The alarm blared early the next morning. Amanda was nudging me saying, "Alfred, its time to wake up."
I got out of bed, showered, shaved, and got a good look at Colonel Bellows in the bathroom mirror. He looked to be in his mid-to-late 50s, but he seemed to be in very good shape. I carefully donned his air force uniform, trying to look presentable. I also took a few minutes to look through Bellow's wallet. The fact he had a few of his business cards in there made my life a lot easier.
When I finally made it out of the bedroom, I could smell bacon and eggs.
Amanda said, "You better hurry up, Alfred, or you'll be late to work."
I quickly ate my breakfast grabbed the Ford keys hanging near the door. I drove to the nearest gas station under the pretext of topping off the gas tank. The real purpose was to get a street map. Fortunately, the Kennedy Space Center is fairly easy to find from Cocoa Beach.
When I made it to the main gate, I grabbed a base map. After a while I finally found my building. I was fairly late pulling in.
When I found my office, I found a rather annoyed-looking woman in the uniform of a technical sergeant sitting at the desk in front of my office. "Your nine-o' clock is waiting for you, Doctor."
"Thank you Sergeant," I said while grabbing the file. Hopefully, I wouldn't be trying to psychoanalyze some poor soul.
Much to my relief, it was a psychological screening of an astronaut candidate. Looking through the file, Bellows was very thorough. He ordered tests I didn't even hear of. All I had to do was a brief interview of the officer. I figured General Healey would like this… the candidate was an Army helicopter pilot.
"Sorry to keep you waiting Captain Murdock," I said while inviting in the young officer.
Murdock replied, "Not a problem, Sir."
I started the interview, "You did pass all your tests with flying colors. I notice, though, you did spend time at the Psychiatric Evaluation Unit of China Beach Army Hospital in Vietnam."
Murdock said, "Yes sir, I made no attempt to hide that. Just a routine evaluation after flying several special operations flight." Murdock was telling the truth, he did put that on his initial evaluation.
I explained, "You were in extraordinary circumstances, Captain. The duty psychiatrist there cleared you for full duty, so your time at the PEU won't be held against you."
Murdoch replied, "Thank you, sir."
I asked Murdoch, "Captain, why do you want to be an astronaut?"
Murdoch smiled, "Because at NASA, they encourage you to think. In the Army if you think too much, they send you to the shrink."
I chuckled. I liked this Murdock. I dismissed him with, "Thank you Captain. I think I have enough for my report."
Murdock replied, "Thank you, sir," and left.
A few minutes after Murdock left, the intercom buzzed and the Sergeant's voice said, "Dr. Bellows, General French is on line one."
I answered line one with a crisp, "Yes, Sir."
The voice on the other end asked, "So, Colonel, what did you think of Captain Murdock?"
I answered, "Psychologically speaking, I think he's ready for Astronaut training."
General French replied, "I agree, he'll be a good addition, even though he's Army. What we need in the program are more Marines." Obviously, the General was in the Corps.
I laughed and said, "Yes, sir."
After I got off the phone with French, Healey reappeared.
Roger said, "Sam, I've got news. We had always thought the pilot of the shuttle was coerced into taking the former Army Special Ops team up in orbit to free the defector. But after Ziggy went through some classified Defense records, it appears the pilot and the so called 'A-Team' did have a history of collaborating on missions."
With a sinking feeling, I asked, "What's the name of the pilot?"
As I predicted, Roger Healey answered, "Lieutenant Colonel H.M. Murdock, U.S. Army."
I hesitantly said, "Roger, I just told General French that Murdock was fit for astronaut training."
General Healey exclaimed, "Sam! I can't believe you told the Command General of NASA, a Marine no less, that Howling Mad Murdock was mentally sound!"