Recruiting Bowie: Chapter 2  

      All five members looked at each other and nodded their heads in the affirmative. They all still seemed uncomfortable with the military aspect of the scientific expedition. Davis turned and walked towards the door to the outer suite. He saw Bowie and smiled with a familiar nod and had an easy wave for him to come on in. As Bowie walked in Davis announced, “I want to present to this group, Colonel David James Bowie.”

      Bowie walked into the large extended suite and had a smile on his face. Everyone in the room immediately felt comfortable with him. He wasn’t quite what they expected. He’s dressed very casually in civilian clothes. He’s got on an orange V-neck pullover with a well-worn brown leather jacket that goes to waist level. It looks like an old bomber jacket. Bowie is the classic male, forty six years old with the square jaw, light brown hair, cut short but stylish, and blue eyes. He’s six foot tall and has a trim muscular build. He would be considered by most to be handsome, or dashing. He saunters into the room, not with cockiness but with confidence. He quickly begins sizing up the situation. He already knew Davis, a short portly fellow who is nothing to gaze upon. He’s forty eight years old but already has a slightly wrinkled face, a double chin, and a thinning hair line. He’s dressed in a light green sweater with tan slacks and top siders. Davis seems to exude confidence and has a salesman’s smile on his face. He is definitely in charge but has no real panache.

      Bowie looked at Goldman and decided he was the brains of the operation. Goldman is an old man that appears to be in his late seventies or maybe early eighties. He’s about average height and weight and is balding on top. The hair on the side of his head is frazzled and out of sorts. He has a slight mustache and rogue hair growing out of his nose and ears. Goldman still has piercing green eyes, and it appears at one time he was a handsome man.

      Daniel Hepwater, on the other hand, is a late forties, short, round man that is dressed in gray and black sweats. He has blue eyes and completely disarrayed brown hair. He doesn’t care what he looks like. He only cares about the secrets of the universe. Hepwater is brilliant but subordinate to Goldman.

      Bowie looks at Olinick and has to take him in for a second. He is a tall, thin man with slicked back brown hair, stubble growing on his face, and semi blood shot eyes. He’s dressed in an old blue Izod shirt and gray slacks. He looks kind of cheesy and out of place at the meeting. In a crowd of people, he would be the least likely to be considered a rocket scientist.

      After Bowie wrapped his head around Olinick he turned to Miller. She is a short woman, in her late thirties, slightly overweight who has a pleasing face and nice smile. In her younger days she must’ve been very appealing to the male of the species. She’s dressed in a nice yellow and black sundress. As with others in this group, she doesn’t seem to be what she is, a computer genius.

      Then there’s Powell. She’s a stoic low-key figure that is intellectually very interesting and physically unassuming. She’s a tall woman with brown hair and green eyes hovering around thirty years old. Her plain looks are deceiving at first glance, but she’s shapely and very attractive. Jana Powell is one of those people that the more you get to know them the more attractive they get.

      As Bowie sizes up everyone he slowly walks towards the lone chair at the head of the gathered group. He was still smiling and in his south Texas drawl with an intellectual overtone said, “Good afternoon, everybody. I appreciate y’all asking me here.”

      Davis being ever the marketing man, “Thanks Colonel. Have a seat. I’ve updated everyone on your military record, and we just want to talk to you for a few minutes and ask some questions concerning the project we have in mind.”

      Bowie sat in the chair and nodded, “Yes sir, I understand.”

      Davis immediately asked, “Do you know why we asked you here?”

      “I believe you have a project that’s of the utmost importance needing a high level of secrecy and involves national security.” He flashes a big grin, “It sounds kind of important.”

      Davis hesitated a second, “Well, yes. We have a proposition. I want to ask you one simple question.” He then grabbed a small box with several buttons on it from the coffee table in the middle of the group. He handed it to Bowie.

      Now Davis seemed nervous, and Bowie seemed in control.

      “Colonel Bowie, I’m going to ask you a question and there’s no right or wrong answer. You decide how you feel and act accordingly.”

      Bowie, now intrigued, nods in agreement as the room got very quiet. Everyone stopped eating and focused on the small box.

      Davis was beginning to perspire. All his years of computer development and stock market success couldn’t prepare him for this moment, “Let’s say, all you had to do is press that red button in the middle of the box and you could travel to another galaxy. You would visit other worlds and possibly find life on other planets. Then, you could return home with the information gathered all within a span of just a few days. There is great danger involved and every decision you will make has never been made before so we can’t give you any answers. You will be solely on your own. Forget everything you know about space flight and the vastness of the Universe. Just think about the fundamental question I’ve asked you and take a minute. This may be one of the most important decisions you’ll ever make. You can press that red button, or you can just get up and walk out. There is no record of this meeting. You will not be thought any less of by not pressing the button, this is strictly a volun  ….”

