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[09 Jan 2011|11:18pm] |
In Character
Name: Jon “Dizzy” Palmer
Date of Birth: 7/19/2123 (Age 34)
Employer/Occupation: Owner of Flagship Wrench, Landlord
Description of Residence:
Jon invested the majority of his sponsorship earnings in a plaza on the outskirts of Chicago. Other than Flagship Wrench the plaza contains a cigar and wine lounge called Carmichaels, a small Fit & Trim Footwear, and the Happy Frog sushi bar. While Jon owns the Flagship Wrench, which specializes in repairing and updating high-end luxury, foreign, and rare podcraft, his only connection with the other businesses in Palmer Plaza is that of a Landlord.
His apartment is an enormous, open design housed directly above Flagship. This makes it easy for him to collect rent and attend to whatever needs his renters may have, but it also means that he has no residential neighbors. And that’s the way he wants it. The apartment itself is slightly reminiscent of a hanger. Think wide, open, high-ceiling spaces. Exposed polished beams of metal, brick walls, and the spare piece of art here and there--the majority of which are framed drawings of engines and prototype aircraft. A broad staircase of metal planks leads to a square, open air loft surrounded by railings. This balcony overlooks the rest of the apartment’s interior and houses his king-size bed and closet.
History:
Mark and Chloe Palmer’s second child was born in the middle of July, 2123. By that time their daughter, Ada, was already nine years old. Jon never asked if they intended to have him but the wide margin of time between births lead him to believe this was true. Still, he never felt unwanted. Perhaps unnecessary, but not unwanted. Love wasn’t discussed in the Palmer household, but nor was much of anything--Mark and Chloe were incredibly busy people and most of the hands on work was done by a stout woman named Camille. Jon remembers her fondly.
Because his sister was much older Jon had quite a bit of room to develop his own interests. A maintenance man named Maurice introduced Jon to his first engine when the boy was only six. Jon managed to get away from Camille one afternoon and, finding his way to the enormous podport on the southern corner of the estate, he saw an old leathery man huddle under the hood of a crimson Sunsprite LE. It was a small imported coupe, the sort of thing that came with a big price tag and even bigger maintenance issues. Maurice was nearly finished installing new parts before he even noticed Jon perched on a steel stool behind him.
From then on Jon was fascinated by the inner workings of machinery. Anything he could get his hands on became another way to teach himself about design and engineering. He never asked for toys or games again, spending more time with Maurice in the port than he did with any of the children he might have made friends with at school. While Chloe and Camille were afraid this might coax the boy into being antisocial Mark took is as a sign of industriousness and curiosity and supported Jon’s love of engines and mechanics. Besides, if he needed to be close to someone there was always his sister Ada (when she was home) and the wolfhound Percy.
Maurice taught him about fuel lines, steer flaps, brake racks and guidance circuitry. But Jon wanted to know more than just pods when he learned that Maurice had been a mechanic in the Air Force. With Camille’s permission Jon spent his twelfth birthday at the New York Aerosport. The craft were loud, fast, and bright.
Jon didn’t care about school. His teachers insisted that if he participated and spoke up that he would have been one of the brightest students in his class at Williamson Prep, but Jon insisted that he knew exactly what he was going to do. And it wasn’t Literature Ctirique or Biosocials. Mathematics and Physics were the two areas where he ever really applied himself. It wasn’t that he wanted to impress anyone by reading material months in advance; as far as he was concerned this was information that he wanted rather than needed. So he learned it.
In High School he was the one who shuffled in late, smoked cigarettes behind the fences of the track, and punched someone in the eye if they were going to have a problem with it. Jon didn’t go to dances and he didn’t wait around for anyone to be his friend. He didn’t understand why at the time but this (accidentally) made him popular with girls. It still does but now he knows why. Women really want something that they aren’t supposed to have.
