“Congratulations
on your promotion, Dr. Nichols,” Jim Macomber said as Jennifer walked into the
conference room.
“Thank you,
sir. What promotion?”
The others
from the Hermes, Odyssey, and Frontier satellite control teams were already
there. Nina, Walker, and Charlie all grinned. Peterson, as usual, looked sour,
but it was less sour than his normal expression. Interns and others lined the
walls.
“You are
now the Director of Extra Solar Conditions,” Macomber said.
“Wow,
that’s, um, what does that mean?”
“Person,”
Peterson put in.
“Woman,”
Nina said with finality.
“What
they’re trying to say is that the data from Louis & Clark’s nanosats will
need comprehensive analysis. The data is still coming in, and shows no signs of
slowing, especially when we just got funding for Zheng He, a large platform to launch one
thousand nanosats.”
“A
th-thousand?”
Walker and
Nina both nodded vigorously.
“Thanks to
the success of the new gravity bubble engines, it will only take days to reach
the edge of our solar system. So, Dr. Nichols, you have a lot of work cut out
for you. Start picking out your department now.”
Walker and
Nina presented a long box to her.
“What’s
this?” she asked.
“A gift to
commemorate your promotion. Open it,” Nina said, her lips twitching into a
grin.
Using her
utility knife—what engineer didn’t carry one?—she slit the tape on the box,
then opened the flaps. It looked like an oversized presentation screen.
“Um, I
already have one of these.”
“No, you
don’t,” Walker began to snicker, clamping his lips tight.
The two
lifted the long tube out, then Nina grabbed the handle. Instead of a white
screen, it was green.
“You know,
so you can do the forecast,” Nina laughed.
Jennifer
rolled her eyes, then began laughing herself.