Outside in the parking lot, the sun sends me reeling. It is a bright beautiful day and the sun saps the last ounces of drive I have in my body. I still haven’t settled on a room for myself, but I know where there is a comfortable couch where I can get some sleep.
“Good morning, Seamus,” Dad says to me, seemingly from out of nowhere.
“Oh hey, Dad.” I’m ready to give into the exhaustion.
“You look like you could fall asleep on your feet.” Dad is smiling like he knows something I don’t. “I’m not going to make you go to school or anything, you know. You can work on your power pack during the day and sleep at night if you want to.”
“Thanks.” I’m not sure what I am thanking him for. “That won’t be an issue anymore. From now on, Jane is only letting me in the lab from seven a.m. to seven p.m. She says it’s a safety issue.”
“Well, she’s probably right.” Dad is moving in a little closer to me. “I know you will adapt. You have grown up a lot in the last few days. I can’t say that I’m glad for what we’ve gone through, but I am very proud of how you’ve handled it and grown.”
“I love you, Dad.” I grab him and hug him tightly.
“Love you, too, buddy.” He breaks the embrace. “Now go get some sleep.” He is off to parts unknown.
I head to the dorm or hotel or whatever we are calling it. I heard Liam and Grace argue about calling it home. He is ready to use the word, but she is not. Home has a connotation and a feeling for Grace that she needs time to develop. For Liam and even for me, home is a place—an easily transferable one at that.
There is a common area with a big leather couch that I slept on the night we moved in. It’s not private, but I have no need to hide myself in a room somewhere. This is different for me. I almost hope that I will be disturbed after I get some sleep. I want to have people around and know that they are here. They used to annoy me, but now I need others to feel safe.
All is quiet around the house. My guess is that everyone else is still asleep. There is a small patch of sun shining on the couch. I think about how warm it will make me as I lie down and curl up under a blanket I grabbed from the top of a box in the hallway. I need to set my brain to work on connecting the reactor to the substation. If my invention is to add any value to our new society, it will need to be usable.
I wish Remmie would stop yelling. Mom likes to sleep late. Maybe she will come out and tell them to take their game outside so “normal” people can sleep. Sometimes I wonder if Mom and I are really the normal people, or if we are the ones that are different. We like to note that the way we do things is the best way to do them, but then we are both surprised that there are so few people like us. I can’t believe I’m having trouble getting to sleep after that long night in the lab.
“Tag! You’re it!” Remmie slaps me on the stomach and screams in my ear.
“Are you kidding me?!” I roar. Sure, I’m in a common area, but it can’t be much after 7:30 in the morning.
“No, we’re not kidding you.” Sofie is at the foot of the couch, hands on hips. “We gave you until 4:30 in the afternoon. If you want quiet now, go find a room.”
“I’ve been asleep all day?” I’m confused by the time.
“Yes.” she is smiling now. “And I must say you are pretty cute when you’re sleeping.”
“Did I say anything?” Now I’m worried about dreams I don’t remember. Being cute doesn’t make me feel great, but it could be a lot worse.
“No. But it’s not like I stood here watching you the whole time. I just looked in once or twice to see if you were still here.” She has moved to sitting on the couch by my feet.
“I got in trouble for spending the night in the lab.” I’m not sure why I want to tell her this. “Jane is only going to let me work between seven and seven. I think I’ll be moving into a more normal schedule now, so I’ll be awake during the day.”
“Good. Maybe we’ll see more of each other then.” Her hand moves to my shin and sends a shiver of warmth through my body. “That is, after Grace and I get back.”
“Back?” It’s a poorly formed question, but I think she gets the idea.
“Your mom agreed to watch Remmie for us tomorrow and the next day.” She is getting to her feet now. “Grace and I are going to go exploring in San Francisco. I heard there is free admission to all the museums and art galleries,” she finishes, with a giggle.
“Is Liam going to go with you?” I think they need protection, but I don’t want to say so.
“No.” She is not confused by my question but doesn’t want to talk about it. “Grace and I can take care of ourselves. Your dad is making us bring a gun and a Taser, but I know we won’t need them.”
“Well, enjoy the city, but please be careful.” I want to ask her to stay until I can go with them.
I’m worried not only about my sister’s well-being but that somehow Sofie will find that cottage by the ocean and not come back. I want to list all the dangers and perils that could be out there, but I don’t want to cast a shadow on their fun. It is awkward to feel fear and worry for someone else but still to hold it in. Sharing my concerns would not be an expression of affection, but a controlling action.
Somewhere down the hall or possibly even outside, Remmie is screaming for her. “SOFIE!” can be heard in every corner of the room.
“Well guess someone needs me.” She is walking towards the door. “Will I see you at dinner?”
“Definitely.” I don’t know what time dinner is or if I’ll be done with my work, but I plan on being there.
I pull myself together and head over to the lab building. I wanted to take a shower, but between the lab closing at seven and me wanting to have dinner at the same time as Sofie, I know now is the time to get some work done.
