CHAPTER 5 - ROGER - TOP GUN FIGHTER PILOT SCHOOL
Grueling study, time in simulators, actual flight time in some of the best aircraft that the military had to date, and more physical fitness - that spelled time at Top Gun school to Roger Healey. He was grateful for the opportunity, but he was also grateful to his new friend Captain Tony Nelson. Tony was so stuffy in comparison, that he didn't know why or how they got along so well. However, Tony was such a good listener, and a really good study buddy. He was understanding about Roger's problems with written work and took extra time to tape record the lessons for him. It was just plain hard not to like Tony, and perhaps Roger could teach Tony to lighten up a little on his approach to women. Besides ... Tony always laughed at Roger's jokes, even if they weren't particularly funny.
Roger also knew he was a top notch engineer, and understood a lot about aircraft engineering that makes you a better pilot. Tony didn't seem to understand some of it, so Roger took the time to explain it all to him in layman's terms instead of the textbook heebi-jeebi language that they were expected to learn from.
Roger also knew that the more time he spent in simulators and in an actual jet, the better pilot he would become. As in flight school, hands-on training suited him best. He had done that advanced move to pass out of flight school, and he was planning to do all of the advanced moves before he left Top Gun, including some that were not required. He figured if he couldn't get into the Astronaut Corps, then maybe the Blue Angels would take him, even if he had to switch services to do that. Flying was important. Going into space was even more important. What military service you did it from wasn't in the least bit important, they all got paid the same anyway.
On a couple of occasions, Roger was starting to burn out of studying and simulators, so he took himself over to the base officers' club. He was recognized there as a Top Gun student, due to the little sticker on his military identification card, so he couldn't drink. Going off base wasn't an option for Top Gun students, either, unless they lived in the San Diego area. Roger looked around and thought that he wouldn't even have known he was in San Diego, he was spending so much time inside buildings, simulators and aircraft. However, at the officers' club, he could mingle with females. There weren't too many in there, most of them being with spouses or parents. He wasn't into robbing the cradle, not yet anyway. Getting nailed for statutory rape wasn't his style, and would definitely interfere with his chances of getting into the astronaut corps. So for now, he would have to settle just for admiring and talking to pretty girls. Being young and good-looking himself, there was no problem talking to some of the younger ones. By the time he got out of Top Gun, though, he was going to be frustrated - and looking for action.
Right before graduation, though, he was awoken by his new friend Tony, who had a loud dream that woke up some of the other pilots. Suddenly yelling, "I'll get you! I'll get you!" at 2 in the morning would wake up most people. Tony didn't wake up til Roger poked him. Tony told him about the dream, something about a blond girl who was trapped somewhere. The next morning, the two of them tried to figure out that dream, but only came up with the possibility that maybe, just maybe, Tony was starting to wake up to women. Well, at least his friend wasn't a homosexual, Roger thought. Any man who described the woman in his dream that explicitly HAD to be a straight guy!
Roger performed his graduation maneuvers perfectly and awarded the Top Pilot Award. His friend Tony got the Top Gun award, which he deserved since he was an equally good pilot but much better at all the book work they had to do. Roger knew that the Top Pilot Award would be a way to get him into the Astronaut Corps. But he had to await the decision from NASA first, and while he was doing that, he was shipped out to Andrews Air Force Base on the East Coast. He and Tony exchanged post addresses before they left, along with Pete Conway who graduated fifth in class, and promised to get in touch if any of them made the Astronaut Corps.
CHAPTER 6 - JEANNIE - IN THE BOTTLE, THE FIRST FEW HUNDRED YEARS
Fawzia al Babilonia was literally stuck between a rock and a hard place. Her bottle was on the upper realms of a deserted island, tucked between two rocks, completely surrounded by water. She could hear the waves off in the distance, and occasionally, the sounds of thunder, wind, and rain as storms would pass by the island.
The inside of the bottle was musty and dank, and just plain dull. In the first few days, she played with her new found powers, and was able to decorate the inside of the bottle to make it more pleasant. After all, who knew how long she would have to live in that bottle? It could be as little as a few days, or as much as a few hundred years. That mean Blue Djinn had suggested a few thousand years. Knowing that djinn could live forever, hundreds or thousands of years seemed like a very long time to spend in one tiny, cramped little space. Fawzia thought, she may as well make the best of it.
