by M J Kendrick
Jean looked up from behind her monitors. “Hi, Carlton, what’s up?” she said with a smile.
“I think it’s here, Mom,” said Carlton as he yanked the envelope from his backpack and eagerly handed it to Jean. “It’s not from Rosewood. It says Omni Education Trust on the envelope, look.”
He pointed at the logo as Jean took the envelope from him.
“Really,” she remarked with curiosity. “Here, come and sit down. Let’s take a look.”
Carlton slid a chair over to join his mom behind her desk.
Jean sliced open the envelope using the spaceship letter opener Carlton had made for her. It was one of his early metalwork class school assignments, and she loved it. He had made one for each of his parents and given them as gifts at Christmas.
Jean opened the sheets and read intently. Carlton watched on, anxiously waiting to learn what it said. After flicking back and forth through the pages and reading it through a second time, she put the letter down on the desk in front of her with her palm flat on the first page and looked at Carlton.
“This,” she said, “doesn’t have your results in it. Apparently, they will arrive tomorrow. It does however, say that . . .”—she picked up the letter and with her finger scrolled down the second page—“aah here it is... that after Carlton’s exceptional results and successful interview with Dr. Jenson and Dr. Willows, we are pleased to be able to invite the both of you, along with Carlton, to meet with Professor Edna Lenski, Head of Special Admissions on the eighth of October to informally discuss requirements, procedures, and options. This is likely to be a full day, blah, blah, blah, the rest is forms to sign and directions, etc.”
Carlton was looking confused and perhaps even a little worried. “What does it mean, Mom?”
Jean looked straight at him smiling, and with eyebrows raised, she said, “Carlton, this letter is from MIT!”
Jean spent the rest of the day on the phone, finding out more, talking to people, and piecing together how Omni had been instrumental in keeping MIT abreast of Carlton’s extraordinary genius and early acumen. It was Omni who had arranged for MIT to send their two doctors to inconspicuously interview Carlton on the day of the practical science project, and, subsequently, it was their recommendation to have Carlton included in the early entry program, restricted to special youngsters of genius level, even though, for Carlton, that was still seven years away.
The meetup at Cambridge was to outline the formidable precursory qualifications that Carlton would be required to complete in his time leading up to joining MIT, and, indeed, in the case of someone so young, MIT also needed to determine if David and Jean, as the parents, were in full agreement.
Jean and David knew this was special, and they both would, of course, be in full support.
By the time Carlton finally made it to bed that night, he had a full understanding of what was opening up before him, and, despite being exhausted, he stayed awake into the early hours, growing more and more excited.
PART TWO
Chapter Thirteen
Trent arrived at work early. The parking lot at the Pentagon was huge, and he didn’t want to be stuck at the back. He had plans for later. Plans that he’d put in place, ready for this day. He had bided his time well while he endured the frustrating wait for his promotion to come through. It was only a matter of time, time that burned his core. He knew he had to be patient. His plan depended on that, but now that it was happening, he could finally start to position himself.
As he walked through security, he thought about the day ahead of him. He was to be given an office and would have to sit through the welcome brief with his new boss, but that would be short. He already had the official welcome when he was first pulled in from the field by General Edwards. He smiled to himself as he waited for the elevator.
General Edwards! He relished how he’d found out about using him as an unsanctioned asset and blackmailed him into getting him officially appointed. Working for him from that point was so much sweeter. A little leverage here and there and he had the general eating out of his palm. No one suspected that the old coot had overstepped the mark by using him to do his dirty work just so he could look good. Just the thought of an inquiry that could disgrace him and cost him his pension was enough to do the trick.
In some ways, he felt sorry that he’d been wrong about the general being in someone’s back pocket. If he had, then it would have been so much better, but, in the end, he felt grateful that he’d gotten him to this point, even though he had to give the general’s fatal heart attack a helping hand. He smiled to himself. Taking over his position felt like a just reward for the seven years of misery he’d had to put up with—now it was his turn.
He took a seat outside Vincent Long’s office while he waited to be called in. He already knew his boss was going to be Al Robards. He’d probably have to be careful around him; he’d been close to the general and may have had suspicions about how Trent had been suddenly brought in, but he’d picked up a few tricks in his time and knew how these career types operated.
Of the third man, he knew very little, only that Leon Whittaker was well respected and an experienced senior operative, and that he was a friend of Al Robards and probably Vincent Long. He knew he had something to do with the interest in Omni—the general had let that much slip—but he wasn’t sure what that interest was.
I’ll make a point of finding out, though, he thought to himself. He must have something to do with whatever they had in mind for him, as it was unusual to have three people in a briefing, but, then again, he knew that what he would be doing was also unusual.
The door to Vincent Long’s office opened, and his aide stepped out and called him in.
The meeting was indeed brief and not exactly what he thought. Leon Whittaker was outspoken and immediately managed to get his back up with the way he’d questioned him. Who did he think he was? Al Robards was just as bad, but Trent knew he could handle him. He brushed the thought aside. He had what he needed, and that was all that mattered. He wanted to get to his meeting and secure his first people. He felt sure he would need to use them in the not too distant future.