      Before Davis finished his sentence, Bowie reached down and hit the red button. Everything stopped.

      Bowie placed the box down on the table and sat back in his chair smiling, “Sounds dangerous, I’m in.”

      Nobody in the room was expecting such a quick answer. Davis was astonished and flinched for a second, “Okay.” He then looked around the room at the other people and they were astonished.

      Bowie was gung ho, “Tell me more. I’m ready to go.”

      Davis collected himself, “Okay. We have a few more questions to ask. Uh, Colonel, this is a preliminary meeting. When we finish, our group will discuss things and get back to you. As I said we just want to talk a little and get to know you.” 

      Bowie nodded, “Okay, great.”

      Old man Goldman sat there smiling at Bowie and in his old craggy voice said, “I want to know, are you ready to accept a whole new paradigm?”

      Bowie got a more serious look on his face, “I’m not sure what new paradigm you have in mind but yes sir. That’s what I do, adapt, improvise, overcome, any situation you present to me.”

      Goldman began coughing for a second, that phlegmy cough, and then continued, “I was being a little vague because you’ll have to adjust your thinking on a great many things, time and space, managing people, and probably life in general.”

      “Yes sir, as I said, I can adapt to any situation you want to put me in.”

      Davis stepped in and deflected the somewhat awkward conversation, “What Dr. Goldman is trying to say is, there are so many things different about this project that a radical change in thinking is in order. For instance, in a normal operation you pick the project leader and then the team is assembled around him and everything he thinks is best for the overall mission. All the training is done under the supervision of the leader. In this case you are actually the last person chosen. The team of people going on this voyage have already been put in place and are good to go. As a matter of fact, once the commander is chosen the project will move very quickly. You could be underway in about five days.”

      Bowie looked perplexed, “What about training? We’re just going to head out cold turkey?”

      “Everybody’s been trained. That’s another difference. Most leaders know all aspects of every position on the team. No one person could know hardly any aspects of any of the positions working on this project. These are all experts in their fields. We just need someone who will let everyone do their job and if a situation arises, make crucial decisions.”

      Bowie shrugged, “Sounds like a piece a cake. I can handle that.”

      Davis laughed, “If all goes as planned, this’ll be the easiest money you ever made.”

      Before the laughter died down Powell chimed in, “Colonel, you have a very interesting name. I imagine your parents have a sense of humor, or are you named after relatives?”

      Bowie looked down for a second to gather his thoughts, this was obviously important to him, “I grew up with everybody asking me if I was related to Jim Bowie or David Bowie. I’m not related to either one. I’m named after my great grandfather. His name was David Bowie. He and my dad were very close. My parents didn’t really think about that name being associated with the singer until it was too late. My parents are from Indiana. They moved down to San Antonio where I was born. My father’s name is James. He always thought it was cool to have a name associated with Jim Bowie of the Alamo, so he gave it to me. That’s how I got stuck with David James Bowie.” 

      Goldman looked around, “Who is David Bowie. Was he at the Alamo?”

      Everyone laughed and Jana quickly explained, “No professor he’s a singer. You wouldn’t know him.”

      Everyone continued to down the margaritas. They were all feeling quite comfortable, and Davis casually asked another question, “Colonel, how did you survive for that week in the desert and the mountains after you ejected.”

      “I could talk about this for hours. It was an experience I hope I never have again. I’ll give you the short version. I was flying low over the mountains in western Afghanistan on a support mission. There was a company of Marines that were having trouble with a Taliban unit. We arrived at their position and tore the bad guys up pretty bad. The Marine Company got out of the area okay. I was coming in low one more time to make sure everything was clear, and I heard an explosion. My fuel level dropped really fast. I flew out and away from the area towards the base. I couldn’t make it back and had to eject. When I hit the ground, I could see from a distance a Taliban unit coming over a ridge towards me. I was about halfway up a mountain and there was no cover in sight. I took off and employed the survival techniques we’d been taught. We played cat and mouse all night. At one point the Taliban patrol was so close I could hear them talking. I didn’t understand what they were saying but I heard several of them say during their conversation, 'American'. 

