Brilliant

by Rick Lakin

  Jennifer gave Jack a quick hug, “Thank you, Sir.” She took one last look at the bridge and then worked her way down the stairs to the ramp. She felt part exhilaration, part anger, and part foreboding for what her mother would do when she got home.

  She didn’t have to wait long. As she descended the ramp alone, she looked around. She saw Navvy and Hanna next to David, hugging his mother. Tayla and Riley were holding hands in front of Steven and Ana. Sheila was standing alone. When their eyes met, her mother started walking toward Jennifer and Jennifer did the same. They embraced and shared some tears. “Are you alright, Honey?”

  “Yes, Mom.” She looked up. “Mom, I lied to you.”

  “Yes, you did.”

  “I had to ride on Brilliant. It has always been my dream.”

  “I suspected that.”

  “You knew that Brilliant flies?”

  “Yes, I have known about that junk heap since long before you were born.”

  “Am I grounded?”

  “Yes, Young Lady, you certainly are.”

  “How long?”

  “Until you are thirty, but let’s talk about that in the morning.”

  “Mom, I saved the ship.”

  “Okay, maybe only until you are twenty-five. Have you eaten?”

  “No, just my coffee.” Right then, Navvy walked up.

  “Jennifer, go to the car, immediately,” Sheila said.

  Jennifer walked away, but glanced back.

  “Sheila, Jennifer's a hero,” Navvy said.

  “And you, Sir, are not. You promised to keep my daughter safe, and you and your damn Brilliant almost killed my daughter and her best friend.”

  “I'm sorry, Sheila. We thought that this would be an uneventful ride. And she wanted it so much. All I can say….”

  “That’s what you said about Anthen.”

  “Sheila, we both lost everything that day.”

  “Fortunately, I still have my daughter and I want to keep her safe.”

  Sheila caught up to Jennifer. “Your dad's waiting at the restaurant. Don’t tell him about this.”

  Sheila practically dragged Jennifer to the parking lot. “Jennifer, program your car to meet us at home.” She did.

  They ate her birthday dinner. They sang "Happy Birthday" and had cake. But it wasn’t a celebration.

  Sixteen

  Grounded

  Jennifer awakened the day after her very eventful birthday with Dandy Lion standing watch at the foot of her bed, and Pugsley snuggled nearby fast asleep.

  “Messages, Sami?”

  “From David.” Jennifer cringed and then listened. “'Jennifer, I'm sorry for what I said. It was the heat of the moment. Can we meet for coffee today?' Reply?”

  Jennifer rearranged her pillows to sit up in bed. “No reply. Reassign David as priority seven. Next?”

  “Tayla sent a message, 'Are you OK?' Reply?”

  “Reply, 'Tired, single, and grounded. Call you later.' Send it. Next?”

  “Sara says, 'The contracts are in review. They will bounce them back to your mother. Plan on signing in about three weeks.' Reply?”

  “To Sara, 'Thanks for your hard work. I'll let Mom know.' Send it and copy my mother.”

  “Anything else, Sami?”

  “Your mom has breakfast ready and would like you to join her.”

  “Thanks, Sami.”

  “Have a good day, Boss.”

  Jennifer walked into the kitchen

  “Good morning, Mom.”

  “Good morning, Jennifer.” Her mother brought her a cup of regular coffee and a plateful of scrambled eggs and sausage.

  Her mother sat and joined her.

  Without turning to her mother, Jennifer asked, “How long am I grounded?”

  “You are seventeen years old. You have a Ph.D. In math. You are a best-selling author. You created a tech startup that's going to be worth billions in just a few years. And, you are going to sign contracts making you the richest teenager in Hollywood.” Jennifer looked at her mom. “But, you lied to me.”

  “Yes, Mom, I'm sorry.”

  “I talked to Jack and Navvy, and I made them promise that you won't fly on that damn starship. So, you are grounded from Brilliant until you are eighteen.”

  She expected to be grounded, even for the rest of the summer, but a whole year? From Brilliant?

