“You do your own bookkeeping?”
“Yes.”
“That’s something else I never thought about. I’m going to have to hire a bookkeeper. Will you be available for a while?”
Cassandra considered that for a time. “For a while.”
Chapter 80
June 18, 2007
Grinning like he’d just won the lottery, Patrick pulled out of the parking lot onto Highway 93. It was near 8:00 and Annie’s stomach was beginning to turn at the thought of telling her father what she had just done. She was almost twenty years old. She could make her own decisions, but he’d be bouncing off the ceiling because she didn’t consult him. Maybe she wouldn’t tell him. Why would he even have to know? It was her money in accounts and investments only she controlled, which were set up when she turned eighteen, at his insistence after all. It was the half, he told her, that would have been her mother’s. When she became Mrs. Caschetta, the name on all her accounts was changed. No way that her father would ever need to find out what was in those accounts unless she told him. She was truly her own person, could own half the country for all he knew; she didn’t have to answer to him or anybody.
“This is all confidential, Patrick.”
He slowed for traffic. “Okay,” he said, a question hanging in his voice.
“Neither my father or my grandfather, nor even my aunt and uncle, need to know. This is my money and I can spend it how I see fit. I don’t want to go through an inquisition.”
“Okay. I understand.”
“I’m to be a silent owner. You’ll be one hundred percent in charge of the operation. We’ve got a month until I take ownership and then another month after that before I have to return to get ready for the fall semester.”
“Okay.”
“There is going to be a lot of things to do and I don’t even know what those are yet. Need to choose a bank, set up accounts, look into city and state licenses. Tomorrow we find an attorney, make sure we get all the legal matters lined up. Are you working tomorrow?”
“Yes, but . . .”
Annie held up her hand. “I don’t want you dumping on your current responsibilities. I’ll do the leg work to determine what we need to be doing and then bring you in starting next week. I’ll let Bill know that on occasion I’ll need to pull you away, probably just to get your signature on bank accounts and such. I’ll be setting up a sole proprietorship initially, but will be looking into incorporating once we see how things are going. Do you think we should go Subchapter S or LLC?”
Patrick looked over at her. “I have no idea, Annie.”
“I have no idea either. I’ll look into it. The right attorney can help us with that, I’m sure.”
She went silent for a time, but her mind kept working. Maybe she should confide in Aunt Gracy and Uncle Henry. They wouldn’t tell her father and they would be a great asset. But would they think she was crazy? Would they try to talk her out of it?
“Where are we going now,” Patrick asked as he turned the Blazer east onto US 40.
Annie considered it for a few seconds; cabin or lab? “Go back to the lab.”
After a bit he said, “You went back to February to set this all up. What if I said I didn’t want the job?”
“I guess I would have had to back out. I hadn’t signed anything yet.”
“Then the only reason you’re buying this store is to give me a job. Is that right?”
She just looked at him, didn’t know what to say.
“I already have a job, Annie. I don’t need your charity.”
“This isn’t charity, Patrick. I actually like the idea of being a business owner.”
“How are you going to own and run a business from Boston?”
“Maybe I’ll move here. This place is kind of growing on me. Besides, I’m only going to own it. The running part is what I’m hiring you for.”
There was a long silence.
“How big is the bow hunting department?” Annie asked.
“At Pack It In?”
“Yes.”
“It’s not a department, just a couple of display racks.”
“Didn’t you say if you ever had your own store you’d have a bow hunting department? And classrooms?”
He glanced over at her and then back to the road.
“How about a room dedicated to bow hunters with a practice range, maybe staffed by your dad.” When she didn’t get a response she added, “If you turn me down for the management job I’ll bet your dad would consider it. Then, he can hire you. Better get your resume shined up.”
Patrick just shook his head.
“Whether you like it or not, I’m about to become the owner of a small Montana business and one way or another I’m hiring Erik Patrick O’Reilly to manage it. It’s up to you to tell me if it will be senior or junior.”
Except for her grandfather everyone was in attendance, sitting haphazardly around a cold grill; mugs, beer cans and plastic plates lay about. They all watched her get out of the truck, six sets of curious eyes boring into her.
Uncle Henry pulled a pipe from his mouth. “You all through?”
Considering his question, she pointed to the trailer. “With this? Yes.”
“Good. We’ve been discussing what to do with it. We should get your thoughts.”
“What about Grandfather’s thoughts? It is his after all.”
“He bought and paid for it, yes, but it’s become bigger than him. It has to have a body of oversight.”
Annie considered saying, “Spoken like a politician,” but thought better of it. “Didn’t you say it should be destroyed?”
Henry nodded. “There’s radioactive material involved. Can’t just dump it into a landfill.”
“Of course not.”
“Disposing of it may not be the wisest option, in any case,” Professor Grae said.
Annie looked at the professor and then went from face to face around the camp, stopping at her father. “You agree?”
“We’ve been talking about it and some good points have been raised.”
“Like what?”
“There are peaceful applications that can come out of this.”
