EOTU by D. R. SMITH (summer books .txt) 📕

The door cracked about an inch or two and the external conversation became clear and understood. Sanjay Patel was laughing with Mia who was saying something about body odor in a confined area. As the laughter died down, Eric heard the tail end of a comment from Dr Hemmer that more than likely referred to himself and was something to the effect of… “I thought he seemed too bright for a janitor”. Nick Walker then sounded as though he was attempting to subdue the jovial atmosphere by quietly reminding everyone in the hall of the importance of this tribunal and the door was then once again pulled closed just short of latching.

Muffled conversation resumed until, after about 20 seconds, the group began filing in with each giving a superficial smile as they greeted Eric. Mia appeared to avoid eye contact directing her gaze toward the path ahead of her. Before Pete McNally had closed the door behind the final entrant, Eric caught a glimpse of Trey leaning against the hallway wall. He was pretty sure Trey hadn’t seen him but figured he had taken part in the pre-meeting dialog and thereby knew something of the whole mess. A moment later, all were in their obviously appointed seats and Dr Walker reviewed the gathering from the head of the table. In addition to Eric, who was exactly opposite Walker… Habib, Angie, Sanjay, Pete, and intentionally positioned as far from Eric as possible, Mia… were all in attendance.

“I will begin by asking if there is anyone here who is not aware of what this meeting is about.” Nick queried while scanning the faces of all present. A hand appeared barely above the far end of the table with fingers wiggling and the owners head shaking. It was, of course, Eric. “Seriously Eric?? You’ve done what you’ve done and yet you’ve no clue why you’re here??” Dr Walker questioned accusingly.

“Of course I understand I’ve done something wrong, Dr Walker. I understand there will be consequences. But as to whom those consequential actions will emanate is what I don’t yet understand. Thereby, I can truly say, that I’m not completely queued in as to what I’m here for”, Eric said in a somewhat sarcastic manner. “I would guess I’m going to be fired. I might even be carted off to prison or something. But is all of this…” he said waving his hand in a sweeping motion at the attendees encompassing the table, “…some kind of conclusory panel brought together to decide what I should get paid for my…contribution… to… the project?” His statement trailed off in a cautionary manner and his facial expression radiated a silly ‘I don’t get it’ look as his shoulders shrugged. A couple of suppressed chuckles could be detected with hand covered mouths belying a smile. But all fought to remain serious in demeanor.

“Very funny Eric” Nick said dryly. “But not very funny”

“May I say something Dr Walker?” Mia probed. All eyes turned in her direction including Eric’s. No doubt everyone’s thoughts could only speculate what was about to be said. Dr Walker’s pursed lip glare in her direction screamed ‘NOT NOW!’

“Mia, hold on… please” Nick addressed her, holding a single finger up. “We’ll circle the table making sure everyone has the opportunity to ask or state what’s on their mind… OK?”, he assured

“Yeah… OK” she conceded, nodding with some frustration in her retreat.

Nick returned his focus in Eric’s direction and continued. “Well Mr Mikos. Allow me to give you a vivid description of what you’re being ‘called on the carpet’ for” He folded his arms as the weight of his 6’ frame rocked back fully onto the springs of the chair and one leg crossed up over the knee of the other. He was now viewing Eric through his glasses that were really prescribed for much nearer use. He continued.

“The concern we have is not so much what you did IN this building as much as it is about what you took out of this building. MARCH has spent literally millions of dollars to safeguard its facility and the information and equipment developed within it. I would venture to say that… uh… you, Mr Mikos, have not spent that much on securing your home? Am I right?” Nick’s question caused the entire circle to cast a gaze, obvious or not, in Eric’s direction. As one fully versed in MARCH’s security complexities, Pete McNally rolled his eyes.

Eric appeared visibly assailed and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He knew very well where this was going and had no snippy comeback to offer. Several in the room were struck with a sudden recognition of Nick Walkers assertive management qualities. It was vividly clear that he knew his responsibilities as administrator and how to address these issues.

“Just how do you think dozens of people who have dedicated nearly 12 years of their lives working tirelessly to achieve a dream… a dream that requires extensive confidentiality and security by the way… feel after finding out someone betrayed that effort in one fell swoop?” Nick said with the voice of a parent endeavoring to instill an ideal in their child. “You had some of our most treasured and intimate corporate secrets plastered all over the walls and ceiling of your bedroom. Diagrams, computations, launch and target coordinates, and personal communication information that involved years of hard work.”

