There Must Be A Mistake Ch. 14

The clerk said, "We are getting tired of seeing you. What has Doctor Luck come up with this time? If he keeps going like this, I'm going to request a line just for his patent requests."

"I have no idea what the good Doctor does in his laboratory. He gives me the finished product. I make six copies, have them signed by him and two witnesses', and notarize all of them. I fly here, from Denver first class. I stay overnight in a suite, dine at the finest restaurants in town. I come here in the morning, and fly home. I have a terrible life."

The clerk laughed. "Yes, I can tell, because you're wearing a $2000 suit."

They finished the process, Rod gave her the check, and departed for the hotel. He called Delicious and told her to meet him downstairs for the trip to the NRC.

As they walked into the large meeting room, everyone was cordial. The NRC board consisted of six people: three physicists, and three nuclear engineers. The greetings may have been nice, but that did not last past the first question.

"Mrs. Thyme, you are expecting us to believe you designed these nuclear devices by yourself when you were 17 years old?"

"Absolutely not sir, I designed them when I was 15 years old, and I used my high school computer to help me."

Gordon said, "Way to go sis."

"Young man be quiet."

"Why, you asked a question, she gave you the correct answer, and I congratulated her. Do you find anything wrong with that?"

"Be respectful to your elders."

"When I find an elder that needs to be respected I will, but anyone that insults my sister's intelligence, I will insult back. I don't know what your IQ is, but I guarantee you hers is higher, and so is mine."

"Why are your containment vessels made of polycarbonate materials rather than steel reinforced concrete?"

"Will you people get real. Did you read the facts and figures associated with these two units. The minimum lifespan, I said minimum, is 50 years without being refueled. Silicon Carbide, and Beryllium Oxide are earthquake resistant where steel and concrete are not. The best Los Angeles earthquake resistant buildings crack under a 5.0 earthquake. These vessels can stand the pressure of a 7.8 earthquake. They flex where concrete and steel crack. Ceramics can handle high temperatures better than any metals, or metal composites. Carborundum has a melting point of 4950°F. Beryllium oxide has a melting point of 4545°F. These are Argonne National Laboratory figures people. Are any of you prepared for this meeting, or did you expect a novice to come here that you could take apart easily?"

"Why are you using Hexagonal nuclear rods instead of circular rods as we do now in all of our nuclear reactors?"

"Gordon, I give up. These people are idiots, do you want to answer their question, or should we get up and leave?"

Rod said, "Delicious if they are idiots let's just meet them in court and embarrass them all at one time. Jim Hearst would love to get a hold of them."

Gordon said, "Rod let me take them to school before you make that decision. If they don't understand after I teach them what they should already know, then you can file a writ against the entire commission."

Rod chuckled. "Gentlemen, you are about to have your assholes torn apart by a six-year-old boy. If I were you, I would pucker up now. Have at them Gordon."

"Gentlemen do you know how thermonuclear fusion works or should I tell you to bring your memories up to date."

"No you little asshole, tell us so we see if you know how it works."

"Delicious you were correct, they are all idiots. Put your thinking caps on gentlemen I don't want to go too fast for you.

Thermonuclear fusion is a way to achieve nuclear fission by using extremely high temperature. You can use controlled or uncontrolled to create nuclear fission. One equals a bomb, the other equals controlled energy.

To control the reaction you have to control the kinetic energy of the particles by heating the material it will gain sufficient energy by giving the law and criteria the energy of accidental conditions within plasma high enough to overcome the Coulomb Barrier and the particles may fuse together."

"Are you with me so far? Do you want me to continue or have I told you enough?"

"Continue you little shit."

"In Deuterium-tritium fusion reaction the energy necessary to overcome the barrier is 0.1 MeV. You have to convert between energy and temperature. The 0.1 MeV barriers would be overcome at a temperature in excess of 1.2 Kelvin. If you don't understand nuclear fusion by now you should go home and find another line of work."

"Yes that will do nicely. I will ask the question again why not use circular rods instead of hexagonal?"

"How many degrees of surface area are there in a circular rod? I know this is a hard question but if you think as deeply as a second grader, you may come up with the correct answer."

