So on Tuesday, Amy, Charlie, Jackie, and I had flown to Tucson, Arizona, for the funeral. And we were back in Albuquerque late Wednesday afternoon. There isn’t much to tell about the trip other than the funeral and seeing the Saguaro National Monument.

And maybe we did help Tim and Rachel’s mothers, and possibly others, accept the deaths.

Amy was able to stay home on Thursday. She didn’t have classes today and wasn’t working at the hospital. Charlie and Jackie had classes, and Charlie was working this afternoon for the university’s maintenance department. Me? I had classes to teach and one to take, and then I needed to dig into the documentation for the Los Alamos project.

As I left for the university and I was saying so long to Amy, I said, “I may be late coming home. I want to carefully read over the project again before we meet with Dr. Fontheim tomorrow.”

“I’ll be here.”, Amy replied.

“What’s on your agenda.”

“Some housework. Plus I may hang some pictures on the inside walls. And, I may get started on the final exam for my class.”

“That’s something that I’ve got to do too. But, for two classes.”

“I know. I’ll type them up for you. If you want me to.”

“I’d love that.”

After my classes, I walked over to the student union and got some lunch and took that with me to Dr. Joe’s office. As I walked up to the door, the lights were on, so Dr. Joe was there. Then I noticed that something on the door was different. I just shook my head and said out loud, “Why did they do that?”

I tried the door, and it opened. So I figured that Dr. Joe didn’t have anything on the project out. And I was right. It looked like he was grading papers. He looked up at me and asked, “So, how did it go?”

“It?”, I asked.

“The trip to Tucson.”

“It was a funeral. And that was about it. Oh, I did accept a job offering from Raytheon.”

Dr. Joe sat up and said, “Raytheon! You didn’t. Did you?”

“Sure. I couldn’t turn down the money.”

“Kai, you’re crazy.”

“No, it was a great offer. Tim’s dad is a part of the upper management for Raytheon, and we got talking.”

“Kai, you’re messing with me.”, Dr. Joe said.

“No, I’m not.”, I said.

“Kai, you have that little smile that you get when you’re not telling the truth.”

“Shoot. You got me. But, Tim’s dad is part of the upper management at Raytheon.”

“He must have been interesting to talk to.”

“I never got to talk to him, so I don’t know.

“The funeral was very sad. I could feel the sadness of both families. But, I felt more out of Tim’s mother. And, that was probably because of her having some Indian blood.”

“I’m glad that it was you going and not me. I don’t do well at funerals.”

“I don’t either. It was hard seeing and feeling the sadness.”

“I’ll bet feeling things like you do does make it harder.”

“Now!”, I said. “Why is my name on the door with yours?”

“We thought that you needed an office.”

“We. Do you have a mouse in your pocket?”

“No, mice. It was actually the Dean’s idea and I agreed with him.”

“Why?”

“Because of what you do for the university.”

“What teach and do research?”

“Sure. Plus an advocate for the students. And, you deserve your name on the door.”

“So, where’s my desk?”

“Kai, there’s not room for another desk in here.”

“So, I’ve got to share it with you?”

“Sure just like we do now.”

“So, let me sit at my desk so that I can read.”

“Kai! I’ve got everything spread out on my desk. So, you can have the work table.”

“Oh. Okay.”, I said with a little smile.

Dr. Joe shook his head and said, “Kai!”

“Sorry, Dr. Joe. I couldn’t resist.”

“It’s good to have you back.”

“It’s good to be back even though I was only gone for two days.”

I walked over to the work table, put my food, and purse on it. Then I locked the office door and retrieved the paperwork on the project from the file cabinet. And, as I read, I ate lunch.

The more I read, the more I realized that I was right in my thoughts that there was an easier way to do this project. Dr. Joe had left while I was reading, and when he returned, he said, “Are you still at it?”

“Yep. But, I’m now one-hundred percent sure that there is a better way to do this than what they proposed.”

“That’s why you get paid the big bucks.”

“What am I going to do with a big male deer?”

“Huh!? … Oh. Bucks. Male deer. I get it.”

“Took you long enough.”

“Kai, it’s late. Go home.”, Dr. Joe said.

“What time is it?”

“A little after six.”

“Okay. I’m out of here.”

Before I left “my” office, I called Amy and told her that I was on the way home. She said that she’d wait dinner for me.

As I was gathering my things to go home, Dr. Joe said, “Don’t forget. We’re meeting with Dr. Fontheim tomorrow at three.”

“I’ll be there.”, I replied.

