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“What?” Charli said. “Did it put thoughts into your head?”

“No, I was thinking about … well, nothing. Nothing at all—like I wasn’t thinking. It wasn’t unpleasant, just kind of surprising. I pushed back somehow, like ‘go away,’ and it stopped. I started thinking normally again.”

“That’s when the machine turned off,” McGraw told him.

“I see,” Ron said. “Let’s try it again, and this time I will accept it. I won’t push back.”

McGraw went to the control room and turned it on. Ron sat there for thirty seconds, doing nothing, until the timer reached zero. He smiled and looked at the others.

“It’s actually interesting. When that thing is on, I’m not thinking about anything. It’s as if my mind is in neutral. It may sound like a contradiction, but I’m aware that I’m not thinking of anything. I know, that sounds as if I’m thinking about not thinking, but it isn’t that way. I can’t really describe it.”

“What could the purpose of that be?” Charli looked up at Jake, who looked at Ron.

“Ron, do you meditate?” Jake asked.

“Do you mean with incense and chanting and stuff?”

“Sounds like no.”

“That’s right, I don’t do any of that touchy-feely stuff. You mean do I think hard about things? Like meditate on a problem?” Ron tilted his head.

“Actually, no. The goal of the simplest meditation is simply to clear your mind. Not to think of the future or the past but just think of perhaps one thing, like a word or a sensation. Or even think of nothing. The problem for most people, is that when they try to do this, their mind jumps to different thoughts unintentionally. You might start thinking about an upcoming presentation, a mistake you made in the past, or something you wish you’d said. My guess is that this is a meditation-assistance device.”

“So, not terribly useful,” said Alex.

Jake shook his head. “Well, a lot of people feel that there are many benefits to meditation. So in that sense—”

“Let me try it for a longer period this time.” Ron said.

After a five-minute trial, Ron looked up and smiled. He leaned back in the chair and had his fingers loosely clasped in his lap. “Definitely interesting. It does feel kind of refreshing.”

“Okay.” Guccio spoke up for the first time. “What about this. This is an interesting device, which we have maybe figured out, and maybe we’ll look at it some more, but let’s put it on the back burner while we continue with other devices?”

Hallstrom nodded.

“What should we call it?” asked Alex.

“How about the Om-ray Machine?” Ron sat cross-legged on the chair and closed his eyes. “Ommmmm.”

“Anyone mind if I take it for a spin?” Jake asked.

Charli frowned at him. “Let’s keep an eye on Ron for a few days first.”

McGraw was disassembling the servo mechanisms, and Ron looked at the others then crossed his eyes, held his throat, and staggered a little like he was dying.

Without looking up, McGraw said, “Mr. Kane, I saw that.”

The others were leaving when one of the secretarial assistants poked her head around the doorjamb. Her face was flushed. “Dr. McGraw, could I speak to you for a second?”

“Sure. Go ahead, guys, I’ll talk to you later. Jake could you stay behind?” He turned to her. “Your name’s Ann, right?”

“Well, yes. Annie.” She paused and looked down then back up. “I’ll, ah, go see my doctor about this, but it’s a little scary, and, you’re a doctor right?”

“I have an MD and a PhD, but I’m not a practicing physician. Do you want to speak privately?”

She looked at Jake. “No, no. I guess I’m just wondering whether I should call an ambulance. A few minutes ago, I was filing some forms, and … it’s hard to describe.”

“Go ahead.”

“Well, I think I just had a seizure. My sister started having seizures, and a week later she was dead, so I’m a little freaked out. It’s like I just stopped thinking. My mind was a blank. Does that make sense?” She looked at McGraw then at Jake. “Maybe I just had a senior moment. It was pleasant, and I didn’t fight it, but it was weird. I’ve heard that you can have seizures or brain problems that make you feel good, right? Then it stopped, and I was fine. I’m pretty scared. Do I need to go to the hospital?”

McGraw put his hand on her shoulder and smiled. “No, Annie, you’re okay.”

“Are you sure?”

“It seems you were affected by our experiment. I’d like to have you checked out, but I don’t think you need to worry. Where is your office?”

“It’s over at the other end of the building.”

“Let me walk you back to your office and I’ll tell you about it on the way.” McGraw exchanged a look with Jake.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

September 21, 2018

Instead of heading back to the White House after the om-ray test, Jake picked up sandwiches and met Charli in President’s Park. He looked at her from the corner of his eye. Her ponytail came out through the hole in the back of her baseball cap, and she looked more like a backpacking teenager than a Washington insider. An image of the two of them on a romantic camping trip crept into his mind. Coming home to a cozy house. Taking hot showers and appreciating the luxury of a real bed.

Charli said, “I really don’t want to sit on the grass.”

Jake shaded his eyes and looked around. “Well, I don’t see any benches. Maybe Homeland Security took them out. Thought somebody would throw one at the president.”

“We should just go back to the sandwich shop.”

Jake took off his windbreaker and spread it out on the ground, sat down beside it, and looked up at Charli. “I had it sanitized just in case any obsessive compulsives needed something to sit on.”

Charli smiled and sat down on the jacket. “I’m not, you know.”

“Not what?”

“Obsessive compulsive. I just don’t want to have a wet butt.”

Jake felt the dry grass. “You’re right, it’s soaking wet. How did I miss that? Did you want to get the sandwich wrappers lined up before we eat?”

“I like things to look neat, that’s all. Is there anything wrong with that? Can we talk about something else?”

“I think I know what you
don’t
want to talk about,” he said.

Charli drank some of her Diet Pepsi through the straw and then opened the lid and looked inside.

“Something interesting in there?”

