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

Once the room settled down, Dr Preston scanned everyone's faces to see if they were finished with their comments. She appeared to be totally unaffected by the whole scene and even glanced at the clock on the thermostat as if to say... You are all wasting my time. Just as she was about to continue, Mia finally did speak her mind.

“So … as the people who have labored both mentally and technologically to create the incredible Net Weight 48, are we allowed to ask you any questions regarding this NASA-onian decision?” she queried in a sarcastic manner with her arms now tightly crossed and head cocked to one side.

“OK... well... as I have come to know many of you and realize how hard you have all worked on this...”  Shari Preston circumnavigated Mia's question by turning to face a different direction. She paused, swallowed, and then continued, “… if MARCH had a way to prove it's functionality and that it is not going to endanger the general population or the crew... “ she was interrupted again.

“The GENERAL POPULATION?!?” Several voices expressed. Dr Walker spoke up this time. “How would something deployed after traveling 3 years away from earth endanger the 'general population'? I mean Shari... that's preposterous”

“Well... OK... we feel that it's very presence on the craft at liftoff could raise security issues from competing nations who think a visit to a black hole might endanger the universe” she explained slightly more timidly.

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!” Habib said loudly. “You are thinking we'll be shot out of the sky after liftoff? In other words... unless we prove the EHM WILL NOT make it to M87 we'll be shot down? Right?”

“Well... that and the fact that it has not and cannot really be tested here on earth. Hence the crew would be at great risk in believing it will propel them to the event horizon of M87BH when that theory… is just that... theory” She stated in a voice that again conveyed skepticism itself.

Dr Preston was abruptly startled by Nick Walker standing up. He looked at Preston and curled a 'come here for a minute' finger at her as he walked towards the door. Dr Preston smiled to the rest of the crew as she apologized for stepping out behind Dr Walker. He closed the door behind Shari and then turned to confront her… moving up threateningly close…practically nose to nose. Dr Preston’s chin doubled as she scrunched her head away from him and then took an unbalanced step back.

“Listen... what we're all hearing in there is that the government is suddenly afraid we're going to succeed and that we've become a national… even international… threat if we do so. Is this for real? Is that essentially what I’m hearing?” he said angrily through clenched teeth.

Her actions continued to reflect that she felt threatened. He could tell she was struggling to look him in the eye and was beginning to perspire in the aftermath of the stressful announcement. Then suddenly her courage and authority swept over her demeanor.

“Look Dr Walker. Don't shoot the messenger. I...”  He cut her off

“Don't even go there! You are NOT just a messenger! You're the one who reports every move we make to NASA for crap sake!” he shouted under his breath with an accusing finger being jabbed into her face. “Now I don't know if you had anything else you were going to address this morning but I'm requesting you put that off for now and let us get on with something more positive. My crew can only handle so much bad news in one day” He turned for the door and paused before opening it. He finished without looking back. “In fact I'm not requesting. I'm ordering that your attendance at this meeting be terminated immediately”. After another tiny pause, he slowly opened the door and entered the room without any dramatic anger emanating from his mannerisms.

For a moment or two, she simply just stood there in the hall with a semi-shocked look on her face. And yet she had expected a less than joyous response to this news. Shari Preston's job was filled with these unpleasant moments. She frequently had to wipe the saliva off her face from close up chewing outs and then, lift her chin, straighten her spine, and walk back into the fray. This was one of those encounters.

Reaching out to prevent the door from closing, she stepped in behind Nick. Exuding professionalism in every movement, Dr Preston glided around the perimeter of the table towards her seat. Nick settled back into his chair and gave Shari a look that signaled to her to end her portion of the meeting. She stepped up behind her chair, bent down stiffly to grab her attache' bag, and then, after straightening the stack of paper in two directions by knocking the edge on the table, she inserted them into the leather case.

“That is all I have for today. Miss Tilona” she said, slightly bowing her head towards Mia. “Gentlemen” she glanced at each of the men in the room and picked up her bag and shuffled out.

No sooner than the door latch clicked, a ruckus erupted in the room with everyone wildly expressing their opinion on what they had just heard. Walker stood up waving his palms out in front of him to quiet the crowd.

