There Must Be A Mistake Ch. 12

"You're taking 60 to 80 people to another part of our universe in 10 years. We are building a new rocket, which may or may not be ready in four to six years. Orion is almost ready now. Should we scrub everything and wait for the new engines?

Orion can only take four people, and it will take 46 days to get to Mars. Your group is taking a minimum of 60 people, and passing Mars in one hour. We're spending $1 trillion on our project, and you are spending, at most, $350 billion on yours. There something wrong with this equation."

"I thought we were in here talking about Steven."

"Steven is going to get sensitivity training, and psychological counseling. I think he's cracking under the strain of working here. I don't want to fire him, because he's done a lot of good work for us in the past. He also has a family to support. We'll see if we can help him, but if we can't, he's history."

"You were always fair Aubrey. I'll finish turning in my paperwork and then I'm going to take this young lady out to dinner."

"Gray the next time you come here with armed guards, please let us know in advance. When the guards at the gate so your man reaching into his pocket for his identification and saw the weapon they nearly killed him. They don't fool around here."

"Aubrey, I called last Friday and told them we were coming with two security agents. You can check the call logs."

"Oh well, no system is perfect."

*******

50. A PAIN IN THE CLASS

When they walked into the apartment at 5:30 Saturday afternoon they were stunned. Not only was the apartment painted, but it was fully furnished, and the entire family was there to greet them.

"Surprise!"

Delicious thought the walls would be white but they weren't. Jennifer grabbed her arm and dragged her into the center of the living room.

"Do you like it?"

"Like it, I'm stunned. I thought everything would be a bland white; but this is so beautiful. Who thought of baby blue walls?"

Rosalynn yelled, "Guess who's having a baby boy?"

Delicious looked at Jennifer, who was wearing a big grin.

"It's a boy?"

"Yes, the Doctor took a sonogram Wednesday. The little sucker has a thing between its legs that little girls don't have."

Delicious hugged and congratulated her. Then she remembered; "Where's Gordon?"

"I'm here."

"You're going to have a little brother to run around with. What do you think about those apples?"

"What does having a little brother have to do with apples?"

"Gordon, I think I'll tickle you."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!"

"I've got you now."

"I hope you lose your ring, so Gray can spank you again."

Gray turned, and walked into the kitchen, while trying not to laugh. Delicious turned bright red.

"I'm going to get you for that one little man."

"When I am 17 I hope I'm taller than you are so I can call you Shorty like Gray does."

"I will still be your older sister. You have to be nice to me."

"Is that written down somewhere; is it a rule? You keep telling dad you don't like him, and he's older than you are."

"You tell her son, you keep her on the straight and narrow."

"You were doing so well dad when you kept quiet. Try to keep up the good work."

"Gray is not the only one that can spank you for losing that ring."

"I knew this day was going too good for me."

Delicious walked over to me, sat on my lap, and kissed me. "Did you hear what happened in Houston?"

"Yes I did. A mutual friend of ours called me from Austin. He's getting ready to retire, and his son Shelby is getting ready to take over. He told me you really took that man to the cleaners. Eight stitches on his neck, not bad for a little girl."

"I am not a little girl."

"Why do you get so upset when anybody says that to you? It's a compliment. It's a term of endearment. It's a loving anecdote. It's like a grandmother, who is 4'11" tall, says to her grandson, who 6'6" tall, come here baby. If everyone reacted the way you do, family members would never be talking to one another."

"Okay dad, I get the picture; no one ever explained that to me before. I thought they were insulting me because I was not as tall as they were."

"I call you baby a lot, are you still a baby?"

"No."

"It's the same thing. Gray calls you baby. It's a term of endearment, a term of affection. Shorty sometimes could be demeaning, but most of the time it's just meant in fun. You will know the difference. Are you ready for school Monday?"

"Yes everything is in the car ready to go."

"Did you ever open your financial package?"

"God, I'm an idiot."

"Go into your bedroom now, and don't come out until you finished reading it. It shouldn't take you more than 5 minutes to understand what you have. You wouldn't want the check for your birth control pills to bounce. Gray can help you with your checkbook for the first few months, but after that I expect you to do it by yourself."

"Okay, I'll be right back."