“Peaceful applications of time travel, from the person who used to hit the ceiling if anyone even whispered the words?”
“Not time travel, Annie,” Professor Bradshaw said. “That has to be buried. In that we’re unanimous. We’re talking about the power plant.”
“We’re not in full agreement, though,” said Gracy.
“There is also the issue of teleportation,” Charles added.
“None of it is practical in today’s world.” Robert’s voice of authority silenced the group. Everyone turned to find him standing just outside the open lab door. Annie was surprised and pleased to see how good he looked, how strong he sounded.
“That’s a little extreme without a full discussion, don’t you think, Robert?” Grae said.
“Which you all have been conducting without me.” Robert pushed the door closed until he was sure the locks had engaged and then slowly stepped down off the platform. “Here’s the discussion. The government will step in and take it over, wrap a top secret blanket around it and before you know it will be threatening to annihilate heads of countries we call our enemy.”
“Do you really believe that, Robert?” Bradshaw said.
“Combine teleportation with the short burst, high power output of this plant, and our wonderful government could do anything it wants. We split the atom and they turned it into a bomb and dropped it on two Japanese cities. We developed the laser and then invaded Iraq twice with laser guided bombs, killing thousands of people before we finally got Saddam Hussein. You think that if we gave them this they wouldn’t start planning precise strikes on other heads of state they don’t like?”
“And that would be a bad thing?” Charles asked.
“Yes! That would be a very bad thing because man is corrupt, no matter how much he thinks he isn’t, even if he believes
he is doing the right things for the right reasons. Also, what are the chances that some terrorist or group of terrorists could get a hold of it and send a dirty bomb to the Super Bowl fifty yard line?”
That got everyone looking at each other.
Bradshaw was the first to speak. “You’re saying that despite all the good nuclear energy has done, we shouldn’t have pursued it because of its destructive potential.”
“That’s precisely what I’m saying. With this,” he pointed to the trailer, “we’re upping the stakes, upping the potential for irreversible, global disaster.”
“Take away the time-travel aspect and the teleportation,” Bradshaw said, “and you have a source of high power, a very compact nuclear power plant.”
“That, in itself, is dangerous, and you know that, Thomas. It’s impractical for the delivery of long-term sustained energy, which is what this world really needs. All this does is deliver a very high output for short bursts; perfect for activating and holding a wormhole, and, I hate to say, for firing a laser beam from a satellite to any place on earth.” He looked at Professor Grae. “You’ve done some laser work, Howard. Wouldn’t you say this would be perfect at the global scale?”
“Yes, I would,” Grae said after a few seconds of thought. “I’m afraid you’re right.”
“We’ve learned how to be massively destructive with nuclear power and have learned how to control a laser beam to destroy our enemies. Imagine now putting the two into the same package. Which world leaders would you recommend have control of it? Or should we turn it over to NATO?” The silence was palpable. “Patrick,” Robert said, placing a hand on the young man’s shoulder. “I’m not sure if a bunch of scientists and politicians can intelligently come to a proper decision on this. What do you, one of the true working class of this country, think we should do with this contraption?”
Patrick passed his gaze across the faces that had turned to him and then looked at Annie. She was watching him expectantly. Everyone was waiting for his response.
“I . . .” He pointed at the trailer. “There’s a nuclear reactor in there?”
Chapter 81
June 18, 2007
Robert thrust his arm at Patrick, his hand palm up. “There you have it; America’s reaction to a nuclear power plant in their backyard. And what would you say to one of these orbiting your Earth with the ability to strike anywhere, anytime?”
Patrick’s mouth just hung open.
“We get your point, Robert,” Grae said. “What do you propose we do with it?”
“We could dump it in Yucca Mountain, but the red tape involved would tie us all up in virtual prison for the rest of our lives, and when the government gets wind of the fact that we transported it across the country . . . well let’s just say it wouldn’t be pretty. Not a big deal for me, but I certainly don’t want to leave it for you all to clean up.”
Patrick leaned over and whispered to Annie. “What’s Yucca Mountain?”
“It’s part of a 30 year debate over where our nuclear waste should be dumped,” Annie said while looking at her grandfather. “It’s in western Nevada. He’s not serious, I’m sure. What are you suggesting be done with this, Grandfather?”
“You’re quite right, Annie. I jest about Yucca Mountain. The only reasonable solution, for this crew, is to of course transport it back across the country. In hindsight I have to admit it was dangerous and irresponsible to bring it here. As it stands now, it would be just as dangerous and irresponsible not to transport it back. Once back in its barn and secure, the nuclear reactor will be removed and stored with its brethren at MITR.”
“MITR?” Henry said.
“MIT Reactor,” Annie said. “Can you do that without raising a lot of red flags?”
“Of course. It’s not a government-run reactor after all. It’s private so it’s all about the size of the donation. How do you think I got it out to begin with?”
“Donation? You bribed someone to get a nuclear reactor? How much?”
