This is the end…. part 20
Richard could not tell if Walter was really asleep or not the rest of the flight. He was relieved when his pilot announced they would be landing in fifteen minutes. He had spent the flight thinking about things Walter had said today and other times. He needed to discuss it with Toni as he recalled she had made some observations about Walter at the Reinler award ceremony. She had shown some insights on Walter's state of mind that might be well worth pursuing. He sent a message to Toni to prepare her for a long talk Monday morning. He sat back in his seat and glanced at the sleeping Walter and thought of the two bitter outbursts. The first on the way to the Reinler ceremony when Toni asked about his acceptance speech, and now this one. He thought back on the dinner with John, Steve and Brooke and the intensity of the discussion on the booster design. To see such an intellect as Walter's strung so taut was disturbing and brought to mind his cousin Shirley. Long gone by suicide. She also was isolated and ostracized, even more so when Richard went to college. His long messages did not alleviate her inner turmoil- only the overdose did. He woke Walter to prepare for landing and taxi to the hangar. Once on the ground he watched as Walter gathered his duffle bag and computer case to exit the plane. He followed Walter after having a word with his pilot.
"Walter, my car will be here shortly- you going to the house or garage?"
Leaving for the pickup area, he said "I have an Uber on the way, thanks anyway. Good night, Richard."
Richard watched as he walked out of sight as his car pulled up. He got in and went home.
Walter had the Uber take him to the house. He dropped his duffle bag in the bedroom, with Rex bouncing around and stub tail wagging all the way. He went back through the house, got a cookie for Rex, grabbed the Ferrari keys, threw his laptop case on the passenger seat and left for the garage.
When he got settled in the garage he opened his laptop to check for mail to find a message from Laura.
Walter- I was sure to get a hard copy of your seminar. Still having a problem with the math, but I have something of you to hold in my hands. Sleep well- Laura
He sat looking at the message then hit reply:
Laura- Went into a pit of depression when you left… then he deleted that.
Laura- Have a paper or thesis I could print out to grasp your thoughts? Have
something tangible to hold. You also sleep well- Walter
He continued to sit and think back on her leaving as she did. Did he get it wrong, misinterpret her state or was it him that was so in turmoil. His thoughts went from depressing rejection to the positive encouragement of her message. He closed his eyes and thought of her. Her warmth, her long dark hair, icy blue eyes. Her easy banter on so many topics, her easy acceptance of his interjecting facts and figures in her conversation, the tangents he went on that she did not disrupt. She had seemed so accepting of him in his entirety. Then he shook his head- this is an exercise in futility- no telling how long it would be before he would be back east to possibly see her again- how can he expect her to put her life on hold for an unknown amount of time. Bah, this is pointless, he thought so got up to start filling the whiteboard with formula and problems for Ralph, set up the coffee for the morning, climbed the stairs to the loft, took a shower and went to bed.
Around ten in the morning the door banged open and Ralph yelled "WALTER!" to start the weekend of science, math, chess, Proton Arnold competition, and easy conversation so all else was compartmentalized, shut off in a dark box in the back of Walter's mind.
Sunday shortly after four hearing the car pull up, Ralph grabbed his backpack to yell "Bye, Walter!" as he went out the door. As soon as the door shut, the silence settled over the place as the coming dusk settled the darkness. The cloud front coming onshore enveloped the city as the atmosphere turned on the troubling thoughts once more now that Ralph's presence was not there to keep them at bay. As he sat at his desk he checked mail but no message. He pushed his chair back to rise and start the Sunday night garage shutdown routine. Pulled the car out, shut the garage door, put his laptop case on the passenger seat and drove to the beach to sit watching the shore birds, then took the long way around the city to the house.
When he got to the house, Peaches, Cream and Rex were there to greet him- the Doberman's as aloof presences and Rex, stub tail wagging and bouncing around his legs as he went into the house. He put his laptop on the kitchen counter, gave Rex a cookie, got the coffee set up for the morning, went through the house to the bedroom, took a shower and went to bed.
