There Must Be A Mistake Ch. 22

"I'll start sending them over now."

Lucius got on the speaker system. "This is Colonel Canyon. We have had a serious accident. One of our people is dead, and two others are severely injured. Shutdown the lab, and go to the hospital. We need you to donate blood for Liz and Margaret. Move it people, do it now."

All 55 scientists were out of the building in moments, with the exception of Gordon and Richard. Gordon was 16, and eligible to get blood. Richard was coming up on his ninth birthday, and he was not eligible. As soon as there were enough agents available, Richard would be taken home and Gordon would give blood for the first time in his life."

Lucius called Austin and ordered two helicopters capable of flying a stretcher and at least three other people to either Houston, or back to Austin. He told the agent he wanted them in Temple, within the hour.

Margaret and Liz were finally brought into the hospital nearly an hour after the accident. The right side of the SUV was so mangled; they had to upright it, before they could get the women out.

Doctor Finch had called for an all hands on deck, when the accident was called in. Neurosurgeons, thoracic surgeons, orthopedic surgeons, you name it, if it had surgeon after its name, they were in the emergency room waiting to look at these two patients.

They cut the clothes away and covered the ladies with gowns. They applied a pressure bandage to Margaret's neck to stem the bleeding, and sent her for an MRI, CAT scan, and x-rays. Her pulse rate was high, her blood pressure was low, and her stomach was distended. They prepared an operating room for her immediately, because they knew she was bleeding inside. The only thing they didn't know was where.

Liz regained consciousness, while she was in the emergency room.

Dan was holding her hand.

She asked, "Tonya?"

Dan shook his head. "No."

She started to cry. "Kill the bastard."

"General we have to take her back for her scans now."

"Stay strong Liz, we will be right here for you."

"Doctor how is Margaret?"

"Are you her next of kin?"

"You bet your ass I am."

"Come with me will find out together."

"What do you have on Ms. Post, Fred?"

"Look at all that black Joe. She's bleeding big time inside. Is she in the OR yet?"

"I know they were prepping her for one. I think I'll scrub in and give them a hand. The spleen looks intact. I'll bet the liver is punctured, and bleeding into her intestine. This is going to be a long night."

"General you might as well make yourself comfortable. This is 10 to 14 hours work. There is no guarantee she will make it. Your friend Lucius has given me all the incentive I need to try and work a miracle on Ms. Post. If it can be done, I will do it."

"Don't stand here Doctor, go to work."

"It's funny you should put it exactly that way general. It must be a military thing. Your friend the Colonel said the same thing to me when you were in here a few weeks ago. By the way, where is he today?"

"He's in charge of operations. I had 60 people make sure he didn't leave the building unattended."

"Feisty little guy, isn't he."

"Doctor, you have no idea what trouble that man can cause."

"Is there another side to that statement?"

"Yes there is, but I won't give him the satisfaction of saying it."

"I'll talk to you later general."

"Get me Lucius on the phone please."

"What's going on Dan? How is she?"

"It's not good Lucius. She's bleeding internally. Finch thinks it's coming from the liver, and bleeding into her intestine. He's scrubbing in now to help with the surgery. I don't know what you promised him, but he said it was all the incentive he needed for him to try to perform a miracle. At least there is no brain damage, but it's of no solace if she doesn't make it."

"How about Liz, how is she doing?"

She was awake for a couple of seconds, and I was holding her hand. She asked me about Tonya, and I told her she didn't make it. She started to cry, and then she said, "Kill the bastard."

"The next time you see Liz; tell her the word is already out."

"Good that will make her happy."

"General, if anything happens to Margaret, I think you should go to Europe for a month. It's going to take that long for the guy to die. You don't want to be anywhere around me while I'm taking care of business."

"I'll take that under advisement Lucius. I'm going to pray Margaret gets well."

"All of us are sir, each and every one of us."

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

When Gordon arrived home, Richard had to dive for the floor, because Zoie was flying through the air to get to him. Gordon was caught off guard because of Richard's position, and when Zoie hit him in the chest, she knocked him back until he bounced against Monte.

Zoie looked up into Monte's eyes. "Hi Monte, can I have him now?"

