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Chapter 77 - Making History

“How can that be?” Tamara asked after she had recovered her voice. “There’s never been more than one Prize to anyone in the same year. And only a handful of people have been honored more than once.”

Peter nodded, “And now Emma’s one of those people too. She told me that only um, John Bardeen, I think, got two in Physics, and now she’s right there with him. She told me that three others got two Nobels. Let’s see, Marie Curie had one in Physics and then Chemistry, but about ten years apart. There was a dude who got two in Chemistry. His awards came twenty years apart. I think one was for the structure of insulin, the other, I don’t know. Maybe something to do with DNA. Someone else got a science Nobel and the Peace Nobel—Urey? Maybe.

“But you, sweetheart ... three different categories in the same year! The press is calling you the new Einstein. There was a stupid suggestion that the Swedish Nobel Academy had orchestrated this as a publicity stunt and that caused a real commotion as virtually all the world’s scientists came together to defend them. The selection process is secret, I heard, and different committees choose the laureates in the various prize categories. The medicine one is even from a different institute than the physics one. But the academy members in each institute can only vote to choose the winner from the final selection of nominees and then it’s a majority vote of that academy. Something like that would be awfully difficult to orchestrate. So the idea that it was some kind of a setup ended almost before it began.”

Tamara was still in shock, but she asked, “What work were the prizes for? I’ve done so much in the past several years. Was my work so significant that it was considered to be... what is it ... the most important invention or discovery of the year, I think Emma said the Nobels were for.”

“I spoke to her about that,” Peter answered. “At the very beginning, the Nobels were for work done during the prior year but it isn’t done that way now; that rule changed maybe a hundred years ago. The work is considered complete when it’s become accepted by most of the world’s scientists as being a major contribution to the discipline. Let me get the article that has the wording of the Prize citations, okay?”

Tamara nodded numbly.

Peter returned in a minute. “Here’s the article. First was the Physiology or Medicine award announced last Monday.”

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded to Tamara N. Alexandre “for the development of an ultra-high resolution MRI device leading to the discovery of the fine neurological structures in the brain and the pathways which connect them, allowing for better understanding of the brain’s functional areas.”

“They announced the Physics award on Tuesday.”

The Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded to Tamara N. Alexandre and Emma E. Clarke “for demonstrating electron flow against an electrostatic charge gradient allowing the concentration of electrons to develop at an exceptionally high density in a superconducting molecular lattice, which permits the lossless and efficient storage and recovery of energy.”

“And on Wednesday the Chemistry award was announced.”

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded to Tamara N. Alexandre “for developing a new chemical analytic technique based on an application of the Born-Oppenheimer approximation and the Franck-Condon principle to induce molecular electronic transitions using the characteristics of the delocalized electrons from the pi bonds in aromatic molecules, without producing changes in the positions of the molecular nuclei, thus allowing for either the separation or synthesis of very closely related molecules.”

“Those are definitely all ground-breaking achievements, Tamara,” Peter told her. “They’re all your ideas and you followed through with convincing demonstrations of the applications of your new science.” He chuckled. “The press is raking Hopkins over the coals, demanding to know why they’re making you stay as a grad student. Some media figures are demanding that you be awarded PhDs in both physics and chemistry, but nobody can quite agree about the third—whether it should be in anatomy, physiology, neuroscience, radiology, or neurology. One wag even suggested that they give you all those degrees.”

“You know what my opinion is about graduating too soon,” Tamara said. “This can’t be real; gotta be a dream.”

“It’s very real, darling. Did you turn on your phone yet?” Peter asked.

“Huh. No, been using a burner. Oh, I had to surrender one to the state trooper ‘cause it had the recording of the kidnapper’s threats to me. He essentially confessed what he had done.”

“So you nabbed him too, then?” Peter asked. “Cool.”

Winnie gushed, “That was frickin’ awesome, how she did that. Miss Spiderwoman here shot her web and zap! Down he went!”