After she closed the door to the master bedroom, I said to everyone, "In a short while my daughter is going to scream. There may be several screams. Then she will charge out of the bedroom looking for me. I am going to hide behind my attorney. It is his job to protect me from everything. Today he is going to protect me from my daughter. Good luck Rod."

"What's going on Even?"

"She's going to look at her financial statements."

"She's just doing that now? She's had them for over 10 days. What has she been doing with them?"

I was about to answer him, when the first scream came out of the room.

Rod said, "Oh Shit!"

"Remember Rod, protect me."

"Roz, kids, we're leaving, hurry."

A second third and fourth scream came and the bedroom. The door opened immediately thereafter. Gray stuck his head out of the kitchen, but that the only part of his body he exposed.

I was worried, because she didn't run at me. She walked towards me methodically and menacingly. From 10 feet away she said, "$60 an hour my ass, you lied to me."

"You should've checked your checkbook," I said nonchalantly, keeping Rod between her and me.

"Don't you try to worm your way out of this. None of this would have happened if you told me the truth."

"None of this would have happened if you took care of your own finances."

"I didn't know how."

"You designed a nuclear reactor without any help. I think you could have balanced your checkbook by yourself."

"I didn't think I was making enough money to worry about my checkbook."

"It's a perfect way to start learning how. You start small and you work your way up. Very few people in this world start at the top and work their way down."

"You're a pain in the ass dad."

"If that isn't the pot calling the kettle black, I don't know what is."

"I'm making more money a year then Gray?"

"Who designed the engines? Not one, or two, but three engines. Two of which have never been heard of before. Who should get paid more; you or Gray?"

From the kitchen he yelled, "Gray should make more money, he has more experience."

She opened her mouth, but before she could speak I yelled, "Censor it, there are children here."

She closed her mouth, took a second to breathe and relax. "Thanks dad that would have been ugly. Gray darling, I'll talk to you later."

"I'll be available a week from next Wednesday."

"You may be available many, many more days than that dear."

*********

Math: Mathematical Theory of Relativity

Einstein's Space-Time/Minkowski's Space Time Theory.

Doctor Riverdale

Her first two-hour class started Monday, at 10 AM.

She walked into class early, and handed her paperwork to Doctor Riverdale who was incensed by a student who showed up in his class, nearly 4 weeks behind schedule.

He said, "You will never be able to catch up on the work we have done in class already."

In her own style she replied, "Sir, I am so far ahead of you, you will not catch up with me."

The entire class laughed at the exchange of insults."

Riverdale put an equation on the board and told her to solve it.

She didn't bother going through all the steps required. She looked at it, put down the answer, and handed him the purple marker.

"Next time, put something hard on the board."

He asked, "Who the hell are you?"

"You have my paperwork, you figure it out."

She took her seat in the back of the classroom, while Doctor Riverdale perused her paperwork again. "Miss Luck, are you related to Doctor Even Luck?"

"Yes, I'm a very closely related to Doctor Luck; he's my father."

"Why do you only have a GED diploma?"

"I didn't like school."

"Okay, let's continue with our class work."

Delicious listened, took notes, and by the end of the class she was ready to blow a gasket. She waited her turn to talk to Doctor Riverdale and when she did she said, "You and I have to talk. You are teaching things that are out of date. I will show you what I mean, but you will have to sign an NDA before you can't say a word about where you got the information."

"Miss Luck, the book I am teaching from is only two years old. It can't possibly be out of date."

"Three patents have been filed in the last six weeks that will prove you are wrong."

"Your father has been at it again?"

"I can't answer that until you sign the nondisclosure agreement."

"I can see this is going to be a fun semester."

"It is going to be a boring semester for me Doctor Riverdale."

*********

She left the classroom, went directly to Logan, and touched his sleeve to let him know everything was fine.

"Shall we go to lunch; my next class is at 2 PM."

Logan replied, "Wherever you go, I go."

"Doesn't that get a little boring after a while?"

"Considering what your father is paying us, I will take the boredom every time."

"How is Jayden doing with Marcia?"

"He is infatuated with her, and Marcia is head over heels with him. Gray was right. In a few weeks, maybe a month; he will buy her a ring and propose to her. I never thought I would see the day that big lug would hit the dust."

"What about you, is there a Miss Right waiting out there for you?"

