David Golemon - Legacy

Jack walked into the room and held out his hand. He was taken aback by how weak the return handshake was. He remembered the first time he had been greeted by the senator four years before and the powerful grip of the ninety-something man. The difference was night and day. Collins released his hand and looked around the large bedroom quickly as if the senator might have read his mind. The only thing on display on the walls was a large shelf. Sitting upon it was what looked like a collection of hats, fedoras to be exact.

“Nice collection,” Jack said in true admiration.

“Yeah, I used to look good in hats. Reminded me of Mike Hammer, you know-the impression of toughness. Anyway, glad to see you, my boy.” Lee looked behind Jack. “Where’s that little girl of yours?”

“You mean Lieutenant McIntire?”

“Cut the crap, Jack. You two never put anything by me, or Niles. By the way, is he here yet?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, you’re supposed to escort this walking corpse to lunch. My cane doesn’t do me much good anymore.”

Jack could see the dilated left eye and knew Lee was under the influence of a powerful medication. He wondered if he was up to leaving the room at all. Lee settled it quickly as he reached out and took Jack’s arm at the shoulder and then he and Jack made for the door.

“How has… everything been?” Collins asked hesitantly.

“What, you mean dying? It’s like finishing off a roller-coaster ride, Jack. Scary as hell, but when you get to the end, you want to do it all over again.”

“You mean life?”

“Yes, my boy. Never grow old, Colonel, it-what do the kids say? Oh, yes, it sucks big-time.”

“Yes,” Collins said as they approached the dining room. “That’s what they say, sir.”

When they entered the large dining room, Jack saw Niles Compton standing there. He was actually dressed in something other than his usual white shirt and black tie. His button-down shirt was blue with white stripes and his slacks were gray. Jack thought to himself that he had never before seen Niles in a civilian outfit that didn’t consist of the most mundane black and white clothing.

“Ah, Niles, now it seems all the people playing hooky today from work have finally arrived for this very late lunch.”

Niles Compton nodded a greeting, looking just like Jack had on the front porch. He pulled the senator’s chair out and smiled as best he could.

“Everyone, please do me a favor,” Lee said as Sarah came in carrying a large bowl of salad. “Stop acting like this is the goddamn Last Supper. I have something to discuss with you and I don’t need all of these cow-eyed looks. Frankly, it doesn’t help my appetite.”

“What’s he bitching about now?” Alice asked, coming in behind Sarah with a platter of sandwiches.

“I think he’s saying that he doesn’t want any sympathy from the likes of us,” Sarah said, walking up to Lee’s chair and kissing him hard on the cheek.

“Well, if he gets any, it won’t be from me,” Alice said, and placed the platter in the center of the table. She took Lee’s napkin and tucked it into his pajama top. He fidgeted like a petulant child and then scowled, sending his eye patch askew and his good eye ablaze.

“Would you sit down, woman, for crying out loud?”

Jack, Niles, and Sarah knew the act between Lee and Alice very well, and it never grew old. If Lee had to live without Alice he would be happy to be dying. It would be living without her in his life that would have been unbearable and anyone who saw them together knew that.

“Niles, thank you, my boy, for coming to see me on such short notice. I know you absolutely hate leaving the complex.”

Compton was putting salad in a bowl. He looked as if he were about to say something but caught himself. “Oh, it’s kind of slow at the moment,” he offered instead.

“You always were a poor liar, my old friend.”

Jack watched the exchange between the senator and Niles. He felt he was not privy to something. He accepted the salad from Niles but remained silent. When he passed it to Lee, he waved it on.

“That was quite an event that happened on the Moon this morning,” Lee said as matter-of-factly as he could.

Niles looked at Jack and then back at the senator. He nodded his head. “The president just asked our group to see what they can find out from NASA.”

“Kind of spooky,” Sarah said, looking from Niles to Jack.

“Ah, that is the gist of the matter, isn’t it?” Lee said and then coughed. That turned into another, and another. “Scary… stuff… to say the… least,” he managed to say through his coughing.

Alice, her fork paused halfway to her mouth, watched Garrison for a moment, and then continued eating when he seemed to get the coughing under control.

“Anyway, do you have a thought on the subject of this fantastic discovery on the lunar surface?” He looked at Jack first.

“I would say that we weren’t the first ones to the Moon, or if we were, someone was a damn close second. I can’t say I admire whoever it was for leaving a man behind.” He looked at Sarah and then Alice. “Or a woman,” he added.

“My thoughts exactly,” Niles said as he laid his fork down, knowing Lee was leading them to something, like a horse to water. He had been in too many conversations with the man and knew his traps well. He wiped his mouth with his napkin and waited.

Garrison took his own napkin out of his pajama top and then pulled a pen from his robe’s front pocket. Alice watched as he did this, and then looked at the others around the table. She knew what Lee was doing and was watching the reaction of the others. Garrison took the pen and started making a design on the white napkin. When he was done he held it up and showed Jack, Sarah and Niles.

“For the benefit of those around this table, and with the deep knowledge of world history bestowed in the heads of same, can you tell me if you have ever seen this design before?”

“I believe that particular design is linked to more than one culture,” Niles said as he leaned back in his chair and examined the crude drawing Lee had scribbled on his napkin.

“I think one of the cultures was Mayan,” Sarah said, her sandwich paused at her mouth.

“Yes, also the design has been found on cave walls and deserts from Mexico, the American Southwest, Peru, Ecuador, Uruguay, and as far south as Australia.”

Jack looked over at Niles and then at Sarah. “Don’t ask me, the only thing it reminds me of is the sign in front of Pocket’s Billiard Parlor outside Fort Bragg.”

Lee was silent for a moment and looked as if he were having a hard time catching a breath. His chin lowered to his chest and once more Alice watched him closely. Sarah looked at Alice and wondered how long she would let the senator fight through this visit. She lowered her eyes and then looked at Jack with worry on her face. Soon, Lee gathered himself and looked across the table at Alice.

“Maybe you better get ready with that needle you’re so fond of wielding like Excalibur.”

Alice excused herself and walked out of the dining room.

“Endless apologies. General Sherman was wrong. It’s not war, but dying that’s hell. Now, the symbol-of course you are all correct, except for Jack, who wasn’t even close. And I know that pool parlor very well by the way.” He looked at Collins and winked with his one eye. “All of these civilizations, or more accurately, the regions you spoke of, had depictions of this diagram in one form or another. All throughout history science said they were more than likely drawings of eclipses that these differing tribes of man witnessed at one time or another.” Lee took a deep breath. “I also saw this exact symbol someplace where it had no right to be, at least as far as I was concerned.”