      I had a pistol, but one shot and they would descend on me. I have also been trained in knife fighting by an expert. The guy was in prison and when he got out, he became a martial artist. He showed me the way to prison stab. I probably could've taken several of them out but decided to sit tight and see if they would leave in the morning.

      The next morning, they packed up and left. Fortunately, they headed in the opposite direction I needed to go. During the day I worked my way back towards my base as much as I could. It was hard.” Bowie now got a distant stare in his eyes as he continued, “The nights were the worst. You couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. It got bone chilling cold. I got discouraged. My hand held radio didn’t work. I wasn’t sure I was heading in the right direction; it was miserable. I traveled by day and hunkered down at night. The third night a full moon lit up the desert. I decided to travel at night with the moon showing the way. I came over a ridge and saw a group of people a few hundred yards away. I sat in hiding and observed them. It didn’t take long, and I knew they were Taliban. This was probably the worst time. It was cold, I was pinned down in the mountains with the enemy all around, none of my buddies could ever find me, I figured I was done in. I decided to sit back on the rocks and relax. I began thinking of different songs my dad used to play all the time. I played the songs in my head. I could hear Grand Funk Railroad, I’m your captain. It was soothing to me. More songs came into my head, canned heat, Let’s work together. Then the Hollies, long cool woman. It felt good when those songs were flowing into my head. It relaxed me. I sat there and listened to music all night. Then, in the morning, they moved on and again, it was clear for me to keep going. I spent four more very uncomfortable days in the mountains and desert trying to elude the Taliban and get food and water while making my way back to the base. I managed to escape the enemy, and it turned out alright for me. I’ve been told I was lucky. Not many pilots survive in the mountains after they eject. If the Taliban don’t get you, the mountains will.” He leaned back in his chair to relax after relating the story, “Anyway, that’s about it, as I said, I wouldn’t want to do it again. I did lose a lot of weight, but I wouldn’t recommend it as a weight loss diet.”

      The other people in the room were riveted by his story and sat there in silence. They weren’t even sure what to ask after that.

      Olinick finally spoke up, “The Harrier flies low and slow, doesn’t it?”

      Bowie quickly answered, “Yeah, it can. It can also fly at a pretty good clip too.”

      Olinick then blurted out, “When you were flying over villages in Afghanistan did you ever see any naked women?”

      Bowie’s forehead creased for a second with a serious look trying to understand the question, then he busted out laughing. He looked around the room and everyone else was laughing nervously. He then looked at Olinick who wasn’t laughing. Bowie’s laugh slowed as he was thinking, “Either he’s the greatest straight man in history, or he’s just plain damn crazy.” Bowie finally answered while still laughing, “Uh, no. I’ll tell ya what though partner, if I did see a naked girl, I could stop on a dime and hover in that plane. I never thought about it before, but the Harrier would be a great girl watching plane.”

      The whole room was laughing now. Bowie looked at Olinick and for the first time you could see his yellow teeth as he got a big smile on his face.

      Now Miller decided to ask a question, “Colonel Bowie, do you approve of the war in the Middle East?”

      Bowie thought for a second, “After serving over there and seeing what was going on, no ma'am, I do not approve. That war has been going on for thousands of years and we’re not going to solve it in a few months or a few years or even a few hundred years. We’re wasting American lives. That’s my personal opinion. I do back our country though. I fought over there, and I’d do it again if necessary.”

      Powell decided to ask her question, “Are you married Colonel, do you have a family?”

      “Uh, no ma'am, I’m not married, and I don’t have a family. I was married for a little over a year to a great woman. I was in Afghanistan and received word she had been killed in a car accident back home.”

      Now the room went silent. Powell stared at Bowie, “I’m sorry to hear that sir.”

      Bowie was stoic, “She was killed by a drunk driver on her way home from work. There was no need for it really. I loved her very much. It’s been difficult.”

      Jana shifted in her chair as Bowie stared into her eyes. She persisted, “Are you in a relationship now?” 

      “No ma'am.”

      “So basically, your only relationship is with the military?”

      Bowie laughed, “Yes ma'am, I guess that’s correct. Which is funny, because I just retired from the military, so I don’t even have a relationship with them anymore.”

      Jana sat there smiling and slowly nodding her head.

      After the exchange the entire group, including Jana, seemed impressed. Davis again took control of the meeting. “Colonel Bowie, I would ask if you have any questions but there’s not really much we can tell you right now. If you’ll retire to the outer living room, I need to confer with the rest of my colleagues, and we’ll let you know what needs to be done next.”

      Bowie got up from his chair, still with a smile, and went to the outer room not quite sure what was going on.