“Why do they put so much ice in these things?” She shook the cup and looked at it from the side.

“Good question. Maybe you could bring it up at a cabinet meeting. How about we talk about, um, let’s see, a kiss at the top of Sugarloaf?”

Charli froze and stared off into the distance. Shouting erupted all around them. Jake followed her gaze to the top of the Washington Monument. They dropped their sandwiches and their drinks and ran toward the White House. Cronkite’s sphere hovered at the tip of the monument like a teed-up golf ball. An ominous golf ball.

* * *

Jake and Charli arrived in the White House’s deep underground command center in time to see the old-fashioned test pattern on the main screen. It was followed by an underwater scene complete with coral and colorful fish. The camera rose through the water, and the legs of a surfer sitting on his board came into view. When the view broke the surface, Waikiki’s Diamond Head appeared on the horizon.

The surfer turned to the camera. “Oh, there you are. Give me a second.”

“Guess who,” Jake said.
Here we go, again.

Cronkite paddled the board around so that he was facing the camera. “I’ve been taking a well-deserved vacation. You may notice it has improved my disposition.”

Cronkite put on a big smile. He was wearing only board shorts, and although the body was old, it was in reasonable shape. “This is a nice place you have here, but boy did I get a sunburn yesterday.” He pressed his thumb against his shoulder and released it, taking a long time to watch the result.

He turned back to the camera. “But don’t worry, I’ve been thinking of you. Thinking about how to help you. I noticed you’ve decreased your population—that is definitely a step in the right direction. I hope you have enjoyed the goodies I gave you. The plans, that is. Making progress?”

Cronkite looked out to sea then back. “I am ready to get to work—to explain what you need to do. I hope you are ready, too. I am here to request a videoconference with US President Dane Hallstrom and your planet’s number one problem-solver, Jake Corby. I will be happy to answer all the questions you have. This will be an internationally televised event, of course.”

Cronkite scratched his underarm, covered one nostril, and blew a snot rocket into the water. “Mister Corby and President Hallstrom, please be in the White House video conference room at noon this Sunday. I have uploaded instructions to WikiLeaks for your tech people.”

Cronkite glanced seaward again. “As for now, it looks like a set is coming in. I look forward to meeting with you in two days.”

A picture-perfect wave rolled in. Cronkite gave a few expert paddle strokes, caught the wave, and surfed away from the camera.

* * *

September 22, 2018

Charli struggled to complete the final rep of her chest press in the White House’s gym. On “her” Bowflex machine, the one they’d installed just for her, she could work to failure without a spotter. Nothing helped clear her mind like an all-out effort, and she strained at that last push for ten seconds before giving up. Eight point five reps. Better than last week.

The special ringtone for her grandmother broke the silence. Charli smiled when she picked up her phone.

“Sheriff Keller, how nice of you to call.”

“You’re never going to get tired of calling me that, are you?”

“Probably not, Nana.” Charli put a towel over her shoulder and sat down on a weight bench.

“Is this an okay time to call?” Marie asked.

Charli laughed. “I’ve told you many times, if I’m busy, I just won’t answer.”

“Aren’t you working on that Meet the Press thing?”

“I’m taking a few hours off. I deserve that now and then. So, tell me about being sheriff.” Charli leaned forward and put her elbows on her knees.

“I know what you’re really asking.”

“Really asking? What do you—”

“You want to know if I’ve killed anyone else,” Marie said.

“I wasn’t thinking that. Why? Have you?”

“No, just the one. The looter.”

Charli heard tiredness in he grandmother’s voice. “Are you okay with that?”

“Yes, pretty much. The guy turned out to be mentally ill, but there was no way for me to have known that. It had to be done. I really am okay with it. You know me.”

“BMW.”

Marie laughed. “Right.”

“Some towns didn’t get the looting problem under control at the start. You definitely did the right thing.”

“Don’t worry about me, Charli.”

“Hey, I’ve got some news that you’ll be eager to hear. There’s a man that I’m kind of, maybe, interested in.

“What do you mean, Charli?”

“I mean that a guy—”

“No, what do you mean that it’s news that I’d be eager to hear?”

“Well, I know you think I should settle—”

“Charlotta Candice Keller, how many times have I told you? I’m impressed with you and with the way you’ve lead your life. I want you to be happy, and I am not eager for you to find someone or settle down. Whatever you want to do is fine with me—”

“But deep down, you’d enjoy having me bring home some man.” Charli stood up and walked over to the window. She could see Cronkite’s sphere still looking like it was glued to the top of the Washington Monument.

“No, I dread it.”

“You dread it? What do you mean?” Charli frowned.

“I mean that if you bring someone to my house, you’re going to be watching me like a hawk to see if I approve or disapprove. I’m probably going to strain a muscle trying to keep my expression neutral.”

“Like with Jake Number Two?” Charli laughed.

“Humph. I’ve told you over and over, I liked him fine. You have to admit that the tie looked pretty bad.”

Charli laughed again. By some weird coincidence—
and that’s all it is—
the first two boys she’d ever dated had both been named Jake, so they became known as Jake Number One and Jake Number Two. When she’d taken number two to meet Marie, he’d worn a garish tie. Charli had detected Marie’s glance at it, taken it as disapproval, and broken up with him the next day.

“So, who is this guy that’s chasing after my granddaughter?”

“Oh, he’s not chasing after me, and I’m not chasing after him. His name is Jake, and you can meet him Sunday on Meet the Press.”

After a pause, Marie asked, “What do you mean?”

“He’ll be on Meet the Press.” Charli could picture her grandmother’s confused expression.

“What, you’re dating an Alien? Cronkite?”

Charli laughed.