Z is for Ziggurat

There were many things that an organizational chart could tell you, but the piece of information that Superintendent Jammer wanted was going to involve a little more digging. After all, the United States National Park Service was turning 100 and every park and monument in the system was encouraged to throw a party to celebrate. Jammer had discussed possible options for the celebration with each of his section chiefs and everyone had agreed that the best way to celebrate the National Park was to celebrate the people who dedicated their lives to protect it. In the end, it was decided that four vehicles would be honored as part of the party, the most senior in each of the park's staff sections.

That is when Superintendent Jammer's job got really difficult…he now had to convince the four vehicles to actually show up and participate in the celebration. Having known each of them for decades, Jammer knew that one didn't remain a simple cog in the Park Service machine unless you were able to keep your nose down, blend in with your surroundings, and avoid getting involved in politics. Luckily, Ol' Jammer hadn't been assigned to the post of superintendent during Piston Peak's hour of need simply because he had seniority. During his time working up the ranks of the interpretative ranger staff, he had heavily worked with the other departments to get things done, and he knew the exact buttons to push to get what he wanted.

He started with the oldest vehicle on staff, because Jammer knew that if he could get the event on Bellmouth's schedule, he would show up. The steam engine, after all, was a stickler for schedules and his strong need for routine was probably the primary reason that he was still at Piston Peak instead of retiring to the Golden Spike National Monument like the other steam locomotives in the Park Service. And the fastest way to get something on Bellmouth's schedule was to ask Token, the station master, to put it there.

The trick was finding a moment when Token was free. It took two days of stopping by the lodge's train station to finally catch the tug, but he was willing to listen to Jammer's request when they finally did cross paths.

"You do realize that we have already started to sell tickets for that month." Token didn't have to say anymore. Sold tickets meant they couldn't cancel the train trip without a very good reason like a landslide blocking the track…or the entire park is currently engulfed in flames. Jammer knew this before he arrived in the station, so he had come prepared.

"If you would like, I could arrange for one of the state diesel engines to take over Bellmouth's route that day. That way, we can have him carry a load of dignitaries to the event and then attend himself."

"I think that could work." Token made some notes on his clipboard and gave a quick nod. "I will make the needed changes to the schedule and will expect a second engine to help cover the additional passenger load. Please let me know when you have gotten that arrange so that I can speak directly with the partner engines."

"I will get you the info within 72 hours. Just let Bellmouth that we would like him to say a few words about his memories from the founding of the park."

Pleased with his success, Jammer moved onto the next vehicle on the list. Euclid was a soft-spoken dump truck, but he was always willing to work road crew had a big job to be done. He was also easy to find, as the oldest member of the park's road crew the road boss usually had him assigned to tasks around the base. That way, if the team was ever faced with an emergency, Euclid was only seconds away from their team's headquarters and the maps it contained. Today, Euclid was inventorying the sand that the vehicles used to give the park's roads more traction during the winter, so he was perfectly capable of taking a quick break.

"Are you sure that Harold wouldn't be a better pick for this?" Euclid muttered into his cup of coffee after Jammer had explained the whole situation.

"Harold is a good speaker, and he is the road boss, but we both know that you have been the heart of this department for going on five decades. If anyone can speak to the jobs that park service staff does that are never seen by the public, it would be you."

Euclid looked Jammer directly in the eyes for a few uncomfortable seconds, before turning his attention back to his coffee mug. "Alright, but don't expect me to say much."

"It only has to be a small bucket of words." Jammer assured before leaving the dump truck to get back to his work.

Jammer then moved on to his next 'victim'…I mean, staff member. He had saved the most stubborn one for the second to last…and as he expected, Cabbie was the hardest one to convince to show up. While Jammer understood the old plane's reasons, that didn't stop the whole situation from being frustrating.

"Cabbie, you have been part of Piston Peak's public safety and law enforcement team longer than anyone else in the park. For goodness sakes, you were one of the founding members of the Air Attack Team!" Jammer shouldn't have gotten to the point of raising his voice, but the plane had decided to park on a position and was not giving an inch.

