Ensemble [Book 1: SEKTOR V Trilogy]

Chapter 26: Start Jumping

Chapter 26: Start Jumping

"Ouch!" Maddy winced in pain as hot coffee spilled on her right hand and on to the sleeve of her blouse. Is it that tough to design a truly spill-proof lid? Apparently so, she thought. Of course, her complaint was ridiculous since she was practically in a full jog trying to make the 8 a.m. meeting she'd set for her science team. It had been an especially hectic morning given the unexpected call from the Chancellor's office that she fielded at the ungodly hour of 5:30 a.m. That interruption cut into her early morning routine that included equal doses of Kenpo Karate and transcendental meditation. Without her physical and mental outlets, Maddy knew she would be a mess. Which, on this day, was literally the truth, as she looked in disgust at the brown stain that had expanded halfway up her forearm.  

"Hello everyone," she said as she ungracefully entered the room holding a dripping cup of hot coffee a good two feet away from her body.

"So happy to see you joining your own meeting, Madam Director," Smithson said.

Of course, Smithson wasn't about to let this opportunity to chide her slide by. I deserve that. She smiled and took a seat at the table. "OK, have your fun at my expense. Go ahead, I have this coming."

"Yes, you do," added Dr. Narain. "If you did this in my country they'd make you sit out in the rain."

"But it's not raining," Maddy replied.

"If we were back in the UK you needn't wait long.  It'd be guaranteed to be pissing down somewhere," Smithson said with a broad smile.

As the room went silent, Maddy awkwardly grimaced and took a seat at the table with the others.

"OK, OK, I'm here now so let's begin. As you all are fully aware, each team has been gearing up for the Dial runs. Medically, Stanley has checked out better than we could have ever hoped for, and select comparisons from the implant surveillance footage seem to match up very well with what was predicted by our numerical models. We need to take the next steps very soon."

"Hold on, Maddy," said Phil Battiste who held degrees in psychiatry and psychology, "let's not draw too much from the preliminary results from a three-day Jump. We have no idea how all this will shake out for Dial when we subject him to much longer Jumps that stretch into weeks, let alone months."

Dr. Astrid Fujita, the team's expert in time-travel effects on human physiology, nodded in agreement. "Phil is right, Maddy. We need more time to conduct additional tests to be certain Stanley will be able to handle both the physical and mental rigors of the next phase."

"Will we ever know for sure?" asked Maddy.

"Well—"

"That was rhetorical, Dr. Bell," interjected Maddy.

The room went silent for a few seconds.

"Look," continued Maddy, "I understand your hesitancy. I really do. This is uncharted waters for all of us. But that's what we do! That's who we are. As research scientists, we push into the unknown. Plus, we don't have a choice. I spoke with the Chancellor this morning. Very early this morning I might add, and he wants us to move...now."

The room instantly burst into cross talk and chatter.

"Whoa!" Maddy exclaimed over the cacophony that was quickly escalating around her. "No, we are not doing anything today, nor tomorrow, nor even the next day. Even Datek knows that would be unrealistic, not to mention unwise. He was just pushing buttons to get us to mobilize. Things are going on right now that I cannot fully discuss with you. But you will have to just trust me that time is of the essence and we'll have to move sooner rather than later. What that means in practical terms is that we'll have several changes to our existing schedule. For one, we'll have three instead of six test Jumps to work with before we go operational."