“Ah, so your new net gun works,” Peter smiled.

Tamara nodded. “I decided to use that secret weapon rather than the G-force bolos ‘cause I expected that he’d come too close for the bolos to be effective.”

“Okay. But I’d prefer that no more live field-test sessions against felons will be planned,” he said, looking at her seriously. “Go check your phone.”

Tamara went into her bedroom to get it and turned it on as she returned. Peter and Winnie were talking.

“... and she bought me a ton of new clothes there and...” Winnie stopped with an embarrassed look.

“Hey, girl, you needed that stuff,” Tamara told her as she unlocked the phone.

It lit up with a constant stream of incoming messages and voice mail notifications.

“Jeez. 172 texts ... and ... still counting ... 241 emails. Voice mails ... let me go there. Damn, at the limit of 20.”

“Go back to Monday, honey,” Peter suggested.

“Ah. Here, an international call at 5:47 a.m. in the call history ... one at 6:13, same number. Let me check the voice mail... there’s one at 6:14. Let me play it.”

“I am calling from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, looking for Tamara N. Alexandre. If this is the correct number, it is essential that she contact us by telephone at her earliest convenience. Our international telephone number is ...” the voice said, speaking with a strong accent but in a very formal style.

Tamara looked at Peter. “It’s real?” and she began to cry. “I just can’t believe this,” she whispered as Peter embraced her. “I didn’t think that what I did was so revolutionary. I just extended what the science could already do.”

“Which is exactly what all the other laureates before you did,” Peter chuckled. “Didn’t Newton say something about how his discoveries were made; that he saw further because he was standing on the shoulders of giants?”

“That’s true, he’s quoted that way,” Tamara said.

“You need to call Emma,” Peter suggested. “I’ll bet that she’s champing on the bit to speak to you about this. You told her not to try calling you until tomorrow on pain of something severe, she wouldn’t tell me what that was when she called me Tuesday mid-morning, a few hours after she got her Nobel call. She asked me if I had heard anything from you; of course I hadn’t.”

“Yeah, I should. Jeez, I feel so disoriented. Like part of me is detached and watching the scene play out. This must be a little like what dissociation is like.”

“A little. Now go make that call.”

Emma answered on the first ring, having seen her phone’s caller ID.

“Tamara!” she fairly shouted. “So you’ve heard the news?”

“Yeah, Emma, congrats on your selection,” Tamara said. “A double laureate too.”

“Look who’s talking, Miss Breaker of All Precedent. What happened last week is totally unheard of, innit. A scientist winning in three areas of research? As well, all of that work being done within the span of just a few years. You’re simply crackin’ brilliant, gal.”

“I’m still trying to assimilate the news, Emma. You got the phone call. What happens now?”

“So it’s going to be a circus now, won’t it. A three-ring circus for sure...”

She emphasized the three and they both laughed.

“The media will be relentless. The blighters were out mobbing the Physics Building here all week and have been right nuisances out at the APL too. They tracked down your parents; I spoke to them on Thursday and there’ve been telly crews parked out at their place all week.”

“Shit. I gotta call them too, after this call. Jeez, all I really wanted is a quiet life.”

“Not after this news, I’m afraid. I’ve thought a bit about what you can do. It appears that the media hasn’t figured out where you live...”

“Um, I used my folks’ address for my driver’s license.”

“Ah. So that’s why some crews went there,” Emma said. “Now listen. I talked to Stuart. When he was at the British embassy, they used a really good local security firm and he’s made some calls about getting security for you. I have a number you can call, yet this evening, and they can set you up with a security detail starting tomorrow. Stuart is insistent that you set up some security because when they find you, you’ll get mobbed...”

“Damn...” Tamara muttered.

“... and that brings up the other half of the publicity part of this circus. Hopkins has set up an interview slash press conference with a media audience and a TV feed for Tuesday at 2 p.m. in Shriver Hall for me, so far, and we hope that you’ll join me. As far as I know, your schedule’s open; I even checked with your solicitors at your new company.”