Within a few months, she found within her powers two things that would make the imprisonment more pleasant. The Blue Djinn had placed a book about spells within the bottle. That was surprisingly thoughtful of him, for someone so mean, she thought. With a few blinks, she could put herself in an ethereal state. Perhaps to humans it could be described as like a coma, where the body was asleep and not aging at all. Also, she discovered that though her body was imprisoned in the bottle, her spirit could escape for short periods of time. She merely made herself go into a spell. This spell would bring herself into something similar to what humans describe as an "out of body" experience, often happening right after physical death. Only, Fawzia was not dead. This spell allowed her to go out of the bottle and see what was happening in the world.
These spells did not allow her enough time to completely keep up with the world and its constant changing technology. However, she was able to visit places, see people that were prominent in each era, and see basic changes in the world. Being a djinn spirit, she could not actually meet anyone until her djinn body was released from the bottle. The spirit could visit - thus, the old saying, "the spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak," could be applied in Fawzia's case.
Within the bottle during non-spell time, Fawzia began to think about the one who would release her. By djinn law it was supposed to be a human. It could be male or female, and more than anything, Fawzia wished for a male. She had him all worked out in her mind - young, good looking, pliable, understanding of djinn, virile, respectful of women, loving, kind ... the list went on. Perhaps it was a list that the parents of any young woman would make for their daughter of the qualities in a mate, not just a master of a djinn.
A master - Fawzia had to contemplate that. She was going to be a slave girl to a human master. After picturing this human master in her mind - male, of course - she had to stop and think about what he would require of her. She knew what it was that most djinn did - they attempted to make their masters rich beyond belief. Some djinnis, with their male masters, became harem girls, providing them with physical pleasures. The possibility of that was disheartening to Fawzia. Whether she could do that and enjoy it, would depend a lot upon the male master. She knew that she was not required to enjoy it, and that was part of the problem.
While her djinni spirit was out of the bottle one day, she took a good look at the island where her bottle was imprisoned. The spirit could not move the bottle off the island, only able to roll it a little. There were no trees on this island, no signs of any humanity. There were wild plants, some of which could be edible if someone landed here by mistake and could recognize them. But mostly, there were rocks - sand - shells - a lovely beach, which Fawzia loved - and plenty of surf. Fawzia's spirit was also enjoying the fresh air. That wasn't a requirement for a spirit, but it was the memory of something to take back to the flesh within the bottle.
The spirit, while out on another romp another day, decided to try some spells to bring a rescuer in. Fawzia found that this was impossible. Though her spirit could move around for short periods of time outside of the bottle, they could not perform most other feats of djinn power. So she knew ... she was stuck until a human would come along and rescue her.
Fatima and Fazi al Babilonia had taught their five children the power of prayer. So when Fawzia returned her spirit to the bottle, she decided to try praying. "Allah, please bring me a human male master ..." and the list of the qualities of that human master took a long time. Little did Fawzia know that there were few males in the world who could meet all of those qualities AND find their way to a small deserted island in the South Pacific.
CHAPTER 7 - TONY - EDWARDS AND CARSWELL AIR FORCE BASES
Captain Tony Nelson had orders to Edwards Air Force Base in California for three months of training, followed by three months of duty at Carswell Air Force Base near Fort Worth, Texas.
His orders of business at Edwards were some short courses in aircraft maintenance. Edwards, located in the higher desert region north of the San Bernardino Mountains near Victorville, was well known for large and long airfields and plenty of space for maintenance hangars. Thus, there were several courses and workshops that Tony had been signed up to attend by his flight instructors at Top Gun.
The barracks there was more to his liking. Officers, Captain and above, were placed in single rooms, three single rooms to one bathroom. Fortunately, the bathroom had two sinks. The two other men sharing the suite with him were also attending aircraft maintenance schools, as aircraft carrier pilots. Tony learned a lot about real military flight from these two.
One man was a lot like Roger Healey, trying to get Tony to go out at night. One night, he relented and the three of them went down to Victorville to one of the bars there. All three found a woman to talk to for the evening, returning to the suite pristine and having talked of things besides jet engines and oil changes.
When he had completed his three months of workshops and classes, Tony was sent to be in charge of one of the maintenance hangars at Carswell in Texas. As a new officer, he hadn't had much leadership experience, but he took the challenge in stride. Rather than being a dictatorial boss, he took his enlisted men aside, talked to them, gained their insights and opinions - and then made his decisions. His enlisted men respected him for his pliant attitude. "Captain Nelson sure doesn't boss us around - he respects what we know." At the same time, they learned what he would tolerate and what he would not.
While at Carswell, Tony met a girl named Diane Rodnick. Her family had known his family, back in Ohio, and she was living in Fort Worth now with her family. He took her out once, enjoyed it thoroughly, and for the rest of his stay there, he and Diane had a great time together. It wasn't serious for either of them, so when it was time to move on, they said goodbye with no regrets.
