“I think you need to take some time off.” Olivia said to Stan who stood by their makeshift plywood conference table. She eyed the bandage plastered on his forehead. “I’m worried about a concussion. You should see a doctor.”
“I’m fine. Eugene patched me up pretty good… it’s really nothing but a little cut.”
Clay got up and gave him his chair. “Olivia’s got a point… you should at least see a doctor.”
“Hey, I’m fine… actually better than fine. It seems there’s been a major… well, fault with our drive controls. I can’t believe I missed it before.” Stan winced as he scratched his head. “I mean it’s really strange that ALL of us missed it. If I wouldn’t have had that little programming bug of mine your test flight might have been a disaster.”
“Does that leave you enough time? Your prototype is destroyed, how are you going to make your fixes?” Cleveland pulled out a handkerchief again and wiped his brow.
“That’s no problem. I’ve got a second one ready to go. Besides, we’ve got… well, other projects we need to finish for the Expo.”
“We have other engineers.” Olivia cut in. “Alec, I think you should take him to the doctor.”
“I’ve seen Stan take bigger hits than this.” Alec chuckled. “This one’s actually kind of minor.” Stan furrowed his brow at him.
“We need everyone, especially Stan. Besides, he developed the drive control… the car won’t work without it. I don’t believe anyone else could take over at this point. Am I right?” Clay looked to Alec who nodded in response.
“OK, I’ll go to the clinic. I’m guessing it’ll only take an hour or so.” Stan replied.
“I’ll get Eugene to drive you.” Alec said walking him out as Olivia returned to their planning for the Gravity Expo. But as usual it didn’t take long before her and Cleveland began arguing about their theories of why they haven’t had any customers.
Alec returned and quietly sat next to Clay. “It looks like we’ll have to postpone our test flight.” He whispered. They had planned their first full flying car test flight for later that afternoon. “There was something more Stan didn’t tell us.”
“Hmmm?” Clay responded preoccupied with Olivia’s and Cleveland’s discussion.
“Our team wouldn’t have missed anything that big. The control units we had made… there’s a major fault in them.” Alec gave a quick look towards Olivia and Cleveland. “Our engineers just verified that their plans have been… well, altered.”
Clay turned his full attention to Alec. “Who?”
“We’re not sure… it could have been at the manufacturer… or maybe someone here.”
“Are you sure someone just didn’t make a mista…” Alec’s look stopped him in mid-sentence. “… OK, OK. I trust you and your team. This smells of McDonald.”
“I’m afraid so… I just can’t believe anyone on my team would work for him. I’ve known all of these guys for years. They’re all friends.”
Before Clay could continue his phone buzzed and he answered it. “That was Bea. Looks like the kids took the bait.”
Alec grinned as they excused themselves and headed for the door.