“And.”, Dr. Joe said as he handed me a stack of papers. “Here’s your quizzes from Wednesday. I took it for fun, but I don’t think I did very well.”

“I won’t get them graded until this weekend, but I’ll post your grade with the others.”

“Kai, you wouldn’t?”

“No, I wouldn’t do that. I never post grades.”

“Why are you being so silly?”

“It’s my way of dealing with stress.”

A short time later, as I walked into the house, the smell was wonderful. I put my briefcase in the bedroom that we were now calling “The Office.” And then I walked to the kitchen and Amy and Jackie were cooking up a storm. I sat next to Charlie at the breakfast bar.

As I sat, Amy asked, “So, how was your day, Kai?”

“Believe it or not.”, I said. “It was almost normal. The only strange thing was that I now have my name on an office door.”

“What?”

“The Dean and Dr. Joe decided that I spend so much time in Dr. Joe’s office that I might as well share it with him.”

“We have some news too.”, Charlie said.

“Oh. What kind of news?”, I asked.

“Some good news. You’re going to be losing your roomers on Saturday.”

“Oh!?”

“Yeah. There will be an apartment ready for us on Saturday.”

“They have your apartment cleaned and upgraded already?”

“No, it’s your old apartment.”, Charlie said. “Your old apartment didn’t have that much smoke damage. So it was quickly cleaned by the company that’s doing the cleaning, and they swapped the electrical boxes today.”

“That’s great! What about the furniture?”

“What you left, cleaned up quickly. Our things weren’t too bad, and we only need a mattress. And the university is picking that up.

“I was able to look at the apartment today. And, they only need to do a little painting, and they’re doing that tomorrow. So, we can move in on Saturday.”

I said, “I was thinking of going to the resort this weekend and bringing the Corvette back on Sunday. But we’ll help you instead.”

“You don’t have to.”, Jackie said.

“Jackie.”, Amy said. “You’ll need help packing up everything that you have here, and moving it back. And we’ll help you.”

“Thanks.”

“We’ll be back here right after lunch tomorrow.”, Charlie said. “And start packing our things in boxes.”

“I have a three o’clock meeting tomorrow afternoon.”, I said. “And I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“I’ll be back right after I finish teaching my nine o’clock class.”, Amy said.

That night as Amy and I were getting ready for bed, she said, “I talked to Maria today.”

“Good. How are she and Mark doing?”, I asked.

“Mark is fine. But, he has bad dreams about Max being killed in Vietnam.”

“I can understand that. Being a twin makes them very close. What about Maria?”

“She can’t wait for the baby to come. She’s tired of being pregnant.”

“How much longer does she have?”

“A month. If the doctor is right.”

“Let’s hope. And we’d better get that scholarship setup.”

“We’d better. And Christina is pregnant.”

“How’s it being taken by her family?”

“From what Maria said, Christina is handling it well and so is everyone else.”

“That’s good.”

“And Maria thinks that it’s helping Christina get over Max’s death.

“That’s even better.”

After breakfast on Friday morning, Amy and I went back to our bedroom and got dressed. Amy in her usual teaching clothes, and since I was attending a meeting, my second one this week, it was into a long skirt, fancy blouse, and wrap moccasins. And, some jewelry. I wore my hair in a straight look with one of the braided leather headbands. My earrings were the silver feather ones. I put two bracelets, three rings, and a choker in my purse to wear later.

I’m still not used to Amy driving to the university by herself. But, I guess I’ll get used to it. Then again maybe not.

Charlie and Jackie left at about the same time. And I wasn’t far behind them.

I taught my two class and then went to Dr. Joe’s office. Oh, that’s right. It’s also my office now. So, I went to my office. And Dr. Joe wasn’t there.

After I locked the door, I took everything out of the file cabinet that had to do with the project. I spread it out over the work table and started going through my notes and checking on what I’d come up with would work.

I’d been working about half an hour when the phone rang. I got up, walked over, picked up the receiver, and said, “Hello, Dr. Oshie’s office.”

There was no reply. So, I said again, “Hello. This is Dr. Oshie’s office.”

Still no reply. Then I heard the phone being hung up. So, I hung up and went back to work.

About fifteen minutes later, the phone rang again. I got up, walked over to the desk, picked up the receiver, and said, “Dr. Oshie’s office.”

No answer. Then I heard the phone being hung up. I hung up and stood there for a few seconds, just looking at the phone.

Then I went back to work. A few minutes later, Dr. Joe walked in and said, “Ah. Miss Nez, it’s good to see you hard at work.”

