Excerpt
The Super-Sighter

Tillie pulled up to the imposing guard shack at the main gate at Dugeness Air Force Base just south of Abilene, Texas. A young man in uniform slid open the door and stepped out. Tillie rolled down the window on her little Toyota and smiled in her friendly way.
“Yes, ma’am,” the young man addressed her, “do you have an appointment on base?”
“Yes, I do. I’m supposed to see this man...er, well, I seem to have lost that piece of paper. Now where did I put it? It has his name on it.” Tillie rummaged through her purse feeling the heat of the Texas summer beginning to overcome the car’s air conditioning. She felt flushed and embarrassed. She was apprehensive about the meeting she was to attend, and now she wondered if she could get to where she was supposed to be in the next five minutes. Tillie hated being late. “Finally!” she triumphantly pulled the piece of paper out of her wallet where she had stashed it. She handed it to the young man.
He looked at the name, then pulled a clipboard from the guard shack. “May I see some identification, ma’am?” he inquired.
“Sure,” Tillie replied. “Driver’s license O.K.?” She handed it over. Again the young man consulted the clipboard comparing her license to information he held.
“Ma’am, if you would care to proceed straight ahead, you’ll come to a stop sign. Turn right and go all the way to the end of the road. You’ll come to a building labeled ‘Building 14’. Just turn in there and park in the visitors’ parking area. General Harmon’s office is on the second floor.”
Tillie closed the window and cranked up the a.c. in the Toyota. It was going to be a scorcher again today. She followed the road past official looking buildings and a large golf course on the base. She turned right at the stop sign and followed the street past what looked like giant hangers for many, many airplanes. She could see the runways off to the south, and a giant transport plane passed very low overhead preparing to land. The noise nearly scared Tillie stiff, and she fought the impulse to duck her head. She continued driving to the very last building on the street of the giant air base.
Tillie parked and checked her reflection in the rear view mirror. She fluffed her tight blonde curls that were now faintly streaked with grey. She applied a bit more of her favorite hot pink lipstick. She got out and walked to Building 14 where she went inside. At a desk in the small lobby, she was met by yet another man in uniform, this man somewhat older. He also checked her I.D., then escorted her to an elevator. He entered it with her, punched the button and rode up to the second floor with Tillie. He politely stood back to let her exit, then gestured for her to follow him. The building seemed oddly silent, as if no one worked there. Tillie saw no one except the reception officer. There was no noise one normally associates with offices, and only the faint smell of coffee from what Tillie thought must be a break room somewhere hinted that there might be people working nearby.
The officer with Tillie approached a door with the letters “TXS&R” on it. He opened it and stepped through to a small anteroom which held a desk and chair. He strode to a large, impressive oak door and knocked four times. Then, he simply opened the door and stood back for Tillie to enter. She was a little scared. She had never been on a military base before, and she felt intimidated by all the I.D. checking and the military demeanor of the reception officer. Tillie turned and said “thank you” to the officer who merely nodded and walked away, leaving her standing in the door alone.
“Come in, and welcome, Mrs.Brooks. I’m General Harmon. Won’t you have a seat?” A tall, slightly overweight man with a balding head and a big smile stood before her. He was wearing the Air Force summer uniform, but it was evident by the star and the medals on his shirt that he was a man of rank and some importance.
“Thank you, General...er, ah, I mean General Harmon. I’m Tillie Brooks...but, uh, I guess you already know that.”
He chortled affably. “Yes, I’ve been expecting you. Do come in and sit down. Can I offer you coffee or perhaps a soda or some water? It’s very hot out there today, isn’t it?” He seemed so friendly, and Tillie was more at ease.
“Oh, no thank you, sir.”
“Now, Mrs. Brooks, you don’t have to call me by my title, and certainly not ‘sir’. Please just call me what my what my wife and all my old buddies from my college football days call me...Buckie.” He said it with such a twinkle in his eye, that Tillie giggled a bit.
“That’s cute. I mean, you don’t expect a big general and all to be named Buckie.”
“It’s short for ‘Buckner’ which is my legal name. But it got shortened to Buckie when I played football for Odessa High School and for U.T. in college. May I call you Tillie? We have a lot to talk about, and I want us to be able to communicate as openly as possible.”
“Of course. Everyone calls me Tillie, so that’d be fine.”
“Tillie and Buckie it is, then. Were you surprised when you got the call asking you to come out here today?”
“Yeah, you bet I was. My friend Marge was at the house doing me a hair permanent when y’all called. I nearly fainted, I’ll tell you. Then the man that called me told me that I should not discuss this meeting with anyone. Well, wouldn’t you know, Marge asked a thousand questions when I got off the phone. I pretended it was my dentist’s office calling to change an appointment time, but I don’t think she bought it.”
“But, you didn’t fill her in...I mean you didn’t discuss it with anyone...did you?”
“Oh, heck no. I’m a good citizen. The U.S. Air Force tells me to keep my mouth shut, then I’m going to keep it shut. But I did wonder why. I guess I’m not the only one who called the police the other night. I guess lots of other people did, too. I figured it was just something you guys out here were playing around with. You know, top secret stuff and all that. I did wonder why you wanted to see me though. I didn’t do anything wrong did I? I wouldn’t want to do one of those national security crimes like you read about. Oh, my gosh! Am I going to prison?” Tillie was almost in tears.