A different vehicle was parked there and the other one had been taken away. This one had a hardtop rather than canvas. He wished he had had this one last night. He threw the jacket in the back seat, just in case he ever got caught out in the desert at night again. He drove over to the main hanger and stopped by to discover the latest developments on the Su-11 crash. Dr. Dean took him to the simulator and went through the same narrative as before with Devin.
“So what happens now?”
“Well, once Lockheed decides how to affect the necessary changes on the Su-12, it will be flown out to here for final fitting, development, and eventually deployment. We are hoping that it will be ready to replace the current shuttle fleet within two to three years. While the initial cost is higher, the payback is tremendous. By the tenth flight it will actually be turning a profit rather than costing the government money. That is just something that doesn’t happen very often,” he told Eller.
“That really is something. I’m glad to see you are back on track and ready to move forward again,” he said as he left.
Driving back to S-4 he started looking for something that resembled a hump but every mountain pretty much looked the same to him. The last thing he wanted to do was ask one of the guards or MPs. He was sure it would get back to the general if he did.
After clearing security he walked over to Bay-1 to see if Lynn was there. She was standing there talking to several of her team members, when he approached.
“Good morning, did you make it back alright last night,” she asked when they were alone.
“Let’s just say it was interesting. Someone shot out my windshield when I was heading back,” he said, skipping the part about being lost.
“Oh my God. Did you get hurt?” she said, looking his face over.
“No, I had just stepped out of the Hummer to make sure I was going in the right direction when the shot was fired,” he replied.
“Thank God for that. Did you report this?”
“I told Devin. He seems to think it could have been a shot intended for a coyote that ricocheted and struck the windshield.”
“Honestly, I can believe that. The coyotes are destructive and have even wandered onto the landing strip. They try to keep them out but if one gets in, they usually shoot it,” she said.
“I suppose that makes sense. It was just a bit of a shock to have your windshield shot out at 1:00 a.m. in the middle of the desert.”
“Yes, it can be dangerous out here at night,” she said and smiled.
“So, what are you up to today?”
“We are going to bolt the reactor onto a larger platform with directional control nozzles and see if we can make some progress in trying to get this thing off the ground. We still have a long way to go but now we can start trying to develop a practical way of controlling the flux field,” she explained.
“Well, I want to check out a couple of the other levels. What about if I come by and we do dinner again, as they say?” Raymond asked.
“Who actually says that? Anyway, the answer is yes. Whenever you’re ready come by and grab me and we can go over to the mess hall or to my pod and have a bite to eat. It may not be quite as fancy as last night, however,” Lynn replied.
“Sounds great. The mess hall will work for me if it does for you. I’ll try to make it around 6:30 p.m. I want to head back before dark tonight,” he said.
Raymond headed down to Level-2 and went through the screening process again. When he stepped into the room, J was sitting up in the chair. He was looking at him with those enormous black eyes. Raymond walked up to the glass and placed his hands on it and closed his eyes. J just continued to watch him.
“J, can you read my thoughts?” he said, in his mind, but nothing came in reply.
“J, if you can hear me, raise your hand,” he said, concentrating as hard as he could. Still nothing.
“J, I want to find out what the general is up to. Can you help me?”
Again, nothing. Damn, the thought, I don’t know why I thought this would work but it was worth a shot. He opened his eyes and J was in the exact same position, unblinking and apparently emotionless. He headed back out through security and decided to go to Level-5.
J had watched as the human approached. He seemed at peace and calm, nothing like the anger in the human in charge. He watched as he placed his hands on the cubical wall and closed his eyes.
“J, can you read my thoughts?”
“J, if you can hear me raise your hand.”
“J, I want to find out what the general is up to. Can you help me?”
“Damn, it was worth a shot”.
He watched as he left the lab.