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Toni was in her reception area by eight to start drawing up the agenda for the day when Richard emerged from the elevator at nine.
"How does the day look, Toni?" he asked as he opened his office door for her to enter to take the seat by his desk while he walked around to his chair.
"First, I sent a stern, but nicely worded message to both New York and Sydney about the mandatory monitoring of the security system. I am sure they will see the necessity."
"If Walter insists when he is the designer of the system, I will certainly take his advice, and they will take mine. What else?"
"I checked in with Japan- there have been no costly damaged rotors this quarter. The quarterly scheduled maintenance took place two weeks ago and the process of reloading the program from Walter's original went on without problems. Have not had one damaged part nor any even needing rework. They are still singing the praises for O'Brien."
"Well when it comes to his work there have been no complaints. O'Brien may very well be the best contract acquisition I have ever negotiated. That is one reason why I am worried about him. Like I said, coming back from Florida in the course of a simple conversation he had another bitter tirade then just clammed up to sleep the whole flight. He is an incredibly unique person so this bitterness I do not understand and it may in time affect him adversely. He and his Scorpion team got Zoe out of the hands of that cartel in Mexico and not one was harmed in the process. When I made the offer to come work for me, he looked at his team in another room and said he was happy working with them from a garage. While talking with him he was working on some innovative rocket booster design for a prize I said I could put a good word for him with the judges and he said he wanted to win fair. He showed integrity, intelligence, loyalty to his people, yet remember, he said after working together for years, they all walked out on him…. yet he still referred them to me- because, as he said, they are the best. As time is going, though, he is becoming more bitter, and solitary- not a good thing. Then he also mentioned that it was someone very like him, a colleague, even who dumped him into that cellar for seventeen days. Some colleague. And you said when you did a search on him nothing came up and when we were leaving the clinic he had said something about 'Walter being erased', and I know he and his team as Scorpion had done public jobs- that kid in the sinkhole at the beach- that was them. Walter was the one that went through the unstable tunnel- numerous times. But all that information is gone."
"You don't think he would harm himself, do you? Or just disappear one day?" Toni inquired. "What a loss that would be. I remember that story- Christmas miracle the local news called it, but it didn't come up in my search."
"No, he may be going through a difficult time of self-reflection, but he is well aware of his worth, so I don't think he would do anything drastic… I don't think so, anyway. But it is time to look into him. Get hold of Jessup of security- have him put his best on researching O'Brien and his background. And be sure to stress this the most- be circumspect, unobtrusive and do absolutely nothing by computer. When his team went to Mexico for Zoe, a Homeland agent was involved and I don't think O'Brien was a US citizen at the time."
"What if he finds out you are doing a search on him?" Toni said. "He may be less than happy about it, you know."
"I have to check his background if I want him as a permanent employee, especially in the space division as there is a lot of government involved on projects. Just be sure to emphasize no computer searches on anything involving him. Anything on computer, Walter will find it- his ability is nothing for mere mortals to toy with….. stress that," Richard said. "I am going to invite Adam and Sue to lunch- they have been living next to him for a while. Walter had mentioned he now has a service dog- has to have come from Adam. Adam is firm in the belief anything that ails a person can be fixed by a dog one way or another. In the meantime, I am going to see John, Steve and Brook and get them to see about getting Walter involved in the day to day details of planning another test launch- keeping Walter OUT of the capsule- can't risk another mess like the last time. But, I want Walter occupied full time- an occupied Walter is a safe Walter, according to him."
"One other thing, Richard. When I sent that memo about monitoring the security system to New York and Sydney, they replied that there were no problems to date."
"Send John Abbott a message that I will be stopping in. I will be back here by four."
"Will get all that started, then go down to Jessup's office and talk to him rather than e-mail- can't be too careful. See you at four and let you know the status of everything."
"Thanks Toni- appreciate your taking precautions."
"I like Walter too, Richard."
…...
Richard sat in John Abbott's office. "I would like you to bring O'Brien in on looking over all the space programs going on. From hatch hinges to propulsion system. You saw how he thinks and he may spot ways to reduce weight, improve fuel, anything and everything, just get him involved."