"I have found several miss rights, but I was always in the right place at the wrong time. Every time I fell in love, my company was sent overseas. When I came back, miss right was married to someone else. It happened three times, during our three tours in Iraq. I'm still looking. Now that I have a stable job, maybe it will happen again."

"Keep your eyes open on campus, a lot of girls like older men; just like me."

"Just in case you've forgotten, you're taken."

"You know what I mean Logan."

***********

She sat alone in the cafeteria, at a large round table eating her lunch. It didn't take long for her classmates to fill the table. They started asking her questions about their class, and then they asked her if she would like to join their study group.

She liked talking with her fellow classmates, and decided college might be fun after all.

**********

Logan was trailing her by 20 yards, when he spied a young man taking an interest in her. She was walking to her second class, which was across the quadrangle, and he was cutting across the grass, at a fast pace, on it intercepting angle.

He closed to within 10 yards of her.

When he was close enough, he slowed to a fast walk, adjusted his angle, took out his cell phone, and made believe he was talking. He bumped into her, and the books fell all over the ground.

Logan stopped, looked around to see if anyone else was in the area that concerned him, and there was none. He kept his hand on his weapon and watched to see how it would play out.

"I'm so sorry. I was on the phone, and I wasn't paying attention. Let me get these books for you."

Delicious shook her head. "Don't you know that's the oldest line that's ever been used?"

He made believe he didn't hear her as he looked at her legs, covered by a short blue denim skirt, white socks, and white tennis shoes. He picked up her book, and handed them to her. "Hi, I got them all. My name is Jerry Washington, what's yours?"

"Hello Jerry, my name is Delicious Luck, and I am off-limits to you and your kind. I am engaged to be married." To emphasize that point she held up her left hand and showed him her engagement ring.

He looked at it, and smiled. "I bet you say that to all the boys, because you are so beautiful. I bet that ring is a fake."

"If you call an $100,000 ring fake, then I guess it's an expensive fake. Are you going to continue to annoy me?"

"I always get what I want, and today I want you."

"Do you have $10?"

"Yes I do."

"Take it at of your wallet, and hold it in your hand."

He did as she asked.

"What happens now, Delicious?"

"I will bet you that $10 bill I can get you to run away from me in less than 30 seconds. I will not scream, I will not yell at you, and I will not touch you in any way."

"What happens if you lose?"

"You can take me out on a date."

"You are on Princess."

She turned her head and called out, "Logan, this boy is annoying me."

Logan was by her side in an instant. His gun was in his hand, and his face an inch away from Jerry Washington's face.

Delicious took the $10 bill from Jerry's hand, and said. "Goodbye."

He took off like a jackrabbit.

"What did he want miss?"

"He said he always got what he wanted, and today he wanted me. I bet him $10 I could get to leave in 30 seconds. I don't believe I'll be seeing Jerry again. Here's the $10, you earned it."

"No thanks Miss Delicious; keep the money as a memory of your first victory over an obnoxious college boy."

"Do you think I should get it framed and hang it on the bedroom wall?"

"If you keep wearing short skirts to school, you're going to need a very large frame. Did you notice all the other girls are wearing jeans and slacks?"

"I'll wear slacks when it gets cold. It's much too nice now to cover my legs."

"Believe me the young men here don't mind seeing your legs."

"Flatterer."

"You don't want to be late for your next class; let's put a move on it."

*************

Engineering:

Aerospace Vehicle Design and Performance: Aircraft Wing Design, Cruise Performance, Propulsion Systems, Stability Controls.

Rocket: Launch Systems, Propulsion Units, Staging Systems, Spacecraft Subsystems, Team Designs, and Laboratory Experiments, Recovery Vehicle Systems, Reentry Profile, Parachute Explosive Systems

Doctor Jerome

She walked into the classroom five minutes early, and found a young man writing on the whiteboard. She waited for him to finish, then asked him where the professor was.

"The professor is in her office. I am her teaching assistant, I'm teaching the class today."

Her fuse was lit. "This is bullshit. I know more about this subject than you do. If the professor is not going to teach the class this semester, I want to know it now so I can change classes. Find her and bring her in here now."

"You can go to her office and speak to her."

"No, this is where she is supposed to be. The literature says she is supposed to be teaching this class, not you. This is where she is supposed to be, and she will meet me here. If she doesn't she will be fired. I will make sure of it."

