Our Life and Times
Snippet from the Sentinel.com Series
A little look into the future and back at our guys from that future.
Disclaimer: Photos used in the collage were gathered from various sources, including pics shared of Moonridge. Thanks!
Not mine, not then, not now, not in the future. Pout.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hello,
my name is Brent Rathers and in this episode of
"Our Life and Times" we are taking a look at the man responsible for
revolutionizing the security of our country, Dr. Blair Sandburg.
Thanks
to the Sentinel-Guide Foundation, the Ellison-Sandburg estate and a number of
other prominent members of Greater Washington, we will be able to share with
our viewers a side of the man who paved the way for the Sentinel-Guide pairs of
our day.
We
were lucky enough to get an interview with retired Cascade Police Commissioner
Daryl Banks. This was taped just three months before his death."
The
picture fades to black and returns to show an elderly African-American
gentleman seated next to the host of the show. The older man's hair is white,
but his brown eyes still twinkle with intelligence.
"Commissioner
Banks," Rathers says, "I want to thank you
for taking the time to talk to me. There are not a lot of people who can say
they personally knew Dr. Sandburg and Jim Ellison."
"Not
a lot alive, you mean," Banks smiled knowingly.
"Yes, sir. We've recently uncovered a video clip of Dr. Sandburg's famous press
conference. Many have argued that he should not have thrown away his own career
to protect that of his Sentinel. Can you shed any light on what really
happened?"
The
camera focused on Daryl Banks' face. "I believe Blair did what he felt was
right at the time, Mr. Rathers. It was a crazy time.
An assassin had shot my father and another officer as part of his deranged plan
to get back at Jim Ellison. Sandburg's mother had inadvertently exposed Jim as
a Sentinel by sharing Blair's thesis with a publisher. Jim and Blair were… well
I've never seen them further apart. Blair thought that by admitting his thesis
was a fraud he could protect Jim and the CPD. He may have had other choices,
but time was not on his side."
Rathers nodded. "Some people don't understand why Dr. Sandburg continued
to stay on as Ellison's Guide after that. It certainly looked odd for an
admitted fraud to continue to be friends with the very person and people he
supposedly hurt."
Banks
shifted in his chair and cleared his throat. "For those of us that were
friends with Jim and Blair, the press conferences just clarified what we
already knew. Granted, we didn't know what a Sentinel was until the first press
release, but we knew there was something special about Ellison and Sandburg and
their relationship. Blair's press conference just confirmed what we had seen time
and time again. The Guide will do anything to protect his Sentinel. We may have
thought it was just a really good friend covering for his partner at the time,
but as we know today, the Sentinel-Guide bond, once formed is broken only by
death. There was no way Blair would leave Jim or vice versa, at least not for
long."
"In
Dr. Sandburg's memoirs, he states that what happened was a necessary part of
the evolution of his and Ellison's bond. He goes so far as to say that without
the dissertation fiasco, the Sentinel-Guide Foundation may not exist today. Do
you think he was right?"
Daryl
frowned as he thought back to those hectic days. He had only second hand
knowledge of what Jim and Blair were going through, but had been included in
their inner circle after the dust settled. There had been a subtle difference
in the way the two interacted after the whole mess was past.
"I
believe something needed to happen to solidify their bond. Before the
dissertation, they were close, but I don't think either of them had truly
accepted their roles as Sentinel and Guide. They just didn't have anything to
compare what was happening to them with. They may not have been the only S-G
pair at the time, but there weren't any handbooks, no teachers to help them.
I'm
not sure exactly what happened between them after Blair's press conference.
They took off on vacation for a week and when they came back the bond was
solid. Of course that's my perspective from this end of history. At that time,
I only knew they were closer than ever, more in-sync. So, yes, the dis fiasco or something similar had to take place to shake
up their status quo. Otherwise, they may never have moved on into a true S-G
bond."
The
picture faded to black being replaced with Brent Rathers
again. "We will have more of Commissioner Banks interview later in the
program. Now we are privileged to bring you a rare home video clip from the
Ellison-Sandburg estate."
The
screen faded to black again. The image that replaced the black was shaky and
showed first a carpeted floor, then someone's foot. A voice off screen spoke.
"Alyssa, put it on the tripod." The view jolted
around, swinging past two people on a couch to a wall and then swung smoothly
back to the couch.
"That's
it," an old man with long gray curls said with a smile. The tall man
sitting beside him grinned, his long legs stretched out comfortably in front of
him.
"Okay,
Uncle Jim," Alyssa Sandburg said from behind the camera. "Tell me how
you met my Grandpa Blair, I mean Dr. Sandburg."
The
two men hid their amusement at the attempt by Alyssa to sound professional. Jim
Ellison rubbed his chin in thought.
"Well,
Blair found me while I was trying to figure out what was wrong with me. The
doctors couldn't find anything. Blair snuck into the hospital exam room, gave
me a business card and told me to "see the man."" He threw a wry
grin at his Guide.
"Of
course, he was the man. I went to the University to see what he could possibly
tell me. He started spouting about pre-civilized cultures and genetic
throwbacks and I lost it. What was it I called you, Chief?" Jim asked,
knowing fully well what he'd said.
"Like
you don't remember, Jim," Sandburg responded, elbowing his friend gently
in the ribs.
"Please,
Grandpa, this is my favorite part," Alyssa pleaded.
"Oh?
You like to hear about your grandpa getting shoved up against the wall and
verbally assaulted?" Amusement laced his voice.
"Grandpa!"
she moaned.
Blair
lifted his hands and grinned his defeat, never able to
refuse his youngest grandchild. Or any of them for that
matter. "Okay. He pushed me up against the wall,
I swear I was about a foot, maybe two off the ground…"
"Chief."
Sandburg
chuckled. "Then this pushy Neanderthal cop threatened to arrest me and
called me a "neo-hippie witch doctor punk.""
"And
then you told him only you could help him with his senses and saved his life
when he zoned in front of a big truck," Alyssa finished breathlessly, the
camera jostled slightly.
"I
thought this was supposed to be my story," Blair whined good-naturedly,
smiling at the girl behind the camera.
"Oh.
Yeah, go ahead."
"But
you're right. Jim didn't really want to hear what I had to say at the time. I
tried to tell him about the zone outs, but he left too fast. When I reached the
street he was standing there staring and a garbage truck was speeding toward
him. I knew it wouldn't be able to stop, so I tackled him and we both ended up
under the truck. Not an experience I ever wanted to repeat."
"Your
grandfather saved my life twice that day. Once from the truck and the second
time by giving me hope," Ellison said. "The S-G pairs today have the
Foundation to help them and people understand what happens to newly emerging
Sentinels. Back then, I didn't know what was happening to me. I thought I was
going insane. Blair explained what was going on and helped me get control of my
senses."
"And
the rest, as they say, is history," Blair concluded.
~~~~~
The
home video paused on Dr. Sandburg’s face and faded to show Brent Rathers again.
“This
rare footage of Dr. Sandburg and Sentinel Ellison show the legendary rapport
between this famous S-G pair. When we come back, we’ll see video taken at the
opening of the SGF and news coverage from some of Ellison and Sandburg’s most
well-known crime-fighting efforts. We’ll also talk to several prominent members
in law enforcement from around the country about the changes that have taken
place in fighting crime due to the use of SG pairs. We’ll be back after these
words from our sponsor.”
The
end… maybe
Comments
are always welcome, please let me know what you think.
Judy