screen suspended in the space above his desk. There were also several boxes embedded on the invisible screen that contained related articles. Roger read a section of the paper then tapped one of the boxes with a finger, and another article opened up. He read the part he wanted and tapped the screen to close it. He referred back and forth between the various papers and ran a few videos showing tests being run and their results. He continued to review material for the next several hours.
At little after noon, Jack knocked on his door and entered before Roger could respond. “Hey, I thought we were having lunch today?”
Roger had trouble disengaging his mind from the material he was reading, “Uh, we are. Sorry, I guess I got wrapped up in this study. Let me get out of it.”
“Why don’t you buy me lunch and tell me all about it?”
“Okay, you cheap jerk.”
“As long as you buy me lunch, you can call me names. Is that a new nose?”
“Yeh, like it?”
“The old one looked better.”
“Thanks.”
They ordered their lunches and, when they arrived, took them to Roger’s desk to eat. Roger started, “I’ve taken your advice about going back into physics to find something to interest me. The work by Dr. Yakimato at Los Alamos on dimensional travel is fascinating.”
“That’s really amazing. I mean, the part about your taking my advice.”
“This idea has a lot of merit. I never told you, but the main reason I quit research was because I realized that we would never be able to travel faster than the speed of light. I had done thousands of calculations, as had tens of thousands of other physicists. We had all come to the same conclusion: it is impossible to break the light barrier. After getting the Rector Award, I changed my research direction into sub-atomic quantum physics and managed to develop a quantum field that would allow us to probe the dimensions of space that are on the Planck scale. But then I stalled and couldn’t seem to get any further. When I won my second Rector, I decided to bail and let the youngsters pick up the thread. I’ve often wondered if I quit too soon.”
Roger continued, “This work being done at Los Alamos is an attempt to open one of the 14 dimensions that make up space and use it to connect to other parts of the universe. It was something I was looking into when I was working on the quantum field, but I decided it would take too long. I was looking to move up the ladder to a higher salary grade.”
Jack said, “I hope you realize that my degree was in sociology and that most of this is going over my head. What are you planning to do about it?”
“Well, I thought since I am the arbiter for research funding, I could insert myself into Dr. Yakimato’s project by requesting more oversight.”
“Umm, sounds like you’re about to make more enemies. Don’t you have enough already?”
“What? I don’t have any enemies.”
“You need to get out more. Well, even if you don’t, maybe a few enemies will do you good.”
After they had finished lunch and Jack had left, Roger asked Matilda to establish a COM line to Dr. Yakimato. With a few seconds, a very pretty Asian face appeared above his desk. “Dr. Roger Gorman, it is indeed an honor to talk to you. It’s your work on which our project is based. What can I do for you?”
Sarah appeared to be about 43 years old, with dark eyes and straight black hair that covered her forehead and hung down to her shoulders. She had an elongated face with very thin lips. Roger liked the fact that she had almost no makeup on and still looked attractive. “I am very interested in your project and want to come visit your facility to see your research and get a status report.”
“Well, we’re uh … a little busy right now but … maybe …”
Roger could tell she was thinking very hard about how she could turn him down without pissing him off, but she was obviously caught off guard and having trouble coming up with a good excuse. He thought he would help her a little. “I realize you’re busy, and I will keep my visit short. I don’t want to interfere with your operations.” He knew she couldn’t really turn him down since he controlled the grant money for all the major physics projects. Scientists do not like administrators looking over their shoulder, but they definitely don’t want to bite the hand that feeds them either
“Okay, how about two weeks from tomorrow?” She suggested.
“How about day after tomorrow?”
“Uh, okay.” Sarah had a pained looked on her face and yet managed to keep her smile in place. Roger thought that was impressive.
“Good! See you on Wednesday at 10 a.m. Good-bye.”
“Yes, good-bye.”
When the woman’s image vanished Matilda said, “Looks like you’ve made a friend. How sweet.”
