Prologue
Posted: June 13, 2006 - 07:18:35 am

My name is Janus Paul Pulaski III, but everyone calls Johnny. They call me Johnny because my grandfather, rest his soul, used Janus and my dad uses Paul. Actually that's Doctor Janus P. Pulaski, PhD., thank you very much. Can you believe that? I think the University of Central Florida, my alma mater, awarded me the degree just to get rid of me. Despite my credentials, I am the most ordinary member of an extraordinary family. My grandfather was a hero in three different armies, in three different wars. My father is, in my opinion, about the greatest guy who ever lived. Without a doubt he is the most respected. He is currently the mayor of our hometown, Palmdale, Florida. It took a lot to convince Dad to run for office, but the voters were already convinced. He was elected by a landslide and has been unopposed in the last two elections. Not bad for an auto mechanic, heh?

My mother is much better known; she is Dr. Sonia Pulaski, former Director of NASA, and now head of the Turner Interplanetary Flight Project. Word is that her organization is turning its vision outward, now that almost every interplanetary object in the solar system worth looking at has been visited. My sister is Katrina Pulaski. For those of you who have been in cryogenic sleep for the last ten years, Katrina Pulaski is the first woman ace ever documented by the Air Force. She shot down seven Iranian fighters during Gulf War III.

After the war, and the end of her military obligation, Katrina shocked the Air Force and the public by quietly resigning her commission. Although she never said an unkind word about the service, rumors were rife that resentment of her fame and accomplishments by the good old boys helped her make her decision. Katrina promptly signed on with the Turner Project and quickly rose to be their number one pilot. Katrina recently piloted a prototype spacecraft to a speed of five hundred thousand miles per hour. Speculation was that with some more refinement the craft was destined to fly at one-tenth the speed of light.

So now about me, nothing nearly as exciting to tell, I'm afraid. I graduated from Palmdale Senior High School in 2006. A month after graduation I departed for Army Basic Training. Some things I'm good at, most things I'm not; soldiering was on that short first list. It must have been genetic, inherited from my grandfather, I guess. I spent four years in the Army, all of them in the 75th Ranger Regiment. One of those four years was spent mostly in training and eighteen months of it was spent in a little garden spot called Afghanistan. I was released from active duty in May of 2010. I lazed around all summer and started college in the fall; I was twenty-one years old. A lot of people say that the military will make a man out of you. In my case, that is the undeniable truth.

If you are reading this and haven't read my first journal, you are bound to get lost. You can find it on this site; the title is the not very original Johnny Pulaski. Those of you who have read about my early life know I lived every young man's dream until my grandparents were killed in a car wreck. I think that without the adversity of their death and my subsequent service in the Rangers, I'd have ended up a slacker. Hell I might have anyway; you can decide that after you read my story.

I started college as a midterm sophomore because of college courses I'd completed in the Army, and credit I received for my service. I lived at home while I went to college; home being a house I inherited from my grandparents and renovated. Renovating the house and adding a second story was how I spent the summer before school started. My house is out in the country on fifteen acres of Florida piney woods. My nearest neighbor is over a quarter of a mile away. I love the peace and serenity of my secluded home.

I took my education seriously and applied myself. I graduated in 2012 with a double major, Psychology and Philosophy. I'm sure you had to figure I'd do the psychology, what with this empathy thing I had going on and the amazingly gifted women I seemed to attract and be attracted to. The Philosophy courses were an adjunct of the Psychology. I was very interested in how and why people made decisions. I immediately started on a Masters Degree in Psychology and snuck in some more upper level Philosophy courses. Eighteen months later I had my MA and was well on my way to writing my dissertation.

In 2015 I published my thesis: "The Noncognitive Component of Decision Making". I defended my paper that fall and was awarded my Doctorate just before Christmas. Yep, I have a PHD in common sense, something that a Pulaski is genetically programmed to have in abundance anyway. I started Pulaski Consulting in early 2016. I certainly didn't need to work for the money, Papa and Nana left me well off, but working was also ingrained in us Pulaskis, so I ventured forth. Basically what I did for a living was solve problems using the simple expedient of applying common sense to them. What a concept, huh? Yet it is amazing how often highly intelligent people wrap themselves up in minutiae instead of coming up with a simple solution. I've had clients rave about my genius when just the opposite was why I succeeded where they failed; I'm a simple guy so I tend to look for simple solutions.

The year is now 2021and my business is well established. I take only projects that appeal to me now, unless Melissa Thornton Turner asks. I can't say no to Mrs. Turner, never could and probably never will. She has my number and she knows it. I also take most anything New Man University throws my way. I take the New Man jobs because they are always interesting. Hell, the truth is I don't get on well with most of those New Men and E-kids, even though I have been seriously in love with a pair of them for seventeen years.

I guess it's about time to get to the real story now. But first I have to set it up for you. Here is the way I'm going to try to write this: instead of putting my second journal down in its entirety I am going to try to integrate it into the tale of my last job for New Man. Wherever I think it will fit, I'll flash back to my earlier life. It might seem a little confusing at first but bear with me. The flashbacks will hopefully throw some light onto why I acted as I did in Egypt a couple of years ago. I will speak with my own voice where I am directly involved in the action. When I am relating information I gleaned later, I'll use the third person. The story jumps back and forth in time and location, but I'll make it clear where we are, Okay?

I want you to know straight up that this is as far fetched a tale as anyone could imagine. Hell, if I hadn't been there I wouldn't believe it myself...
Joe J
Chapter 1