“Says you.”, I replied.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’ve had two hangup phone calls in the past fifteen minutes.”

“That’s annoying, but it happens.”

“I know. Some people don’t know how to say, sorry wrong number.”

Just then, the phone rang. And I said, “You answer it this time.”

Dr. Joe picked up the receiver and said, “This is Dr. Oshie.”

A few seconds later, he said, “Hello. Anyone there?”

As he hung up the phone, Dr. Joe said, “They just hung up.”

“That’s three within twenty minutes.”, I said.

“Strange. We’ll see if we get any more.”

“Okay. Back at it.”

I walked back over to the work table and continued going over my notes. We had an hour until we met with Dr. Fontheim. At about a quarter to three, I said, “Dr. Joe, where are we meeting with Dr. Fontheim?”

“In the meeting room by the Dean’s office.”

“Okay. I’ll pack all of this stuff in the metal briefcase.”

I walked over and retrieved the metal briefcase, then put all the documentation and my notes in it, and locked it. And I put everything else including the integrated circuits back in the file cabinet and locked that. As we walked out of the office, I watched as Dr. Joe closed and locked the door.

We’d gone about three steps when we heard the office phone ring. We stopped walking and looked at each other. Neither of us made a move to answer it. Then Dr. Joe said, “They’ll call back.”

“Or hang up again.”, I said.

We finished our walk to the Dean’s office. As we walked in, Sara saw us, and said, “Hello Dr. Oshie. Miss Nez.”

I looked at her and said, “Why so formal, Sara?”

Looking over at the chairs for visitors to wait, she said, “We have guests.”

I looked over to wher Sara was looking, and Dr. Fontheim and Dr. Höllmann, head of research for Los Alamos were sitting there. I smiled and said, “Good afternoon, Dr. Höllmann. Dr. Fontheim.”

“Good afternoon, Miss Nez. Dr. Oshie.”, Dr. Fontheim said.

Sara picked up her phone, dialed, and said, “Dean Rutherford, everyone is here.” … “Yes, sir. I’ll tell them.”

As Sara hung up her phone, she said, “The Dean will meet you in the confreence room.”

I said, “Thank you, Sara.”

Dr. Joe looked at the two gentlemen from Los Alamos, and said, “Gentlemen, if you’d care to join us.”

The four of us walked down the hall and into the meeting room, and the Dean was there. Everyone knew everyone else, so there were no introductions, but just greetings. After we were seated around the table, Dr. Fontheim said, “Miss Nez, I understand that you may have come up with a better solution then our people had?”

“Yes, sir.”, I said. “As I read over the documentation I found … ” And I went on to explain in detail what I’d come up with and I showed them the diagram that I’d come up with.

When I finished, Dr. Höllmann said, “Miss Nez, that’s a very interesting find. How did you know about that integrated circuit?”

“I read a lot.”

“I guess you do. And I think you’ve come up with a way to save this project a considerable amount of money.”

“I’m glad I could help.”

“But, it’s put you out of a job.”

“Sir?”

“That integrated circuit replaces what you were going to design for us.”, Dr. Höllmann said.

“But, isn’t that our job to help you find the best way to solve a problem?”, I asked.

“Yes, Miss Nez, I guess it is.”

“So, you’ll never have anything else for us to do?”

“Oh no, Miss Nez. Far from it. I think Dr. Fontheim will have something more for you very soon. Won’t you, Dr. Fontheim?”

“Yes.”, Dr. Fontheim said, “Miss Nez, we’ll have something for you and Dr. Oshie shortly. I hope that you’ll be around this summer?”

“I will, sir.”, I said. “We have visitors coming this summer, but that shouldn’t be a problem.”

“I just wish that we could upgrade your security clearance.”

“There is only one way that I see that that can happen.”

“And what’s that Miss Nez?”, Dr. Höllmann asked.

“To go back to my male persona.”, I replied.

“So, you look at your male side to be a role that you play?”

“Sir, a year ago, I would have said that Kai was a role that I played. But now Kai is who I am. And to go back to being Tom, I would be playing a role.”

“I see Miss Nez. A very interesting situation.”

“Now.”, Dr. Höllmann said. “We would like to take the three of you out to dinner.”

“That would be nice.”, Dean Rutherford said.

“I have a problem.”, I said.

“Can’t make it, Miss Nez.”, Dr. Höllmann asked.

“You know about the fire that killed the two students?”

“Of course.”