"360°."

"Excellent answer and it is also correct. Now here is a tougher answer for you to come up with. If you design a chamber in a hexagonal fashion, and place hexagonal nuclear pellets into those chambers how much more surface area do those nuclear pellets contact, and how much more power do they give out without wasting energy. The inside temperature of the current nuclear cores is not supposed to exceed 450°. The critical temperature is 600° if you are using steam to produce energy. We are not using steam to produce energy. We want our reactor to produce a temperature of 2200°, which is well within our safety range. We also do not want to waste the energy of our nuclear pellets. The nuclear engine will only be on for approximately one hour, and then it will be pulled back into the ship after it is cooled by a combination of the temperature of space, and our helium cooling system. Extremely fast heat and extremely fast cool will give us the speed we need to reach 9.9 the speed of light, with the Ion H/2 engine, and the magnetic drives. For your edification, this person you called an idiot a few minutes ago designed all three of these engines. Two of them are already built and ready to go. They are already patented. All we are waiting for is your approval for the third engine so we can start to build it. If you delay us more than six months, you will be sitting in court shortly thereafter. Have a good day gentlemen, we are finished taking you to school."

"Wait, we have more questions."

Gordon replied, "The next time you ask us here it better not be to waste our time. Rod has taped everything that was said in this room, which is allowed under the law. You have also taped everything that was said in this room also. I guarantee you have embarrassed yourselves. If you play this for your supervisors, I guarantee you he's going to chew your asses off for not being prepared. A six-year-old boy had to remind you how nuclear fusion works.

The next time I'm here, I will tell you how we solved the problem of Nuclear Fission. Doctor Luck, Doctor Thyme, Mrs. Thyme, and I are working on that problem in our spare time. The only problem we have is the lasers are too big to fit in our laboratory. If we could overcome that problem, we could have breeder reactors online within 10 years. Pollution from coal powered electrical plants would end. Rod just filed a patent that will change the automobile industry in 5 to 10 years. The world is changing gentlemen, move ahead with the times, or be like the dinosaurs, and become extinct."

Delicious said, "Holy Shit little brother, dad told you to be nice, not eviscerate the entire panel."

"Sis, they should have been nice to you, and I would've been nice to them. Rod can we go to Wendy's now?"

"Montgomarie is outside that door. Do you think I would say no to her?"

"I do, why can't you?"

"She likes you. I can't say the same for me."

Delicious said, "Come on kid, feed me I'm pregnant."

"Don't worry about it I know how to deliver a baby."

"Gordon, you are not delivering my baby. I don't care how good you are. You are not seeing my privates."

"Are they different than my mom's?"

"Yes, because they belong to me."

"Or in other words they are not different. They are just on a different person."

"Gordon, you are the smartest man I know, with the exception of my father."

"I'm smarter than Gray?"

"No, you and Gray are a tie."

"Are we going to finish our chess game?"

"Do you remember where all the pieces were?"

"Yes."

"We will buy a chess set, and resume our game on the airplane. How does that sound to you?"

"I'm still going to beat you."

"No you're not. I may not win, but I will not lose."

"You are cheating. You are playing for a draw."

"Who me, would I do that to you?"

"Yes you would, and that's not fair."

"Little brother some of the greatest chess matches in history ended in a draw."

"Big sister, I'm beginning not to like you."

"I love you Gordon, I love you very much."

"I know."

Oh how I wanted to spank my little brother. Then I realized I was thinking like my husband, and banished the thought from my mind. I ruffled his perfectly combed hair with my hand instead.

He stopped and stared at me. "I don't like when you do that to me."

I got even with him for the many times he did this to me.

"I know."

We stared at each other for a moment, and laughed.

We received permission to build the nuclear engine two months later.

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

Delicious went for her final checkup and advised Doctor Greenly of the bet between William and I. He thought it was ludicrous because no one could predict the date, or time of a birth down to the minute or second. She agreed with him, but made him promise to put the exact time of birth down for the record because of the huge bet.

Doctor Greenly, "How large is the bet?"

"Doc, it's the maximum the house allows; $100."

"These two billionaires are fighting over $100?"

