The Unofficial Biography Of Kimmay

Book 2: The Nature Of Power

by G. L. Hudson

 

INTRODUCTION:

 

Do not pretend to feel with your heart

When you refuse to see with your eyes

- Kimmay

 

Where does true genius come from? Are the parent's genes the determining factor? Are training and experience the most important? Nature versus nurture. Consider this; there are billions of people on our planet and billions upon billions of potential combinations of genes. Once in the huge shake of the dice, is it not possible that a truly unique and exceptional combination will arrive? Can there be any doubt that Kimmay was the result of one such combination? Even more delicious is the question, could it happen twice?

Let there be no mistake as to whom and what Kimmay was. She was not a god. There are many who would place her upon such a plateau. Those who seek such a distinction are charlatans, for Kimmay would never permit a religion to build upon her footsteps. If one day she does return, her return will prove not that she is a god, but that Einstein was correct. Correct about time and space. Naive but correct, even though Kimmay placed paradox after paradox in front of those beliefs.

If one needs miracles, look no further than Kimmay's own world. Your own world. The world of quantum strings and energy tunneling; the outrageous and the unexpected. She has opened a door to wonders no one could have envisioned. Search for them. See and feel the magic and the Magicians in our world. Welcome them with open minds. Build your future upon this, not empty promises from religious charlatans.

Kimmay is a misnomer initiated and perpetuated by a certain newspaper when it printed her name incorrectly. They steadfastly refused to correct a simple mistake. And thus, they elevated her to the level of a single name. A name that every child, every adult, every individual on the face of this planet now recognizes. And we can only guess as to how far past our planet her name is now known. Kimmay was christened Kim May. A name that no longer exists.

This is an unofficial biography of Kimmay. Our knowledge of Kimmay's life is still incomplete. We may never know the full extent of her greatness. Yet, there is no story that needs to be told more than hers. Her incomplete story has been left to me. I am her sister.

Finally, let there be no question as to my motives. All proceeds from this book will go to Kimmay's Eleven Lights Foundation. That includes all of my proceeds and the publisher's. In return, the publisher will be granted access to all the sources that I have used to write this book. Perhaps future scholars can see in these papers, that which I have missed. I can still hold out hope that one day, someone may truly understand what I and everyone else do not.

 

 

 

CHAPTER ONE

 

Source: Valerie Samantha May

 

December second will be forever celebrated as a day of great beginnings and grand promises for all the inhabitants of Earth. For it was on that day in the year 2009 that one of history's greatest enigmas entered our world. With an intellect of genius proportions, an inventiveness bordering on magical, and a foresight unbounded by time, she began her inexorable march into human destiny. Christened at birth as Kim May, but to be forever known as Kimmay, a small male child was placed in a pink blanket and placed in the arms of his mother. The announcements that were sent to friends and family welcomed Kim as Cynthia and Melissa May's second daughter. I am proud to say that Kim was my little sister.

We lived on the third floor of an old brownstone apartment building, in an older part of Milwaukee. The first floor was where mom worked. She owned `Lissa's Salon, a very upscale beauty salon and well known throughout the Midwest. She also owned Gabrielle's Salon and Melissa's Glamour Photography Studio which were also located in our building. Those three businesses kept mom very busy.

Kim and I had an easy, if not quite typical childhood. We were raised in mom's beauty salon. When I was born, mom converted one of the tanning rooms into a nursery. Kim and I had our cribs and plenty of toys in that nursery room, and when we weren't in the room sleeping or playing, we were in the salon. Everyone working in the salon looked after us. We had twenty parents. When the beauticians weren't busy, Kim and I received manicures and pedicures or had our hair set and curled. The male beauticians Simon and George liked to curl our hair, while Beth and Rose liked to apply makeup for us. We always begged them to put lipstick on us. We would sometimes help around the salon by carrying trays or sweeping the floor, and by the age of five both of us could have passed our board exams.

We were also a hit with the regular customers who would sometimes bring us candy. We were cute, we were pretty, we were precocious and we knew it. We had fun, but our really young years were spent primarily around adults. In some ways we grew up fast. We overheard some of their adult conversations, and we would shock mom and Cynthia by repeating things at the dinner table that no five year-old should know.

Cynthia and Melissa doted on their daughters. We could have just about anything we wanted. Kim was especially adept at manipulating our parents. If mom said no, Kim could almost always get Cynthia to say yes. We had Barbie dolls coming out the ying-yang, and those dolls had more clothes than the Queen of England.

Cynthia usually came home from work around 5:00 or 5:30. Kim and I would be watching cartoons when she arrived. She always made a big production of greeting us and smothering us in hugs and kisses. On Saturday nights, either grandpa and grandma came to our house, or we went to their house. Cynthia insisted that mom and her go out to dinner and dancing on Saturday evenings. On Sundays we usually went for a ride. We went to the zoo, and Six-Flags, and Wisconsin Dells. In the summer, sometimes mom would take us to the local swimming pool during the week. Once in a while, Rose took us swimming. Neither of us went to pre-school.

Kim was different. She was very different. Just after I started kindergarten, Kim found mom's old keyboard. She started playing with it one afternoon, and by bedtime she was playing entire songs. Mom had to show her a few things, like how to move your hands and fingers to move up and down the keyboard, and she showed Kim a few chords. But Kim picked it up very fast. Within a week she had taken the keyboard into the salon and set it up on a short child's table. The beauticians would sing or hum songs, and Kim would play them on her keyboard. She could pick up a new tune in ten or fifteen minutes. To say that she was gifted would be a gross understatement of her ability.

When Kim turned four, grandpa and grandma bought Kim a full size, upright piano. Kim became an accomplished piano player by age five. There was nothing she couldn't master. When she first started playing she followed someone else, but she could pick up a song after hearing it once. She was reading music by age four, only three months after starting. And by age six she was writing her own songs. If it hadn't been for her small hands and fingers, she could have turned professional. There were always piano recitals and competitions. Cynthia took Kim to several competitions in the Wisconsin and Illinois area, and Kim won every time but once.

Mom tried to teach Kim, but mom didn't have enough free time. She was always busy with her salons and photography studio. I have never met anyone who worked as hard as mom. She ran three businesses, raised two 'perfect' daughters and managed to keep the house running for Cynthia and us. Her time was fully utilized. Kim needed a teacher, but as it turned out she needed not a piano teacher as much as a music teacher. She was in luck. Simon's friend was a concert violinist with the Milwaukee Philharmonic. Allen traveled extensively, but when he was in town he tutored Kim five days a week.

Allen always stopped in the salon first and said hello to Simon and mom. Allen was a funny guy who always had a joke or magic trick to show us when he visited. He wore the ugliest clothes you ever saw. They were all torn up, or outrageous colors, or combinations of both. And then sometimes he wore a tuxedo. Mom said he was eccentric. Simon said he was a fruit. But they both agreed that he was gifted. He taught Kim for about 4 years, during which time he taught Kim how to play several styles of keyboards, including the organ.

Kim was good with all of them. One day when Kim was eight, Allen took Kim to the big church downtown. They had the biggest organ in Wisconsin. It had five or six keyboards and more keys than I have ever seen. Allen spent almost a full hour with Kim, showing her the different boards and how to work the pedals. Allen was very good teacher, and after an hour of instructions he gave Kim some music and let her play. Kim looked at the title and said, "I don't need the music." She handed it back to Allen and started to play.

Wow! She didn't go back and forth between the different keyboards, she stayed with one, the master board I guess. Kim started playing Bach (that is what they told me later) and she was magnificent. Everyone sat down and listened. No one made any comments or suggestions. Allen and the church's music director sat and listened. Half the time they had their eyes closed and half the time they just looked at each other and smiled. It was kind of weird.

Mom and I just sat there too. Every once in a while mom grabbed my hand and squeezed. Mom was a music major in school before she ran out of money. She had wanted to grow up and be a professional, so I think she was very proud of Kim. I know I was. I was amazed.

And so was some man who sat in the back of the church the entire time. Afterwards he came up to mom and shook her hand. "You have a very talented daughter," he said. "Her talent is raw but energized. She could have a tremendous future. Can we talk sometime?" Mom said sure. Then he went over and talked with Allen and the music director.

The man was a producer. He worked with Allen at the Milwaukee Philharmonic, and the two of them made arrangements to have Kim recorded at the church. Allen took her there twice a week for the next two months. After that, we were invited for a concert. Cynthia and grandpa and grandma joined us. Allen's friend Simon was there also; he came to see Allen's first recording session as a producer. We all sat in the first row. There were lots of people there, setting up microphones and sitting behind huge consoles of flashing lights and rows of sliding buttons. They even had old-fashioned tapes turning around on big reels. It was a technological wonderland.

Kim spent three hours playing on the organ. She moved between keyboards sometimes, and sometimes the music director played along with her, but this time she followed the written music. At first it was really neat. Interesting. No doubts, Kim was good. But after three hours I was tired. I was glad when they said that they were done. One of the managers said it was the fastest session that he could remember. I shivered when I thought about how much longer a session could last, and then I headed to the little girl's room.

The next week, things returned to normal. Allen came by when he could, although once he disappeared for three weeks. He was traveling through Europe with the orchestra, Simon told us. Kim had also started playing the violin. She was very good with that also, and I think Allen was especially pleased because he played first chair violin in the orchestra.

Kim's recording session had had been in June. In mid August we returned to school. One day in September we arrived home, and came running into the salon as we always did. Hanging over the receptionist's desk was a poster-sized picture of Kim. She was sitting in front of the large organ in the church. Across the top it said 'Kim May' and across the bottom it said, 'Live and in Concert'. It was a duplicate of the cover to her CD. And sitting on the counter was a large MP3 box playing Kim's album.

Mom was excited. A huge smile broke out on Kim's face when she heard it. Then her smiled subsided and turned into a frown. "What's wrong?" mom asked.

"It's not very good," Kim replied. "I mean its ok, but I wish I could do it again. I hear a thousand things I would change and make better."

Mom grabbed her and lifted her off the floor in a hug. "It's good enough, Munchkin. I am so proud of you."

I had a question, "Mom, if Kim becomes famous will we be rich?" Everyone in the salon laughed, but I thought it was a legitimate question.

"We already are rich, honey. We're very rich."

But I knew that one day Kim would truly be very rich, and so would we.