“OK! OK! PLEASE QUIET DOWN!” he shouted. He then held up one finger in a 'hold on a second' manner. The other attendees slumped back into their seats, each with a different dissatisfied look on their face. Stepping to the door and opening it, Nick poked his head out and glanced in every direction. He then closed the door behind him and returned to his place at the head of the table.

“Now... we are NOT scrapping the Net Weight 48 and we ARE going to launch the EHM on schedule” he almost whispered. “I've got an idea.” And then he started to smile.

                “We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we

                     have already done”

                                                                        - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

September 21…present time

Angie Hemmer realized that all day yesterday she had completely avoided talking to anyone. Even Nick Walker, who is normally very difficult to avoid, had not conversed with her even once. It hadn't occurred to her that possibly he was avoiding her... which in fact was the case.

Nearly everyone on the team had been avoiding Angie as none of them wanted to be the bearer of the bad news about the Net Weight 48. All of them were hoping Nick's idea he had discussed with them following the meeting would pan out. In reality, Angie was no more excited about seeing Nick than he was about seeing her. She had yet to resolve the supply weight issue and was feeling quite inadequate and defeated... not something you would want to convey to your boss. As far as she was concerned, the whole weight issue had only arisen due to one arrogant investor who was insistent on going along on the trip. He himself was consuming any buffer they had designed into the ship... and then some. Add in his required supplies and you've hit a wall that just might not be scale-able. But Kurt Lehman, had been from the beginning and still was, the largest contributor to the project making it impossible to 'kick him out' at this point.

She rounded a corner from the lab hall and suddenly found herself strolling straight toward Dr Walker. He spoke first.

“Well.... long time no see”, he said jokingly. She responded with a brief 'very funny' smile and then flipped her hair back to the right, adjusted the strap of her attache' case on her shoulder and then squared herself in front of Nick.

“I've been busy with...” She quickly realized what was about to come out of her mouth causing her brain to scream out .. 'DON'T SAY THAT!'  “... so much last-minute stuff that I have just pushed myself too far” she finished, with hardly a pause where the bump in her thoughts had shifted gears.  He reached out and touched her shoulder.

“Angie... seriously” he had genuine concern in his expression and in his voice. “Don't let it all drag you down physically. With the supply cargo weight problem solved we will be simply coasting to the launch date. Your good. It'll all be just fine.”

“Thank you Nick.” In order to not complicate the conversation she simply nodded to him and turned in the direction of her office. Once she was far enough away from him though, she attempted to decipher what he had just said about the supply cargo effect. Did he say it was DONE?? Couldn't be, she thought. I'm the only one working on it and I'm POSITIVE I didn't finish it Tuesday evening. 'I must have misunderstood him', she surmised. 'He probably meant that ONCE IT WAS DONE we'll be coasting to the launch date'. She shook her head as if to shrug it off.

Angie had taken a full day away from that part of her work figuring if she stepped back from it she might see it from a different perspective and solve the whole thing in an instant. She plunged the key into the knob of her office door and then, in one well rehearsed and oft repeated motion, slipped the key back out, flung open the door, tossed her shoulder bag onto the sofa and spun around slipping into her desk throne while twisting it into position squarely in front of the monitor array. After a moment of startup screens and password entries, her work station desktop window was staring back at her. Her eyes scanned the array in disbelief.

Nick Walker nearly jumped out of his skin when Dr Hemmer barged through his office door.

“Whoa! Angie... what's going on?!?” he said with a bit of a chuckle in his voice.

“Cut the crap Nick. I'm not in the mood and you know why.” She said in a voice that would best be described as controlled shouting. “You know… I realize I was at a stale mate on the cargo weight roadblock. But I would've eventually figured it out. But to have Mia or yourself step in and finish it without asking me is well... I think insulting and rude”

“What are you talking about??” Nick asked with his brow furrowed. His chair creaked as he stood up and stepped around to the front of his desk in order to send a message to Angie that he had nothing to hide and he was determined to hear her concerns.

“I'm talking about this...” She then pushed her way past him stepping behind his desk and began pecking at the keyboard. After a few moments of smooth clattering she reached up and turned his