From the continuing saga of "TEMS: The Sentients' Domain"
"So, what you're saying is that if you had the chance to do it all over again, you'd have stayed in the enlisted ranks?" HMC(DV/PJ) - Hospital Corpsman Chief, Combat Navy Diver and Free-Fall Parachutist, 3rd Force Recon Carlos J. Panetta asked.
"Oh Hell yeah. When I was a Master Chief, I was at the top of the enlisted Pecking Order. The smart officers asked for my advice and listened whenever I threw down the bullsh*t flag. The rest of them simply left me alone to do my 'Master Chiefly Things'.
But, like you, I have a post graduate degree. Granted, it isn't a double Masters in Global Finance and Quantum Computer Security like yours. Just a Masters degree in bio-mechanical engineering." LT Ben O. Jensen, a former HMCM - Master Chief Hospital Corpsman, explained.
Puzzled, Carlos asked, "So, Ben, what the Hell does your education have to do with anything?"
Instead of correcting Carlos' demeanor, which in any other setting would be considered blatant disrespect to a superior officer, Ben suppressed the urge to laugh and just smiled.
From the moment they crossed paths in the "Sand Box" (any country ending in "stan"), he'd always liked Carlos. Ben had never met anyone as funny and smart as Carlos. In his mind, Carlos was wasting his talents and precious life time in the military.
Anyway, because Ben and Carlos had been through the same types of dangerous missions and somehow remained relatively unscathed (both physically and mentally), they respected each other's take on things; plus, they allowed each other quite a bit of leeway when it came to military decorum, choosing to call each other by first names whenever out of the earshot of other military and civilian personnel.
There is no way to adequately describe the miserable conditions that "is" the life of special operators fighting in the endless unofficial battles over Earth's limited natural resources." Ben inwardly mused.
"Yo, Ben! You gettin' hard of hearing, amigo?" Carlos jibed.
Startled back to the present, Ben continued his line of thought by saying, "When I was enlisted, many officers felt intimidated that I had more education than they did. The good ones admitted it.
The bad ones made it their mission in life to make themselves look good by making me look bad. F*cking assholes!
Imagine this.
Thinking life would be better as an Officer, stupid me entered the "O" ranks as an Engineering LT (military rank of "O3").
But I soon realized that Officer politics and behind-the-scenes shitty antics are many levels above what any enlisted man could ever conjure up!
During chow in the wardroom, all the junior officers would mumble that I didn't deserve my rank. But since I'm not welcome in the Senior Enlisted Mess anymore, I just have to bite my tongue and tolerate the attitude of those stupid junior Officer idiots.
All but a few enlisted personnel immediately think of me as a traitor, someone who thinks he's better just because his family was rich enough to finance a college degree.
The truth is that I never took a penny from my family.
Like you, I CLEP (College Level Testing Program) tested out of my first two degrees and went to night and weekend courses during normal liberty time. But that is never mentioned.
As far as the majority of enlisted personnel are concerned, I went over to the "Dark Side" when I accepted my Officer commission.
So, IMHO, unless you want to tolerate the sh*t life of a mustang (a prior enlisted Officer), you should either stay enlisted; or better yet, just get out.
You've done what, 24 years now? Hell, I'm counting the days when my mandatory eight years as an Officer is up and I can retire."
Carlos remained still and absorbed all of what Ben, one of the few persons on Earth that he respected, was saying - both with his words and his non-verbal communication.
Ben invaded Carlos' deep introspection with, "Yo! Earth to Carlos. Anybody in there? Heh-heh. Got'ta bounce, buddy. I have to brief the old man (Admiral Keegen, CINCALLFLT) in 30 minutes and want to go over my notes one last time. I don't have eidetic memory (photographic recall) like you, Dammit! Sometimes I really think you're some kind of camouflaged alien or time-traveler. Look me up after the G-12 Summit, Okay?"
Carlos nodded and said, "Yeah. Sure. then We can go get that sashimi and Kirin beer that you've been hyping ever since I met you in uhm, Uzbekistan, I think? No, it was definitely Afghanistan. I remember those CARE packages full of baby wipes and zip-lock bags for enjoying a "desert bath" and putting on socks that didn't feel like f*ckin' sandpaper! Anyway, thanks for the enlightenment, amigo."
The next morning, Carlos walked to PSD (Personnel Support Department) and turned in his retirement papers.
After the mandatory 48 hour waiting period, PSD authorized Carlos' a standard military pension commensurate to his rank + 4 years additional duty.
And after completing the documents for free military transport of his household effects to his designated retirement address in Asia, Carlos retired from military active duty - the only life he'd known since he was 17 y/o - and became a "normal" retired civilian.
Carlos wasn't sure what to do as a civilian with no need to work.
But he did have a LONG list of things he wanted to explore "whenever he had the time"; least of which was a weird trinary algorithm he'd been working on since picturing it in a dream almost four years ago.
Deep within Carlos mind, almost beyond perception, the young (three bln y/o) Sentient named Hector was sporting a huge, sh*t-eating grin.
He'd "arranged" this chance meeting and subsequent conversation between Carlos and Ben by causing Admiral Keegan to choose the scallops instead of the steak last night.
The five hours at room temperature made the seafood a haven for bad bacteria.
Consequently, the Admiral spent most of the morning sitting on the toilet with the "Screaming Meemies". And Admiral Keegan's schedule was adjusted accordingly; leaving both Ben and Carlos some unexpected downtime. As usual, both ended up at the one place on the base that served Macadamia Nut, Hawaiian "Kona" coffee.
Seeing each others' long lost compadre, they immediately sat down at a table and got caught up on each others' lives. Carlos inevitably mentioned that many people were urging him to apply for an Officer commission; the most vocal being his soon-to-be ex-wife.
Now, Carlos was free to fulfill, what "The Field" decided, his true destiny as the inventor of the Mobius trinary algorithm.
Hector's success as a Sentient "Blind Symbiote" was now self-evident. Staying within all the rules governing Sentient Symbiote activity, Hector finally "guided" Carlos toward retirement; therefore, quantifiable progress of The Field's mission schema could not be denied.
Enjoying his and Carlos' progress, Hector laughed so loud that a few typhoons suddenly erupted on the other side of the world.
And beyond the perception of Carlos, Hector and the inhabitants of their TEMS' (Time, Energy, Matter and Space) epoch, Jai (an ancient and powerful Sentient within The Field) labeled this Expanse (a universe within a universe maintained by any Sentient willing to pay the energy costs) as "Excellent Progress, Success Imminent"...
[To be continued?]
The above image is available as a rare (only three minted), signed and non-watermarked NFTs at:
May you and yours be well and loving life today.
In Lak'ech, JaiChai
(JaiChai 22 DEC 2021. Simultaneous multi-site submissions posted. All rights reserved.)