Finally, two months into his stay at Carswell Air Force Base, Captain Anthony Nelson received a letter. In it were orders to the Astronaut Training Center at the Houston Space Center in Texas, two months hence. The orders explained that his training would take place at Houston, Huntsville, Alabama, Cocoa Beach, Florida, Edwards AFB, and Andrews AFB near Washington, DC, and it would be a six-month training program. A small brochure, which Tony had already devoured before he applied to the Astronaut Corps, further explained Astronaut Training.
He went back to his office at the hangar with both Roger's and Pete's phone numbers in hand. Dialing the long string of autovon numbers, the military phone system, Roger's phone rang several times. Finally someone picked up - he realized the time difference. Fortunately, it was Roger.
"Hey, buddy. It's Tony. I got my orders to Astronaut Training. How about you?"
"I just got mine, too, Tony. Two months from now. And what's more, I heard from Pete about ten minutes ago. He was in Washington State, at Bremerton. He got his orders. Six months of training, starting in two months."
The whoops of joy could be heard all over the states of Texas, Washington, and Virginia.
CHAPTER 8 - ROGER - ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE
Roger Healey began to wonder if his chosen military service, Army, was a good idea. He was spending a lot more time on other service bases - his flight school had been Air Force, Top Gun was Navy, and now he was shipped to another Air Force base. He began to see the wisdom of it as he arrived at Andrews. Top Gun flight instructors sent him to more aircraft engineering schools and courses, and they were not located on Army bases. Most of them were on Air Force and Navy bases. His green dress uniform, green fatigues, and green jump-suits were not popular colors on this light-blue base. But the information was the same.
Still on his toes waiting for the decision from the Astronaut Corps, Roger was on his best behavior. Oh, he still cut up in class a little, creating humor wherever it was appropriate and occasionally where it wasn't. His instructors understood and some of them actually appreciated the humor in what otherwise could have been a dull subject. He wasn't able to find anyone like Tony or Rich at this set of schools, though, who could help him through the book work. Going to one of his more understanding and less staunch instructors for help, he had to explain his problem - something he hated.
That had a surprise twist. It seems that the instructor he went to see was married to a local teacher with experience in dealing with the dyslexic student. Roger found himself at the instructor's home three nights one week, studying. They in turn introduced him to a gorgeous red-head named Dayna, another teacher, who was single. Roger dated her not just once, but for four months. Dayna took over with the reading of the classroom material, where the instructor's wife left off. Read - kiss - read some more - kiss - this was fun, Roger thought. The funny thing was, he really learned that material quickly. Even his instructor was impressed.
At the end of the third month of schools at Andrews, Roger was transferred to a hangar, in a similar position to Tony Nelson's. The aircraft were in for scheduled overhauls, and it was Roger's job to coordinate the overhauls to get the aircraft back into service as soon as possible. Roger was definitely uncomfortable with the idea of bossing anyone around, but he had to do it. He knew that he was being watched and that NASA could call his superiors at Andrews for an update on his leadership abilities at any time. This could make or break him, again, as a candidate for Astronaut Training. He knew his job, got it done, and for the most part, the aircraft were ready for service within the parameters given to them as they came in. He used humor to get his men to do what he needed them to do, and they responded to it well. One even suggested that he moonlight as a stand-up comedian sometime. (It wasn't a half bad idea, but he didn't have time for that, at the moment.)
By the end of the fourth month, a letter came for Captain Roger Healey from NASA: his orders to Astronaut Training in Houston, Texas, and three or four other places across the United States, to begin two months hence at the expiration of his orders at Andrews. His superiors at Andrews were thrilled for him, though they knew they were losing a top-notch aircraft engineer.
That evening, he had come back to his office in the hangar to retrieve a folder that he'd accidently left there that afternoon. The phone rang, and though it was not usually his thing to answer a ringing phone after hours, he went ahead and picked it up. It was his friend Pete Conway from Top Gun school, calling from the west coast where it was just at the end of the work day. He shot the breeze with Pete about their dual orders to Astronaut Training, answering Pete's query that, no, he hadn't heard yet from Tony Nelson. The two agreed that they'd find it surprising if Tony wasn't chosen for Astronaut Training.
Roger put the phone down, feeling an uplift that he hadn't felt since meeting Dayna a few months before. He sat down to contemplate the feeling, and his date with Dayna that evening - would she finally go to bed with him? - when the phone rang again. He debated, once again, not answering it, but figuring it might be Pete again, he picked it up. It was Tony, with the same news that Pete and Roger had both gotten that day.
