Time Corps 19

I take the 3 novellas home, I'll read one tomorrow. It proves wonderful, a rollicking adventure. I set a conscious limit of 2 a week so I won't get tired of them.
I show for my next appointment, tell the counsellor of my library trip.
"Good, it's a start, remember when you're on site, you'll hafta make do with whatever everyone else of the time and place reads."
"I could dance around forever, wasting your time and mine. Not what you think, not my father. Uncle in Georgetown owned a sweatshop, came to visit. He was sitting on our veranda and I took out lime drink. Grabbed my hand, pushed it in his pants. Well you know how messy that is, just never got over the total dis-gust. Didn't tell the parents, figured they wouldn't believe me. He never came back for a visit, so it wasn't a problem."
I see palpable relief on her, "you see Indira, even if no damage done, still a violation of trust. Tarnishes the young girl's view of life in general, men in particular. I'm the first you told?"
"Yes."
"Does it not seem a bit of overreaction when as an adult, you still view half the population with jaundiced eyes over the idiocy of one person on one day?"
I blush, nod.
"Doesn't mean you hafta like em, lotsa women don't. But until you stop hating em, no peace of mind."
"I know that now."
"So, nother appointment or leave it for now?"
"I'll leave it, if I need you I'll come back."
"Good, I'll sign the card, case closed, get your CO off your back."
"Thank you so much."

I hand the card to Col Khan, see the admiration in her eyes. The experience with the counsellor changes me. Looking back on my porn scene, it's as if it were written by another person. I just cannot fathom that level of drivenness. Surely all of S&M is insane. If Col Khan still likes it, maybe she needs an appointment. Oh well, what can you say?

"Indira my office 3 o'clock."
"Yes Col."
"Now Indira, I'm afraid I have bad news. The pulp fiction mission is on, but not yours."
"May I ask why Col?"
"No reflection on your ability. At that epoch, very few East Indians, you'd be too conspicuous. Heidi was considered, ruled out, Germans were still disliked. Betty Lou is perfect, sweet Southern girl with good typing. Ok, let's be honest about history TV, stagnant, hasn't produced anything spectacular in some time. We aim to change that."
"How Col?"
"You, your mission, when the time comes is Israel 1948, cover the Holocaust on a post-basis, as you suggested."
"And being an East Indian is not a problem?"
"No, got a cover story. Stringer reporter for a paper in India. Doesn't pay enough to live on, you supplement income picking fruit."
"But Col, the Israelis, they'll accredit me as a reporter? Just like that?"
"Why not? Day and age all outgoing is censored anyhow. They'll see your stories are sympathetic to their cause. They won't be overly worried that your paper is obscure, they need all the good press they can get. So, file just enough stories so they know you haven't died or lost interest, just enough to keep the press card active."
I stare out the window.
"Indira here's what we need. It's one thing to step up to the plate, bash a home run out of the park, excites the fans. It's quite another thing when your little guy you called up from Triple A ball does it his first day. History TV won't die if you strikeout. But if you deliver that home run, we're back to being headliners."
"Lotta responsibility Col."
"If not you, who in the class?"
"I get the point Col, I'll start reading that epoch in history. But surely, American faces would be better. Americans were strongly pro-Israel, would get a better reception than some unknown Indian."
"American Press Corps all knew each other, all men in those days."
I ponder that, interesting mix of fact and fiction. Why was I really scrubbed from the pulp fiction mission? Nothing at all to do with appearance, I could have been Italian or Hispanic. The clue, they want a home run on my first mission, don't want me to get a lower-key one.
I shrug, lotta loose lead flying in those days, maybe I get to stop one.
So, where to start? Where else - Leon Uris - Exodus.

The book is not available in hard copy anymore, so I download from the historical archives to which we have access. Knowing it'll be stark, I prefer to read weekends. Don't wanna read evenings, get too many nightmares.
I'm numb, sense of deja vu, same as reading Solzenhitzen's Gulag Archipelago in university. Assault on the senses, I gotta cover this. Oy, that pulp fiction mission sure looks good in comparison.
Now I realize the importance. TV ratings, rather immaterial, small potatoes compared to the human side. Good coverage would be a large contribution to world peace, to convincing people of the insanity of that era in history. Now I understand why the Jewish people so meticulously preserve history.
Still, would not a Jew do the job better? Maybe not, maybe get too strung out emotionally to handle it. I'll do my best, but it truly is a Mount Everest job.
Pondering it, I decide to go for as much positive as possible.
Warsaw Ghetto, absolutely, mega-achievement against a powerful army.
Israel's spectacular mil victories.
Building incredible amounts of housing.
Bringing the Jews of Yemen.
Remember, in all of this, I must keep it suitable for the child viewer.
So, am I being dishonest? No, I'm asked to cover a specific period in history. The murky reputation of decades later is immaterial to this story.