 

 

 

CHAPTER TWO

 

Source: Excerpted from personal conversations with Senator Horn and Jennifer Gayle

 

Fame is fleeting. It comes and goes with little attention to the wishes of the recipients. For many it lasts only fifteen minutes. For some it lasts a lifetime. And for some it lasts forever. Some times it requires a life long struggle to achieve fame, and other times it drops from heaven when least expected. Few seek it and acquire it on their own terms. That requires talent, perseverance, drive, energy and maybe a bit of luck. The rewards are great; money and power, recognition and respect. And to that rare individual, the ultimate reward is sometimes given; a single name. A single name that is recognized worldwide. Like 'Krysallis'. That single name conjures beauty, grace and poise. An international super model. Magazine covers and billboards. Advertising blitzes for cosmetics or ultra-expensive fashion. A face, a figure, a walk that spans the surface of the planet.

Born Kristal Horn, she jumped onto center stage at the age of sixteen. Her beauty swept the fashion industry off its feet. She revitalized an industry bogged down in incest and jealousy. Over-paid farces that couldn't manage the transition from the walkway of Milan to the aisles of the middle class quickly fell behind her. She changed an industry and reaped fame and fortune. She changed everything.

Not unlike a gunslinger or a figure for hire, she took on multiple clients. She took them from the photography studio to the streets, and accepted total responsibility for their success. Krysallis stood in front of the cameras in the morning, and signed autographs in the evening. She met with the CEOs, the press, the media and the teenagers that bought her products. She shook hands, she signed autographs, she showed up when and where she promised, and she never missed an appointment. Krysallis went around the world and delivered a face, an attitude, and an energy that was absolutely irresistible. She redefined the word professional for an industry that had forgotten what it meant, because she was always honest, true to her word and commitment, and never made excuses. When you signed Krysallis, you won. And so did she.

By age twenty, Krysallis had become one of the highest paid celebrities in the world. She gave the client her youth and charm; the client gave her his money. And she was worth every penny. She revived small fashion houses and multi-national conglomerates. She turned around fiascos and took winners to astronomical peaks. Her commercial influence was at one time estimated to be close to ten trillion dollars worldwide. Krysallis was a force to be reckoned with.

At the age of twenty-two she broadened her horizons. Krysallis went to Hollywood. Hollywood had seen plenty of pretty faces and Krysallis was nothing new. She earned little notice at first. Krysallis picked her first movie; she literally had to buy her first role. She agreed to work on straight commission. If the movie was a bust they paid her nothing, and she received a share of the gross only if it surpassed $200 million. After shooting the movie, she traveled the world on her own money and promoted it. She went to interviews from dawn to dusk from coast to coast from Berlin to Tokyo. She sold movies like she sold perfume; with energy, charm and glamour.

She proved that she knew how to pick scripts. The movie was a low budget Cary Grant – Kathryn Hepburn style romance. It had wit, charm, sophistication and glamour. It had no lasers, space ships or action scenes. Single handedly she resurrected the romance genre and reintroduced glamour and sophistication to the public. Krysallis' flare with sophistication and glamour, both on the screen and during her promotional tours, changed the fashion industry. Overnight, grunge and casual were out. Pearls and heels were back. Magazines rushed to print with articles and advertising following her lead into the new glamour clothing and makeup. Hollywood jumped on the bandwagon. Car chases disappeared and clever banter laced with understated double entendres returned.

Her fashion and makeup clients saw double digit jumps in their sales. Much of her time shifted to movies, but she never once missed an appointment for an existing client. But as her fame in Hollywood increased, she stopped renewing contracts with her old clients. Time wasn't limitless. At least not yet.

Krysallis' fame spread faster and farther than she had ever dreamed. She became the highest paid star in Hollywood, and the most sought after personality in the world. She supported an entire army of paparazzi. She was invited to every awards banquet from Cannes to Hollywood. Much to the thrill of her fans, she began to expand her social life. 'Krysallis the Beautiful' was seen at high profile events in stunning dresses and jewelry that would have made royalty turn green with envy. Truth be known, she was the new royalty.

The press and paparazzi did their best to harass her. They were rude and often crude. Krysallis never lost her temper, and she always spoke to the press with charm and wit and a smile that melted the hardest cynics. She set an example for fans, friends and enemies that quickly swept away her detractors. The paparazzi were forced to become civil in return. It killed them.

Her social circles quickly expanded beyond Hollywood to the arena of power and connections. She was seen attending gala affairs with governors and senators. Her center of activity shifted from Hollywood to Washington D.C. Krysallis was often seen on the arm of a senator attending The John F. Kennedy Performing Arts Center or a $1000 a plate fundraiser. The President invited her to state dinners and movies at the White House. After only a short time in Washington, Krysallis bought an expensive house in Georgetown, and when she wasn't on set or shooting commercials in the Caribbean, she was to be found at her new home in Washington D.C. She even started a charity to raise money for music and theater in the local high schools, and she was often called upon to testify before congress concerning her work for the local community. Her attendance always provided superb publicity for the politicians and their committees.

By 2015, hers was the brightest face in a political party noted for closed doors and privilege. She was turning around their image, and bringing fresh young blood to a stodgy and rhetoric filled group of elitists. They wanted her physical charm and vote gathering ability, but they wanted nothing to do with her ideas or beliefs. A 28 year old beauty was good for one thing, and it wasn't thinking.

But Krysallis was infiltrating the enemy's camp.

 

In the summer of 2017, Krysallis and her personal assistant Jennifer flew to Rome for the launch of a major advertising campaign. The two of them stopped over at Heathrow International Airport and spent the night in London. A taxi took them to a local apartment with a chamber closet that had been stocked by Jennifer. Krysallis and Jennifer dressed incognito for dinner. Jennifer left the apartment ahead of Krysallis, stepped into a taxi and had a short discussion with two men, then exited the taxi as it left. She hailed a second taxi, and held the door while a disguised woman from the apartment walked over and entered the taxi. Jennifer joined the woman and they drove off.

The taxi drove away from London and headed towards the countryside. An hour later, Jennifer received a call on her cell phone. She clicked off and told the other woman, "Your newspaper has arrived." Jennifer gave the taxi driver a final address and they soon stopped by a small cottage. Jennifer paid and they left the taxi for the cottage. They didn't knock before entering.

Jennifer walked over to the only person in the one room cottage and shook hands. "Thanks for meeting us," she said. "I would like to introduce Krysallis. Krysallis, this is Mr. Dunn."

"It is my honor," Mr. Dunn replied. "Ladies, would you please join me for dinner? I regret to say that all I have to offer you is fish and chips from a local pub."

"Thank you very much, Mr. Dunn. You are most gracious. Fish and chips will be just fine. We are in the UK after all." Her smile brought out a larger smile on Mr. Dunn. They sat and began to eat. "Mr. Dunn, I trust that Jennifer has outlined our proposal to you?"

"Yes indeed. I must say it is a most intriguing proposal. And I must also say in all honesty, it worries me"

"That's ok Mr. Dunn. It scares the shit out of me." Jennifer and Mr. Dunn laughed. "I hope that lightens the mood a bit. All this cloak and dagger stuff makes it seem worse than it probably is. But let's not under estimate what we are doing. We will be going up against the best secret service in the world, and possibly the most dangerous."

"No Krysallis, you can leave that distinction for the people who taught your CIA how to torture and interrogate. But the CIA will be dangerous enough. Now then, what exactly are we doing?"

"Mr. Dunn, together we are going to try and bring down the government of the United States of America. For me, it is called treason and is punishable by death. For you it is called an accident or a simple disappearance. But you still end up dead."

"It does give us something to look forward to doesn't it?"

"Mr. Dunn, it gives us incentive to keep our wits about ourselves. We can't afford to make any mistakes. But I will tell you right up front, I am more interested in succeeding than I am in living. I will make any sacrifice to accomplish my objective.

"We both know how dangerous my government has become. They are turning my country into a totalitarian state. Big Brother meets the Nazis. And you of course know what they are doing to world stability. Their hegemony is only beginning. There are forces in the White House that intend to use the power of the United States to become the de-facto power in the world. If they are not stopped, the situation will eventually deteriorate to nuclear war with China, or worse yet, they will succeed. We cannot afford to fail.

"We may still have one last chance. While they have consolidated most of the domestic power they need, they are still vulnerable. They have to maintain some semblance of legitimacy, both at home and abroad. A revolt in the United States could bring them down. I hope to start that revolt. But I don't want to do it with guns and bullets. I want to do it through elections. The problem is, as we all know, that the elections are rigged. Not with something as crude as ballot stuffing. They have created the illusion of a two party system, but they have essentially eliminated the possibility of another party ever winning. We have one party controlling the country.

"Their election laws have centralized all power. It is no longer legal to donate money to a single candidate. You can only give money to a national or state party. To be recognized as a party, you must have representation in all fifty states; you can't be a one state political party. The problem is Texas and Florida have made it against the law to register a new political party without first winning 10% of the votes in the previous election. But you can't get on the ballot without being a registered party. Catch 22.

"That leaves only 2 existing parties. To say that there is a difference between the two parties is to believe in fairy tales. The centralization of campaign money makes all politicians beholding to a small cadre of individuals. Those individuals reward or punish elected officials based on how they vote. That includes the President. He got to be President not by being independent of the party system, or by bringing fresh new ideas to the people, but by showing unswerving subservience to that system. The president, congress and the state legislatures are owned by the men behind those centralized money coffers. Those coffers have now fallen under the control of individuals with strong philosophical beliefs. Mr. Dunn, the world has long known that there is nothing more dangerous than religious zealots with money. Now they are about to find out how wrong they were. Religious zealots with money and the mightiest military power in the history of the world are not only more dangerous, but potentially fatal."

"I understand your concern, and I agree with you. But just exactly what can you do?"

"Sorry, Mr. Dunn. I'll climb off my soapbox now. What can I do? I can run for the United States Senate. I can become one of the privileged; one of the equals among equals, one of the 'chosen ones'. Mr. Dunn, I can become the next senator from the State of Indiana. I can become the ultimate mole. I will learn the system, document the system and with your help Mr. Dunn, expose the system. If we can expose the system maybe we can start that revolt that we need.

"Mr. Dunn, I need you, your newspaper and your video media. There is no independent media left in the United States. They are all owned by the same people who own the system. My country and I need you and the BBC. Only you have the credibility to expose the truth when we are ready."

"I don't disagree with anything you have said Krysallis, but there are many problems here. First, this is a long-term project. You can't break the system by destroying one brick at a time. They will quickly fill in any holes as fast as you expose them. You have to literally blow-up the system. You have to have extensive proof that is total and unequivocal. It must be massive and unassailable. That will take lots of time. Second, even if you get all the facts, the BBC may not be strong enough to break through your domestic media. Their control over news may not be as centralized, but it is every bit as effective as what the communists and the Nazis had. Third, during your collection period you and I will be at tremendous risk of exposure. And exposure will probably lead to a bullet between the eyes while we're sleeping."