The three of them were gonna be a riot at Astronaut Training.
CHAPTER 9 - JEANNIE - THE NEXT FEW HUNDRED YEARS
Fawzia continued her existence within the bottle. She spent more and more time in the ethereal state, not conscious of anything outside of her bottle. Occasionally she would be brought out of the state, and would spell herself outside as a spirit and check out the world. The world off the island was changing drastically. Persia, and its surrounding countries, were constantly at war. Mesopotamia as she knew it no longer existed. Gaul, now called Rome, was finally solidified. New countries were forming in Europe. Her favorite time was the Renaissance. Her spirit was willed from the bottle a lot during that period. She loved the art, the music, and many of the people that lived in that time. She saw that ships were venturing further and further from their home countries, and she prayed once again to Allah that one of the ships might find her island and a sailor, rescue her.
CHAPTER 10 - TONY AND ROGER - ASTRONAUT TRAINING, HOUSTON
Arriving at the civilian airport in Houston, Texas, within minutes of each other, Captain Tony Nelson and Captain Roger Healey found each other, and then the shuttle service to the Space Agency. They would be billeted in civilian housing just outside the Space Center and no longer required to wear their individual military service uniforms.
At the Space Center, they were checked in immediately and issued regulation NASA jumpsuits and other paraphanelia required by NASA. A senior astronaut named Gus Grissom became Tony's first-week mentor, and another senior astronaut named Gordon Cooper became Roger's. "Gordo" made one comment after ten minutes with Roger Healey: "Don't ever pair him with Shep. The two of them will drive everyone up the wall with their jokes!" His reference was to Alan Shepard's well-known but wild sense of humor.
Many of their trainers were scientists involved in developing the equipment such as the simulators and the space craft. Others were specialists in survival in all sorts of terrain, physical fitness training, and other aspects of their training which would be second nature to them.
The first order of business after check-in and uniform issue, were a series of medical, vision, hearing, and psychological testing performed by military medical personnel at the local Air Force base. This took the better part of the first week, and washed out three of the initial fifteen astronaut candidates. Two couldn't pass the vision screening. The other had delusions of grandeur and was psychologically dismissed and sent back to the US Navy for further orders. He said he would try for the Navy's Blue Angels precision flying squad.
The pressure was so great in the first week to pass those tests that Tony found himself once again having the same dream that he had back in Top Gun. Again, in his dream, the beautiful blond girl was screaming, "I've got to get OUT of here! Somebody please let me OUT!" This time he got a better look at her. Shapely, and wearing something pink and billowy. He yelled back, "I'll be there, but it may take awhile to get to you!" Roger once again heard him yell, and came to his aid. It was 3 in the morning and they had to be up at 5 for P.F.T. - Physical Fitness Training.
"What's the dream this time, Tony?" Roger woke him up. Tony was sweating furiously, and it wasn't warm in their quarters. "You yelled loud enough to wake Pete next door."
"That girl ... she was trapped again. She was the same girl I dreamed about back in Top Gun. Only I got a better look at her," Tony added.
"Same girl? Tony, I think this is happening when you're under a lot of pressure. Relax."
"Heck, Roger, I don't mind this dream. If all of my dreams could be about that girl ... well, I just wish that she wasn't trapped. I wonder who she is."
"Well, I wish your dreams were less ... loud. Though you could pass any gorgeous female dreams my way ... I'll take 'em!" Roger kidded.
"You leave this one alone. She's young, obviously wholesome, built like - well, built like a man appreciates, and this time I could see she was wearing something pink and filmy. It looked good on her," Tony described. "This is my dream, not yours. Dream your own girls!" He laughed.
"If I were you, Tony, I wouldn't mention these dreams when you're in with that psychiatrist tomorrow. They said he's really tough and tries to wash out anybody based on their delusions."
"This girl is just a dream, Rog'. Not a delusion. Just a dream ... and if she weren't locked up somewhere making me feel sorry for her, it would be a darned pleasant dream."
As it turned out, the two men, plus Pete, passed all of their medical and psychological screening examinations.
Every morning at 5, the men were rousted out of bed and turned out on the "Grinder", as the Navy men all called it, for physical fitness training. Jumping jacks, 4-count and 8-count thrusts, push-ups, sit-ups, toe-touches, and a myriad of other exercises woke them up six days a week. Four days a week, they went around a track four times. By the end of training they were expected to make it 6 times around the track in a specific time allotment. Tony loved the physical fitness. It kept him from getting totally stressed out. Roger tolerated it but was overjoyed if it was canceled for rain. They were allowed one day off, Sunday. Then there were more classes, some of them repeating what they had learned in their college courses in science and mathematics. Classes were five days a week. They were expected to spend their weekend days studying for exams, which were inevitably on Mondays.