"It's not the money Doctor; it's the principle behind it."

"Can I get in on this bet?"

"I'm sorry Doctor, the betting window is closed."

"Damn, I could have given you a drug that would guarantee I would win."

"My father would invent something that would haunt you for the rest of your life."

"Knowing your father, he would probably do that. I will see you April 1, apparently sometime around 7 o'clock in the morning. I will be able to get a good night sleep."

"You don't have any other patients due around the first of the month?"

"Yes, I have several that are due, but none are due between 8:27 AM and 8:28 AM."

"I'll see you around the first Doctor."

"I wouldn't count on it; you are still carrying too high. I know you don't want to know the sex of the baby, but that little critter has to drop a long way before it can come out of you."

Delicious laughed. "It's all because of my husband. He keeps pushing it back in."

March was bitterly cold, but Delicious insisted on walking every day. Logan always held her arm as they walked, and six other agents formed a wall around her. They always carried semiautomatic weapons with them, since the attempted kidnapping.

Sergeant Dan Fowler rerouted police patrols to increase security around the college area, which included University Towers. It looked good on paper because of the nationwide scandal of women being raped on college campuses. The Denver police were taking it seriously enough to send extra patrols into that area, thanks to Sergeant Fowler's routing changes.

A month afterwards, he was promoted to Lieutenant, and he had not even taken the test. Jayden said he had friends in high places, and apparently he did. His men applauded the promotion, because finally one of theirs was in a position of authority, and not a handpicked 'yes' man.

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

On March 28, Delicious was out for her afternoon walk when it happened. She stopped, put her right arm on her belly, squeezed Logan's arm to the point he thought she was going to break it, let out a scream, and after a moment she relaxed.

The squad around her was ready to take her to the hospital, when she told them to relax. She opened her coat to see what happened. The baby she was carrying high around her stomach had dropped a foot. It was now down by her birthing canal.

"Holy crap, I think this little person is getting ready for the big day."

Logan asked, "Are you okay baby?"

"Baby, you must like me."

"You are much easier to deal with now that you're getting laid regularly."

"Is that a nice way to talk to your boss?"

"May I remind you that you are not my boss. I am here to protect you, I am your father's employee, he pays me not you."

"Yes, but I make your life more fun."

"When Jayden gets back from his honeymoon, I'll tell him you said that. I want to see what his reaction is."

"Should we give him a desk job now that he's a married man?"

"If you did that to him he would go stir crazy. He wouldn't know what to do with himself."

"I was just thinking about keeping them safe, like you're keeping me safe."

"Jayden is safe as long as he's working. He stays sharp and we work as a team. We feed off each other. Our instincts warn the other one if there's a problem coming. He saved my life in Iraq, and I saved his twice. He owes me one, and I'll never let him forget it."

"Have I ever told you that you too are insane?"

"I don't think so, but it's true. We knew that since we were kids and he lived upstairs. We became inseparable."

"My little friend is kicking up a storm. It's time for me to head home."

"Do you want to go to the hospital instead?"

"No, I'm not in pain; I was just surprised when it moved from the second floor, to the first floor. This next move should be interesting."

"Most women I've heard talk about this next move have called it a lot of things. I've never heard it called INTERESTING!"

"As you have learned over the past several years, my use of the English language tends to be skewed a little."

"Yes ma'am, it certainly is."

*********

Delicious was tired and went to bed at 9 PM on Sunday, March 30. She was followed by Gray an hour later. The apartment was secure, two agents were on guard in the living room, and two others were sleeping in the extra bedrooms. Everything was peaceful in the Thyme household until 2:47 AM, when Delicious screamed, "God dammit Gray wake up, it's time to go to the hospital."

Ever cognizant of his duties Gray replied, "Huh?"

Delicious made it easy for him. She turned on the bedside lamp, pointed to herself, and said, "Wife, Hospital, Equals BABY, you fucking idiot."

"Oooohhhhhh!"

Delicious watched as Gray hurriedly got dressed, picked up the hospital suitcase, and ran out of the room. She shook her head in disbelief.

Luckily for Gray the guards in the living room heard what was happening and stopped him before he left the apartment.

