William asked him what he was talking about.

"Sir, you're trying to tell me that in one day, 5 children under the age of 11 put the US and Russia on war a footing because they developed a program out of a videogame. On the same day, they developed a program that beat Patty's invincible chess program. I'm sorry, but I know someone is going to dump a pail of water on my head very soon and say surprise."

Harold said to Brad, "You and I only know each other for a short time, but I now understand why you became her indentured servant. You wouldn't know the truth if it was force-fed to you. Do you play chess Mister Goodman?"

"Yes I do. I'm nowhere as good as Patty, but I play a decent game."

"Do you think you could beat a 7-year-old girl?"

Brad turned to Bonnie and said, "I know I'm going to hate myself in the morning."

"Yes I think I could beat a 7-year-old girl."

"Ladies and gentlemen are you ready?"

Unanimously they replied, "YES WE ARE."

"1, 2, 3, DO YOU WANT TO BET?"

He looked at Bonnie and said, "Why would you bet against me?"

"I know a sure thing when I see one."

"It looks that bad, does it?"

"It looks as bad as the cookbooks, but you had better not bet any of my children."

"I would never do that. I don't think I ever sank that low, did I?"

"No, I think Patty saved you before you got there."

"Ladies and gentlemen, I withdraw my challenge against the 7-year-old girl chess player. I do not wish to embarrass the child, in me." Brad stood up, bowed, and walked off towards the barn.

Bonnie saw people watching him walk away and said, "Don't worry about him, he's going to see his aging girlfriend."

10 minutes later, he was leading her out of the barn. Her head still hung high, but her chestnut color was fading with gray. She was 29 years old now, still with a lot of life left in her, but she wasn't the young maiden she used to be. He unclipped the lead, scratched her behind her left ear, and said, "Timeless, go find Patty, go find Patty."

It didn't take the mare long at all to find her target. She trotted around the table, stopped behind her target, and put her muzzle against the back of Patty's head and pushed.

Patty didn't turn around, she pushed back.

Timeless retaliated and pushed forward harder.

Patty pushed back as hard as she could but could not move the horses head. She picked up the carrot from the basket in front of her and held it to her right.