The Thunder of Engines

by Laurence Dahners

  “I could’ve been studying while you were working on the stazer. Besides, if I graduate with good grades but you…” It sounded like she was trying to decide what to say. She settled for, “If something happens to you. I could never live with myself.” She changed tack, “It sounds like you’re in a car. Are you in an Uber, coming back here?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “I’ll wait for you and we’ll go to dinner. You can tell me about your dad’s… Wait, did you find out what it is?”

  “B-cell lymphoma,” Kaem said without telling her that Gunnar had already bought him a gyro and he wasn’t hungry. He’d enjoy time with her and could just force himself to eat a little.

  “That sounds like…” Her breath caught, “Is that a cancer?”

  “Yeah, but there’s—”

  “I’ll read up on it while you’re driving over,” she said, disconnecting before he could argue.

  ~~~

  When Kaem arrived in the Uber, rather than waiting for him to get out, Arya got in. She told the car to take them to Bistro Valentin.

  He’d heard of Valentin but never eaten at it. Worried, he asked, “Is Valentin on the meal plan?”

  Arya rolled her eyes, “I think you’ve got enough money for us to eat somewhere else now.”

  “Oh… Yeah, I guess we do,” Kaem said.

  “There’s a pretty well-known doc here at UVA that treats B-cell lymphomas with this high-end therapy called CAR T-cell therapy. I made your dad an appointment.”

  “What?!” Kaem said, flabbergasted. “I’ve been trying and trying to get him an appointment and—”

  Arya interrupted, “You’ve just got to know who to talk to.”

  “Who?!”

  “One of my many secrets,” Arya said primly.

  “They wouldn’t even talk to me because my dad doesn’t have health insurance! How did you—”

  Arya interrupted. “I told them I was CFO of a new company just opening its Virginia branch. I said I was arranging the appointment at the behest of our reclusive CEO who needed the appointment for his father. Then I had the bank send them evidence of your line of credit. Pretty simple actually.”

  Kaem stared, “Not simple to me. Thanks!”

  “He’ll see your dad Friday afternoon at two.”

  “That might be too soon. It’s going to be hell getting my dad down here. The bus makes so many stops it takes over twelve hours to make the trip and—”

  “For God’s sake Kaem. You’re rich. Have an Uber pick him up at their house and drive them down here tomorrow afternoon. Get them a room at a nice hotel so they can rest. I scheduled the appointment in the afternoon so you could go with them without missing any of your precious classes. You should try to relax and enjoy some time with them while they’re here.”

  “Oh,” he said. After giving it a moment’s surprised thought, he said, “I am rich.” He rubbed his hands together like a movie villain. “That changes things doesn’t it?”

  Dryly, Arya said, “Try to give it a couple of weeks before you start acting like a total asshole.”

  Their meal at Bistro Valentin went by in a blur. He had a vague recollection that he enjoyed it though, not being hungry, he didn’t eat much. He couldn’t remember specifics.

  Except toward the end, when Arya leaned closer and said, “I hired Lee.”

  Surprised, Kaem said, “You didn’t have to.”

  She shrugged, “As you thought, she’s highly qualified. School at Cal Tech with great grades and amazing scores. Licensed as an aerospace engineer in California and won’t have any trouble getting licensed here. Agreed to start at half the salary she was getting at Space-Gen until we’d made fifty million—which,” Arya shrugged again, “which will happen halfway through building our first rocket. You were right, she does really want to work on the development of stade. When I confronted her, she admitted she thinks you’re… appealing as well, but has no idea whether you reciprocate that interest.”

  Kaem felt a flicker of excitement at the thought Lee was interested. Attractive, smart, likes me, why wouldn’t I be thrilled?

  Arya sighed and turned to look out the window. “I’ll admit I still don’t think we should hire you a girlfriend, but she’s eminently qualified, so I want to help her achieve her goals.”

  I may like Lee, but not enough to upset Arya, Kaem thought. He said, “Hey…” he shook his head, “You don’t have to hire her. I know you don’t want to.”

  “No. You were right. I want to provide opportunities for other women. If I don’t hire her, I’ll be betraying myself.”

  Kaem gave her a sly grin, “Even if it gives you competition romancing me?”

  “Still not funny, Kaem,” Arya said rolling her eyes.

  Dammit, he thought, No jokes! How many more times am I gonna have to have this little talk with myself?