“I’ll definitely take the security detail; cost isn’t an issue. What will they do?”

“I expect they’ll provide a vehicle and a personal protection agent who’ll likely be the driver. He or she will bring you to where you need to go and get you in and out safely. You’ll be on the media radar for at least two weeks until everyone gets their fill of news about you. There are always a few people who want more details... do a life story... that sort of rot. And unless you do something that attracts additional attention to you, the frenzy will be over. The Nobel ceremony is on December 10 in Stockholm. You’ll need to contact them right away and let them know that you’re back now, you were in the mountains with no phone service. They’ll have a packet sent to you by express delivery, mine is coming to my office at the university. Oh, right. After the Tuesday press conference, there’s a congratulatory gathering at the JH Club with our physics faculty and a dinner later; the dinner’s tentative because it’s for you and your university collaborators. Is it two hundred now?”

Tamara giggled. “Not quite. In the low sixties. About thirty-eight, if you only count those who submitted the articles I collaborated on.”

“Tamara, I’m gobsmacked at how you find the time to do everything you’ve accomplished. Are you sure you haven’t found a way to clone yourself and that there aren’t actually eight Tamaras running around doing all this work?”

They both laughed and Tamara responded, “Now there’s a really great idea...”

“Stop, stop. I’m sorry I mentioned that,” Emma chuckled. “I shudder to think what havoc in science a team of Tamaras could cause.”

“I’m okay with the Tuesday events,” Tamara confirmed. “Shriver’s a big hall and shouting questions wouldn’t work, right? Would the questions be in writing?”

“They’re trying something brand new, Tamara. Questions can be written and given to the moderator in advance—it’s to be the provost, by the way—or texted to a number that will be set up. The written questions will be read first. The texted ones will appear on the moderator’s computer screen and he’ll flag the ones that he thinks are best. Those questions will appear on a big projection screen where everyone can see them.”

“Nice. That’s a great idea. Emma, this week’s gonna be really complicated. It was looking to be complicated before the awards came but now it’ll be a real mess. Last week I got into a situation saving a teen from a sex-trafficking operation and there’re lots of legal issues to work out. I was gonna try to get to see Sam tomorrow...”

“Wait, Tamara. That’s a hot button issue for Sam. She’ll talk to you about it this evening if you have time; no need to try to get in to see her. Do you have any details?”

“Yeah, I have a summary I wrote up and Peter sent it to Mason to start off the political part.”

“Give me a half hour. Do you have Sam’s email?”

“Personal. Not business.”

“Personal will work. Send it in a half hour. Now call your folks and that security firm. And my most sincere congrats on your new fame, my dear.”

“Thanks, I think. Bye, Emma; thanks for the great advice.”

Tamara called the security company’s number and a real company person actually answered.

“I was expecting a service or robot,” Tamara said when the person introduced herself. “I’m Tamara Alexandre.”

“We were told to expect your call, Miss Alexandre. You’re probably getting tired of hearing this, but congratulations on your Nobel Prizes. That was an amazing achievement. Achievements, plural. I assume, that since you called, you wanted to engage our services? Basic personal protection?”

“I do. I was told that the media would be hounding me and some are very aggressive.”

“That’s true. Our organization has branches around the country and we are quite familiar with those aggressive tactics. Our LA branch specializes in protection of actors and media personalities. Our branch here handles political figures who tend to need a greater security level and I believe your case is closer to the latter. Your achievement was so unusual and unique that you might be the object of unwanted attention, in addition to fending off multiple interview requests.”

“I can see that,” Tamara sighed, resignedly.

“If you agree to have us provide our service, I’ll have an agent at your home tomorrow at 8 a.m. The agent will have our contract to sign, go over our fees, and can answer questions. Then they can escort you for the day. If the agent proves compatible, they can stay with you, or else we can try another agent.”

“I agree and that’s satisfactory,” Tamara replied.