"Sir, are you leaving something important behind?"

"Stop fooling around, we have to get Delicious...She's going to kill me isn't she?"

"Only if you're lucky sir."

He walked back into the bedroom as if he planned everything. "Everyone's ready to go baby. Would you like to use the bathroom and change before we leave?"

"Do you want me to beat the shit out of you now, or after I give birth. You are lucky you said you would only tell me the truth most of the time, because that lie was so obvious our baby knew it. Get me the fuck out of here you moron."

"Can you walk or should I carry you?"

"Help me out of bed and I'll know one way or the other."

Gray wanted to stay out of arms reach, but he couldn't do that and help her out of bed at the same time.

"You're going to hit me aren't you?"

"What do you think my options are at this moment? Our baby is kicking me, and my husband was going to the hospital without me. What would you do Gray?"

"Get down on my knees and pray for mercy."

"Come on Gray get me to the hospital; I'll hit you tomorrow."

He helped her up, and immediately she had a cramp, which doubled her over.

"Gray, I think you better carry me."

All four agents were ready to go, the cars were waiting by the curb when they left the lobby, and eight minutes later they were at the emergency entrance to the hospital. It was 3:11 A.M.

Gray signed all the paperwork, and called me. I told him I was on my way.

When I hung up the phone Jennifer said, "You are not going alone, I'm going with you."

"So am I," Gordon said.

"Do you hear everything that goes on in this room?"

"No, just most of the things I want to hear."

"Even, you are getting these walls soundproofed immediately."

"I agree."

"You two are no fun at all. How am I supposed to learn anything if you two won't teach me?"

"You and I will figure out a way young man. If we can't do it, we will ask Montgomarie to help us. How does that sound?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"No."

"In that case I accept, until I get a better offer."

"Get dressed Gordon, we leave in five minutes."

"Dad could you step into the hall for second, I have to ask you a question. I don't want to get in trouble."

"Okay big guy what do you need?"

"Is this a man's five minutes or a woman's five minutes?"

"Even Luck you are a dead man. You have polluted my son's mind. He will never be the same."

"Dad, I thought I said that quiet enough."

"So did I Gordon. Sometimes women have the ability to use supernatural powers to get us men into trouble. We always have to watch out for that, and we can't always avoid it."

Holden and Richard started crying simultaneously. I asked Jennifer which one she wanted.

"Let me see; you are going to do both of them because I'm going to make this a woman's five minutes. I don't know how long a woman's five minutes is supposed to be, but I will make it as long as I want to make it to be sure you remember it the next time."

"Should I remind you how long it was the last time so you have a reference point for it dear?"

"Even do you realize how much trouble you are in now?"

"Not as much trouble as I'm going to be when I cancel your credit cards."

"I have my own money Even."

"Yes I know dear. How long has it been since you've spent any of it?"

"I also have the $5 million you gave me."

"$5 million does not go as far as it used to go, especially if you want to adopt girls."

"Even Luck, you are a real bastard."

"Jennifer Stars Luck, you are the love of my life."

"Even that's cheating."

"Sue me."

"We've been through that already."

"What was your decision?"

"You are a pain in the ass."

"Soon dear, but not yet. We are still negotiating that process."

"You stay away from me, you pervert."

"I thought you were going to the movies with Delicious to learn all about it. How does that make me the perverted one?"

Jennifer started pounding her head against the medicine cabinet. "What did I ever do to deserve you?"

I knew I had her. "Don't you remember dear? We were on a flight to Anchorage, and you told a story about backing into a mountain. That is the reason the pilot and I survived an airplane crash. If you didn't want me so badly, you should've kept her mouth shut."

"I never thought anyone would listen to that story, no less try it in a real life situation."

"You were never faced with only two options: one was certain death, and the other was positively stupid. Which one would you choose Jennifer, which one would you choose?"

She walked out of the bedroom completely dressed. She put her arms around my neck and kissed me. "I choose you, you idiot scientist. No one else in his right mind would have tried that stunt but you, and survive. Then you walk 40 miles and tell me we are getting married without asking me. You are a tank when you want to be Even. You roll over people with the force of your personality. You will never understand how deeply I love you."