The class that Roger Healey hated the most was English. He figured, he'd had two of those classes in college and wasn't that enough? He could write, he just didn't like to. The instructors told them where to find the typewriters, warning them that spacecraft would not be equipped with typewriters so they may as well learn to write their reports in longhand. It still was torture to Roger. As usual, though, Tony assisted him with his class work by giving him tips.
The only things Roger could write well without thinking were love notes. Tony found one of Roger's love notes to Dayna, stashed in his English book, and commented, "If you can write this well to a girl, then pretend that all of your memos are to your favorite girl. Just leave out all the love-y dove-y stuff." After that, memos were much easier. They were just talk, put on paper.
Roger had a running correspondence with Dayna, but that came to a halt three months after arriving at Houston Space Training Center. He had just gotten back from a training in Huntsville, when the mail brought heartbreak to him. Dayna sent him a "Dear Roger" letter, saying she was now dating another teacher and they were thinking of getting married in a year's time. She didn't think that a relationship with a "space jockey" was a good idea any more. They were always gone. With another teacher, she explained, she could have the summer off with her husband and be able to travel. Roger, though heartbroken for a short time, could understand her logic. He sure didn't have time to go back to Washington, DC to visit her anyway. When they went there for training, he wasn't allowed away from the group. Dating during Astronaut Training had, for all intents and purposes, come to a dead halt.
The men were sent in pairs on various survival missions after a vicious survival training class, two months into their training. Tony and Roger were both sent to the prairies of Nebraska, bearing only two canteens of water each, and a 30 pound backpack containing basic survival gear such as tent, sleeping bag and enough food for 2 days. They would be out there a week. Their instructor would always keep an eye on them, from the air, but basically they were on their own. It was during that mission that they cemented their friendship into a full-blown partnership. Tony's seriousness balanced well with Roger's constant urge for humor. Tony could see something good in everything; Roger would use humor to balance it out. Roger's thoughts of reality would scare them both, but Tony's imagination would keep them going.. Tony had learned to hunt when he was a kid, with his dad. Roger had none of that kind of training with his dad, but learned. Roger had a nose for water that Tony didn't have. They were a matched set. Survival training was a major part of their training, and eventually they hit all terrains.
Once again, during this survival mission, Tony had his recurring dream. It seemed that each time he had the dream about the trapped girl, her vision became more clear. It became his ideal girl. "Some day, Roger, I'm going to find this girl. And if she's anything like this dream girl, I'm going to marry her." Roger thought he was nuts, but at least, again, Tony was showing signs of being human...and male.
CHAPTER 11 - JEANNIE - THE AGE OF EXPLORATION
Knowing what she did about ships starting to explore the world, Fawzia spelled herself out of the bottle more and more. Rather than visiting cities and communities around the world, she floated over the ocean nearby the island, hoping that she could somehow will one of the ships to make a stop at the island. Unfortunately, her island was miles and miles from the regular shipping lanes, and not too close to any of the lanes chosen by explorers such as Magellan, Columbus, Cartier, or Verrazano.
She tried to levitate her bottle, to move it to an island closer to the shipping and exploration lanes. There was no luck. She moved it about 2 inches. Well, at least it was no longer jammed between two rocks. If someone DID happen to land on her island someday, and she was lucky enough to hear them, she could perhaps roll the bottle towards them. A rolling bottle would probably get someone's attention.
One day she noticed, while out, that her bottle was encrusted with a thick layer of hardened sand. Returning her spirit to her bottle where the spell book was located, she found a spell for cleaning off the bottle which was able to be performed while she was still inside it. She made a mental note to check her bottle each time her spirit went out, to ensure that it would stay fairly clean. A covered or buried bottle would not be able to be found by anyone.
Fawzia continued to think about the man who would someday come to rescue her from her imprisonment. She would be so disappointed if he was not her ideal man, or if it was a woman. She thought it would have to be a man, however, because only men go on ships. Women were not sailors. At the time of her imprisonment, women only went on ships that went down a river, never on an ocean. So it would have to be a man. She kept trying to picture this man, this savior. Oh, please, Allah, let him be everything I have dreamed about, and naught like the Blue Djinn!
CHAPTER 12 - HAJI, HEAD OF THE DJINN - 400 A.D.