Her next call was to her parents. Nadine answered the phone and Tamara heard her call to Wilson, “Honey? It’s Tamara. Come quick.”

“Hi, Mom, sorry for not calling as soon as I got back but it’s been freaky wild here.”

“I’m sure that it has. It was wonderful news and you’re so deserving of the honor, darling. I’m so incredibly proud.”

“As am I, Tamara,” Wilson said. “The folks at the APL went crazy when they heard about the first prize; your MRI work was mostly done at the APL. Then the Physics one came and the place simply went bonkers. And Wednesday morning, the entire building at Emma’s lab was hopping and virtually the entire APL staff stopped by to join the happy crew there.”

“Jeez, you’d think that they got the prize themselves...” Tamara mused.

“Reflected glory, darling,” Nadine told her. “Your accomplishments reflected their own contributions.”

“Emma told me that Stuart was insistent that I get a security service,” Tamara said.

“Yes, we all spoke to each other about that,” Wilson told her. “Stuart knows a good firm. Did you call to arrange it?”

“Absolutely. They’re sending someone over tomorrow morning. Also Emma says that you have some uninvited squatters there.”

“We do,” Nadine said; her annoyed tone was evident to Tamara. “One and sometimes two cars or vans are parked opposite to our drive. They’re watching to see who’s coming and going. We’re also getting a dozen phone calls a day from unknown numbers and we let those go to voice mail. Most leave no message but some ask for a callback but leave no details—just, ‘it’s urgent that you speak to us.’ Messages like that.”

“Can you call the county police and complain? That’s actually stalking. Hey, Scott knows some county cops who’re resort members,” Tamara suggested.

“Excellent idea, honey,” Wilson told her. “If they’re there tomorrow, I’ll call him.”

“Um, just a sec. Got an email to send ... um ... done. So, while I was off in the great wilderness, and by the way, that kouche was absolutely the right thing to do and I learned incredible things... I need to tell you about it, Mom, when it’s much less hectic. So, at the end of my seclusion, my senses led me to this poor young teen girl who was hiding in the remote woods...”

Tamara went on to tell them about Winnie.

Oops, where is she? Tamara thought when she began telling her parents about finding the girl. Good, over there on the couch, and she’s talking to Peter. Jeez, the intensity that gal has! What a powerful presence she has; it fills the room.

“So I brought her home since she has nowhere to go and that trafficking ring probably has other members who might be looking for her by now.”

“What a poor girl!” Nadine said. “Of course you brought her to your place. What do you plan to do?”

“Short term, get her settled here. Set up some kind of guardianship and get her legal status taken care of—I just sent a message to Sam about that and Emma said she’d call Sam about it. Start Winnie in school, get her a physical. She had very poor treatment in the group home. That’s about Winnie. Still short term, about the trafficking ring, if that’s what it is, and I really suspect it is one, Peter got Mason involved and he knows people in West Virginia and will get the political wheels moving. The Virginia state troopers have the kidnapper...”

“That was good you captured him, but very risky, Tamara,” Wilson said.

“I had at least one backup plan, Dad. And Winnie was armed with a can of bear spray, so that was backup number two. You know what bear spray can do, right?”

“Sure. Go ahead.”

“...so I expect that the group home where Winnie was living will be getting a visit from the state police. If the county sheriff or a local judge is involved, the state police will figure it out. Mason told Peter that he’s gonna ask that the child protective services department be investigated too to see if there were any other improper adoptions or guardianships made. The guy who got Winnie, the Virginia sheriff’s deputy found out, was from Virginia and a multiple sex offender.”

“That’s a chilling thought,” Nadine commented. “An adoption or whatever placement with a sex offender is unthinkable.”

“Now for the longer term. I’m still wrestling with the idea of having an instant family by adopting or fostering Winnie. She’s a delightful, amazing girl and, Mom, she has some of the same abilities that I do—she can project emotion. I had difficulty finding her because she had made herself invisible like I used to do. But do I want to tie myself and Peter down with a teen living with us? That’s difficult to answer. But I’m growing to love her; there’s a real attachment forming and it’s both emotional and intellectual. She’s incredibly smart and thinks quickly. I have a lot to think about and need to discuss this with Peter too, of course.”