Monte smiled down at Zoie, and patted her on the head. "Yes little miss, you can have him for three minutes. Then he is due down in the basement for training. He beat Sid yesterday, and before Gordon gets a piece of your ass, Sid wants a piece of his. You have 2 ½ minutes Gordon; I would make the most of it, but if you're late, add 30 minutes to your training."

Zoie frowned. "Where you ever young Monte?"

Monty put her index finger under her chin and thought for a moment.

"I don't think so Zoie. I was always a pain in the ass. 45 seconds Gordon."

Zoie said, "If you were Catholic Monte, you would have to go to confession every day. You don't lie very well. You want people to think you're an ogre, but you are a pussycat, when it comes to him. Don't worry, I'll never tell."

"That's a good decision on your part little miss. He's not the only one that can spank you."

"Can we go downstairs and see Sid take Gordon apart?"

"Sid and Gordon are quite evenly matched. That young man of yours has come a very long way in a very short time. The more muscle he puts on the better fighter he will be."

"Yes I know; he cheats in bed too."

"Gordon was about to start, when he turned to his side.

"Monte did anyone tell my dad about the accident?"

"I'm sure he was called, but I'll make sure. Begin."

Monte walked into the den and waited for me to finish talking to Jennifer.

"Yes Monte, what did he do this time?"

"Doctor Luck, you should only have a dozen like him."

"Jennifer go to bed now."

"I'll run away from home first."

"Something is on your mind Monte; what's wrong?"

"We had a major car accident today. Tonya was killed instantly. Liz is in the hospital in serious condition. Margaret Post is in very serious condition, and is being operated on now. She has serious internal injuries, and they believe she is bleeding from the liver into her intestine. Everyone at the main building has, or is giving blood, because they are going to need a lot of it. The doctor does not know if Margaret will make it through the operation."

"Is there anything they need? Is there anything we can bring in from the outside to help them? We can fly in better doctors from Houston, or Austin, by helicopter if it will help. Monte, get on the telephone with them and ask them for me please. If I get on the phone I'll rip someone's lungs out if they don't give me the right answer."

"Did I hear someone say it was bedtime?"

"No Hannah, it's not bedtime."

"Give me your hand Doctor Luck."

"I seem to have misplaced it Hannah."

She reached into her pocket and said, "Guess what I didn't misplace."

"Please not today Hannah. We lost one of our people and two others are severely injured. I have to find out what I can do for them, if anything?"

"Why is it only you Doctor? Are you the only one responsible for the entire project? You are recovering from very extensive surgery, and you're lucky to be alive. Call the next person up the chain of command, and if they don't want to do it, they don't belong working with you."

"Would you give me my cell phone, Jen?"

I punched in William's code, and hated every number I punched. It rang five times before Jemma picked it up, and she was pissed off.

"This had better be a matter of life and death, because if it's not, I will find out whom you are and plant you in a rice patty in China."

"Hello Jemma, this is Even Luck. I'm sorry to say this, but it is a matter of life and death. May I speak to William for a moment please?"

I could hear Jemma say, "William, its Even, there's something wrong at work."

"Even what happened, what's wrong?"

"I am so sorry to bother you William. There was a traffic accident in downtown Temple. One of our people was killed, one is severely injured, and Miss Margaret Post is critically injured. She is being operated on now.

I am useless sitting here, and I can't do a thing to help anyone. I can't tell you how I hate being useless at a time like this. I have to impose on others to do the things I should be doing. Lucius is in charge at the building. Dan is at the hospital waiting for word of Margaret's, and Liz's condition. I can't coordinate getting things moving in the right direction, because I can't find out what they need or where it's needed. I need you again my friend; will you help me?"

"Jemma is already dressed Even. I will be dressed in two minutes, and we will be on our way to the hospital. How could you ever think I would let you down? What nurses with you today?"

"Hannah is with me today. Why?"

"May I speak with her please?"

"Yes Mister Zabo."

"Yes Mister Zabo, I'll do it this moment.

"Doctor, may I have the hand that held the telephone please."

I didn't want to but William was waiting. "Thank you doctor, that wasn't so hard, was it.