“Two of the students who also lived in that building are friends, and they’ve been staying with us since the fire. The university has come up with an apartment for them, and they can move in tomorrow. So, my Cousin Amy and I are going to help them pack tonight and then move tomorrow.”

“I see. We can give you a rain check. But we’d still like to take Dean Rutherford and Dr. Oshie to dinner.”

“We’d like that.”, Dean Rutherford said. “And Miss Nez, we’d really like you to join us.”

That almost sounded like a request for a command performance, so I said, “Let me make a phone call and see how the packing is going.”

“Sara should still be here. Go and ask her to use her phone.”

“I’ll be right back.”, I said as I got up and walked out of the room.

I walked down the hall to the main office for the engineering college, and Sara was still here. I asked to use her phone, and she turned the telephone so that I could use it. I dialed “9” for an outside line, and when I had a dial tone, I dialed my home number.

After four rings, I heard Amy’s sweet voice say, “Hello.”

“Hi, Amy.”, I said. “It’s Kai. How’s the packing coming?”

“We’re all but done.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“How was the meeting?”

“It was a good meeting. And one of the shortest one that I’ve even been to. But I won’t be home till late.”

“Why?”

“Our people from Los Alamos want to take us out to dinner. I told them that I had plans and what those plans were. But the Dean made me feel like I’d better go.”

I saw Sara look at me with a little smile when I said that.

“That’s okay honey.”, Amy said. “You’ll just miss out on the fdah diniilghaazh - (frybread) tacos that Jackie and I are going to make.”

“Brat.”, I said. “Ayóó'áníínísh'ní. - (I love you.) Hágoónee'. - (See you later.)”

“Ayóó aníínísh’ní aldó’.” - (I love you too.) Hágoónee'.”

As I hung up the phone, Sara said, “So, the Dean is being a little pushy?”

“Maybe just a little.”, I said.

“He can be that way.”

I said so long to Sara and walked back to the meeting room. As I walked in, I said, “Dinner tonight is okay. They’re almost done packing.”

“I’m glad to hear that Miss Nez.”, Dean Rutherford said.

“Why don’t we go to the parking lot via Dr. Oshie’s office and we can return the integrated circuits that Dr. Fontheim and Dr. Höllmann gave us.”

We didn’t talk while we walked to Dr. Joe’s office. As we approached the door to the office, I held up my hand, turned, looked at the four men and put my finger to my lips, and whispered, “Something’s wrong. The door is ajar, and I saw Dr. Oshie lock it earlier. Dean, go, and call security. I’m going to try to lock the door just in case someone is still in there.”

“Kai no!”, Dr. Joe whispered. “Stay here and wait for security.”

Me being me didn’t wait. I took my keys out of my purse and handed my purse to Dr. Joe. Then I quietly walked over to the door. I couldn’t see any movement through the frosted glass in the door. But I heard something. I looked back at the three men, pointed to the door, and mouthed. ‘Someone is in there.’

Dr. Joe mouthed, ‘Kai, get back here.’

I shook my head, no. Then I carefully and quietly started working my key into the deadbolt lock. Well, I guess I wasn’t quite enough, because the next thing I knew the door was being shoved into me. Some guy came running out of the door and right into me. I was off balance because of being hit by the door. But, I was still able to react. So as he’d ran into me, I grabbed him, and we both went to the floor. And unfortunately, he was on top of me. My reflex move was to hit him with a Choku Zuki or straight punch. And I hit him right in the throat. And I hit him hard.

He grabbed his throat, rolled off of me, and rolled around in pain.

The three men ran over, and Dr. Fontheim and Dr. Höllmann grabbed the guy. And Dr. Joe checked on me. Dean Rutherford was back quickly and saw both the guy and me on the floor, then he asked, “Miss Nez, are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”, I said. And I got up off the floor.

Quickly two university police officers were there. And, one of them asked, “What’s going on?”

“We caught this guy in Dr. Oshie’s office.”, Dean Rutherford said.

“And you are?”

“I’m Dean Rutherford.”

“Oh, yes, sir. By the uniform, it looks like he’s a university maintenance man. Why shouldn’t he be in the office?”

“It’s a secure office, and only three people have access to it.”

“And, who is that?”

“Myself, Dr. Oshie, and Miss Nez.”

“Is that Miss Kai Nez?”

“Yes.”

“Is there something wrong?”, I asked.

“You’re Miss Nez. Aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“I was there when Detective Edwards was hurt in that fight. And I remember you.”

“It wasn’t much of a fight.”

