by Trudi Jaye
“I’m helping them keep their jobs,” said Henry firmly. Frankie might make fun, but it was serious business now. He wasn’t going to let these people lose their jobs.
The elevator doors opened, and Henry looked up. Pelgrim strode back into the research space, the anger still burning over his face.
“I’ve gotta go, buddy. Storm’s coming.” Henry pressed the button on his phone and shoved it in his back pocket. He didn’t know precisely how he was going to deal with Dr. Pelgrim Shaw, but he had to begin as he meant to go on.
“What did Lucas say, Pelgrim?” he said, walking over to where Pelgrim was slamming doors and cupboards in their small kitchen space.
“Don’t think you’ve won, carny,” snarled Pelgrim.
“This isn’t a competition,” said Henry quietly. “This is serious. This is about everyone’s jobs.”
“This means nothing to you! You’ll be gone in a month. You don’t care whether we survive or not.” He banged his coffee cup on the metal countertop for emphasis, spilling some of the milk he’d already put in the cup.
Henry’s temperature rose a little. Pelgrim certainly knew the right buttons to push. “I’m going to help you all keep your jobs. I’ve met Violet, and I’ve already found several improvements we can work on right away.”
Pelgrim’s gaze flicked to Henry’s, the naked fury in his eyes making Henry want to take a step back. “They showed her to you? Without me?” He turned and looked around at the rest of the team. “How dare you,” he yelled, out of control. “That’s my project. Mine to show.” He turned to Henry. “Or not show.”
Henry frowned in the face of the storm that Pelgrim was putting on for them. It was an overreaction to what was happening. It didn’t make sense. “What’s the real problem here Pelgrim?” he asked.
“The real problem is that Lucas just fired me. He said I was being insubordinate and he wouldn’t put up with it. Security guards are following me in the elevators, and I have five minutes to pack up my life’s work and leave. That’s the problem.”
Henry stepped back at the level of hatred pouring out of Pelgrim. He didn’t agree with the decision to fire Pelgrim. He still believed he could work with the man to create something great. “I’ll go and talk to Lucas, see if I can change his mind,” he said.
“Don’t you dare, carny. I’d rather stay fired than owe my salvation to a lowlife like you. The only good news is that Lucas doesn’t think the rest of you will be able to complete the project without me, so he’s shutting down the whole thing as of now. You’re all out along with me.” Pelgrim smiled in triumph as the faces on the rest of the research team fell.
“You probably told him to fire us.” Fee’s voice was high pitched and angry.
“I did no such thing. He knew without being told that I am the pivotal researcher in this project. He knows the rest of you sniveling excuses for scientists could never complete a project like this on your own.”
The elevators opened again, and two large men stepped out, wearing identical black shirts and jeans. “Time’s up, Dr. Shaw. Did you get your things like Mr. Callaghan instructed?” said one of the men.
Pelgrim jumped. “You will need to wait. I have things I must collect.” He raced off to his desk and started rummaging.
One of the big men, walked over to the desk. “Here’s a box, Dr. Shaw. You’re allowed to fill this up with your personal belongings, but nothing more. And you’ve got five minutes to do it. We’re allowed to drag you kicking and screaming to the reception area if you resist.” The guard’s voice indicated that he would gladly do that if Pelgrim wished.
But he worked fast and shoved all his personal effects into the box, under the careful eye of the guard. He mumbled the whole time, casting furious glances around the room at the rest of the researchers, and especially Henry.
Henry shivered. The anger in the room was almost a physical presence, as if Pelgrim was pouring all his emotions out into the air around him.
Soon enough, the five minutes were up. Pelgrim stalked to the bank of elevators and pushed the button, ignoring the two big, burly security guards following him. “I won’t say goodbye, because I don’t wish any of you well. You’ve been holding me back these last years. If anything, I regret putting so much wasted time into this idea. It’s never going to work. You’ll thank me for getting you fired as well.”
