Solomon's Private File #35
These stories about Stephen and Solomon take place starting in
1950's. Stephen wrote about his life in letters to a penpal, and then
in a secure blog, in case he lost his memory again, in the master
computer in his school for gifted students, which he started attending
in 2016 in a new incarnation, until his death. Now his son Solomon is
attending the same school, and is writing in his own secure blog for
his future incarnations.
All characters are fictitious, even if some of them might have names
that belong to some actual people, or act like people we know.
Solomon is 14 in this story, in the Fall of 2040.
Solomon's Private File #35 "Herd at the Smithsonian"
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I went to visit Kam in Tibet. We kissed and hugged for a long time.
We talked a lot. Then she said, "That window. I don't like were it is.
I would like to wake up and see the Potala Palace, without having to
scrunch down to the foot of the bed. You have Dad's specs. Can you
change it?" I said, "Push your visualization." She sent the picture of
her idea to my mind. I created an illusion in place to show her how it
would look, and she said, "That's fine!" I said, "No, it's a window."
She giggled and poked me. I poked her back, and that led to some
wrestling which would have killed a regular person, which led to some
fine sexplay.
While we were resting, I changed the wall, so the window was where
she wanted it. That was a lot easier to say than it was to do. The
Residence of the Dalai Lama is a Stephen created and protected gigantic
mansion. It's made mostly of jade, and is protected by a very
complicated 4th skin. I had a copy of that program in one of my mind
compartments, and I knew where the crystal was buried in the ground
that had the program that controlled the protection. I turned off the
4th protection for that wall, ported the wall away, created a new wall
and window as Kam wanted, and ported it into place, welding it to what
was still in place. Then I reprogrammed that part of the crystal that
controlled the 4th skin, to cover that area again in the new shape. But
that's not all I did. To keep the outside of the building from losing
its symmetry, I changed another window and wall to match. Fortunately,
nobody was in that room at the time. Kam said, "It's great! Thanks." I
said, "Anything for a lazybones." She punched me. I blocked it, and
punched her, and she blocked it. Then we were leaping all over the
room, fighting like crazy. We stopped after a while, and laughed. We
weren't hurt. It was just a light martial arts workout.
Srinoy is in charge of our Education in Tibet, which uses some of our
tech to teach regular college students. He was expecting me when I
ported to his office. We caught up on our personal news, and then I
explained my project. I said, "I want to find out why we like music,
neurologically. Why, is a little strange." He grinned. I said, "No.
Stranger than that." He was really interested. I told him about my
strange singing. He had some wows. I said, "Your wows mean a lot to me,
from somebody who, younger than I am now, was all set to feed a
Mongolian a fence one board at a time." We laughed together. Then he
wanted to hear it for himself. I sang, and he wowed. I said, "The
effect doesn't survive digital recording, but does, a little reduced,
in analog." He said, "NOW I see. It has to be neurological. We play it
to a group, and you continuously scan their brains." I said, "Full
workup, so surveys first, and different kinds of music, too, and
surveys after." He said, "This could be very important. Even
groundbreaking. We'll make it mandatory for almost all students in our
universities. It could take all school year to do it completely, and
you can't be here all that time. We'll manage it here, and let you know
when to scan remotely. Agree?" I said, "Absolutely! Here are surveys,
and a list of musical selections. Here are the recordings of all on the
list." He said, "This could take years." I said, "Whatever it takes."
He said, "Right. Going to be very interesting."
We talked about it most of the day, and with some music department
people, who were VERY interested in the project. Then, back in his
office, we kissed and hugged, and hugged and kissed. Then I said,
"Here, or in the house on Allguard?" He said, "To a bed!" We ported to
Allguard, and our clothes flew off, and we grabbed each other's nuts
and kissed some more. We had the link going on high, and we squirted
very hard in seconds. We both said wow when we could. And then did it
again, but slower. He said, "I'd heard how popular you were. I know why
now. It's different with you than with any other. Not the same as with
your father, but just as terrific." I said, "I'm not complaining about
that, but you underrate yourself. It's different with you, too. Better.
I just feel very comfortable in your arms, sexually, more than any
other person." He said, "Do you think you're going to be gay?" I said,
"I don't know, but I've already got a marriage link with a girl,
Galya." He said, "Congratulations!" I said, "Er, thanks. Won't change
sexual activities much, though. We all share, always. And there's a
going all the way pledge." He said, "Wise." I said, "Been called that a
few times." He laughed.
Sharon, of the Smithsonian, had a new lease on life with my agreeing
to help with the displays. I said to her, "When I agreed to help, I
didn't know I would be working for a crazy woman!" She laughed. I said,
"You buy any home furniture, the delivery people are going to tear
their hair out. Put it there. No, put it there. Well, maybe over here.
But is that the right shade? Argh!" She laughed really well. Then she
said, "But we've barely started." I said, "Right. Get it said while I'm
still sane." She laughed some more. She said, "Are you?" I said, "Shhh,
don't ruin my rant." Chuckles. She said, "Your father was never like
this." I said, "Complaint?" She said, "Absolutely not!" I said,
guardedly, "We'll see." More chuckles.