“To hear the student that we arrested tell it, it was a hell of a fight.”

“He shoved the detective before the detective could react, and I just showed him how hard a steel door frame is.”

“You’re in luck, Detective Edwards is working and should be here shortly.”

As I pointed to the guy lying on the floor holding his neck, I asked the police officer, “Do you have an ambulance coming for this guy?”

“We will.”, the police officer responded. And he called his dispatcher on his portable radio and requested the ambulance.

“Good. His larynx might be fractured.”

“How’d that happen?”

“I hit him as he was on top of me.”

“Are you alright?”

“I’m just a little dirty from being on the floor.”

I heard a voice behind me say, “Not Miss Nez again.”

I turned around, smiled, and said, “At least you’re not on the floor, Detective Edwards.”

“I guess I should feel lucky. So, what happened?”

I let Dr. Joe explain what we’d found and what I did. Then Detective Edwards asked, “Miss Nez is that what happened?”

“Yes.”, I said.

Then Dr. Fontheim and Dr. Höllmann agreed with what Dr. Joe had said. The ambulance guys showed up and carted the guy off. And one of the police officers went with them.

“How did he get in with the high-security lock?”, I asked.

Detective Edwards then said, “He has a university ID card, and it says that he’s a maintenance man.”

“But, there are only supposed to be three keys to that lock. And it can’t be picked. And there’s no damage to the door.”

Detective Edwards took a close look at the lock and the door, then asked to see my key. I showed it to him, and he said, “Yep, that is a high-security lock and is supposed to be unpickable.”

The other police officer walked over to Detective Edwards, and as he handed him some things, he said, “This is what the guy had on him.”

Detective Edwards took everything from the officer and looked at it. Then he held up a bunch of keys, and showed us the one that he had in his hand, and said, “Look familiar?”

“It looks like the one for Dr. Oshie’s office.”, Dean Rutherford said.

“I think so too.”

“That lock was only ordered with three keys. Where did the fourth come from?”

“We’ll have to find that out. Won’t we.”, Detective Edwards said.

“That guy may not be able to talk for a while.”, I said.

“Why?”

“When he was on top of me, there was only one thing I could do, so I hit him in the throat. And I wasn’t gentle.”

Dr. Oshie and I went back into the office with Detective Edwards, and we looked around. The first thing that I checked was the fireproof file cabinet, and it appeared to be okay and still locked. Detective Edwards asked, “How many keys are there to that file cabinet?”

“Two.”, Dr. Joe said. “Miss Nez and I are the only ones with one.”

Dr. Joe’s desk was a little bit of a mess. The guy had gone through the drawers. And the other file cabinet had also been gone through.

Then Detective Edwards said, “Well, I need to get some pictures and take some fingerprints.”

As Detective Edwards did his thing, the officer took our statements out in the hall way. When I looked at the clock, it was almost six. And I thought, 'What a way to spend an evening. And all I wanted to do was go home.’

I looked at Dr. Joe, and he asked, “What’s wrong, Kai.”

“Not much. But would the four of you like to have a private dinner?”

“Where?”, Dean Rutherford asked.

“At my house.”

“Your house?”

“Yes, my cousin makes an awesome frybread taco and her sangria can’t be beaten. And it’s only twenty minutes from here.”

The four men looked at each other, and Dean Rutherford said, “I’ve heard about this house. And I’d love to see it. So, we might as well go there.”

I looked at the two doctors from Los Alamos, and asked, “Well, gentlemen. Would you like to join us?”

Dr. Höllmann said, “We were going to buy.”

“You can do that next time.”

“Okay Miss Nez. We’ll go along with this.”

“Good.”

We went back into Dr. Oshie’s office. Well, Dr. Oshies and my office. We looked at the mess that Detective Edwards had made taking the fingerprints, plus the mess the guy had made.

Dean Rutherford said, “What a mess. I’ll get maintenance in here on Monday as long as one of you will be here.”

“One of us will be here.”, Dr. Joe said. “Won’t we Kai.”

“I guess we will.”, I replied.

“And I think we’ll look at putting an alarm system in this office.”, Dean Rutherford said.

As Dr. Joe retrieved the integrated circuits, I picked up the phone and called home. Amy answered, and I told her what had happened. She was concerned about me, but was happy that I was okay. Then I asked if she had the fixings for more dah diniilghaazh – (frybread) tacos and sangria. And she said that she did. So I said the five of us would be there in about half an hour.

Amy asked, “Who’s the five?”