He smiled, and as he drove away, said to himself, “Payback is a bitch.”
***
The cold, January air made Carlton’s eyes water as he rode his motor scooter over to the farm. His crash helmet strap stung his neck as it flapped in the wind. He didn’t mind. It still beat walking or riding his pushbike, which had been relegated to the back of the garage months ago.
Carlton wanted to get to his father’s lab early to help Freddie and Bar with the new pyramids that had been installed.
He had spent a lot of time with them over the last eighteen months and had become quite adept at wiring up the nano growth trays and calibrating the systems. More recently, he would also often fill in for Rose in growing the RMIs, as she was currently off on maternity leave.
This week, though, his father was away at Orbital for the next ten days overseeing the tether car trials. He knew it was an important time for his dad—four years of development work that had taken all his time rested on these test results, so Carlton would be working with Freddie and Baron on his own, and he wanted to spend as much time at the farm as he could.
It was only ten weeks until his sixteenth birthday, the day he would finally join MIT and the time he would have to say goodbye to his friends at the farm and ACR.
In recent years, Carlton had spent less and less time at his mother’s cryo lab—it was just too busy over there. Every addition and advancement his mother made meant greater security and more people. He missed how it used to be but was excited for his mother as she became more recognized, especially in the last three years, when she had often been called to guest lecture on behalf of Omni at government gatherings.
He liked it on the odd occasions that he went along with her, but as her work in ACR reached crucial points, she’d had to devote more time there, and there was little for him to do. He didn’t mind
too much, though, as he preferred favoring his growing interest in metals and fabrication processes in the more boisterous atmosphere of his father’s lab.
As Carlton entered the lab, he shrugged off the morning chill and donned his grubby-looking lab coat. Freddie and Bar were sitting by the coffee machine chatting about the upcoming wedding.
Freddie’s daughter Alison was the first of his twins to tie the knot, and the spiraling costs were getting to him.
“It’s never-ending,” he said as Carlton joined them, cradling a steaming cup in his frozen hands. “And Gina’s just as bad,” he added. “If I hear another ‘it’s only a . . .’ once more, I swear I’m gonna commit Hara-Kiri.”
Bar and Carlton laughed.
“And to top it all,” he continued, “I’ve got it all again with Rachel!”
“I didn’t think she was seeing anyone,” said Bar.
“She’s not,” mused Freddie, “but I’ll bet that won’t last long. My luck’s not that good.”
Carlton loved the banter. There was always something going on that regularly had them in fits of laughter. They finished their drinks and set about wiring up the pyramid, mumbling “screw plug twist” under their breaths. It took most of the day to complete, but after a successful test, they gave it a clean bill of health, and they all cleaned up, happy to put the last six hours of monotony behind them.
“Not long to go now, eh Carlton?” said Bar as he poured coffee for the three.
“Only ten weeks, it’s come around quickly. I’ll sure miss this place,” said Carlton.
Freddie was smiling, “You’re going to love it, and besides, I’m sure we’ll see you from time to time in here. What plans have you got lined up before you go?”
“Well,” said Carlton, “I’ve got everything that I’ll need to take with me already prepared. Mom and Dad have arranged that we all drive up together with my stuff and spend the weekend in Cambridge for my birthday so they can say goodbye. Up until then, I’m just going to carry on with my hobby, I guess. Concentrating on that helps me relax. I’ve never really been away from home for that long. I think it’s going to be a little strange.”
“Aww, you’ll be just fine,” reassured Bar, feeling Carlton’s apprehension. “How is your collection going anyway? You must be nearly complete by now.”
“I’m close,” replied Carlton, feeling a fresh wave of enthusiasm come over him. “There’s still a few items that are out of my reach or just plain too expensive to get like gold, platinum, and iridium, etc., but I’m sure I’ll get them one day.”
Freddie perked up.
“We might be able to help you there,” he said as if a light bulb had just gone off in his head. “We’ve got some broken jewelry and a few odd gold earrings lying around at home. It won’t be enough to smelt and purify into a pure gold ingot, but it will definitely get you started. I’m sure many of the others will have odd bits too, so I’ll ask around.”
“Also . . .” said Bar joining in, “I came across a crumpled old box at the back of the storeroom the other day with a small iridium block in it. I think it’s been there forever.”
Freddie remembered, “Oh my god, yes. That was one of the original samples that we were testing all those years ago when David blew up the lab, and we were trying to figure out what happened. It was before you were born, and Bar had joined us. That’s got to be nearly sixteen years ago now,” he added thoughtfully. “We shelved it when we were awarded the tether contract. Turns out that it didn’t make any difference anyway. It’s been in there, forgotten ever since. Leave that one with me. I’ll clear it with David and drop it over to you.”
Carlton was ecstatic. This was just what he needed.
***
Jean had arranged that they all stayed at the Kendall Hotel in Cambridge. It was a stone’s throw away from MIT and had the capacity to hold the small reception dinner party that she had organized. Jean had been closely liaising with Edna Lenski about getting all of the early admission students together on the weekend just before admission day to introduce them to each other and help take away the apprehensions that she was sure all of the students would be feeling.