"Mister Zabo, his pulse is 120. Yes sir; Yes sir; Yes sir; thank you sir; good night Sir."

"Here is your cell phone doctor. Your friend Mister Zabo thinks the world of you. He wants you to get better quickly, and to get some rest. Would you like some water, or something to eat?"

"No Hannah, I'm just fine thank you."

"Then would you repeat this after me, 'good night nurse."

"Why would I..."

I felt the jab and the back of my neck and saw my wife shake her head, and laugh at me. She got out of her chair, walk over, and helped Hannah put me into the wheelchair. There was a lot I wanted to say to them, but nothing seemed to be working. One day I would get even with William for this, but it was not going to be today."

Jen asked, "How long will he be out Hannah?"

"He needed to calm down; so I only put him out for a few hours. He is so tied up in knots, because he's not working, anything that goes wrong he believes it's his fault. If he doesn't change his attitude, he's going to have a heart attack."

"I'll kill him first."

"Now that makes a lot of sense, doesn't it?"

"You know what I mean."

"Let's get this big oaf into bed, and get him comfortable."

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

Richard was in his room looking at the display showing the route to Kepler. He had it on record since he went to sleep the previous evening and wanted to see if he could find the Western most opening to the White Hole. He marked his starting spot on the map with the letter "W" and moved his scan westward, looking for any anomaly. He was about to give up his search as he approached 50 Linear Light Years, believing he had missed the opening. He was about to play it in reverse, when he saw two small planetoids disappear. They were there, and then they weren't there. He paused the computer and played it reverse, in super slow motion. As the seconds ticked by, the two small planetoids emerged from the White Hole.

He was about to scream, when Gordon slapped a hand over his mouth.

"Way to go Richard that is fantastic work. I couldn't let you scream, because dad is sleeping. You are absolutely fantastic brother, you are better than I am. I couldn't be more proud of you than I already am. When Doctor Oyster gets here, he is going to get down on his knees and kiss your feet. That's how good you are."

Richard got up from his chair, and hugged his brother. He never felt so close to him as he did that day.

"I still don't know how it works when we get inside Gordon. If it can pull these little planetoids inside as easy as it did, what is it going to do to us when we go in there?"

"I want to talk with Delicious about this, but let me run this by you, and see what you think about it. Since we now know where the opening is, thanks to you, if we can build up our speed to maximum warp, and we have that warp bubble all around us, I believe it will push everything that is moving slower than we are out of our way. It will give us a clear path through the cone, and the jump point. Here comes the tricky part. Hoping they are symmetrical, we will have timed our entrance into the White Hole, and through the jump. When we pass the halfway point, in the exit cone, we reduce speed to warp one, until we pass through the other side. What do you think Rich?"

"Honestly, I think were both crazy."

"What have they said about dad all his life?"

Richard smiled. "I guess we are Luck's."

"You bet your ass we are. I think it's time to get Delicious, Newton, and Teddy involved in this."

Holden stuck his head in the door and asked, "How about me?"

"What is your last name?"

"Luck."

"You don't need an invitation to join us Holden. Your last name gets you in anywhere you want to go."

"Really, I can sit by you, and ask all the questions I want?"

"Maybe not all of them at one time; but whenever were not busy working, and you want to ask us questions, you can ask us all you want."

"Thanks Gordon, in that case I can tell you that Richard's asteroid is going to miss us."

Gordon shook his head. "How do you know Richard's asteroid is going to miss us?"

"I was playing with Newton yesterday, and I told him about the asteroid. He told me not to worry about it, and that sometimes adults forget the simplest things."

I asked him what he meant by the simplest things, because everyone was very worried.

Newton said, "Grandma told your dad we were leaving on December 25. The asteroid is due here in May. We can't leave in December if we are not here."

Gordon looked at the littlest Luck and couldn't believe his ears. He picked up Holden, and threw him into the air, which caused him to start laughing. The higher Gordon threw him, the louder Holden laughed louder.

Richard joined in in the laughing, which brought Zoie into the room to find out what was happening.

Jennifer and Hannah came screaming down the hallway yelling at us to keep quiet, because dad was sleeping.

It was too late. I opened my bedroom door to find out what the ruckus was.