  ~~~

  Arya was walking him home after their—well, mostly her—dinner when Kaem heard a chime in his earbud, “You have a call from Aaron Marks.”

  “I’ll take it… Hello, Mr. Marks?”

  “What’s this about you hiring away my favorite young engineer?” Marks said, as if upset.

  “Um, yeah, sorry. She’s really interested in stade.”

  “Yeah,” Marks said, gusting a sigh. “I would be too if I were her age. In proving her sincerity, she tells me she’s so interested she took the job at half what we’re paying her here?”

  “As far as I know, that’s true,” Kaem said slowly. “Though I don’t know the exact numbers. We’re wanting to be a little more certain of our cash reserves before we hire a lot of people.” He produced a nervous laugh, “We don’t want to be one of those flash-in-the-pan companies that burns through all its cash, then vanishes.”

  “If that happens, give me a call and I’ll buy a stake in Staze to give you more working capital. Unfortunately, most of the companies that burn out like that don’t have a good product, much less an incredible product like stade. I won’t hold my breath waiting for your call.”

  “Okay…” Kaem said, pausing because he didn’t think Marks had revealed the real reason for his call.

  “I’d like to offer to pay half of her salary. At least until you can afford to pay it all. She’d spend most of her time there with you, but she’d shuttle back and forth some, bringing parts out there for you to staze and helping us figure out how Space-Gen can get the most out of your product.”

  Uncomfortably, Kaem said, “Even if she were our full-time employee, I wouldn’t be telling her how stazing works.”

  “I didn’t think you would. But she’s an aerospace engineer. I’m sure having even a part-time person on the ground there, someone who has the mental tools to think about how your product can be used for rocketry, that’s gonna help me stay ahead of Branzon.”

  “Um, are you sure that’s—”

  “Yeah, I already had Saul review the contract and he says it’s okay. But if Branzon complains, tell him he can pay for half of another engineer and you’ll come out even farther ahead.”

  Kaem glanced over at Arya, walking beside him and looking curious. “I’ll, uh, have to have our legal people tell me for sure if it’s okay.”

  “You do that,” Marks said, then said his goodbyes.

  Kaem explained the call to Arya and was pleased to see a smile spread over her face. She likes saving money, which is a good thing in our business person.

  Chapter Eight

  Later that evening, Kaem called his dad. After a moment his dad said, “Kaem! It’s good to hear from you. How’s school?”

  “School’s fine, Dad. I’m going to bring you my grades so you can stop worrying about it. It sounds like you’re feeling better?”

  “Oh yeah! I’m feeling good. I don’t think I need all these treatments they’re talking about. I’m thinking I’ll just stay on the meds they’ve got me on. Those’re cheap by comparison.”

  Stunned, Kaem said, “Um, Dad, you know this thing you’ve got, this B-cell lymphoma…
You know it’s a cancer, don’t you? Kind of like a leukemia?”

  “Well, that’s what they say. But, I’m not so sure. I’m feeling fine now. Maybe I’m cured.” He lowered his voice as if speaking confidentially, “I found an herbalist near here who had some dried bonduc-nut bark and I’ve been taking a preparation of that. It might be the bonduc-nut bark’s that’s making me better, not any of the medicines the doctor gave me.”

  Oh my God! Kaem thought. Does my dad think freaking witch doctors’ snake-oil remedies are more effective than scientifically proven medications?! This was a possibility Kaem hadn’t ever considered—though in hindsight he thought he should’ve. His dad’s community in Tanzania had a lot of herbalists. Aloud, he spoke slowly. “You understand the medicines the doctors gave you are intended to make you feel better, but that they won’t do anything to cure you?”

