Peter was walking back to the elevator when he saw
Admiral Marcus across the room. He walked over and waited for him to finish talking to another gentleman.
“Doctor Farris. Productive meeting. I sat in on most of it. You were seeing Doctor Long off?
“Just saying goodbye. Nice lady.”
“Very,” the Admiral agreed.
“I thought it went fairly well. Listen, I’ve been thinking about our earlier conversation,” Peter said.
“Yes?”
“I am willing to take on that responsibility,” Peter said.
“Excellent. I have every confidence in you. Thank you. I can’t tell you how much better I feel about this project already. We will talk again in the morning before you leave. Your flight is at 12:45 I believe. I’ll have a driver pick you up at 0900.”
* * *
The following morning Admiral Marcus filled Peter in on more of the details. Actually it was much more detail than the others had access to. He was given the bigger picture. It was a frank and candid conversation that both men felt comfortable with. If they disagreed on a point Marcus would make the ultimate call, Peter would accept the decision and they would go on from there.
Admiral Marcus was finding that he liked this civilian even better than he had expected. He didn’t like civilians in general but this time he might just have to make an exception.
* * *
Peter returned home late Thursday night. He was both exhausted and excited at the same time. The last few days had captured his imagination and he was anxious to get started.
The following day he met with Arthur Anderson and brought him up to speed with as many details as he could share without breaking the confidentiality agreement. Anderson was delighted that Peter would be leading the project.
“What about the cryogenic plant. Did you have a chance to bring it up?”
“In a roundabout way. I told them that it would speed the process up if a new facility was built to ensure that the oxygen regenerator was online by the time they needed it. Our current facility just wouldn’t get the job done. They asked what it would take and I told them in the ball park of five million dollars. They said they would match our funds. They would pay half if we paid the other half,” Peter told him.
“Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. I will get Jenson started on bids for construction immediately. You won’t have time for that right now. Well done Peter.”
“Thank you Arthur. I thought I had better do something to earn the BMW.”
“That certainly takes care it, my boy.”
“Would you mind one suggestion?”
“Heavens no. What is it?”
“I would like to have Doctor Matters in charge of the construction of the cryo plant instead of Jenson. She is my replacement and it would be best if she was involved from the ground up,” Peter said.
“You’re sure she can handle it?”
“I picked her because she was right for the job,” Peter replied.
“Yes, of course you did. Then I’ll have her notified that she is in charge of the project,” Arthur said.
“Thank you, I appreciate that. Anything else?”
“Not that I can think of. Just glad to have you back,” Arthur said, walking him to the door and shaking his hand again.
Back in his office he went to work on his long list of things to do. He slowly but steadily worked his way through them, checking them off as he went. He returned phone calls, read memos, followed up on details and filled Linda Matters in on the upcoming project. It was all catching up to him by the time he was ready to leave. He glanced at the clock on the wall. 9:25 p.m. He could do no more. His brain had ceased to function properly. He had to read things two and three times. It was time to go home. His phone was ringing when he walked into the house.
“Peter Farris.”
“Pete, it's Luke.”
“Hey buddy, I was just thinking about you and Liz. How is everything going?”
“Pete I have some bad news. Terrible news actually. Liz lost the baby,” Luke sobbed, breaking down.
“Oh God. No. Luke, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what to say. Is Liz okay?”
“Physically, she is fine. Mentally? I don’t know. She hasn’t said a word since it happened.”
“Luke, what can I do to help? Anything buddy.”
“Nothing. There is nothing anyone can do at this point. I just wanted to let you know.”
“I feel like I should do something,” Pete insisted.
“We both wanted this baby so damn much. Liz is blaming herself. It is such a mess. I’m sorry Pete. I just needed someone to talk to without having to be brave. You know?”
“Buddy, I’ll get a flight out first thing tomorrow and…”
“No. That isn’t necessary Pete. I just needed to get this off my chest. I just wanted you to know. It will all work out. Everything does in time,” Luke said.
“Okay, if you’re sure.”
“Yeah. I’m sure. You have enough on your plate right now.”
“I am so sorry Luke. Give Liz my love will you?”
“You bet. Take care Pete.
“You too Luke.”
As soon as Luke hung up Peter called and arranged a flight for the following morning. He would spend the weekend with his friend. He knew Luke would never ask him to but it is what friends do.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
- ACCUTECH INC. -
For Susan Long, school had always come easy. Perhaps it was because she applied herself or maybe because she was genuinely gifted. Probably it was a combination of the two, along with the burning desire to succeed. She had grown up in a small town and as a result you would have expected her to be rather shy and backward. Actually, it was quite the opposite.
Like many high school girls her age, she had wholesome good looks but it wasn’t until college that she really started to blossom. Her Christian beliefs kept her from participating in many of the newfound freedoms that most of her classmates became caught up in. That is not to say that she was a stick in the mud by any means, but she had definite boundaries that she would approach, but would not cross.