Gordon said, "Sit down Dad, Holden has something to tell you."

Jennifer yelled, "I'm not taking him out of school. He's too young."

"Relax mom, just listen to what he has to say."

I pulled my youngest boy onto my lap, and asked him why everyone was having such a good time in Richard's room.

When he told me what Newton and he discussed, I was laughing too. How could I have forgotten something as important as our departure date, and the arrival date of the comet? I had to get back to work, before my mind turned to mush.

I was about to stand up and return to my room, when Gordon said, "You didn't think that was all that happened, since we returned from work, did you dad? Richard had more than an hour to play with his computer, and you know he can't be trusted."

"I can see there has been a change in the pecking order of this family. Delicious will fight it, but there will be a tie for number one slot between Gordon and Richard. Delicious and Holden will tie for number three, until Holden gets older. When he does, he will move up to number three, and Delicious will move back to number four. I fear for Gray's health, when that happens. I will pull up the rear at number five, because I am a lowly engineer. I don't think that's fair, but that's the way it is."

Holden said, "We will always look up to you dad; you are taller than we are."

I had never seen Hannah laugh before, but she was holding her sides, because of Holden's remark. If I could have reached him, I would have hugged him to death, while the rest of the room was laughing along with Hannah.

Gordon finally quieted the room down.

"It's time for you to rock dad's world, Richard."

He showed me the starting point from the previous evening and worked his way to 50 linear light years away from the point he knew where the 'White Hole' was. Then he pointed out the two small planetoids as they were sucked into the opening of the 'White Hole.' He played it in reverse until the planetoids reappeared, and ran it forward again.

I asked, "Are we sure everything comes out on the other side?"

Richard replied, "Those two planetoids will not come out the other side dad. They will be destroyed because they were not moving at light speed. I will let Gordon explain his theory on getting us through to the other side."

If looks could kill Richard was dead yesterday. Gordon was not ready to talk about this theory of his in front of his father, but most especially in front of his mother, who would probably castrate him for saying it out loud.

Richard took up the best position in the room. He stood right in front of his mother, and stuck his tongue out at his brother. Gordon had no choice but to 'Stand and Deliver' his theory.

"What I believe we should do is take a position approximately 400,000 km, in front of the 'White Hole.' Then we do all our safety checks, and make sure everyone is tied down tight. We extend the Ion/H2 engines, the nuclear engine, and go to maximum warp. The warp bubble will form around our ship, and I believe it will push everything that is moving slower than we are out of our way. This will allow us to pass through the White Hole without experiencing any damage.

The most important thing is timing. From the second we enter the Hole, until the second we make the jump, we must know the exact time. I believe both cones will be symmetrical. If I am correct, when we reach the halfway point on the way out, we should reduce our speed to warp one. We will exit the cone at a controlled speed, but still with the warp bubble protecting us. We will not be moving at warp one, but we will be moving at a speed fast enough to help us escape from the magnetic pull of the White Hole, and fast enough to move away from the Black Hole."

When he finished speaking, the room was deathly quiet. It took a moment for everything he said to sink in. He thought he was a failure. His head was down and his shoulders were slumped forward. Then, I believe it was Richard, who started applauding. Everyone, including me followed suit. His idea had merit. We could run it through a simulator, and see how 'The Best Luck' would fare under the conditions we currently knew it would undergo.

"Richard, Gordon, when we approach the hole, do you think if we fly alongside it, our x-ray telescope would be able to see inside it to see what's going on in there?"

Gordon replied, "I don't know dad; the thought never occurred to me."

Richard said, "If we can get close enough, about 25,000 meters, we should be able to see everything inside it. However, I don't know if we will get sucked in through the hole we will burn in the side caused by our x-ray."

"We will have to put everything we know into the computer, and run the hardest simulation we can think of. It will give us a hint of what else could go wrong. This was good work boys. It was better than good; it was excellent work. Do you have anything to say to your crew Captain?"

"Yes I do. On the day we do this maneuver, I am wearing brown underwear, and brown slacks, because I'm going to be shitting in my pants."

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

William and Jemma walked into the hospital's surgical waiting room, where Dan and half a dozen agents sat vigil.