The Garden
Page 4
It hadn’t always been that way. Not that she hadn’t trusted the world-famous Dr. Robert Mulvaney from the outset, but the maturation of that trust had followed a two-way street. When Amy had been appointed to SATP, she’d experienced significant, but not unexpected, growing pains. Her home nation had been late to the game in joining SATP. They were, in fact, the most recent nation to sign the treaty, due mainly to standoffishness by the other thirteen countries, still reticent over a series of deadly naval skirmishes between China and Japan in the East China Sea in the early ‘70s. It was nearly 30 years until the International Trade Coalition had “forgiven” China, who had admittedly initiated the attacks to scare shippers away from the highly-trafficked trade route between Tokyo and Singapore. The gambit had worked temporarily, and the price of Japanese-made goods had skyrocketed for about a year, creating a trade imbalance before peace was found, but the aggressive action was not forgotten. Regimes and trade policies changed, but it ultimately took a great deal of lobbying of the Japanese Prime Minister, one of the original SATP partners, to allow China into the coalition. Just six years before had they added China as the 14th nation – important to the program because the “buy-in” was $10 billion, and important to China because it could not afford to be locked out of the most progressive and most terrifying technology ever devised by mankind.
Amy Cheng, born Cheng Xiaoden but Americanized her name for the purpose of socialization in a decidedly Western environment, was the only representative to the program that China had ever had, appointed directly by President Zhu Lin once China had gained access. She was young for the job at only 27 years of age, and was still, six years later, the youngest on the team, a status that wouldn’t change with Landon’s arrival, him being two years older. But she had been well-respected as a physicist in her country despite her age, and without a process or due diligence was the unanimous choice of the president’s advisors to take the position. She’d endured, of course, much scrutiny from the higher-ups and the politicos in the program simply for being the representative of a nation that many were wary of, despite strides made in the last decade or so, but the team – her colleagues doing the actual work to make the program successful – had been wonderful to her from the outset. They’d become friends beyond coworkers. Keegan, especially, had offered guidance both in the science of time travel and the challenges of acclimating to a new life, at an age for her when life really hadn’t even yet begun.
Robert’s laser pointer traced a path on the historical side of the screen south from Giza toward an area marked “Memphis.” “Memphis was the capital of Ancient Egypt at this time,” he said, “and many sources say the most populated area in the world. Positioned at the mouth of the Nile River delta, it was a center for economic activity in Egypt. Ironically, today, the area where Memphis existed is completely uninhabited, and is largely ruins.” He stopped his laser pointer short of making it all the way down the Nile on the map. “I never saw Memphis, unfortunately, as it was intended to be the last stop on the mission. Though I kept to the dunes and was largely out-of-sight except to occasionally get water when the coast seemed clear, I was interrupted by what I could only equate to a goon squad, which attacked me, seemingly out of nowhere. I was forced to cut short the forty-eight-hour mission to approximately 27 hours, and only narrowly escaped.”
This was what they’d been waiting to hear, but Robert paused first, taking a deep breath. He shook his head. “Guys, I don’t think we should go back this time,” he said. “I think it’s too danger-”
“Robert,” Reilly said, interrupting him, “let’s finish the debrief and we can get into that after.”
“No, Andrew,” he said, “it’s really okay if we go out of order a little bit. This is important.” He panned to the room, as if to get the team’s reaction, of which there was none, so he continued. “We pushed it. I know there’s a mandate here for us to drive the program further and further, and the public, and the politicians, expect that we’ll push the agenda on every mission. But just because we landed a man on the moon doesn’t mean it was a good idea to go to Mars. Unfortunately, we didn’t learn until we got there. And it’s easy to get lost in all of that. I understand it. It was unbelievable to see the pyramids being built, and not worn by five thousand years of erosion. It was glorious. But at what price? I almost died there. And if I hadn’t had a few seconds to react before they’d gotten to me… If I’d been in a city, where I couldn’t watch an attacker advance on me, I’d be dead. And you guys would be sitting by that time portal wondering what happened to me. I know it’s something we’ve discussed and created protocols and drafted press statements. And I know that you are all looking forward to the trip. But it’s a different world. One we aren’t prepared for. There are much safer missions to take.” Though his words were emotional, Robert’s demeanor was calm and almost fatherly. It was an odd contrast.
Amy found it strange that her immediate reaction was relief, but was fairly certain that was only because of Robert’s behavior since he’d returned. Normally, she was up for anything, and the reaction she’d assumed she’d have if Robert had come back and put the kibosh on a mission would have been jealousy, followed by political indignation. While that was her role – her sponsors would expect her to defensively address any obstructionist action by the Americans with skepticism and suspicion – it was not her reality, halfway around the world from home. She enjoyed the actual time travel part of her job almost as much as she enjoyed the science of it, but she was also against unnecessarily putting herself in harm’s way.
There were others on the team who felt differently, though. “Robert,” Keegan said, “you had a bad experience that caught you off-guard. That doesn’t mean we can’t be more cautious, and still complete the research.”