With that, he swept into the metal elevator, and was gone.
Henry let out the breath he’d been holding. “That was intense. You guys might have been right. I don’t know if I could have changed his mind.”
Fee stormed over to him. “Didn’t you hear him? He’s ruined it for everyone. We’re all out now, and that includes you. You don’t get your cushy consultant’s fee either.”
“Well, now, I do still get the fee, even if Lucas pulls the plug today. It’s in my contract. But I don’t think Pelgrim was being entirely honest about that. I think Lucas is the kind of person who’d give us all a chance to prove ourselves. And if I’m not mistaken, as soon as your Dr. Shaw is out of the building, Lucas is going to pay us a visit.”
“He’s not our Dr. Shaw,” said Nolan vehemently. “For one, I’m glad he’s gone. The room already feels lighter.”
“Just make sure that’s not because he stole something he shouldn’t have,” muttered Fee.
Henry grinned. She was being grumpy and pessimistic, but she was also rather funny. He liked it.
CHAPTER FIVE
Fee couldn’t believe her eyes. Henry had been right. Lucas was standing in front of them, as promised, ten minutes later.
“Pelgrim assures me that none of you have the talent to finish the project on your own. Is this true? Do your degrees mean nothing?” he said seriously, his deep brown eyes assessing each of them in turn.
Fee stepped forward. “No, that’s not true. Pelly was holding us back. We can make Violet a success. I know we can. You just have to give us a chance.” The words came pouring out of her with more passion and conviction than she’d known she possessed. But she knew they could do it. She glanced at the others. They were nodding.
“What about you, Nolan? Do you think you can make this work?” Lucas shifted his gaze to the other researchers.
Nolan took a step toward Lucas. “I know we can, sir, especially now we have Henry here to help us.”
“David? Eugene?”
Fee realized what Lucas was doing. He wanted all of them to commit to the project verbally. She motioned with her hand to the other two.
David took a breath and stepped forward. “I believe we will move ahead faster now. Henry has already encouraged us to verbalize that Pelgrim was holding us back.”
Lucas glanced in surprise at Henry, who went a little red on his face, but Fee shrugged. They would have had to work on Pelly to change his mind about certain aspects of the research. Now that wasn’t going to be an issue that would take up their time anymore.
Lucas glanced around and found Eugene. “Eugene? Are you committed to the team? Can you make this work?”
Eugene grinned, the first relaxed emotion Fee had seen from him. “Of course, we can, Mr. Callaghan. We are all excellent researchers, and we have an amazing project. You won’t regret giving us a chance.”
Lucas nodded. “That’s what I was hoping to hear. I hired all of you because of your excellent resumes and track records. But make no mistake, this doesn’t change the one-month deadline. You must show me significant steps forward in this project at the end of four weeks, or I will have to shut you down. Don’t forget that.” Lucas’s puppy dog eyes were hard as steel, and Fee knew he meant every word.
But it didn’t matter. They no longer had to deal with Pelly and his stupid ego. “Yes, sir. We understand.”
The others nodded and muttered agreement.
Lucas smiled. “Then I’ll leave you to it. Keep me informed.” He turned and headed back toward the elevators. Henry ran off to follow Lucas, and Fee watched him go. What did he need to speak to Lucas in private about?
“We should save the bubbles for when we actually get to keep our jobs,” said Fee firmly. “We haven’t proved anything yet.”
Nolan nodded. “Fee’s right. We have a lot to do. First up is deciding how we’re going to make up for not having Pelgrim on the team. He might have been an egomaniac, but he was smart, and he did add to the project.”
“Almost as much as he took away,” agreed David.
Fee smiled. Already the atmosphere was lighter, and it was easier to breathe. She’d been worried that Henry’s arrival would mean change for them all; but so far, it had been a transformation that had the potential to make their lives better.
