Core Beliefs - Chapter 54 - Water from Nowhere.

Core Beliefs – Chapter 54 - Water from Nowhere

At 7:00 a.m., Matt’s phone rang. He recognized the ringtone even before he checked the caller ID, answering quickly.

“Hello, Dr. Morgan, this is Matthew Lehman.”

“Hello, Mr. Lehman. I received the gifts and your instructions just today. This is our first opportunity to call. How is our little girl?”

“Charlie’s fine. It was a thrill meeting her,” Matt said. “She is a very special young lady.”

“Mr. Lehman.”

“Call me Matt. Please.”

“Well, very well.”

Matt detected a hesitation in Dr. Morgan’s voice.

“But only if you call me Harry.”

“That’s a deal, Harry. I understand you and your wife are dealing with some trying circumstances in the camp?”

The two men got down to business regarding the camp and the most pressing needs. Even as they talked, Matt formulated a plan. He ended by giving Harry a number where he could reach Charlie, then said goodbye.

***

It surprised Charley when his cell rang. Working deep underground in the titanium-encased lab, he didn’t think cell signals would reach, but the phone rang, and the Caller ID said Harold Morgan.

“I think this is for you,” Charley handed the phone to Charlie.

She put the phone to her ear, heard the voice from halfway around the world, and screamed in delight. Charley listened as Charlie badgered her father for news. Harry told about his conversation with Matt and the encouragement he received from it.

Charlie told him to believe in miracles because these people knew how to make them happen.

Listening in, her mother asked how her Christmas was going.

Charlie told them the only thing missing was them, but she understood what they were doing and why. She said that she had learned more about life, people, and doing the right thing in the last two weeks than in her whole life.

They asked where she was.

“Tucked away in a hole in the ground, and in time, I will tell you all about it.”

“You sound very happy, my dear,” her mom said.

“I think I’ve found where and with whom I belong, and I am very happy.”

Charley smiled, hoping he was the whom.

The call ended. Charlie grasped her lover and gave him a long kiss. “I really am very happy, and you’re the reason why.”

They went back to work, pausing to hold each other.

***

Thursday, Matt called the silo and gathered everyone around the speakerphone. He had a specific challenge and needed to know how quickly they could meet it.

Suchet asked if they could call him back in the morning. Matt agreed.

The silo team spent the rest of the afternoon outlining the requirements and looking at available materials and supplies. The next morning, Suchet called Matt and advised that they could have what he wanted in one week, with everything else shelved.

“Do it,” Matt said. “Let me know when you’re ready.”

Matt had other people jumping through hoops as well. Messages and arrangements poured into his office. Lucy, his assistant, commented that it looked like he was planning a war.

“In a way,” Matt said, “I am. A war where nobody dies.”

The following Wednesday, Suchet called, “It’s ready and concealed as instructed.”

“I’ve arranged for the group to fly out Sunday morning on a private jet,” Matt said. “Thanks to the help of a certain senator, we’ve got State Department clearance and credentials for a humanitarian mission.”

Charley and Chris crated the secret item on Saturday and drove to St. Louis, where they met Matt and Marcus at the Inter-mole facility. The silo crate was combined with crates of medical supplies. Sunday morning, they boarded a private jet belonging to one of the largest hospital groups in the country. Matt had indeed pulled in many favors and carried along two hundred thousand dollars to lubricate local authorities.

The plane arrived fourteen hours later at a small African airport, about 200 miles from the refugee camp. Matt presented their papers, watching the sunrise through the window of the airport’s chief of security’s office. In less than an hour, Matt had negotiated and paid for an armed escort and safe passage to the camp.

The authorities verified that no weapons or ammunition were hidden in the shipment. They secured the goods on two military trucks, with Matt’s group between them in a pair of military Humvees.

Matt called Dr. Morgan, told him where they were, and that they should arrive in five hours if all went well.

Only one hint of trouble arose when a few militias appeared on the ridges. None of the raiders chose to approach the armed caravan. The sun blistered down as the vehicles wound through the increasingly desolate landscape. The trees and foliage of the airport and small city were long gone. The only vegetation was sparsely spaced scrub bushes and thorn patches. Nothing looked green. Nothing looked alive. Lizards and insects were the only life forms seen over the last thirty miles.

Around three in the afternoon, the outline of the camp peeked through the distortion caused by super-heated air rising from the baked desert floor. Matt scanned the desolate and barren landscape.

“Forced from their homes into this place, where without help they will surely die.” He gritted his teeth. “I will not fail these people.” Ling heard his whispers, looked at him, and reminded herself that she loved this man for who he was and that she would let him be that man.

They pulled to the outskirts of the camp. The despair of the people assaulted and overwhelmed Matt.

Sickness, starvation, and squalor spread in front of him like a plague of locusts, stripping hope and life before his eyes. Matt could not comprehend people actually living in these conditions.

Harry and Annabel rushed forward to meet them with several aid workers. Charlie jumped from the truck and dashed forward, lunging into their arms.

Matt peered at the doctors. Their exhaustion was apparent. Clearly, they had suffered along with the refugees.

Matt’s emotions surged. Ling touched him and spoke to his mind: “We are here for a purpose.” Let’s fulfill it first, then see what else we can do.

The commander of the troops said his men would go no further and that everything would have to be unloaded outside the camp. Matt yelled for Harry and told him the situation.

“I’ll get help.” In the native language, Harry shouted words to those around him.