“Keegan, you’re a big guy,” Robert said, “so maybe you can take care of yourself better than I can. But I don’t care what you faced growing up in Brooklyn, you’ve never been up against people who are as big, and as strong, and who fight… not for honor, or for love, or religion… But for survival. To kill you because in their world they know that if they don’t kill first, they’re going to be killed. We’re way past going to look at steam engines and blacksmith shops. I’m terrified even-”
“Robert,” Claire said, drawing everyone’s looks, “you haven’t even told us what happened yet. With all due respect, Keegan, can he finish?”
Amy rolled her eyes. This hadn’t been the first meeting this week where Claire had gone toe-to-toe with her new ex-boyfriend. She’d deduced that they’d broken up. No one was supposed to know they were together in the first place, though everyone did. This week, though, their interactions had been strained and almost volatile, so it was apparent that things hadn’t gone so well.
Keegan laughed sarcastically, which couldn’t have pleased Claire. He held his hand out to Robert to continue.
“As best as I could, I stayed out of sight,” Robert said, continuing, “as I said, almost lurking in the shadows of the dunes like a nomad, but tracing the Nile for my route. There wasn’t much between Giza and Memphis, however there was a steady flow of barges going by. Walking twenty kilometers in the desert isn’t something I’m used to, however, so I needed water. I’d approach the water when there was a reasonable distance between any boats. I must have, however, been too at some point, and drawn attention. About five minutes after I’d gotten water, a barge pulled to the bank, and four men leapt off the boat, making their way quickly toward me. It didn’t take long for me to see they had weapons drawn, and I pulled out my cloak as fast as I could and started unraveling it. Their boat was probably 100 meters away, and they were fast. Really fast.” He talked slowly, reliving the experience. “I got the cloak undone and slipped it over my head, just in time to feel a searing pain in my leg, like someone had hit me with a wrecking ball. I looked on the ground and saw a piece of iron that must have been about the size of a shotput.”
“They threw it at you?” Keegan asked.
Now, Amy spoke up. “Robert, would you call the mission a failure?”
The question stopped him for a moment, then he spoke slowly. “No, there’s a gray area,” he said. “Did we accomplish everything we wanted to? No. But did we learn we could extend the capabilities of the time portal? Yes. Did I learn an incredible amount about the Ancient Egyptian people, as harrowing as it was? Yes. Was I able to research the earliest origins of commercial trade? Yes. There were some good things that came out of the mission, so I’d be hesitant to call it a failure. But it also wasn’t a true success. By SATP’s definition. Or, my own, I guess.”
“So, what are we reporting back to our sponsors?” she followed up. “That’s a nebulous answer.”
“Unfortunately, that’s as clear an answer as I can give.”
“The mission was a success,” Reilly said with enthusiasm, overriding Robert’s response. Due to the politics, everyone – including Reilly – was cognizant of the direct line between Amy and the People’s Republic, and would always hedge any outcomes toward the positive side. In truth, she knew that while they were all partners in the effort, as a whole they probably would rather not have had her in the room in times of discord. Which was the very reason she threw the question out. “The full report will demonstrate that. And we’ll have further discussion about the return visit.”
Robert was nodding obediently. Presumably, just to end the discussion. She noticed that Reilly had said “the” return visit, rather than “a” return visit, which had to sit well with Keegan, who she knew was looking forward to the opportunity.
While she was still looking at Robert, though, she noticed him make eye contact with her. He was thinking along with her, but it made her wonder about what.
Reilly tapped the tablet in front of him and the screen behind Robert changed to a line graph of Robert’s biometrics from the mission. “Let’s move on,” he said. “Except for his altercation with the attackers, Robert’s heartrate was consistent with other missions.”
Amy leaned forward in her seat, and went back into note-taking mode.
CHAPTER 7
For the first time in her career at SATP, Claire was beginning to doubt her future there. It wasn’t an overwhelming feeling, but it had infiltrated a corner of her mind. It upset her, of course, having allowed her personal life to influence the professional life she’d worked so hard to create. Especially because of a relationship.
She’d had that underlying feeling from the start that getting involved with Keegan was a bad idea, but like anyone in history who’d ever dated a co-worker, had arrogantly believed she could overcome the pitfalls. They could overcome them together. But, unfortunately for them, SATP wasn’t just any job. The level of interaction between members of the team, not only related to the daily work but essentially being quarantined on the campus, was intimate in itself – without adding the intimacy of actual intimacy. Sitting in the meeting with him smacked her with how foolhardy she’d been.
As the meeting was coming to a close, she found herself paying less attention to the conversation, and instead imagining if her involvement in the discussion would have been different prior to their relationship. She knew it wouldn’t have, of course. She was too strong a person to allow a difficult situation to change who she was and how she thought, even though she wanted to punch him every time he spoke. That was a temporary emotion, she knew, which she knew would pass soon. They were both doing their jobs, and as long as he refrained from little comments or facial expressions at her expense – there had just been the one snicker, which she understood she’d probably evoked – she was comfortable that they could co-exist. They’d done it for years prior to their short relationship, and she knew, after some healing, she’d be able to do it again.