She wanted to completely redo the National Air and Space Museum, to
put more in from what Dad found in space of Attin's people from before
and after the big blowup on Earth 74,000 years ago. The curator agreed
with her and they came up with a plan. Most of the things there are big
and heavy. I had to design their supports, too, and not just their
arrangement. Some planes even hung from the ceiling. She told me her
proposals, and showed me some sketches and pictures. We went to the
museum. I said, "Now, a warning. What I'm going to do is a little odd.
Alright, very odd." Her grin prompted that addition. I said, "I'm going
to project an illusion that will cover what we see with something else,
that only you and I can see. It will be 3D, and we can walk around and
see it from all angles as if it really was the real thing. Ready?" She
was, and had to practically shout, "Wow!" I said, "I hear that a lot."
She almost wanted to hit me. I said, "Something else. The people here
won't be aware of us, but will automatically move out of our way. I
have to lose most of my audience, but I'll live with that great
sacrifice." She chuckled, and said, "You're really something!" I said,
"Good. Being nothing would be a little difficult. Ha! That got Mom to
laugh." She said, "She's watching us?" I said, "Monitoring me on the
job. Normal protocol for all of us. She's doing it herself this time
because she really cares about you." We hugged.
We walked around the illusion of the new arrangements. I said, "Think
of any changes, and I can change what we see, to show you." She did for
a few things, and then changed her mind. She apologized. I said, "No
need for that. You can't see the whole thing at once from all angles
like I can, so you can't automatically see how one change would look
from the other side of the room." She said, "Wow!" I said, "Yep." She
controlled herself. I said, "Ah! Getting better." Chuckles. She said,
"You thought up all this in seconds, just from what I gave you. Could
your father have done this?" I said, "Maybe not at my age. A year
later, yes. Like Newton, I really DO stand on the shoulders of a
giant." Another hug. After the complete tour, she said, "I can't see
any changes I would make." I said, "Even after it's done for real, I
can always make changes. I'll save all the things we change. Got a
place for it, or should I use my other storage you can't access." She
said, "Why can't I access it?" I said, "We own a whole world. Big
place. Moving van, well, beyond regular milage allowance, and get lost
without GPS." She said, "Probably." I looked at her, and said, "Weak."
She laughed and hugged me.
Sharon told me were I could put the discards. There was enough room.
I said, "When? I can do it tonight after closing, if you want." She
said, "All at once?" I said, "Sure. Why waste time I could be using for
sex?" She laughed hard. She said, "Alright if I watch?" I looked at her
with a raised eyebrow. She blushed and said, "Not that! The change of
exhibit!" I said, "I have to thank you for that one. Gift on a
platter." She laughed really well. I said, "Sure, you can watch. You're
the boss. Invite guests if you want. Politicians need muzzles, though."
Laughter. She said, "We can't do that!" I said, "Oh, alright. But if
they go bad, I might fill their pie holes with really sticky taffy."
More laughter. She said, "I have to know. The way you talk. Was one of
your incarnations an American?" I said, "Just for you, I'll tell.
Doughboy. Made sergeant before I died. Don't know how. Last memory was
in a trench." She said, "I thought so." We hugged.
We did it the next evening, and she did invite some dignitaries. I
said in a loud whisper to her, pointing at two Senators so they could
hear, "You invited some of THOSE! Aren't they a little out of their
natural environment? I know poaching isn't allowed there, but here on
said, "But so far from the herd. Well, they do strange things in their
mating season, besides feathering their nests." More laughter from
Sharon and the Senator. Anger from the other Senator. I said, "They are
displaying differently. One is vocal, and the other is showing a nice
shade of dusky red. Let's watch and see which one is the most
successful." More laughter. I said, "Ah! They approach. One looks to be
stomping on insects, while the other looks to be a good dancer.
Probably different subspecies." More laughter. The laughing Senator
introduced himself, and I said I was Solomon. I said to Sharon, "This
one does well in interspecies cooperation. Probably very successful
with mates. The other one looks ready to bark. Well, now we know who
has to pay for it." Almost hysterical laugher. The bad Senator looked
about ready to punch me.
I said to Sharon, "I've been studying this strange species for a
while. I even try to save them from poachers. Hard to track some of
them down, though. Some have multiple nests, and are very secretive
about them, and they tend to gather in large and small groups to make
many odd noises about things they don't do, while practicing the
strange combative dancing behaviors of side switching and back
stabbing." Sharon was almost strangling. The nice Senator was laughing
too, but also looking at me with admiration. I said to the bad one,
"Sir, careful there. Mom allows me to physically defend myself. And I
can back up what I can say, with names, addresses, and dates. DNA,
too." He stomped away. I said, "Must wear down his hooves pretty fast."
More laughter. I said with a tired sigh, "A game warden's job is never
done." Chuckles.