"That still doesn't make a spokesplane." The C-119 nearly growled. "I already had to spill my story to the half the park, I would prefer not to have to repeat that to the world at large."

The last piece of the puzzle finally clicked in place in Jammer's head and the reason why Cabbie was being so stubborn suddenly made a whole lot more sense. The old warplane was incredibly private about his past, so much so it practically took an act of congress to get him to open his mouth. While part of it was because he had participated in OPSEC operations, a lot more of it had to do with the ugly facts of the jobs Cabbie had done both on and off the battlefield. The plane in front of him was carried ghosts as well as smokejumpers. Taking a deep breath, the Superintendent changed his tactic.

"Then speak for the men and women on the wall. Speak for them, because we both know that you are the only plane in this park that knew each and every one of them. I don't care what you say, I don't care if all you do is read their names aloud, but we can't let them be forgotten."

Cabbie let out a long, pained breath. Then he looked at Jammer with a glimmer of raw pain in his eyes. "Fine…If you think that I am the only one who can do this job, I will do it. But remember, that I am not doing it for you, or the visitors, or anyone else like that. I am doing it for them."

"I know, and that will be enough."

After the raw emotion of the conversation with Cabbie, Jammer was glad that he only had one vehicle left on his list. Especially because he knew that Roberta would say yes. While the elementary school educator had never been a full-time Park Service employee, she seemed to come back every summer as a member of the seasonal interpretive ranger staff. When she started, being a ranger wasn't really considered to be women's work…now, well now, she was more trusted that almost any vehicle in the park. She had dedicated an important part of her life to Piston Peak and now families came to allow their children the experience to go through the same Jr. Ranger program that they had done as a child, all under the watchful eye of Roberta.

"You know that you don't even need to ask." Roberta said as Jammer rolled into the interpretative ranger break room. "My answer is yes."

Jammer smiled and drove through the room to get to his office. "Thank you for that. You would not believe how difficult it was to convince some of the crew to participate. It is always nice to know that you have my back."

"I guess that leaves us with only one last vehicle to schedule." Roberta commented as she rolled into his office and leaned casually against his desk.

"Oh?" Jammer tilted on his tires, genuinely curious.

"You." The interpretative ranger grinned at him. "We couldn't leave you out of this celebration. You do, after all, practically personify a park old timer."

"But I don't want to take away from what the rest of the staff are talking about."

"And you won't. Bellmouth is talking those who built the park…Cabbie, those who have put their lives on the line to protect it…Euclid, the vehicles who work behind the scenes…while I am speaking about those rangers who work directly with the public. But for all of your planning you forgot about one, very important group of park service staff." Roberta paused as though she was waiting for Jammer to fill in the blank, which he failed to do because he had absolutely no idea where this conversation was going. Eventually she took pity on him and continued. "Someone needs to talk about the rangers that are to come. Someone needs to roll up to that podium and paint a picture of what this park will be like in 10, 20, 50, heck another 100 years in the future and I can't think of anyone who is better positioned to do that then you."

Ol' Jammer rolled back on his tires. As much as he hated to admit it, Roberta made a very good point. And as much as he wanted to pull a 'Cabbie' at the moment, he also knew that the correct choice was to step up to the task.

"Alright, you have convinced me."

"Great. I will make sure that your name is on the program." Roberta gave him her very best customer service smile, but she also winked as she rolled out his office door.

Jammer couldn't help but chuckle a bit as the door clicked shut. Being a Superintendent of a National Park had good days and bad. But regardless of what type of day he was having could think of a better team to work with or a better place to call home.

Term- Ziggurat- Used to describe a graphical figure that represents the personnel grade structure of the National Park Service. Because there are more rangers working on the ground level of the park service then there are section chiefs or superintendents, the figure ends up looking like the Babylonian stepped pyramids. These pyramids are known as Ziggurats, so they named the chart after the structure.

Author's Note- Merry Christmas everyone! We have successfully reached the end of another year's advent story. I hope that you enjoyed it! I am already starting to put down the bones for next year's story, M is for Mechanic, but there is still time to suggest a term or topic. But don't wait too long as the deadline for suggestions is January 1st, 2020.