The Island Paradise

The old man, whose remaining hair was gray, was content to defend his small kingdom from all nonentities. His islet, with a multitude of others, acted like guardians, encircling and protecting a large lagoon against the gargantuan central Pacific. The soft zephyr came from the Western Pacific, across his small lump of sand that scarcely protruded from the sea. Resting his tanned, six-foot withered body on his cot, Daniel stared up at the palms whose leaves reacted gently to the breeze before passing to the other islets on the far side of the lagoon. Ah, Paradise Enow!

What was that buzzing penetrating his paradise? Whatever it was, it would be unable to enter through the protective shield, which Daniel envisioned, surrounding his islet kingdom. He knew that he was safe. Nothing entered his fantasy unless he allowed it with his mental powers. Daniel willingly allowed the small vessel, which brought food, mail and other supplies, to pass through his protective castle in the sky. It arrived earlier that day bringing its wares. Judith came from their shelter with papers in her hand. The buzzing was louder. Judith was a pleasure to see. Although her once lovely brown curly locks were now beautiful silver ringlets, her tanned complexion was as smooth and attractive as ever. Two beautiful green eyes lit up her charming face.

"Daniel, I have another letter from the president of the publishing house!" Judith said excitedly. "He says your book has been on the New York Times best-seller list for the last five weeks. He is depositing the royalties in our account."

The buzzing increased to a clatter. What could it be? "What book is that?" he responded to Judith.

"The book that you wrote several years ago." Sadly, she knew that he did not remember. "I kept submitting it to publishers for the past few years. I knew they couldn't ignore it forever—it was too good!" She patiently repeated this to Daniel, each day. "Remember, I have been telling you about the emails that I have received from the publishing company and the reviews from the New York Times. You are a famous author!"

"Yeah, right!" Nevertheless, now his fortress was breached. A contraption crashed through his kingdom's screen shattering it like broken glass. The clattering noise changed to a loud thumping. Daniel watched while fragments of the shield fell to the islet and splashed into the lagoon. To Daniel, this was incredible. After smashing Daniel's protective barrier, the vehicle sat down on the nearby beach sending sand in every direction. Daniel put his hands over his ears; the sand struck his sunglasses and stung his face. He was sure that it was fragments of the protective shield of his kingdom. How could this be possible? He did not let this alien monster to enter his kingdom. Judith was at his side, holding him as he shook uncontrollably. "It's just a helicopter!" she said, trying to calm him. Its appearance astonished Judith.

The prop of the helicopter slowed and the thumping changed to a shrill pulsating squeal. A man jumped from the vehicle and yelled, "Are you Daniel Tobbit?" Daniel, blocking his ears, could not hear, but his wife, still trying to control Daniel, answered somewhat angrily as well as quizzically, "Who wants to know? Who are you?"

"We are from the president—he wants Mr. Tobbit in New York right away!"

"Why can't we just have a conference call from here?" Daniel, with his hands now away from his ears, answered. "Our computers work just fine, and we have visual software which makes it easy. Now and then we use it to talk to the kids—since we can all see each other—the wonders of modern communication technology and not so recent at that."

"This is different," the man continued in an explaining manner. "The president would like to sit down with you and talk to you in the same room, not from somewhere on the other side of the planet."

"Will we go by that newfangled SOV that I have read about on the Internet?" Daniel inquired, "I understand that it will take less than two hours to get to New York."

"Yes, yes!" the man answered, a little perplexed. He then smiled and added, "After that you can spend a day recovering from your rocket-lag—a day visiting with the president and probably a day or two sightseeing or a play or maybe an opera—then as soon as you wish, back here again!"

"Sounds tempting!" Turning to her husband, "What do you think, Daniel?" Without waiting for an answer, she again faced the man, frowning quizzically, "What is this SOV that can get us to New York in less than two hours?"

"You remember, sweetie, we read about it on the Internet."

"But I thought that was still in the developmental stage. In fact I read that the work on it had been suspended because of the lack of funds." Judith was puzzled.

"Sweetie, you may be up to date on the latest telecommunications technology, but you are behind the times on transportation technology." Daniel continued, "I'm not a rocket scientist but this is how I think it works: it will carry you into suborbital space, traveling at about eighteen thousand miles per hour—that's five miles per second. Then the SOV will descend to its destination and land. In the meantime, we will be weightless for a while and be able to view the earth as only a few have been able to so far—it sounds exciting. How does that sound to you, sweetie?"

"Whatever you think, Daniel?" Judith, always adventurous, was becoming enthusiastic. Daniel turned to the man and said, "Miss Judy is coming too—I don't go anywhere without her. Is space travel healthy for old folks like us?

"Oh yes!" the man was now agreeable to anything and was now pressing his point a little impatiently. "Today, we have traveling suits, which are very comfortable for people of any age who are in reasonably good health and still keep your vitals in place—or for that matter, any size or shape—you look healthy to me, but a doctor will give you a checkup before embarking on the SOV."

"Miss Judy, let's get our bags packed," Daniel said excitedly and then reiterated, "I don't go anywhere without Miss Judy."

"Of course not, the president would be delighted to have both of you as guests! There'll be no need for packing—we will provide clothing and all your other needs while you are with us." At this time, the man was grasping and trying to drag Daniel to the helicopter. Attracted by the curious commotion, fifty or more of the islet's villagers encircled Daniel and Judith and were quietly looking on at the unusual scene. The man hardly noticed this activity. He looked at Daniel pleadingly, "The president insists that you come to New York as soon as possible. The SOV can only take off during a certain window each few days—I don't understand it but I know our time is running out today—let's get into the helicopter."

Judith thought to herself, "I didn't think the publishing business was so complex." She turned to one of the natives and said, "Tom, take care of the house and chickens while we are gone. We won't be away very long." Turning to the man, she inquired, assertively, "Will we?"

Tom, the native villager, acknowledged the request while the man did not answer her.

"I must get my purse. Tom, help me find my purse—I never go anywhere away from home without my purse." Judith ran back into the house and soon returned with a moderately-sized, beige purse slung...