  “But, Mom. What are my restrictions? I can't go out? I can't go to work?”

  “Like I said. You aren't permitted to set foot on Brilliant. You cannot go into space. You are grounded. On Earth. I trust that as long as you stay that way, you can live the rest of your precocious teenage life as you choose.”

  She exhaled in relief. Her mom was fair. Then, out of its compartment came the exhilaration and she remembered the vision that she would meet her father soon. “What if Jack and Navvy find out where my father is?” Jennifer asked.

  “Your father went up in that ship seventeen years and seven months ago and never came back. He's gone.”

  Jennifer looked at her mother with surprise, “You knew?”

  “Your granddad and Navvy were best friends. I grew up on the set of Brilliant with Anthen, and we became very close as teenagers. I was on board the Brilliant as a seventeen-year-old when Anthen rang the ship's bell.” Sheila took a sip of her coffee and Jennifer saw that the surface of the coffee indicated that her mom's hands were shaking. “We drifted apart when I started college because he was already focused on his acting career. Half-way through my senior year at UVN, I ran into Anthen again. We had a short fling. I found out I was pregnant, and before I could tell him he was gone. The executives at Tovar blamed it on an industrial accident caused by GGG equipment.”

  “Why haven't you told me any of this, Mom?” Jennifer asked.

  “From the time I first knew Anthen, he was drawn to the Brilliant. It was all he talked about. It was always his dream to ring that bell. And then he was gone. I never wanted to lose you to that horrible ship.”

  “You still miss him?”

  “Jennifer, you will never forget your first love. I love your step-dad, but I'll never forget Anthen. How can I? You remind me of him every time I look at you. You have the same eyes, the same face. And from the time you saw your first StarCruiser Brilliant movie, you've had the same dreams.” Sheila looked over Jennifer's shoulder. “And, ever since then I have been awakened by the nightmare that Brilliant will take you away from me as well...and it almost did.”

  “Was my father intelligent? Did my dad have the vision thing?”

  “He did. He didn't have the same advantages you had, like Warner Academy and steveLearn, but he was just as smart as you are.”

  “Mom, when I was on Brilliant out there, I had a vision that I'd meet him soon.”

  Her mother became angry, and she slammed her cup down, splashing coffee on the table. “Jennifer, your father is dead! Brilliant took him away forever. Anthen is gone.” Her mother stood up and ran to her bedroom.

  Jennifer sat alone with the feelings, which she had awakened, revivified. She was now shedding the same tears, some for her mother, some for herself.

  Back in her room, “Sami, ask Kathy when Navvy is in. Let her know I want a moment with him,” Jennifer said.

  Moments later, “Kathy responded. They canceled production for today. Navvy will be in at ten.”

  “Thank you, Sami. Let me know when Tayla's accepting calls.”

  Jennifer settled into steveLearn, logged in as Jenna Seldon, and returned to her MBA curriculum. Her tutor, the virtual Thomas Edison popped up, “Why don’t you come into my lab?”

  Jenna entered Mr. Edison’s laboratory. It had the smell of ozone and of the stogies he won from a luckless lab assistant, who bet against Edison’s technical prowess.

  “You look as if you need to talk?”

  “I had a difficult day yesterday. It was wonderful, it was hurtful, and I let down my mother.”

  Mr. Edison inhaled from the short stub of what remained of his cigar, �
��Success, failure, and depression are often fellow travelers.”

  “I saved the ship with my recommendations and actions. I showed mercy on an adversary and my boyfriend, the Captain’s son, said, 'you are such a girl.'“

  “A female asserting her leadership, a relationship in the workplace, an outsider coming between a son and a father. I once wrote a letter to Mr. Darwin asking for advice. I suspect that even he would throw his hands up trying to analyze the triangular conundrum you face.” The cigar expired, and Edison took some time to relight that which remained. “When faced with such a difficult problem, I always go back to basic lessons learned and predict how the materials will react to whatever stimulus I might apply. And it always comes down to this, materials and other people will always react predictably. It is you who must be unpredictable; it is you who must stray from the well-worn path, it is you who must understand yourself and take the right action.”