A man in flowing robes, residing in a castle in what was known then as Babylon, was Haji, the head of all the djinn in the world. A powerful djinn himself, he was made the lead djinn hundreds of years before. He was well-acquainted with the family of Fatima and Fazi al Babilonia. One of his favorites was their daughter, Fawzia.
Haji waited to see what was to become of Fawzia as she grew up, a female offspring of two djinn. Her powers never seemed to come to be. In many ways, she appeared human, and he was still trying to figure out how that happened. Had there been some strange habits for Fatima? Or had they adopted a human, unbeknownst to him? Fatima was called to Haji's castle when Fawzia was 12 years old (by human standards), and questioned. She stated firmly that Fawzia was the natural daughter of herself and Fazi, and that her powers were just late in showing up. Haji was very concerned on the latter. Usually, if powers did not show up by 13, they would never show up. She would be a powerless djinni and would age as a human would.
Then Fawzia disappeared completely. When called upon by Fatima and Fazi, Haji went looking for Fawzia, and employed many of his henchmen to search as well. Djinn were in many places, and bulletins placed in djinn publications were sent all over the world where there was human and djinn habitation.
It took another four hundred years for Haji to find out the truth of Fawzia's disappearance. His first stop, after finding out that the Blue Djinn had trapped her in a bottle and sent her to a deserted island, was at the residence of Fatima and Fazi. Fazi was not at home at the time, but daughter Kashmir was with Fatima when Haji broke the news of their missing family member. Fatima moaned and cried, relieved in one way that they had finally found out what had happened to Fawzia, and crying for her fate. She could only hope that her daughter, Fawzia, when finally released, would find a master that would treat her as well as Fashka's djinn husband was treating her. (She was trying to overlook the fact that Fashka was already on her tenth husband in 400 years. They had all been djinn, but she was a difficult child to get along with, and an even more difficult djinni adult.)
Once the news had been given to the family of the missing djinni, Haji went in search of the Blue the toughest, most powerful djinn in the world, one even more powerful than himself, was not on Haji's list of the most favorite things in his life to do. More fun and favorite would be finding the missing bottle containing Fawzia. So he made the decision to reckon with the Blue Djinn and see what he could find out.
Finding the Blue Djinn was not as difficult as he thought. The Blue Djinn was at home in his castle on the hill in Babylon, surrounded by 7 harem girls. As Haji was allowed in by one of the Blue Djinn's male servants, he couldn't help but look at the harem girls. The Blue Djinn surely picked them pretty, and no doubt about it, Fawzia al Babilonia would have been the prettiest of the lot. To have Fawzia as his head concubine, the Blue Djinn would have been the envy of every male djinn in the middle east.
Tucked in his flowing robes as he entered the Castle of the Blue Djinn was an ornate blue bottle. If the Blue Djinn did not cooperate, Haji was going to have to give him a taste of his own medicine. But he decided to use politeness and tact. Since the Blue Djinn respected Haji's position, it was quite a possibility that he could get the information he needed from the Blue Djinn without resorting to trickery.
"Haji! What brings you to my Castle, Great One?" the Blue Djinn called out from his great room.
"I am looking for information for Fatima and Fazi al Babilonia, sir. I was told by some others that you may have a lead on their missing daughter." Haji respected the power of the Blue Djinn and did not really wish to anger him.
"What information could I have that would possibly be of any use to you, or that particular djinn family?" the Blue Djinn inquired.
"The whereabouts of their daughter, Fawzia. It was reputed that you were once in love with her, sir," Haji replied.
"That I was. But that is in the past tense, Haji. WAS." The Blue Djinn repeated the 400 year old story. "I gained permission from Fatima and Fazi al Babilonia to ask for their daughter's hand in marriage, despite the fact that she was showing no signs of having the power of a djinni as she should have. When I proposed to Fawzia, she turned me down. There was not even a hope of a future wedding day."
"And...?" Haji wanted the rest of the story.
"And so, the young djinni ran away. To where, I do not know. No one has seen her since that time," the Blue Djinn continued the age-old story. "And why do you care, Great One?"
"Her family has meant a great deal to me for many years, sir. They were my neighbors long before I accepted the position as Head of the Djinn. When Fatima gave birth to young Fawzia, I was able to assist the family in ways that were necessary at the time of her birth, in personal matters. She is ... quite a favorite of mine, I must admit," Haji told the great Blue Djinn.
"Yes, I understand as much. That was obvious even before you said so. You wouldn't be so concerned about her."
"I am going to ask you a question, sir, and I would like a truthful answer. We are ... well aware of your great powers and of your temper. Is it a possibility, sir, that you may have bottled up Fawzia al Babilonia and sent her to a deserted place?" Haji asked.