“You’ll find out. Turn on the front lights and be sure the front gate is open. Hágoónee'.” And I hung up the phone.

“Miss Nez.”, Dr. Fontheim said. “When that guy came out of the door, and you both ended up on the floor. You reacted so quickly. Most people would have been in shock and not able to do anything. But you hit him so quickly.”

“I didn’t want to give him a chance to react. So, I struck first.”

“How did you know to do that?”

“I’ve been studying Karate for a couple of years.”

He smiled and nodded, yes.

I drove and had Dean Rutherford as a passenger. And Dr. Joe had Dr. Fontheim and Dr. Höllmann as passengers. And they followed me.

As we drove, Dean Rutherford said, “I’m sorry if I came across a little strong when I insisted that you accompany us to dinner.”

“That’s all right, sir.”, I said. “I somewhat understand the politics involved.”

“Yes, politics does play into it.

“Now, Miss Nez, please don’t do anything again like you did at Dr. Oshie’s office this afternoon. We don’t want to lose you.”

I said. “Doing something like that, when someone invades my space, is something that’s just part of me. I just reacted.”

“Just please don’t get hurt.”

“I’ll try not to, and that’s my office too.”

“Yes, Miss Nez, I know. And Miss Nez.”, Dean Rutherford said. “I listened as you told Dr. Höllmann and Dr. Fontheim about what you’d found with the project and I didn’t understand any of it.”

“Dean.”, I said. “You are a mechanical engineer, and I don’t expect you to understand the electrical end of engineering. Especially when it gets into integrated circuits, it’s a rapidly developing field.”

“I know Miss Nez. The world is passing me by.”

“Dean Rutherford, as fast as the technology is developing, it’s impossible to keep up with all aspects of it. I have enough just trying to keep up with everything about integrated circuits.

“Let Dr. Oshie and me worry about this, and you worry about the mechanical end of engineering which I know little to nothing about.”

“You’re right, Miss Nez.”, the Dean said. “I need to trust the two of you with this research stuff. You know what you’re doing. I’ve seen that.”

“Thank you. Enough talk about business. The ‘57 Chevy is at the house.”

“Really? Can I see it?”

“Of course you can.”

A short time later as we pulled up to the house, Dean Rutherford said, “Miss Nez, President Lingham told me that this house was something else.”

“It’s okay.”, I said.

“Miss Nez. This house is more than okay. This house is wonderful. I love the adobe houses and how they’re built. The way they use the natural elements to heat and cool them. They just fit into this part of the country so well.”

“See I told you that you know the mechanical end of engineering even if it’s an old construction type. There’s probably a lot to learn from it.”

“There is, Miss Nez.”

I pulled up in front of the garage, pushed the door button, and the garage door opened. Then I pulled in, and Dr. Joe pulled up behind me.

The Dean and I got out of the car, and I pointed, and said, “There’s the ‘57.”

The Dean turned, looked, and walked towards it. Then he asked, “Is it stock?”

“Yes, sir. It has a 283-cubic-inch fuel-injected V8 engine and a 4-speed manual transmission.”

“Looking at cars, Dean Rutherford.”, I heard Dr. Fontheim say.

“Yes, it’s not often that you see such a wonderful car. Kai, where’s the Corvette?”

“It’s still at the resort, and we may bring it down this weekend.”

“Another car, Miss Nez.”, Dr. Fontheim asked.

“Yes, but it’s my dad’s ‘53 Corvette Roadster. He shipped it out here when I had the ‘57 shipped out here.”

“Two very nice cars.”

“Yes, sir. They are.”

I heard the door from the house to the garage open, and then I heard Amy say, “I should have figured that you were out here. Dinner will be ready shortly.”

“Okay.”, I said. “We’ll be right in.”

Amy went back into the house, and I said, “Since this is your first visit to our home, we’d like you to come in through the front door.”

We walked out of the garage and to the gate in the front wall. The gate was open. We walked through the gate, across the front courtyard, and up onto the porch. I tried the door handle, and Amy had left it unlocked.

As I opened the door, I said, “Yá’át’ééh. T'áá shoodí wóshde´e´’. That is the welcome that we give to everyone visiting us. It’s Navajo and means, ‘It is good. Please come in.’”

I watched as Dr. Joe reached for the pull cord for the doorbell, and pulled it. Of course, the bell on the wall in the big room rang. I looked at Dr. Joe and said, “You just couldn’t resist could you.”

“No.”, Dr. Joe said. “Mary won’t let me get one, so I have to play with yours.”

“Is that the doorbell?”, the Dean asked.