"Are you saying that you won't help, Mr. Dunn?"

"Heavens no, I'm not saying that at all. I'm saying that it will be loads of fun. Krysallis, how many people know of your plan?"

"Just the three us."

"Ok, I think we will have to add one more person, but no more. That person has to be someone that we can trust with our lives. Jennifer and this other person have to be our contacts. They will have to relay all our information."

"Do you have someone in mind?"

"There is only one person that I trust that much; my wife. Jennifer, you and my wife will have to pass along the information that Krysallis gathers. We will have to move information both directions. This is going to require extreme caution and patience. We have a lot of planning to do."

 

The next morning, Krysallis arrived in Rome for her appointment. It was the first time in almost ten years that Jennifer wasn't by her side. Jennifer was in London, recuperating from a severe bout of 'food poisoning' … and meeting Beverly Dunn.

Six months later, Kristal Horn announced her campaign to run for the United States Senate. The venerable Mr. Arkin had already announced his intention to step down from his seat as the incumbent senator from Indiana. He cited unspecified health reasons, and a desire to spend more time with his wife and family. Because of those health reasons, he was never able to campaign on behalf of Kristal Horn, or offer his endorsement. Neither was needed.

In November of 2018, Kristal Horn was elected to the Senate.

 

 

CHAPTER THREE

 

Source: Excerpts from Melissa and Cynthia May's diaries

 

It was the end of September, 2018. The entire family was excited. Today was the day, when two of Melissa's best friends, Karen and Kristal Horn were coming to town. Karen had been Melissa's maid of honor at her wedding, and Kristal had been a bridesmaid. Kristal was known in real life as Krysallis, the world famous movie actress and the most beautiful woman in the world. Kristal was also running to become a senator. Kristal had helped Melissa with the initial PR to get her beauty salon started many years earlier, and Melissa still had pictures of Krysallis all over her salon.

Cynthia had taken a vacation day to be home. Kim and Valerie were reading some of their mom's Glamour and Simply Gorgeous magazines when the Horns arrived. There were three people, Karen, Krysallis and their friend Jennifer. The salon went crazy when they came in the door. Melissa and Cynthia ran over and greeted them with hugs. After several minutes of warm greetings, Cynthia and Melissa introduced them to Valerie and Kim.

Valerie received a hug from Krysallis and gushed, "You're the most beautiful woman in the world." It wasn't too original, but it was heart felt from one of Krysallis's biggest fans. Krysallis gave Kim a big hug. "Kim, your album was excellent. Very powerful and moving. You could feel it, couldn't you?"

Kim blushed just a bit, "Sort of. Actually, since then I've had times, just practice sessions, when I felt more. I could hear the music before I played it. I could see the patterns and the rhythms in my mind. In fact," and she lowered her voice so low that Kristal could barely hear, "I could see someone else's fingers playing instead of mine."

"Oh my," Krysallis whispered. "Kim, you and I have something in common. We can relate to one another." Melissa and Jennifer hugged each other like they had just witnessed a miracle.

Karen and Jennifer each gave Kim a hug and then went around the room greeting the rest of the staff. Jennifer and Krysallis had a long talk with Simon and ended up laughing hysterically. While Krysallis continued her conversation with Simon, Jennifer walked out of the salon and returned a few minutes later with a cat in her arms. It was a black cat with gray fur around its face, and she looked very old. But she didn't act old. She jumped out of Jennifer's arms, ran over to Melissa and leaped up into her arms. Melissa caught her and hugged her close to her bosom. "Hello, Andromeda. Long time no see. It is so good to see you and Kristal."

Andromeda gave Melissa a meow and then jumped down and walked over to Kim. She sat in front of Kim and looked up at her. Andromeda wanted to be picked up. It was probably the first time Kim had ever picked up a cat. They all thought she would break the poor cat in two, but she finally got a decent grip on Andromeda and plopped the cat in her lap. Andromeda stretched up as high as she could go and looked Kim in the eyes. They just looked at each other. Krysallis and Jennifer watched. Melissa and Cynthia watched. Andromeda and Kim continued to look at each other. Neither one blinked.

Finally, Andromeda relaxed and curled up into a ball in Kim's lap. "Mom," Kim gushed, "isn't she cute? Her eyes are two different colors!" Kim turned to Jennifer, "Is she your cat?"

"No, she is no one's cat. But Kristal belongs to her. Her name is Andromeda," Jennifer said with a smile.

"Krysallis," she is really neat. "Does she go with you everywhere?"

"Kristal, you can call me Kristal. When I am with real friends, I always go by my real name. Yes, whenever possible she travels with me. I think she likes you. Do you like her?"

"Oh yea. I've never had a cat. Or a dog either. Mom, why don't we have a cat?"

"Because we don't have the time to look after another kid. Especially a four legged one." She turned to her first assistant, "Rose, can you handle things tonight? I'd like to take our guests upstairs now."

Rose had been with Melissa since the opening of the salon, and was the second in command. She had been friends with Cynthia's parents for many years, and she had been invaluable in helping to organize the business and get it on its feet. "No problem, kids. Go ahead and I'll close up." As we all started towards the back elevator, Rose walked over to Simon. She wanted to find out what Simon and Kristal had thought was so funny.

When they reached the third floor apartment, everyone settled into the easy chairs in the living room. Melissa went into the kitchen to get some red wine for everyone, and Cynthia put on some quiet background music before sitting down next to Kim. "Kim, what do you think of Krysallis? Does she look older than those pictures downstairs?" and she grinned at Kristal.

"No! Kristal is still the most beautiful woman in the world." Kim looked at her sister for confirmation.

"Yes Cynthia, she is as beautiful as in the movies. You have the best movies, too. Mom takes us to all of your movies. We have all of your DVDs, too," Valerie gushed.

Melissa returned with a tray and gave everyone a glass of wine. "The prime rib is almost ready. Cynthia, I'll need your help to cut it. Would you come help me?"

"Sure." A minute later the guests could hear the electric carving knife chattering in the kitchen. The adults talked for a couple of minutes and then Cynthia called for the group to come into the dining room. Valerie sat on one side of Kristal and Kim sat on her other side; they wanted to be as close as possible to their idol.

Melissa passed out the prime rib and everyone moved the vegetables and salad around the table. Before beginning with their feast, Kristal made a toast, "To the best friends through many years. To a future filled with laughs and hugs. And to our newest friends," she nodded towards Kim and Valerie. Kristal looked at Jennifer and said, "Isn't it great that we all relate?" Everyone laughed and took a sip of the grape.

The meal went on forever. Everyone was talking and telling old stories. The girls heard all about Melissa and Cynthia's wedding and how much in love they were. It was nice to hear, but after a while it got too heartwarming. Then it got sappy.

Karen talked about her husband and two small children, "They're spending the weekend with their grandpa and grandma. They'll be totally spoiled by the time I get back. And by the way, mom and dad send their love."

Kristal talked about her latest movie that was just coming out. She promised to send each girl a poster for her room.

Jennifer was quiet. She never seemed to talk much.

After finishing the meal Kim and Valerie helped their mother take the dishes into the kitchen. The group returned to the living room, where Kim sat down on the beanbag and Andromeda crawled into her lap. Cynthia gave everyone options on sleeping arrangements. Kim and Valerie had to give up their beds and sleep on air mattresses on the floor. It sounded like a sleep over to them, and they looked forward to the adventure. Cynthia discussed a few other items about bathrooms and hair dryers, and the room fell quiet for a second as the conversations came to an end. Kristal looked at Kim and started talking with her, "How do you like Andromeda?"

"I like her a lot. She is really gentle. Can she sleep with us tonight?"

"Ask her yourself. She does what she wants to do."

Kim looked at Andromeda and bent towards her a bit, "Andromeda, do you want to sleep with Valerie and me tonight?" Andromeda looked at her and meowed. "I guess that means yes."

Kristal again addressed Kim, "How is your music coming along?"

"Good." She didn't seem to show much enthusiasm. It was rather strange for Kim. "I wrote another piece this week. Would you like to hear it?"

"Tomorrow," Cynthia said. "Tonight, let's just relax."

"I'd love to hear it tomorrow," Kristal said. Everyone was quiet for a moment, and then Kristal asked another question, "So Kim, are you about done with music?"

Kim looked surprised. "I love music," she protested.

"I know you love music. And you will always have it with you. But are you ready to do something else? Maybe something that is more challenging?"

Kim remained silent for almost a full minute before she conceded, "Yea, I am." That was a shock. Melissa and Cynthia didn't say a word. They just watched Kim and Kristal.

Kristal asked another question, "Do you like math?"

"Yep."

"Why?"

"Because. It makes sense. Like music. You know, music has rules and chords and keys and they fit together in certain patterns. You can make new patterns, but they all fit certain rules and only sound right when you use the right patterns. I like the rules and the logic."

"I know exactly what you mean. When are you going to quit your music lessons?"

Kim looked at her mom and Cynthia. "I won't quit. Really mom."

Melissa gave her a smile and said, "Kim, you can quit whenever you want. If you want to do something else, then go right ahead. It is your life and you have the right to make your own decisions."

"Don't worry about mommy and me," Cynthia said. "We only want to see you happy. We know you have many talents and interests. Pick out the ones you like the best and go after them, honey." Both Melissa and Cynthia continued to watch Kristal with more than a bit of curiosity.

"Your parents are right," Kristal said. "Go do what you want. You have some wonderful talents, and you're only beginning to discover them. What kind of math do you like?"

"Spatial math."

Valerie had to ask, "What in the world is spatial math?" She was three years ahead of Kim in school, and had never heard of such a thing.

Kristal explained, "The study of shapes and algorithms that describe them. In the simplest form it represents drawings on a piece of paper. Like a triangle. There are all kinds of rules that describe a triangle. On a piece of paper that triangle's angles must add up to 180 degrees. On a curved surface, like the face of that globe over there, the sum of the angles can go from 0 to 360 degrees. In more complicated versions it describes three dimensional items like the pyramids. There are even more rules that describe a pyramid. And then after that, it gets very theoretical and fun I must say."

Kristal was not only beautiful but she was smart and she had totally impressed Valerie. "What is more complicated than pyramids?" Valerie asked.

"Perhaps Kim can tell us."