"I will speak with Doctor Jerome, I'll be right back."

A few moments later, a dark-haired woman stormed into the room looking for her.

Delicious was at the whiteboard correcting what the young man had written down and changing the formulae for the position and shape of the airfoil of the winglet. This couldn't be done without the use of a computer, and a wind tunnel. It wasn't possible, but this teenager was doing just that. Instead of sweeping the winglet up, as most engineers and scientists believed was the perfect way to reduce drag, and wake turbulence, she swept it down. As she finished her formulae, and checked her work, it showed a 14% reduction in drag, a 6% increase in lift, a 33% reduction in wake turbulence and an eight % reduction in fuel expenditures over the upward position of the winglet. She turned around to go to her desk and saw Doctor Jerome sitting in it.

"I'm sorry I didn't know you were here. Why aren't you teaching this class instead of that dummy? He couldn't write the formulae down correctly."

"Who are you?"

"My name is Delicious Luck. This is my first day in class. I have my paperwork ready for you." She reached into her backpack and handed her the forms.

"Miss Luck, William is my teaching assistant, he is one of my graduate students, and I allow him to teach some of my classes. He does a fine job."

"When he teaches does he get paid, and you get docked for not teaching?"

"No he does not get paid, and no I do not get docked for not teaching."

"This is a state school, and you are getting paid by tax dollars?"

"Yes that is correct."

"I will be calling the state attorney's office when I leave here today. I will find out if this is a systemic problem, and see if this happens with every professor in every state college system. If it does the professors will be in jail for collecting monies they did not earn. This is a fraud upon the people of the state of Colorado. They are paying you to teach not to sit on your asses in your office, and have some kid, who doesn't know what he's doing, teach for you. If I had not corrected what he put on the board, these students would have left here today with incorrect information ingrained in their memories. I'm 17 years old, and I know more than he does. Shit, I probably know more than you do. In 20 years there will be no wings, no more noise, or air from fossil fuel engines on aircraft, and space travel will as easy as it was on Star Trek."

"Miss Luck what mental institution did you escape from?"

"Don't insult me Doctor Jerome. Did you listen to the news conference that was held two weeks ago today? Did you hear President Atwater proclaim there were engines that were going to take us out of this atmosphere without using a hydrogen oxygen mixture?"

"Yes I did, and they were full of garbage."

"Do you see this ring on my finger? It was given to me by Doctor Grayson Thyme. We are going to be married next July. Until last Monday he worked for NASA on the Orion project. He quit his job there, and is now working with my father because he has seen the engines work, and he knows our spaceship will work. The engines are a fact of life already Doctor, we have already made them. Two have been patented; the third will be given to a major university, because they had the answer in their hands, but discarded it, because they didn't believe Newton could be wrong.

Have you ever heard of a Doctor Joseph Oyster, from the California Institute of Technology? If you haven't, he is in charge of the Programing and Thrusters Controls on Orion. We fixed the thruster problem for him in a few hours. They had been working on that problem for three years, and could not find out where they were going wrong. Since we had access the entire Orion program, we decided to go through it. If it weren't for my family; my father, my five-year-old brother, and I, those four astronauts would have died before they passed the moon outbound. Their program was wrong and their Cray 5 computer didn't pick it up. They put nearly $60 Billion into that program, and they would have killed four astronauts before they traveled 100,000 miles. We found seven flaws in it, and each one led to a catastrophic failure of the capsule.

The most obvious flaw was in the life-support systems. Two of them were short-circuited and were running at the same time. They would have failed when they were on the outbound trajectory from Earth towards Mars. The third one would have failed before they passed the moon. All three life-support systems would have failed with no warning. NASA would have had four dead astronauts on their hands, and no one would have known why. If you want to verify what I'm saying, call Doctor Oyster at Caltech, and ask him. He was at my father's wedding. The next day he was with my dad, and played a simulation with the thrusters. He was like a kid in a candy store, because it was the first time they worked properly. He was so giddy; he picked up my little brother and kissed him dozens of times. We gave him the flash drives with the updated programming, and after he signed the NDA my father allowed him to see the new engines working. He was as amazed as the world will be in 10 years when our ship leaves Earth and heads for the stars at close to light speed. Doctor Oyster should be enough independent verification to prove to you that I'm not lying."