They spoke for several more minutes and then Tamara saw that she had a call coming in.

“Gotta go, Mom, Dad, it’s Sam. Love ya, speak soon. ... Hi, it’s Tamara. Hi, Sam.”

“Hi yourself, your Nobel knighthoodness.”

“Oh jeez. Jay’s a bad influence on you,” Tamara giggled. “King of bad puns and worse double entendres.”

“Congrats and all that rot. Crackin’ brilliant, you are, you and my sis, the dame. Dame Emma. Another noble knight. Nobel knight.”

“Thanks, if that was meant to be a compliment. I’m never sure,” Tamara laughed.

“Compliment for sure. You’ll be forever named in the history books as the only person ever to win multiple Nobels in the same year; that’s an absolutely certain bet. Anyway, I read your email and I was bloody gutted by your account. Emma told me that you involved Mason. That’s ace because he’s really politically connected. Tomorrow, I’ll get with one of my firm’s family law experts. We also have a branch over in Charleston and we’ll seek to remove Winnie from the West Virginia CPS system and shift her to Maryland’s. She’ll need a guardian, though, or else it’s foster care again.”

“I figured. Can Peter and I, or just me myself, be her guardian?”

“I’m not familiar enough with all of the intricate workings of family law and especially with the legal precedents involved in doing that. But we’ll try. That’ll come after we get her out of the West Virginia system, though.”

“Also, Sam, Winnie’s grandfather owned property and was a retired state employee. Winnie doesn’t know of any savings and her case worker wouldn’t tell her about the property.”

“Blimey... sounds like a county scam right there. There might even be a will in a safe deposit box too... I’ll start some digging.”

“Good. I’ll hit you with another one. Winnie needs to be in school and I want her health to be checked, but both of those need a legal guardian.”

“That’s spot on, Tamara. Okay, our firm has close working relationships with family courts in the entire D.C. area, including in Baltimore County—erm, you’d need a city court, actually. There’s a procedure in state law to appoint an emergency guardian and I’m certain that your situation qualifies, since it appears that Winnie was the victim of a criminal enterprise, doesn’t it. As well, I’ll start that process tomorrow. I’ll email you the info we need to get from Winnie.”

After her conversation with Sam, Tamara went over to Peter and Winnie.

“Winnie, we got started on getting you out of the West Virginia foster system and Sam, a friend and a lawyer, will do a petition to make me your emergency guardian. And you’ll stay with us, for a while, anyway, as we work out what to do. In any event, you won’t be put into any foster home. Is that okay?”

She jumped up and hugged Tamara.

“Sure, and thanks for everything you’ve done too. Peter’s great; talking to him is like talking to you.”

“I know Winnie’s life story and she knows mine,” Peter joked. “You guys had quite a time out in the woods. Winnie’s one brave gal.”

“Okay. Late supper. Peter, call for a pizza delivery. Winnie, fancy any particular toppings?”

“Ah, pepperoni and onion if that’s okay. Others are fine too.”

“Sam is sending over a list of what we need from you, Winnie, it’s biographical info for the legal petition. Let’s look at your bedroom now and see how you want to arrange it. We had set it up as our study room but don’t use it now.”

Winnie and Tamara began moving one of the two desks in the room to the wall with the other desk to make more room and Peter came in to help. Then Tamara got an extra set of linens out and Winnie put them on the bed. After the pizza came and was consumed, Tamara sat down with Winnie and got all of her biographical data entered on the form that Sam had sent, and Tamara emailed it back.

“Tomorrow, a security person will come talk to us, Winnie. A lot of people believe that I’ll need some physical protection from all the media looking for me. Some of them get aggressive...”