  His dad sounded surprised, “Are you sure? I admit I wasn’t feeling very well when I saw them. I, um, didn’t listen very carefully.”

  “Hasn’t Mom talked to you?”

  “Well yes, but…”

  But you don’t listen to your wife either, Kaem thought. He wondered whether his father would listen to him. “Now that you’re feeling better, I’ve arranged for you to come down and see one of the cancer specialists here at the medical center in Charlottesville. You can talk it over with him and, since you’re not so sick, you’ll be able to understand it better.”

  “I don’t think that’s necessary. I’m pretty—”

  “Dad!” Kaem interrupted, “I used up a lot of favors getting you an appointment. You’ve got to come!” His father was a firm believer in the concept of owing and collecting favors, so Kaem felt pretty sure the loss of the favors Kaem had “used” would influence him.

  “I don’t know, Kaem. You’ve told us about those long bus rides. I may be feeling better, but—”

  Kaem interrupted again, this time with a little lie. “I’ve already arranged for someone to pick you up at your house tomorrow at 2:30. He’ll drive you down here and it’ll only take about three hours.

  “I don’t know… tomorrow? When am I supposed to be seeing this doctor?”

  “Your appointment’s at two PM Friday. I’ve got a place for you to stay Thursday night. Please, Dad. Don’t mess this up. I had to pull all kinds of strings to get everything set it up.”

  Worriedly, his dad said, “Seeing another doctor. I’m not sure I can afford—”

  Kaem interrupted, “Already taken care of. Used another favor.”

  “But your mother won’t be able to get off work.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll go to the doctor with you.”

  “But…” Emmanuel dropped his tone hopefully, “Would your mother be able to come down with me if she could get the time off?”

  “I’ll make sure of it. You could bring Bana too if you want?”

  “Bana wouldn’t be able to get time off work.”

  “Okay. That’s fine too. Bring extra clothes in case you have to stay more than a day,”

  ***

  Thursday morning, Kaem cut one class and took a four-passenger Uber up to Valen to get his parents. He’d become convinced that if an Uber showed up without anybody in it, they’d refuse to get in. The Uber was expensive, but not as much as he expected, especially considering how much it cost to go across town in one. Of course, he decided, it’s in their best interest to have lower rates for long trips because their vehicles stand idle less.

  He hadn’t gone far when Arya called to tell him that Sylvia Contreras said it was okay to share Lee with Marks. Then, sounding suspicious, she asked, “Where are you? It sounds like you’re in a car!”

  He explained and Arya went off on him for going somewhere without her again. After a while, she acknowledged that no bad guys would expect him to be on the road to Valen. Besides, if she was in the car, they wouldn’t have room for Bana if she could get off and wanted to come.

  After Arya hung up, Kaem called Lee.

  She picked up immediately, “Hi! Um, are things okay?”

  “Yeah. I’m just calling to say we’ve worked things out for you to work, half for us and half for Space-Gen.”

  “Oh, that’s great. I really appreciate it… Um, you’re sure it’s okay with Arya?”

  “Yeah, she says you’re quite impressive on paper. Besides, she’s very dedicated to providing opportunities to women.”

  “I’d… rather earn my opportunities. I don’t want them handed to me just because I’m a woman.”

  “Okay…” Kaem paused, not knowing what to do with that. “I think she thought you earned this one and you being a woman was only icing on the cake. But if you’re worried, come on out here and earn the next one.”

  “I will. When can you tell me how you make stade?”

  “Oh... Probably never. I’m starting to think keeping it a secret might be better than having a patent.”

  “Really?! What if something happens to you?!”

  “I’ll have to figure out some way for Arya to decrypt my files in case that happens.”

  There was hesitation at the other end of the call, then Lee slowly said, “I… wouldn’t count on encryption as a method of keeping your secret. Quantum processors can—"

  Kaem interrupted, a smile in his voice, “I’m using my own form of encryption. It’s been tested against a quantum processor already. And I have some other tricks. I think the secret’s secure.” When she didn’t say anything further—probably because she thought he was insane—he said, “Also, I needed to tell you that we’ve got our new stazer built. Marks seemed to think that, as our combined employee, you’d bring out some rocket parts for us to staze.”