“The money isn’t important. I’ve got way too much and most of it is earmarked for the university when I die anyway. You sure don’t need it. And I did not bribe someone for a nuclear reactor, just the elements to build it. My dilemma is whether to give it back to them as the elements, that is break it down into its parts, or as a functional, high power reactor with a small footprint. I’m inclined to break it down and destroy my notes.”
Professors Grae and Bradshaw looked at each other and then Bradshaw said, “I don’t think we can let you do that, Robert.”
Robert laughed and then braced against a cough. When he recovered he said, “Maybe with the reactor, certainly, though between the three of you, you’ll be able to rebuild it anyway. The rest of it . . . I’m sorry. I didn’t make myself clear. When I said I was inclined, I was referring only to the reactor. The rest of it, SMMUDWAGEN and the like, are already being destroyed. All the hard drives and backup hard drives are reformatting as I speak.”
Bradshaw jumped to his feet. “They’re what?” He ran for the trailer and started punching in his code.”
“Don’t waste your time, Thomas. I changed the code on the cipher and disabled the thumbprint reader for everyone except me.” With that Robert started coughing again and collapsed into the chair that Professor Bradshaw vacated. When he had settled he said, “I’ll restore the reader and provide the pass code in the morning.”
Bradshaw spun around and pointed at Robert. “You crazy son-of-a-bitch!”
“I don’t believe it,” Grae said to the sky.
Annie had felt her pulse quicken when she thought Bradshaw was going to strike her grandfather. When he didn’t, she settled and then withdrew from the scene before her—the professors spitting anger at her grandfather—and considered it all. They’d played with history enough. Just as she understood that what had taken place these past few days was, for some sadistic reason, preordained, she also understood that the destruction of the code and software was an inevitable part of it. But so was her mother’s trip through time twenty years before preordained and when she died it was all disassembled. Yet here it was resurrected. The only two men who could do it a third time were sitting right before her; her grandfather, who was running out of time, and her father who, she was sure, would make no effort to bring it back to life.
She looked at Charles. He had not joined the two professors in the tirade against her grandfather. As a matter-of-fact, he was smiling at her. What did that mean?
Suddenly she realized Professor Bradshaw had her grandfather by the arm and was trying to drag him toward the trailer platform.
“Open this door now!” he screamed.
Annie’s father jumped to his feet to get between them and then Annie was in the mix, her grandfather hacking, on the edge of collapse. She swung out and struck the professor square in the chest with her fist and then caught her grandfather under one arm. Her father latched onto the other. Bradshaw stumbled back and sat hard onto the platform steps, more shocked than anything at Annie’s sudden physical attack.
Together Annie and her father carried Robert to the RV door which Henry had rushed to open. Inside, they lay him on the bed and then Gracy was shooing them all out of the tight little space.
“No,” Robert said. “Annie, stay.” He coughed hard for a few seconds and then added, “Please.”
Annie sat on one corner of the bed, Gracy on the other. Steven and Henry looked between them and then backed out.
“Are you angry at me, too, Annie?” her grandfather said.
Annie shook her head. “No, Grandfather. You might say I have your back on this one.”
“As do I,” Gracy said. “I don’t know why you decided to do this to begin with,” she added, waving her hand in the air.
“Are you calling in the board?”
“I came very close, but held off. You follow through and put this thing away as you said, with MITR, and we’ll keep it within the family. Henry and I will have a serious talk with the two profes
sors and Charles. When they understand how close they are to federal charges and prison time, I think they’ll back off.”
Robert looked at his granddaughter. “What about Patrick? Do you think he’ll keep his mouth shut?”
“Why wouldn’t he?”
“Just wanted to raise the question.”
“I’m sure he’ll be fine. I’ll be keeping an eye on him.”
Gracy’s eyebrows went up. “What do you mean by that?”
Annie stiffened, opened her mouth to create a response and caught herself pulling on her ear. She dropped her hand into her lap. “Nothing.”
“You’ll be keeping an eye on him says something you aren’t revealing. What’s going on between you two, young lady?”
“Really! We’re just friends.”
“Bullshit!”
Annie jumped to her feet. “You’re not my mother!”
Her back suddenly stiff, Gracy tilted her head at Annie and then stood. “I see.” She scooted past the end of the bed and walked out.
“What’s going on, Annie?” her grandfather said.
She swung around to face her grandfather. “Why does everyone think something is going on? Patrick is a friend. There’s nothing going on.”
“Why are you so defensive? Even if you two are romantically involved, Aunt Gracy doesn’t deserve being yelled at.”
“If we were romantically involved, Grandfather, that’d be one thing, but we’re not. I just don’t like being accused of it, that’s all.”
“Fine,” Robert said. “I believe you. What’s actually going on?”
Annie tilted her face to the ceiling. She needed advise anyway and she could trust her grandfather to keep her confidence. She sat back down on the corner of the bed and looked at her hands. “I’m buying a business and I’ve hired Patrick to be my manager.” She lifted her eyes to her grandfather to judge his reaction, but he wasn’t looking at her. Instead he was looking past her. She looked over her shoulder to find Aunt Gracy had returned with her father.
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