“Ooo, you’re getting a bodyguard. I keep saying it, Tamara. You’re really important.”

“Hush your mouth. Are you okay with living with us?”

“Oh, for sure. This is like paradise. Living with Papa was nice, but the work was really hard. Vegetable farming takes lots of time to be sure the critters don’t spoil the crop, keep the weeds down, cover the crop for early frosts... lots of work. Plus then go to school. And the farmers’ market on weekends.”

“After we talk to the agent, we’ll stop off at the high school and find out what they need. You just began ninth grade in September, right?”

“Yeah... but I only was there maybe two weeks. The witch kept a few of us home about two days every week. The girls thought it was to keep us from making any close friends at school. And it worked, too.”

“Damn. Well, my friends are working on that problem. Okay, it’s been a really busy day. You all set for bed?”

“Ah... Tamara... it’s been so, so long since I had a proper shower... I was so tired last night in the hotel I just did a quick wash ... may I...?”

Tamara stared at Winnie in shock. “Ohmygod, Winnie! I’m so sorry I didn’t think of that! The bathroom in the hall is yours; my bedroom has its own bathroom. And don’t worry about the hot water; it never runs out. Go take a shower... or a bath if you want.”

Tamara hugged her and joined Peter in their bedroom.

~~~~

The agent from the protection services company rang their apartment at 8 a.m. the following morning and Peter buzzed the main door open. A few minutes later, Tamara responded to the knocking on the door. A glance through the security viewer revealed a woman.

Interesting, Tamara thought.

She opened the door, keeping the security chain engaged.

“Yes?” she asked the woman.

The woman smiled at her and handed over a business card. It had an image of a generic badge on it and the name “Cornelius Executive Protection Services LLC.” Below that, “Col. Janice Marks, USMC Ret.”

Tamara closed the door, released the chain, and opened the door again.

“Welcome,” she said. “I’m Tamara.”

Marks shook Tamara’s hand and smiled at her. “I was very happy to see how you handled me at the door,” she said. “Especially how you used the door as a body barrier and had your foot braced against it.”

Tamara nodded. “Something my dad taught me. I see you’re a Marine. So’s my dad. He was off active duty for years and was recently reactivated to special detached duty with the State Department.”

“That’s interesting. We tried doing some background research on you, Miss Alexandre...”

“Please, it’s Tamara.”

“We don’t usually get that familiar with our principals.”

“I get very uncomfortable being addressed so formally, though,” Tamara told her.

“Very well... anyway, not a lot is available publically about you. There were a few bad quality photos of you taken at an APL press conference and a blurry group photo from an event where you received something called the Draper Prize. But we did find a few very unusual and unique facts. A Medal of Freedom presented by the president, a knighthood from the British queen and a commendation for bravery, also from the queen. And an absolute ton of scientific papers. Are all of those awards and achievements yours?”

“They are. But I’ve kept the rest of my life fairly private and made many people unhappy when I refuse the formal pictures.”

What she didn’t mention was that she had “confused” the various photographers so they messed up their shots. After all, she had her “secret identity” to maintain, so using her ability then wasn’t a personal benefit for her.

“That’s what we learned. We didn’t background check your family, but your own age means that your only public interactions would have been through your schools.”

“That’s right. If you mean having a paying job while in school, no, I never did.”

“Okay, you’re probably getting really tired of hearing people congratulate you but I’d feel remiss if I didn’t. Your multiple Nobel Prizes are making history and your renown has certainly stimulated an intense desire by the public to know lots more about you. And that drives the media into a frenzy, trying to be the first to get to you. You’ve kept under the radar very well so far and had so thoroughly disappeared when the prizes were announced...”

Tamara laughed and told her about her “retreat” and being without any communication for the week. Then Marks took some papers out of her briefcase and began to go over the contract and pricing. Tamara decided on having a protective agent with her every day during daytime hours, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and on call until 11 p.m. The contract would run on a month-to-month basis.