The lab itself is quiet. I’m not sure what noises I expected to hear, but it seems there are none. It is possible that Cassandra and Jane are not even here. They may be adding a new component to their routine and stopping for tea in the late afternoon. I’m not sure where that came from but it is the first thing that popped into my head.
“Hello there,” Cassandra says from behind me. “I was looking at what you put together last night and it was impressive. The only issue I have is that everything is so tight. There are a few components that will overheat if we try and operate them at capacity in such close quarters. The failure would not be dramatic, but it would be a failure no less.”
“So do I need to add some cooling fins?” I hope she hasn’t touched my stuff.
“No.” She is not acting superior, but I can’t believe she doesn’t feel it. “Mother and I took the day to replicate your design on a larger scale with more appropriate clearance. I am fairly certain that your intent was to have this device remain functional for long periods of time with no maintenance. By eliminating your fascination with keeping this small, we have built something equally functional but more robust.”
“Can I see it?” I’m not angry. I have never even visualized my power reactor as anything but small. It will be fascinating to see a large version of the device I see in my head.
“Sure. Liam has been helping us move the pieces over to the power substation.” She grabs a tablet and a laptop. “With your help assembling the pieces tomorrow, I think we can go live in the next 48 hours.”
Chapter 28
I’m angry, frustrated and excited. We are so close to getting my power reactor working, but I have to sit down to dinner. The containment field generators are out at the power substation. The electron gate controller is locked up tight in the lab. Jane is not going to let me in there until the morning. Maybe I should be the one who gets to drop a bomb. I don’t think that Jane and Cassandra know we need a plasma converter to make the power output something we can pump into the grid.
“How are things going with the power reactor?” Dad is not asking any of us in particular.
After a long silence, Cassandra speaks. “Pretty well, I think.” She looks at me to see if
I want to take over. I don’t. “I’ve learned so much from Seamus. I thought I knew about physics, but he understands physics. Most of my contribution is manufacturing. Even there, I couldn’t work on the tiny scale that Seamus was trying to achieve.”
Well she didn’t have to go and be so nice about it. Now I feel like a heel for being angry with her for making a bigger version of my containment field generator.
“I personally cannot help but think about how this would have been different a month ago.” Jane is narrating a story in her mind. “There would have been press coverage, offers for funding and even appearances on late night talk shows. In addition to creating an entirely new field for existing scientists to explore, there would have been countless more children inspired to pursue science.”
Are they intending to make me feel bad for my attitude? Gushing doesn’t suit them well. Somewhere in the back of my mind is a voice screaming “ulterior motive!”
“That’s great to hear.” Dad is smiling as if being my father means he’s partly responsible for this accomplishment. “Beyond providing electricity to run computers, is there anything from this work that you will be able to use for pursuing your research?”
A quick glance between mother and daughter has the voice in my head screaming again.
“Hard to say.” Jane has lost her talkative mood.
“When do you think that the power reactor will be ready?” Dad is not really concerned with their research.
“I think we can have it online tomorrow afternoon.” Cassandra is no longer trying to defer to me.
“Probably more like a few days.” I have to step in and I feel the need to knock her down a peg. “We need to come up with a plasma converter to take the reactor output and make it something we can send along the existing power lines.”
“You once said it was like pumping the output from a fire hose through a garden hose.” Mom wants to show she is not out of the loop.
“Right. We’re going to be putting out a lot more power than we need or can handle.” I like knowing the whole system.
“I have something that might work for that,” Cassandra says before zoning off into deep thought mode.
Dad has a pained look on his face. We haven’t really moved into talking about advanced concepts, so he can’t be lost. There must be something on his mind. I’m wondering how long we have to wait for him to spit it out when he speaks.
“I didn’t realize it would be ready so soon.” He looks to Mom. “I was going to leave with the girls in the morning.”
Why didn’t Sofie tell me Dad was going with them for protection? If Dad is going, why wouldn’t Mom and Liam go, too? There is something I am out of the loop on.
“I always thought you would be there the first time my reactor worked.” Realizing he won’t be there for that momentous first makes it seem worthless. “Where are you going?”
“I always thought I would be there for that, too.” He seems to be hurt by this as much as I am. “There are a few scientists who survived in Louisiana, Texas and Arizona. I’m going to pick them up and bring them back here. I was going to have the girls drop me at a car dealership. I saw a Maserati shop not far from here.” I can tell from his eyes that he will also spend the day watching over Sofie and Grace, keeping them safe.
“Oh Paddrick, I am so glad to hear that you are going for them.” For the first time since we met, Jane seems genuinely pleased.
“Well, if we can count the humans left on the planet with just our fingers, it make sense to me to have us all together.” He wants to make like it’s not being done for her.
“As much as it excites me to think of them joining us, I believe it to be reasonable for them to wait another day.” Jane likes to act like she is in control. “The scope of the accomplishment we are about to witness is not lost on me. As a mother, I also understand how you must feel about the work your son has done. I will tell them to expect your arrival no sooner than a week from tomorrow.”