  “Is that how you solved problems during your life?” Jennifer asked.

  “I was known as a bully and a prankster,” Edison laughed. “This virtual thing provides one a lot more information. It allows one to re-invent oneself over and over.”

  “Thank you, Sir.” Jennifer considered what he said. Her memory and her vision thing allowed her to re-invent herself. And, forgive David. If she could get over the desire to rip David’s face off.

  At nine-fifteen, Sami indicated that Tayla was up and available. “Call Tayla.”

  Tayla appeared

  “Hi, Jen.”

  “Hi.”

  “How long are you grounded?”

  “Until I'm eighteen.”

  “I won’t see you?”

  “I can't set foot on Brilliant until my next birthday,” Jennifer said.

  “Oh. That’s worse for you. When you were in that seat, you were the best I have ever seen you. You owned it even more than I own dance and tennis.”

  “Yes, but it's fair. I know how my mom feels about it. She was on board Brilliant when my father rang the bell. She knew.”

  “Riley called me. David is devastated. He is sorry about what he said. I told Riley that David hurt you and that you aren't mentally capable of forgetting that.”

  “It still hurts, Tay,” Jennifer said.

  “I know. For you, it’s like it’s still happening. You'll never forget. Will you forgive David and allow him back in?” Tayla asked.

  “I believe I will. But I need some time and distance.”

  “Speaking of, I'm meeting with an agent today. She's from Sara’s agency.”

  “Good, Tay. I'm going down to Tovar. I need to speak to Navvy.”

  “About Brilliant?”

  “I think I need to work on a different project.”

  “Keep me posted. Love you, Jen.”

  “Good luck. Love you, Tay.”

  She arrived at Tovar and stopped by the IT office see Grayson and Jake. “Grayson, tell me about the system. Is it catching up to the demand?”

  “The MiniTurbos are scheduled to be installed this weekend. Jake has recoded the most taxing applications, and that, along with the system upgrade, has significantly improved performance. The VP of Operations wants to retain your new company on a yearly maintenance contract for HumanAI software and hardware.”

  “JennaTech can do that. I have an excellent candidate in mind to handle that contract.”

  “And, I suspect that you want to visit with Jake as well. Thanks for all of your help,” Grayson said.

  Jennifer made her way down to Jake’s office. She noticed that he had been upgraded from an interior cubicle. His triple screens showed the coding he was working on along with Tovar’s system performance. “How's it going, Jake?”

  “Hi, Boss. I believe that as soon as the localized MiniTurbos are installed, we can take a deep breath until someone I know invents another revolutionary app that taxes system resources,” Jake said.

  “Good job.”

  “Steven contacted me. I'm working on software design for the drone systems.”

  “Keep me copied on all of your work. I might contribute some lines of code.”

  Jennifer walked into the Executive Offices of Tovar Studios. She passed through the door to Navvy Kelrithian’s outer office and greeted Kathy.

  “Hello, Jennifer. Navvy's on the phone. Can you wait a few minutes?” Kathy said.

  “Sure.” Jennifer looked around the office. Her eyes were drawn to the golden statuette on the bookcase behind Kathy’s desk. “You have an award for Best Picture?”

  Kathy smiled. “Navvy directed Ellie Masing’s fourth picture. It was her and Navvy’s first attempt outside of science fiction. He brought me on from the office to produce. Ellie won Best Actor and Navvy and I shared Best Picture that year.”

  “That’s amazing.” Jennifer stood and walked around the outer office. “Why didn’t you stay with producing?”

  “One of the tricks in this business is figuring out what you are good at and sticking with it. I'm good at helping Navvy get things done. I get to make an impact.”

  “That's a good philosophy. Navvy seems to value people who shake things up.” Jennifer stopped at a photo that was rather prominent on the wall. “This is the Board of Directors of Tovar. The date is when the Studio went public a few years ago. Am I correct?”

