“My mother passed a year ago. Heart failure.” David didn’t know why he said it. It just came out.

“I’m so sorry,” said Bill.

“Thanks. It hit us pretty hard. So after my mother died, my father, sister, and brother were all home together for a short while. It was the first time I’d seen Chase in two years. Crazy. He was always deploying with the SEALS.”

“He was a SEAL? Impressive.”

“Oh yes. Everyone’s always impressed with Chase. So he came home, took a month off from his work, and we got to hang out a bunch. Now, I’ve never been the athlete that my brother or sister were. But the day after Chase flew in for the funeral, he asked me to go on a run with him. He goes on these super-long runs. We drove down to D.C. and ran around the Theodore Roosevelt Island and finished on the Washington & Old Dominion Trail. Very scenic. Very long run. I hadn’t run more than two miles since I graduated Annapolis. My mother used to love taking long walks around that area. She always said that her kids got her athletic genes. Heart disease. Unbelievable. It’s a cruel, ironic world if you ask me. Anyway, my brother insists that I go with him on this run. We go for five miles around that lake and I swear that something changed inside me. It was therapeutic. It sounds funny, but that run was like a way to say goodbye to my mother. Maybe she was with us? Well, I’ve been running almost every day since. I actually did my first triathlon two months ago and I’m training for another. I got a taste of a runner’s high that day and I keep going back for more.”

“That’s sounds like a healthy hobby. What’s the problem?”

“You talked about all this China stuff making you re-evaluate your life. My mom’s death did it for me. Part of my conclusion was that I needed to reconnect with my family more. I missed my brother and sister. I have been doing pretty well keeping up with them through email more. I have even flown down to Jacksonville to hang out with my sister. My dad is almost impossible to get time with. He might as well be the President the way the Navy treats him. Still, with all of this talk of war, I’m just worried. I don’t want to lose any of them…” David’s voice trailed off.

Bill put his hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eye. “David, better things are coming. I’ll pray for it. You mark it down, and I’ll pray for it.”

The entrance door opened and Natesh walked in. He waved at the two men and received polite acknowledgments in return. A moment later he plopped down like a sandbag across the table.

“You look pretty beat young man.” said Bill.

Natesh raised his eyebrows and said, “My friend...you cannot imagine. I’m exhausted. This project is quite intense.” He drank his plastic cup of ice water until the cubes slid down to his mouth. He bit an ice cube and began crunching it in his teeth.