"Me? Well lot's I guess. There are the geometrical problems to describe the ultra-small world of strings and force fields that surround them. Multi-dimensional fields of gravitons."

"What?" Valerie didn't have a clue as to what Kim was talking about. She looked at her mother for help, but Melissa and Cynthia were watching Kristal. So were Karen and Jennifer. The conversation had caught all of the adults off guard.

"What, is a good question Valerie," said Kristal. She spoke to Kim, "Let's start with, what you have been reading."

"Mostly Internet stuff. Encyclopedia articles."

"Have you sent e-mail and questions to authors?"

"A few."

"Any answers?"

"Some. They weren't really that helpful. If I tell them I am eight years old, they don't even answer."

"I suspect the reason they don't give you good answers is because your questions are too difficult. They probably don't know the answers."

"I had thought of that. But they're the experts."

"Experts don't know everything. Let me ask you a question. An expert can be someone who knows science or math, or even someone who is very good at music. So, do you think there are experts at music who know much more than you? Or experts that can perform much better than you?"

Kim couldn't stifle a smile that came to her face.

Kristal finished, "Math is more fun than music. There isn't much room in music to break out and push past the experts. You can be better, but you can't change the rules. With math you can change the rules."

Kristal and Kim both seemed to lean back and think about what they had said. It was getting late and this break in the conversation allowed Cynthia to step in, "Ok girls, time to get ready for bed. Off to the bathroom with you." Cynthia had given the girls their marching orders. Kristal stared at the ceiling with a slight upturn at the corners of her mouth, as if she were recalling a pleasant memory.

 

Saturday and Sunday were fun. Melissa spent less than an hour in the salon on Saturday morning, probably a record for her. It was like a holiday for the girls. They went out for breakfast, followed by shopping through the afternoon and then over to grandma and grandpa's for a sleep-over. Kim and Valerie spent the night at their grandma's while the adults went out for dinner and dancing.

The next day was spent at the Six Flags amusement park. It was another great day for the girls. Karen showed Valerie how to stuff Kleenex in her shoes to make her tall enough to ride on the adult roller coasters. Kristal walked with Kim and talked with her all day. They seemed to be made for each other.

When the group left Chicago, Kristal, Karen and Jennifer drove south to Indiana, while the May clan drove north to Milwaukee. Almost everything went back to normal on Monday. Melissa was back in the salon, Cynthia drove off to work and Kim and Valerie went to school. But not everything was as it used to be. Kim stopped her piano and violin practice. It was rather quiet around the house.

 

 

CHAPTER FOUR

 

Source: Excerpts from Melissa and Cynthia May's diaries

 

"Wake-up." Kim was notoriously slow in the morning. Melissa usually had to yell at her two or three times. Today was an important day for Kim. She was starting her new hobby of mathematics.

For most people it wouldn't have been a hobby. But things were different for Kim. Based on her music career, everyone now knew that Kim had extraordinary talents. She never seemed to struggle with her music, and no one expected her to struggle with her mathematics. At least not in the sense most people struggle. Kim never got frustrated. She just worked at something until she finished it. There was no emotion to the process, but there was satisfaction upon completion. The family started to see this as she moved farther into her mathematics, and later in her physics studies.

Today she was going to the local high school for a math test. Cynthia and Melissa thought it was a joke, but they had no choice. The bureaucracy in education was vast and moved at glacial speed. At one time, education was taught in one-room school houses with little guidance or interference from the state. Later, the schools got bigger and the bureaucracy grew, but it was still controlled from a relatively close state capitol. Then candidates for the Presidency of the United States decided that education made for a great campaign slogan. Everyone was for education. So it then became a federal issue with huge bureaucratic delays and screw-ups.

Today was testimony to that sad history. Cynthia had asked the high school if Kim could move up several grades in math. The hysteria from the bureaucracy would have been hilarious if not so close to home. The grade school needed Kim to help their federal test scores, so they insisted all contacts go through the principal's office; mostly so they could delay and kill the request. Cynthia asked a high school teacher for private tutoring and the teacher refused, saying that it was against the rules to teach outside of school; she would have to get permission first. Melissa even talked to a private school, but they admitted that none of their teachers had degrees or certification in math above the basic algebra level; including their high school! They taught out of workbooks and wouldn't have the ability to answer non-routine questions.

So Kim took the high school test. They found out that she was extremely bright in math (no surprise there) but she didn't know all of the rules governing trigonometry and geometry. If she would stay at her local school, they could arrange to have one of the high school teachers tutor her for an hour each afternoon.

For once Kim was frustrated. She was ready to run and they were slowing her down. On her first day with the tutor, she was given a trigonometry textbook. She brought it home and read the first half. The second day she asked if she could take a test. The teacher was unprepared, but asked a few questions to satisfy herself that Kim had read the first half of the book. The second night Kim finished the book. On day three she asked for a final exam in trig. Again the teacher was unprepared but promised to have a test for her on day four. Kim picked up her next textbook, and by day four she had read half of her new coordinate geometry book. She took the trig. test on day four. It wasn't the normal trigonometry test. All of the high school teachers had contributed a couple of questions to make it as difficult as possible. On day five she returned to the tutor. Kim had finished the geometry book, and asked for her third textbook.

The tutor had to point out to her that she had gotten two questions wrong on her trigonometry test. Kim pointed out that she was right, and that the teacher who had written the questions was wrong. The other teacher joined the tutor and they tried to intimidate Kim into agreeing that she was wrong and they were right. They were very condescending, besides being wrong. That was the end of her tutoring by the high school. It only lasted one week, but Kim now had the basic rules to go to the next step.

It took Cynthia a week to make arrangements, but Kim met Professor Baines at UW-Milwaukee. Professor Baines again suggested a test to check Kim's achievement level, but first he asked her several math questions and determined her general level of knowledge. He handed her a test on calculus. Kim finished the test and Professor Baines immediately corrected the test. Kim had left half the questions unanswered, but the half that she had answered she had correct. Professor Baines was impressed that she gotten any correct, considering she had no knowledge of calculus. All of her correct answers had been inferred based on her geometry background.

Professor Baines decided to start her at first semester calculus. They were already half way into the semester, so he gave Kim the syllabus and pointed her towards the bookstore to buy her textbook. Kim brought the book home and began reading that night. It was funny, because she lay on the floor with the book in front of her, and except for turning pages, she didn't move for hours. People had to step over her to get around the apartment.

Kim's calculus classes met everyday at 1:20. Kim missed her first class because Grandma May had car problems that day. By the time grandma was able to take Kim to her first class, she had finished the book. After class, she asked Professor Baines if she could take the test again. Professor Baines was a very accommodating man, and he had already realized that Kim was a special student. He had an appointment right after class, but he took Kim back to his office and gave her the test. He said he would be back in about an hour and a half. When he returned, he corrected her test and found one little mistake.

Kim had been instructed to stay at the department head's office after her daily classes. Since she was still very young they didn't want her to have to fend for herself. Grandma was to pick her up at 4:00 each day, and she was dutifully waiting in the office when Kim and Professor Baines entered. Professor Baines introduced himself, "Mrs. May, you have a very talented grand-daughter."

"Thank you Professor, we think very highly of her."

"I'm sure you do. I underestimated her ability. I don't think you need to bring her back to class tomorrow."

Grandma was concerned, "Why, what is the problem?"

"No problem Mrs. May. Kim doesn't need classroom help. She can move at a much faster pace than the other students. What I would like to do is meet with Kim once a week. Kim, I will assign a book to you and I would like you to read it. If you have any questions, you call my office and leave a message. Then, once a week I would like you to come in and we will discuss your progress. I have a feeling, that at least for the next couple of books, you won't have any trouble with them. So, I am going to let you move ahead at your own pace until we find something that can challenge you." Then he looked back at Mrs. May, "At that point, we will re-discuss classes, schedules and the like. Is that acceptable?'

Kim said yes and so did her grandma.

"Kim, let me pull the syllabus for semester 2 calculus and give you the title of your next textbook. Take your current book back to the bookstore and sell it back. You won't get much money for it Mrs. May, but Kim has little need for it. You might as well get what you can. I will call your mother tonight, and set up an appointment for next Monday or Tuesday. Any questions?"

None.

"Kim, I look forward to seeing you next week." And that was the end of Calculus 101.

Professor Baines was true to his word and set up an appointment for the next week. Kim went back to grade school full time, which she liked. With the math books to challenge her at night, she enjoyed the social contact during the day. She was approaching her ninth birthday, and it was becoming more fun to keep up with her girlfriends and their activities.

By the following week she had not finished her second book. She read at night, but no longer on the floor. She sat at the kitchen table with a notepad and pencil. As she read, she would sometimes stop and calculate something. She started taking the tests at the end of each chapter, and then comparing the results with the teacher's edition.

Kim went to see her professor the next week and they discussed Kim's progress. The professor suggested that she continue at her own pace, and they would meet again the following week. The following week Kim had completed the book. Professor Baines gave her an examination and she passed with two very minor mistakes. The Professor explained that if she had been taking classes those minor mistakes would probably have been covered in class. He suggested that she move on to third semester calculus.

Grandma picked her up at the university and made another trip down to the bookstore.

Kim finished third semester calculus in two weeks. While she had struggled mildly with second semester calculus, something seemed to click for her in third semester work. She breezed right through it. Before moving on to differential equations, Melissa asked for a time out until after Christmas and the New Year.

In early December Kim had her ninth birthday. She received Barbie clothes and music files from her girl friends. Along with her customary birthday permanent from mom, Cynthia and Melissa gave her a new bicycle, and her grandma and grandpa gave her a new seminar computer with special education features for her work at the university. Kim was ready to move forward.

 

 

CHAPTER FIVE

 

Source: Excerpted from private conversations with Kristal Horn and Jennifer Gayle

 

February of 2019, Senator Kristal Horn was given the opportunity of enjoying one of the nicer perks of her new position. She was embarking on a taxpayer-financed junket to one of the political hotspots in the world, The British Virgin Islands. Specifically, she was going to spend seven days at Little Dix Bay, a resort built by the oil mogul Rockefeller on the island of Virgin Gorda. She would have to endure hours of lectures concerning international financing, money laundering, and alternative energy sources. How appropriate to do so at one of Mr. Rockefeller's many legacies.

Ms. Horn's fellow travelers were also intrigued with the possibilities of these seminars. Most importantly, they couldn't wait to see Senator Horn in a bikini. They were slightly disappointed. Senator Horn wore a bikini top, but never wore less than a sarong around her waist.