“Thank you.” Dad has no need for conversation. “What do you say, girls? Can the San Francisco adventure wait a day or two?”
“Like you have to ask.” Sofie doesn’t even check with Grace before answering.
We finish dinner in a celebratory mood. I was never a part of pep rallies or tailgating before a big game, but I imagine this is what it would have felt like—getting together on the eve of a big accomplishment and celebrating the journey needed to get there.
As we filter out of the dining room, I am not tired, but instead of going for a walk or complaining about not being able to access the lab, I find a room that is not occupied. I lie down and test the bed. I lay there for a few minutes, thinking about the last few weeks. Obviously the world has changed significantly, but so have I. I am not a kid anymore. “Boy genius” is no longer fair or accurate.
I wonder if I could have completed my invention without the apocalypse occurring. It seems like there are a number of ways that would have left me one step short of completing my work. A robot servant would have been great, but it was not a necessity. Power for water and refrigeration are not nice-to-haves, they are necessities. This is why my reactor was brought to completion.
I fall asleep and start dreaming. My dream takes me to a secret government installation. They found out that I was building a power reactor and they want the technology all to themselves. There is an admiral from the Navy who says that my invention will revolutionize submarines and aircraft carriers. A colonel from the Air Force talks about planes that never need to refuel. The government has taken over my invention and is not letting me work on it when I want to.
I startle awake and realize that my current situation is not unlike my dream. Jane is a government worker. She is controlling when I can work on my reactor and what I can do with it. But I have to remember that she is not evil. There is no interest in building a weapon or using my invention for violence. Her restrictions are focused on safety, but they are restrictions nonetheless. I am going to go to the substation and start working on assembling the pieces despite the impressible hour.
At the substation, I am surprised to see Cassandra sitting quietly outside the fence. The sun is just coming up over the horizon and it is a calm morning. I don’t want to startle her, but I’m afraid that calling out will do just that. I decide to shuffle my feet and walk as loudly as I can.
“Good morning, Seamus.” She doesn’t even look to see if it’s me. “Mother will not be pleased to find out that I have been sitting here. It’s not how an ‘Ames researcher’ would behave.”
“Well sometimes we need to do things that disappoint our parents.” I’m not sure what to say. I wasn’t planning to come out here and talk; I’m ready to work.
“I’ve worked on some pretty interesting things already in my life.” Cassandra looks blankly at the ground. “Never once did one of them make me want to stay up all night working.”
“If all you do is sit here and stare at the ground, that will still be true tomorrow.” I’m at the gate in the fence surrounding the substation. It wasn’t locked; apparently Jane has no fear that I will disobey her rules. “I think we can get most of the pieces assembled and be ready for the electron gate by lunch.” I have no fear of what others will think of me for wanting to work on my invention.
Without waiting for a response I am through the gate and laying out some tools before there is any motion from Cassandra. I don’t care one way or the other, but in the short time we have known each other, I feel like she has earned the chance to be here. Not just be here, but to work on these final steps.
“Promise me that we will do a complete safety check before we initiate the reaction.” She is holding onto the gate, mustering her courage to enter and disappoint her mother.
“I promise.” I look at her straight in the eyes. She really is beautiful. I’m not lying either. I don’t want to blow myself up or destroy what we have built. I need this to work.
“Okay.” She is through the gate. “You work on that side an
d I’ll work on this side.”
We work quickly and quietly. This is what I had expected when working with a peer. Perhaps we have reached a point where Cassandra understands the reactor as well as I do. She doesn’t need to ask the questions about why or how I figured it out. Even if she is not strong at coming up with new ideas, she is fantastic at running with an existing idea.
“Good morning. It looks like you two have been at it for a while already.” Jane is on the other side of the fence.
“What time is it?” I have not replaced my watch, but I may need to.
“Just after ten,” Jane is calm and taking it all in visually. “I’m sure you want to get this operational today. But that will not prevent me from conducting a safety check.”
“Way ahead of you on that.” I don’t look at her while I speak. “That’s why we started a little early.” It’s a white lie that I hope Cassandra won’t point out.
“I’ll be back with some food shortly.” Jane is not turning to leave. “Please be careful.”
She lingered for a while in silence. I’m not sure if she was jealous, nervous or a combination of both. It is awkward to work while your boss, or at least a boss-like figure, is standing over you watching. I suppose silently is the best possible way I could have her watch; questions from her would have driven me mad.
Neither of us notices Jane leave. The sun is high in the sky and warm but comfortable. I don’t think we have made a mistake or had any miscommunication in the hours we have been working. It is starting to look like the reactor I visualized in my dreams, except much larger.
Jane returns with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, chips and sodas. She puts them down outside the gate and turns on her heel to leave. I can’t figure out why she is afraid to come into the power substation.
“Mother,” Cassandra startles me when she calls out. “Can I come with you? I need a bio-break and we’re almost ready for the last pieces.” Without addressing me she puts down her tools and heads out the gate to catch up with her mother.
Annihilation (The Seamus Chronicles Book 1) Page 18