The emails and phone calls had soon put the seven other students’ parents in touch with each other, and they had all enthusiastically agreed and jumped at the idea, as they would all be staying in Cambridge for the weekend anyway, with many having traveled internationally.
Carlton had been lying on his bed in his hotel room, mindlessly flicking through the TV channels. It was still a couple of hours before he and his parents had to go down to the dinner reception and join up with the other parents and students.
He hadn’t seen any of them yet, but he knew they were all there. He’d seen their stuff in seven neat piles in the large garage at the house his parents had gotten for them whilst they were at MIT.
All of the parents were financially comfortable and had chipped in around $300k each and actually invested in the outright purchase of a very large, ten-bedroom, executive house for them all to stay in and be able to call home. It was well appointed to a high standard and had new furniture throughout. It was only ten miles away from MIT in a very nice part of Wakefield, and it gave all of the parents and students peace of mind knowing that accommodation was something none of them would ever have to worry about.
He had already secured one of the two loft bedrooms, leaving the others to fight it out amongst themselves as to who went where. Fortunately, all of the large bedrooms had ensuites and secondary areas and were equally as comfortable as each other, narrowing choices down to simply which décor was preferred.
Carlton agreed with his parents that the house was indeed very cool, and he looked forward to getting in and settled.
He looked at his suit laid out across the massive hotel bed along with his all-important embarrassing name badge that the parents had insisted they all wear, and wondered if he was going to be overdressed. He knew his mother wanted to make a good impression, so two weeks ago, he and his father had been dispatched on a shopping spree for new clothes with strict instructions not to return until they each had new suits, shirts, ties, and shoes, under a threat of “or else.”
Carlton really enjoyed that day, though, as he and his father had managed to get everything they needed in the morning from just two large department stores, leaving time for a proper “man” lunch consisting of a thick, juicy, egg-topped steak and fries before spending the afternoon looking at cars and bikes.
Carlton’s phone rang. He picked up the receiver and said, “Yes, Mom, I’m nearly ready,” without waiting to hear who was calling.
He could tell his mother was smiling as she said, “Good, we’ll give you a knock in fifteen minutes, then we can all go down together.”
“Yes, Mom, I’ll be ready,” Carlton replied with a slight sigh. He still wasn’t too sure if this was a good idea or not. Part of him wanted to meet his fellow students, but the other part was worried in case he didn’t like any of them or they didn’t like him. After all, they would all be living together in a couple of days. He got up and put on his suit, resigning himself to the fact that he didn’t really have much of a choice.
As they entered the reception room, Carlton could see that the twenty-one other guests had already arrived, but only just, as there were plenty of greetings to be heard. Everyone had gathered around the small bar to the left of the ornate, double-entry doors as they moved around each other, smiling and introducing themselves.
Jean and David made a beeline for the throng and immediately joined in. Carlton looked around at the lavish room. Three large dining tables had been arranged into a formation that had the two largest, curved tables at one end of a smaller, rectangular table at a right angle coming down from the center, making a rounded off “T” or umbrella shape. The rectangular table had eight place settings, and Carlton realized he would be sitting with his new fellow students, center stage, surrounded by their various parents.
The tables were impressively dec
orated with flower arrangements in between the highly polished, silver place settings. Brightly colored helium balloons saying “Congratulations” rose up from amongst the indigo blue, LED, crystal table decorations, and the whole layout shimmered in the low light. The hotel had pulled out all the stops to create the wonderful ambiance, which was clearly appreciated, judging by the looks of delight from the guests.
With all of the thorough introductions and various journey experiences out of the way, it wasn’t long before the parents were all clustered together, drinks in hand, talking and laughing with each other, with several conversations going on at the same time. It gave Carlton the impression of a group of longtime friends having a reunion.
After a while, the free-flowing conversations and laughter amongst the parents grew in volume, and the students who had been awkwardly milling about eyeing each other’s name badges and politely smiling at appropriate moments, found themselves standing gingerly in their own group, having been slowly ejected from the adult circle.
Hearing his father join in with the others by starting to relay one of his long stories, Anton DeVries looked around and rolled his eyes in full view of his fellow students and said, “Here we go. This is going to be a long night.”
The others, hearing similar from their own parents, immediately identified themselves with the same feelings and felt as if a weight had been lifted as they eagerly nodded and all at once began to speak.
“Tell me about it,” said Carlton.
“Not again,” said Haru Taniguchi.
“If I’ve heard that once, I’ve heard it a thousand times,” said Miles St. John Davies.
“Oh no!” cried William Pope.
“They’re not with me!” exclaimed Calisto Miller, and, “Where’s the bar?” asked Per Svensson.
They all burst into laughter. The ice was broken.
The giggles and good-natured criticisms continued when they were finally all called forward to take their seats. The students quickly settled. Lucy, who was always shy to admit to her Rondstat Pens connection, and Calisto, were sticking together with Haru and Per either side of them. Carlton, Miles, Anton, and William were sitting opposite.