The Blue Djinn stood in his great room, turned his back, and began to pace. It was this motion that told Haji the real truth of Fawzia's disappearance. The Blue Djinn may lie to anyone else, but he cannot and will not lie to the Head of the Djinn.
Haji continued, "It WAS a possibility, was it not?" The Blue Djinn shrugged, unwilling to answer either way. "You do realize what the punishment is for imprisoning a djinni without the express permission of the Head of the Djinn?" The Blue Djinn rolled his eyes, turned and faced Haji and prepared to take magical action.
"STOP!" Haji said. He withdrew the blue, ornate bottle from his robes, uncorked it, and sat it down on a table in the Blue Djinn's great room. "Smoke yourself into that bottle, sir. Now." The Blue Djinn became stubborn and folded his arms, prepared once again for magical action. "Do not even think of that, sir. Go into that bottle, NOW, before I get VERY angry. Two can play those magical games, you know!"
The Blue Djinn decided to cut his losses, figuring he had over 400 years of freedom before he was caught, and with any luck, he'd be out of the bottle in that same amount of time. He only hoped that Haji's spell over the corked bottle wouldn't be the same as the one he'd given to Fawzia. Blue Djinn folded his arms, blinked, thought SMOKE, and his smoky figure melted into the blue bottle, to be immediately corked by Haji.
"The human that releases you must be male, human, with no djinn or djinni of his own. You will become his slave and do his bidding in the way properly befitting a djinn," said Haji, giving the spell. "If released by one who does not completely qualify, you will return to free djinn status." Haji then took the bottle under his robes, and in a shower of smoke, flashed out of the Blue Djinn's Castle, to get rid of the bottle.
The bottle was placed, unbeknownst to Haji, on an island near to where Fawzia's bottle resided. The Blue Djinn's bottle was washed out to sea, and there it floated for the next thousand years, finally resting on the shore of Fawzia's island and getting covered by layers and layers of beach sand.
CHAPTER 13 - TONY AND ROGER - ASTRONAUT TRAINING
No doubt about it, Astronaut Training was grueling. Finally after three months of constant study, physical fitness, survival training and outside missions, and simulators, the men were allowed their first liberty. Pete called it "Cinderella Liberty" since they had to be back by midnight. Roger wanted to know if they'd be turned into pumpkins by their fairy godmothers if they were late. Alan Shepard, who had Trainee Watch that night, groaned and told Roger that his orange NASA jumpsuit would remind him of his pumpkin joke for years to come, IF he graduated and was handed that official jumpsuit. Gordo Cooper had already warned Shep about the new trainee.
The trainees were told that they could go anywhere on liberty, including a bar, but if they came home intoxicated, or had a hangover the next morning, there was possibility of dismissal. Both Tony and Roger decided to hit a bar, see if they could each pick up a girl, then take her to a movie. Well, that was Tony's idea. Roger had other ideas, including a girl's apartment. He was a little frustrated by the lack of female companionship for the past three months.
Tony and Roger met two girls at the singles bar recommended by the taxi driver. Tony had an intelligent conversation about recent politics with Rita, and took her to see a movie at a theatre an hour later. He had a great time. He had to tell Rita that he had NO idea if he'd be getting another night off any time soon, but he took her phone number just in case. When Roger found out later that Tony had a girl's phone number, he gave him a spare "little black book" that he'd brought to Houston with him "just in case". Rita was Tony's first entry in that little book. Roger thought that things were still looking up. Tony was just a late developer.
Roger, on the other hand, hooked up right away with a knockout named Debby. She was blond and in some ways, reminded Tony of the girl that he'd dreamed about a few times recently. But the similarities ended with looks. THIS girl was not similar in personality. Debby could hold her own with Roger's jokes. Roger disappeared with Debby after about an hour at the bar. He found out later that Roger had ended up in Debby's apartment. Roger declined to state how far he'd gotten, and Tony really didn't want to know. He'd come to the conclusion a long time ago that Roger had an amazing libido - one he would probably never understand.
Back at NASA, they had to check in with Shep. Anyone not in by 12:15 a.m. (Shep was "cool", he gave them 15 minutes leeway for taxi problems and the like), was reported to the head of the Trainees. No one was late. Even Roger came in at 11:56, four minutes to spare. Tony was in by 11:45. The two men exchanged stories then hit the sack. Exercises at 5:00 a.m. would be even tougher after a Cinderella Liberty.