With Jon’s fighting, insubordination, and complete lack of interest in the majority of his coursework it looked as though College was something that might have to be purchased, rather than earned. Unlike his sister Ada, universities were not beating down the door in order to have a word with him. So Jon was quite surprised to wake up one morning in the late summer of his sixteenth year to find a uniformed man rapping at his chest with a sharp finger.
It was Colonel Joseph Bell, USAF. Col. Bell asked Jon what he wanted out of life. At first, Jon was hesitant to give any reply that resembled honesty. Uniforms pissed him off almost as much as schedules and jocks and here was a nice suit ruining his afternoon nap. But the wings on the man’s lapel told Jon that this was someone who already knew the truth. So he told him. I want to be a fighter pilot, Jon said.
You need to go to the Air Force Academy then, said Joseph Bell. And then he walked right on out. That evening at the long table of the Palmer’s dining room Jon asked his father how he knew Colonel Bell. Mark Palmer looked just as confused as anyone. So Jon found Maurice in his small apartment in the split level arranged for the few employees the Palmer’s kept in permanent residence. The old mechanic had apparently called in a favor.
The only way to be considered for attendance at the Air Force Academy is to be nominated by a Congressman, Senator, or the Vice president himself. So, as his Senior year neared, Jon managed to get his father’s ear one night. In between emergency calls, messages, and fits of wealthy distance, he convinced his father that this was something that he needed, wanted, and could actually throw himself into.
I’ll see what I can do, said Mark.
For his meeting with Jimmy Dwayne (D-NY), Jon put on a tie, scrubbed his shoes, and cut his hair. The Senator was nearly as busy as Mark Palmer and Jon knew that his father’s friend would need more than a simple request to recommend someone for the Academy. He would need proof that Jon was willing to make the best of the opportunity. So when Senator Dwayne asked Jon if he could handle the pressure of the Academy and the strict policies that were held over behavior for those who attended, Jon insisted he could. Senator Dwayne nodded and said that if Jon could go an entire year at school without one blemish on his record, not one fight, not one cigarette stolen during hours, not so much as a skipped class, he would have the letter he needed.
It was a tall order. For the first half of the year Jon did everything he could to stay out of trouble. He attended every class and handed in every assignment. But in mid-February a tall son of a bitch sauntered over the soccer field and stood inches from Jon’s nose. Rob Birch wanted to know whether or not Jon really stood his sister up before the All Faiths Holiday Ball.
Yeah.
Jon didn’t lift a hand during the fight. When it was finished he had a broken nose, a chipped tooth, and eight stitches above his left eyebrow. He still thinks of it as the hardest one and a half minutes of his life because the entire time Rob was punching and kicking Jon knew he could win. If he’d been allowed to. School officials assured Mark and Chloe that Jon had not struck back and that was not in any sort of trouble. That single sentence made the pain and humiliation worth it.
Senator Dwayne’s letter went out and was met with a loud Yes, Please from the Academy. Not only were the Palmer’s known for their generosity and character but Jon’s test results were impressive. For the first time in his life he was excited about school, and work, and tests, and Professors. Unlike other Universities, even Ivy league schools, the Air Force Academy allows its students to get intense hands on training in their intended field. That meant flying lessons.
He met Daniel Burley during his sophomore year. Dan liked to study. He was quiet. But there was a subtle sort of darkness there that Jon appreciated. He knew he could coax Dan into having some fun and he was right. They snuck liquor and girls. They switched signs, tied door knobs together, and they absolutely never failed. Some might expect the two top students to have some sort of rivalry but they only encouraged each other to succeed. They graduated early and with honors.
Jon and Daniel were only 22 years old when they were full fledged pilots. They flew A99 Manticores. Swift, agile, and merciless fighter craft. Equipped with enough bullets bombs and balls to take over the world by brunch, as the saying went. Daniel became Shyguy one day when he refused to explain why he missed a training session. Jon became Dizzy during that same training session when he threw up all over the Colonel’s shoes. They had, of course, been out celebrating. It was fun and it was training, until one day it wasn’t.