On the afternoon of their fifth day at Little Dix Bay, the senator and her aid announced that they were going to walk two miles to the Baths. The Baths were one of the most famous beaches in the Caribbean; a water filled grotto with gigantic boulders strewn across a white sand beach and out into the crystal clear waters of the Caribbean. Millions of baitfish were stalked by barracudas and redfin needlefish swimming around the shallows. The snorkeling was easy and fun, especially for beginners. There was a snack shack that sold pop and ice cream. The picnic tables were old and suffering from dry rot. And there were always sunbathers, snorkelers, lovers, and running, yelling children there. The setting was idyllic and attracted thousands of tourists every year.

Kristal and Jennifer didn't make it to the Baths. They spent a leisurely afternoon at a quieter, but just as beautiful beach called Spring Bay. It was just up the road from the Baths. As soon as they arrived, Kristal laid her thick beach towel on the sand next to a picnic table, while a Rhode Island Red walked by trailing four chicks behind her. Kristal took off her light blouse and waded into the water for a short swim.

Jennifer was lying on her towel, guarding the trail that led from the hot macadam road to the beach. When Kristal returned from the water, she wrapped her sarong around her waist and sat on her towel. After waiting for her to sit down and get comfortable, the man at the picnic table spoke, "It is indeed a pleasure to see you again, Senator."

"Do you like the view Mr. Dunn?"

"The BVI are absolutely beautiful this time of the year, especially the ladies. Don't you agree?"

"Why Mr. Dunn, if I didn't know better I would take you for a DOM."

"DOM?"

"Dirty Old Man, Mr. Dunn." Kristal gave him a quick glance and a smile. Then she and Mr. Dunn again turned to face the ocean. "So Mr. Dunn, tell me some good news."

"I wish that I could."

"That is what Jennifer told me. Is there no hope, Mr. Dunn?"

"I am afraid not, Ms. Horn. I have a friend at MI6. He is an avid American watcher, and I ran some scenarios past him. He believes as I do, that we don't have enough evidence to make a significant splash. I am truly sorry."

"Jennifer warned me. I was hoping with my heart, and I wasn't thinking with my brain."

"I'm sorry. It seems that you made everything too easy, I dare say. Your name elected you. It was so automatic that the party didn't need to do anything, so they didn't."

"But Mr. Dunn, we have seen obscene amounts of money and money laundering. Two months after becoming a senator, I have become twenty million dollars richer. I have a stake in the Carolina Group, the nastiest batch of arrogant assholes in the world. We have proof of vote rigging, and intimidation. We saw how they owned the media. I gave you recordings, video and audio recordings of their complicity."

"I know Ms. Horn. Peanuts, as my friend says. If you had been in a tight race the magnitude of these crimes would have given us the ammunition that we need. But it wasn't a tight race. You won the moment that you announced your intentions of running. What they did for you is, most likely, just the tip of the iceberg. I would love to flip that iceberg over and see what else they can do. But what they did for you was almost insignificant. Yes, you earned a quick $20 million, but I suspect that in a tight race they could have put $100 million into the race. You actually saved them $80 million."

"It is ironic isn't it? You know Mr. Dunn, you might not believe this but I have worked very hard all of my life. Everyone looks at the beautiful model and thinks that she sits around and gets pampered all day. Someone dresses her, someone applies her makeup, and she walks down a runway for thirty seconds and makes $100,000. Everyone thinks that. But I really did work hard. I changed the industry. I put in twelve and fifteen hour days. It isn't easy traveling through six or eight time zones, and then putting on a happy face and working for another eight hours. You know how much fun travel can be Mr. Dunn, don't you?"

"Amen, dear."

"But I worked. I wanted fame and fortune and so I worked for it. I got it, but I worked hard for it. But there was nothing I wanted more than this. I truly, with all of my heart and soul, hate the government of my country. I love my country, Mr. Dunn. I love it more than you know. I love the Constitution. I love the Bill of Rights. I love the Gettysburg Address. I love what it used to stand for. My government no longer believes in those things, Mr. Dunn. They believe in power and riches. They believe in control. It is like 500 years ago. The people running my country truly believe that they are the kings and queens. The nobility. The rest of us are their serfs. We are here to be thrown into the meat grinders and the wars to protect our nobility. They honestly think and believe that way Mr. Dunn.

"I have met my benefactors. They have drooled over my body and made comments that said, 'I can own you if I want'. They had no respect for me. They have no respect for the little man. They have never broken a sweat or a fingernail in their life. But what really, truly irks me Mr. Dunn, is that they believe this is their birthright. I hate them. I have never wanted anything more than this, Mr. Dunn."

"Kristal, you have passion. I admire that in you. Hell, I admire that in everyone who has it. But you … you are exceptional. I would follow you into battle any day. And that is what we should do. Continue the battle. You worked hard, you wanted this, and it didn't happen. You are not a person to give up. We lost one battle, but let's not give up on the war."

"Mr. Dunn, very well said, but for once in my life I'm not sure I can see the path."

"When you can't see the path, sit down and rest. Collect your thoughts and relax. Wait for the next opportunity. It will come. We just have to be ready for it when it arrives."

"You are right Mr. Dunn. And I shall do that. But I still hate it. I have never had to wait for insight before. I have always been smart enough to decide what I want, and through intelligence and hard work, achieve it. This scares me. It scares me because I am afraid that I might not be able to beat them. They may be too strong for me to beat. Where is the cavalry when you need them?"

"I love your old westerns, Ms. Horn. And if I recollect, just when the end was in sight, you always heard the bugle just over the next ridge. So until then, let's give them a fight like they have never seen."

"Aye Mr. Dunn, do you have an idea?"

"It's not much of an idea. It is more like a holding pattern, or guerrilla warfare. Let's work at this like snipers. Let's take a few shots and run. We'll hide behind the next tree and take a few more shots, then run away again. If I remember correctly, someone did that rather successfully a bit over 200 hundred years ago."

Mr. Dunn watched a needlefish come flying out of the water and splash down again. "We agree that we don't have enough information to beat them now, right?"

Kristal threw a pebble into the water. "Right."

"So let's harass them. Let's announce ourselves. I have a friend at the Guardian. I can slip him information that can at least embarrass a few people. It won't start the citizen and voter revolt that we need, but it will piss-off someone. Maybe we can get them to make a mistake."

"I like your fortitude Mr. Dunn. But the war will now be exposed. It will get more heated. They will start hunting us down."

"And that is why we must continue just as we have. No one else can be brought into this. It will be hard to call for the cavalry. We won't have any friends, because we can't afford any friends. We have to be in this for the long term. It may end up being a decade or more, I have no idea. Do what you can to find evidence to use against them. Instead of a frontal attack by the BBC, I will coordinate small attacks on their flanks. I have many friends around the publishing industry, and I will selectively feed them ammunition.

"But Senator, I can't inadvertently lead them to you. If somehow they figure things out, if they get close to you, you have to throw me to the wolves. Is that clear?"

"No."

"Senator, I too believe in something. I believe as you do, that we are dealing with the most dangerous situation in the history of civilization. The cold war was a standoff. Neither side wanted to escalate to full fledged thermonuclear war. There was always the chance that a miscalculation on either side could cause such a catastrophe, but neither side honestly wanted such a thing."

"This is different. You have a group of people who believe that they can indeed go all the way to war and win. They believe that their strategic forces are unstoppable, and their newly installed defense shield impregnable. That shield wasn't built for unforeseeable reasons. Somebody wanted it not for defensive purposes, but for offensive reasons. I am afraid that I am much more pessimistic than you. And so is the rest of Europe. Your country scares us unlike anything we have ever seen.

"Perhaps I haven't been as honest as you have. I am as passionate as you, in that we must return America to its first destiny. Not because I love America, but because I fear this Neo-America. It seems strange that you would come to me. There must be something to this thing called fate. The fact that you and I have come together, both with such passion, says that we cannot quit. I have grandchildren. For their sake, we can't quit. I am willing to pay the ultimate price, and so I say to you again, protect yourself at all costs. The world needs you. Is that clear?"

"Crystal clear." Kristal looked into Mr. Dunn's eyes and shared their passion. "What will be your first leak, Mr. Dunn?"

"Leave that to me. You should be taken by surprise, just as everyone else is. Senator … Ms. Horn … Kristal … as always, it has been a privilege to see you and talk with you. I hope that the next time we meet things are more to our liking. I should go now."

Mr. Dunn stood and walked up the path, past Jennifer. Kristal gave Jennifer a small shrug, and Jennifer came down the beach to join Kristal. Jennifer spread her towel and lay down next to Kristal. "Any luck, Kristal?"

"Not much. Hang on; things are going to heat up. We're going to step on the dragon's tail. Maybe he will trip over his own feet and fall over the cliff before he fries us."

Jennifer gave her own glum assessment, "That's not very comforting, considering that dragons can fly."

Kristal summed it up, "Where is Harry Potter when you need him?"

 

 

CHAPTER SIX

 

Excerpts from Melissa and Cynthia May's diaries

 

In late March, Kim returned from school with a cat. She walked into the salon carrying a black cat that looked just like Andromeda, "Mom, look what followed me home from school." Kim held the cat in her arms and tried to show everyone without disturbing the cat. The cat was right at home in Kim's arms.

"Where did you find her?" mom asked.

"I didn't, she found me. I was walking home with Trisha, and this cat came walking down the sidewalk right at us. We stopped and the cat walked up to me and sat down right in front of me. She just looked up at me and meowed. So I bent over and petted her, and then we started walking home again. She ran ahead of me and sat down in front of me again. She blocked my path. Honest. So I petted her again and then walked around her, and when I started walking home she ran in front of me again. So here she is. Can I keep her?"

"Does she have a collar?"

"Nope. Nothing. She must be a stray."

"She must belong to somebody," mom said.

"Can I give her some milk?"

"Sure, take her upstairs and give her some milk. We'll decide what to do with her later. But she can't stay in here," meaning the salon.

Kim and Valerie went upstairs where the cat was content to be held by Kim. They got a saucer from the cupboard and poured some milk in it. The cat drank a little, then walked over to Kim and waited to be picked up again. She was very happy to be held by Kim. Valerie asked if she could hold the cat and Kim handed her over, but the cat squirmed and wiggled and wouldn't stay still. She finally broke loose from Valerie's grip and jumped down to the floor. She went over to Kim and begged to be picked up. The cat was certainly interested in staying with Kim.