Henry came back into the room and clapped his hands. “I just spoke to Lucas and he’s agreed to a field trip for the group. Somewhere that is going to help us get the inspiration we need to get this project humming.”
“Where to?” asked Fee. She didn’t like the look on Henry’s face.
“It’s a secret. I’m going to take you all in my car tomorrow to a secret location. So you need to come to work in sensible clothes, good walking shoes. The kind of clothes you might wear on a hike or climbing over rocks.”
“And what are we going to do today?”
“Today, we plan our attack,” said Henry with a smile. “Today we dream.”
***
Henry pulled his car to the curb outside the Callaghan building. He hoped his idea was going to work. Yesterday the mood of the team had gone from excited and hopeful to frustrated and despondent. They hadn’t been able to come up with any good alternative ideas, and they obviously missed the influence of Pelgrim. He needed them to break out of their shells and think for themselves. He couldn’t just give them all the answers.
The only exception was Fee. She was a bright, shining star in the group. But she didn’t have the expertise outside of her passion for robotics to make the project happen on her own. They all needed each other, and the whole team needed to be working at peak capability for them to achieve what they hoped to by the end of the month.
Ahead of him, down the street, he saw Nolan. Yesterday he’d been wearing office gear, but now he was in more casual attire, cargo pants and a Star Wars T-shirt. His bright white sneakers looked like they’d never been worn. He didn’t look comfortable. Henry sighed.
He’d come to stand outside the building where Henry had told them to meet him, awkwardly holding a backpack over his shoulder.
Henry pressed the button to lower the window on the far side of his car, and leaned over. “Nolan. Over here.” He waved him to the car.
Nolan’s eyes glanced over the Charger, obviously impressed. Henry smiled. Even geeks liked cars. He should know.
Nolan opened the front door and climbed in. “Wow, this is amazing. It’s a 1970s Dodge, right?” He looked at the dashboard. “Oh, my God, what is that?”
“I made a few adjustments to make her more... mine.” Henry grinned. He liked showing off his baby. “She’s a 1974 Dodge Charger SE. Mint condition.”
Nolan smoothed one hand along the dashboard, clearly absorbed in the detail of the additional hardware in the car. Henry glanced at his watch, wondering how long the others were going to be.
“Fee’s usually late,” said Nolan without looking over. “It's her upbringing. They didn't have clocks.” He pushed his glasses up his nose.
Upbringing? “Where did she grow up?”
Nolan glanced at Henry. “In a cult,” he whispered.
“Is that what she told you? Are you sure she wasn't having a bit of fun?” Henry could imagine Fee teasing Nolan by telling him something like that.
Nolan shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe. It was at a work function just after she started here; she’d had a couple of wines, and was more chatty than usual. I think she was telling the truth.”
Henry nodded and tucked that bit of information away for later.
Eugene and David arrived not long after, both wearing shorts that made them look just as uncomfortable as Nolan. David’s long skinny legs were like a lighthouse beacon in the bright, sunny Tampa morning.
Henry raised his eyebrows. It sounded like Fee had them well trained to expect her to be late.
A bright spot appeared in of the corner of his eye, and he saw Fee walking down the street wearing jeans and a T-shirt with Tweety bird on it. Her white-blonde hair was up in a ponytail, and it almost glowed in the sunlight. She wore large dark glasses that hid much of her face, and she strode along the sidewalk with a confidence that belied her previously reserved attitude. Henry felt like he’d been kicked in the gut. She looked amazing.
He couldn’t help staring as she spotted the carful of geeks, and came straight over. Nolan got out to let her in, and she climbed in the back with David and Eugene.
“Are you going to tell us where we’re going?” she said. Her eyes flashed, and he realized she didn’t like the idea of going in a car without knowing where she was headed.
Tough cookies. “I’m going to give you twenty minutes to guess. The one who figures it out first is exempt from the first competition.” He started the engine and took off down the road into the early morning traffic.
“Competition?” All four chorused at once.