“This sounds good, Tamara; any further questions?” Marks asked when Tamara finished completing the forms and had signed the paperwork.

“No, not now. Maybe when I see how things are working. Will you be the one working with me?”

“If you want. For today, yes. Let me give you my bio so you can see my experience.”

Tamara read it and was impressed. This gal knew her stuff. Before she retired, in addition to her other qualifications, she had been an instructor in the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program, the MCMAP, and held a grandmaster's degree belt in shaolin wushu. She also held “expert” qualifications in rifle and pistol. She had four years of personal protection experience guarding visiting foreign dignitaries and some political figures.

Tamara looked up after reading the bio and laughed. “You could surely whup my boyfriend in hand-to-hand. Peter!” she called and Peter came out of the bedroom and Winnie, hers.

“Peter, Winnie, this is Colonel Janice Marks...”

“If you insist that I call you Tamara, then call me Janice,” Marks said. “Hello, Peter and Winnie.”

Winnie nodded to Marks shyly as Peter spoke, “Hi. Peter Winsberg. Pleased to meet you.”

“Peter, she’s a martial arts grandmaster.”

“Crazy. What discipline?”

“In the MCMAP, we teach elements of almost all of the martial arts.” Marks explained the program. “But specifically, I achieved that rank in shaolin wushu.”

“That’s kung fu, right, and isn’t tai chi based on that?” Peter asked.

“It is indeed. Which art have you studied?”

I recently passed my promotion exam for the second degree in judo,” Peter told her and Marks nodded, smiling at him.

“Hey, I hope that you can meet our other friends. One of them holds a seventh dan in traditional taekwondo, as he calls it,” Tamara said.

“In the ITF Chang-Hong Korean system?” Marks asked.

“Well, he trained with a Korean grand master in Seoul and reached his third dan with him; I recall him saying that he reached it before age 18.”

“That’s really impressive.”

Tamara chuckled. “You’ll think I’m bragging on my friends, but another one won a gold medal in an international judo tournament in Tokyo when she was seventeen. Her dad was a Marine too.”

“Wait one second right there.” Marks exclaimed. “That’s Cynthia Denison, right? You know the Denisons?”

Tamara looked at her. “Jeez, small world. I know just Cindy. How do you know the Denisons?”

“Gunnery Sergeant Denison was a MCMAP instructor when I first took the program. Then he was the chief operations NCO at Pendleton when I had a posting there,” Marks told her.

“Wow. You must have been there when Cindy and her brother... um...”

“That would be Roger. He took a medal in that Tokyo tournament too.”

“She and Roger led a student revolt against the Naked in School Program,” Tamara said.

“Right, I was there then,” Marks chuckled. “That was quite a time. Denison was quite a good leader and his daughter kept the family reputation strong both in high school and in college, I heard.”

“You kept up contact?”

“Somewhat. Marines are a tight group. There’s a network, even among retirees. We hear the gouge, as my Marine aviator friends say. That means the grapevine,” Marks grinned. “So what’s today’s plan? I’m at your service.”

“I figure that the media people haven’t figured out that I live here; the apartment is under Peter’s name. So no one should be around when we leave. Today I want to check out Baltimore Tech for Winnie; it’s a high school, actually a magnet school with a good rep. See if they have room and what’s required. After that, we’ll see. Might need to go to a law office in Beltsville, again, to handle something for Winnie.”

“We’ll take my vehicle then. I saw you have an underground garage. Are you parked there and have a remote to operate the gate?”

“Yep. We’ll go down to my car and I’ll get the remote. You can drive in and pick us up.”

On the way to the high school, Tamara told Marks about the press conference on Tuesday.

“That would be my first contact with the media since the Prize was announced,” Tamara said.

“Okay, I’ll need to work out a plan to get you in and out of there,” Marks said. “You said it’s to be in the Shriver Concert Hall. I’ll get with the campus security people and we’ll arrange everything.”

I wish that all this nonsense was over so I can resume a normal life, Tamara sighed to herself.

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