People began coming from the camp, and soon the crates were unloaded and carried to the encampment’s medical section. The staff launched into opening the boxes, and to the joy of Harry and Annabel, when they discovered cases of desperately needed medical supplies. Vials here, antibiotics in another crate, piece by piece, they unpacked and restocked the medical stores’ cabinet. Other boxes contained blankets, bandages, soap, and other non-medical materials.

The last crate was the one from the silo, and Matt suggested they uncrate it inside the medical supplies tent. When they cracked it open, they saw Harry’s disappointment. Inside the crate was an old refrigerator.

He looked at Matt, “I’m sorry, my friend, but little good this is. We have no power to run it.”

Undeterred, Suchet and Charley pulled it from the crate and placed it on an old wood pallet in the corner of the tent.

“These people have risked more than you understand in bringing this to you,” Charlie said to her parents. “You must promise to keep it a secret.”

“But darling,” Annabelle stuttered, “as your father said, we have no power.”

“Believe in miracles,” Charlie peered at both, “and promise me this will be kept a secret!” Conviction-filled Charlie’s voice, and under her stern stare, both doctors blindly agreed.

Suchet opened the door and turned the freezer temperature dial like a lock combination. He closed that door, opened the refrigerator door, and maneuvered the temperature dial the same way. He walked behind the refrigerator, and they heard a click and a thump. It started running.

“I think we need a water jug,” Suchet said.

Charlie spotted one and brought it to Suchet, who opened the refrigerator door and placed it on a shelf. As they watched, a steady stream of water began to flow from a tube. Harry and Annabel watched in disbelief, staring at Charlie and asking for an explanation with their eyes.

“We cannot tell you,” Charlie said. “All you need to know is that you have an unending supply of water and power. Use it carefully and guard it well by not making a spectacle of it.”

In the back of the crate were two solar collectors, small, with almost no capacity. Charley and Matt carried them outside with their tripod stands. They clipped the collectors in place, though only for show.

Charley ran the power cord into the tent, where Ling attached a combo converter box battery, a multi-outlet power strip, and several extension cords.

Matt suggested relocating the surgical tent and the equipment they had brought next to it. They worked the rest of the day to accomplish this; all the while, the fridge produced eighty-four-gallon jugs of fresh water.

It was evening before they had a chance to sit down. Charlie formally introduced everyone, and lastly, she introduced Charley.

“Mother, Father,” she said, “This person is the reason I am here today, and he is the reason you have your miracle. He is also the love of my heart. This is Charles Lehman.”

Harry rose stiffly from the floor and stepped towards Charley, who also had stood. Harry extended his hand, which Charley took.

“Son,” Harry said. “You have our gratitude and thanks, and most of all, our love for the kindness you have shown our daughter. From the bottom of our hearts, we will always be in your debt and your service.”

Charley shook the man’s hand. He could tell the doctor was weak. He looked him in the face. “We all have the greatest respect for both of you, and the honor is ours to try to help in what ways we can. I only ask one thing.”

He looked deeply into Harry’s eyes. “Take care of yourselves. The last thing I ever want to see is tears from your daughter because you neglected your health in the cause of saving others. You are no good to anyone dead.” Charley’s last words were intense.

The words took Harry aback, but he recognized that Charley’s words were of genuine care and compassion.

Harry hung his head. “We promise to be better.”

Ling suggested they get some sleep so they could begin helping early in the morning.

For four days, they worked together, long hours with the aid workers.

Ling labored in the surgery all day, cleaning and stitching wounds and treating sores.

Matt and the head of the aid group held two meetings with the elders of the people, discussing their plight and how hopeless they felt about losing their homes.

“If you had a safe place,” Matt asked, “and it would support you, would you accept it as your home?”

After much bickering, the elders confirmed the tribes would accept that.

Matt asked about growing crops. He was pleasantly surprised that they normally grew several grains and plants, and many had brought seeds, not a lot, but a variety.

Matt, Charlie, and Charley wandered through the camp with the elders, locating and outlining growing plots. They kept the plots small, but there would be many of them, and each family group would be responsible for tending its own patch. Matt emphasized that the men were to do most of the work, or the water would stop.

Soon, enough water had been generated to allow for not just drinking but also cooking.

The Elders, in an elaborate ceremony, poured water on a patch of ground where food would soon grow.

Suchet had made several adjustments, and the refrigerator was producing 300 gallons a day. They rigged a system using surgical tubing to fill 30 ten-gallon jugs at a time.

The refugees believed a well had been found and accepted the good fortune that had come with these strangers.

On Friday, two jeeps returned to pick up the crew. They sadly said their farewells.

It was particularly hard for Charlie. Her mother took her aside. “We know where we are supposed to be, and you have found where you belong. To us, that is a great joy and comfort. Don’t worry about us.”

She embraced her daughter and whispered, “You and your friends need to help others in the world.”

The flight back was quiet as most reflected on what they had seen and done. Charlie and Charley cuddled together and slept most of the trip.

Suchet, on the other hand, had a notepad in hand, scribbling furiously equations, calculations, and notes.

Ling and Matt shared their deepest thoughts and feelings. Both knew what they had done was right, but not enough.

They arrived back on Saturday, and by Monday, everyone had returned to their routine. Ling had two surgeries scheduled. Matt met with Marcus, Joe, and the board of Matt Lehman, LLC, the umbrella oversight group.

Doug and Ellie plugged away at school. Charlotte tended to the hundreds of things she did behind the scenes that others rarely noticed. Charley and Charlie busied themselves assembling the next toolbox, and Suchet and Chris intensely debated the design for a new device.