set them up out there on the patio, plugged into his ground line, and signed on to the Infinite Classroom.
IT WAS ONE of the better ideas Dak ever had. Travis
knew this stuff, he'd worked with numbers all his professional career.
There were basic concepts in calculus that had been giving me hell, I'd
started to wonder if I'd ever make the breakthrough, ever really make
the grade. Maybe I ought to get a job selling shoes. It would be better
than shining them, like my great-grandfather used to do in Havana.
"There's just things it's real hard to learn out of a book," Travis said at one point, not long after getting me to
finally
see a point I'd been struggling with for a whole month. "Math's one of
them. I don't think I'd ever have got it if I didn't have a good
teacher to help me over the rough spots.
"Don't get me wrong, I think this Internet U is a great thing... up
to a point. But in pretty much any subject you get to a point where
words and pictures on a screen aren't enough. You either have to get
some hands-on experience, or get somebody to walk you through it, one
on one."
"SO AM I going to hear how this all came about, or is that a secret?"
Dak looked over and grinned at me from under his helmet.
"Just dropped by a few days ago to see how the poor bastard was
doing," he said. "Cousin Jubal had told him all about that night and
Travis wanted to say thanks. I think he was pretty impressed we didn't
take him for everything but the lint in his drawers. He's a man who has
some experience in these matters."
"I'll bet," I laughed.
"Oh, yes," Alicia said. "Travis has been mugged before."
She was puttering along in her little 1965 VW Bug, ahead of us on
the bikes. Dak had been helping her restore it. In fact, that little
Bug was how they met in the first place. The outside was coated with
primer except for the two front fenders, which were "screamin' yellow
and hollerin' orange," according to my mom. Alicia hadn't yet decided
what color to go with.
"We cracked a few brews, sat around shooting the breeze, making that rubber crocodile walk around on the bottom of the pool."
"And he offered to do our homework for us?"
"Not at first," Dak admitted. "He said, any little thing he could do
for us, all we gotta do is ask. The dude may be a drunk, but he knows a
lot of people, and I think a fair number of them still like him. These
are the kind of people who can drop a hint, call in a favor from the
right person at the right time, I figured. We got a long ways to go
between here and the moon, Manny my man. We need to use every leg up we
can get."
"No argument, pal," I said. "I just wish you'd let me in a little sooner. I felt like I was crashing somebody else's party."
"Sorry about that, man."
There was a momentary silence in our earphones.
"He was a hero, once," I said.
"No fooling?"
So I told them the story Pig had given me about saving the
California's
crew and passengers. Dak loved it about as much as I had.
"Damn!" he said. "I'd pay to see that. Let's hop a plane to Africa, Alicia."
"Happy to, soon as you can pay for it."
"Yeah... how come I couldn't find any of that, Manny? I went to the NASA site, same as you. Didn't find diddly."
"For some reason, NASA wants to pretend Colonel Broussard never
existed. They can't, but they sure did minimize him. I don't know why,
Pig wouldn't say."
"Are we invited over again?"
"If you don't mind sirloin for breakfast."
"One more thing I'd like to know."
"Shoot."
"Alicia, how
did
you find out Dak had been coming out here?"
"Because I'm nosy," she laughed.
"You can say that again," Dak said. "Raiding the man's pantry."
"He ate three helpings of the salad."
"Salad? That what that was, salad?"
"It doesn't have to have lettuce, Dak."
"In my house it does. And tomatoes."
"Alicia, you never did answer my question," I said.
"Oh, that. You know Dak installed that inertial tracker—and I never knew why, since he already had the NavStar unit."
"Just another gadget
IT WAS ONE of the better ideas Dak ever had. Travis
knew this stuff, he'd worked with numbers all his professional career.
There were basic concepts in calculus that had been giving me hell, I'd
started to wonder if I'd ever make the breakthrough, ever really make
the grade. Maybe I ought to get a job selling shoes. It would be better
than shining them, like my great-grandfather used to do in Havana.
"There's just things it's real hard to learn out of a book," Travis said at one point, not long after getting me to
finally
see a point I'd been struggling with for a whole month. "Math's one of
them. I don't think I'd ever have got it if I didn't have a good
teacher to help me over the rough spots.
"Don't get me wrong, I think this Internet U is a great thing... up
to a point. But in pretty much any subject you get to a point where
words and pictures on a screen aren't enough. You either have to get
some hands-on experience, or get somebody to walk you through it, one
on one."
"SO AM I going to hear how this all came about, or is that a secret?"
Dak looked over and grinned at me from under his helmet.
"Just dropped by a few days ago to see how the poor bastard was
doing," he said. "Cousin Jubal had told him all about that night and
Travis wanted to say thanks. I think he was pretty impressed we didn't
take him for everything but the lint in his drawers. He's a man who has
some experience in these matters."
"I'll bet," I laughed.
"Oh, yes," Alicia said. "Travis has been mugged before."
She was puttering along in her little 1965 VW Bug, ahead of us on
the bikes. Dak had been helping her restore it. In fact, that little
Bug was how they met in the first place. The outside was coated with
primer except for the two front fenders, which were "screamin' yellow
and hollerin' orange," according to my mom. Alicia hadn't yet decided
what color to go with.
"We cracked a few brews, sat around shooting the breeze, making that rubber crocodile walk around on the bottom of the pool."
"And he offered to do our homework for us?"
"Not at first," Dak admitted. "He said, any little thing he could do
for us, all we gotta do is ask. The dude may be a drunk, but he knows a
lot of people, and I think a fair number of them still like him. These
are the kind of people who can drop a hint, call in a favor from the
right person at the right time, I figured. We got a long ways to go
between here and the moon, Manny my man. We need to use every leg up we
can get."
"No argument, pal," I said. "I just wish you'd let me in a little sooner. I felt like I was crashing somebody else's party."
"Sorry about that, man."
There was a momentary silence in our earphones.
"He was a hero, once," I said.
"No fooling?"
So I told them the story Pig had given me about saving the
California's
crew and passengers. Dak loved it about as much as I had.
"Damn!" he said. "I'd pay to see that. Let's hop a plane to Africa, Alicia."
"Happy to, soon as you can pay for it."
"Yeah... how come I couldn't find any of that, Manny? I went to the NASA site, same as you. Didn't find diddly."
"For some reason, NASA wants to pretend Colonel Broussard never
existed. They can't, but they sure did minimize him. I don't know why,
Pig wouldn't say."
"Are we invited over again?"
"If you don't mind sirloin for breakfast."
"One more thing I'd like to know."
"Shoot."
"Alicia, how
did
you find out Dak had been coming out here?"
"Because I'm nosy," she laughed.
"You can say that again," Dak said. "Raiding the man's pantry."
"He ate three helpings of the salad."
"Salad? That what that was, salad?"
"It doesn't have to have lettuce, Dak."
"In my house it does. And tomatoes."
"Alicia, you never did answer my question," I said.
"Oh, that. You know Dak installed that inertial tracker—and I never knew why, since he already had the NavStar unit."
"Just another gadget
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