  “Are you ready now?”

  “Well… no. But we’ll be ready Monday.”

  “I’ll fly out Sunday and we can start testing first thing Monday.”

  “Um, I have classes Monday morning. Can we do it Monday afternoon?”

  “You’re still going to school?!” Lee asked, an astonished tone in her voice.

  “Um. Yeah. I’ll be the first in my family to get a degree. It’s important to us.”

  “Not a problem. I’ll look for apartments Monday morning and meet you at Staze at…?”

  “One o’clock?”

  “That’ll be great.”

  After she signed off, Kaem settled down to watch the video of the lecture he was missing. That done, the three-hour trip gave him enough time left over to finalize his design for the printed version of the stazers’ circuit boards and order a set of ten boards before he arrived at his childhood home in Valen.

  Because trips home were long and expensive, even by bus, Kaem had only occasionally been back since leaving for UVA three-years ago. Unusually, he’d been home this past Christmas. That trip was the first time he’d begun to think of his childhood home as small. As he pulled up this time, it not only struck him as small, but dilapidated. They haven’t had the money to keep it up, he thought.

  He was ten minutes early, so it was only 2:20. He got out after checking with the Uber’s AI to make sure it intended to wait for him, then headed up to the door. He knocked, then opened the door. The front room was empty. “Hello?” he called out.

  For a moment there was no reply, then his mother’s head poked around the corner, out of the stub hall to the two bedrooms. “Kaem?” she asked, as if unable to believe the evidence of her eyes.

  “Yes, Mama,” he said. “I’m here to get Dad. Are you coming with us to see the doctor?”

  Bana barreled around the corner. “Kaem! What the hell are you doing here?” she shouted as she ran across the room and threw her arms around him.

  “I’m here to get Dad,” he said, pulling his head back to look into her eyes. “Is he ready?”

  “What the hell?” she said, leaning so she could look over his shoulder and out the window. “Is that an Uber?”

  Kaem nodded. “It’ll hold four, so you and Mom can come with us if you like.”

  “If we like
? Of course, we like. Any chance to get out of this hole.” She leaned back and looked into his eyes. Suspiciously, she asked, “Who’s paying for this?”

  Suddenly, in an eye blink, all Kaem’s plans to explain about the invention of stade and the foundation of his new company—they all changed. He remembered his thoughts about avoiding fame—and how he’d just been telling Lee he wanted to keep the stazing methods a secret. Now he suddenly realized his sister would never be able to keep the fact that he’d invented stade a secret. Besides, he didn’t want his family to think differently of him.

  Kaem heard his mouth—opened to explain about Staze—say, “I’ve got a job.”

  “Nooo!” his mother said as if in agony. “You’ve got to stay with your studies. We want you to get your degree!”

  “And I will,” he said, already wondering if this was a good idea. “They said I could work part-time. I’ve been taking more credit-hours than most students so I can take a few less next year and still graduate on time. And-and the owners of the company, they said that… that they’d pay for Dad’s treatment.” Having come up with that totally implausible lie, he smiled brightly at his family.

  Bana stared at him like he’d grown horns, then exclaimed, “That’s such bullshit! What’s really going on? Employers don’t even get health insurance for the employee himself if he’s working part-time. And, if they insure the employee’s family, it’s the employee’s spouse and kids, not his parents!”

  “Um…” Kaem’s mind thrashed around like a beached fish, trying to come up with a more believable lie. “It’s a new company, small, but with a-a really valuable invention. It’s such a… special product they think they’re going to be rolling in money. The owner’s filthy rich. And-and, he really wants me to work for the company. He wants me bad enough that… that, when I said I couldn’t take the job because I was in school and my dad’s sick, he said they’d let me work part-time and they’d pay Dad’s doctor bills.”

  His mother was looking at him with a concerned expression. A look that said she couldn’t believe the story she’d just heard.