MINDLYFT

CHAPTER 19

Another early rise and I did it all over again. This time the power had been restored after what was still a somewhat unexplained electromagnetic pulse from the Sun. Solar Flares, solar storms, a solar gale some said. Regardless, it was a trudge but not like yesterday. The line into the Lyft cabin was a bit longer because more passengers had made it on time, but I arrived in just over two hours and walked to the workstations.

I stood at the door and counted fifteen heads. Blond ones, brunettes, dark straight asian hair, curly hair, long hair, and short hair. All of it bunched into neatly arrayed uniformity as required by the Business Attire Code. Everyone dressed in their MoonBase astronaut jumpsuits, as required, apparently in the event of a mass oxygen leak. Supposedly emergency outer suits, gloves, and helmets, would suddenly appear from behind the wall panels.

There were eight men and seven women. I was the eighth woman so an even split, per the contract requirements. I hadn't been given access to personnel files so I could only guess about the remaining diversity standards.

I walked up to the center of the room.

"May I have your attention please?" I asked. "My name is JennaBerry June. I'm part of the team reporting to Hinka HellsPath. She's not in the office today and asked me to provide a project introduction and overview."

The room quieted down for a moment. Everyone gathered around the large circular table. No one took their seats. A short oval shaped man with red hair, green eyes, and pasty skin stepped forward to speak. His eyes narrowed on me as if laser beams were synchronizing on the center of my forehead. His expression incredulous. He tapped his foot nervously as if to the rhythm of a blues band. I couldn't help but watch the way his whole leg riveted from the knee, bouncing up and down, as if he might suddenly break into dance.

"Who put you in charge? Hinka promised I'd be reporting directly to her. I don't take orders from nodes."

I saw heads nodding. More of them were thinking like this.

"What's your name?" I asked him.

"Fred Frown," he burped. "I'm a physicist."

"Yes, Hinka mentioned you." I gave a knowing smile, as if whatever Hinka had said was far from flattery, and then I turned back to the rest. "Now, if you will all take your seats. I've been asked to show you a short presentation. Then I have some work assignments for everyone while I continue reviewing the contract."

"Now you're handing out work assignments?" Asked a medium sized young man, about my age, very fit, with wide intelligent eyes, and a square jaw. His hairline was receding but it might have been that way from birth. "I thought you said Hinka asked you to give us an introduction. Did she also ask you to lead the team?" His tone wasn't accusatory or irritated like Freddy. Mostly curious.

"Hinka didn't ask me to lead the team, but the presentation should only take an hour, and since we're already behind schedule, and I've gotten a head start reading the contract, I took the liberty of dividing up the work. What was your name?"

"Knowles Smarts," he said. Now he was almost smiling. Whether he was smiling because he liked what he was hearing or because he thought I was full of shit, I couldn't be sure.

"Great Knowles. I'd welcome your feedback as to whether the assignments make sense. I was thinking you'd be the perfect guy to coordinate all of the project threads up into a project management team and prepare status reports for Hinka. If you think you can keep this rowdy bunch under control."

I got a laugh from the crowd about the 'rowdy bunch' comment and Knowles smiled more broadly this time and nodded his head. "No problem," he confirmed.