One year and one day to the date after being handed the yokes to their fighter craft Dizzy and Shyguy, as well as the rest of their outfit, were told they were being given a mission. Central America was spiraling into chaos and violence. They weren’t going down to keep the peace or support efforts to restore order. They were going down as the scalpel which cut the cancer out.
And they did. The attack mission, their first ever, became known by the media as Operation Starry Night. Fifteen Nicaraguan aeros were shot down over the skies of Puerto Barrios, Guatemala. What was supposed to be a simple mission to aid Guatemalan forces turned into a messy, if swift war. Nicaraguan forces were able to identify the craft that intercepted their own as American. Two days later they declared war on the United States.
The war was unpopular. But those fighting it had little time to worry about their military’s reputation. Nicaragua and her allies proved surprisingly resilient in the first few months of shock and awe campaigns. Dizzy and Shyguy and their Manticores were dispatched at least once a week to annihilate resistance and cut off supplies. It was a cloudy night when their flight of five neared the tracks leading out of Costa Rica. They expected to strafe supply trains and encounter little resistance. But, dropping out of cloud cover, they found no train. Instead they found nine Type Fifty Fives. Aggressive and bullish the Central Americans engaged without warning.
Dizzy looked out of his dome in disbelief as Shyguy’s A99 burst into flames. He shouted for Danny to bail. He watched the aero descend in a blur of smoke and cinder--and then he saw Shyguy’s marker disappear from the radar. In one of the most tenacious dogfights of the modern era, three American pilots and eight Nicaraguan were shot down. Shyguy’s remains were never recovered.
The Nicaraguan Conflict lasted only one year and two months.
Jon was never the same behind the stick. Filling Daniel’s role as Flight Leader was more pressure than he had ever guessed. Shyguy was quiet that way; never complaining or cracking. But seeing his best friend and leader ripped out of the sky, his craft wrecked with bullets, stole Jon’s cool, clean style behind the yoke. As soon as he could he applied to be discharged. He called in favors, he stopped being reliable, and he did everything short of begging to become a civilian once again. His military career lasted only four years, total.
Jon probably could have coasted. His family was rich and he was a veteran. But something about the skies haunted him. As much as he hated what they had done to him he knew he belonged there. After a year in the drink a man approached him. Another suit. It was Rolf Van Thern, President and television face for the Aero circuit known as the Comet GP. And he’d heard about a gutsy pilot with nowhere to fly.
Jon probably couldn’t explain why but it took surprisingly little coaxing to get him back into the flight suit. After all, this was just racing. Dangerous as it was, no one would be shooting at him. Soon enough the pilot of the Number 56 became a fan favorite. Sponsored by Peel, Inc (a convenient agreement, one that his sister Ada was proud to make) Jon “Jonny” Palmer was known for taking big risks. He flew closer than he should have, faster round the bends, and tighter round the pylons. Some, especially his French rival DuPierrot, accused him of being reckless. And it was. At the risk of being exciting, Jon was inconsistent. He might finish first three times in a row, and then finish sixth.
He was never officially fired. But in 2154 Jon flew his last race, placing third in the Comet GP championships in Monaco. Some speculated that he was forced out by Rolf Van Thern, who had publicly criticized Palmer’s drinking. Others thought he had simply lost the ability to match DuPierrot’s tenacious discipline of perfection. The truth was somewhere in between. Jon had been dealing with his night terrors by drinking more and sleeping less, something a professional athlete simply can’t afford to do. It was actually DuPierrot himself who convinced Jon to retire, though neither has ever spoken about this meeting in public. The Frenchman admitted that he respected Jon’s ability too much to watch him die in the CGP and for once Jon decided to take someone’s simple advice.
Jon enjoys, or maybe resents, minor celebrity status in his resident city of Chicago. He used the earnings from his short life as an Aero Circuit pro to purchase real estate and establish himself as a business owner and landlord.
PB: Colin Farrell
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