The girls sat down to watch cartoons and Cynthia soon came home. She put away her briefcase and purse and came to say hi to Kim and Valerie. Valerie went over and gave Cynthia a hug. Cynthia was expecting Kim to get up and give her a hug, but then she saw the cat. "Well Kim, what have we here?"

"It's a cat. She followed me home. Can I keep her?"

"Does your mother know you have a cat?"

"Yea. I showed it to her. She said we would discuss it later. What do you think?"

"I'm not sure, Kim. Does she have a collar?"

"No."

"Where did you find her?"

"On the way home from school. About a block over by Tulane Street."

"Can I see her?"

"Sure," and she handed the cat to Cynthia. Cynthia held the cat and looked at her.

"She looks healthy enough. I don't think she is a stray." And then Cynthia just stopped and stared at the cat.

"Is something the matter?" Valerie asked.

"Uh, no," she said. "Stay here, I want to go talk with your mother. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Cynthia took the cat and went down to the salon. When she walked in Melissa saw her, "Cynthia, you can't bring that cat in here. Health and sanitary rules; it's against code."

"I know, but I need to talk with you for just a minute. Take a look at this cat." Melissa walked over and looked at the cat.

"So?"

"Look at her eyes." One was green and one was brown. "Look familiar?" Cynthia asked.

"That's too weird," Melissa answered. "Way too weird. What do you think we should do?"

"Let's call Kristal tonight. We'll ask her where she got Andromeda. Maybe that will shed some light on it. I know nothing about cats, but maybe different colored eyes are normal."

"What do you think we should tell the girls?" Melissa asked.

"Well let's see what Kristal says first. If there is no problem, we should put up pictures around the neighborhood announcing that we found a stray cat. If no one claims her, then we'll let the girls keep her."

"Ok. I'll call after I close the salon tonight. Now, you have to take her out of here."

Cynthia returned home with the cat and gave her back to Kim. "Did you look at her eyes?"

"No," Kim said. Both girls looked at the cat. "She has two different colors! Just like Andromeda. Wow, that's neat. What did mom say? Can I keep her?"

"Maybe," Cynthia said. "First, we need to make sure that she doesn't belong to someone else. Well put up some pictures around the neighborhood and see if anyone claims her. If no one claims her, then we will consider keeping her. Why don't you put her in your room and we'll walk over to the grocery store and buy some food and dishes."

It took about 45 minutes for the girl's to do their shopping and return home. They had two small bowls, five pounds of cat food, a small collar and litter box. The litter box had a piece of plastic over the top. They peeled the plastic off and set the litter box in the back hallway. Kimmay placed the cat on the box so she knew what it was and where it was located. Valerie filled one bowl with water and one bowl with food and set those down on the other side of the hallway. The stray ate a few bits of food, lapped up a bit of water, and then walked back over to Kim. She wanted to be picked up and held.

"This is just temporary, girls. Got that?" Cynthia said.

Both answered yes.

"Can we give her a name?" Kim asked.

"It's only temporary. What do you want to call her?"

"Andromeda."

Melissa and Cynthia called Kristal after super, but Kristal wasn't home, so they left a message. Andromeda slept on Kim's bed that night.

Kristal didn't return Melissa's call Monday night nor did she call on Tuesday. Instead, on Tuesday afternoon Jennifer came to the salon. Jennifer and Melissa exchanged hugs and greetings. Jennifer said she was in town for just a short stop over. She handed Melissa an envelope and said she had to catch a plane. "See ya," and she left. Jennifer didn't stay more than five minutes.

Melissa opened the envelope. Inside was a second envelope and written on the envelope was a message, 'Open in private'. Melissa walked back to her office and opened the second envelope. There was a short note inside. 'I'll be at Vern's Bar and Grill, until 8:00. Come see me ASAP.' It wasn't signed.

Melissa finished up her last client for the day, and asked Rose to close up the salon. She walked through the back of the salon towards the steps going upstairs. Instead of taking the stairs up to her apartment, Melissa walked out the back door and locked it behind her. She walked the long way around the block and the two blocks over to Vern's. It was 6:30.

It was dark inside the bar, and it took a couple moments for her eyes to adjust. She saw Jennifer sitting in a booth facing her. Jennifer didn't acknowledge Melissa. She sat in the booth and waited for Melissa to sit down. "Melissa, thanks for coming. I'm sorry for acting so melodramatic, but things have changed. Let me call the waitress over and order you a coke." Jennifer waved at the waitress, pointed at her coke and held up two fingers. The waitress nodded.

"I can't tell you everything that is going on because I don't know. Kristal wanted me to give you a message. Don't call or write Kristal and ask for any information, or give her any information. Call her once in a while to chat, but don't talk about Kim or politics. Keep up the appearance of everything being normal and nothing unusual happening. Ok?"

"I don't understand," Melissa said.

"I know, but I can't tell you much more. I don't think it has anything to do with you. I think Kristal is the one who has to watch what she is doing. I'm guessing that she is under surveillance and she is trying to protect you. I gave the same message to Karen earlier today."

"I don't understand, she's a United States senator," Melissa complained.

"I don't understand either. Please, honor her wishes. Will you promise?"

"Of course I will."

"Thanks. Thanks from both Kristal and me. Concerning your cat, Kristal thinks Andromeda and your cat are a little unusual, but not unheard of. Breeders do a lot of inbreeding these days, especially with pure breeds. You see it more with dogs than with cats. She speculates that might be the cause for two differently colored eyes. But she admits that she is not an expert on all cats, just one cat. One specific cat to be sure." Jennifer gave Melissa a reassuring smile. "Do you want to get something to eat?"

"No," Melissa answered, "the girls will be expecting me to be home for dinner soon."

"Ok. One more thing, Kristal wanted me to tell you that she loves you and your family and she wants to help you whenever she can. She wanted me to say that she will help you with anything, and she emphasized anything. But don't contact her directly for help." Jennifer handed Melissa a card with a telephone number on it. "I gave one of these to Karen also. It is a telephone number. If you need to contact Kristal about something, call this number and tell Gayle her appointment has been confirmed. I'll contact you within 24 to 48 hours. Memorize the number then destroy it."

"This is weird. I have to say I don't feel very comfortable about this."

"Trust me, I don't like it either. But remember, Kristal must have a good reason for this."

"Do you think she is in some kind of trouble? Does she need help? Is there something that I can do?"

Jennifer smiled, "I'll pass along your offer. Please don't talk about this with anyone else."

"Is it ok to tell Cynthia?"

"Sure. But tell her in private. Thanks Melissa. Good luck to you and Cynthia. Say hi to Kim and Valerie. You leave first. I'm going to have a burger. Bye." Jennifer reached across the table and extended her hand to Melissa. End of conversation. There would be no goodbye hug. They shook hands and Melissa left.

When she reached home, Melissa went through her normal evening routine. They put the girls to bed and Cynthia and Melissa sat up reading and watching television for another hour. When it was their turn, Cynthia and Melissa went through their normal evening routine before retiring to bed. Their pillow talk that evening kept them both awake for a long time.

 

 

CHAPTER SEVEN

 

Excerpted from personal conversations with Senator Horn and Jennifer Gayle

 

The month after Senator Kristal Horn returned from Virgin Gorda, the Guardian printed an expose on American election politics. The President's party paid $40 to $100 million dollars to buy congressional elections. A shadowy financial group known as the Carolina Fund bankrolled a large part of the election. The Carolina Fund was a registered mutual fund company with a very restricted clientele. All of the fund's clients were either active United States congressmen belonging to the President's party, or retired CEOs and government officials from around the world. The list of retired dignitaries included ex-prime ministers, Arabian princes and kings, ex-CEOs from Fortune 500 corporations (primarily energy and defense companies) and ex-presidents from the United States of America. It was a very formidable group.

After The Guardian had released their article on corruption in the United States elections, things became quite tense in Washington D.C. The President and his advisors were not happy, and privileges changed. The CIA and NSA re-directed some of their assets. Washington D. C. and Capitol Hill walked on eggshells.

The National Security Agency had the most advanced computer technology in the world. Along with quality they also had quantity. They had over 40 acres of floor space dedicated to their computers and their listening systems. After World War II, the predecessor to the NSA began monitoring all international telegrams in and out of the United States. While their mandate said that they could not monitor the communications of United States citizens while in the United States, that quickly fell by the wayside. By the 1970s the NSA was in position to monitor every electronic communication in the world. That included telegraph, telephone, television, radio and encrypted satellite communications by both friendly and hostile foreign governments. Monitoring un-encrypted communications of United States citizens was a piece of cake. In the 1990s when cell phones and e-mail became a way of life, a couple more acres of computers were added. The computers ran through every piece of incoming data and searched for key words, phrases and nonsense. Nonsense often meant encryption, and those messages were kicked out to the next higher level of software and hardware.

The volume of electronic data was increasing exponentially. Faster and faster computers were needed. Seymour Cray in Chippewa Falls was one of the first to successfully push the envelope. Then came Burton Smith and Tera Computer. Then back to Cray who broke the teraflop barrier – one trillion operations per second. Then the big boys moved in. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, NSA was afraid of Japan dominating the supercomputer industry. NSA built their own facility complete with peripheral sites scattered around Maryland in College Park and Crypto City. They were able to build processors capable of petaflops (10¹⁵ operations per second) and soon pushed into exaflop range and on towards yottaflops (10²⁴). They developed processor-in-memory chips (PIMS), moved on to quantum computing and then on towards biological chips.

Through their various stages they pushed material technology into molecular beam epitaxy to work with gallium arsenide chips, then synthetic diamonds for heat conductivity and then ion beam lithography. But the most important step along the way was driven by their need to put single molecules of superconductors on the chips. Inorganic superconductors made of yttrium, manganese, oxygen, carbon and hydrogen were placed on chips. It was a step that would have tremendous repercussions in years to come.

The technology was available, and NSA was using it. Big Brother was following what the citizens were doing. There was an exception to this spying, however. An unwritten code said that you didn't spy on the elected officials, unless you had reasonable cause for some type of crime. The laws that supposedly applied to the citizens actually did apply to the ruling class. Along with elected officials, the President always made sure that his staff, re-election committee and a few good, rich friends were excluded.

The Guardian article changed that. The President was so mad about the leak that he told the NSA, CIA and TSA to include elected officials in their routine data mining. In April of 2019 all senators, including Senator Kristal Horn, came under surveillance from the United States government. All of the senators and representatives scurried to warn their contacts. Jennifer made several personal visits on behalf of Senator Horn. The senator's parents, sister and good friends Melissa and Cynthia May were on the short list.