With all that being sorted out in her head, however, that slight hint of question over whether working with Keegan was viable as a long-term solution gave her pause. She knew that ultimately Robert would retire, and Keegan was his heir apparent – though not guaranteed. If that were to proceed, however, it would certainly complicate the workplace relationship, and she cared enough about Keegan, despite his current idiocy, that she would never want to do anything to cost him that dream coming true. When Robert began to discuss his misgivings about the program after his return from Egypt, it only heightened her concern. She didn’t like uncertainty, something that had been instilled into her by her father from her earliest years. “Toujours, toujours avoir un plan,” was his most uttered phrase. Always, always have a plan. Unfortunately, she’d been hit double-barrel with uncertainty in the meeting. It would require some thinking, which wasn’t going to be able to happen today.
As Robert’s debriefing came to its conclusion, she stood to try to catch him before he left. She hadn’t had the opportunity to talk with him since he’d returned to extend her congratulations, but she noticed him grab Reilly and pull him into conversation. Being well-familiar with the toll that time travel takes on one’s body, she knew that he’d want to get out of there as quickly as possible and get some rest. She determined to hover and wait for him, even to talk for just a moment.
Instead, exactly what she didn’t want to happen did, as Keegan approached her from the side. He was so big there was no way she couldn’t feel his presence coming toward her, and subtly shook her head.
“What do you think?”
Very much like him to ask a question that could pertain to any number of topics currently on the table. “What do I think about what?”
“Robert’s mission.”
“That’s what you want to talk about?”
“That’s why we’re here, isn’t it?”
She looked up at him. While the facial tattoo “thing” had never made it to Montreal and Keegan’s had taken some time to get used to when she’d arrived at SATP, it had over time become a very natural part of how she perceived him and, eventually, developed feelings for him. Still, in a small room like this, his height could be intimidating. She wanted to snap back at his comment, but took a deep breath, remembering that, yes, that was indeed why they were there. “I think we should listen to him,” she said. “We’ve been taking things pretty lightly. This should be a wake-up call.”
He was shaking his head already. “I’ll give him that it was a bad experience,” he said. “But we can’t let one bad experience change the direction of the organization. How many missions have we done? Fifty, sixty? And this is the first one where we’ve had any kind of problem? I think that’s a pretty good track record.”
“You saw the look on his face when he was telling the story,” she said. “He wasn’t trying to influence us. He was giving us the reality. I don’t see anything wrong with tapping the brakes, and taking some time to reevaluate our lofty ambitions.”
He sighed. “You know there’s an end game here…”
“Yes, I do, Keegan,” she said. “But you use ‘end game’ as though there’s a be-all, end-all of time travel missions, and then we all go our separate ways. You know that’s not the case, and it’s our job to not only be the scientists, but to be the stewards of this technology.” They often had conversations exactly like this. Keegan was among the most ambitious players in the entire program, and Claire knew that was not just for the scientific point-of-view, but his own personal aspirations. It would be difficult for Keegan, emotionally, to finally step into Robert’s leadership role, only after all the “cool” missions had already been completed. “I know you want to make your mark, and I’m one hundred percent certain you’ll get your chance to. But only one of us has ever stared down death the way Robert has. So, I’m going to take his advice very seriously.”
“This isn’t about us, is it?”
“Claire…” he called after her, but she didn’t stop. There was no way that right there, right then, she was going to engage in that.
She navigated the room to where Robert and Reilly were talking, perched right near the door so that Robert would be able to sneak out quickly after they were done. Standing close enough that Robert would notice she was waiting, she tried not to give the impression she was eavesdropping. Though, it was clear the conversation was not all congenial. Without knowing what they were discussing, from body language she read that Robert was making demands of Reilly, who was attempting to be evasive.
After a moment, Robert did notice that she was waiting, and she tried to avert her eyes as he leaned in close to Reilly to emphasize his final point. Now, Reilly nodded, and then Robert excused himself. He approached her.
“It’s good to see you in one piece,” she said, giving him a hug.
He laughed, fatigued. “It’s good to be in one piece,” he said.
“Are you glad this one’s over?”
“Yes and no,” he said. “It was exciting. I can’t deny that. But the course of events has made me rethink what we’re doing. We really don’t need to push as hard as we are.”
“I was just saying that to Keegan.”
Robert laughed. “Good luck with that,” he said. “You’re not going to talk Keegan out of anything. He’s probably already prepping the next mission.” He paused for a moment. “I haven’t had time to say anything, but is everything alright with you two?” All along, Robert was the only one on the team who would address their relationship directly.
She shook her head. “No,” she said. “Things weren’t working out. Our lives are too intertwined.”
“I understand. Once all of this settles down, if you need somebody’s ear, I’m happy to listen.”