“Yes.”, I said. “It runs to a bell on the wall next to the fire place in the big room.”

We walked into the entrance way, and I said, “If anyone needs to wash up, there’s a bathroom and a powder room off to your left.”

No one had to, so we walked into the big room. Dr. Fontheim asked, “This house is adobe. Isn’t it?”

“Yes.”, I replied. “Twenty-inch thick walls, and a flat adobe roof.”

“Very interesting.”

We walked to the kitchen, and I introduced everyone. And I could tell by the look on Jackie’s face that she couldn’t believe who was with me. Amy said that the tacos would be ready in about ten minutes. So I took my four companions out through the back courtyard and into the backyard.

Then I said, “Dean, I wanted you to see why we bought this house. Look around and tell me what you see?”

They looked around, and Dr. Höllmann said, “I only see mountains, desert, and trees.”

“That’s exactly why we bought this house.", I said. "We wanted out of the city, and it’s light pollution. We didn’t want anyone building behind us. That’s a National Forest that you see to the north and east. We wanted to be close to the mountains that we like to hike in. And we wanted to be able to see the stars at night and the desert in the day.”

“I like this.”, Dr. Fontheim said. “You’re close to nature and the city. And when you're here, it's like the city doesn't exist.”

“Exactly.”

Amy then stuck her heard out of the gate in the back courtyard and said, “Kai, everything is ready.”

“Thanks, Amy.”, I said. “We’ll be right in. And I’ll get the drink orders.”

Amy, Charlie, and Jackie sat with us while the five of us ate frybread tacos, a southwestern salad and everyone drank Amy’s sangria. I only had one glass. We talked while we ate and I know that Amy was listening to every word and that after everyone had left, I’d get the third degree.

After we’d talked about catching the guy in our office, I looked at Charlie, and it looked like he had something to ask, but wasn’t sure if he would or not. So, I said, “Charlie, is there something that you’d like to ask.”

“Well, yeah.”, Charlie said. “You said that the guy that broke into the office was a university maintenance man. Do you know his name?”

“No, we never did find out what his name is. Why?”

“I thought that I might know him.”

I looked at everyone and said, “Charlie is a heck of a carpenter, so while he’s going to the university he’s working as a student assistant in the maintenance shop.

“Charlie, would it help if we describe him?”

“It might.”

So we described the guy to Charlie. It was interesting listening to four researchers describing this guy. We agreed on everything but his height. I never saw him standing, except for a quick second or two, but the other five thought that he was anywhere from about five-eight to six-two.

Charlie listened carefully, and when we finished, he said, “That sounds like John Rodgers. And it doesn’t surprise me. He kept to himself. But, he was always nosing around. He’s a strange duck.”

After we finished eating, Amy said, “Go sit in the courtyard, and we’ll bring out dessert.”

“We get dessert too after that wonderful meal?”, Dean Rutherford said.

“We’re a full-service restaurant.”, Amy said with a grin.

My four companions sat on the couches. And I laid and lit a fire. Then I joined them on the couches. A short time later, Amy, Charlie, and Jackie came out to the courtyard carrying trays. They handed each of us a bowl and a spoon. Dr. Fontheim asked, “What’s this?”

“It’s Mexican fried ice cream.”, Amy replied as she handed out the ice cream.

Then Amy came and sat beside me. And Charlie and Jackie pulled up one of the benches and joined us.

“Young lady.”, Dr. Höllmann said to Amy. “That was one of the best meals that I’ve ever had. And your dessert is delicious.”

“Thank you, sir.”, Amy replied. “It was nothing.”

“No. It was a delicious dinner.”, Dean Rutherford said. “And on short notice.”

Amy just smiled.

We sat and talked for a little while.

Dr. Joe was going to take everyone back to the university, but Dean Rutherford asked, “Miss Nez, I couldn’t talk you into a ride back to the university in that ‘57 Chevy. Could I?”

“I don’t know why not.”, I replied. “Anyone else want to ride with us?”

I saw Dr. Joe’s hand go up. Then both Dr. Höllmann and Dr. Fontheim said that they would. So, it looked like the five of us were going to be driving in the ‘57 Chevy to the university, and then Dr. Joe and I were coming back here together so he could pick up his car.

Then I asked, “Top up or top down?”

The unanimous choice was top down. Then I asked, “Who’s sitting upfront?”

I was beginning to see the teenagers in these four learned men. I saw four hands go up. So, I said, “Dr. Joe is out of this. He’ll get to ride in the front seat on the way back here.