  “Yes, and you are also correct that Navvy values his people,” Kathy said. “When Navvy got to Tovar about forty years ago, it was practically an empty lot. The owners were almost ready to sell to a real estate developer. Navvy learned the business in three years and produced a string of hits that put Tovar Studios back on the map. I joined the studio out of UCLA Film School when he started producing. Along the way, he paid me well and gave me a piece of the action. By the time that picture was taken, I owned five percent of the studio, and I had a seat on the board.”

  “You could retire as a wealthy woman and travel the world,” Jennifer said.

  “And, then I could sit at home and wonder what kind of trouble the old man was getting into. I'll stay here as long as Navvy still comes to work.”

  “You love him, don’t you?”

  “A long time ago, it almost went over the edge, but I love Hanna, too. We came to an understanding. Navvy is mine here at work, and after that, he goes home to her. It’s not a particularly unique story, but it's my life, and I enjoy living it that way.” She reached for a tissue. “Allergies. Navvy's off the phone. You may go in now. Keep this little chat to yourself.”

  “Of course I will. Thanks.”

  Navvy rose as she entered. He walked over to a work table and motioned her to a chair. Navvy sat across from her. “I talked to your mother. She won’t let you near Brilliant for a year. Are you okay?” Navvy asked.

  “It hurts, but I understand. There's more than that, though,” she said.

  “What did David say?”

  “He called me a girl for not destroying the Mendex.”

  “Jack told me that he said something like that. He also told me that you made the right call. We have been trying for a long time to develop a good relationship with the Hoclarth. Jack said you provided the leadership that brought Brilliant home.”

  “Brilliant has always been my dream. I felt like I was serving my destiny in that seat. Now….”

  “I believe I understand how you feel. Brilliant is a harsh mistress. It brings out the best and worst in people. So, what can I do for you?”

  “I want off the Brilliant set. I'll still write and assist. I'll still work on Galaxy Warriors, but Sound Stage One isn't a place where I want to work right now.”

  “I believe that I can accommodate that. Would you be willing to work on a Brilliant spin-off?” Jennifer understood what show he was referring to.

  “Yes, of course.”

  “Report to the Writers' Room tomorrow morning. I'll have something before then. We like to give our summer interns a lot of exposure.” He winked. “How's the mini-drone project coming?”

  “It is coming along. Steven recrui
ted GGG’s leading designer, and he's working on the hardware in the production truck. Our biggest problem is power. Off-the-shelf Wi-Pow is very good at serving either one unit continuously or many units intermittently. Forty drones in the air require continuous power and networking so we would need to have forty Wi-Pow units on the ground to serve each one individually.”

  “Here's a suggestion. There's a Ph.D. Candidate at the Ell Donsaii School of Physics at North Carolina State. Her name is Piper Simmons. She may be running out of funding and she has the technology you need.”

  “Thanks, Navvy, for everything.”

  They shook hands and Jennifer left with less weighing on her shoulders.

  Jennifer got into her Prius and instructed it to take her to the GGG Annex. “Sami, could you look up Piper Simmons at NC State?”

  “Got it. As Navvy said, she is a doctoral student. She's working on a Multiple Beam Independently Tracked Power-Transfer System. She has applied for, but not yet received, a patent on the device. She's being held up by funding issues.”

  “Bingo. That explains why Navvy heard of her. It's the same technology as the Close-in Plasma Weapons on the Brilliant. Sami, what information is online?”

  “Here is her patent application.”

  Jennifer examined the patent and then asked Sami, “Sami, I need confirmation. Could we create a portable Wi-Pow base station that could power ten devices aloft continuously using off-the-shelf technology?”

  “May I include HumanAI fabricators in the evaluation?”

  “Yes.”

  “It could be fabricated in three weeks if we have Ms. Simmons.”

  “Good, Sami, do you have contact information for Piper? Contact her as Jenna.”

  “Yes, Boss, connecting now.”

  “This is Piper.”

  “My name is Jenna Seldon, and I'm with a company called JennaTech. I'm curious about your Multi-beam technology. Could you tell me about your research?”