The men were flown to various locations to work with equipment that was not all located at Houston. Some of their training was done in Huntsville, where they lived in an old run-down motel converted by the military to house trainees. Roger felt at home there, as the town reminded him of New Castle, and much of the training was done on an old Army base. If he'd have been wearing his Army uniform, he'd have been the one in the "right" color and Tony and Pete would feel out of place!
Roger felt even more at home when they trained on some equipment at Andrews. After all, he had spent six months there while waiting to find out if he'd been accepted into the Astronaut Training. He gained permission from some of his trainers to go back to his old hangar, and found some of the guys that remembered him.
"Hey! Guys! It's Captain Healey ... our old friendly comic boss!" one of the enlisted men hollered at the others when Roger came into the hangar. It was good to be remembered as a nice guy and not an old meanie when you were their boss, Roger realized. They shot the breeze for about ten minutes before the Captain that had relieved Roger came to see what was up. The new Captain wasn't upset when he realized who it was, and even asked Roger a few things about how he'd handled things.
Roger also got permission to take Tony and Pete up to meet some of the instructors, particularly the instructor who had befriended him and helped him over his dyslexia hurdle once again. His instructor commented, as the three went to leave, "I predict great things from the three of you. One of these days, I'm going to open my newspaper, and I'm going to see your names as being among our space travelers. Maybe even, as President Kennedy JUST said, some of our first visitors to the moon." Roger replied, "yeah, well, just so I don't find out that the moon IS made of cheese, we'll be fine."
Training at Cocoa Beach was interesting. NASA was discussing putting the training center in ONE location, and that would either be Houston or Cocoa Beach. There was room for growth at either of those locations, where Huntsville and Andrews were both almost out of space. Roger loved Cocoa Beach - the Atlantic Ocean close by, and what's more, Cape Canaveral. While they were training there, NASA sent up several test rockets, unmanned, that the men were taken to watch. Both Tony and Roger reported getting lumps in their throats, watching a launch even from three miles away. Patrick Air Force Base was nearby, there were lots of facilities at Cocoa Beach, so Roger was hoping that NASA would choose Cocoa Beach. That way they wouldn't have to shuttle astronauts by plane between a training center at Houston and their launching pads at Cape Canaveral.
Houston had its points, too. It was close enough to the beach - but it was the Gulf Coast, not the Atlantic. But there were no launchings to watch, and the military base was further away. Since most of the trainees were coming from the military service these days, that could be a problem. NASA was already talking about taking non-military applicants for astronaut trainees, but they still had to be pilots.
The last month of the training was grueling. There were a series of written tests to take, more medical and psychological testing, another three-day survival mission in the deserts of Utah, tests in every simulator available in Houston, and flight tests from the local Air Force base. The latter was probably the easiest for Tony and Roger. Everything they had done in Top Gun made passing the flight and skydiving tests, easy.
Tony had one problem in the psychological testing, and it wasn't until it was over that he realized that it could wash him out even after six months training. The psychiatrist had asked him if he had ever had the same dream more than once, and he had not thought about it before replying,"yes." As a child, he'd been taught not to lie (like every other child of the 1940s and 50s), so it didn't occur to him to say, "no." The psychiatrist wanted to know every detail that he remembered of the dream. So Tony told him of the girl who had been locked up somewhere, trying to get out, that she was a pretty girl, blond, well-built, and obviously of a wholesome background. He also told the psychiatrist that he always wanted to go and save her, but didn't know where she was.
It was Roger who asked him why he had repeated that dream for the psychiatrist. The proper answer, said he, was that no, you've never dreamed the same dream twice and you don't remember too many dreams anyway.
It turned out that neither of them needed to worry - at least, not for now. Tony's dream was seen as symbolic of the stress in his life needing to be released, and that his response that he would try to go and save her, was his own psyche understanding the need to relieve stress. The psychiatrist suggested that Tony get lots of exercise when feeling stress, and perhaps keeping a journal would help too. At least this good doc didn't think he was ready to be washed out as an astronaut, as the doctor recommended him for service.
Of the fifteen men placed in the Astronaut Training Program, six months earlier, seven graduated, including Captain Tony Nelson (USAF), Captain Roger Healey (USA/ACE), and Lieutenant Pete Conway (USNR). In the audience for their graduation were Tony's parents, his sister Tracy, Roger's mother, and Pete's mother. Circumstances beyond their control kept Tony's parents and sister from meeting Roger, but the family did meet Roger's mother. Tony was somewhat relieved - Tracy had just turned 18, was about to graduate from high school and a regional occupational secretarial program at the same time, and he didn't want to tempt Roger by introducing Tracy. Tony knew that Tracy would be just Roger's type, and that bothered him.