“So, the three of you figure out who’s riding upfront.”

Then I looked at Amy, and said, “There’s room for one more if you want to go along.”

“No.”, Amy said. “I’ve got a kitchen to clean up.”

“Okay.”

Then I looked at Charlie and said, “How about you, Charlie?”

“No.”, Charlie said. “I’m tired, and we have a lot of work to do tomorrow, so I’m going to turn in.”

“Jackie?”

“I’m going to turn it too.”, Jackie said. “After I help Amy clean the kitchen.”

As the five of us went out to the garage, I pushed the button to close the door where the ‘67 Chevy was parked. Then we walked over to where the ‘57 Chevy was. I manually opened the garage door. And Dean Rutherford asked, “No opener on this door, Miss Nez?”

“Not yet. I got the last two openers at the hardware store, and they haven’t gotten any more in yet.”

Everyone got into the car, and Dr. Höllmann got in the front seat with me. I put the top down, and then I checked to see if everyone had their seat belts on. And they did. I started the car, and Dean Rutherford said, “You can just feel the power in that engine.”

I backed out of the garage, and after winding through the back roads, we followed Tramway Road to I-25 and went south. As we went up the entrance ramp onto I-25, I gave the ‘57 some gas, I didn’t punch it, but you could feel the acceleration. And we were quickly up to sixty-five miles per hour if not a little more by the time we hit the end of the entrance ramp. Dr. Höllmann, who was sitting in the front seat with me, said, “This car is wonderful, Miss Nez.”

“Thank you, sir.”, I said. “I fell in love with it the first time I saw it.”

“I can see why. I think it’s interesting that a girl likes cars the way you do.”

I wondered if he’d forgotten who I really am.

We did pass some other cars that were on the Interstate, and I bet that we were a site. Four men in suits riding in a convertible with the top down and a girl driving.

We followed I-25 to the exit for the university and then took our friends from Los Alamos to their car. As they were getting out, Dr. Höllmann said, “Miss Nez, this is the first time that I’ve ridden in a convertible, except for when I’ve ridden in a Jeep, and that wasn’t as much fun. Thank you for the experience.”

“You’re more than welcome, Dr. Höllmann.”, I said. “Safe drive home.”

Dean Rutherford then moved to the front seat, and I took him to where his car was. And as he got out, he said, “Miss Nez, you have to bring this car to the next car club meeting.”

“Just let me know when and where.”, I said. “And, if I’m free, I will.”

“I’ll do that, Miss Nez. I’ll do that.”

Dr. Joe moved into the front seat, and we headed back to the house. As we headed back to the house, Dr. Joe said, “You made their day.”

“I did?”, I said.

“Yes. They didn’t say anything, but you could see it on their faces.”

“Did I make your day, Dr. Joe?”

“Of course you did. When do I get to drive it?”

“We’ll do that one day. On a nice sunny day.”

Then I told Dr. Joe about the talk that I’d had with Dean Rutherford about him and electrical engineering.

Dr. Joe said, “Yes, sometimes he tries to micromanage things. But, I think that he’s beginning to see the writing on the wall. And with you talking to him, hopefully, he’ll see that we can handle it.”

“When Dr. Kilmer was working on that first project was the Dean trying to micromanage that?” (Dr. Kilmer was the guy I had problems with when I first came to the university. He didn’t like Indians. Plus he wasn't really doing any work on the project, and was using outdated material to teach classes.)

“I don’t know. I wasn’t privy to any of that back then.”

A short time later, I asked, “I wonder when Dr. Höllmann rode in a Jeep? He doesn't seem the type.”

“Well.”, Dr. Joe said. “It probably wasn’t a Jeep but a Kübelwagen.”

“A what?”

“A Kübelwagen.”

“Just what is a Kübelwagen?”

“It was the German equivalent of a Jeep.”

“Why would he have ridden in one of those?”

“He is German and was probably in the German military during World War II.”

“Oh.”

When we were back at the house, and Dr. Joe was on the way home, I went into the house. I looked for Amy and found her sitting in the courtyard. I walked over and sat with her. She looked at me, and said, “Now little girl, I heard the story you told during dinner about the guy being in Dr. Joe’s office. Now, what’s the real story?”

“That was the real story. Dr. Joe and the other three where there.”

“So, you didn’t get hurt?”

“He did land on top of me. But it was like he tried to catch himself. So his full weight didn’t hit me.”

“That’s good. Now, will you please stop doing crazy things.”

“I’ll try.”