Although everyone’s attention was trained on the two individuals engaged in this important examination, an abrupt movement by Officer McNally distracted them from the center stage. He too had had his arms folded and was rocked back. But an unexpected and quick bolt to an upright position, unfolding of his arms and raising a hand up to stifle any further sound from the group, put everyone on the alert. His ear was aimed, like a sound-sensitive mic, at the door and his blank stare forward indicated a focus of attention on a sense other than sight. The scientists all had a puzzled look on their faces. The room became dead quiet as Pete slowly rose from his seat and stepped stealthily towards the door. Before anyone could take a second breath, he snapped the door handle and swung it open enough to lean his head out and quickly glance in both directions.

Now convinced he had missed whoever it was that had been eavesdropping, he released a breath and resumed normal movement by softly closing the door and returning to his chair.

“There was definitely someone out there a minute or two ago”, he stated to his co-workers in order to justify his interruption. “You can continue Dr Walker. Sorry” he assured with an authorizing flip of his hand.

“Quite alright Pete. In fact, that right there…” Nick said swinging his hand out from his chin in order to point at Pete McNally, “…is essentially what this is all about Eric. Doesn’t it seem an unfortunate waste of time for Mr McNally to exercise such cautious protective measures when everything he’s trying to protect is stapled to the walls of an employee’s home?”

“Doesn’t it seem an unfortunate waste of money though, to pay Mr McNally if I was able to get that far with your precious secrets”. Eric quipped back, carefully refraining from making it sound too sarcastic and insulting.

“Why you smart ass little…” Pete began while even threateningly rising up from his seat. He was pushed back by an outstretched arm from Dr Patel who softly said, “Take it easy Pete. Don’t let him get to you my friend”

The room fell into silence for about 10 very LONG seconds.

“Are you gonna let him get away with that Doc?” Pete questioned angrily in Nicks direction. Nick simply held his hand up to shush any further criticism.

Dr Walker turned to Angie and said, “Do have anything you want to ask Eric or any comments or observations you wish to present here?”

Dr Hemmer had her right elbow resting against her folded left arm while gliding a painted fingernail back and forth along the top edge of her bottom row of teeth. It was apparent she had been taking in everything that had transpired over the past 10 minutes or so and was ready to interject her perspective. She shifted her overall body position, brought her hands down on the table with a light slap, and released a breath of frustration. As second in command, she knew the power she carried but rarely employed. It wasn’t her style to ‘step on toes’ so-to-speak, but this was one of those rare moments she needed to exert her authority. She ‘drum rolled’ the fingernails of both her hands loudly on the table top a couple times and then spoke.

“Well… I would like to excuse everyone from the room except Dr Walker and Eric and address them privately”, she said without apology or question. Immediately, chatter arose among the others with things such as “Wait? What did she just say?” and “Hold it? I thought we were all going to get to say something?” being heard.

Oddly, Mia remained silent and simply turned to face Eric for a moment. She then became the first to cooperate with Dr Hemmer’s request by sliding herself back from the table, which she did without breaking her stolid eye contact with Eric. She then snapped her head around towards the door and walked away. Eric felt a pain in his heart and weakness in his knees and legs as Mia slipped through the meeting room portal. It took everything he had inside him to not call out, Hold it! Mia, please come back in! I’m so sorry! Instead he closed his eyes and lowered his head as the real damage of his actions was beginning to amass in his mind. Mia’s move prompted the rest of the attendees to rise and do the same and within moments, the room contained only three occupants.

In a locked janitorial storage room on the opposite side of the facility, Trey Walker sat with his iPhone cradled in both hands as his thumbs busied about the screen. He paused a moment as the smart phone began playing an audio file recorded only a few minutes ago.

“…some of our most treasured and intimate corporate secrets plastered all over the walls and ceiling of your bedroom” the tinny distant sound of his Uncle Nick’s voice replayed from the phone’s tiny speaker. His thumb made a sudden movement to prevent any further playback. He glanced around nervously to see if anyone had been near enough to hear the recording.

Once his attention returned to the electronic device, he selected his email app and opened an outgoing mail message screen. He then touched the ATTACHMENT icon and navigated to the folder where the ‘meeting room’ audio file was stored, selected it and watched it populate the ATTACHED field. Next, he chose an address from his address book and watched as it filled the ‘TO:’ field of the message. He then positioned the cursor in the ‘SUBJECT’ field and typed ‘E.M. Meeting’. He then typed “UNFORTUNATELY SOMEONE CAME TO THE DOOR AND STOPPED ME FROM GETTING ANYMORE THAN THIS’ and hit SEND.

He stared intently for several seconds and watched as a window finally popped up stating ‘MESSAGE SUCCESSFULLY SENT TO… [email protected]’ One side of his mouth raised in a nervous half-smile and he promptly slipped his phone into a zippered pocket in his coveralls. He then removed the Bluetooth mini-microphone from his side pocket and stuffed it under some rags on the upper shelf of an unused locker. Closing the locker gently, he stepped over to grab a mop and mop bucket and proudly shuffled off to the kitchen area to