This was often frustrating to the young men she dated. Because of her blond hair, great legs, and natural good looks, many of the college Romeo’s tried to hit on her. Her lofty goal of graduating with a 4.0 grade average and strict morals sent many a suitor scurrying away. While she was good in many fields, she had an uncanny ability to think logically and soon found the emerging academic area of computer technology both challenging and fascinating.
It wasn’t long before her professors realized her unique talent and several offered her opportunities for assistantships. Most of the professors were honest and straightforward in their desire to help her develop her talents. A few unscrupulous ones used the offer to mask their other agenda of trying to get her into bed.
Dr. Ryan, co-chair of the Math department was young and attractive. He was all charm and grace. He was fun to be with and using his considerable charm, he was able to conquer many young grad assistants. He had been smitten with Susan and it wasn’t long before he was on the prowl.
For the first several weeks he was all business and a perfect gentleman. Susan thought he was brilliant and enjoyed being around him. She really believed that his interest was in helping her to develop her math and science skills. While that may have been the by-product, it was clearly not his agenda. It wasn’t until late one afternoon that it became apparent even to a naive Susan Long. She had stayed late talking over a theory she had been turning over in her head with Professor Ryan.
“Dr. Ryan I’m sure I’m missing something. I’ve tried it several times and each time I come up with a different answer,” she said, handing him the computations on a sheet of notebook paper.
He glanced at them for a minute and laid them down.
“Susan, we can get to that in a second. Could we talk for a minute?”
“Sure Dr. Ryan. What’s up?”
“Certainly Doctor. I promise. What’s wrong?”
Dr. Ryan spent the next ten minutes telling Susan how badly his marriage had gone and how devastated he was to find that his wife had been unfaithful to him. He was crushed. He felt that he had to talk to someone about it. His world was falling apart. He had finally given up and was going to file for divorce. He was devastated and he felt it was even starting to affect his work. He needed someone who would understand and help him through this difficult situation. His manhood was crushed by his wife’s infidelity.
“Oh Doctor, I’m so sorry. How could she do this? Any woman would be proud to have a husband like you. I just don’t understand how this could happen.”
“I feel violated. It’s hard to look at myself in the mirror in the mornings,” he said, his voice breaking.
They talked for another half of hour. Susan was being pulled in deeper and deeper as he appeared to be lowering his barriers.
“I just don’t know what to do any more,” he almost sobbed.
“Doctor, I just don’t know what to say. Have you gone to a counselor or anything?”
“Those quacks? Have them tell me I wasn’t man enough to keep my wife? No thanks, I don’t need that. I just need someone to understand.”
“I’m so sorry. I wish I could help more. I just don’t know what I could do.”
“Please just hold me,” he said, wrapping his arms around her and putting his head on her shoulder.
Susan was taken aback but didn’t respond immediately. She was extremely uncomfortable but he was in terrible pain. She patted him on the back with one hand.
“You’re going to be all right professor,” she said in a soft voice.
The professor began to kiss her on the neck. She was unsure at first that was what he was doing but when she realized what had just happened she was shocked. She tried to back up but he only increased his hold on her.
“Professor, Please,” she said, starting to get alarmed.
“I need you Susan. You have to help with this. I need to feel loved again.”
“Please stop professor. I want to help, but not like this.”
“You bitch,” he suddenly said, shoving her away at arm’s length while still holding on to her shoulders.
“You’re not going to tease me like that,” he said in a bitter, hateful voice.
“Doctor. Stop. I didn’t do anything.”
“Don’t start that innocent crap with me. I’ve seen the way you look at me. You want it and by God you’re going to get it,” he said, ripping at the front of her blouse.
She tried to pull away but he kept coming, pawing at her. She started to let out a scream but he put his hands around her throat.
“If you so much as let out a peep, I’ll choke you so hard your eyes will pop out,” he hissed at her.
He was totally out of control. He kept one hand on her throat while trying to get his other hand up her dress. She could feel his fingers groping her and trying to get inside her panties.
“Please Professor. Stop. Please. It doesn’t have to be this way. Let me go. I know what you need. I’ll help you,” she said softly in his ear.
He froze for a second and released some of the pressure off of her throat.
“Don’t try to mess with me little girl,” he said, in a labored voice.
“Really, it doesn’t have to be this way. Let me go and I’ll show you just how much of a man you really are. This is what I’ve always wanted too. You know that. You have seen the way I look at you. Don’t ruin this for both of us.”
He slowly released her. She was just like all the other cheap tarts. Stupid cow, how could she resist? She was nothing compared to him. He let her go but stood very near in case she was up to something.
“Here, on the table,” she said, starting to sweep stuff off onto the floor.
“I knew it. You’re really going to be hot. I can tell,” he said starting to help her.