I turned and said, "Hi, Don. Didn't know you were going to be here.
Got it all for your CNN people?" He gave me a big toothy grin and said,
"Right from the start. Priceless!" I said, "Glad you liked it. Wasn't
planned, but the opportunity, well, you know what I mean." He said, "I
do. I think our viewers do, too." I said to the laughing Senator, "Your
immunity inoculations look to be effective. You haven't caught the bad
tempered disease." He grinned, and said, "I can take a joke. Well
done!" I said, "For a roast, he might agree." More laughter. I said, "I
mentioned to Sharon yesterday about needing muzzles for your species if
any showed up. Almost came true." He grinned, and said, "True. Any
guesses about what he'll do about it?" I said, "I don't know, but he
looked so red hot, he might use his head to fry an egg. Under the wig,
its smooth enough." More laughter. Sharon said, "Bald?" I said, "Not
nearly as often as he wants." She looked scandalized, but laughed
almost hysterically. So did the remaining Senator. Don made choking
noises. I said to him, "Words are strange tools. The same words that
tickle some people, can bite others in tender places they didn't want
to know they had." Don said with admiration, "Wise words." I said,
"Just words of observation. We're here for action!"
Sharon said, "Yes!" She had to wait a little for the rest of the
guests to settle down. She said, "We are here this evening, as it turns
out, for Solomon to entertain us in more ways than we expected." Noisy
agreement. She said, "Solomon offered to do some volunteer work for us
in illustrating our displays. After I begged, actually. Then I asked
for a little more." I looked askance at her, and she said, "Okay, a lot
more. We wanted to rearrange this whole space. Er, of space." I nodded
approval, and she smiled. She said, "We discussed that we wanted, and
he showed me what it would look like. Then he offered to make the
changes happen all at once. I thought that would be a good opportunity
to have an event for, to promote the Smithsonian, YOUR National Museum,
and make the public aware of the new exhibits, and who created them.
Will create them. Er, sometime tonight."
I said "Ready any time after I say this. Any time before that would be
in the unchangeable past. Er, now?" She said, "Yes!" I said, "It's a
little dark. Let there be er, light." And there was. A brilliant galaxy
of it, high near the ceiling. Then I did the instant transposition.
There were gasps, and the loudest was from Sharon. I said to Sharon,
"That galaxy wasn't in the plans. I can remove it if you want." She
said, "Wow!" I said, "I hear that a lot." That caused some chuckles.
She said, "What is it made of?" I said, "Light. Just light. Same as the
cube light sculptures. Accurate, too. See that pulsing red dot? That's
where we are. Well, the area. Can't see our sun at this scale. Too
small. It's a present for you, and for our country. May we all be as
beautiful in spirit as the galaxy is to us, and as bright in
intelligence and knowledge, which our National Museum tries to
encourage in us all. Thank you for the opportunity to show you my
feelings like this, even if I'm not showing you what I really look
like. Let's take a tour of the new exhibits." I led the way, and the
discussions about them. It was a long evening, but I didn't hear any
complaints about that. Sharon closed it with a lot of thanks. As the
last one left, I got rid of all the litter and cleaned the floors.
Sharon said, "Oh! Thanks."
I said, "I want to speak with Don. Back in a minute or so." He was
outside, still recording interviews, but wrapping up. I indicated I
didn't want to be on camera. When he was done, and the cameras were
turned off, he came to me. I said, "Got an idea. If you want to do a
series on the other museums, with me as host, I think I might kinda
like it a little. You'll probably broadcast excerpts. You can give the
rest to PBS for full shows, if you and they agree. Haven't mentioned it
to Sharon yet. When I do, you might hear some loud noises about it." He
said, "I like it, mostly because you'll be in it. A big draw, and sure
to be entertaining." I said, "Not something I ignored." He said, "I'll
propose it, and get back to you." I said, "Don't make it public until
Sharon says so. Trusties might not like what I er, did here. Really
stuffed shirts!" He grinned, and said, "Right." We said our farewells.
I played back that conversation to Sharon. She cried and hugged me.
She said, "I'll work on that. What does your mother think of it?" In
the air, Mom said, "It's beautiful. Everything. Highest approval, with
a whole lot of love." Sharon and I hugged some more, and I helped her
close the museum. I offered to port her home, instead of using a taxi,
and she accepted. Before I ported her, I said, "I want you to know that
I wasn't sure Uncle Hawk would survive my Senator encounter." She
grinned. I said, "He was literately rolling around on the floor,
laughing hysterically like some crazy person. Oh, there he goes again."
She laughed, too.
I ported home to Arizona. Mom, and the still laughing Hawk, and Chad,
mauled me with affection. I said, "I didn't know I was going to do
that, but I just couldn't resist it." Chad said, "You really have the
goods on him?" I said, "Sure do. My danger watch was a little sloppy in
the parameters. Considered use of whips and chains real violence." That
set Hawk off again, and the others joined him. I have to admit, I do
enjoy helping people to laugh.
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Grant
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