“Competition,” repeated Henry firmly. “This is an educational field trip, designed to give you the tools you need to make this project work. We’re not playing around; this is serious business. Start guessing.”
“Museum of Science and Industry,” said David quickly. He looked around at the others who were staring at him. “What? I need all the advantage I can get,” he said.
Henry shook his head. “No. Guess again.”
“University of South Florida,” said David.
“Henry B Plant Museum,” shouted Nolan at the same time.
“Mariner’s Museum,” added Eugene.
Henry shook his head. “No, no, and no.”
He glanced in the rearview mirror and saw Fee looking at him with narrowed eyes. “Twenty minutes?” she said.
Henry nodded, grinning.
“Oh, oh! I have it. University of Tampa!” said David smugly.
“Nope.”
“South University,” said Eugene.
Henry shook his head, and turned onto another street.
“Guys, he didn’t go to university. He’s not taking us somewhere like that,” said Fee from the back seat. She sounded exasperated. “Think about it. What do we know about Henry?”
“He got rid of Pelgrim without even trying?” said Nolan.
“He likes cars,” said Eugene.
“He didn’t go to college,” said David.
“Right. And what else?” said Fee.
Henry watched through the rear vision mirror as the others looked at her blankly. At that moment, he realized she’d already guessed where they were going. Her quick mind had assessed it based on what she already knew about him, and who he was. It was frightening to be so predictable.
“He’s from a carnival,” continued Fee. “So if he’s going to teach us a lesson in working together, or being innovative, do you think he might take us somewhere familiar to him? Where he’s sure he can find a few lessons for us?”
The others looked at her a moment, and then a kind of horror appeared on each of their faces. “A carnival?” said Nolan.
Fee nodded. “Perhaps somewhere with loads of mechanical type rides we can look at. And lots of people around to learn from.”
Eugene’s eyes widened. “We’re going on a field trip to the Avalon Heights theme park?” he said in a hushed voice.
Henry smiled around at them all. “That’s right. I know a couple of guys there. They’re going to let us into the back area on a couple of the rides. Show us around.” He waited for their reactions. He figured it was fifty-fifty as to whether they’d be horrified.
He was right.
“
I hate theme parks. They’re noisy,” said David. “And dirty.”
“You can never do anything, because too many people are around,” said Nolan. He was biting the nail on his thumb, and the expression behind his glasses was anxious.
“Can we ride the rollercoaster?” asked Eugene. His eyes had lit up, and he had a flush on his cheeks.
“They’re noisy,” agreed Henry, “but that’s a good thing; it gives us a chance to do some repairs under pressure. Lots of people are around, so I want you to look at them, really look at them, and decide where and how they might be able to wear your suit. What problems might occur if someone wore a suit into an environment like that? And yes, Eugene, we are going to ride every single damn rollercoaster, until someone comes up with a solution to at least one of Violet’s problems.”
Fee grinned. “I’ve never been to a theme park,” she said.
Henry stared at Fee through the rearview mirror. “You’ve never been to one, ever?” he asked, shocked.
“Nope. It’s not the kind of thing my parents ever approved of.”
“We’ll make sure you have a fantastic time today,” said Henry. “No holds barred.”
“What kind of field trip is this?” asked David in horror.
“One with pressure points. No point in cruising along in life, Dave. You’ve gotta take it by the horns and make it work for you.”
CHAPTER SIX
Fee climbed out of the car in the parking lot at Avalon Heights, pulling her backpack over her shoulders. She felt movement inside, and something hard and metal banged against her back. Another of her damn bots had hidden in her bag.
She usually triple-checked before she left home—especially after yesterday when she’d had two stowaways—but she’d been in such a rush this morning that her usual routine had been knocked out of the water. She wondered who it was, but she couldn’t check now, in front of the others. As long as it wasn’t the Wildling, she’d be okay. She stepped away from the car, and turned around, taking in the theme park entrance in front of them.