“What’s she going to do about it? If she wants to continue her research, she has to satisfy us managers.”
“Is that a sexual pun? I saw the way your eyes lit up.”
“You’re imagining things again.”
“Yeh, right.”
On Wednesday morning, Roger was sitting alone in an uncomfortable chair in Dr. Yakimato’s office. There were piles of papers and memory chips on every flat surface, and books crammed into every square centimeter of the bookcases lining the walls. Roger thought, apparently she’s not too big on electronic media. Why would anyone want all these hard copies when the simplest AI system can hold thousands of times the information in these books and papers?
The door opened, and Sarah walked quickly into the room with her hand extended. She was thin wasted and slightly over 1.8 meters tall, small for a person of Asian heritage. Roger looked her over as he took her hand. She had a strong firm handshake. She said, “Sorry I kept you waiting.”
“It’s okay, I just got here,” Roger lied. “It’s very nice to meet you in person. I’ve seen your impressive resume. Physicists in your field have a very high opinion of you.” He had also found out that she was currently between marriages.
“Thank you. I believe the honor is all mine. You are considered one of the greats in our field.”
Roger loved having his ego stroked, especially by an attractive, smart woman. “I know you are very busy, so let’s get to it.”
“I’ve arranged a briefing and then a tour of the facility. I believe that is what you wanted.”
“Yes, it is.” They headed out of her office and turned right down the hall. As he followed Sarah, Roger noted that the air smelled of ozone, oil, and something else he couldn’t seem to pick out. It should have reminded him of his research days, but it didn’t. It was different somehow. They entered a conference room containing a large round table with half a dozen people seated around it. Sarah introduced Roger to the three men and three women at the table. Roger recognized all of the names, except for one woman, who was introduced as the public relations person for the lab. Roger didn’t realize he had given them enough money to hire a PR person. He’d have to check into the budget when he got back.
“We’ve put together a short video that describes the work we are doing. Since you are familiar with our work, I thought you wouldn’t mind if we kept it technical.” Sarah and Roger took adjacent chairs at the conference table. “Start video.”
As the lights dimmed, a three-dimensional video was projected above the table with a virtual Sarah in a lab coat making the presentation. There were a number of calculations and figures that she pointed to as she went through her talk. The beginning of the presentation focused on some of the developments made by Roger. He knew that this emphasis was for his benefit, but he enjoyed it nonetheless. He had no trouble following the presentation at this point, but as she moved out of his work from more than a decade ago to work being currently done at the lab, he began to fall behind. Pretty soon, he was totally lost. He kept nodding his head in agreement and saying “yes” and “right,” so he didn’t give away the fact he had no idea what she was talking about. Roger had tried to keep up with the literature and
the state of the art in physics, but he didn’t have to have detailed knowledge to do his job of administering research funding. He was stunned by how much of the science he had forgotten in just 10 years. Little beads of sweat began to form on his forehead. In silence mode, Matilda said, “Are you okay? Your heart beat’s gone up.”
He leaned back from the table and whispered, “Yeh, I’m okay. Shut up.”
Sarah looked at him quizzically and then returned her gaze to the presentation. She seemed fascinated by her alter ego in the projection.
Roger returned to watching the video and hoped his visage didn’t have the blank stare of a deer caught in a floater beam.
Finally the video ended, and the lights returned to normal intensity. Sarah turned to him and stated, “I have left some time to allow you to ask questions, that is why I have invited the lead scientists here.”
Roger thought, Questions? I can’t ask any questions when I have no bloody idea what they’re doing. Think, Roger. Don’t let all those years of management training go to waste.
“I understand that you are trying to create a passageway by expanding one of the subatomic dimensions in such a way that you can reach other parts of the universe, but how can you know where it will come out?”
“I thought I explained that in the video, but maybe I wasn’t clear,” Sarah responded with another quizzical look at Roger. “We know that gravity extends in all