She picked up a heavy tape dispenser and as he turned toward her she slammed it into the side of his head. His eyes glazed over for a second then he swung his open hand and caught her a glancing blow on the face. Susan swung the dispenser again. The metal cutting edge raked across his face and he went down to his knees.
“Your bitch. I’ll get you for this. I’ll see that you’re thrown out of this college. You can’t do this to me and get away with it,’ he shouted as she was running out of the room.
She ran all the way back to the dorm and flung herself on the bed. Her roommate was out, so she cried with abandon. What was she going to do? Go to the police? No way. The seventies mentality would make her the instigator. Accusing a respected professor like Ryan, a doctor, no less? They would believe that she was probably just trying to ensure her straight A grade.
By the time her roommate came in she had calmed down so she told her about what had happened.
“So why didn’t you just go along? He’s cute enough. God, you could have just waltzed through that class,” was her answer.
Clearly they were on different pages in the book of life and with morality. Susan sat up, propped against the wall trying to sort out what she should do. By dawn her mind was made up. At 8:00 A.M. she called his residence.
“Hello,” a soft female voice said.
“Is Doctor Ryan in?”
“Yes, but I’m afraid he is asleep. The poor dear fell in his lab yesterday and cut his cheek open. He had to go to the hospital and have stitches put in. It was very late when he got home. This is Mrs. Ryan. Can I help you?”
“Mrs. Ryan?” Susan stammered.
“Yes. You know, as in wife?”
“But I thought you were divorced.”
“You have the wrong Dr. Ryan,” she said and hung up.
The circle was complete. What a fool she had been. She was embarrassed and humiliated. Never again she vowed.
She skipped her morning classes. This was the first time she had ever done such a thing. At 1:00 P.M. she went to her math class. Dr. Ryan came into the room with a bandage on his cheek. His lip was swollen as well. Several of the girls asked if he was all right and he went into a story about how he had hurt himself. Just another lie in a long string of lies, Susan thought. He never once looked at her.
He had always called on her during class at least a couple of times a day. Today, it was like she wasn’t there. She continued to go to class every day. Eventually he would call on her whenever the class was totally stumped. He was trying to humiliate her.
She stumbled on a couple of occasions and he made fun of her in front of the other students. It wasn’t going to work. She studied even harder and whenever he tried to trip her up she was ready. At last he gave up and he started the cold shoulder again. She didn’t care. He wasn’t going to force her out of the class. When the final grades were posted she had received her first B. It was his way of getting even.
Susan decided to change colleges even though as a matriculating student she would lose some credit hours. She applied to, and was accepted by the University Of Illinois. They were one of the nation’s leaders in the computer sciences and she soon found herself emerged in a fascinating and growing new world of study.
She graduated with honors and went on to get her Master’s and Ph.D. at the University. She was able to land a job with the HAL computer laboratory. It was the very same computer company that had received so much notoriety in the movie ‘2001 A Space Odyssey.’ Her skills were quickly recognized and she was getting offers regularly. One company, AccuTech, made her an offer she couldn’t turn down.
* * *
She packed up her belongings, said goodbye to Champaign-Urbana and headed for California. Within a year she was a department head and was leading a team of talented professionals that were on the leading edge of technology. Three years later she became the first woman Vice President in
the company’s history. AccuTech soon became one of the industry's leaders and much of the success was attributed to Susan’s keen mind. She was chosen to lead the team that would be working on the company’s first military contract. They chose her for one very good reason. She was the best they had. If they wanted to get a shot at the military gravy train, they had better make it their best.
***
After her return from the first Washington meeting she immediately formulated a plan and assembled the people she needed. Within weeks they were working on theories and assigning projects to sub groups. Susan was active in each group. The job was enormous. Thousands of main and sub-systems were going to have to interface. Miles of schematics would have to be traced out and tied together. Not only that, but many of the new systems that they were going be responsible for controlling, hadn’t even been invented yet. It was going to be an exhausting job. It was exactly the kind of challenge she loved to tackle. She had a clear goal and she was in her element.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
- WASHINGTON DC -
Admiral Raymond Marcus had graduated from the Naval Academy, tenth his class. He had the ability to be in the top five but it would have required more effort than he was willing to give. It was not that he was lazy, it was just his nature. If he couldn’t be number one then he didn’t give it his full attention. It was first or nothing for Marcus. He had always been that way.
Even in his freshmen year at High School he was determined to be a starter on the basketball team. He came close but was didn’t get to start. He immediately quit and joined the swimming team. There he was a star immediately. He broke the school records for the 50 yard freestyle, 100 yard freestyle, 100 and 200 yard individual medley. He anchored the 400-yard IM relay team as well. Soon he was setting state records. At the end of his first season he was undefeated but unfortunately he broke his arm in a car accident just before the sectional swim meet that determined who would go on to the regional and the state finals. All that he had hoped to achieve was crushed.
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