To handle business for Krysallis, Jennifer continued to make quiet trips to Europe where she often had stopovers in London. She also met a few friends when they came to the USA on shopping trips. She made sure to say nothing interesting and pass along no information in electronic form. Her visits were strictly casual with old friends.

 

 

CHAPTER EIGHT

 

Source: Valerie Samantha May

 

In January, 2019 Kim had started 'Diff E Q'. She finished the first semester in a three week time span, and she had Intermediate Differential Equations finished by the end of February. Then she slowed down. The professor had her start theoretical work, which included lots of proofs. She didn't like it, and asked to quit after three weeks. Kim asked to move on to advanced geometry and algebra classes. She wanted to concentrate on math used in physics and quantum mechanics. Professor Baines thought that she was now crossing out of his expertise. These were areas where someone with a stronger background in physics might be better suited to help her. He recommended Professor Barnhardt in Madison. But first, he suggested that Kim take physics classes at UW-Milwaukee.

Through the end of the 2019 fall semester, Kim took physics and chemistry classes with Professor Chan for her physics work and Professor Sather for her chemistry work. She continued with the same procedure that she used for her math studies; she would read the textbooks at home, and then meet with her professors once a week to discuss her progress. Because she was covering two subjects, things went slower than before. There were more details and memorization than with the math. Two semesters of introductory and analytic chemistry were followed by two additional semesters of organic chemistry. Because of all of the memorization, especially with the organic chemistry, she didn't finish these classes until the end of summer. Thermodynamics took only four weeks, because it was primarily calculus, and physical chemistry went the same way. By Halloween she had a strong, but introductory basis in chemistry.

Physics went about the same. She was able to advance a little further with her physics studies than she had with the chemistry. Again, she had a strong but limited background in physics by mid fall. She was getting tired of chemistry and to some extent, physics. She complained to mom that she wanted to get back to her math studies, but mom was too busy to help her much, so she went to Cynthia. Kim owned Cynthia, and it wasn't long before Cynthia had collected recommendations from Kim's three professors at Milwaukee and had them sent to Professor Barnhardt in Madison.

Professor Barnhardt was interested in meeting Kim. The professor had 35 years of teaching under his belt, and he had dealt with his share of wunderkinds and geniuses. He was the perfect person for Kim to study under. On a cold day in November, Cynthia, mom and Kim went to Madison.

Since they were driving on interstate highway I-94, they had to take their federal identification passes. The RFID system in the car would be tracked by the interstate computer system, but first they had to identify all passengers in the vehicle. Cynthia drove to the monitor at the entrance ramp to I-94 and held her blue passport so the scanner could read it. Next she held up mom's yellow passport. Yellow meant that she had restrictions on her travel. Mom never would tell anyone why she wasn't blue like Cynthia. Then Cynthia showed the scanner Kim's orange passport. Orange was for citizens under twenty-one years of age. The drive to the university in Madison took slightly more than an hour.

In Madison, they spent half an hour looking for a place to park on campus. The security police sent them to a parking lot two miles from the math building, and they had to take a bus back to Professor Barnhardt's building. They were half an hour late, but that was ok because the professor was an hour late.

Professor Barnhardt was a small man. He had a receding hairline and a neatly trimmed beard, and what little hair he had left was white. The professor wore small spectacles with wire rims. He spoke softly but used enormous sweeping hand gestures to get his point across. The three of them took an immediate liking to him.

Professor Barnhardt taught in the math department and the physics department. His specialty was sub atomic physics, specializing in quantum mechanics, string theory and energy tunneling. Much of what he taught was theoretical and required mathematical models to help explain the theory. The math was very advanced and specialized, hence he was one of the few professors in the country qualified to teach it.

He had read the recommendation letters from the Milwaukee professors and thought that Kim might have enough background to study at Madison. But there was a big qualification; the age, desire and maturity of Kim. Since Kim had no relatives in Madison there was a problem of where she could stay. She wasn't yet ten, and was way too young to stay in the dorms. Cynthia asked if she could commute once a week, but Professor Barnhardt didn't think that would work. Teleconferencing they asked? Difficult he answered. Did it have to be for the full week they asked? At least four days a week he said. Fridays were usually light days for him. He was getting closer to retirement and didn't push himself as hard as he used to.

There was only one solution, Cynthia would take a small apartment in Madison and stay with Kim. They would drive over late on Sundays, and return on Thursday evenings. It was going to be an adventure for Kim, but it was going to be a hassle for Cynthia. Many of her clients were along the Lake Michigan shoreline from the Illinois border up to Sheboygan. Madison was technically west of her sales territory.

While Cynthia was traveling during the day, Kim would have to spend her day on campus. Professor Barnhardt said they would make arrangements with campus security, give her a beeper and set up routines with check-ins for her to follow. Kim would be under constant supervision while on campus, and most of the time she wouldn't have to leave the math building.

The professor said he would send Cynthia and mom information on course schedules and materials, then he pointed them towards the administration building for registration. The administration encounter was another lesson in frustration, but it was not totally futile. By the end of the day they had gathered enough information and forms to get Kim organized enough to start the winter semester.

When they arrived back in Milwaukee, they drove to grandma's house to pick me up. They recounted their adventure and I was a little sad. I didn't want to lose Kim's company. She was a pain in the butt at times, but I did like having her around. Grandma volunteered her services at the Madison apartment. She said she would spend every other week with Kim. That way, Cynthia would be able to schedule her routine to make life a bit easier. She could handle the far east and north part of her territory on the weeks she was at home, and handle the west and south part of her territory on her weeks in Madison. It would be a little easier on everyone. Mom wasn't happy, but she said she would accept what was necessary for Kim's education.

During Christmas vacation, Cynthia and grandma drove to Madison to find an apartment. They didn't want to stay in the campus area. Even though it would be more convenient, they didn't want Kim exposed to the type of after hours socializing in which twenty year old students indulged. Cynthia, and especially grandma, were a bit conservative compared to college students. They found a two-bedroom apartment on the east side of town, near the interstate. It was close to a branch library, a senior citizens center and a grocery store for grandma. She would have something to do during the day.

Grandpa and mom helped the two of them move their items to the apartment on New Years day. We all drove over in two cars and pulled two small trailers. For a small two-bedroom apartment, they had a lot of things to take, but by the time winter semester started everything was in place.

Kim was now in school full time, but she was only carrying a part-time student load. She started with six credits in mathematics, Elementary Matrix and Linear Algebra, along with Advanced Calculus. She picked up another four credits in physics with a course on Introductory Quantum Mechanics and one on Advanced Mechanics.

It took her several weeks to get into the swing of college life. She spent her entire day on campus attending lessons and completing homework assignments in her spare time. She had no friends and was confined to two buildings, so she had no trouble completing her homework by the time Cynthia or grandma picked her up. Since her homework was completed at school she had nothing to do at home. She didn't know any of the kids in the neighborhood.

To fill some of her spare time she started monitoring other classes. She asked Professor Barnhardt if she could sit in the back of his Differential Geometry class as long as she promised not to ask any questions. Professor Barnhardt looked upon it as his share of babysitting, so he agreed. Kim started four weeks into the semester, so she was behind the other students. She used the evenings and the following weekend to read the textbook and catch up with the rest of the class. By the sixth week she was ahead of the class.

At mid term, she asked the Professor if she could take the test with the rest of the class. Technically he should have said no, since she hadn't paid for the extra credits. But Professor Barnhardt was Professor Barnhardt, and he didn't give a hoot about school policy. He was only mildly surprised when she turned in the highest score. The professor started paying more attention to her.

At the end of the term, she had the highest scores in four of her five classes. Advanced Mechanics was a bore, so she did only the minimum amount of work for that class. She still received an A. Kim wanted to continue over the summer, but grandma and Cynthia wanted to go home for a while. As a compromise, Professor Barnhardt was able to get the syllabus from some fellow professors for Advanced Calculus II and Modern Algebra II. Professor Barnhardt didn't think she needed introductory or first semester courses in any discipline, and Kim would quickly picked up the introductory parts at the start of second semester course work. Cynthia bought her the textbooks and they all headed home for the summer.

In late August, Cynthia, Kim and Andromeda returned to Madison. They had kept their apartment over the summer, so there was nothing new to move. Kim took a couple of tests to prove that she was ready to move to the next course level in math and Professor Barnhardt cleared her for her next level of classes. Things were finally getting fun and challenging for Kim. She moved up to Abstract Algebra II with non-commutative rings and Differential Manifolds. These were areas that were much newer to Kim, so she had to work a little harder.

Professor Barnhardt put her in an Advanced Physics Studies, which was more independent study. He was testing her ability to work through journals and magazines to solve assignments. This course gave Kim her first real feel for string theory, and it soon became Kim's favorite. Not only did she like the subject, but she liked the independence to set the direction somewhat. It also allowed her to fully utilize the day, by spending extra time in the library doing research.

Life was a little better at the apartment also. Andromeda had made friends with a girl in the apartment building next door. She was the same age as Kim, and they began doing things together in the evenings. Kim moved some of her Barbie dolls from home to the apartment. Late in the semester, after Cynthia and grandma had a couple opportunities to meet Julie's mom, Kim was allowed to spend one weekend with them.

Christmas was a nice homecoming for everyone, and Kim was able to spend two weeks at home. She was now eleven and I was almost thirteen. I was half way through seventh grade and Kim was taking graduate classes at the University of Wisconsin. But I was cuter, and I had a boyfriend, so we were both happy.

Cynthia took Kim and Andromeda back to Madison in early January. Her mathematics classes included Advanced Differential Geometry and Nonlinear Partial Differential Equations. I had no clue what they meant, but Kim said she was learning math that would help her model sub atomic physics and the new theories. She was learning the math of String Theory and Energy Tunneling Theory.

In physics, Professor Barnhardt had her enrolled in independent studies that involved her two favorite theories. One day when Cynthia came by the math building to pick up Kim, Kim told her that Professor Barnhardt wanted to talk with her for a minute. She double parked behind Professor Barnhardt's car for twenty minutes and got a ticket.

It turned out to be a pep talk for Kim and Cynthia. Professor Barnhardt said that he wanted them both to know that he thought Kim was the most promising student that he had ever taught. He said that many of the fundamental breakthroughs in science, and especially physics, came early in a student's career. While Kim was only eleven, she was probably only a year or two away from being on the cutting edge of physics. He thought she had tremendous potential and just wanted to encourage both Kim and Cynthia to keep going with all of the sacrifices. It was nice of him to take the time to talk with both of them in such a manner, but Cynthia was still angry when she found the parking ticket.