"I have sent him testing results, invited him to see firsthand the datum to look over. Have certainly let him know he is more than welcome to look over any number of systems and spend time here on the floor as has Brooke."
"Good, anything and everything that pops up, ask for his input. He is keen on space anything- like candy for him," Richard said. "Thanks John, and keep me apprised of anything Walter or the department comes up with."
As Richard left the office area, he sent a message to Adam and Sue to meet him for lunch at that Indian restaurant Adam liked if they could. As he was getting in his car he got a 'confirm' from Adam so he took a leisure drive across town thinking of how to frame the coming conversation.
"Adam, Sue, nice to see you, glad you could come." Richard said as he stood up to greet them.
"Come on, Richard," Sue said. "You mention Indian chow and Adam starts to drool. While you may find that amusing, something tells me you have more on your mind than chicken masala."
"Ah, Sue, you know me too well. Yes, I do have something on my mind and am unsure how to approach it, but here goes. How well have you gotten to know Walter in the time he has been at the house? He mentioned that he talks to a service dog, so I knew it had to come from you. Service dog for what?"
"Yes, he got Peaches and Cream all jacked up one night- to the point I got my weapon and went to check on him," Adam explained. "A lot of thrashing and yelling when I got to his room. He was having one hell of a nightmare. Rex is a Boxer trained to wake people from nightmares when they start- helps to interfere with the pattern. His was pretty bad, and Rex has awakened him twice since then that we heard, so it isn't often, but it does happen,
Sue continues, "he was sleeping in just his boxers- did you know he is all kinds of scarred up? Adam said he spotted at least two gunshots, knife and burns to chest and stomach. Must have been very traumatic to say the least, yet he said he was never in the military. He did some kind of mission with Seals as he knows two we know who were surprised to see Walter when they came to visit. Neither Jim nor Walter would discuss it."
Adam then added, "In the time he has been in the house, he has had no visitors- he is gone the weekends and off with you a couple times, but other than that he is pretty much in the house. And yes, I have caught him talking to Rex."
"I have been a bit concerned," Sue said, "as he does not seem to sleep much- just recently started doing laps in the pool- usually late at night. That first nightmare, when Adam snapped the light on, Walter leaped out of the bed into a crouch, then ducked into the bathroom like he was embarrassed to be seen."
"So why the interest, Richard?" Adam asked. "I figured you knew all about him since you had him move in there,"
"I have had a couple conversations with him on the flights to DC and New York, and what he said was…. concerning. I am concerned with his frame of mind especially with him so isolated- he certainly is not what you would call a 'social butterfly. He has no family here and those in Ireland appear to be estranged, obviously lacks equals with whom to interact."
"Are you worried he may harm himself?" Adam asked. "To be honest, while he may have unresolved trauma issues, he does not strike me as suicidal. There are signs and I do not see any in Walter."
"Well, I am trying to get him more involved in the space division- he says keeping occupied is good for his wellbeing. I am trying to discreetly look into his background- he is a unique individual to put it mildly. The third or fourth highest IQ ever recorded, and if you saw him discussing mathematics you would be blown away like I was- he has been requested to give seminars to MIT professors and post grads which should tell you something. He is incredible and I worry that he is so isolated. He has so much to offer yet he does not seem to get any consideration from people he has dealt with for years. He said something about going down a rabbit hole of darkness- last time he did it took quite a while in the clinic to recover. Like I said, I am inquiring discreetly, so keep that in mind, but anything you can do to help keep him occupied would be appreciated. And, should anything worrisome come up, let me know. And I must admit- I am glad you introduced me to Indian chow."
"Yeah, anything to get away from that Italian place you are fixated on." Adam laughed. "One pasta sauce or another pasta sauce- I don't have the 'discriminating taste buds to tell the difference. Why I drink beer and am not a wine snob."
"I have to head back to the office," Richard said rising. "You both take care….. and thanks for the service dog for Walter."
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