They were grateful for the pep talk, and they shared their conversation with everyone when they returned for the weekend. We were all proud of Kim, and we all hoped that someday she could be well known. We kidded about her having the recognition of a Newton or Einstein, but no one even dreamed such a thing was possible.

Were we ever wrong!

 

 

CHAPTER NINE

 

Excerpted from personal conversations with Senator Horn and Jennifer Gayle

 

Things had finally calmed down since the last big leak. It seemed that every eight to ten months another embarrassment popped up, which left the Christian Conservative Party for an Ethical and Moral America (CC-PEMA) continuously on the lookout for leaks. The NSA, TSA, FBI and CIA were monitoring everyone in Washington D.C., with the exception of the President, his very top aides and the true wealth-holders of the country. But things had slowed down; high-powered spying can only last for a while, before overtime and high pressure browbeating take its toll on the spooks. The lull had settled in.

Senator Horn used the time to consolidate more power. She hadn't been in the Senate long enough to chair any of the important committees, but she had used her connections to gain a junior seat on some of the more powerful committees. She was on the Energy Defense Committee, a key committee for following the true wealth and power in the United States; 'Controller' of the greatest aphrodisiac ever discovered – oil. 'Controller' was of course a misnomer. Control of energy policy was well beyond the reach of any senate committee. It even reached beyond the Energy Department and the President. It was in the hands of private individuals who reported to no one. The CC-PEMA and the government reported to them. But the committee membership gave her access to activities long before they were apparent to the rest of the world.

Senator Horn also sat on two of the defense oversight committees. Again, these committees were eunuchs with barely any real power. But the defense agencies, NSA and CIA had to come to her committee to ask for money. Sometimes the directors actually had to answer a question when they came hat in hand to ask for more money; and they never failed to come. Appropriations for defense and internal security (e.g. internal spying) ate up more money year after year.

Senator Horn would occasionally pass an interesting tid-bit to Mr. Dunn, who would then take his time in transferring that information to a foreign publisher. The leaks were nothing more than an irritating scratch for the ruling party. Since they owned the American press, they were able to hide, distort, obfuscate or eliminate any pesky facts whenever they pleased. Americans had been inundated with administration propaganda for almost two decades. People were well aware of the deceit and envy projected by the foreign press towards the United States, and when told to ignore something, the citizens-in-wool did as they were told.

The most interesting rumor of the year came up in a hallway conversation after an Energy Defense Committee meeting. The United States had used its power and influence to virtually take over the world's oil industry, and United States oil companies now had an interest in every major oil field outside of China. They had 25 to 50% interests in the North Sea, and massive controlling power in the Middle East, Africa and South America. They controlled the pipelines flowing from Russia, and by that fact asserted tremendous influence on Russian policy.

Ownership of the American oil companies was concentrated in the hands of just a few. The Carolina Fund, that shadowy mutual fund company that controlled party finances and elections, was the major player in the American oil market. They in turn, were controlled by a handful of extremely rich families that had become the aristocracy of Neo-America. They paid no taxes and moved money around the world with impunity from government watchdogs. Some of these families also owned oil companies outside of the Carolina Fund. Mobil-Exxon and BP were both owned by one family, and even Shell had 40% American ownership. The Carolina's influence was primarily international, controlling the vast majority of Middle East and South East Asia oil and reserves.

These people held the wealth and power of the United States, and they should have had no worries in the world. Yet there was a rumor. Something was afoot. Something they did not like. Resources, meaning NSA and CIA resources were scrambling around the world to find something. They weren't sure what though. They were being tasked to find something, but they weren't told what they were looking for. 'Keep an ear open', 'Look for something unusual' was all they were told.

"Interesting," thought Senator Kristal Horn. It was of course too little to go on, but she too would keep her eyes and ears open.

 

 

CHAPTER TEN

 

Source: Valerie Samantha May

 

Kim returned home a week late for her twelfth birthday. It was a long weekend for a change, since she didn't have any classes on the following Monday and Tuesday. It was exam week, and she didn't have to return until Wednesday. She was excited by some new work that Professor Barnhardt had told her about. The professor refereed for several journals, and reviewed technical articles before they could be published. "Sometimes," she told us one night at dinner, "there are breakthroughs that are so significant, they can't wait to publish a full technical paper. They send the information out as 'letters' or 'abstracts' or 'transactions'. The rest of the scientific community helps by reviewing and trying to duplicate the findings as fast as they can."

"So what is the big news?" mom asked.

"Well, this MacArthur genius at Princeton managed to teleport a Buckminsterfullerene. It is absolutely amazing!" Kim gushed.

"So? What's a Buck …?" I asked.

"Buckminsterfullerene," Kim completed. "A bucky ball. A large carbon molecule. He sent it almost instantaneously from one point to another. He sent it across his laboratory from one point to another."

"Like it traveled faster than the speed of light?" asked mom. "But I thought scientists had already moved electrons and things faster than the speed of light. So what is the big deal this time?"

"No mom, it didn't travel faster than the speed of light. Its mass was changed into energy and then re-constructed at different spatial coordinates. It traveled at the speed of light between the two coordinates. Its energy was sent to the new spatial coordinates and then re-materialized."

"Do you mean like 'Beam me up Scotty'?" Cynthia asked.

Kim and I both looked at Cynthia. "Beam me up Scotty?"

"It's from an old science fiction show. The captain of the starship asked to be transported form the surface of the planet to the starship by saying, 'Beam me up'."

"Oh, I never heard that saying before. It's pretty demented. But that is what this guy did. He transported, or to be technically correct, teleported a molecule between two points. Dead clever isn't it?"

"Dead clever," mom agreed. "So when can we teleport from Milwaukee to Madison without a one hour drive?"

"Not for a long, long time. A simple molecule is one thing, but people with trillions of atoms and molecules and constant electric impulses and molecular interactions going on all at the same time, that's a whole other magnitude of difficulty. Maybe never. Probably not in our lifetimes, unless of course I live to be two hundred. But maybe it could be used to transport simple things. It might be possible to send construction materials to the moon or into space orbit. That could be a really big deal."

"So how did they do this?" Cynthia asked.

"I don't know yet. I haven't seen the article. I have an idea about how it might be modeled mathematically, but I don't know enough about the engineering."

"Is this the type of studies that you want to do?" mom asked.

"Yea, this is what I like. When you get down to really tiny domains, there is magic there. You can make things happen that are impossible in our world. You can make electrons pass through solid matter. You can teleport matter or information. Back in the 1990s they teleported the quantum state of an electron from one electron to another. Now they move molecules. They stopped light back in the early 2000s. First they slowed down a photon for just an instant. Then they stopped it for an instant. Then they stopped it and kept it stopped. It's like holding a photon in your hand. Really impossible things but you can do it."

Kim was getting hyped. Her speech rate jumped up to 'Kim speed'. "It's like the old days with Einstein. At the extremes of large and fast, which were his domains, you could slow down time and aging by traveling at near light speed. Your mass would increase, and depending on where your frame of reference stood, your length got longer or shorter. You could travel a hundred years, but return not one day older. You could bend light with gravity.

"But now, the new domain is small. And not nanotechnology, but truly subatomic and multi-dimensional. Ten plus one. One for time, the others for different spatial dimensions. Energy tunneling and now they're not talking just about wave tunneling, but discrete photon packages. Going in and out of different universes, playing peek-a-boo with energy and maybe matter. And if that is all true, then anti-gravity. And some theories even say time reversal. We could go back in time and see the Big Bang.

"That is what I want to work on. I want to travel the cosmos, see the universe, go watch the pyramids built, and then go to the restaurant at the end of the universe."

"Restaurant?" I asked.

"It's from a book," she explained.

"Why don't we go to one here in Milwaukee, it's a lot closer?" I asked just to annoy her.

"Valerie, you want to take the fun out of everything," Kim said. "Wouldn't it be more fun to flap your arms like a bird and fly? Wouldn't it be more fun to walk on a cloud?"

"Do you think you can do those things?"

"Yea, maybe. There really is such a thing as magic. I think there is."

And there we had it. Kim had laid out her dreams and plans. She was going to concentrate her intellect on the smallest domains of our physical universe and perform magic. I say that with not the slightest bit of sarcasm. That was what Kim was going to do. She probably even had a good idea at that early stage how she was going to do it. She told me many years later that she understood some answers about the basic universe before she knew the questions. She said it was if she could see what was under the microscope, before she could see the microscope itself. "It's all in the math." she said.

Kim returned to Madison for the winter semester. I asked her how many credits she was taking and she said she didn't know; it didn't really matter to her. It mattered to Cynthia and mom, because they were paying the bill. But only Professor Barnhardt could answer the question about credits, and even he didn't know; or care. Everything Kim was taking that semester was independent study under the professor's tutelage, and he could make them as many credits as he wanted. Kim was learning both the math and the science in the same classes. Professor Barnhardt was going to try and accelerate Kim's education by giving her as much theory as she could absorb for one semester, but then the next semester she would have to return to normal structured classes. The professor wanted Kim to finish the classical studies in both physics and math, and then seriously consider engineering. His explanation was, "It's great to be able to read a blueprint, but if you can't swing a hammer, you can't build it."

She told me later that it had been the best learning experience of her life. She spent two to four hours a day with Professor Barnhardt. Sometimes they just talked. Sometimes he didn't teach her anything, but asked her questions. She taught him. He once said that Kim was right about understanding the little things before understanding the big things. She had a way of thinking that amazed Professor Barnhardt.

Kim was starting to earn a reputation as the Professor's new wunderkind, so she was given more autonomy. Since she wasn't in any organized classes that semester, she took Andromeda with her. Andromeda would ride in her backpack and watch people and places go by. When Kim settled down in the library or Professor Barnhardt's office, Andromeda would sit in a chair and watch. She was getting an education also. Professor Barnhardt joked that they always seemed to make more progress when Andromeda was with them. Maybe he wasn't joking.

Outside of her academic studies, Kim was twelve and starting to blossom into a young woman. Her hormone therapy had been increased to her full adult level, and puberty was being kind to her. It was obvious that she would grow up to be a beautiful woman. But right now she didn't care. School was becoming too interesting to worry about such mundane things. Much to mom's horror, she was wearing jeans and sweatshirts like the other college kids. Her mindset, mannerisms and even her lifestyle were morphing into the collegiate and academic world. Kim wouldn't have had it any other way.

Things seemed to be going along just great for Kim and the rest of the family. And then tragedy struck.

 

(continued)

  

  

  

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